People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 58, Opening One's Heart, the Mo Family Comes to the Door
Xu Qing slightly opened his eyes and secretly glanced at Hu Meiren, who was applying rouge in front of the bronze mirror.

Looking at Hu Meiren's alluring back, Xu Qing was filled with doubt. He didn't understand Hu Meiren's behavior today.

The subsequent events between him and the Tide Fairy were due to a misunderstanding. It can't be said that there were no feelings between them, after all, the saying "familiarity breeds affection" is still true.

Although it was mostly a simple friends-with-benefits relationship, it was very simple and straightforward.

Although there were some lighthearted moments between him and Hu Meiren, it remained only at the stage of ambiguity.

Today, Hu Meiren suddenly started nitpicking at him, which surprised him and left him quite bewildered.

If Hu Meiren's goal was to extract the truth about the Fire Rain Manor tragedy, she could have easily done so directly.

Could it be that she's worried about lying, so she's trying to tie him down like this? It can't be because his charm is so great that Hu Meiren is attracted to him and lusting after his body, right?
Just as Xu Qing was pondering, Hu Meiren had already applied her rouge and returned to the bed.

Seeing that Hu Meiren had lay down next to him, Xu Qing stopped thinking wildly and prepared to see what else Hu Meiren wanted to do.

Hu Meiren looked at the unconscious Xu Qing and did nothing more. Instead, she hugged Xu Qing and buried her head in his arms.

A shy blush appeared on her alluring and delicate face, like a bashful girl who had just done something naughty, showing no trace of her previous audacity.

Xu Qing slightly opened his eyes, looked at Hu Meiren lying in his arms, felt her even breathing, and his hands were at a loss, so he could only let them hang down.

As Hu Meiren listened to Xu Qing's heartbeat, her beautiful eyes shimmered with tears, and a satisfied smile graced her face.

After the Huoyu Mountain Villa tragedy, she ended up in South Korea, where by chance, she caught the eye of King Han An and became his favorite concubine.

In such a chaotic world, without the protection of Fire Rain Manor, beauty was not a blessing for her, but the beginning of a nightmare.

Although she didn't like King Han An and had no feelings for him, she chose to enter the palace for survival and to save her lost sister.

She originally thought that after entering the Han King's palace and receiving the protection of King Han An, she would no longer need to live in fear and would have the power to find her sister.

Once she entered the Han royal palace, she realized that she had simply gone from one hell to an even more terrifying one.

The Baiyue region, which Han Wang An considered a forbidden area, prevented her from revealing her identity, and she dared not rely on Han Wang An's power to find her sister.

Because of her beauty and special physique, she caught the eye of Lady Mingzhu and became a seasoning for making incense.

Because of the favor shown to her by King Han An, she was regarded as an enemy by the other concubines and had to be careful every day to guard against their schemes and framing.

In order to protect herself and to have a chance to find her sister, she made a deal with Lady Mingzhu and thus became the second most favored concubine in the Han royal palace.

In the ruthless and cruel palace of the King of Han, she lost everything and became Hu Meiren, a scheming and ruthless concubine favored by the King of Han.

When she first developed anorexia, she had already given up on living.

Unable to find her sister and trapped in the loneliness of the Han royal palace day after day, her purpose in entering the palace would probably never be achieved.

Rather than continuing to live a masked life in the Han royal palace, it would be better to just die and end it all.

However, just when she had completely lost faith, Xu Qing was like the sunlight breaking through the dark clouds, bringing hope to her lifeless world.

A story helped her find her long-lost sister, and the various interesting stories told during her daily pulse diagnosis gradually added flavor to her life, giving her the illusion of returning to the carefree days of her youth.

Her long-dormant heart began to beat again, and she slowly developed different feelings for Xu Qing.

However, the difference in their social status made her realize that the two of them could only maintain this ambiguous relationship, and it was precisely because of this that she cared about Xu Qing even more.

She worried that Xu Qingcai would be targeted by Madam Mingzhu because of her, and was even more afraid that Xu Qingcai would be used or even harmed by her.

She understood Madam Mingzhu's personality, so she made several attempts to get close to Xu Qing and compete with Madam Mingzhu for Xu Qing, all in order to arouse Madam Mingzhu's competitive spirit and thus protect Xu Qing.

"If only what happened back then hadn't happened."

Hu Meiren nestled in Xu Qing's arms, murmuring softly.

Xu Qing didn't hear Hu Meiren's words clearly, nor did he know what she was thinking, but looking at Hu Meiren in his arms, who seemed like a white fox licking its wounds alone, he felt a little touched for some reason.

As if guided by some unseen force, Xu Qing gently placed his hand on Hu Meiren's back, half-embracing her in his arms.

Feeling the warmth from Xu Qing's hand, Hu Meiren trembled slightly before settling comfortably into his arms. A quarter of an hour later, Hu Meiren sat up from Xu Qing's embrace.

"The effects of the incense are about to wear off, and everything that happened today is a beautiful dream for both of us."

Hu Meiren looked at Xu Qing and sighed softly, her expression returning to its charming and alluring state.

Upon hearing Hu Meiren's words, Xu Qing sighed inwardly twice, then continued to pretend to be unconscious, letting Hu Meiren move him around as she pleased.

Hu Meiren helped Xu Qing put his trousers back on, a flush rising to her cheeks, and she clicked her tongue softly.

After putting the belt on Xu Qing, he helped her to the small bed next to him.

After restoring the bed to normal, Hu Meiren lay down on it again, her foxy eyes smiling as she looked at Xu Qing.

Lying on the small bed, Xu Qing estimated the time in her mind, pretended to wake up from a dream, and sat up from the small bed.

"Imperial Physician, you should rest more these days. How could you fall asleep while taking my pulse?" Consort Hu said coquettishly.

He truly is a veteran actor; I almost didn't realize how his face changed.

Xu Qing was filled with emotion, and with an apologetic expression on her face, she got off the bed and said...
"I've been very busy lately and am quite tired. Please forgive me, my beauty."

"How could I blame you? It's just that I prayed for Korea last night and knelt for too long, which made my calves a little weak. I wonder if the Imperial Physician could massage them for me?" Hu Meiren said with a smile.

Today is the day when King Han An holds a memorial service to pray for blessings, one of the most important festivals in Korea each year. On such an important day, the fact that she and Xu Qing had just done what they were doing made Hu Meiren's face flush even more, and she involuntarily lowered her head.

Xu Qing looked at the shy and bashful Hu Meiren, who also secretly glanced at Xu Qing.

Their eyes met, then looked away, both as if they had done something wrong.

Hu Meiren assumed that Xu Qing was still completely lost in the beautiful dream she had created and hadn't yet recovered from it, so it was normal for him to feel a little embarrassed.

She also felt somewhat guilty, after all, it was she who drugged Xu Qing and her benefactor Xu.

Although the intention was good, I still feel guilty about it when I think about it.

Xu Qing, on the other hand, was genuinely guilty. He was not bewitched by the incense; rather, he truly and completely experienced Hu Meiren's pedantry.

Feeling guilty, the two tacitly avoided mentioning what had just happened, pretending to maintain their normal interactions.

Xu Qing didn't say anything. He walked to Hu Meiren's bed, knelt down, and began to massage Hu Meiren's calves.

Calling it a massage is an understatement; it's more like playing with it.

Hu Meiren squinted her eyes, thoroughly enjoying Xu Qing's massage. As for whether Xu Qing's hands were being improper?

So what?! I did even worse things just now, it was all to repay a debt of gratitude!
The two tacitly avoided mentioning what had just happened, treating it as nothing out of the ordinary.

Half an hour later, leaving Hu Meiren, whose body was limp and exhausted on the bed, Xu Qing bowed and left the palace.

"Tsk, just a calf massage and my whole body feels weak? Women really are made of water," Xu Qing thought to himself.

Humming a little tune, Xu Qing headed towards the Imperial Hospital with a refreshed expression.

Xu Qing was never one to dwell on things. Since he couldn't figure out Hu Meiren's true thoughts, he decided to stop thinking about it, since she didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him.

As long as he doesn't think about these troubling things, today he experienced a verbal battle he had never experienced before.

After returning to the Imperial Medical Academy, Xu Qing continued to handle government affairs, striving to maintain King Han's reputation, and incidentally taking the corresponding gold ingots from the inner palace of the King Han.

He's gone to great lengths to maintain King Han's reputation, so how could he let him spend his own money? It's only a matter of a few dozen gold coins, but considering the divine doctor's salary, it's reasonable for him to say it's several hundred gold coins, right?
As dusk fell, Xu Qing returned home to continue studying the Eight Swords of Noble Void and the art of riding the wind.

For the next two days, Xu Qing's life was as uneventful as ever. During the day, he told stories to Hu Meiren and Chao Nu Yao and handled affairs of the Imperial Hospital.

It wasn't until the Mo family approached him again that Xu Qing remembered he still had a patient named Six-Fingered Black Knight.

(End of this chapter)