Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 434: A false alarm...just that?
"You know what it is and you eat it carelessly? Even if the chef is just following the rules to cook the dish, do you know what others put in it? Spit it out quickly... If you can't spit it out, press the root of your tongue with your fingers and force yourself to vomit. Move quickly and don't drag your feet. Nothing is more important than life. If you can't spit it out, drink water to induce vomiting..."
Almost subconsciously, Zhang Shou tightly grasped Zhu Ying's arm, and he was almost incoherent as he spoke. When he found that Zhu Ying was first shocked, then dazed, and finally showed an increasingly obvious smile on her face, he belatedly realized the most important problem.
If it was a poison that could cause the queen to vomit and have diarrhea, then there should be an immediate reaction after the poison was administered. And Zhu Ying didn't know what she had eaten or how much she had eaten, but she was still energetic until now, which at least meant that she should not have been poisoned. Of course, he didn't want to think about the possibility of a chronic poison!
It was not until she noticed Zhang Shou quickly let go of her hand that Zhu Ying said with a smile, "Your Majesty is just worried and confused, that's why he's so scared. I'm not afraid at all! What food is poisonous? The food from the Queen's place has been collected and fed to the cats, there's nothing wrong with it. But the Second Prince is still yelling that you're harming him, so I'll take a couple more bites to try!"
At this point, the young lady with raised eyebrows said in a resounding voice: "Since I am fine now, it proves that the food is not poisonous!"
The emperor, who had almost been scared into a cold sweat by Zhu Ying just now, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He saw Mother Li and the other man supporting the pale-faced lady dowager in, and he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead and strode forward to greet them.
He extended his hand to support the lady who was about to bow, and then forced a smile and said, "I don't know what to say that you have disturbed your aunt to come here in person just for such a matter of our children. Yingying..."
The lady saw Zhu Ying jumping around and chattering around Zhang Shou, who was still in a daze, and the second prince was still dumbfounded a few steps away, as if he was completely dumbfounded. She sighed and said, "This is really a troubled time. How could such a mess happen? Didn't the second prince also offer food to the Qianqing Palace? How do you think the food is?"
The emperor glanced at the staggering second prince, then patiently explained to the lady dowager.
"I just didn't have much of an appetite, so I just tried two of them and didn't feel uncomfortable. I distributed the rest to everyone in the Qianqing Palace, and no one said anything wrong. Yingying just ate the crab soup dumplings that were collected from Kunning Palace. It is said that the queen vomited and had diarrhea soon after eating this, but the cat didn't have any reaction after eating it."
"Yingying heard Erlang's sarcasm and couldn't help but do something stupid. I am really scared of her." At this point, he immediately asked in a stern voice: "Hasn't the Imperial Hospital come yet? Could it be that something happened in Kunning Palace, so everyone from top to bottom ran to Kunning Palace, leaving no one behind?"
It was not until this moment that Zhang Shou came back to his senses. When the distraught Second Prince noticed his gaze, he immediately glared at him fiercely. His hatred was so real that he couldn't help but laugh secretly. Then, he glanced at the eldest lady who was not afraid at all, and then walked towards the emperor.
"Your Majesty, if all the food has been tested and confirmed to be non-toxic, then in my opinion, the biggest possibility for the Queen's vomiting and diarrhea is only one. I heard that she had an irregular diet before? If so, it is not surprising that she had such a reaction after suddenly eating something greasy like crab roe soup dumplings."
At this point, Zhang Shou glanced at Zhu Ying who was looking at him, and laughed, "Of course, Yingying ate a completely cold crab soup dumpling, and the cold air entered her stomach. She might feel uncomfortable for a few days. So, she'll probably have to rest quietly for a few days and drink some porridge to clear her stomach."
Zhu Ying finally realized Zhang Shou's "evil" intentions and almost got angry: "A Shou, do you want to starve me to death?"
"The Queen has been able to starve for so many days, so why can't you starve?" Zhang Shou smiled, but then said solemnly, "But there is one most important thing, Your Majesty, I heard from the Madam that the Queen often goes on hunger strike?"
The emperor, who had been stern all the time, finally curled up his lips slightly at Zhang Shou's "reasonable" explanation for the empress's vomiting and diarrhea. He then nodded and said, "That's right. Although Kunning Palace has long been served food from the Empress Dowager's Qingning Palace's kitchenette, the empress still refuses to eat every few days. Even if she eats, she will vomit it all out after a while."
So when the emperor heard the empress vomiting and having diarrhea and shouting that she was poisoned, his first reaction was that woman had started crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang herself again... He was very curious at first, because the food was clearly sent by the Second Prince, his own son, so what else could she do? He didn't expect that the Second Prince would be so shameless as to claim that it was the Yangzhou chef who poisoned Zhang Shou just because he had eaten at the Yangzhou Guild Hall!
After hearing the emperor's explanation, Zhang Shou's original suspicion turned into certainty. He smiled meaningfully at the resentful second prince standing beside him, and said calmly, "If the queen often goes on hunger strike and even has the habit of vomiting after eating, then I'm sorry to say that this is not a good sign."
He took a deep breath and then made his tone sound heavy or even sad: "The King of Chu likes thin waists, so many people in the palace starve to death. This is about those state officials who should have been assisting the king, but in order to win the king's favor, they changed their three meals to just one, and even didn't eat this one meal well, just to starve to a waist that was not even as thin as a hand."
"However, everyone has a desire for food. Some people want to lose weight, but they can't help their greed. So after occasionally indulging in a lot of food, they keep vomiting in order to maintain their figure. This vicious cycle eventually..."
After a short pause, he said word by word, "Eventually, it will lead to a very terrible disease - anorexia. When you are in a critical condition, even if there are thousands of delicacies in front of you, you don't even want to look at them, let alone eat them, because you will get used to vomiting after eating. That's why so many people starved to death in the palace during the reign of King Ling of Chu. I am very worried that if the queen continues like this, she will repeat the same mistake."
Zhu Ying curled her lips, feeling extremely disapproving in her heart, but when she saw the lady shaking her head at her, she forced herself to hold back, thinking to herself wouldn't it be better if that woman died?
The emperor looked at Zhang Shou, who had a calm face, and nodded in appreciation: "Zhang Qing's reminder can be regarded as repaying evil with kindness. You should let some people see your broad-mindedness and tolerance. They should be ashamed."
The second prince did not expect that the emperor would actually believe Zhang Shou's nonsense. He was so angry that his face turned pale and he instinctively shouted loudly: "Father..."
"Shut up!" The emperor glared at the second prince, causing his face to turn pale. He then ordered without even turning his head, "Send someone to Kunning Palace to urge them. It's been so long and no imperial physician has come yet. What if Yingying really has a problem with the food she eats? Besides, doesn't the queen claim to vomit everything? Send her a bowl of pheasant soup and see if she will vomit again!"
"If she vomited this, it means she has ruined her body and has anorexia, there is no doubt about it!"
Liu Feng, the steward of the Qianqing Palace, had remained silent from the beginning. When he heard Zhang Shou categorize the queen's so-called poisoning as anorexia in just a few words, he was secretly amazed, but also secretly awed. However, he did not intend to speak rashly, but just quickly glanced at the second prince.
Sure enough, the Second Prince suddenly revealed an extremely sad and angry expression. He fell to his knees with a plop and said loudly, "Father, the imperial physician has not yet made a diagnosis. How can you take Zhang Shou's random conjecture seriously..."
Zhu Ying raised her eyebrows in anger, and quickly stood in front of Zhang Shou, blocking the Second Prince's resentful gaze: "What's wrong with Shou? He knows more ingredients than you have walked across bridges, so how could he not guess your little trick?"
"Oh, you still want to insist that it was poisoning? He just went to someone's restaurant to eat twice. How did he know that you would kidnap someone from Yangzhou Guild Hall and take him home? Or do you want to say that he has magic that can control you to kidnap someone and cook for you? Oh, right, you insisted before that you cooked the food and presented it to him, but when something went wrong, you put the blame on the chef. As a prince, do you have any responsibility?"
The Second Prince was so angry at Zhu Ying's scolding, but the Emperor had just seen Zhu Ying eat something that seemed to be poisonous, and her expression seemed to be even more furious than when she learned that the Queen was poisoned. He did not dare to get angry at all, and could only grit his teeth and clench his fists until they crackled. But he could no longer hold back.
"You said the queen was poisoned... I said you and your son were acting in a double act, the monkeys were playing tricks on the emperor!"
"Zhu Ying, stop spitting blood at me!"
The second prince was completely furious. He was a hot-tempered person to begin with, and at this moment, he climbed up with his hands and rushed straight towards Zhu Ying. At this moment, he completely forgot that this was the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and that his father, whom he had always revered the most, was still in front of him. He only wanted to slap the woman who never gave him face.
However, he was faced with a smiling, calm face. The next moment, that face disappeared in front of him, and the face in front of him turned into Zhang Shou's. His raised hand was grabbed by someone, and then he felt a sharp pain in three fingers as if they were broken, and the whole person flew up into the sky.
When he fell heavily to the ground, his head was still dazed. Wasn't Zhang Shou a weak scholar who could only hide behind Zhu Ying? How could he hit him... How dare he hit him!
When Zhang Shou heard the news from the Madam, he wanted to beat up the Second Prince. Just now, he finally found the opportunity and took the opportunity to push Zhu Ying behind him. After giving him a fierce shoulder throw, he seemed to suddenly realize it and immediately turned around and bowed deeply to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was impulsive at the moment."
Zhang Shou's blow to the man just now was really heavy... This guy always seems to be so decisive and reckless? The emperor was surprised, and thought of how he had acted in this way when he defended Zhang Chen, Zhang Wu, and Zhang Lu, and how he was doing it now when he defended Zhu Ying. He felt that Zhang Shou seemed gentle, but in his heart he was an extremely tough person.
However, even he had to admit that although Zhu Ying was sharp-tongued just now, it was the Second Prince who had brought trouble upon himself by speaking without restraint. If it wasn't his own son, he would have even wanted to scold and beat him!
At this time, the lady also coughed lightly, then stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, it was because of me that I always indulged Yingying, which led to her speaking rudely. It was all her fault. Although Zhang Shou acted impulsively, it was also to protect Yingying."
Zhu Ying, who was originally unwilling to accept the accusation, saw the lady suddenly look up at her, so she quickly stepped forward and bowed her head to admit her mistake - of course, she was just pretending, she had the attitude of bowing her head, but she couldn't even think about admitting her mistake!
At this moment, a fearful voice finally came from outside: "Your Majesty, I am Chen, the director of the Imperial Hospital..."
"Don't stand outside the door, come in and talk!" The emperor immediately stopped looking at the second prince who seemed unable to get up from the ground, and gave a solemn order. When Chen Yuanshi came in, he asked directly, "What's the matter with the queen? I don't want to listen to those complicated medical theories, just give me a clear answer."
Envoy Chen had prepared a vague explanation, which he would have just glossed over, but the emperor pressed him, and he hesitated. When he saw the second prince lying on the ground, groaning and unable to get up, he was not sure if he had been beaten by the emperor or what, so he hurriedly told the truth.
"Although the Queen insisted that the traitor used the Second Prince's name to poison him, she had not eaten much water or rice for many days and was weak. She ate crab roe soup dumplings, which were cold in nature, so her esophagus and stomach could not bear the stimulation for a while, so she vomited and had diarrhea. If she wants to recuperate, she only needs to cook white porridge carefully and drink it for a few days to gradually regulate her stomach qi, and then supplement it with other light but nourishing ingredients to replenish qi..."
Envoy Chen continued to talk a lot, but the main point was clear, including the Second Prince on the ground and Liu Feng who stood like a wooden man, everyone understood. Didn't he mean that the Queen was suffering from hunger, eating greasy and cold food, so she vomited and had diarrhea? What poisoning? It was just a false alarm!
"So that's how it is." The emperor sneered and said calmly, "The chef of the Yangzhou Guild Hall suffered such an unprovoked disaster for no reason, but he was also wronged. These tea snacks he made are delicious and fragrant, and Zhang Shou, a foodie, has praised them before, so he should just stay in the imperial kitchen. If anyone dares to say anything, the palace maids will be sent to the laundry department, and the eunuchs will be sent to guard the imperial mausoleum."
After saying this, he said in a deep voice: "The Queen Mother has already taken the Queen's seal and ribbon, but she didn't expect the Queen to reflect on her mistakes behind closed doors and behave unbecomingly like a royal concubine. I will ask the cabinet minister Wu Qing to come to the palace and draft an edict. I want to depose the Queen!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole room fell silent. However, except for the frightened Second Prince, everyone else had the same idea.
The emperor has endured for too long, and this day has finally come!
