As noon approached, Su Lan hurriedly entered the study, interrupting Qing Yan's conversation with the children. She looked tense, as if something serious had happened.
"What's wrong?!" Qingyan asked.
"Your Majesty, there's a problem with the kitchen. The food prepared for His Majesty has been found to contain toxins." Su Lan shivered as if she had been trapped in an ice cave.
Everything on the ship was prepared by them personally, yet this still happened, causing Su Lan and the others to break out in a cold sweat.
What?!
Qingyan stood up directly from the armchair and walked around the chair twice.
"Suzhu, take Yiken'e and Hutulifengshengzhalafen to Consort Tong's place," Qingyan took two deep breaths to calm herself down completely. "Sulan, come with me to the kitchen and have Suhua inform my sister-in-law."
Qingyan closed her eyes, pondering in her mind what exactly she had done wrong to the other party.
"Little darling, how could there be poison?" Yin heard Su Peisheng's words and returned directly from the observation room.
“It’s not clear yet. I’m going to the kitchen. If it’s a problem with the ingredients, we can resolve it when we return to Hong Kong. If it’s a problem with the kitchen, we’ll need Tu Lichen’s help.” Qingyan’s back was covered in cold sweat. “Luckily, I reminded them once that they must conduct a full poison test before each meal delivery.”
Qingyan prepared a lot of silver needles, which were specially provided for these servants who delivered the meals. If poison was found in their plates, then these people would become the primary targets of the investigation.
"I'll go with you!" Yin held Qingyan's cold little hand, thinking to himself that if it really was one of Qingyan's subordinates who had a problem, he could also exonerate her.
If Su Zhu hadn't personally gone to re-examine the food, these meals would have been served. After they ate together and discovered the toxins, they wouldn't have been able to explain themselves even if they were in the right.
The entrance to the kitchen was already surrounded by the guards brought by Emperor Kangxi. When Qingyan entered the kitchen, Imperial Physician Yuan was already inside examining the testicles.
After bowing, Imperial Physician Yuan quickly continued looking at the dishes. Qingyan stood aside without saying a word. The servants knelt on both sides, their heads bowed. They all felt extremely unlucky. They had finally managed to get a chance to "show their faces" in front of His Majesty, but now, their lives might be in danger.
“There’s nothing wrong with these meals!” Imperial Physician Yuan gave this answer.
At the door, Yin heard Physician Yuan's conclusion and was stunned for a moment.
"What did you say?!" Yin questioned directly, "Aren't those blackened silver needles in that plate poisonous?"
Imperial Physician Yuan sighed inwardly. Yin was indeed short-tempered; he hadn't even finished speaking.
“Your Highness, please let me finish,” Imperial Physician Yuan quickly explained. “These dishes would be perfectly fine eaten on their own. Su Zhu meant well, but she accidentally put two potentially incompatible dishes together, which is why the needle is black.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qingyan felt relieved. The ingredients were fine; the problem must lie with the chef to produce such a dish.
“Master, these are the cooks who prepare the meals. Their identities have all been investigated, and none of them know any medicine!” Su Zhu also quickly investigated their backgrounds and found that these people all had clean backgrounds.
"Who made these menus?" Qingyan asked directly. The meal list should have been prepared by Lady Yingenjueluo and her, but some things needed to be resolved on the ship during this period, so the meals were listed according to the list from the palace.
"A similar problem may have occurred within the palace!" Imperial Physician Yuan glanced at the list and inwardly cried out in alarm.
This list was clearly made on purpose. It was used by the Empress Dowager before her death, and it was probably made by someone to warn Emperor Kangxi.
"Inside the palace?!" Yin Genjue Luo exclaimed in surprise.
Yin Genjue Luo and Qing Yan exchanged a glance, and they saw confusion in each other's eyes.
The imperial kitchen's list was basically drafted by people from the Imperial Medical Academy, so there shouldn't be any similar problems.
"This servant will personally inform His Majesty that the Prince Zhi, the Fourth Prince, and their wives should accompany us." Knowing there was no way to avoid it, Imperial Physician Yuan quickly dragged the others towards the observation room.
Inside the room, Emperor Kangxi's eyes blazed with rage. His imperial guards appeared, and Consort Tong sat on the soft couch, holding Hafeng'a and Duoxihui in her arms.
"Father, this menu came from inside the palace!" Yin realized that someone had deliberately created this menu.
Kangxi took the list handed to him by Yinzhen, and his brows furrowed even more as he looked at the names of the dishes. These were all dishes that the Imperial Medical Academy had specially prepared for the Empress Dowager.
"Lanya, you take the eldest son and the fourth son's wife and leave first." Kangxi didn't want his two daughters-in-law to know, so he simply told them to leave.
Yin glanced at Kangxi and knew there was something wrong here.
When Qingyan saw the list, he knew it came from the Cining Palace, indicating that people from the Cining Palace had already infiltrated the southern inspection team.
"Little darling, do you know the names on that list?" Consort Tong asked Qingyan after taking her seat.
Qingyan waved his hand, and Suzhu handed over a copied menu with the names of the dishes on it.
After receiving it, Consort Tong glanced down at it and exclaimed, "The meals from Cining Palace!"
Yin Genjueluo and Qingyan exchanged glances. They rarely went to Cining Palace to serve meals, so they probably didn't know as much as Consort Tong did.
"This list?" Qingyan asked.
"Pretty much. These circled dishes are the Empress Dowager's favorites, and she has them at almost every meal!" Consort Tong said directly.
Qingyan's face showed a solemn expression. Clearly, the people on the Mongolian side blamed Kangxi for this matter, so the servants arranged for people to hide directly in the kitchen.
"Could it be that the people in the kitchen were arranged by the Mongols?" Qingyan asked.
Consort Tong nodded: "Go and investigate to see if there are any connections with Mongolia!"
“There should be someone. I saw someone in the kitchen who looked familiar!” Yin Genjueluo said, accompanying Yin.
"You know her?" Consort Tong asked, looking at Lady Yin Genjue Luo.
“Yes,” Yingenjueluo nodded, “I saw that person when I went to Mongolia with my grandfather!”
Consort Tong's heart skipped a beat: "Eldest daughter-in-law, take some men to the kitchen and drag that person out!"
After the incident, Emperor Kangxi immediately ordered the imperial kitchen to be cordoned off.
"Yes!" Yin Genjue Luo Shi replied.
Pushing open the door to the observation room, Lady Yin Genjue Luo led her guards to the imperial kitchen, intending to drag the man out.
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