Adoption brings disaster

Speaking of the plague, I forcibly saved Chunyu and others who were supposed to be secretly executed. Although it did not anger the emperor, it made me feel panic.

It happened that Li Er presented some wine to the palace. I knew that the emperor liked wine, and Li Er said that this wine was rare, so I presented it to the emperor like a token of my appreciation.

The emperor was extremely satisfied with the wine and, regardless of palace regulations, personally poured me a glass of wine.

The emperor poured the wine himself, so how could I not drink it? But I didn't expect that this glass of wine would bring disaster.

Just one glass and I lost my memory. If I couldn't hold my liquor, it would be fine, but I got drunk and acted crazy. I put my arm around the emperor and acted like we were good brothers.

He also boasted about how great my Zhuangzi was, which aroused the emperor's curiosity. The next day, he went with us to the Zhuangzi to take a look.

After a night of drunkenness, I couldn't remember anything. The next day, Chongguang scared me again, which made me very scared. Fortunately, I was lucky and Li Er was at Zhuangzi's house.

Li Er was very good at reading people's expressions and speaking in a pleasant way, so he didn't let the farmers offend the emperor. He also led the emperor to inspect Zhuangzi all the way, showing him the best of Zhuangzi, so it can't be considered as deceiving the emperor.

I felt a little relieved, and soon it was lunch time. Li Er was well prepared. After asking the emperor for permission, he led us into a room.

It is said that farmers lead extremely simple lives. There is not a trace of luxury in this house. Only the strange fragrance of the wild flowers in the corner and the spotless tables, chairs and benches show that the person who arranged them put a lot of thought into it.

No matter how much effort was put into it, the fact was that the house was low. Although the sun was shining brightly outside, the house was low and had no windows, so it was a little dark inside.

Li Jian saw this and said dissatisfiedly, "This room is too low and too dark. Master, why don't we go out? Don't drop something dirty into the bowl and eat it. What will happen if we eat it?"

The emperor had lived a life of luxury since childhood and had never stayed in such a shabby place. Naturally, he was very unhappy. When he heard Li Jian's advice, he was also somewhat tempted.

Just when the emperor was about to scold Li Jian, Li Jian tried to persuade him again. The emperor was fond of elegance and was in high spirits. He was about to move to the bamboo forest, riverside, willow trees and other places to have his meal.

Li Er had indeed heard what Li Jian said. Although he did not dare to offend the nobleman, he was angry in his heart.

He pretended not to hear and walked in carrying a food box. He put the food box on the table and said, "A farmer's mud house can't compare with the palace's pavilions, but it won't drop anything dirty."

Li Er pointed to the roof and said, "We specially covered this roof with whole banana leaves. Although the farmers look sloppy, they are very conscientious in their work. Please rest assured, my dear friends."

When everyone heard this, they all looked up at the roof. It was indeed covered tightly with banana leaves, and it must have been sealed yesterday. The banana leaves looked very fresh, and you could even smell the unique fragrance of the banana leaves.

The emperor knew that Li Er was pointing at him, and felt a little embarrassed for a moment. He looked at Li Jian coldly, his eyes full of disgust.

The emperor smiled, concealing his embarrassment, and said, "It's rare to find such thoughtful farmers. No wonder Yuan Qing insisted that I come and see it. It's really worth the trip. I just wonder if the food they prepared was just as thoughtful."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir. This food is not exquisite, let alone expensive, but you must have never tasted the ingredients."

The Emperor was immediately interested after hearing this and said, "That's not necessarily true. I was also a famous gourmet when I was young, and the more exotic the food, the more I want to try it. Not to mention the capital, even in Beishang, there are very few ingredients that I haven't tried."

Li Er didn't say much after hearing this. He just opened the food box and saw a few cakes on the plate in the food box. These cakes were a little yellow, and if you look closely you will find that they are of different sizes. Judging from the appearance alone, they have nothing to do with the word "care".

According to the rules, all the food the emperor eats needs to be tested for poison by a special person. When Li Jian saw this, he picked up one and prepared to test it for poison.

Li Er didn't know the emperor's identity, and he was also familiar with the palace rules. He thought it was a servant bullying his master, so he said with some displeasure: "The master hasn't even started eating yet, how come you, a servant, are eating first?"

"Li Er," I whispered, "this is the palace rule."

Li Er was very smart. After hearing this, he immediately understood that Li Jian was testing poison.

He chuckled, took the cake from Li Jian's hand, took a bite and ate it, saying, "If it's necessary to test the poison, it should be me. There's no point in letting a guest do it."

After Li Er ate it, Li Jian picked up another one and ate it. After a while, after confirming that it was non-toxic, we each started eating one piece.

How can I describe this thing? I can't say it's unpalatable, I can only say it's very strange, and the texture is particularly rough. It feels like eating sand in your mouth.

After eating it, there was an aftertaste of woody aroma, which was not an exaggeration to say it was strange, but it was really hard to swallow, so we each ate a small half piece and then put it down.

"What is this made of? I have never eaten this kind of food before." asked the emperor.

Li Er was asked and quickly replied, "This is made of wood flour."

After hearing Li Er's words, the emperor's eyes immediately became sharp, and he said in a low voice: "Are you trying to deceive me? I have never heard of any wood heart powder."

"Of course, your Excellency has never heard of this. This wood heart flour is a newly discovered ingredient on the farm. We have been researching it for a long time. Today, we have managed to make it taste better. The farmers can't wait to present it to His Highness Yuan Qing."

"How did you discover it?" I asked, becoming interested when I heard it was a newly discovered ingredient.

Li Er was happy to know that it was me who asked the question, but he also wanted to explain it in detail.

He bowed deeply towards me and said with a smile on his face, "This is all thanks to His Highness Yuan Qing."

I am far away in the palace. Because of the plague, I can't even leave Qianqiu Pavilion these days. How can it have anything to do with me?

I was puzzled and asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Your Highness is kind-hearted, and the farmers are grateful for your kindness. They built a shrine for you in front of the farm. But Your Highness, mindful of the farmers' poverty and hardship, did not allow them to offer incense, candles, or paper money, but instead asked them to perform one good deed each month. It was this monthly good deed that led us to discover that the heartwood is edible, so it's all thanks to Your Highness's blessing."

"When I entered the farm this morning, I saw farmers walking in groups of three or four, carrying wild flowers. It turned out they were going to Yuan Qing's temple." The emperor said to me with a smile.

"I knew that this temple was built some time ago, but I've been busy lately and forgot about it." I said with a smile.

The emperor did not ask any further questions, but just said that you are still a loyal servant, and then let Li Er continue.

Li Er continued, "There are flying squirrels on this farm. They're terrible for crops. Normally, we kill them when we find them, but we have to find their nest and wipe them out completely."

Li Er was very eloquent, and his voice was rhythmic. For a moment, everyone listened to what Li Er said seriously.

"Some time ago, we found a nest of flying squirrels in the woods to the north. The big ones were killed, but remembering His Highness Yuan Qing's words about doing a good deed every month, we didn't kill the small ones. We just let them fend for themselves in their nest."

I found it funny to hear them doing good deeds, but the farmers had good hearts and didn't do anything evil to harm others, so I didn't want to teach them a lesson. I just listened to Li Er continue.

"We didn't expect that the little ones would grow up soon. We thought something was wrong, so we dug up the nest and found that the hearts inside had been eaten."

At this point, Li Er felt both shy and proud. He smiled broadly and said, "We thought that since flying squirrels are edible, humans might be able to eat them too, so we got some to study. It turns out they are edible, so this is entirely thanks to Your Highness."

The Emperor was surprised to see how the heartwood powder came from. He smiled and said, "Good intentions and good deeds bring good results. No wonder you, a servant, and the farmers love you so much that they are willing to give you this monkey wine."

Li Er, somewhat suspicious, asked, "Excuse me, sir, what is this monkey wine you are talking about?"

The emperor was surprised to find that Li Er didn't know about monkey wine and asked, "How could you not know?"

"It's the wine you presented to His Highness Yuan Qing last time."

After hearing the Seventh Prince's words, Li Er seemed a little excited and said, "You said that pot of wine? It was all thanks to His Highness Yuan Qing that we were able to get this little bit."

Li Er was so happy when he said this that he didn't even notice that he was leaning too close to me. Li Jian saw this and said sarcastically, "This is the rule taught by His Highness Yuan Qing. It's not that great."

Li Er knew he had overstepped the bounds, so he quickly stepped back and apologized. He then stared at Li Jian and said, "I have overstepped the bounds. Your Highness Guan Yuanqing, what is going on? You interrupted without the master's permission. Is this the rule in your palace?"

Li Jian's face flushed red at this remark, and he could only angrily say, "The palace's rules don't allow a country bumpkin like you to interfere. Besides, if we're talking about no rules, who would be as unruly as Xiao Tao in Yuanqing Pavilion?"

"Your Highness."

"Speak," the Seventh Prince said with a cold face.

Chunyu had something to say, but I didn't want her to say it, for fear of offending Li Jian and being retaliated by him in the future. However, the Seventh Prince had agreed before I did, and I couldn't refute the Seventh Prince's words, so I had to let Chunyu speak.

Chunyu listened to Zhongguang's permission to speak, and politely bowed first, then said with a smile: "Your Highness, this hearsay thing can now be brought to the master in front of the story, do you think it is funny?"

After saying this, she covered her mouth and giggled, which made Li Jian so angry that he gritted his teeth, but he could do nothing about it.

The Emperor loved wine, so he naturally had no time to pay attention to Li Jian and Chun Yu's bickering. He just glanced at them, and seeing that they were panic-stricken and unable to speak, he said, "This monkey wine is extremely rare. I'd like to know how this farmer got it."

"My dear friends, you may not know that there's a cliff fifty miles east of our village. It's at least several hundred feet high, if not a thousand feet. There's a village at the foot of the cliff. A farmer from our village often goes there to work. Not long ago, a seriously injured man was found outside the village. Judging from his injuries, he must have fallen from the cliff. There's no way he could be saved."

When the emperor heard what Li Er said, he knew where he was talking about and said, "I know that place. There are some monkeys there."

"This noble man is truly knowledgeable and well-informed. He even knows about such a remote place." Li Er said, "The cliffs are extremely dangerous. Not to mention people, even monkeys have died from falling off them. Who knows how many people have died."

Li Er finished speaking and continued, "The villagers saw that the man was beyond saving, so they waited until he died and buried him, which was considered a good deed. A farmer in our village, remembering His Highness Yuan Qing's advice to do a good deed every day, brought the man back. He gave the family to one side a handful of rice and the family to the other a bowl of water. Guess what, my nobles, did?"

When the emperor heard Li Er's question, he smiled and said, "What else can we do? The man is still alive."

"Your Excellency is very clever. That person is alive. In less than half a month, he can walk and jump. It is truly miraculous."

"It's not uncommon for people with strong martial arts skills to have true qi to protect their bodies."

"Yes, yes, that man's martial arts skills were exceptionally high. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was the best in the world. After he recovered, he gave me half a gourd of that wine you mentioned, saying it was worth a thousand gold coins and was a repayment for saving my life."

"This monkey wine is extremely precious. It's worth tens of thousands of gold, not to mention a thousand."

After hearing the emperor's words, Li Er showed an exaggerated expression of surprise at the right time, and the greed in his eyes flashed just right.

After a moment, he said with relief, "This wine is truly so valuable! We, the humble ones, had no idea what it was. We laughed at the man for boasting, but it smells truly different from other wines, so we thought of presenting it to His Highness so that he can have a taste."

The emperor was a wine lover and was naturally envious. He said, "You are so lucky. You got such good wine in this way."

Upon hearing this, Li Er immediately said, "Your Excellency, you are wrong. If it weren't for His Highness Yuan Qing's teaching to do one good deed per month, how could we have such good fortune and such fine wine to offer to Your Highness? This is all the result of Your Highness's kindness, and has nothing to do with luck."

The emperor did not argue with Li Er, but simply allowed him to continue: "The man had been staying at the manor for over a month. When he left, he took a child from the manor with him, saying he wanted to take him as his apprentice."

"Are you going to let him take the child away? What if that man is a bad guy?"

The teacher's old habit came back again. When I heard that someone was going to take the child away, my first reaction was that this person was a liar and a child trafficker, and he could not be allowed to take the child away.

Seeing my big reaction, Li Er hurriedly explained, "Of course he wouldn't let us go at first, but then he went to the mountains and hunted a wild boar, saying he'd buy the child for two months with it. Seeing how he could carry that wild boar, bigger than a tiger, on his shoulder with one hand and walk briskly around the farm without blushing or faltering, how could we farmers stop him? Naturally, we had no choice but to let him take the child away."

Li Er finished speaking and clapped his hands again. Immediately, a food box was passed in from outside. Li Er took the box and said, "I don't know when Your Highness will arrive, so the farmers have pickled the best meat from the wild boar. It may be a little salty. Your Highness and all the nobles, please do me the honor of having a taste."

This wild boar meat is actually an ordinary thing, but it was obtained in a strange way, so everyone was very interested and took a small piece to taste it.

The wild boar meat was a bit salty, but compared with the delicacies from land and sea in the palace, it had a unique flavor. Even the usually restrained emperor took an extra bite with his chopsticks.

"The meat is good, but there is no wine," sighed the emperor.

Li Er heard the emperor talking about wine and said, "I still have some monkey wine. I knew you would like it, so I brought it with me. I think this monkey wine paired with wild boar meat is also worth a try."

The emperor was so excited when he heard about the monkey wine that he asked hurriedly, "Do you still have any monkey wine?"

"There are still some, but not much, only half a pot. I will write a note and send it to the palace tomorrow."

"Don't bother with that. A-da will go back with you later to get the wine before returning to the palace."

Seeing that it was the Seventh Prince's arrangement, A Da and Li Er naturally agreed and kowtowed in agreement.

"Ada took the wine and sent it directly to the noble palace." I looked at the emperor and said, "Send it directly to the noble palace."

The emperor loved wine and couldn't wait that long. He just coughed and someone appeared in the room.

The emperor ignored the man and simply asked Li Er, "Where is the wine? I'll have someone fetch it right away."

Li Er was a little confused for a moment, muttering, "It's on the table in my room, in an ugly gourd."

After hearing this, the man disappeared in an instant, as if he had vanished out of thin air.

Not long after the man disappeared, he returned with an ugly gourd in less than half an hour. The emperor was delighted to see it, Li Er was surprised, and the seventh prince seemed not to have seen it and just ate the food that the farmers had brought him.

Although the King of Zhenbei often appeared and disappeared suddenly like this, I still found it magical and looked at the man with interest.

Just this one look made Chongguang have some thoughts again. To find out what his thoughts are, please wait for the next chapter.