NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 69
"Poison! The drink is poisoned!"
Someone shouted from within the crowd.
The ancients were startled and looked towards the far corner where the live stream was taking place.
They saw the white liquid bubbling, yet the people from the future seemed to be blind, as none of them noticed it.
Gu Sang even picked up a cup and was about to drink it.
"Your Majesty, don't drink it, it's poisoned!" a maid from the Xuyang Palace screamed in anguish.
"Gu Sang! Don't drink it!" Pei Changying yelled frantically at the screen, his heart gripped by fear.
After drinking half a cup, not only did Gu Sang not vomit blood and die, but she actually said with a hint of enjoyment, "This is Sprite, a kind of fizzy drink that bubbles. It's actually not poisonous."
The ancients: Sprite?
"Your Majesty, what does this Sprite taste like? Is it good? Will it get you drunk?" a maid bravely asked.
"It won't get you drunk. This kind of drink can even be consumed by children. At our banquets, we always serve a few bottles of these beverages. They have a sweet and pleasant taste."
As Gu Sang explained, more dishes were served on the table.
Every dish was a feast for the eyes, nose, and mouth. Even more outrageously, there were so many dishes that they could not fit on the table and had to be stacked on top of each other.
The commoners watched enviously, their mouths watering. "Today, I've seen how well the wealthy eat."
"Look at all these different kinds of meat. Only officials could afford to eat like this."
The high-ranking officials who were mentioned: ???
At that moment, they were just as envious as the commoners, salivating over the lavish spread.
An official murmured, "I really envy these people from the future. They eat as well as the emperor!"
Pei Changying, who was unintentionally mentioned: .......
"Gu Sang, do you know that what you're eating could feed a common family for an entire year?"
"Such extravagance, can your conscience bear it?"
Here goes Pei Changying again, lecturing Gu Sang with his lofty attitude.
Gu Sang arched her brow and laughed, "Are you just jealous and envious?"
"If you knew that for some wealthy families in our time, the cost of a single meal at a high-end restaurant could feed ten thousand ordinary people, you would cry your eyes out!"
This statement left the entire court, both civil and military officials, and all the commoners, dumbfounded!
Just the cost of a wealthy family's meal at a fancy restaurant could feed ten thousand ordinary people?
What level of extravagance is that!
Pei Changying took a deep breath and confidently declared, "You don't need to boast to me. Before long, my people will also have enough to eat and won't have to go hungry anymore."
What an expectant and resolute statement!
But this fool Pei Changying didn't know that the Elder Princess had already monopolized the sweet potato vines!
Let's enjoy the show!
The officials who went to Lingnan are about to return today! It remains to be seen whether Pei Changying can still laugh after that!
"Clop, clop, clop..."
Here they come!
A carriage rushed into the palace at an extremely fast pace. The commoners watching the live stream outside the city hurriedly made way for the carriage.
The one rushing back from outside the city was none other than the Minister of Works who had been dispatched to Lingnan to search for sweet potato vines.
As soon as Pei Changying saw the Minister of Works enter the hall, his heart swelled with joy. He looked at Gu Sang with a smug expression and said, "Gu Sang, my official has returned. As long as I mass-cultivate the sweet potato vines, my people will no longer go hungry."
"I had previously given you a chance to admit your mistake and return, but that was the last time. From now on, even if you regret it, it will be of no use!"
"I no longer need you!"
Listen to his arrogant and resolute words.
However—
Just as these boastful words fell from his lips, the panting Minister of Works rushed into the hall and knelt down with a thud.
In front of the perplexed officials and Pei Changying's questioning gaze, the Minister of Works said with a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, they're gone!"
"Gone!"
"When I and General Qin arrived in Lingnan, the Elder Princess had already monopolized all the sweet potato vines and didn't leave us a single one."
"Moreover, Zhou Qichen has already joined forces with the Elder Princess in Lingnan and is actively recruiting soldiers and training forces!"
"Your Majesty, the Elder Princess is truly rebelling!"
Boom!
The entire court, both civil and military officials, were as thunderstruck as if they had been struck by five thunderbolts, unable to believe it.
The Elder Princess has actually rebelled!
How dare the Elder Princess do this!
They could believe it if a prince or even commoners rebelled, but a woman rebelling was unprecedented in all of history.
Suddenly—
The eyes of the entire court turned towards Gu Sang on the screen.
Pei Changying slumped back onto the dragon throne, his back breaking out in a cold sweat. An overwhelming sense of unease and dread enveloped him, causing him to fidget restlessly.
He gripped the dragon throne tightly, fixing a grim stare on the Minister of Works as he questioned, "If Pei Weiqi dares to rebel, why didn't you capture her? Were the over one thousand soldiers I gave you just there to eat for free?"
The Minister of Works felt a chill run down his spine, but he still meekly explained, "Your Majesty, you only gave General Qin one thousand soldiers, but the Elder Princess already had thousands of sworn soldiers guarding her."
"We were no match for them, so we could only return to report first."
Insolent!
That bitch Pei Weiqi!
Pei Changying was so furious that his lips trembled. He grabbed a folding fan from the table and flung it at the Minister of Works' head.
Bang—
The Minister of Works was struck on the forehead, drawing a few drops of blood from the broken skin. He cowered on the ground in terror.
Pei Changying berated him, "Useless! You can't even accomplish a simple task, losing to a mere woman. You even failed to find the sweet potato vines against a woman."
"What use are you to me!"
The officials listened to the emperor's words, feeling quite displeased.
Some of them had worked hard through poverty to pass the imperial examinations, while others were carefully cultivated by prominent families. Every day, they worked diligently for the emperor's benefit.
Yet in the emperor's eyes, they were useless?
They had devoted themselves wholeheartedly for the sake of the country, toiling without recognition or reward, only to be constantly berated by the emperor!
The commoners didn't understand them, calling them corrupt officials and blaming them for ruining the court.
Now, even the emperor was calling them useless!
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"General Zhou and the Elder Princess must have started searching for the sweet potato vines long ago. Moreover, by the time the Minister of Works arrived in Lingnan, it was already too late."
"The timing was off, so they were a step behind the Elder Princess in finding the sweet potato vines."
"Your Majesty, please do not punish them."
Listen to these words.
Listen carefully.
Isn't this just blaming the emperor himself?
Pei Changying sneered repeatedly as he stared at the chief minister who had spoken up: "So, according to you, if it were not for my personal order forbidding the Ministry of Works from seeking the sweet potato crop in Lingnan, none of the subsequent events would have happened?"
"Am I the ignorant one, instead of you incompetent wastrels who cannot even match a woman?"
Upon hearing this, a large group of ministers knelt down with a rustling sound.
They all cried out that they had no such intention and that it was the incompetence of the ministers.
But in their hearts, the ministers mocked: If only the Emperor had ordered people to go to Lingnan at that time, how could the Elder Princess have monopolized the sweet potatoes?
It was clearly all due to the Emperor's flawed decision-making!
Yet he placed all the blame on them, the ministers!
Pei Changying berated all the civil and military officials, but his anger was still difficult to dissipate.
Incapable men would never reflect on themselves; they would become enraged and vent the humiliation and fury they received from others onto their own people.
Pei Changying glared coldly at the Ministry of Works, and with a mixture of anger, rage, and frustration, he ordered: "The Ministry of Works has been derelict in its duties. Take them away and give them fifty heavy strokes!"