"I don't know either. It feels strange; I have never tasted this before. The ingredients shouldn't have this kind of taste, and the strangest thing is that every dish has it," Zhen Xiǎoyān said, frowning.
"Let's not eat for now; there must be something wrong with this meal!" Though Yè Làng didn't detect anything wrong, he trusted Zhen Xiǎoyān and spit out what he had just eaten.
"What's wrong with you, Little Làng?" People nearby immediately asked as they saw Yè Làng's reaction.
"There's something wrong with this meal!" Yè Làng said.
"Don't talk nonsense! These dishes are prepared in the palace; they go through multiple checks, how can there be a problem?" Yè Chéngtiān immediately stepped in to stop him.
Yè Làng shook his head and said, "I don't know, but there must be something wrong!"
"How can you be so sure?" Yè Yì asked.
"Fatty said there's a strange taste; she deals with these every day, she couldn't be wrong," Yè Làng said.
"Fatty?" Yè Yì didn't know that Fatty referred to Zhen Xiǎoyān, until someone explained. He then asked Zhen Xiǎoyān directly, "Are you sure there is a problem with this meal?"
"I'm sure there's a strange taste, but I can't be certain if there is a problem," Zhen Xiǎoyān nodded.
"A strange taste may be due to something falling into the food," Ruǎn Liánér said.
"But we shouldn't eat it then!" Zhen Xiǎoyān said, for her, food with a strange taste should not be consumed, regardless of any other potential issues.
"Hey, Granny, why are you here today?" Yè Làng seemed to have just noticed this.
"Silly grandchild, I have always been here. You've only just noticed," Ruǎn Liánér patted Yè Làng's head, laughing.
"Yes, it's strange. Even Uncle and Uncle are here, as well as my cousins, and everyone from our Yè family in the Imperial City is here, it's so rare!" Yè Làng said absentmindedly.
However, while the speaker was unaware, the listener understood!
"?!" Yè Yì and Yè Chéngtiān and others, upon hearing this, looked at the people next to them and found that as Yè Làng said, all the members of their Yè family were present today in the Imperial City.
"How come all of you are here?" Ye Yi looked at those people who were originally optional in this retreat.
"Because everyone said they wanted to come for the Blue Rain practice, and since we have nothing else to do, we came. What's the matter?" one person replied.
Ye Yi continued to ask, "Then who was the first one to bring this up?"
"I heard it from my second sister-in-law…”
"I heard it from my third brother…"
"I heard it from…"
In the end, it turned out that no one actually initiated it, everyone just heard it from someone else, and the original person was unknown.
Perhaps such a thing might have just been a fleeting conversation, and if that's the case, it wouldn't be a big problem, what's really worrisome is if it's not the case.
"Yelan, what are you doing? Why are you still eating!" Zhen Xiaoyan's anxious shout interrupted everyone's thoughts. Glancing over, they saw Yelan carefully tasting the problematic dishes, which made everyone's hearts skip a beat, wondering if he was being absent-minded again.
"I'm just tasting to see what the problem is…" Yelan answered, then continued to take another bite.
"… Are you crazy? If there's a problem and you get sick, won't you ruin the whole thing?" Long Anqi directly pulled Yelan over.
"Ah…" Yelan exclaimed.
"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Long Anqi asked with concern.
"No, I just tasted what it is. It's the Seven Days Extinguish. This type of medicine is colorless and tasteless. After people ingest it, the effects won't manifest immediately, but only after seven days, or when activated by a catalyst. Fattie can taste it out; maybe it's because it changed the taste of the dish, and only she can detect it. Also, after being poisoned with Seven Days Extinguish, never use Douqi or magic power, as the poison will take effect immediately!" Yelan slowly stated, as if talking about a trivial matter.
And at this moment, everyone's faces started to change…
"Is there an antidote for this poison?" Ye Yi asked.
"Yes, but usually only the person who prepared the poison would have the antidote. This kind of poison is special, with many different formulations!" Yelan said.
"So, the only way to neutralize this poison is to find the person who had poisoned it, right?" Ye Yi asked, and it seemed that he didn't need to know the answer. What he needed to know now was who had poisoned them?
The most suspected person was none other than the Emperor himself. This retreat was arranged by the Imperial Palace, and the best way to eliminate the Ye family was to take them all down, not leaving anyone behind.
Could it be that the current Emperor has started to fear the power of the Ye family?
The saying, "one should be as cautious around the emperor as around a tiger," is applicable anywhere, and the people of the Ye family were well aware of this. They wouldn't forget it just because their foundation was strong.
However, they thought it would take a very long time before the Empire could eliminate the Ye family. The Ye family was still loyal, and getting rid of them now would only hurt the Empire, with no benefits at all.
What is this all about?
The others didn't know, but they soon found out.
"That's right, if you don't want to die, I advise you to surrender obediently!" an unexpected figure appeared on top of the unreachable city wall. With an icy glare at Yelan, it seemed as if she wanted to devour him.
"What are you talking about, Eighth Princess?" someone questioned, and many still didn't know that their food was poisoned.
The unexpected figure was not the Emperor, but the Eighth Princess - Zhao Yarou, the woman whom Yelan referred to as a terrifying person, someone they needed to be careful of.
Zhao Yarou paid no attention to the others, but looked at Yelan and said, "Yelan…"
"?? What's the matter, I have nothing to discuss with you!" Yelan looked at Zhao Yarou with an attitude that was quite strange.
Zhao Yarou's forehead showed a black line as she snorted, "Fine, you'll regret it when you're about to die."
"You're the one who's about to die, you crow!" Yelan retorted.
"Xiaolang, don't speak for now. What do you want to do? Why did you poison us?" Ye Yi intervened, then turned to Zhao Yarou.
"What?! Poison?" The scene suddenly became noisy, and they only now realized that they had been poisoned.
"Because I wanted to discuss something with you, but I was afraid you wouldn't agree. So, I decided to poison you first. Originally, I wanted to wait until you were drunk and full before talking, but I didn't expect you to find out, and you even managed to identify it as the Seven Days Extinguish, which surprised me a lot!" Zhao Yarou's eyes never left Yelan from start to finish.
"I've taken a little before, that's why I knew. You don't have to admire me." Yelan replied.
"…"
"You've taken it before?! This is a world-class poison!" Zhao Yarou's eyes widened in surprise.
"It was accidental, I thought it was cold medicine…" Yelan scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.
"…"
"What do you want to discuss with us?" Ye Yi asked again, emphasizing the word "discuss."
"It's nothing, I just want to ask if you're willing to work with me. I can guarantee that you'll be treated the same as before." Zhao Yarou asked coldly yet calmly.
"I'm not willing!" Yelan was the first to reject.
"I didn't ask you. Go away!" Zhao Yarou said, slightly annoyed.
"Oh…" Yelan responded.
"What do the rest of you think?" Zhao Yarou asked.
At this point, Yelan spoke up again, "It's not going to work. Instead of promising to treat us the same as before, you should promise to treat us better than before!"
While saying this, Yelan acted as if he was not the one who spoke, turning his head away!
"Yelang! Shut up and I'll deal with you later!" Zhao Yarou yelled, wondering why she felt so angry whenever she saw this guy, but thankfully, after today, she wouldn't have to see him again.
"Why should I listen to you? You're not the emperor, nor my wife," Yelang retorted without courtesy.
"I will be soon!" Zhao Yarou coldly hummed, referring to the person in front, while ignoring the rest.
However, Yelang was different. He immediately shouted, "It's impossible! Even if I die, I won't marry you!"
"...Everyone fell silent."
"Get lost! I'll never marry you!" Zhao Yarou angrily said.
"Then why did you say you will be soon?" Yelang looked at Zhao Yarou strangely.
"Are you an idiot?"
"Maybe I used to be, but not anymore," Yelang replied.
"..."
"Son, she means she'll become the emperor soon," Long Anqi shook her head helplessly, realizing her beloved son couldn't quite grasp the situation.
"Oh, you scared me there. I thought you were going to force me to marry you. You're terrifying, no, I should say, horrifying!" Yelang seemed relieved.
"...", Zhao Yarou gritted her teeth, wishing she could eat Yelang alive!
Choosing to submit to the situation, or choosing loyalty and death?
At this moment, many would choose the former, but wait for someone else to take the lead so as not to become the target of public criticism. These seasoned officials and nobles all understand this, so they are all waiting rather than making an immediate statement!
However, there is one person who makes a quick decision, and that person is Ye Lang, but –
"I choose to submit!"
Ye Lang's straightforward choice left many people in disbelief, especially Zhao Yarou, who never thought Ye Lang would submit to her!
It's not that she doesn't think Ye Lang is important, but it seems impossible to her, as the Ye family would never agree, at least not Ye Chengtian, and it wouldn't be that simple!
"You stupid turtle, how can you be so unambitious, how can you submit so easily! Everyone, sorry, he's acting silly again, please don't pay attention!" Long Anqi punched Ye Lang on the head, thinking he had lost his mind.
"Mom, I'm not being silly, the most correct decision right now is to submit, otherwise there is only death!" Ye Lang shook his head and said calmly.
"There are so many of us, we can fight them!"" Long Anqi said heroically.
"We can't fight, we are all poisoned... I know that you said some of you just ate and haven't been poisoned, and still have a chance!" Ye Lang said, as many members of the Ye family had not yet eaten, and therefore had not consumed the poisoned food.
In simple terms, among the experts of the Ye family, at least eighty percent had not been poisoned, including Ye Yi, who always ate slowly.
"It's useless! I really didn't consider this poison much. Since I have taken it, I will have a way to detoxify it!" Ye Lang waved his hand and said.
"Do you have a way to detoxify it? Didn't you say earlier that only the person who poisoned can detoxify it?" Ye Lanyu asked doubtfully.
"I only said it in general, not in all cases." Ye Lang waved his hand.
"Do you have a way to detoxify it?" These words were not spoken by someone nearby, but by Zhao Yarou from a distance.
"I do, but there's no way to do it now, because I can't use my ring right now. All the nearby magical elements have been sealed by you, so even if none of us are poisoned, we still can't use any Qi or magic!" Ye Lang looked at Zhao Yarou and said calmly.
"That's right! You're not stupid when it comes to the point, surprising me with your shrewdness. Besides the poison, I have other plans, even a third backup plan! The magic prohibition formation nearby has been activated, and now you are all just ordinary people, easy for me to manipulate!" Zhao Yarou said coldly.
Indeed, there were many experts in the square. Even if they were surrounded, it would still be difficult to deal with them. However, if these experts were turned into ordinary people within the magic prohibition formation, they would be like fish on a chopping board.
At this moment, Ye Chengtian's expression changed slightly. He knew that this magic prohibition formation was set up to prevent anyone from entering the imperial palace, so he knows its power and range!
"Ye Lang, how did you find out again?" Zhao Yarou looked at Ye Lang and casually asked.
"I originally wanted to use a cannon to attack you when you were unprepared!" Ye Lang honestly replied, with a hint of regret and helplessness.
"..."
At this moment, almost everyone fell silent, looking at Ye Lang, suddenly realizing how terrifying he was, because he completely disregarded others' thoughts and only acted according to his own wishes.
If there were no magic prohibition formation at this moment, Zhao Yarou would be an unknown factor!