Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

His eyes widened as he stared intently at the two people who emerged from the secret room.

The two were not only neatly dressed, but not a single hair on their heads was out of place.

Gu Xiang, that idiot, was still muttering and reciting his lessons, while Su Qing was patting her sleeves with a look of disgust, as if she had just been to the pigsty.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Li Xuan suddenly stood up, his hand trembling as he pointed at Su Qing. "You...you're alright?"

That's "a thousand pieces of gold for one night"!

This is top-quality stuff reserved for the royal family of the Western Regions. Let alone two people, even two elephants would go crazy if they were locked up in it.

Why are these two acting like nothing happened?

Su Qing glanced at him, walked to the chair next to her, sat down, crossed her legs, and casually picked up the teapot on the table to pour herself a glass of water.

"Your Highness, where did you buy this medicine?" Su Qing took a sip of water to moisten her throat. "Were you ripped off? The only thing I could smell in that room was a bit of a pigsty. If you wanted to suffocate us, you could have just set it on fire. Why waste your money like this?"

Li Xuan's face turned green.

The smell of a pigsty?

That's an incredibly rare and precious fragrance that's worth a fortune!

By this time, the entrance to the clothing shop had been crowded with onlookers.

Just now, Li Xuan had the main gate opened so that everyone could see the "talented scholar and beautiful woman" make a fool of themselves.

Now look what happened; instead of seeing the show, they've put themselves in a very difficult position.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with the Second Prince? Why is he interrupting their sweet lovemaking?"

"Shh, keep your voice down! I've heard that the Second Prince has a penchant for stealing women's affections and has a history of harassing innocent girls."

"Tsk tsk tsk, a prince of such stature, actually doing such a thing, he has utterly disgraced the royal family."

The murmurs in the crowd grew louder and louder. Although he tried to keep his voice down, a lot of it still reached Li Xuan's ears.

Li Xuan felt a burning pain on his face, as if he had been slapped dozens of times in public.

When has he, a prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, ever suffered such humiliation?

"Insolence! Shut up, all of you!" Li Xuan roared, slamming his teacup to the ground. "Anyone who dares to utter another word, I'll cut out their tongue!"

The people were startled and quickly shut their mouths, but the contempt in their eyes was impossible to hide.

The goatee-bearded strategist standing behind Li Xuan rolled his eyes and whispered a few words in Li Xuan's ear.

After hearing this, Li Xuan's expression softened slightly, but then became even more gloomy.

"Guards!" Li Xuan roared, "Arrest these two treacherous commoners who are spreading heresy! I suspect they are possessing forbidden drugs and intend to murder members of the royal family!"

Good heavens, their ability to turn the tables on others has reached a level of perfection.

Gu Xiang panicked upon hearing this.

Although he was pedantic, he knew that this was a fabricated charge.

"Your Highness! You're making baseless accusations!" Gu Xiang took a step forward, her neck stiff. "You were the one who locked us in the secret room and put that...that shameless incense in it! How did that become us hiding forbidden drugs?"

"Shut up!" the strategist shouted in a shrill voice. "His Highness says you have it, so you have it! Guards, seize him! If he dares to resist, kill him without mercy!"

A dozen fully armed guards immediately drew their swords and surrounded them menacingly.

Gu Xiang was so frightened that her legs went weak, and she instinctively tried to hide behind Su Qing.

But after taking only half a step back, he gritted his teeth and stopped, stubbornly spreading his arms to block Su Qing.

"Miss Su, run! I...I'll hold them off!" Gu Xiang's voice trembled, and her legs were shaking like leaves, but she didn't back down an inch.

Su Qing looked at the thin back of the person blocking her way and smiled.

This idiot actually acts like a man when it matters.

She reached out and pushed Gu Xiang aside, then slowly stood up and straightened her skirt.

"Trying to capture me?" Su Qing chuckled and walked towards Li Xuan.

She walked very slowly, each step seeming to tread on the heartbeats of everyone present.

An invisible pressure emanated from her, and the originally aggressive guards suddenly felt their legs become heavy, and they could barely hold their swords.

Li Xuan felt inexplicably panicked as he watched Su Qing approach step by step.

He instinctively took a step back and bumped into the table behind him.

"You... what do you want to do? This is under the Emperor's nose! If you dare to lay a finger on this prince, Father will never let you off!" Li Xuan roared, his voice stern but his voice weak.

Su Qing ignored him and walked straight up to him, the distance between them less than half a foot.

Li Xuan could even smell the faint fragrance emanating from Su Qing, not the vulgar scent of cosmetics, but a captivating aroma.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and that rage in his heart resurfaced.

Su Qing leaned forward slightly, close to Li Xuan's ear, and spoke softly as if she were whispering sweet nothings: "Since Your Highness likes this kind of thing so much, then I will grant your wish."

Li Xuan was stunned and hadn't realized what it meant when he saw Su Qing lightly flick her finger in front of him.

There was no sound, and there was no light.

Only the strategist standing behind Li Xuan suddenly shuddered.

Just now in the secret room, Su Qing did not neutralize all the medicinal power. Instead, she used her spiritual power to wrap a ball of the purest medicinal energy and hid it at her fingertips.

Now, the entire wisp of medicinal fumes entered the strategist's nose.

The strategist felt a "boom" in his mind, as if a firework had exploded.

The world before his eyes instantly changed color; the guard captain, who had previously looked fierce and menacing, now appeared incredibly charming in his eyes.

That full beard, those thick arms, that sweaty smell...

Good heavens, how can there be such a masculine beauty in this world?

Can men be this beautiful?

The strategist's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing was rapid, and he let out a low growl like a wild beast.

"My beauty... my beauty..."

Under the horrified gazes of everyone, the usually sinister goatee-bearded strategist suddenly opened his arms and lunged at the head guard beside him.

The head guard was completely focused on Su Qing and had no idea what was behind him.

He was tackled so hard that he fell face-first into the dirt.

"Ouch! What are you doing, Master?" the head guard cried out, trying to get up.

But the strategist wasn't about to let him go. He clung tightly to the captain's leg, rubbing his old face against the captain's trousers, repeatedly shouting, "Don't go! I won't let you leave! Tonight you're mine!"

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening burst of laughter erupted.

The onlookers laughed so hard they were doubled over, some even squatting on the ground clutching their stomachs.

This scene is even more spectacular than the clown on the stage!

"My goodness! The people in the Second Prince's residence are really something else!"

"This strategist usually looks all respectable, I never expected him to have such tastes!"

"Look, look! He's going to kiss the head guard! Hahaha!"

Li Xuan was completely stunned. He stared at the two people rolling around on the ground, his mind blank.

What... what's going on here?

The head guard was so disgusted he almost threw up his dinner from the night before. He tried desperately to push the strategist away, but the strategist had some unknown strength and clung to him like an octopus, impossible to shake off.

"Your Highness! Help! Your Highness! The wise teacher has gone mad!" the head guard cried out in despair.

Gu Xiang stood to the side, completely petrified.

He raised his hand, trembling, to cover his eyes, muttering, "Don't look at what's improper, don't look at what's improper, it's indecent, it's utterly indecent..."

Although he said that, his fingers were wide open and his eyes were darting around, clearly he had seen a lot.

Su Qing watched the farce unfold and clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"It seems Your Highness's subordinates have a good relationship, which puts my mind at ease." Su Qing turned around, pulled up Gu Xiang who was still in a daze, and said, "Let's go, don't disturb their lovey-dovey moment."

Gu Xiang was dragged out by Su Qing like a puppet.

As Su Qing passed by Li Xuan, she stopped and thoughtfully closed the wide-open shop door halfway for him.

"You're welcome. I wish Your Highness's subordinate a long and happy marriage and many children."

After saying that, she grabbed Gu Xiang and swaggered out.

Behind him, the clothing store was in complete chaos.

Li Xuan's roars, the guards' screams, the strategist's courtship, and the people's laughter intertwined to create an absurd symphony.

By the time we returned to Zuixianju, it was almost dark.

Gu Xiang sat in a chair, holding a cup of hot tea, his hands still trembling.

The scene he just witnessed had such a profound impact on him that his head was still spinning.

"Miss Su... Miss Su." Gu Xiang swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Was that strategist... poisoned?"

Su Qing was taking apart her hair in front of the mirror when she heard this. She turned around and looked at him with a half-smile: "What do you think?"

Gu Xiang shrank back: "It must be poisoning. Otherwise, how could a perfectly healthy person... how could they be like that?"

As he spoke, his face turned red again.

The way that strategist was clinging to the captain of the guard's leg was truly an eyesore.

Su Qing put down the comb and walked up to Gu Xiang.

Gu Xiang subconsciously leaned back, her back resting against the chair back.

"So, do you think I was poisoned just now?" Su Qing bent down, placed her hands on the armrests of the chair, and circled Gu Xiang in the middle.

The two were so close that they could hear each other breathing.

Gu Xiang looked at the face so close to hers.

Having shed her daytime disguise, Su Qing was breathtakingly beautiful at this moment.

Those fox-like eyes seemed to hide hooks; just one glance could steal your soul.

"I...I don't know," Gu Xiang stammered, her heart pounding like a drum.

"You don't know?" Su Qing raised an eyebrow, leaning even closer. "Just now in the secret room, didn't you call me 'Miss Su'? Why didn't you call me 'Sister-in-Law'?"

Gu Xiang's face instantly turned bright red, and even her ears were burning.

The scene in the secret room involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

At that time, he really thought Su Qing had been poisoned.

That allure, that fragility, almost made him lose control.

"Miss Su, you...you must be joking." Gu Xiang turned his head away, not daring to look her in the eye. "I am a scholar, I must...I must observe proper etiquette."

"Shouli?" Su Qing chuckled, extending a finger to gently lift Gu Xiang's chin, forcing him to look at her. "If I were truly poisoned and needed a man to cure me, would Brother Gu save me?"

boom!

Gu Xiang felt as if something had exploded in her head.

save?

Or not to save them?

This is practically a death trap!

If I save her, it would be taking advantage of her vulnerability, which is not the behavior of a gentleman; if I don't save her, am I just going to watch her die?

Gu Xiang opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Seeing his embarrassed look, Su Qing's smile deepened.

This idiot is really funny to tease.

Just as Gu Xiang was about to suffocate, Su Qing suddenly withdrew her hand and flicked him hard on the forehead.

"collapse!"

"Ouch!" Gu Xiang covered her forehead, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Qing straightened up, crossed her arms, and looked disgusted. "With your small frame, you think you can save me? Aren't you afraid I'll drain you dry?"

Gu Xiang rubbed his forehead, a strange sense of loss welling up inside him.

"Just kidding." Su Qing turned and walked to the bedside. "Go study hard. If you don't get the top score tomorrow, I'll stew you and feed you to the dogs."

"Oh..." Gu Xiang responded and obediently picked up the book on the table.

But the words in the book seemed to be dancing, and I couldn't concentrate on reading them.

He stole a glance at Su Qing lying on the bed. She was lying on her side, her curves were exquisite, and a section of her fair ankle was exposed under the red skirt.

Gu Xiang quickly averted his gaze, silently chanting, "Don't look at what's improper, don't look at what's improper..."

But she just couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

[System notification: Gu Xiang's favorability +5%, current favorability 40%.]

Su Qing listened to the notification in her mind, turned over, and looked at the night view outside the window.

That direction leads to the imperial palace.

Although she had just given Li Xuan a good beating and vented her anger, the feeling of unease in her heart was growing stronger.

The malice directed at Gu Xiang did not disappear; instead, it lurked in the darkness like a venomous snake, flicking its tongue and waiting for a fatal blow.

"The waters of this capital city are even more murky than I imagined," Su Qing muttered to herself.

She touched the broken half of the fan hidden in her sleeve, her eyes gradually turning cold.

Whoever wants to mess with this fool should first ask the fan in her hand if it agrees.

It was late at night, and the streets outside Zuixianju were deserted.

Only a few night watchmen passed by, banging their clappers.

"The weather is dry, so be careful with fire!"

Meanwhile, in a tall building deep within the palace, the figure wearing the bronze mask still stood by the window, toying with a black raven in his hand.

"Interesting." The Grand Preceptor's voice echoed in the empty hall. "A little fox, daring to pluck a fur from my mouth."

She released her grip, and the crow flapped its wings and flew away, disappearing into the boundless night.

"Since you love acting so much, then I'll build you an even bigger stage."

"I hope you'll still be able to laugh then."

……

"West River Moon - Making a Scene in the Divine Capital"

A thousand pieces of gold were spent in the secret chamber, yet a strange fragrance wafted from the pigsty.

The strategist's madness disrupted the natural order, causing laughter throughout the city.

The scholar's mind was in turmoil under the lamplight, while ghosts and demons roamed wildly in the shadows.

Watch as the fox spirit manipulates the court; who are the tigers and wolves in the trap?