Your Majesty, the princess is fleeing famine with her child!

Chapter 252 Discovery in Time

"The entrance ticket to the garden alone costs ten taels of silver. If you want to do other things after entering, you have to spend more money."

“The food and drinks are more expensive than other places, but even so, there is still a constant stream of people going there.”

Yun Fuling was slightly shocked when she heard this.

The prices are high, but customers keep coming in droves. It is obvious that this business has something unique that is not found elsewhere.

Before she could ask, Zhao Xuesi said, "I'm just curious, what's so special about this place that attracts so many people to visit it."

"So I took some time off and went over there to play around."

"That place really lives up to its name of Shenxianju. Eating, drinking and singing are secondary. The most famous thing is this golden paste."

As Zhao Xuesi spoke, he took out a small porcelain box the size of a baby's fist from his arms.

"Such a small box costs fifty taels of silver..."

Yun Fuling's face suddenly changed when she saw the golden paste in the porcelain box.

She snatched the porcelain box, scooped out a little golden paste with her fingernails, and put it to her nose to sniff.

This stuff is indeed opium.

And it is opium of extremely high purity.

Xiao Jingyi had never seen Yun Fuling like this before, so he looked serious and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this golden ointment?"

Yun Fuling didn't answer him, but stared at Zhao Xuesi and asked, "Have you ever touched this thing?"

Zhao Xuesi was also shocked by Yun Fuling's actions.

Hearing the harsh tone in her voice, he couldn't help shrinking his neck and subconsciously confessed: "I was...twice."

Yun Fuling's face looked extremely ugly.

Zhao Xuesi noticed something and asked cautiously, "Isn't this golden paste poisonous?"

Yun Fuling looked at him and said in a cold voice: "It's not an exaggeration to say it's poison, but it's much more powerful than poison!"

"This is extracted from a plant called opium poppy. To achieve this level of quality, the purity must be very high."

"In the early stages of smoking, you will feel very excited and experience extreme pleasure, and even hallucinations. It is not an exaggeration to say that you feel as happy as a god."

When Zhao Xuesi heard this, he nodded repeatedly.

"That's true, so this golden cream is also called the Immortal Cream, and the Immortal Residence must also be named after it."

Zhao Xuesi recalled his previous two experiences and for a moment he felt itchy and wanted to take another puff.

Yun Fuling sneered and continued, "This thing is addictive. Once you take it a few times, you will become dependent on it. It will be very difficult to quit."

“Once addicted, if you can’t continue taking the drug, you will be in extreme pain.”

"In order to get a puff of the drug, people can lose their humanity and become worse than pigs and dogs."

When Zhao Xuesi heard this, he was already sweating profusely.

"If you take it for a long time, you will gradually become skinny, listless, weak and eventually die."

"I once read in a book that there was a small country with ulterior motives that coveted the territory of a rich and powerful country, but it was no match for the powerful country in terms of military strength."

"So that tiny country developed this golden paste and secretly sold it all over the big country."

"Whether it was peddlers, wealthy children, or high-ranking officials, they all became addicted to smoking and were controlled by the golden paste."

"In the end, this tiny country annexed the territory of the big country without any soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingyi's expression changed drastically, and he looked shocked and scared.

If all the people of the Great Qi Dynasty were infected with this golden paste, the country would not be far from being destroyed.

Zhao Xuesi was so frightened that he almost cried.

"Princess...Princess, I..."

He held up two fingers, "I used it twice...what should I do?"

Yun Fuling looked at him sympathetically.

"Fortunately, we found you in time and you didn't take much."

"But the purity of this gold paste is very high. Even though I've only used it twice, it's very likely that I've become slightly dependent on it."

"You must never touch this thing again! Unless you want to become a walking corpse controlled by the golden paste."

"Even if you still want to smoke, you have to control yourself and quit now."

Yun Fuling was worried that Zhao Xuesi might become addicted to drugs, so she discussed this with Xiao Jingyi:

"Let him live in Prince Yi's mansion for the time being."

"If he gets addicted to this golden paste, I can help him get rid of it in time."

"Otherwise, if we don't keep an eye on him, he will go buy the golden paste and secretly inhale it, getting deeper and deeper into it. It will be too late to save him!"

Zhao Xuesi hesitated and said, "That's not necessary. I'm already such a grown-up, how can I not control myself?"

"What's more, I have to go on a border trade trip with the caravan..."

Before he could finish, Xiao Jingyi made the final decision, "Listen to the princess!"

He looked at Zhao Xuesi and said, "This is not a small matter. Don't take it lightly. I'll pick someone else to go to the caravan."

Seeing this, Zhao Xuesi could only shrink his neck and agreed reluctantly.

Xiao Jingyi frowned and said, "This golden ointment is so harmful, this matter must be investigated thoroughly."

"Just now I felt that this Shenxian Residence sounded familiar, as if I had heard of it somewhere before." Yun Fuling concentrated on thinking, and after a moment she suddenly slammed the table.

"I remember now. I had someone keep an eye on Yun Gansong's family."

"Someone below reported that Yun Qingmu and someone else bought a garden to do business. The garden is called Shenxianju."

"It's just that my people said that this Shenxianju is a place for eating, drinking and having fun, and they didn't mention the golden paste."

Zhao Xuesi explained: "This golden cream is not available to every customer."

"I don't know the exact threshold. I went there with the son of the Anyuan Marquis family. I was able to get it with his recommendation."

Yun Fuling told everything she knew, "Behind this Shenxianju is the Prince of Shun, the Seventh Young Master of Cheng'en Mansion, and the second eldest grandson of the Minister of Personnel."

She looked at Xiao Jingyi, "This pool of water is probably deep and muddy. If you want to completely eradicate it, you need to take a long-term view and not act rashly."

Xiao Jingyi nodded and said, "I will go to the palace to see my father tomorrow and report this matter."

After the three of them had dinner together, they went to bed.

Zhao Xuesi sent someone back to the Duke of Xiangguo's Mansion to tell him, and then he stayed directly in the guest house of Prince Yi's Mansion.

Zhao Xuesi and Xiao Jingyi had a good relationship. It was common for them to eat and live together, and it was even more common for Zhao Xuesi to stay overnight at Prince Yi's Mansion.

So when the Xiangguo Mansion found out, they didn’t think much about it.

However, in the evening, the wife of Duke Xiangguo couldn't help but complain to Duke Xiangguo.

"His Royal Highness Prince Yi has already married a wife, but Xue Si still runs to Prince Yi's mansion all day and stays there from time to time. What kind of nonsense is this?"

"The couple is so loving and affectionate, but he is just standing there, showing no regard at all."

"I'm not afraid of annoying people!"

Duke Xiangguo was very calm and said with a smile, "Xuesi is the study partner of His Royal Highness Prince Yi. They have been able to play together since they were young. Jiao is inseparable from Meng, and Meng is inseparable from Jiao."