The next day, upon receiving the news, Emperor Kangxi angrily slammed down on the Yuan blue-and-white porcelain teacup in his hand. Consort Tong sat silently in her chair, her face even more grim.
"Shu, who prepared the fruit puree for the Imperial Kitchen? Who handled it?" Consort Tong coldly looked outside the tent. Right under His Majesty's nose, the Imperial Kitchen still dared to tamper with things.
He paced back and forth angrily, the twins having survived several life-or-death ordeals.
“All those involved have been detained by Eunuch Li and are being personally interrogated by Tu Lichen,” Shu reported.
Kangxi stroked his beard. Thankfully, Yinzhi and Qingyan hadn't given the children any complementary foods yesterday, otherwise...
"Bring the fourth prince and Xiao Guai over here. Also, have Imperial Physician Yuan come over." Kangxi was still worried; the little ones should have a check-up.
"Yes!" Li Dequan received the order and quickly left the imperial tent.
Nearly eight hours have passed since the incident yesterday, and Tulichen and his men have still not found the real culprit, which greatly angered Kangxi.
After breakfast, news spread throughout the camp that the twins had been ambushed again. The prince's primary wife reacted with a mix of schadenfreude, worry, and indifference.
The Crown Princess even joked with the maids that after the birth of the twins, the Fourth Prince's residence was plagued by misfortunes. Although they were twins, they were still being targeted and trouble was frequently encountered.
From wet nurses to maids, how many people were personally beaten to death by Yin? How many of those beaten to death were innocent? These injustices will all be attributed to the children.
"Your Highness is right. One shouldn't be too arrogant. Let's see how Fourth Princess Consort will handle this." Cherry has been with the Crown Princess for many years. Ever since Fourth Princess Consort gave birth to twins, the Crown Princess's life has become difficult.
Whenever the Crown Princess's family came to pay their respects, they would advise her to take good care of her health and, ideally, to give birth to a legitimate son for her, so that she could secure her position as the Crown Prince's primary consort.
Moreover, the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess became increasingly strained, and the concubines gained more and more favor from the Crown Prince. After the birth of the eldest son born out of wedlock, the Crown Princess had no way to deal with the situation except for the legitimate wife.
Even the eldest daughter born to the Crown Princess did not have as grand an entrance as the illegitimate daughter of a concubine.
During the autumn harvest, the Crown Princess saw Yin and Qingyan coming out together with their twins, and her longing for her daughter grew even stronger.
When Li Dequan led his men to the Fourth Prince's tent, Qingyan was directing the maids to pack up the twins' bedding, and even the sheets were being dried in the sun behind the tent. All the ingredients used in the small kitchen were produced by Qingyan's space, and everything that had been taken from the Imperial Kitchen had been sent to Suzhu's tent.
“Your Majesty, the vegetables have been soaked in a special medicinal solution, which is extremely harmful to the Princess Consort’s health.” Su Zhu inspected the ingredients sent by the Imperial Kitchen, and almost all of them had this kind of medicinal solution on them.
"Prepare those ingredients and take them to the imperial tent." Yin was in a very bad mood and prepared these things to send to the imperial tent.
Qingyan glanced at him; it was obvious that these people were coming for her.
Su Peisheng stood at the door, listening to Yin's orders. He quickly instructed the servants below to carry out the orders swiftly. Having served his master for many years, this was the first time he had ever seen his master so angry.
More and more things were being carried out of the small kitchen outside the tent, and many servants were quietly trying to find out what the Fourth Master was going to do.
The servants who served them closely were all extremely tight-lipped, and they would simply laugh off any inquiries or offers of money from outsiders.
The local people were fair in rewarding and punishing their servants, and loyal servants would receive a considerable reward at the end of each year.
Compared to the Third Princess Consort, Qingyan was considered a good master by the servants. She never easily had someone beaten to death, and each punishment was based on rules that had been set in advance.
Later, Yin and his wife took the children to the imperial tent, where baskets of food were carried in.
After bowing, Yin respectfully explained to Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong, "Father, I would like to ask Imperial Physician Yuan to take a look at what kind of medicinal solution was used to soak these ingredients."
What!?
Consort Tong looked at Qingyan in surprise. The ingredients in the small kitchen were all carefully selected by Qingyan. How could they have been infected?
“Mother, it was sent from the Imperial Kitchen. After hearing the report from the servants, I’m worried that these things might have gotten into my sisters-in-law’s private kitchens as well,” Qingyan quickly added.
She worried that Kangxi would think that Yinzhi lacked the ability to solve problems and needed the intervention of a senior official in everything.
"Yes, after Physician Yuan examines the children's pulses, go check on the ingredients." Kangxi nodded in satisfaction. Qingyan's concerns were valid. Both the eldest son's family and Qingyan had brought their children with them, and they couldn't afford to let anything happen to the children.
The air pressure in the tent dropped instantly. Li Dequan looked at the four or five baskets of food stored in the middle of the tent and then asked Liang Jiugong to go to the imperial kitchen to check if there was anything wrong with the food there.
Each prince had his own small kitchen, in order to prevent the imperial kitchen from being too busy to serve the emperor's meals.
"Your Majesty, the young prince and princess are in good health. Just give them more fruit or vegetable puree," Physician Yuan said directly.
The two children were in good health, and he noticed that there was quite a lot of fruit among the ingredients.
He picked up the ingredients and smelled them. He couldn't help but feel relieved that the Fourth Princess Consort had prepared fruit puree for the two young masters using fruit she had secretly prepared; otherwise, the children might have had problems.
"Your Majesty, these vegetables have been soaked in medicinal liquid and have a faint safflower smell. If the little princess uses them, her health will be ruined from a young age." Imperial Physician Yuan would not speak up for the Fourth Prince's wife.
However, Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen was a princess among twins, of noble status. If she were truly ruined by the servants, even Emperor Kangxi would be more furious. He acted according to the emperor's wishes, and would directly flatter whoever his master held dear.
"Any other problems?" Kangxi was annoyed. Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen was only a little girl, and these people had already set their sights on her. After more than ten years of harm, it was still a question whether the little girl could grow up safely.
"Furthermore, if Your Highness frequently consumes dishes made with these kinds of seasonal vegetables, it may cause considerable harm to your health." Imperial Physician Yuan would speak of the worst-case scenario, after all, Consort Tong was the Emperor's darling, and anyone who dared to touch her was considered taboo.
Consort Tong smiled, for there was never a quiet moment in the palace. She had been taking detoxifying medicine, and in addition, Yin and Qingyan would often give her detoxifying pills, which helped to improve her health.
"Lanya, is there a small kitchen in Chenggan Palace?" Kangxi quickly turned to look at Consort Tong.
Pfft!
"No, all the ingredients I use now are prepared by Qingyan every morning and sent to the palace by Yin." Consort Tong had long known that there was something wrong with the medicinal materials distributed by Chenggan Palace.
Since Yinhe Qingyan took over the supply of ingredients for Chenggan Palace, her health has improved significantly.
"Hmm?!" Kangxi was puzzled. The account books submitted by the Imperial Household Department showed ingredients sent by the Imperial Kitchen. (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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