Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 328 New Warmth on the Lips
Li Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, unable to express his inner feelings.

After much deliberation, I made an excuse to ask him.

"How is Mother's health?"

Xue Sui gently placed the fire tongs by the stove, avoiding his eyes, and said, "You've been worrying too much; you'll be fine after some rest."

Li Zhao could tell from her expression that she was hiding something.

"Xue Ping'an, tell me the truth."

Xue Sui gave Li Zhao a meaningful look: "The imperial physician said it was due to mental and physical exhaustion."

Li Zhao: "I want to hear what you have to say."

Xue Sui observed Li Zhao's reaction and slowly said, "The fetal energy has just been condensed, and it is not yet a month old."

"What?" Even Li Zhaocheng, who was extremely shrewd, could not hide his shock at this moment.

He straightened up, his eyes sharp. "How confident are you?"

"I'd say eight or nine out of ten," Xue Sui said confidently. "The Empress herself said that His Majesty visited the Jiaofang Palace last month. And there was Xiao Qing'er's aphrodisiac powder... The timing and pulse all match up."

Li Zhao's expression shifted and changed under the lamplight.

After the initial shock came deep concern.

At this critical juncture, amidst turbulent undercurrents, the Empress Dowager became pregnant.

Those eyes in the harem, the Xiao family, Li Huan... who would be willing to accept this?
If this pregnancy cannot be saved, it is because the Empress is unlucky.

If she survives and gives birth to a prince, then things will change again...

"What are your plans, Mother?" he asked.

"Her Majesty ordered me to keep it a secret. I was to prescribe the necessary medicines for preventing miscarriage, and she would send a reliable person outside the palace to prepare them." Xue Sui told her truthfully, "Her Majesty also instructed me to frequently enter the palace to take pulses and give lectures, as a cover."

She clicked and stopped.

Li Zhao remained silent.

He glanced up at her for a moment, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

"So, when you hit Li Yan tonight, besides the fact that he deserved it, did you also intend to test him? Or did you want to see the Empress Dowager's reaction and His Majesty's tolerance? And to humiliate Xue Jiu, to give the Xue family a warning, and to get revenge? Xue Ping'an, you really are vindictive."

An invisible pressure enveloped the small room.

Xue Sui neither dodged nor avoided, his eyes reflecting the flickering firelight.

"If Your Highness says so, then so be it."

"Go ahead and say it," she said, a slight smile curving her lips.

"The Prince of Wei is nothing but a clown, nothing to fear. It is the Prince of Duan's mansion that has been secretly gathering strength. I believe that they are the real wolves and tigers."

Upon mentioning the Prince Duan's residence, the smile in Li Zhao's eyes vanished instantly, and a thin layer of ice covered his handsome face.

He recalled the way Li Huan looked at her, and his voice deepened.

Has he been giving you any trouble lately?

"No." Xue Sui shook his head, his tone calm.

"His Highness Prince Duan must be busy appeasing the Xiao family... Xiao Yan was demoted but retained, Xiao Yan was exiled three thousand miles away, and there are also the lost wings in the military supplies case. He'll be overwhelmed for a while."

Her voice was surprisingly calm.

"My life is still worth some money. If I can lure out a few more demons and monsters for Your Highness, then I will have made the most of it. Does Your Highness think that is enough to repay me?"

She spoke of her life so lightly, her tone like a cold thorn piercing into the hidden corner of Li Zhao's heart.

"You're not allowed to say that..." Li Zhao reached out and grabbed her wrist, which was resting on her knees, across the narrow square table.

His burning palm pressed tightly against his slightly cool skin, the scab protruding slightly beneath his fingertips.

Their gazes clashed intensely in the interplay of light and shadow...

His eyes held the familiar sharpness of Xue Sui, yet were more complex and profound than ever before…

“My life is tough.” He stared at her, speaking each word with unwavering resolve.

The anxiety and concern that are deeply buried can be seen in his eyes.

"You don't need to pave the road."

He gripped my wrist too tightly.

There is a slight, pressing pain in my wrist.

Xue Sui didn't move or try to break free; she just watched him quietly.

“Your Highness is tough, and so am I,” she said, her voice tinged with laughter.

Her gaze slowly descended, settling on his large hand that gripped her wrist tightly. The faint smile on her lips deepened slightly, and the light in her watery eyes burned hotter than the embers in a stove.

"I've never lost a bet with someone's life."

"You once said that your life was destined to be lonely."

She leaned slightly closer to him, her breath brushing against the back of Li Zhao's hand, carrying an almost calm and composed feeling.

"Hasn't His Highness already got it in his grasp?"

Li Zhao's breath hitched.

Her words were like hooks, fiercely drawing out those tender feelings that even he himself was unwilling to touch.

"You crazy woman, trying to provoke me..."

He whispered through gritted teeth, his body leaning forward uncontrollably, compressing the distance between them to its limit.

The cool fragrance, mixed with the spicy aroma of ginger tea, forcefully invaded her senses.

His body formed a suffocating encirclement, as if he were about to devour her at any moment.

"Listen. I want to win this game, and I want you to stand perfectly intact beside me, watching me win!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the old scabs on her wrist before slowly moving upwards, locking onto her eyes with a ruthless, disdainful look. "Anyone who dares to touch you, I'll wipe out their entire family!"

He's domineering and tyrannical, talking as if he's going to confiscate the emperor's property and his own...

Xue Sui wanted to laugh, but she saw a deeper emotion in his eyes—

An obsessive desire to protect.

A strange flutter, like a feather gently scratching the tip of my heart, a subtle itch spreading outwards.

She suddenly raised her other hand.

Li Zhao thought she was going to rebel.

But then she saw her fair fingertips gently brush against the knuckles of his thumb, which was tightly gripping her wrist—there, a tiny speck of charcoal ash had somehow gotten on them.

Her movements were very gentle, carrying a strange sense of comfort.

"Your Highness, your hands are covered in charcoal ash."

Li Zhao: "..."

All his surging emotions and pent-up desires were abruptly blocked in his chest by this casual remark and insignificant gesture.

A punch to the cotton.

She gently released the tension from the taut bowstring.

Li Zhao looked down at the insignificant gray-black stains on his knuckles, then looked up at her innocent face and couldn't help but smile.

This woman...

She always manages to subtly guide him when he's on the verge of danger, in the most unexpected way, until he crumbles and abandons those inappropriate romantic encounters...

Reason told him that sneaking into her boudoir at night was inappropriate.

At this moment, he shouldn't be getting too close to her...

But every time he saw her in front of him, despite her calm and indifferent demeanor, he found it hard to control his impulses and was easily awakened by her, a secret and shy desire within him...

To be so abrupt with a beautiful woman is hardly the act of a gentleman.

Li Zhao took a breath, loosened his wrist, lifted his sleeve, picked up the half-cooled ginger tea, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

The spicy, scalding hot tea slid down my throat, bringing a subtle burning sensation.

"I love your heartless nature. You madwoman."

Li Zhao cleared his throat, suddenly stood up, and a cool breeze wafted up from the hem of his robe.

"I'm leaving."

Xue Sui sat by the stove, remaining in the same posture, without moving an inch: "Your Highness, please proceed with caution."

Li Zhao walked to the window, placed his hand on the window frame, but then stopped.

He turned around, his gaze fixed intently on her.

Dressed in a Zen robe, he remained serene and composed; his slender and upright figure was a landscape painting in itself…

This is Xue Ping'an.

He is safe.

Li Zhao seemed to be stirred by a scorching heat, his back slightly damp with a thin layer of sweat...

He suddenly turned back two steps and walked up to her...

Xue Sui raised his eyes, his gaze full of inquiry.

Li Zhao bent down, his tall figure casting a shadow that completely enveloped her.

"Safety."

He reached out, brushed his hand across her cheek, and gently cupped it.

Xue Sui's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

In this moment of lightning and fire -

A cool, ginger-tea-spicy touch landed on her lips with extreme gentleness and speed.

It was a kiss so fleeting it was almost impossible to capture.

Like a night breeze brushing against flower petals, like the flickering light of a hearth fire.

Gentle, tingling, yet incredibly fast.

Before Xue Sui could even react, she felt a warm, soft sensation on her lips, and then the breath was gone.

Li Zhao straightened up, staring intently at her flushed cheeks. A ticklish feeling rose in his heart, and he unconsciously pinched her earlobe with his fingertips, the touch still warm from his mischievousness.

“There’s furnace ash.” His voice was low and hoarse, with a childlike malice that came from a sense of triumph.

"It's on your lips. I'll eat it for you... You can collect interest next time."

Having said that, without pausing for a moment, he turned around, pushed open the window, and leaped out. His figure instantly blended into the thick night, silent and still, just as he had come.

Xue Sui maintained the posture of raising his eyes.

After a long while, she slowly lowered her eyelashes, her fingertips unconsciously rising to gently touch her lips.

The earlobes were shockingly burned.

The shadows of pear tree branches outside the window swayed gently in the night breeze.

Scattered moonlight filtered down and fell on the ground, creating a serene atmosphere.

　Li Zhao: A new warmth touches my lips, peace, have you felt the warmth...?

　　Xue Sui: What's so warming about spittle...?

　　Li Zhao: Lacking in romantic understanding.

　　(End of this chapter)