You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 186: Something unexpected happened; both were poisoned!

The village girl had tears in her eyes.

"Yes."

"Is there anyone else at home?"

"My parents are both gone, and I married someone from the mountains in the west."

"How many days have you been detained?"

“I was arrested by several soldiers yesterday afternoon. They insisted that I was a spy.”

……

Shower complete.

"Come with me."

The village girl followed him into the house tremblingly, expecting to encounter something terrible, but to her surprise, the young official pushed a large bowl towards her.

A large bowl is filled with white rice and topped with braised pork.

"Eat it!"

Jiang Qingyun glanced at the village girl wolfing down her food, ground the ink himself, unfolded a sheet of Xuan paper, and wrote eight large characters: Let her go!

Then he grabbed the seal and slammed it down.

Hand her the paper.

"You can go home now. If anyone stops you, show them this piece of paper. Remember, once you get home, don't say you were arrested; say you got lost in the mountains."

"Thank you, sir."

The woman left in a panic.

A moment later, Zhou Cang knocked on the door.

"Vice Commander, fighting has broken out in the south."

……

March 29th, the ninth year of the Shunzhi reign.

Li Dingguo mobilized 40,000 troops and marched south from Yuezhou. His vanguard clashed with the Guan Ning Army's cavalry five miles south of Songzi City, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Hu Guozhu sent someone across the river to seek help.

……

Jiang Qingyun took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Understood, no one is allowed to come in."

"As ordered."

He closed the door again, bolted it, and then took out a bundle from under the bed. Inside were the "medicine for bruises and sprains" that Wu Yong had prepared for him, along with instructions for use.

"The large porcelain bottle contains the poison, and the small porcelain bottle contains the antidote."

"The antidote must be taken 25 minutes in advance, at a dose of half an ounce, in order to resist the poison."

"The poison is in powder form, colored and odorous, and must be mixed into irritating foods to remain undetected. It takes effect within fifteen minutes. For ordinary people, a dose of one mace is sufficient to take effect, and if taken with alcohol, the effect is even stronger."

"Remember! Even if you take the antidote in advance, you will still experience some mild symptoms. Don't panic, just drink plenty of water to relieve them."

"Read and then burn."

Jiang Qingyun took a deep breath.

That day has finally arrived!

He uncorked the wooden stopper, poured out half an ounce of medicine, swallowed it with warm tea, then wrapped a piece of poison powder in a handkerchief, stuffed it into his sleeve, and left the house.

……

A bonfire blazed brightly at the Jingzhou Military Governor's Office.

Venison, rabbit, and pork. Fresh fish sizzles and glistens on the fire, releasing a wonderfully fragrant aroma.

At this time, it was dark.

Jiang Qingyun walked over, pulled out his food-eating knife, cut off a piece, and put it in his mouth to chew slowly.

"Sir, is the taste alright?"

“Not bad~ Here’s half a wild boar over there for you, and take a jar of wine with you too.”

"Thank you, sir."

The ordinary bannermen, who had been busy all day, happily carried their wine and meat away, thinking to themselves, "Vice Marshal Jiang is so generous!"

Seeing that no one was around, Jiang Qingyun pretended to sprinkle salt, evenly sprinkling at least 3 qian of medicinal powder onto the only piece of venison on the scene.

Front, back, side.

Make sure the rain and dew are evenly distributed, like sprinkling pepper.
Wu Yong said that ordinary people only needed one qian (approximately 3 grams) of the medicinal powder, but Ao Bai was a beast, so the dosage needed to be increased. Considering that some of the powder might fall off when the barbecue was turned, the dosage was increased again.

Jiang Qingyun disregarded the doctor's orders. Living in a crazy era, one can't go wrong by being a little crazy in everything.

……

During the barbecue, the prefect of Jingzhou arrived.

"This humble official greets Your Excellency, Vice-Chancellor."

What do you want?

“A woman was stopped by my men. I was a little worried that her travel permit might be fake, so I thought I'd double-check with you.” Jiang Qingyun instantly flew into a rage and slapped her across the face.

"What kind of lousy official is the prefect? ​​Even the turtles in the Yongding River are more noble than you."

"Someone is coming."

The soldiers who were standing guard at the gate came in.

“Drag him out, give him 30 lashes, and lock him in a cage.”

When the wailing and howling of ghosts and wolves began, Ao Bai appeared. He didn't intend to pay any attention to it, because in his eyes, the prefect was indeed a worthless official.

"It's so fragrant!"

"General, let's start eating, I can't wait."

"Okay, let's eat and chat."

……

The Qing army had strict military law, with a clear hierarchy and distinctions between superiors and inferiors.

Ao Bai and Jiang Qingyun sat at a separate table, enjoying the most exquisite cuisine.

The princes, nobles, and military commander Yablan and others had a separate table in the room where they could enjoy relatively refined food.

The other officers and assistant officers sat on the ground in the courtyard and could only enjoy a fixed amount of wine and meat.

Thanks to his son, Jiang Zhongcheng, the Green Standard Army commander of Tongzhou, was able to enter the courtyard and sit on the ground to eat barbecue.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Green Standard Army generals were nothing in the eyes of the Manchu Eight Banners officers; on the contrary, the status of the Han soldiers of the Bordered Yellow Banner was much more valuable. This is similar to how a Japanese major wouldn't take a puppet army commander seriously at all.

Unless, of course, the commander's name is Liu Lu, and he's a naturalized citizen.

no doubt.

The most prized venison must be served to the head coach.

Ao Bai tore the golden-brown, caramelized venison in half, keeping one half for himself and the other half for his good brother.

"Brother Qingyun, eat!"

"General, this portion of meat is too much for my status."

"Hey~ Our friendship is special, you should eat more."

"Thank you, General."

……

What could Jiang Qingyun say when he looked at the venison in front of him?

At this point, it all boils down to one word—eat!

The venison is very fragrant, and even more so when served with wine. Although we know it is poisonous, we can only place our hopes on an antidote.

Jiang Qingyun devoured the food and drinks, partly because he was exhausted from the hunt and partly because he didn't want to leave any openings.

Ao Bai was similar.

The two frequently picked up their large bowls, clinked glasses, and drank together.

"General, what should we do about Songzi?"

“Songzi has 5000 Guan Ning soldiers and 3000 Green Standard Army soldiers. Let them fight Li Dingguo at a loss. Once they are all dead, we can talk about what to do. Hahahaha.”

Ao Bai suddenly slapped the table with joy.

Jiang Qingyun glanced at him, unsure whether he was drunk or the effects of the drug were starting to kick in.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Ao Bai rummaged through the plate with his hands.

"Damn, I think this venison tastes even better than dragon meat. Is there any more?"

As soon as he said that, the princes and nobles sitting at the other table were so frightened that they all shuddered, thinking, "Are you out of your mind?"

Jiang Qingyun was still lucid at this time. Fearing that Ao Bai would go crazy and hurt him, he simply left the table and walked to the table next to the others.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to offer you a bowl of wine."

……

Suddenly, Yabulan, the commander of the Imperial Guards of the Forbidden City, cried out in surprise.

"General?"

Jiang Qingyun turned his head and saw Ao Bai stretching out his palm, grasping at the air, his eyes vacant, his expression serious, and muttering incantations.

The medication took effect.

But I can't laugh. I have to keep pretending. I want to seize his seal of office. I want to take his throne.

"It's alright, it's alright. Brother Ao must have drunk too much. Quickly bring him a bowl of horse urine to drink."

Everyone stared in disbelief, then burst into good-natured laughter. Well, both of them were drunk, and completely drunk at that.

Yablan muttered to himself:

"Given the General's drinking capacity, it shouldn't be that bad."

"Maybe you've been under too much stress lately?"

"may be."

(End of this chapter)