Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 317 Warmth of the Old Scar
The cool, smooth touch on his forehead was like the slightest electric current, falling on Li Zhao's neck and instantly piercing through the nerves in his spine...

His body suddenly stiffened.

Those unfathomable black eyes stared straight at the woman who was almost nestled in his arms.

In the dim light, she swayed back and forth defenselessly, as fragile as a handful of fresh snow about to melt...

A slightly furrowed brow, bloodless lips, and...

The neckline, slightly loosened by the movement, revealed a small section of her beautifully shaped, porcelain-like neck and collarbone, and even offered a glimpse of the deeper contours hidden beneath her plain-colored undergarment...

Bathed in the glow of the charcoal fire in the warm stove, it was dazzlingly white.

A wisp of her own scent, carrying the bitter aroma of herbs, inadvertently brushed against Li Zhao's nose...

This scene creates a powerful, fragmented, and alluring image.

Breathtaking beauty...

His breathing stopped almost imperceptibly.

"Safety……"

His Adam's apple bobbed very slightly.

A familiar emotion, mixed with restlessness and possessiveness, surged up my spine like a dormant volcano suddenly awakened, making me feel as if I were burning up...

He knows what it is.

The burning current, like the reawakening of the Love Silk Gu, was eroding his senses with unparalleled clarity.

He suddenly reached out and, almost instinctively, wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her more firmly to his side, against the car wall, securing her in the crook of his arm.

The force was not frivolous; it carried a pure sense of support, transmitted through the rough fabric of the monk's robe...

Xue Sui's body tensed instantly.

"Your Highness..."

She pulled her arm back, the movement carrying a tremor she herself was unaware of...

It wasn't out of fear, but because of a sharper... indescribable panic that she herself was ashamed to admit.

She could clearly feel the strength from his palm, carrying his dry, warm body heat, as if it could penetrate her clothes and burn her skin...

The unique awkwardness and fluttering sensation between men and women made her heart race.

She never thought she would experience this kind of emotion.

After all, it was their first meeting, yet she could so openly reveal her hideous old scars to him, her heart as still as water...

"No need for Your Highness, I can sit comfortably on my own..."

Her voice was hoarse as she forced herself to remain calm.

Li Zhao did not loosen his grip; instead, he used the force of the carriage's swaying to pull her steadily into his arms, half-encircling her in the narrow space formed by his chest and the carriage wall.

"Stay put. If you move again, I'll make a scene." His voice was hoarse and tense, not joking, and his arms were taut, as if he were holding not a person, but a military matter that urgently needed to be dealt with.

"I am not Li Huan, and I do not have that kind of feigned kindness to pity women."

Xue Sui felt a slight fever in his back.

That strong yet unfamiliar heartbeat belonged to another person.

It was striking her fragile nerves with an undeniable force.

The air seemed to freeze.

Dangerous and ambiguous.

He was way too close.

She was so close that she could see the lingering dark light in his eyes, so close that she could feel his warm breath and the changes in his body, as well as the restlessness and struggle that he was forcibly suppressing, and the resolute determination he had when he was pushed to the edge of a cliff...

This is restraint, and it's also a signal...

Xue Sui slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The turmoil in his eyes was forcibly suppressed, leaving only a frozen stillness.

"Your Highness... Although the Gu poison has been cleared, any reckless thoughts will do you no good."

She whispered a reminder, trying to shut out the suffocating ambiguity.

"Save your energy."

Li Zhao shifted his body almost imperceptibly.

She remained expressionless, as if her earlier loss of composure was merely her imagination.

"It's not like we've never hugged someone before, what's there to be nervous about?"

Xue Sui: "..."

The atmosphere inside the carriage became tense again.

Xue Sui felt a lump in her throat, and an unusual blush appeared on her face.

"Fine, if Your Highness wants my life, then take it."

What would I do with your life?

Li Zhao's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, as if trying to pierce through the calm mask.

"Safety……"

He leaned forward slightly, closing the already minuscule distance between them. That crisp, clear aura instantly became even clearer and more aggressive.

"Fine. I'm going to take your life, along with that stubborn streak in your bones that refuses to bow down. As for how..."

He paused deliberately, his gaze falling on her flushed face, full of interest.

"I have my own rules. Now, you'd better behave yourself, or you might actually die on the way."

His voice was low and carried a seductive power.

Xue Sui raised an eyebrow. "Your Highness is becoming more and more shameless these days."

"I can distinguish between saving face and saving face."

Li Zhao chuckled softly, the vibrations of his chest clearly transmitted to her.

Joking aside, he carefully adjusted his position, placing her more securely in the corner of the carriage, which was covered with soft brocade cushions, and she lay down comfortably against the carriage wall.

That strong arm, however, still partially encircled her waist, providing stable support.

"Be good. Take a short nap."

The tone was commanding, almost like a pleading message.
-
The carriage fell silent.

The road back to the temple was much smoother.

Warmth enveloped the two of them.

Perhaps it was the sweltering heat of the charcoal stove, or perhaps it was the inexplicably calming atmosphere in the space, but Xue Sui lowered his long eyelashes, his tense nerves gradually relaxing, as if he were floating on soft clouds...

In a daze, drowsiness overcame me, and I drifted off to sleep...

When she opened her eyes again, it was already dark.

The wind and snow howled past outside the train carriage...

The swaying curtain, like gentle ripples on water, made soft, rustling sounds.

She stirred and found that Li Zhao's eyes were closed, his breathing was even, and he had fallen asleep.

"Your Highness..."

She called softly, trying to get away from his arms.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhao unconsciously tightened his arms around her. His warm palm gently pressed against the back of her head, letting her bury her face in the crook of his neck.

"Cold." A muffled murmur, as if in a dream.

The warm, steady breathing made her stop trying to break free...

She stopped moving and leaned quietly against his shoulder.

Listening to the wind outside the car and his steady heartbeat.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhao's breathing rhythm seemed to subtly change...

Xue Sui sensed something and suddenly looked up. A voice, slightly hoarse from just waking up, rang out above her: "Why...didn't you push me away?"

Xue Sui was silent for a moment, then said, "Your Highness also needs to warm your hands."

Li Zhao chuckled softly, then, as if moved, pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head, and carefully pulled her hood back up, covering her head completely.

Then, a very light, very quick kiss landed on her smooth forehead.

"Good, all is well."

A strange sense of satisfaction made one's heart skip a beat...

Xue Sui said, "Your Highness was talking in your sleep just now..."

Li Zhao's expression changed slightly. "What did you say?"

"Cold. I'm saying you're cold."

Xue Sui answered truthfully and looked up at him.

In the dim light, she caught a fleeting glimpse of vulnerability in Li Zhao's eyes.

Xue Sui asked, "Does Your Highness have some unspeakable difficulty?"

Li Zhao lowered his head, his nose brushing against her forehead. "Do you want to hear it?"

Xue Sui: "Hmm."

Li Zhao sighed softly, pinched her cheek lightly, with an almost childlike intimacy. Seeing her brows furrow slightly as if she were about to get angry, he smiled and withdrew his hand.

"You just said that I was born a prince, a son of the dragon and a grandson of the phoenix, a man of great wealth and honor..." He leaned back against the carriage wall, his jawline taut. "That's right, I was made Crown Prince at the age of five, standing before the Emperor to listen to the government, living a life of luxury, surrounded by palace servants. I was truly a chosen one of Heaven. But do you know what it feels like to be a prince of great wealth and honor?"

Xue Sui slowly shook his head and looked at him.

In the glow of the charcoal fire, he leaned back against the car wall, his jawline taut, but his gaze seemed to pierce through the roof, directed toward some distant, unattainable past.

"Back then, I had no ambition. I didn't even... know what ambition was."

Xue Sui remained silent, his gaze softening.

Li Zhao paused, his voice lowering, "When I was little, I saw a mother cat carrying her kittens as she moved house in the Imperial Garden. That cat belonged to a concubine who had died in the Cold Palace... It didn't know its place and didn't recognize me. That day, it was startled by me, its fur bristling as it hissed and threatened, fiercely protecting its several thin kittens behind it... At that time, I thought, even mother animals would fight desperately to protect their cubs, so why don't humans?"

The previous enchanting atmosphere seemed to be diluted by these words, settling into a deeper, almost stagnant, ambiance.

"When I was six years old, I read the Records of the Grand Historian and saw Huo Qubing sealing the wolf's lair." He suddenly chuckled briefly, with a self-deprecating tone.

"Grand Tutor Lu said that was the highest honor for a military officer. I stared at the map for half the night, thinking of the bones buried in the yellow sand—the next day I went to the training ground, using the small elm bow that my grandfather had given me, thinking that one day, my arrows would also be able to shoot that far, that accurately..."

Li Zhao's voice was calm, revealing no emotion.

“I practiced for three whole months, until my palms were blistered and bleeding. Finally, one day, I felt that I had mastered the skill, and when my father was on leave, I excitedly ran to the imperial study to ask him to take a look—at that time, my father had just ascended the throne and was working hard to govern the country. The court officials often praised him, saying that he had the style of the founding emperor…”

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing with great difficulty.

The air inside the carriage seemed to freeze.

"Didn't His Majesty praise you?" Xue Sui asked.

Li Zhao turned to look at her, the candlelight reflecting off his reddened eyes.

"Father said: The Crown Prince should learn from Emperors Wen and Jing, and use benevolence to govern the world. Why should he learn from those warriors who show off their bravery and fighting?"

"The Empress Dowager dared not disobey the Emperor's will, and also said that the Crown Prince should prioritize the study of Confucian classics. Although archery and horsemanship can strengthen the body, one should not become addicted to them, lest he neglect his studies due to a little play..."

"I never touched that little elm bow again."

His voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it struck Xue Sui's heart with a heavy blow.

It seems that Emperor Chongzhao was wary of the Crown Prince's ambition for martial arts from that time onward.

Xue Sui could even imagine the scene—

The young prince's excitement and anticipation were pitifully extinguished.

His father did not acknowledge his efforts and even belittled the aspirations he cherished.

Although the Empress Dowager had no choice, she still used gentle and tactful words to push him into solitude...

She suddenly remembered a scene from her childhood in the Xue family where her stepmother punished her by making her kneel in the snow, and her father walked by and pretended not to see it.

It turns out that the loneliness of the imperial family and the suffering of a concubine's daughter have something in common.

"When I was seven, a fire broke out at a palace banquet." Li Zhao's voice turned unusually cold, as if he were telling someone else's story.

"My mother was attending to my illness in the Empress Dowager's palace at the time and was not at the banquet. Flames soared into the sky and thick smoke billowed. Everyone panicked and fled to save their lives. No one remembered that I was still at the banquet... When my mother arrived, she had Laifu carry me out of the thick smoke. My father was putting the dangling kingfisher hairpin on Consort Xiao, who was frightened. When he saw me covered in soot and coughing, he just frowned and said, 'How did the Crown Prince get into such a mess? It's not proper.'"

Xue Sui listened quietly, his heart filled with immense shock.

She saw that young child, torn and bruised by the power struggles...

I also rediscovered the prince who buried his vulnerability deep within.

She reached out her hand, said nothing, and gently placed it on the back of his hand.

Li Zhao held her hand tightly.

A silent bond of shared suffering flowed between the two.

Li Zhao smiled and said, "This is the Crown Prince."

He added, “The Crown Prince is not a son, but a bargaining chip in the power struggles and power games, a puppet that needs to be disciplined. What he wants is a tool that meets his expectations, is obedient, follows the rules, and is flawless… in order to consolidate his throne and maintain the delicate balance between the court and the imperial family. As for the Crown Prince’s joys and sorrows, or even me as a person… they are irrelevant.”

A heavy atmosphere filled the carriage.

That was the loneliness of a crown prince who struggled to survive between power and family ties, yet never truly enjoyed the joys of childhood.

This loneliness is colder and deeper than the howling wind and snow outside the window.

Ambition, power, fighting against the heavens...

These words, uttered from his lips, sketched a Li Zhao who was both familiar and unfamiliar—

"Xue Ping'an, are you scared?"

Xue Sui's eyelashes trembled slightly as she met his gaze.

"What are you afraid of?"

Li Zhao looked at Xue Sui, his gaze so sharp it seemed to pierce her soul.

"My destiny was sealed from the moment I was born. There is no turning back, only forward, ever forward, until I grasp the strongest bow, so that no one in this world can control my fate, and no one can trample on everything I care about..."

"I'm not afraid. I'll wait for the day Your Highness draws the bow."

Li Zhao gazed at her, his eyes softening gradually in the flickering light of the bronze incense burner amidst the swaying of the carriage.

"Safety."

They embraced tightly, their breaths mingling.

The fragrance of orchids and the scent of pine and cypress intertwine and blend seamlessly.

The vast wilderness seemed to be filled only with the crunching sound of wheels rolling over the snow.

Li Zhao's taut back, which seemed to bear the weight of the entire dynasty, slowly, little by little, relaxed under her silent embrace and acceptance...

　Li Zhao: I got it! I got it...

　　Xue Sui: Tsk!

　　(End of this chapter)