Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 237 The Love Poison Buried with It...

Deep within the dark dungeon, Li Zhao's black leather boots stomped heavily on the damp bluestone, startling a gray rat into fleeing in panic.

He took off his black fox fur cloak and tossed it to Laifu. The dragon patterns on the brocade robe gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the oil lamp.

"Untie the shackles, bring the brazier, I want to ask you questions..."

The prison guards looked at each other in bewilderment, then knelt down with a thud.

"Your Highness, this is against the rules..."

Li Zhao smiled.

The dagger grazed the jailer's ear and embedded itself in the wooden fence, the red tassel at its end still trembling.

He twirled the empty scabbard in his hand, his cold gaze sweeping over the figure huddled deep inside the cell.

"Is it in accordance with the rules now?"

The jailers knelt on the ground in unison, their foreheads touching the ground, pressed tightly against it, neither resisting, making a sound, nor moving.

Lai Fu, who was traveling with them, also hunched over, looking very uneasy.

At this sensitive juncture, Your Highness shouldn't have come to the Ministry of Justice prison; it only creates trouble...

But Guo San-guniang's words clearly resonated with him, and he couldn't rest easy. After finishing his business with Princess Ping Le, he resolutely rushed over despite all the advice against it...

The dampness in the prison cell was bone-chilling.

On the damp haystack, Xue Sui huddled up, as if trapped in a nightmare, his body trembling slightly...

She dreamt of that snowy night when she was eight years old, blood slowly flowing down her forehead, staining her face mottled and spreading across the pure white snow...

She felt an unprecedented despair, while the laughter around her grew louder and louder...

Princess Ping Le and a group of elegantly dressed young noblemen surrounded her, laughing and screaming wildly...

She was covered in centipedes, scarlet and densely packed, crawling all over her arms and cheeks, even burrowing into her collar. The cold touch made her tremble all over, as if they were about to devour her...

Her clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and she sobbed.

Li Zhao's pupils contracted sharply, he kicked open the cell door, and strode inside...

"Safety."

He knelt on one knee, embraced her slender body, his fingertips hovering half an inch between her eyebrows, then curling slightly.

"How did he get so sick? Are all the people in the Ministry of Justice's prison dead?"

An overwhelming surge of anger filled his ears, causing Laifu's shoulders to tremble. He quickly waved to the prison guards, signaling them to step back.

Xiao Zhao felt a lump in her throat and, with red eyes, slammed the medicine bowl down heavily beside her.

"Your Highness, why feign such concern? Our young lady has been confined in this prison for days, and we haven't seen you once. Now that you're about to marry the Crown Princess, you suddenly remember our young lady..."

"Xiao Zhao—"

Xue Sui opened his eyes at some point, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"You must not be disrespectful to His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Miss..." Xiao Zhao was somewhat unconvinced, but dared not say anything more.

She was fearless and had no respect for the Crown Prince, except for Xue Sui.

Xue Sui's breathing was unsteady, and he glanced at the flustered Xiao Zhao.

"Go wait over there, I want to say a few words to His Highness."

Xiao Zhao quickly wiped her eyes, stomped her foot, and rushed to the prison door.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I grew up in the countryside and do not know the proper order of things..." Xue Sui said as she was about to get up and bow, but the heavy iron chains rattled on her wrists.

Li Zhaoxin felt as if he had been pricked by a needle. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, his palm pressed against the burning skin on the back of her neck.

"It's not that I didn't want to come see you, it's just that..."

“Your Highness was right not to come.” Xue Sui interrupted him, her fingers slowly resting on his shoulder as she deliberately leaned forward to keep her distance.

"The prison is too cold and damp, and I am still recovering from a cold. If I were to pass on my illness to Your Highness, it would be an unforgivable crime. Besides—in the dead of night, a lone man and a lone woman meeting, if this were to become public, would damage Your Highness's reputation..."

Her voice was like it was covered in frost, cold and aloof, clearly keeping people at arm's length.

Even though Li Zhaoyou was filled with anxiety and heartache, he couldn't express it.

"Xue Ping'an." His Adam's apple bobbed, and although he clearly wanted to express his concern, what came out was an angry sarcasm.

"I'm here to investigate a case. How dare you, a death row inmate, instruct me on how to conduct myself?"

"What does Your Highness wish to ask?" Xue Sui pushed his arm away and forced himself to sit up straight. "Ask away."

Li Zhao stared at her bluish lips and couldn't help but reach out to hug her again, but he quickly withdrew his hand when he met her cold gaze.

The prison lamp cast his shadow on the stone wall, flickering like the turbulent thoughts in his mind.

For some reason, he softened his heart again.

"This is a new medicine prescribed by Zhang Huaicheng; it soothes the throat and relieves sore throat..."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness..." Xue Sui turned her head away from the medicine bottle he offered, frowning. "I've been taking too many bitter medicines lately, and I don't want to taste another one..."

Li Zhao's hand remained suspended in mid-air, hesitant to retract it.

Xue Sui said softly, "Your Highness is already engaged to Miss Guo, and should naturally abide by the marriage agreement. She is a good woman, considerate and caring, and is a perfect match for Your Highness. You should cherish her..."

"Do you have to talk like that?" Li Zhao pinched her chin, his thumb grinding against her chapped lips.

With a fierce determination, he finally couldn't help but sigh and pull the person into his arms.

The body in his arms was more fragile than the delicate glass lamp; it seemed that with the slightest force, he could break her.

A bitter taste rose in Li Zhao's throat, and he tightened his arms, pulling her even closer into his embrace.

"Fool, don't you know what I'm thinking?"

Xue Sui coughed, too weak to struggle, and simply turned his face away.

"At this critical moment, Your Highness should not have any other thoughts. What you perceive as affection is nothing but a delusion born of bewitching, a mere illusion, not to be taken seriously..."

Li Zhao felt a tightness in his chest and a metallic taste rose in his throat. He restrained himself and withdrew some of his strength.

He let go of her arm, lowered his head, and looked at her.

"You're quite generous, aren't you? Have you ever experienced the excruciating pain and heart-wrenching agony of the Love Silk Gu? When you planted the Gu for me, did you ever imagine that I would take concubines? Now you want to absolve yourself with a simple 'it was all an illusion'? How am I supposed to face this?"

Xue Sui remained silent.

Under Li Zhaozhuo's intense gaze, she fell silent, a rare occurrence for her.

The sound of dripping water in the dungeon was clearly audible, much like the cracking of icicles at Puji Temple that night…

"I am very sorry for everything that happened back then." Xue Sui lowered his eyes and stared at the shackles on his wrists before finally speaking.

"I planted the Gu poison only to save my own life; I never expected it would implicate Your Highness."

Back then, she emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, vowing revenge before the ruins of the old mausoleum. At that time, she never imagined Li Zhao to be this kind of Li Zhao—the boy who had given her warmth on a snowy night, the crown prince who had stood up for her in court…

She paused, then her lips trembled slightly as she looked intently into his eyes.

"I promise Your Highness that I will present the antidote to the Love Silk Gu before Your Highness's wedding to Miss Guo."

Before her voice had even faded, she spoke again, each word firm and resounding, as if making a vow.

"Otherwise, let God punish me and make me pay with my life."

Li Zhao suddenly chuckled, "Your life? Whether you'll even live that long is still unknown..."

After saying this, he looked at Xue Sui's ashen face and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

That pain was not an illusion, not a mirage; it was truly born for her.

Xue Sui interpreted it as the instinctive restraint of the Love Silk Gu. Therefore, he also refused to acknowledge this uncontrollable surge of emotion.

"Don't think I'm doing this for you; I'm doing it for my own life."

"That's good--"

Xue Sui relaxed slightly, feeling the arm around his waist tighten suddenly, then straightened his back and smiled faintly.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince bears the weight of the nation's fate on your shoulders and should not be troubled by personal feelings."

Li Zhao gave a cold laugh, deliberately leaning close to her ear, his voice carrying an almost obsessive possessiveness.

"No need for this righteous act. Xue Ping'an, your life has long belonged to me. If you dare to die, I will make the entire Old Mausoleum Marsh pay with its life!"

"I won't die. I can't bear to die." Xue Sui raised his eyes, the flickering prison fire reflected in them, his pale face calm.

"It won't be long before the truth of this case comes out. I've had enough of this prison..." Li Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed violently when he heard her say this.

"Tell me, what if I take you away without any regard for the consequences?"

"Your Highness, you must not do this!"

Xue Sui leaned back against the stone wall for support, his breath trembling as he spoke.

"Your Highness, you mustn't... cough cough... you mustn't risk the wrath of the world for this illusory affection..."

Li Zhao suddenly pulled the person into his arms, letting the tangled black hair fall into his arms.

"Abuse of private power, disregard for social order, and disregard for the law, and then the position of heir apparent is in jeopardy? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Xue Sui, panting, looked into his bloodshot eyes: "Your Highness is the presiding judge, you should strictly abide by the law and not lose your composure..."

Presiding judge?
Li Zhaoshou's long fingertips traced across her cheek.

This nemesis really has a lot of tricks up his sleeve; every word he uttered pierced his heart and made his anger surge.

"Xue Ping'an, listen to this." He guided her palm and gently placed it on his heart.

The silent restlessness beneath her clothes seemed to resonate with her pulse.

"The love potion is tormenting my mind; just seeing you makes my heart pound faster than a stampede of horses... I'm being tortured to death. I can deceive the world, but I can't deceive myself..."

"Your Highness..."

Xue Sui's unfinished words were swallowed up by the sudden warmth of the body touching him.

Li Zhao buried his face in her neck, his warm breath enveloping her cool skin.

"You know why I came here..." His Adam's apple bobbed, his suppressed breath hitting her throbbing veins, "Ping An, wait for me... soon, very soon..."

Xue Sui's body went limp, and his face was somewhat dazed and flushed.

It took her a long time to finally escape his burning breath, she coughed with her head down, her thin shoulders heaving violently.

"What does Your Highness intend to do? Do you have a foolproof plan?"

"Don't ask." Li Zhao pressed her head against his chest, his voice low and hoarse, "In any case, even if the sky falls, I will take you away from this hellhole."

Xue Sui frowned slightly, counting his frantic heartbeats. He suddenly remembered the day the Xiz assassins attacked, when he was covered in blood but stubbornly protected her behind him, and the temperature of his palm was just as astonishingly hot.

Her heart rate suddenly went out of control, beating rapidly and erratically.

"Your Highness, the old rules of the Mausoleum do not help the foolish."

Li Zhao: "My rule is that no one is allowed to make you frown."

Xue Sui broke free from his embrace and stared coldly into his burning eyes.

"Your Highness need not worry so much. The blood debt remains unpaid, and my original intention remains unchanged. My life is not only for myself, but also for the two hundred thousand souls of the Old Mausoleum. I will not die easily, nor will I implicate Your Highness..."

Old Mausoleum Marsh, again the Old Mausoleum Marsh.

Li Zhao suddenly felt a deep hatred for this name.

If it weren't for those deep-seated hatreds and this damned power struggle, could he, like an ordinary man, openly and honestly say "I love you"?
Her obsession with revenge was unwavering.

He can settle all the scores she demands for justice.

But what happens after the reckoning? She is still the concubine of Prince Duan, and he is still the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Between them lies the blood feud of 200,000 dead souls and the power struggles within the nine palaces. How can they cross this chasm that spans heaven and earth?
The prison fire flickered, and the Love Silk Gu surged wildly through his blood, causing him to feel intensely burning inside, and his breathing became rapid and disordered...

"I don't care about hatred, I only care about you..."

He only wanted to turn things upside down and reshape each other's identities...

Not the Crown Prince and the concubine of Prince Duan, but a woman he could openly and legitimately embrace.

His obsession had grown so ingrained that he could no longer distinguish whether the tenderness hidden behind the scheming was genuine or a hallucination caused by a poison.

In short, he couldn't wait any longer, nor did he want to wait any longer.

He wished he could take her away from this dark prison immediately...

But he couldn't tell Xue Sui any of this. He couldn't even tell her that he had secretly switched the poison, intending to rescue her, disguise her, and take her for himself...

"Your Highness, the night patrol is about to change shifts," Lai Fu whispered, standing in the prison passage outside the cell.

Li Zhao gave Xue Sui a deep look.

"I only care about you... whether you live or die!" he added again, his voice so soft it was as if he were afraid of startling something.

"Xue Ping'an, take good care of yourself, don't die in prison."

He stood up slowly.

As he left, the wide sleeves of his python robe brushed against the back of her cold hand, sending a slight shiver down her spine.

The sound of the prison door creaking shut echoed in my ears.

Laifu stepped forward with the cloak in hand, only to see the fierce rage surging in the Crown Prince's eyes.

"Your Highness..."

"Walk."

The coughing behind me was broken and rapid, intermittent, as if it were trying to choke me...

Li Zhao paused, then finally closed his eyes tightly before striding away.

Laifu followed closely behind, his heart aching as he looked at Laifu's tightly pursed lips, which had turned white.

He had never seen His Highness the Crown Prince look like this before.

The former crown prince, who could turn the tide of events with a laugh and change the landscape with a flick of his sword, never cared about personal feelings or matters of life, death, honor, or sorrow. He was known throughout the royal family for his coldness and aloofness...

At this moment, in this dark and moldy prison tunnel, he was like a mortal entangled in the threads of love, his eyes filled with struggle and lingering attachment...

"Your Highness, there are some things that should perhaps be said to Consort Xue."

"She is not a concubine!"

“Yes, Miss Xue.” Lai Fu lowered his voice, his tone tinged with helplessness. “Your Highness has done so much for her, why not express it to her face? Hiding your feelings only leads to misunderstandings.”

He tentatively began to offer words of comfort to his master.

Li Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he looked up at the faint light filtering through the bars at the end of the prison passage.

Like frost and snow, it shone on his pale, hard face.

"She refused."

After saying that, he turned and glanced back at the prison cell in the distance.

"Have someone keep a close eye on Wang Bo'an. If anything goes wrong, throw his grandson into the moat."

Lai Fu agreed, and suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

They had to deceive the Empress Dowager's spies while ensuring her safety.

She needs to show signs of poisoning, but not so much that she becomes unwell.

Let alone Zhang Huaicheng and Wang Bo'an, even if the Great Golden Star himself came, he would probably only be in a difficult position...
-
The group disappeared at the end of the prison passage, leaving only a faint scent of pine mixed with the coolness of the cold night.

Silence returned to the dungeon.

Xue Sui held the porcelain bottle left by Li Zhao, lowered his head and looked away, seemingly lost in thought.

Xiao Zhao glanced at her and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"He clearly cares deeply, but he insists on acting like a cold-faced devil. Who appreciates his kindness..."

"Xiao Zhao, don't talk nonsense!"

Xue Sui lowered his eyelids, silently curled up in the straw that still smelled of pine resin, and stared blankly at the damp watermarks on the stone wall.

She is Xue Ping'an, a demon who crawled out of a pile of bones, and she doesn't expect any sincerity.

"Calm down, proceed according to the original plan..."

As night fell, the capital city fell silent, and moonlight quietly climbed the stone walls.

Two figures entangled by fate: one imprisoned, guarding an unresolved vengeance; the other outside, concealing unspoken affection. Some words, buried deep in the heart, are destined to shatter into fragments amidst the vortex of imperial power…

Another long chapter combining two parts, everyone please treat yourselves to a late-night snack...

Li Zhao: What's so good about being so cold-hearted and indifferent?

Xue Sui: Someone, bring the Crown Prince a boxed lunch!

Xiao Zhao: This is something I'm good at...