Within three days, disagreements arose among the censors. Imperial Physician Yuan had stated beforehand that the epidemic had been contained, but not eradicated; rather, it had not been taken seriously enough, and the people should treat it as a seasonal epidemic.
The people sent by Tu Lichen kept bringing news, and Wei Dongting even went to all the places Qingyan had been. He had to admit that Fei Yanggu's daughter was really quite remarkable.
"Dongting, what's your opinion?" Kangxi brought Yin and Yin to see Wei Dongting. Yin had always thought that Qingyan had made a mountain out of a molehill.
"Your Majesty, even a rough man like Fei Yanggu has a daughter like this, we should all be ashamed of ourselves!" Wei Dongting laughed, "Don't glare at me, I'm telling the truth."
Wei Dongting pointed to Fei Yanggu. They grew up together and knew each other's problems and flaws.
"Dongting, you speak in such a flowery way. My little darling is the best. Stop beating around the bush. What's going on? The censors outside have been saying a lot of bad things about my little darling." Wei Dongting got a little agitated while talking about Fei Yanggu, and couldn't help but look at Kangxi, who nodded.
The situation described by Wei Dongting was very similar to that described by Qingyan. However, the doctors at the clinic did not take it seriously after Tu Lichen went to investigate.
"Still the same?" Kangxi looked at Wei Dongting and couldn't help but sigh. The people would never seek medical help unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, the doctors had only found a few cases of the epidemic and had not yet realized the problem.
Wei Dongting nodded, and Qingyan came in, bringing warm tea for everyone and lotus seed tea to Kangxi, Yinzhi, and Yinzhi to help with their internal heat.
Fei Yanggu looked at Xiao Guai, who was dressed in a pink palace dress, with soft-soled shoes and a simple headdress. Apart from people who knew her, everyone who saw her for the first time thought that Qingyan was a palace maid.
"Little Darling, why did you come out in person?" Kangxi took a sip of the bitter Lianxincha and looked at Little Darling's attire, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"Mother said that I should do these things myself, because she doesn't trust the servants." Qingyan stopped there.
Some court officials were considering inviting Emperor Kangxi to a banquet. After her identity was exposed, she was terrified. The Fourth Prince was a cold and ruthless prince, and he had seen all their actions. This... put them in a very difficult position.
"Hmm." Emperor Kangxi tacitly agreed with Consort Tong's opinion.
Emperor Kangxi couldn't be sure whether there were outsiders among his servants.
“Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should try our best to prevent the spread of the epidemic. When I returned, I discussed this with Imperial Physician Yuan. The places where problems occurred were all markets where people gathered, and they rarely had any awareness of prevention,” Wei Dongting said.
Emperor Kangxi closed his eyes slightly. He had found the root of the problem, but he was powerless to stop it.
"Alright, Fei Yanggu, Wei Dongting, and Imperial Physician Yuan stay. Yin and Yin, you two stay. The rest of you may leave." Kangxi rubbed his temples; these censors couldn't give him a good answer either.
After the censors bowed, they all glanced at Qingyan, noticing that the Fourth Princess Consort had not been driven out.
"Little darling, go wait to the side and don't let the servants come in to add water!" With one sentence, Kangxi blocked all the avenues for his court officials to gather information.
Qingyan sat in a corner, listening to Wei Dongting's detailed report.
Yin moved two steps and sat down next to Qingyan, using Qingyan's wide sleeves to pinch her little hands.
He felt uncomfortable when some people were staring at her earlier.
"Don't arrest me!" Qingyan was listening to Kangxi and Fei Yanggu discussing matters when Yin came to find her. "Why don't you go and listen?"
Yin shook his head; he didn't want to concern himself with these issues.
"What are you two doing over there!" Kangxi looked up and saw Yinzhen and Qingyan cuddling in a corner. "Little darling, what do you think?"
Qingyan looked at Kangxi with surprise. This... could it be considered a political matter?
"Fourth Princess Consort, this isn't a political matter. You couldn't go to buy snacks last time, could you?" Wei Dongting also wanted to see; she had the manuscript.
Qingyan blushed. The last time they went out, she was planning to buy some delicious food, but she encountered that situation as soon as she arrived.
"The weather is very hot, so the pork will definitely spoil. This kind of meat is commonly used by ordinary people. It will be very cheap, but it is not very fresh. I heard from the servants that some of the pork sold in that market is from dead pigs that died of disease!" Qingyan recalled that in the countryside, dead poultry would not be thrown away or buried. They would basically be consumed by the whole family.
What!?
Everyone stared at Qingyan in surprise. Poultry raised during the epidemic couldn't generate income for the family, so they could only be used for a treat.
"Little darling, is this true?" Kangxi put down his teacup and looked at Qingyan.
"It shouldn't be wrong. The staff at Yuelai Inn all come from poor families, and they've mentioned this a lot." What the staff meant was that if they wanted to eat meat at home, besides buying the cheapest meat, they ate the rest from their own dead poultry.
"This...this will definitely cause an epidemic," Imperial Physician Yuan exclaimed in alarm, firmly opposing any such situation. "Fourth Princess Consort, won't those people get sick after eating it?"
"No, in rare cases of illness, it's usually attributed to overeating and temporary indigestion!" Qingyan felt sorry for them.
How could the upper class understand the suffering of the common people? All the meat that should have been buried was used up.
"Chicken plague is a type of epidemic, and it is the most contagious. I remember reading in my notes that if one chicken is infected with chicken plague, it can quickly infect all the chickens in the coop, and even the whole village." Qingyan tried hard to recall the information he had seen before, and Imperial Physician Yuan nodded beside him.
"I just don't like reading serious books," Yin muttered softly, and Qingyan glanced at him sideways.
She sat there with her little lips pouting, not saying another word.
"Fourth Prince, Xiao Guai likes to read miscellaneous notes, some of which are quite useful." Kangxi agreed, acknowledging that some of Xiao Guai's words were indeed quite insightful.
“Feiyanggu, you don’t like reading, but Xiaoguai is quite good. However, he’s not on the right path!” Kangxi glared at Yin, but he shared the same sentiment as Yin.
"How could that be? Little Darling just reads serious books. I'd like to read them, though; those words give me a headache." Fei Yanggu chuckled.
Aside from military books, the three of them rarely read anything else. As a result, they were criticized by Emperor Kangxi and Wei Dongting several times, and Fei Yanggu had no way to refute them.
Now, Xiao Guai has finally shown his face.
"It's done. If it weren't for Yin giving Qingyan her early education, could you, a roughneck, have been raised with such refinement?" Kangxi bestowed all the praise upon Yin. Dong Eshi and Qingyan came from similar backgrounds and had similar social statuses, yet they exhibited completely opposite behaviors.
"The good things all belong to the Fourth Prince, and the bad things all belong to me!" Fei Yanggu, seeing that he had a pretty good understanding of the situation, started arguing with Kangxi as usual.
"Dongting, you said it!" Wei Dongting was used to it. They had argued countless times in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the past. Back then, they were truly young and ignorant. Now, they had all become high-ranking officials. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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