Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 281 A lonely man and a widow
Xue Sui leaned against the cold pearwood chair back, his arm hanging down, revealing the wound where the rotten flesh had been scraped away and a detoxifying powder had been applied.

"Your Highness."

Her voice was low and hoarse from weakness, but she was unusually clear-headed.

"Men and women should be separated. Your Highness, please step behind the screen and wait. This humble nun will take care of things herself."

Li Zhao lowered his eyes, his thin lips pressed into a cold, hard line.

"Do you want to die here and make Gu Bai do all the work?"

Before she could finish speaking, he braced himself on his hands beside her, his tall frame looming over her with an overwhelming sense of oppression, almost engulfing her entirely.

"Didn't you hear Zhang Huaicheng say that someone needs to stay by your side every step of the way to prevent you from fainting from exhaustion?"

"That shouldn't be your Highness either..."

Li Zhao's eyes darkened, and he suddenly reached out...

Instead of touching her skin, he grasped her uninjured right wrist.
Without being able to resist, he picked her up horizontally.

"Who else but me dares to challenge me?"

“Li Zhao.” Xue Sui frowned.

Li Zhao unconsciously loosened his grip on her arm slightly, looking down at the person in his arms.

"Does it hurt you?"

Xue Sui was furious.

Her long eyelashes trembled uneasily, like butterfly wings soaked by a downpour.

"Your Highness, men and women should not touch each other."

"We've already been intimate, so why bother with any rules and regulations?"

The soles of the boots made a slight sound as they rolled across the floor.

He practically dragged her along as he strode toward the huge wooden barrel, which was steaming hot and smelled strongly of medicine.

The dark brown medicinal soup in the bucket bubbled with fine bubbles, and the strong bitter and pungent smell hit the nose and mouth. A few stalks of mugwort and magnolia rose and fell in the heat.

Xue Sui could smell the scent of agarwood mixed with the smell of wine on him, which was stronger than before. It was probably because he had been exposed to the wind by the window earlier, and the cold air, along with the strong masculine scent, had come over him.

The air is stagnant.

Only their breaths mingled, locked in a fierce struggle amidst the lingering medicinal vapors.

"Stand firm!" he shouted in a low voice, hoarse and carrying an undeniable command, more like a cover for some kind of disheveled haste.

She paused, then curled her fingertips, trying to untie the ties on her clothes...

"This humble nun...does not need Your Highness's presence."

Xue Sui was trembling slightly all over.

Through the thin fabric, the burning heat of his palm was clearly imprinted on the skin of her waist...

She felt very uncomfortable.

"I...can manage on my own..."

"Master Miaozhen is of noble character, so I must serve her personally..."

"Doesn't Your Highness hate me to the bone?" Xue Sui glanced sideways, avoiding his gaze that seemed to want to peel her skin off.

"Don't you feel wronged serving your enemy like this?"

Li Zhao's eyes were as dark as ink that could not be dissolved.

"Now that you're dead, who will I turn to for my debts?"

Xue Sui's lips curled up almost imperceptibly: "This humble nun is not so incompetent."

"Cut the nonsense!"

Li Zhao's words were cold and harsh, but his fingertips trembled slightly.

He peeled off her soaked outer garment, revealing her bare shoulder bones beneath her plain white undergarment.

The exposed skin glowed a faint red in the heat, and several old scars were faintly visible in the candlelight.

She had expected Li Zhao to be as forceful as he had been when he scraped the poison off, but to her surprise, he seemed somewhat... at a loss after loosening his belt.

It seems like I don't know what to do next...

Xue Sui suddenly laughed.

"It seems His Highness the Crown Prince isn't good at serving people... Let's call Jinshu in..."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, her tone flat.

He was clearly much more composed than the person in charge.

Li Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed, and his cheeks tightened slightly...

"A crazy woman who doesn't know what's good for her..."

"Ugh!" The sudden tug made Xue Sui's vision go black, his legs went weak, and he staggered forward uncontrollably, his forehead hitting his hard, iron-like chest heavily.

The air is filled with the subtle fragrance of agarwood, the aroma of medicine, and a faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood...

His aura instantly enveloped her.

Li Zhao wrapped his other arm around her, steadying her swaying body.

The force was so great that it almost broke her waist and completely eliminated any possibility of her struggling.

"Thorn-"

Another crisp sound of tearing fabric rang out, clean and swift.

The clothes, stained with cold sweat and scattered bloodstains, slipped completely from his grasp like a torn butterfly wing, and lay limp on the ground.

Xue Sui suddenly felt a chill run through his body!
The steaming hot mist from the medicinal soup brushed against her exposed skin, sending shivers down her spine.

She was only wearing a close-fitting, moon-white undergarment.

The slender, delicate lines of her shoulders and neck, and the faintly undulating contours, were all before my eyes.

Her years of austere life, spent in seclusion with only the dim light of a lamp and the ancient Buddha, had made her shockingly thin, her collarbones bony and seemingly about to break.

Her exposed neck, bathed in the dim candlelight, gleamed with a cold, jade-like luster, forming a fragile yet defiant curve.

Li Zhao's gaze lingered heavily on...

From her slightly heaving chest, to her taut, beautifully shaped shoulders and neck, and then to her lips, pale with pain…

As if scorched by a raging fire, his muscles tensed instantly, his breathing became heavy and hot, and his arms around her waist tightened sharply, as if he wanted to crush her and embed her into his own body...

"Have you seen enough?" Xue Sui asked.

Li Zhao suddenly regained consciousness...

The iron arm around her waist suddenly loosened.

His large hand then gripped her thin shoulder and pressed her down!
"Wow--"

Splashes of water!

Caught off guard, Xue Sui fell into the warm medicinal soup.

The liquid medicine enveloped me, suddenly filling my nasal cavity. "Ah—"

A short, urgent shout.

She was like a fish thrown into the water, the splashing droplets of water meandering down her pale cheeks.

Xue Sui was in so much pain that his vision blurred and he almost fainted.

"Does Your Highness intend to drown this humble nun?"

She was forced to tilt her head back, and water droplets slid down her long, delicate, swan-like neck, disappearing into the depths of her clothes, which were soaked with medicinal soup and pressed tightly against her heart.

The soaked undergarment was almost transparent, clinging tightly to the undulating curves and outlining a breathtaking silhouette.

The candlelight, filtering through the hazy, indistinct steam, cast a hazy, fragile glow over her, creating a breathtaking, fragmented, and ultimately beautiful scene.

Li Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed, and he abruptly turned his face away.

"What are you doing, you deserve it!"

He tapped his fingers on the rim of the bucket, a hint of barely perceptible panic in his voice.

"Sit still, don't choke on the medicine."

Xue Sui closed his eyes and leaned against the barrel. "Your Highness is truly sharp-tongued but kind-hearted."

They were very close, and his breath brushed against her forehead, making her feel a little dizzy.

The rising steam from the medicinal soup blurred their vision, yet it also subtly fostered an air of ambiguity.

From the moment they met until now, their relationship has always been one of both rivalry and friendship.

This close intimacy struck Xue Sui as somewhat perplexing...

She sighed softly, then smiled to ease the awkwardness, "Your Highness may leave now."

Li Zhao didn't look at her, but his mind was filled with her skin soaked in the medicinal soup, its texture delicate, like the finest mutton fat jade, covered with faint wounds. Old memories, like fine needles, pierced his heart...

"Xue Ping'an, don't smile at me." Li Zhao's voice was low and hoarse.

The woman's gentle yet deadly smile was like the most potent aphrodisiac, almost igniting the fire he had suppressed beneath his icy exterior, tearing at his chest, making him yearn to immediately brand his mark upon those exquisite curves...

Unfortunately, he was neither a gentleman nor a villain.

I can't take advantage of someone's misfortune...

Li Zhao took a deep breath, "Don't test my resolve, don't... seek death..."

Xue Sui coughed and chuckled softly and restrainedly.

"If Your Highness is afraid of losing control, why confine this humble nun here?"

"I have...something to ask you."

Li Zhao's voice was hot and deep.

It has a dangerous, chilling magnetism, as if it has been sanded.

After saying that, he slowly turned around, placed his hands on both sides of the wooden tub, and encircled her in the middle.

"At Chishui Pass, I captured a Gu Master named Xizi. He said... to cure the Love Silk Gu, the person who cast the Gu must feed the Gu with their heart's blood for three days, endure the pain of ten thousand ants gnawing at their heart, and shorten their lifespan by ten years."

Xue Sui's body was almost imperceptibly tense in the water, as if he were being restrained by invisible ropes.

She never imagined that he would find out about this.

Li Zhao lowered his head and stared at the pale, sweat-drenched face.

"Is what the Gu Master said true?"

Xue Sui remained silent for a long time.

An unprecedented feeling of exhaustion, mixed with a kind of indescribable bitterness, quietly crept into my heart.

Ten years of blood feud, the removal of the curse and the gouging out of the heart, the flames of war in the western frontier, the turmoil on the imperial street... Between him and her, there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood, there is gratitude and exploitation, there is hatred and scheming that cannot be extinguished, and many things are hard to explain.

"Your Highness, why ask again?" she said softly. "It's all in the past."

"It's over?" Li Zhao suddenly bent down and slammed his hands on the edge of the wooden tub, splashing water everywhere.

His scalding breath sprayed onto her forehead, carrying a dark, burning intensity that threatened to erupt.

"You've manipulated me like a fool! In the end, you won't even give me a single truth? What am I to you, anyway?"

Silence spread through the small space.

The bucket was filled with steam and the aroma of herbs, mingled with the ambiguous and indescribable scent emanating from the two people's soaked clothes...

So close, yet so intertwined.

"What truth does Your Highness wish to hear?" Xue Sui's voice was unusually calm. "Have you told me how those three days were worse than death, how the pain was unbearable? Have you told me that each bite felt like a hole being drilled into your bone marrow? Or have you told me... that you sacrificed ten years of your lifespan just to gain freedom of thought, so that you would no longer be disturbed by external things?"

Li Zhao's pupils suddenly contracted.

Xue Sui retorted again, "What good will knowing these things do for Your Highness? It will only add to your troubles."

Li Zhao raised his hand and gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. "Is it worth it? Is it worth paying such a terrible price?"

Xue Sui lowered his eyes, his throat itched and hurt, and his vision went black in waves.

Under the influence of the medicine, it felt as if my heart and lungs were about to be torn apart.

But she didn't flinch. She calmly raised her eyelids and looked through the misty steam at the man standing just a few feet away, who seemed to have been abandoned by the whole world.

"Yes." She uttered a single word, clear and cold.

"When I act, I only ask whether it is right or wrong, not whether it is worthwhile. Removing the curse is what I believe should be done. As for the price..." The corner of her lips twitched upwards very slightly, forming an almost imperceptible arc, "...I can afford it."

Bloodshot veins appeared in Li Zhao's eyes.

To plant a love spell, two people who should never have crossed paths are forcibly bound together.

To break free from the curse, one must gouge out one's heart and endure inhuman pain.

And those excruciating, heart-wrenching pains, those ten years of life cruelly taken away...

It was simply to sever my entanglement with him.

“Xue Ping’an…” Li Zhao’s voice was hoarse and barely audible.

In a fit of anger, he suddenly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the medicinal soup.

"You bastard, how could you be so heartless..."

Xue Sui could not quite hear what he said next.

The metallic sweetness rising in my throat, combined with the steam from the medicinal soup, brought a strong numbing sensation to my throat.

The face of Li Zhao, filled with hatred, gradually became blurred and distorted in the flickering candlelight and rising steam...

In the end, darkness engulfed her last shred of consciousness like a tidal wave.

Her body slid softly into his arms, splashing a silent spray of water.

　Goodnight~~
　　Wishing all students taking the college entrance examination the best of luck!

　　Everyone says the emotional pace is a bit slow, and I'm a little... unable to speed it up. Ping An hasn't fully accepted it yet, so I guess I'll have to be patient a little longer...

　　Li Zhao: Actually, I can be quick...

　　(P.S.: After the college entrance exams are over in the next couple of days, I'll go back and look at these two chapters. If they're a bit dragging on, I'll revise them. Mwah...)
　　(End of this chapter)