Yin pulled Qingyan up and headed straight for the imperial tent. He instructed Li Dequan to summon Lanxi while explaining that they had discovered everyone had been poisoned. Since their expedition, he and Qingyan had not followed the palace's dietary habits, eating each dish in three bites.
Those foods that Yinzhi and Qingyan disliked were basically not eaten. The situation was different for Kangxi and others, as the Imperial Household Department bribed the people in the Imperial Kitchen to bring those incompatible foods to Kangxi's table.
After Galdan was annihilated, Kangxi was in high spirits and invited Feiyanggu and others to dine together in the imperial tent. These people who were dining with him also followed the rule of taking three bites of each dish, which directly led to Feiyanggu being tricked as well.
"How do you two little devils know these things?" When Emperor Kangxi heard Yin say that there were incompatible foods in the imperial meals, his first reaction was that someone was playing tricks, and his second reaction was, how did these two little guys know that?
Qingyan looked up at Kangxi, took out several sheets of Xuan paper from her small purse, on which were written many incompatible foods, and respectfully handed them to Kangxi.
At this moment, Consort Tong curiously tilted her head to take a look, and immediately her face darkened. She had already consumed quite a few of the foods listed on the menu. Perhaps the maids were unintentional, but she felt unwell all over.
"Little darling, tell me, where did this list come from?" Yin's suspicious look reassured Kangxi; Yin was unaware of the situation.
"It was given by the old monk!" Qingyan often went to Lin Yin Temple and had a good relationship with the head monk who was in charge of the meals there.
This became the source of Kangxi's jokes with Fei Yanggu about the Qing banquet. The little girl ran directly to the Buddhist temple in order to eat delicious food, but she never expected that the head monk would leave her such a list.
It records many food combinations that should not be eaten together, and even more side dishes that may appear in dishes.
"That old monk... is he from Lin Yin Temple?" Consort Tong recalled that her mother had mentioned that Qingyan particularly enjoyed eating vegetarian meals there.
“Yes, Master Pang had his apprentice give it to me.” Qingyan looked at Kangxi and Consort Tong. “He said he was going to be a wandering monk for a while.”
Even now, Qingyan still can't understand why the fat chef, who is clearly a master chef, would choose to become an ascetic.
Emperor Kangxi sighed inwardly. The fat monk had already passed away. He probably had his disciple Hongyi lie to prevent the Qing Dynasty from crying over the news.
“Most of those who can become wandering monks are highly accomplished monks. You should be proud of Master Fatty!” Kangxi held Qingyan on his lap. “In the future, when you go to Lin Yin Temple, don’t ask about Master Fatty all the time. That’s a secret of the temple.”
A few days ago, he received a handwritten letter from Master Yuanyi, who told him in detail about the fat monk. He also said that the fat monk and Qingyan had a very good relationship, and they were afraid that she would cry and disturb the fat monk's cultivation in his next life. Therefore, everyone helped to keep the news a secret.
Qingyan nodded obediently. Lanxi followed Li Dequan in from outside. Looking at Qingyan's well-behaved appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little confused.
When Fei Yanggu was at the camp, Qingyan rarely came to see Kangxi, and now, the scene before him was something that had never happened before.
"This servant greets His Majesty, the Imperial Concubine, and the Fourth Prince." Fuquan and the others had not yet arrived; only the two adults and two children were inside the tent.
"You should take the pulse of the prince first." Kangxi believed that he was the one most severely poisoned, while Yinzhi should not have been poisoned much.
In the past, they often said that Yin would protect Qingyan at all times, but in reality, the opposite was often true.
Lan Xi looked at the emperor in surprise. He wasn't good at gynecology.
After taking the imperial concubine's pulse through the silk, he was stunned. After a careful examination, he felt as if he had fallen into a freezer, and cold sweat kept pouring down his forehead.
The Imperial Concubine's pulse indicates that she has been poisoned, and the poison must have been administered after she went to war.
"Lanxi, how is it?" At this moment, Kangxi hoped that Lanxi would prove that Yinhe and Qingyan were just too nervous. Looking at Lanxi's face, his expectations dwindled.
"Your Majesty, let this servant take your pulse first." Consort Tong and Emperor Kangxi lived and ate together. If Consort Tong had health problems, Emperor Kangxi must also have health problems.
After taking his pulse, Lan Xi sweated even more. He was filled with resentment. After all, who had attacked His Majesty and Guizhu? And this poison... was still in the hands of the Mongol nobles.
"Where are the two little ones?" Kangxi was uneasy. This poison must involve certain people, otherwise, Lanxi wouldn't be ashen-faced.
Fifteen minutes later, Lan Xi looked as if she had been pulled out of the water; her back was completely soaked.
"This servant deserves to die!" Lanxi retorted angrily.
In the military camp, he was the only one who knew about poisons. Every day, he would check the meals of Emperor Kangxi and others several times, fearing that someone might try to harm them from behind.
"How is it?" Kangxi still had a hint of anticipation in his heart.
“Your Majesty, you and the Imperial Concubine have been poisoned. The Fourth Prince and Princess Qingyan are in better condition, with only slight poisoning.” Lanxi recalled how they had gotten the poison in. “Every day, this servant personally goes to the Imperial Kitchen to check.”
At this moment, Fuquan, along with Feiyanggu and others, came over. They had been discussing how to deal with the Mongol princes in Fuquan's tent when suddenly, Li Dequan's apprentice told them to go to the imperial tent.
At Kangxi's suggestion, Lanxi personally examined the pulses of several important officials, and sure enough, they had all been poisoned.
"It is my imperial cuisine that has implicated you all." Kangxi smiled bitterly. He did not expect that anyone would want him to die because of his wealth, and even Yin and Qingyan could not escape it.
Fuquan stared at Kangxi in astonishment. Since the expedition, they had been eating together almost constantly. Could it be...?
"Neither the fourth son nor Xiao Guai were spared. If it weren't for these two children discovering something amiss today, we would only be able to say we were wrongfully killed when we arrived in the underworld." Kangxi had Fuquan and the others pass on the list of incompatible foods presented by Qingyan. After they read it one by one, their expressions were not very good.
Normally, they didn't pay much attention to these things. Fuquan was even more concerned about the premature deaths of his children, something the women in the backyard should be well aware of.
“This is the fat monk’s handwriting.” Lan Xi knew the fat monk; he was the second son of the Poison Saint, and he had become a monk to escape the pursuit of his enemies.
"It's for Xiao Guai. The fat monk and Xiao Guai have a very good relationship." Kangxi nodded, acknowledging Xiao Guai's contribution in sharing the recipe.
Lan Xi gave a wry smile. There were many food combinations on the list that he didn't know were incompatible, and some of them could even cause death.
Fuquan carefully examined the food combinations that were considered incompatible. One of them was that consuming excessive amounts of dates and shrimp could turn into arsenic...
"Damn it!" Fuquan's face darkened. His eldest son had died from arsenic poisoning. At the time, he and his wife had been searching for the culprit, turning almost every pharmacy upside down, but the killer was never found...
"Second brother, think about it carefully, where did the dates and river shrimp come from back then?" Kangxi was also puzzled. Fuquan did not have many children, and even his sons who died young were taken away by these incompatible foods.
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