Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 314 Seeking immortality and enlightenment is inherently an unreliable endeavor.

Chapter 314 Seeking immortality and enlightenment is inherently an unreliable endeavor.

What was the point of Yinzhen's long preamble? Wasn't it to give his fourth brother a heads-up? Now, the two brothers, one with a face full of doubt and the other with eyes full of expectation, locked eyes, and then... the doubtful Yinzhen became even more doubtful, while the expectant Yinzhen was already in despair.

"Fourth Brother, I'm asking you a question. Do you think the idea of ​​cultivating immortality and seeking eternal life is reliable?"

Even though Yinzhen had always thought he was pretty smart, he really couldn't understand why Yinzuo would ask him such questions again and again. Did he look like the kind of person who would cultivate immortality and seek eternal life?

At this moment, Yinzhuo was unaware of his brother's thoughts. Otherwise, he would have definitely gone up to his fourth brother and whispered in his ear, "What do you mean, 'Do you look like the kind of person who thinks about immortality?' Brother, you don't just look like it, you *are* that kind of person! Not only do you dare to think it, you also dare to do it! You've been eating those deadly little golden pills like they're candy balls, and in the end, you've managed to get yourself ranked alongside Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han. Of course, this 'ranking alongside' mainly refers to—your cause of death."

Yinzhen clearly hadn't expected Yinzuo to be so insistent on getting an answer from him. Seeing that Yinzuo was staring at him intently without blinking, he could only sigh helplessly and slowly speak.

"Since ancient times, many people have sought immortality, but no one has ever succeeded. As the ruler of a country, the emperor has countless resources at his disposal, and there are many talented people who can serve him. Since they have not succeeded, it can only mean that seeking immortality and eternal life is unreliable."

Upon hearing Yinzhen's reply, Yinzuo felt a tension that had been building up inside him ease, and he involuntarily leaned back in his chair.

"Fourth Brother is right. The pursuit of immortality and eternal life is inherently unreliable. Think about it, if such a thing existed, those sorcerers would have ascended to heaven long ago. Why would they remain in the mortal realm to refine elixirs for emperors? I forget which miscellaneous book I read about before, but it said that these so-called elixirs are made from things like gold, mercury, and lead powder. Putting aside the other two, everyone has heard of suicide by swallowing gold, right? Gold is not something you can eat. And mercury is poisonous. You've all heard the stories of tomb raiding, right? The ancients used it for preservation. If you still don't have a concrete idea of ​​what that means, you must know about gunpowder, right? That's what the sorcerers discovered during their alchemy process. Imagine, eating that so-called elixir, and then one day, bang… you'd become an immortal. The image… tsk tsk tsk, it's just too disgusting."

The sudden bang from Yinzhuo really startled everyone. A quick mental image of the scene... ugh... the image was too vivid to contemplate. Seeing his fourth brother's furrowed brows and rapidly rubbing fingers, Yinzhuo felt much more at ease. Whether he was disgusted or scared, Yinzhuo's goal was simply to make him remember that the elixir couldn't be eaten. With the goal achieved, whether the process was perfect or not was completely unimportant.

Because of Yinzhuo's sudden, unexpected move, Kangxi, Yinti, Yinreng, Yinzhi, Yinzhen, and others overthought things, resulting in a noticeably poor appetite at dinner. But what did their poor appetite have to do with Yinzhuo? He was facing a table full of delicious food, his chopsticks flying as he ate with great relish. Not only did he eat himself, but he also took the time to show his respect to his father.

"Father, come, try this pork intestine. I specifically asked Dexi to go to the kitchen a couple of days ago to have them buy this. I must say, the chefs in your imperial kitchen are truly skilled; this pork intestine is cooked without a single off-flavor..."

In the past, Kangxi had always accepted his son's filial offerings without question. However, today, seeing the piece of fatty intestine that Yinzhuo had placed in his bowl, Kangxi was truly torn. Eating it would be difficult for him, but not eating it would hurt his son's feelings. He hesitated for a long time, holding the chopsticks and bringing them to his mouth several times. But when he thought of the wonderful scene that Yinzhuo had created after the earlier "bang," he really couldn't eat the fatty intestine.

"Father, why aren't you eating? Don't worry, your son just tasted it for you. It's been cleaned absolutely and there's not a trace of odor."

Yinzhuo's mention of the strange smell was fine, but it made Kangxi's side imagine what it was all about. Everyone knew what the intestines were used to make a dish before they were cooked. Seeing that Yinzhuo was focused on Kangxi and didn't have time to pay attention to them, Yinti and the others quickly lowered their heads and shoveled rice into their bowls. Good heavens, they were all eating with great gusto, as if they were afraid that if they ate slower than anyone else, Yinzhuo would catch them and force them to eat the intestines.

Kangxi looked up at Yinzhuo, who was staring at him expectantly, then turned to look at his group of troublesome sons who seemed to be possessed by divine pigs and only knew how to eat. In the end, he could only helplessly pick up the fatty intestines from the bowl and put them in his mouth. He chewed them a few times without daring to savor the taste and swallowed them hastily.

"Hmm, it tastes pretty good. Yinzhuo, are you full? I see your elder brother and the others look very hungry today. If you don't eat soon, they'll take all your favorite dishes."

The moment Yinzhuo turned his gaze, from Yinti to the Fourteenth Prince, almost simultaneously, they all slammed their bowls and chopsticks down on the table, clearly indicating that they were full.

Kangxi's attempt to shift the blame was ultimately a miscalculation. Now, only he and Yinzhuo remained at the table with their bowls in hand. Yinzhuo didn't follow the rule of not eating more than three times a day. In the past, when dining alone with Kangxi, he would always pick out a few bites of his favorite dishes for his father. Today was no exception. Thus, Kangxi put on a mask of pain, eating piece after piece of fatty intestine until he wished he could go back a few minutes earlier and slap himself for praising the food.

After the meal, everyone except Yinzhu suffered from indigestion. Kangxi even privately instructed Liang Jiugong to inform the imperial kitchen chefs that if Yinzhu went to ask them to buy offal or similar items, they should return saying that they could not buy them and that such items would never be allowed on his table again.

Yinzhuo and his entourage set off from Suzhou in early April, stopping and starting along the way. By the time they returned to the capital, it was already mid-May. The weather in the capital had warmed up in May. When they left, everyone was still wearing fox fur coats and cotton-padded clothes, wrapped up like balls. When they returned, they had all changed into light spring clothes, and even their limbs looked relaxed and stretched out.