Mikago

Wake up early the next day, the morning light is faint.The courtyard gate of Penglai Pavilion had just opened, and Lu You, who had been waiting outside the gate, came to greet Emperor Huiming.

In the past six months, he has repeated this important task no less than a hundred times, but today is something special.

Emperor Huiming was being dressed and tied by two eunuchs, while looking at the object in Lu You's hand.

"What happened today? Why did you bring two hibiscus birds?"

What Lu You was carrying was a golden birdcage, and there were two tender yellow birds in the cage, but the size of a palm, very nimble and cute.

"Returning to the emperor, these two hibiscus birds were brought over by businessmen from the Western Regions. They are called canaries in the Western Regions. In our Daning, the hibiscus birds are only used for viewing. However, this kind of canary is rare in the Western Regions. Has the ability to save lives.”

"Oh?" Emperor Huiming was aroused by him: "How to save people, you can talk about it."

"People in the Western Regions mine coal, often digging holes and drilling wells, going deep into the mountain for more than a hundred feet. However, there is poisonous gas in the mountain, which can kill people. Therefore, anyone who digs coal in the cave will bring a canary feather with him. As a warning. If the bird behaves abnormally, or even faints and dies, it must immediately withdraw from the charcoal cave to save its life."

"So that's how it is." Emperor Huiming listened with gusto, "I really admire this little bird."

A servant brought a red sandalwood flower stand, and Lu You put the birdcage on it.

"Actually, these two canaries are of some use to His Majesty."

"What's the use? Could it be that there is also poisonous gas in my Penglai Pavilion?"

"Of course there is no poisonous gas, but this bird can also be used to try other poisons. For example-"

Lu You estimated the time and pointed out the door.Sure enough, he heard footsteps coming from far and near. It was the imperial eunuch who came to report that breakfast was ready.

Emperor Huiming suddenly understood: "How can such an innocent little creature have the heart to test poison? Isn't there someone who specializes in poison testing?"

These words were a bit indifferent, but Lu You still respectfully said: "Using birds to test poison actually has another obvious advantage-there are some small poisons that people who test poison may not be able to detect, but such a small bird would be very sensitive."

At this point, the people from Shangshi Bureau have already prepared the dining table.Lu You supported Emperor Huiming to sit at the table, and delicate desserts were presented one after another.

While choosing casually, Emperor Huiming continued the topic with Lu You.

"Just now you said that there are some small poisons that the person testing the poison cannot detect. Since there is no harm to others, what does the poisoner intend to do?"

Lu You said: "If you go back to the emperor, there is a difference between acute and chronic poisons. For acute poisons, you can see immediate results after only one dose; while for chronic poisons, you often need to take it for a period of time, and then burst out suddenly after the toxins accumulate in the body. Such a method is extremely concealed, and it can be said that killing people is invisible."

Emperor Huiming's hand holding the chopsticks trembled, and the hand that wanted to pick up something was retracted.

"So...even if I have people who test the poison, I can't escape the poison?"

Lu You nodded and said: "There are three imperial eunuchs who test the poison, and the three meals are on duty. The toxins that are shared among them are really limited. Anyone who has a little knowledge of poison can bypass this barrier and apply poison invisibly. "

For the sake of talking about this, Emperor Huiming was a little suspicious, so he believed it at this moment.He immediately ordered Lu You to fetch the canary and demonstrate how to test the poison on the spot.

Lu You asked someone to fetch a small silver plate, put a little of each of the snacks on the table into the plate, and put them into the cage.The two canaries had been hungry for a day beforehand, and now they were scrambling to peck.

Emperor Huiming opened his eyes wide and watched the food residue in the silver plate being wiped away, and waited for a while, the two little birds were still alive and kicking.He turned his head to look at Lu You, saw Lu You nodded, and then began to eat in peace.

During the banquet, the dishes were changed, and new dim sum was presented.Among them, there is a Qingfeng rice served in a crystal bowl.

The most critical scene is about to begin.

Lu You didn't speak, just stood aside and observed.

I saw the waiter bring Qingfeng rice to the front, and put some more in the golden bowl for the emperor.Emperor Huiming picked up the chopsticks and was about to move them when he suddenly remembered something and looked up at the birdcage.

"Let's try this too."

The waiter responded to the sound, picked up five or six grains of crystal rice, put them on a silver plate and sent them into the cage.A canary came to peck at once, and after eating four or five grains, it suddenly let out a scream.

Emperor Huiming was startled, and when he looked at the little bird again, he had fallen down on the bottom of the cage, his feet twitched a few times, and he died.

"This rice...is really poisonous!" Lu You exclaimed.

Emperor Huiming seemed to have just realized what happened, and his face was ashen with fright, and he quickly raised his hand to hold his chest.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu You shouted to the outside again: "Quickly pass on Tianliang Xing!"

Tianliang Xing, who had been waiting for an imperial edict during this period, rushed to Penglai Pavilion very quickly.After his diagnosis, Emperor Huiming was not seriously ill, just overly frightened.

At the same time, an investigation into the poisoning of imperial food immediately began.

The gates of the Sifang Palace were closed urgently, and all entry and exit were prohibited.But after a while, various important officials from Dianzhong Province to Shangshi Bureau were all taken outside Penglai Pavilion for questioning.

After many confrontations, the matter quickly became clear—the person in charge of making the main meal of this Breeze Rice had just been transferred from the Dian Shan Kitchen of the Eastern Palace to the Shang Food Bureau a few days ago.Just now, General Youwei led his troops to the Shangshi Bureau to pick up the man, but found that the man had thrown himself into a well.

Calculated, this person has only worked in Shangshi Bureau for seven or eight days.There are 120 main meals in the Shangshi Bureau every month, and they take turns to serve. Logically speaking, there are not too many opportunities for him to take turns to provide meals.

However, looking at past records, there are as many as twelve dishes presented by this person.It is impossible to verify whether the dishes before this were poisonous, but the severity of the incident can still be seen.

Emperor Huiming had already breathed a sigh of relief at this time.He half-closed his eyes, listened to all the reports quietly, then pointed to the east with trembling hands.

"You lead the people from Nanya to the East Palace. What you see, what you find... report back to me truthfully!"

Lu You knew that this was an order to him, so he immediately took a deep breath and said, "I obey the order."

As he spoke, he nodded slightly to General Youwei, and the two turned around and walked out.

After walking two or three steps, he suddenly heard Emperor Huiming's helpless voice slowly chasing after him.

"If there is any conclusive evidence, I will allow you...to take him down first, no matter what...you must not let the news spread outside the palace."

------

Lu You walked out of Penglai Pavilion and came to the courtyard.Only then did I realize that less than half an hour later, many people had already gathered in the yard, and seeing him and General Youwei, they all surrounded him one after another.Among them is Tang Ruilang, the servant of the Huangmen.

Lu You ignored the idlers, walked up to Tang Ruilang, and asked in a low voice, "How's the situation outside?"

Tang Ruilang replied: "King Kang already hinted at it last night. Just now, all the prince's party members were blocked by the Jinwu Guard in their respective homes. In the imperial city, Yanxi Gate, Chongming Gate and other east main roads have all been closed. Chunfang and Shifu on the northeast side of Anshangmen Street are all surrounded by sixteen guards. The Neifei Dragon Guard and Habayashi Army are waiting for the opportunity."

The siege of Shishi Mansion and Zuochunfang is equivalent to removing the prince's right-hand man.In this way, as long as enough strong criminal evidence is found in the East Palace, Zhao Yun will be like a turtle in a urn, taking whatever he wants.

"I'm going to the East Palace now."

Lu You took a deep breath and whispered: "Perhaps half an hour later, the fate of the Great Ning Dynasty will be rewritten again. I hope our choice is correct."

Tang Ruilang stretched out his hand, and clasped his fingers quietly through the sleeve of his robe.

"In fact, history is being rewritten all the time, and no one knows whether the one that is about to fall is right or wrong. But at least we are trying to do our best, and we have no other choice."