Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

"Delicious!"

Sun Zhengheng, sitting on the woolen blanket, smelled the aroma of the roasted meat and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

He smiled and said to Wang Chen, "There are not many specialties in Hanhai Prefecture, but the taste of its prairie sheep is truly unparalleled. I had it once in Daye before, and the memory is still fresh!"

The Gobi prairie sheep produced in Hanhai Prefecture have always been a tribute to the royal family.

Due to the long journey, the number of prairie sheep that actually arrive alive in the Imperial Capital is very few, making them extremely precious.

And the prairie sheep one can eat here in Hanhai City is undoubtedly the freshest and tastiest.

A chef wielding a sharp curved knife expertly sliced off two large pieces of sizzling, fatty lamb with bones and placed them on a silver platter, which the chubby businessman personally delivered to Wang Chen and Sun Zhengheng.

"Please enjoy, my lords."

The chubby businessman knelt on the ground and respectfully held up the silver platter with both hands.

Sun Zhengheng laughed heartily, "Protector Wang, please go ahead."

Wang Chen did not decline and reached out to grab a piece of lamb that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and took a bite.

As Sun Zhengheng said, the taste of this barbecued prairie sheep was extraordinarily good. It had no trace of gaminess and the meat was juicy and rich, exploding with flavor in the mouth!

The spices sprinkled on the skin of the lamb also added a very special flavor that complemented the meat perfectly.

It made one want to swallow their own tongue along with the food!

However, after chewing a couple of times, Wang Chen did not swallow it. Instead, his expression changed drastically, and he smashed the lamb in his hand onto the face of the kneeling chubby businessman.

Smack!

The businessman, full of obsequiousness earlier, was struck so hard that he saw stars and was completely confused.

"How dare you!"

Wang Chen shouted sternly, "To dare poison the meat and attempt to assassinate the Emperor's guards!"

His voice instantly spread throughout the entire palace hall, clearly heard by all the Feathered Forest Guards!

Furious upon hearing this, Sun Zhengheng grabbed the chubby businessman from the ground and fiercely slapped him on both sides of the face.

"Speak! Who ordered you to poison the food?"

After the battle in the West Sea Great Prairie, this leader of the Feathered Forest Guards reached a peak level of trust in Wang Chen.

Thus, he did not doubt Wang Chen's words at all, and his anger seemed to burst from his eyes.

The chubby businessman was slapped so hard that several of his teeth were knocked out, and blood oozed from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

It was fortunate that Sun Zhengheng, despite his rage, did not lose his composure; otherwise, it would have been easy for him to crush the man's head.

"Injustice, this is an injustice!"

Under the severe pain, the businessman somehow became more lucid and cried out loud, "My lord, even if I had the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard, I wouldn't dare to assassinate any of you!"

He was terrified to his core.

This man was the Store Manager of a trading company in Hanhai City, who mainly did business with Great Yan and had managed to secure the official reward contract through connections in the Prefectural Government when he learned that the royal convoy was coming to the border.

He originally thought he could use this opportunity to forge even a slight connection with Princess Qingyun, hoping for a word of praise. Should Princess Qingyun later become the crown princess or even the empress of Great Yan, he could definitely benefit from her favor.

He never expected that the carefully prepared banquet tonight would turn into such a disaster!

"How dare you still argue!"

Sun Zhengheng grew even angrier, his hand gripping the businessman's throat strongly, preparing to make him taste a life worse than death.

"Wait."

Wang Chen waved his hand to stop Sun Zhengheng and demanded, "Where is the Imperial Physician?"

As his words fell, three physicians who were accompanying the delegation hurried over.

At this moment, all the chefs, helpers, and general hands were under control by the Feathered Forest Guard, and the atmosphere at the scene was extremely tense.

Wang Chen pointed to the spice jars beside the grill and said, "Check the spices; I feel there is something off."

His perception was exceedingly sharp; the moment he tasted the mutton, he sensed that the flavor was not right.

Though the flavors of the mutton and spices were extremely intense, completely masking any underlying oddity which ordinary people couldn't discern, it could not deceive Wang Chen's taste!

One physician immediately took the spice jar, extracted a pinch of the spices, and then passed it on to the other two physicians.

These three physicians, part of the entourage, were court Imperial Physicians with very exquisite medical skills and naturally had deep knowledge of pharmacology.

They also took out various tools to test the spices and murmured to each other for a while before one of the physicians bowed to Wang Chen and said, "Lord Wang, my colleagues and I believe that this spice mixture likely contains a centennial Misty Dewgrass!"

"Misty Dewgrass?"

Wang Chen raised an eyebrow.

Misty Dewgrass is a type of wild herb with mild hallucinogenic effects, used as an ingredient in seasoning to enhance the flavor of food.

Normal Misty Dewgrass is harmless to humans; at most, consuming a lot in one go might induce some hallucinations.

Similar to ingesting mildly toxic fungi.

However, Misty Dewgrass that has grown for over a century has such strong medicinal properties that even a tier-three or four martial artist could not withstand it!

It is considered a high-level hallucinogenic drug.

Moreover, centennial Misty Dewgrass is extremely rare and cannot be found on the market; the ability of the three physicians to identify it speaks to their considerable experience in the field of medicinal herbs and pharmacology.

Wang Chen turned to look at the chubby merchant whom Sun Zhengheng had just released and asked indifferently, "Do you have anything else to say?"

The merchant had already collapsed on the ground and immediately knelt down and knocked his head on the floor desperately, "Lord, lord, I know absolutely nothing, I am really wrongly accused..."

Balancing life and death, he knocked his head with great force, his forehead soon bleeding.

But the chubby merchant seemed unaware and continued to knock his head ardently.

Wang Chen watched for a moment, then suddenly said, "I believe you."

No matter how skilled his acting was, it could not deceive Wang Chen's perceptiveness and insight. His words, being earnest, indicated that he was possibly made a scapegoat.

The chubby merchant knocked his head several more times before he came back to his senses, immediately bursting into tears and sobbing uncontrollably.

He truly was wronged!

Wang Chen frowned, "Take him away, lock up everyone in the side palace, and anyone who dares to make a slight move should be killed without hesitation!"

The incident occurred suddenly, and Wang Chen had no time to discern the good from the evil among the people brought by the chubby merchant.

Merely detaining them was already his greatest act of mercy!

Under Wang Chen's order, the ferocious Feathered Forest Guard immediately escorted these people to the side palace for confinement.

Sun Zhengheng's face was pale, and he asked, "Lord Wang, what should we do now?"

This matter was no small affair; if it were just some vile characters stirring up trouble, the situation would have been manageable.

But if it implicated the Hanhai Prefecture or even the Hanhai Army stationed at the borders...

That would be a grave issue.

It should be noted that the Hanhai Army is an elite force of the military, comprising as many as fifty thousand men!

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The second update is presented.