Chapter 233
Regarding the Divine Artifact Lord's bombardment of the Emperor and the civil and military officials, Shen Chunying and the others still felt quite guilty hearing it. However, the moment they thought about the true identity of the person they were following, they instantly calmed down!
As long as they clung tightly to the Junior Preceptor's thigh, not even His Majesty could touch them.
Emperor Mingxi: Do you still remember whose officials you are, whose salaries you receive, and whose authority you are under!
The guards: We all listen to the great Junior Preceptor!
"Today we will uproot this place. When the time comes, I'll give Wei Ping and the others a hint. I hope these people can be a bit smarter!"
Separated from the Zuilai Tavern by just a street, a straight-line distance of no more than three hundred meters, Wei Ping was currently accompanying the Crown Prince.
The two of them heard Yue Fuguang's words crystal clear! He gave the Crown Prince an awkward smile.
Wei Ping: Thank you, Junior Preceptor, for thinking of me in everything!
[Master, judging from this, Nanzhao isn't the only one aware of the effects of imperial rice. Nanyue is even using it in their meals, so they must understand it very well.]
"Little Zhu, you forgot that Nanyue has the world-renowned Du Zhongxian. It shouldn't be surprising that they could discover the effects of imperial rice."
Wei Ping and Xie Zhiyan exchanged a glance. So the poppy shells the Junior Preceptor mentioned were actually imperial rice?
Both of them utterly detested that substance. After understanding some of its effects, the ruler and his minister had broken out in a cold sweat.
Especially after conducting experiments on death row inmates in the heavenly prison and seeing those people eventually reduced to a miserable state, neither human nor ghost, it caused them to lose sleep for days.
His Majesty immediately issued an edict prohibiting the cultivation of even a single stalk of imperial rice within the borders of Great Yan. Violators would be severely punished, and serious offenders would be charged with treason.
Under such severe penalties, the ruler and his minister originally thought it had been completely eradicated in Great Yan. They never expected that the Nanyue scoundrels would blatantly put it into their meals.
Xie Zhiyan's eyes turned ruthless. "Lord Wei, is there any better excuse than this?"
Wei Ping only paused for a moment before understanding the Crown Prince's intention. He immediately sent someone to invite the Market Director of the East Market. They still needed an informant, so he set his sights on Cao Cang, the manager stationed at the East Market.
Meanwhile, on Yue Fuguang's side, having confirmed that poppy shells were added to the meat dishes, she said to the guards, "The vegetable dishes here are cooked passably well. As for the meat dishes, not only do they lack a bit of flavor, but they also don't seem very fresh. It's best not to eat them."
[Master, isn't your excuse a bit too perfunctory and forced? Look at the way they are staring at the meat dishes; can they really resist eating them?]
"I have fulfilled my duty to remind them. As to whether they listen or not, it's entirely up to their own free will.
Little Zhu, you know that your master has always respected the fate of others and refrained from bearing their karma."
Before the others could react, Yu Huaixian and Shen Chunying quickly moved all the meat dishes from Yue Fuguang's table and their own tables to the empty table next to them.
Without saying much, they proved with practical actions that they had taken her words to heart.
They didn't know what poppy shells were, but the name 'imperial rice' had echoed throughout the entire Great Yan a year ago. The imperial court's determination to eradicate it could be seen from the severe punishments.
Addictive, leading to a fate worse than death. Just thinking of these words, the meat dishes on the three tables were cleared away in mere moments.
[Master, these people are quite sensible!]
"Those who aren't sensible wouldn't be kept by my side, right?"
[But compared to those little immortals on Mount Lingxu, they are still far behind.]
"Little Zhu, there is a difference between immortals and mortals. How can you compare them?"
As Yue Fuguang's group chatted while eating, the forces of the other two parties had already quietly locked down the area, ensuring that not even a fly could escape from the Zuilai Tavern.
Cao Cang and the East Market Director, Jin Ming, didn't dare to strike up a conversation with the Crown Prince, so they quietly asked Wei Ping, "Lord Wei, at what time should we take action?"
They had just been summoned without being told a specific time. The two of them, especially Jin Ming, were so anxious that they were almost sweating.
Wei Ping glanced at him and said, "We will take action after the people inside have eaten and drunk their fill."
They actually had to wait for the people inside to eat and drink their fill. Being seasoned officials, the two naturally wouldn't think Lord Wei was just being kind-hearted.
There must be some special person inside, and their status definitely wasn't low.
At this moment, they were even more curious about who exactly was sitting inside, capable of making Wei Ping and the Crown Prince wait until they finished their meal before making a move.
It couldn't be that His Majesty was inside, could it!
In another alley, although Cai Xian and Huo Ying hadn't communicated with the Crown Prince and Wei Ping, they could basically guess each other's thoughts.
Making that ancestor handle matters on an empty stomach—never mind how the Little Immortal Lord would react, just the Divine Artifact Lord alone could scold them to death.
Being targeted by the Divine Artifact Lord, or having it speak ill of them in front of the Junior Preceptor—neither of these was something they wanted to see!
On Yue Fuguang's side, having eaten a stomach full of vegetarian dishes, her belly was barely full, but her mouth was craving more. She thought about quickly finishing the matters here and then going elsewhere to find something delicious.
Thus, she reached for the coin pouch at her waist but couldn't feel it. Looking down, not only was the coin pouch hanging at her waist missing, but a piece of jade pendant with excellent translucency had also vanished without a trace.
So she said, "Zhang Fang, Chunying, my coin pouch and jade pendant are gone!"
Shen Chunying said, "My Lord, could they have been stolen?"
Her voice was particularly loud, successfully alarming the guests in the adjacent private room.
Zhang Fang also said, "Please wait a moment, My Lord. Your subordinate will go find the shopkeeper and immediately lock down the Zuilai Tavern. That thief won't be able to escape!"
"Little Zhu, this script isn't right. I said my things were gone, and they determined it was stolen without even questioning if I just remembered wrong?"
[Master, these are the kind of good subordinates you want. Those who dare to question you absolutely cannot be kept by your side.]
The guards' hearts tightened. The reason they believed her so readily was only because they knew their Lord's purpose in doing this. Under normal circumstances, they might have actually asked an extra question.
Wouldn't that have angered the Divine Artifact Lord, making it doubt their loyalty to the Little Immortal Lord?
If they were driven away from the Little Immortal Lord's side, not to mention how others would view them, they themselves would be sick to death with regret.
Cuizhu helped Yue Fuguang stand up. As she turned her head, she happened to see Cai Xian and Huo Ying about to enter the Fuman Restaurant opposite them.
"Miss, it's Minister Cai and Minister Huo."
Yue Fuguang looked in the direction she was pointing and also saw the two of them looking up towards their side.
The two smiled and cupped their hands in greeting to her, then lifted their feet and walked towards the Zuilai Tavern.
[Host, these two are quite cunning. In order to make their appearance seem reasonable, they pretended to head to the restaurant opposite.]
"Isn't it better to be reasonable? It saves us trouble and won't make us look too stupid. Otherwise, where would the 'Immortal Lord's' face be?"
Huo Ying, Cai Xian, and Zhang Fang brought the shopkeeper of the Zuilai Tavern upstairs together.
Before coming upstairs, Zhang Fang had already quickly informed the two of the course of events.
After both sides exchanged greetings, Cai Xian said, "Junior Preceptor, please wait a moment. This trivial matter can be left to this subordinate and Lord Huo."
Shen Dongxue handed Yue Fuguang a cup of warm tea. Yue Fuguang took a sip before saying, "I'll have to trouble you two Lords."
Huo Ying and Cai Xian bowed and said, "You flatter us! Does the Junior Preceptor have any other instructions?"
Yue Fuguang thought for a moment and said, "My intention is to search the entire Zuilai Tavern.
I heard there is a guest courtyard behind the restaurant. Perhaps the thief is hiding there."
Cai Xian nodded in agreement. As he turned around, his expression instantly became stern and grave. He unleashed his full aura, pressing down so heavily that the shopkeeper of the Zuilai Tavern didn't even dare to lift his head.