Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, Li Dequan hurriedly woke the two of them from their sleep. Yin got up and looked at Su Peisheng pacing around.
He walked out wearing a bathrobe, and Su Peisheng leaned close to his ear and whispered that something had happened to some of the ministers who had disembarked to go to the county town.
"Should we send Xiao Guai too?" Yin realized something was amiss.
Su Peisheng nodded, probably hoping everyone would be present; even Songkelierha was carried onto the imperial ship.
"When did Father Emperor return?" Yin was stunned. Kangxi's departure had caused such a commotion, yet he hadn't heard a sound.
He needs to put in more effort!
"Send breakfast to the imperial ship," Yin instructed.
He returned to the inner chamber and looked at the little girl sleeping soundly in the quilt. He couldn't bear to wake her, so he took the little girl into his arms.
"Little darling, get up quickly! Father Emperor wants us to go to the Imperial Boat. Something terrible has happened!" Yin whispered in her ear, and she was stunned.
"Huh?!" Qingyan opened her eyes groggily, half-asleep, and heard Yin's mutterings, so she couldn't help but open her eyes.
“Someone went out without saying anything!” Yin helped Qingyan change her clothes, and Sulan came in with her maids.
Since Su Xin's incident, Yin gave an order that the servants serving her could no longer be the first to know the inside story.
"Sulan, just tie your hair in a simple bun. You don't need such elaborate headdresses when wearing Hanfu." Qingyan glanced at Yin and saw that his expression was not good, so she tried to minimize the time spent washing and grooming.
After changing into the light blue Hanfu, I felt much cooler. The palace attire was far too thick, and the brocade fabric was basically not breathable.
A quarter of an hour later, she emerged from the inner chamber under Yin's astonished gaze. He looked at Xiaoguai's plain face, then lightly dusted it with egg-yolk powder and drew eyeliner...
"Let's go!" Qingyan followed Yin away triumphantly. She had experimented with this eyeliner for a long time, and in the end, she used the ancient formula of Cleopatra's eyeliner.
In modern times, a third of Cleopatra's ancient formulas for forgiving have disappeared or are listed as endangered species, making replication extremely difficult. Now, however, she possesses the ability to combine this with the beauty secrets of the Qing Dynasty, ultimately designing an eyeliner that eliminates the panda eyes that once appeared, even with sweating.
She sat on the boat, leaning on Yin's shoulder, her stomach growling with hunger.
"Sisi, we haven't had breakfast yet." Qingyan blushed as she listened to her stomach protesting.
Yin squeezed her little hand. With her by his side, their daily routine became more regular, and they ate their meals at the prescribed times. Imperial Physician Yuan had given them a lot of advice on how to quickly finish their meals.
"Let's go to Father Emperor's place. My sister-in-law and Songkelierha have both come over!" Qingyan was puzzled. Had something serious happened?
With even more guard ships surrounding the imperial ship, Qingyan felt increasingly uncertain.
"Little darling, don't be nervous!" Yin whispered to comfort her, trying to help her relax.
Yin boarded the ship first, while Li Dequan waited at the cabin door. When the two of them appeared, Li Dequan came to greet them.
"Fourth Master, only you and Fourth Princess are missing!" Li Dequan said solemnly.
In the past, Li Dequan was always cheerful with the princes and their wives, but today, there was not a trace of a smile on his face.
This is a huge problem!
Suddenly, Qingyan entered the inner cabin and found that Yingenjueluo and others were sitting at the dining table, and Songkelierha had also been asked by Kangxi to attend the banquet.
"Have breakfast first!" Emperor Kangxi ordered his sons to remain silent while eating and sleeping.
After breakfast, Kangxi ordered Li Dequan to go outside and stop the ministers from disturbing him. He looked at the two brothers, Yin and Yin, and saw that the Crown Prince had been ordered by Kangxi to stay on the boat. Even if something happened outside, the Crown Prince was not summoned.
Li Dequan informed everyone that the two people who had been infected with the plague were of low rank and had no guards protecting them.
Where they went, no one but themselves knew.
"Imperial Physician Yuan, please state the results of your pulse diagnosis. Shu, have the room prepared. From today onwards, both Yinzhi and Yinzhi's families will reside here. The Crown Prince's ships have also been sealed off. No one is allowed to enter or leave!" Kangxi had decided that all three children he had brought with him must be protected.
"Father, this is against the rules!" It wasn't that Yin didn't want to, but rather that he didn't want anyone to talk about Kangxi.
"Don't overthink it, Songkrilha, come to Grandfather!" Kangxi hugged the little girl, his heart softening at her smiling face. "Do you want the little girl to get the plague?"
Yin and Lady Yin Genjue both lowered their heads; they did not want anything to happen to their child.
"It's not yet certain how many people have been infected." These two have been on the ship for several days. Fortunately, he and Consort Tong have been on Yin's ship and rarely meet with ministers, so there is no problem to worry about.
"Then the treatment medicine..." We still have quinine pills; we should be able to use them.
"Fourth Master, these two people's problems aren't entirely due to the epidemic," said the female relatives of Imperial Physician Yuan, who was sitting quietly, believing that this shouldn't be discussed.
Yin and Yin exchanged a glance; the imperial physician Yuan's hint made them frown.
Qingyan stood to the side, holding a teacup, inwardly complaining. These officials who came out, apart from those in high positions of power, did not bring any female relatives. They had been out for several months, and apart from palace maids, no female relatives had appeared. It was only natural that some people could not bear it anymore.
“Now, Lord Wei Dongting’s men have informed us that there has been an outbreak of disease in the county town. Half of the people in the commercial street that the Fourth Prince’s wife went to have contracted the disease.” Imperial Physician Yuan believed that what Qingyan mentioned was quite important. “The people investigating there said that since the end of March this year, there have been large-scale deaths of chickens and ducks in several neighboring villages.”
Kangxi's mouth gaped slightly in surprise. Xiao Guai's subordinates managed many businesses, and the Yuelai Inn was spread throughout the Qing Dynasty. She knew the lives of the people in every place better than the imperial censors who came to inspect.
"Little darling, how do you know these are pathogens?!" Kangxi didn't believe that those miscellaneous records would contain such detailed information.
"It was the managers who said that some employees tried to sell sick chickens from their homes to the inn, but they were fired after the managers found out!" Upon hearing this, Kangxi couldn't help but feel annoyed. How could his servants do their jobs?
Yin gripped her hand tightly, pondering how to punish them.
"The servants of the Imperial Household Department dare not bring these up for His Majesty's use, but the meals of those ministers are a different story. As long as the source is not traced, no one can find out after they are cooked!" Imperial Physician Yuan replied directly.
Qingyan only needed to offer some minor support; the rest, Imperial Physician Yuan believed, should be handled by himself.
She can stay behind the scenes. Last night, Fei Yanggu specifically sought out him and Wei Dongting about Qingyan's matter. As a father, Fei Yanggu was quite concerned.
"Investigate, you must investigate." Kangxi was most worried that the servants of the Imperial Household Department might make such a choice for money.
The plight of the county's residents left him somewhat fearful. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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