met free Chapter 409
Chapter 409
[Master, that Gao Zifang is Gao Ziyou's cousin. Although he lacks somewhat in academic knowledge, his practical working abilities are quite excellent. If he fails the exam this time, you could pick up a bargain and send him to your fiefdom to benefit the local area.]Yue Fuguang nodded. "It just so happens that Gao Ziyou is the magistrate in Sanchadi. Sending him over to keep him company would be perfect."
Hearing the words "pick up a bargain," the Crown Prince's mouth twitched involuntarily. That Gao Ziyou was a classmate and good friend of Bao Zihui. He still remembered hearing the Junior Preceptor mention on Bao Zihui's wedding day that Gao Ziyou was a talent in agriculture.
Since his cousin was also a talent, even if he failed the exam, he couldn't be wasted. He had to be brought in to serve the country. The Hongnong Temple would be very suitable for him.
Thinking of this, the Crown Prince hoped even more that since these two ancestors knew so much, they would say a bit more. All talents must be drawn into the imperial fold.
[Master, look at the one named Wu Chengbin in the Bingzi cell.]
From where Yue Fuguang and the others were standing, they actually couldn't see the Bingzi cell, so the system directly played a live video feed for her.
In the video, the exam candidate the system called Wu Chengbin was about thirty years old. He had a square face with a short beard, and his complexion was pale and emaciated. Although he was sitting, Yue Fuguang felt that he couldn't be very tall.
At this moment, he was holding a steamed bun filled with a dark red paste in one hand while reviewing the exam paper he had just completed.
Was he just eating breakfast?
"Little Zhu, what's wrong with this person? He looks a bit frail. I just wonder if he can survive the imperial examination."
[Master, look at the food in Wu Chengbin's hand. That is not date paste or red bean paste.]
The system's voice suddenly became a bit eerie. [Master, guess what's added inside?]
Hearing the system say this, Yue Fuguang half-tilted her head and looked at Wu Chengbin's hand in the video. Though it was called a filled steamed bun, it had actually been cut into small pieces by the inspectors upon entry. The white bun was sticky with the dark red filling. At first glance, it looked like red bean or date paste, but upon closer inspection, it resembled neither.
"Little Zhu, is it really not date paste?" Yue Fuguang thought about it and felt that it looked most like date paste.
[Master, the date paste filling has been spiked. Do you remember opium paste?]
Reminded by the system, Yue Fuguang actually recalled that stuff.
She was born in a peaceful era and had never seen the real thing, but she had watched many movies and TV shows. The props were made so realistically, and it looked exactly like what Wu Chengbin was holding!
Yue Fuguang's face immediately turned ashen. Seeing her sudden change in expression, the Crown Prince and the others didn't quite understand what this opium paste was to make this ancestor so angry.
At this moment, Yue Fuguang and the system, who were dropping these bombshells, forgot to educate the people of the Great Yan Dynasty. Although they had exposed the dangers of poppies as early as the fourth year of Yuankang, and the Great Yan Dynasty had strictly forbidden their cultivation and trade, the Crown Prince and the others did not know about the finished poppy product, also known as opium paste.
Because there had indeed been no trace of poppies in Great Yan over the years, Yue Fuguang had forgotten to bring it up again.
"Little Zhu, does this Wu Chengbin know that his food is mixed with opium paste?" One must know that opium is usually smoked. If he ate it directly, wouldn't it kill him? Who knows how long he had been doing this. To still be alive, he sure was tough.
However, when Yue Fuguang saw Wu Chengbin pick out the reddish-brown filling from his hand and throw it into the small burning stove next to his desk, curling blue smoke rose, and his originally sluggish spirit improved significantly. What else was there not to understand?
[Master, Wu Chengbin likely noticed something was wrong with his body, but he didn't know where the problem lay. The person trying to harm him knows his habits very well. Knowing he dislikes sweets, especially dates, they deliberately gave him date paste cakes and date paste buns. Every time, Wu Chengbin couldn't refuse their goodwill and couldn't bear to waste food, so he always ate the outer layer and threw the sweet filling into the fire to burn. That person calculated exactly this, which is why they only started providing him with this food at the beginning of winter.]
"Didn't the Emperor order a ban on any poppies within the borders of Great Yan? How can there still be opium paste? Could it be Nanzhao playing tricks behind the scenes again!"
Princess Lan Xuan'er of Nanzhao was still in Great Yan and hadn't returned to her country. She wondered if this matter had anything to do with her.
[Master, after these years of prohibition in Great Yan, it is indeed hard to find traces of poppies. But whether officials or commoners in Great Yan, their understanding of poppies is pitifully little. Go ask the Crown Prince, he probably doesn't even know what opium paste is or what it looks like.]
The Crown Prince: Wasn't that the truth? He had seen poppy flowers and poppy pods, but he had truly never heard of or seen this so-called opium paste made from them.
Yue Fuguang was a bit tired from standing. She turned and sat back in her chair, picked up a piece of date paste cake, took a bite, and asked Xie Zhiyan, who was holding a cup and sipping tea, seemingly casually, "Crown Prince, have you ever seen opium paste?"
She broke the pastry in her hand, revealing the filling inside. "I just realized that the filling in this cake looks quite a bit like that stuff."
The Crown Prince seemed interested. Out of curiosity, he also picked up a date paste pastry and broke it open to inspect it.
He looked at it for a long time before shaking his head. "Little Aunt, what is opium paste? Does it look like this date paste? Is it also something to eat?"
Xie Zhiyan asked three questions in one breath, his eyes full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. He even deliberately and unconsciously swallowed his saliva.
Watching him made Yue Fuguang shake her head, the word drama queen almost slipping from her lips.
The acting desire and skills of the monarch and officials of the Great Yan Dynasty were improving day by day. She didn't know if they were afraid that Yue Fuguang was getting older and harder to fool, or if their skills had grown after years of refinement. Anyway, everyone's attention to detail in front of her was maxed out. If she didn't know the inside story, with her intelligence and experience, she would truly be kept completely in the dark.
Yue Fuguang sighed inwardly that only her own acting skills remained the same after ten years, while everyone else's growth left her behind.
At the same time, she shook her head to enlighten Xie Zhiyan. "This opium paste is not a good thing, and of course, it cannot be eaten."
She tossed the date paste cake back onto the porcelain plate. "Does the Crown Prince still remember the poppy, also known as the imperial rice? Opium paste is a poison made from that stuff. Smoking it is much more harmful than the meat dishes spiked with poppy shells at the Zuilai Restaurant back then."
Xie Zhiyan's face was full of shock, as if he had just learned about this. Seeing the worry on Yue Fuguang's face, he lowered his eyes and said, "Fortunately, Little Aunt warned us in time back then, preventing poppies from spreading in Great Yan."
Yue Fuguang shook her head. "I didn't detail the dangers of poppies back then, nor did I explain the harm of turning it into opium paste. This stuff also has another name, opium.
The severe harm of smoking opium is not just causing addiction, organ damage, and a weakened body prone to illnesses that are hard to cure, but it also makes one's temper irritable and anxious."