Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 252 The Crown Prince's Anger

The charcoal fire crackled inside the meditation room, and an undercurrent of tension surged like a deep abyss.

Just a door away, Li Huan's greetings rang out once more.

Li Zhao lowered his head, pressed his forehead against Xue Sui's forehead, and brushed his nose against her burning earlobe.

"Xue Ping'an, your heart is beating so fast, are you scared?"

Xue Suichan's shoulder blades, beneath his robes, were taut like bowstrings.

"Your Highness..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Zhao had already grabbed her chin, a low chuckle escaping his lips.

"If you move again, I'll wrap you up like a dumpling and carry you out."

He didn't do anything excessive; he simply lowered his eyes and traced the lingering red mark on her cheek with his thumb, seemingly admiring his masterpiece.

"I want him to know that I can touch the person he cherishes so much whenever I want."

Who is the person most cherished by Li Huan?

"This is a sacred Buddhist site; Your Highness, please show some respect—"

After speaking, Xue Sui suddenly stood up, his sleeve sweeping across the scripture table and overturning the teacup, splashing scalding tea onto the front of his monk's robe.

As she stepped aside, Li Zhao closed in, his hand encircling her from behind the table, barely managing to shield her...

Then he wiped away the tea stains on her sleeve, raised an eyebrow triumphantly, and rolled over to pin her down.

"The rules and regulations are set for monks, but I'm going to break them this once..."

He leaned down and brushed his fingers against her cool scalp. The ambergris, warmed by the embers, sent shivers down her spine...

Li Huan's voice outside the door suddenly turned cold and sharp.

"If Your Highness does not open the door, I have no choice but to ask Your Majesty for a decision!"

Amidst the clash of scabbards, Xue Yuechen's tearful plea for help mingled with the wind and snow.

"Your Highness, my sixth sister is a nun. What if word gets out that she's causing such a scene?"

"Get out of the way!" Li Huan's deep shout made the window paper tremble.

Guan Ya remained expressionless, raised the hilt of his sword, and stood motionless.

"His Highness and Master Liaochen have important matters to discuss. Please wait for the time being, Your Highness!"

"Oh?! Something important?" Li Huan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the snow-covered bluestone slabs. A smile appeared on his lips, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

He clearly didn't believe it.

Even the people Li Zhao brought felt that Guan Ya's excuse was poorly crafted...

What important matter could the Crown Prince possibly have to discuss with a monk?
Laifu stepped forward with a stoop, his pale, plump face showing fawning wrinkles.

"Your Highness, the lantern tower caught fire at the Lantern Market that night. My lord was injured while saving the people in the market. Hearing that Master Chen possesses supernatural powers, he came here seeking medical help..."

Li Huan clenched his fists even tighter.

"Does healing require seclusion and the dismissal of guards?... I suspect someone is plotting to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince..."

Laifu glanced through the crack in the door, then squinted and smiled.

"No, no, no, Your Highness, you misunderstand. Master Liaochen... is performing a spell to help Your Highness... to help Your Highness overcome your tribulation."

Overcoming the tribulation?

How could he say that!

Li Huan's throat bobbed, and he gave a cold snort.

Finally, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth.

"Then I will wait outside."

Inside the meditation room, Li Zhao chuckled upon hearing this, slowly and deliberately adjusting Xue Sui's clothes, his fingertips lightly brushing against the soft flesh of her waist.

"Listen to how much your second brother cares about you."

Xue Sui abruptly shook off his hand: "What exactly does Your Highness want to do?"

She frowned and took a half step back, her voice choked deep in her throat.

"Could it be that the Censorate should really submit a memorial impeaching Your Highness for abducting a young nun and violating the monastic rules of Buddhism...?"

Li Zhao chuckled softly, his reddened eyes fixed on her, his long eyelashes casting trembling shadows in the candlelight, making him look somewhat innocent.

"Laifu said he was going to heal my wounds, Xue Ping'an. You were the one who planted the Love Silk Gu on me, and I was injured because of you. How can you just stand by and watch me die?"

Xue Sui was at a loss for words, both laughing and crying.

How did it come to the point of life and death?
she knows.

Li Zhao might not actually intend to do anything to her, but his goal was certainly to make Li Huan uncomfortable. Knowing his personality, even if the Emperor himself came, he couldn't get him out of the room at this point…

"That's all."

She had a cold expression.

"Where is the injury? Let me see."

Li Zhao lightly rubbed his nose with his knuckles, a slight smile playing on his lips, deliberately drawing out his words.

"Would you like to take off your clothes?"

Xue Sui glanced at him, knowing full well what he was asking, and pulled out a gold-plated wound medicine bottle from under the desk.

"undress!"

"I must make these unpleasant points clear from the start; don't say I'm begging you..."

"It was Your Highness who begged me to heal you, is that alright?" Xue Sui lowered his eyes and fiddled with the seal of the medicine bottle, his fingertips brushing against the cool porcelain surface, raising his eyebrows to signal him to do it.

Li Zhao chuckled with satisfaction and slowly unbuckled his belt.

The dark brocade robe slid to the ground like flowing clouds, revealing the smooth lines of the waist and shoulders.

His body was lean and strong, with firm and well-proportioned muscles. Fine beads of sweat clung to the hollows of his collarbone, and his waist and abdomen rose and fell with his breath, outlining clear V-lines, as if carved by a knife and axe.

He turned to the side, revealing an old wound on his shoulder blade, pale as a pale moon, already scabbed over, its delicate texture visible in the candlelight.

The fresh wound, located a few inches below the back of the neck, was oozing faint blood, like a speck of bright cinnabar...

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Xue Sui only saw him rushing forward recklessly, his robe scorched black by the falling burning lanterns, and he didn't realize that he was actually injured...

"Have you seen enough?" Li Zhao raised an eyebrow, clearly very confident in his figure. He deliberately turned halfway around, his shoulder blades faintly visible. When his fingertips traced his waistline, he deliberately paused, leaving an ambiguous mark...

"If we keep looking, we'll have to charge interest."

Xue Sui turned his face away, his ears burning slightly.

"Your Highness, please turn your back so I can apply the medicine."

Li Zhao squinted, his muffled voice carrying a threatening laugh as he looked at her with unease.

"Not running?"

"I won't run." "You're not lying?"

"I don't lie."

"Where is Li Huan?"

"Li Huan is not seen."

Seeing her impatient tone, Li Zhao hummed softly, placed a very light kiss on her forehead, and then lazily turned around like a big cat being stroked, his voice carrying an undeniable domineering air.

"Hurry up, my patience is limited."

Xue Sui tapped the back of his neck with a silver spoon.

"Close your eyes."

Li Zhao obediently closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow under his eyelids.

The familiar scent of orchids mingled with the aroma of herbs, wafting from her sleeves. The cool touch of the cotton wool landed on his wound, and a barely audible gasp escaped his throat as the muscles in his shoulder blades instantly tensed.

"Relax," Xue Sui raised his arm. "A real man isn't afraid of pain."

Li Zhao took a breath, secretly peeking through his eyes to watch her focused gaze. As the cotton swab touched her wound, he deliberately let out a soft moan.

Xue Sui paused.

That person is despicable!

Don't you know that humming like that makes people blush and their hearts race?

She was cursing inwardly, but then she saw Li Zhao pretending to frown, looking like he was letting her have her way, as docile as a wild beast begging for food.

With all defenses removed, revealing gentleness, where is there even a trace of ruthlessness and decisiveness?

At this moment, everyone outside the meditation room could hardly imagine...

This is the chillingly cold-faced prince.

"Alright." She put away the cotton swabs and placed the wound medicine bottle back on the desk without changing her expression.

Li Zhao squinted, like a big cat squinting after being stroked.

"I haven't been sleeping well these past few days, plagued by nightmares every night. I've heard you have the skill of applying acupuncture needles to acupoints, so why don't you insert a couple of needles into my body?"

"Your Highness has been summoned to be treated by the imperial physicians; this humble nun's medical skills are rather crude..."

Before the words were even finished, Li Zhao turned around and happened to touch his wound.

She recoiled as if electrocuted, but he held her fingers tightly.

"What are you afraid of? Don't you like watching? You'll use acupuncture to calm my nerves, so I'll let you watch to your heart's content, how about that?"

Xue Sui stared at him for a moment, then bent down to move the sutra scroll aside, took out a silver needle from under the drawer, and moved a stool to sit on the side of the meditation couch.

"Lie down."

Acupuncture and massage are her specialties.

In her spare time at the nunnery, she often gave acupuncture and massage to Abbess Huiming, and also relieved her own muscles and bones.

She treated him as an ordinary patient.

As for Li Huan, since they had already made enemies, Li Zhao didn't want him to have a good time, and she was too lazy to care or concern herself with it.

Li Huan's mood was of no concern to her.

She held the silver needle between her fingers and slowly passed it through the fire...

Li Zhao stared at her intently.

His pupils gleamed as if he were waiting for his prey to fall into a trap.

Xue Sui paused slightly with his fingertips: "It's about to begin."

"Hmm." Li Zhao's voice was muffled, like a child begging for candy.

She focused intently on the acupoints, targeting meridians that calm the mind and soothe the nerves. The pressure from her fingertips was perfectly controlled, varying only slightly.

As the needle was being twirled, the sleeve of the Zen robe suddenly lifted up, falling to the elbow, revealing an old scar on the wrist.

Li Zhao's eyes darkened, and he suddenly flicked his finger to lightly touch and kiss the wound.

"Does it hurt?"

Xue Sui shuddered and gasped, the needle pouch almost slipping from his knees.

In those years when she was surrounded by swords and spears, few people asked her if her scars hurt.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." She turned her head to avoid his breath, but he grabbed her chin and turned her back.

“I’m so lonely—” He pressed his palm against her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat through the thin fabric, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently.

"My heart aches for my beloved Ping An, who has suffered so much at such a young age..."

The wind and snow howled outside the window, cutting off all human voices.

The entire temple seemed to fall into silence.

At first, Li Zhao tried to keep talking nonsense, but slowly, his eyes narrowed into slits, his long eyelashes trembled slightly in the candlelight, and his breathing gradually became long and even. He actually fell into a deep sleep.

Xue Sui stopped what she was doing and stared at him.

Right now, there's a thick, dark blue-black shadow.

His exhaustion was palpable.

He must not have been sleeping well these days.

Xue Sui sighed inwardly, gently pulled the corner of the quilt over him, and was about to get up and leave when his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Li Zhao did not open his eyes, but pressed her hand to his heart.

"Xue Ping'an, how dare you—"

Like a murmur.

This was an unconscious action of his; his fingertips caressed her palm as he slowly pulled her closer, his arms tightly encircling her waist, his chin resting on the top of her head, as if he were holding a treasure he had lost and then found again.

Xue Sui struggled but couldn't break free, so she simply sat down and looked at him, feeling his throbbing pulse...

The candlelight flickered in the meditation room, casting the intertwined shadows of the two people on the wall, but it could not illuminate the love, hate, and entanglement in this mortal world.

Outside the meditation room, Li Huan stood on the veranda, snowflakes falling on his shoulders and melting silently.

Time passed little by little.

Xue Yuechen stared at the closed door, gently touching her abdomen, her gaze complex.

"Your Highness, it's freezing cold. Why don't you go to the guest room to warm up..."

Li Huan didn't glance at her, his voice was gentle, but he didn't move an inch.

"Jade, quickly help the Princess to the guest hall to rest."

Xue Yuechen hesitated, but just then, the door creaked open.