Help! I just woke up and was stabbed by a big kid

When a few people rushed out of the temple, they saw a thick black smoke floating in the sky in the distance.

The smoke spread in all directions, and a peculiar smell of cigarette smoke floated in the air.

How could it be? Did those two find a way to get the message out and destroy those things in advance?

Qin Zhaoyue immediately rushed to the direction of Jiaoyuan. He was a little out of control, as he had never expected things to get to this point. He originally thought it was just some evidence, but he didn't expect it to be a big secret that Wen Qing and the others would rather burn to keep.

He must get it!

Before he took two steps, Qin Zhaoyue stopped and a Taoist priest blocked his way.

"Your Highness, please stay and do not come forward." said the Taoist priest.

Qin Zhaoyue frowned slightly. He could see that this man had great power and was not an ordinary Taoist priest.

"Get out of the way." Qin Zhaoyue's face darkened.

"This smoke is poisonous." The Taoist said calmly, "You'd better call your subordinates back quickly."

Qin Zhaoyue paused.

"Grandmaster." The old man who was the master of the temple bowed to the young Taoist priest.

Qin Zhaoyue glanced at them and made a decision: "Have Jingcun lead his men to evacuate immediately! All those who enter the mountain should wear wet cloths to cover their faces."

The cronies took the order and left.

Qin Zhaoyue said to the temple master again: "You should immediately organize the Taoists to evacuate the believers and prepare wet cloths. The more the better!"

The young Taoist priest who was called the Grand Master frowned and said, "Your Highness, please come in immediately."

Qin Zhaoyue saw the old master hurriedly leave, and then turned back to the hall. The Taoist closed the doors and windows, covered the gaps with some cloth strips, and then sighed through the window.

Qin Zhaoyue originally thought that the smoke was strange. If it was a normal fire, there would never be such an unprecedented strange smell of smoke, and the shape of the smoke was also very wrong.

The sky was only slightly red, indicating that the fire was not serious. Qin Zhaoyue had hoped that Jingcun could grab something from the fire, but now it seemed that the best scenario was that he could come back safe and sound.

"Who are you?" Qin Zhaoyue asked the Taoist priest without any worry.

"A wandering idler." The Taoist priest did not explain further.

Qin Zhaoyue had no intention of arguing with him about his identity. When he heard that the smoke was poisonous, he wondered if this was a delaying tactic by the people of Taiqing Temple to make it difficult for him to obtain evidence, but in the end he still believed it.

"You said the smoke is poisonous. What kind of poison is it? Is it fatal?" Qin Zhaoyue asked.

"Your Highness, as the crown prince, you must have read many anecdotes and heard of something called Happy Powder." The Taoist said, "This thing is not immediately fatal, but it will give people extremely wonderful hallucinations. With long-term use, people gradually become addicted. The toxicity accumulates over time, making people unable to work and eventually turning into a dried corpse."

Qin Zhaoyue's face changed.

Of course he knew how powerful this thing was. The imperial family secretly reported that an emperor of the previous dynasty was addicted to the drug, and he consumed almost ten buckets of it every day. The people along the southern coast began to grow and refine the white powder, and continuously supply it to the capital. Fortunately, the imperial city was trampled by the cavalry of the northern uprising in an instant, and no one in the entire imperial guards could lift a weapon.

This piece of history should have been widely publicized by the victors to show that their seizure of the dynasty was the will of heaven. However, the founding emperor of the new dynasty was wise and knew that it would be difficult to control once it was widely publicized. Therefore, after killing nearly 10,000 nobles of the previous dynasty, it was suppressed at this time.

After more than five hundred years, the common people had long forgotten what happened in purgatory back then. Only the royal family passed down this secret from generation to generation to warn future generations.

"That kind of plant became extinct in Northern Qin a hundred years ago. How could it be seen again now?" Qin Zhaoyue looked solemn. He knew that if this was true, it would be a major event that would shock the government and the public.

What Gu Dashi wanted to reveal was actually such a serious matter.

"You are in Taiqing Temple and are so familiar with this thing, why don't you hide it?" Qin Zhaoyue looked at the Taoist coldly.

"Your Highness, I am not a mortal. I have many ties and cannot easily get involved in the secular world." The Taoist priest had no expression on his face: "I am telling you everything now for a reason. You have received a favor from someone, and your fate has been implicated to this point, so I am telling you."

Qin Zhaoyue frowned slightly.

He didn't really believe in the theories of karma, ghosts, gods, and fate in these religions, but the temple master called this man his master, and he possessed unfathomable martial arts skills, so he thought there must be something mysterious about him.

"How many poisonous weeds are there in the garden? If we continue to burn them, will it have any impact on the people living nearby?" Qin Zhaoyue was more concerned about these.

"It's okay. The garden is far from human habitation and very secluded. Even if it burns down completely, it won't harm your body if you don't get close to the fire." The Taoist said, "But Your Highness, the people around you who are involved in this incident must be extremely careful in the future. If they are unfortunate enough to come into contact with this thing again, they will become addicted to it."

"What about me?" Qin Zhaoyue's brows never relaxed.

"Your Highness is fine." The Taoist replied.

Qin Zhaoyue knew that his life was more important than those of his followers. He had already been appointed as the heir, so he could not easily take risks. But he was still worried, suffering from not being able to be there in person, and paced back and forth in this small hall, extremely anxious.

……

The poisonous smoke continued to spew until noon the next day, when it completely dissipated.

Most of the believers who came to Taiqing Temple to burn incense withdrew, and those who did not leave were arranged to hide in the rooms inside the temple. Jingcun knew the seriousness of the situation and restrained his subordinates so that no one would take risks, but more than a dozen people still showed symptoms of dizziness and vomiting, and were taken to the temple by the Taoist priest to take medicine and recuperate.

Jingcun also felt a little uncomfortable. There were too few people, so it took him some effort to find someone, but he was strong and had internal strength, so he quickly recovered.

Qin Zhaoyue had already contacted the nearest prefect of Huaiyang Prefecture and asked him to dispatch some personnel to come. He also went back to Yuning Prefecture and took away all the available personnel to surround the road leading into the mountain. Even so, Qin Zhaoyue could confirm that there were still spies communicating with each other, because when he saw Wen Qing and Tang Wuling again, they both had returned to their usual expressions.

The evidence in the pepper garden must have been burned to ashes.

The expedited document has already been sent to Luoyang, and I think the emperor has seen it today.

Although there is no evidence yet, the symptoms of those who were knocked down by the poisonous smoke are consistent with the records, which can be considered as supporting evidence.

Qin Zhaoyue pressed his forehead and sat in the back hall of the government office to rest. He hadn't slept all night.

……

"Damn, is Qin Zhaoyue reliable?" Gu Yue complained.

With Gu Yue's arrangement, the four of them had been moved to a relatively clean and spacious cell, where at least everyone had a place to sit.

They have been living in this prison for three days, and Gu Yue didn't dare to get too close to Gu Xu, for fear that his body would become rotten and the male protagonist would smell it.

Fortunately, it was spring in the north, and the weather was neither too cold nor too hot, and Gu Yue did not sweat too much, otherwise... he really would have to contact Shi San to rescue them in advance.

While squatting and clearing his mind, Gu Yue suddenly heard footsteps outside the cell.

The one who delivered the food? There seemed to be only one person, who could it be?

Wen Qing sent assassins?

What is Qin Zhaoyue doing? Could he have died in the pepper garden?