Chapter 4
Ji Qingzhou’s thoughts raced. Could the regent have been poisoned?
He never expected that despite all his efforts to hide here, he would still run into the regent…
Ji Qingzhou remained hidden behind the incense altar, not daring to make a sound, and peeked through the gaps to assess his chances of escaping amidst the chaos. Since he was not a doctor and could not help, it was better to flee and avoid getting entangled in any trouble.
Inside the hall, the regent, Li Zhan, looked up at the girl, his eyes showing a hint of confusion.
The girl suddenly met his gaze, her face flushing red as she quickly lowered her head.
“You are… the younger sister of Duke Qiu?” Li Zhan asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
The girl, summoning her courage, looked at Li Zhan. She saw the sweat on his otherwise handsome face and the sharpness in his usually gentle eyes, which seemed to be a result of suppressed discomfort.
“Wang Ye… do you have any attendants with you? I’ll call them to help you to the Imperial Physician Courtyard!” The girl said, standing up and hurrying out of the hall.
Ji Qingzhou, peeking through the gaps in the incense altar, saw the man outside seemingly collapsing from exhaustion, sliding down to the floor. Though he made no sound, Ji Qingzhou could see the strain of intense pain from the man’s tensed veins on his hand.
“Wang Ye, didn’t you bring anyone with you?” The girl returned, seeing Li Zhan lying on the ground, and quickly went to help him up. “It’s too isolated here, and I can’t find any palace servants to help…”
The girl seemed to suddenly realize something and looked toward the back of the incense altar.
Ji Qingzhou was startled, thinking that he might not be able to stay hidden anymore…
But before she could speak, Li Zhan pushed the girl away with a muffled voice, “Get away!”
The girl was taken aback, likely not expecting the usually gentle and kind Li Zhan to exhibit such coldness. She was momentarily at a loss but ultimately could not abandon him. Taking a deep breath, she still reached out to help Li Zhan.
“I told you to get lost!” Li Zhan grabbed the girl’s wrist, about to push her away, but suddenly felt a surge of blood and a clouded mind. The girl’s face blurred before his eyes, and an inexplicable urge to see her clearly arose. He let go of her wrist and instead gripped her chin tightly.
Li Zhan’s grip was so strong that the girl’s jaw felt as though it might break, causing her to cry out in pain.
Ji Qingzhou, fearing that the girl might reveal his presence, was about to escape through the window when he suddenly heard the girl’s panicked scream.
Ji Qingzhou’s first reaction was that the man had died and the girl was frightened. But soon, he realized that the situation was different…
The regent wasn’t poisoned by the usual toxins, but by… a different kind of drug!
Logically, Ji Qingzhou knew he should escape immediately. However, he still held onto the piece of candy the girl had given him, and with the girl’s cries for help in his ears, even though he had become a eunuch, his inner sense of responsibility as a man made it hard for him to abandon her. If he fled now, he would probably be haunted by nightmares forever.
Ji Qingzhou gritted his teeth and decided to head towards the incense altar.
As he passed by the altar, he quickly extinguished the candle, plunging the hall into darkness. He then lunged at Li Zhan and shouted to the girl, “Run!”
“What about you?” the girl asked tearfully.
“I’ll leave after you’re safe!” Ji Qingzhou said, using all his strength to restrain Li Zhan. “Go now!”
The girl, clearly frightened, did not hesitate and ran out of the hall.
Ji Qingzhou finally sighed in relief. However, the next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist as a strong hand yanked him roughly into an embrace.
In the darkness, the man’s intense, heated breath was dangerously close. Ji Qingzhou instinctively tried to push away and escape, but he underestimated the man’s strength. His attempt to flee only seemed to increase the man’s desire for control, and soon Ji Qingzhou found himself pinned to the ground.
The cold tiles pressed painfully against Ji Qingzhou’s body, while the man’s heat felt even more intense. Realizing his precarious situation, Ji Qingzhou struggled wildly and his hand brushed against the man’s waist, finding a dagger.
The regent, being the cautious person described in the book, not only avoided consuming palace food but also carried a dagger for protection. Perhaps due to his disorientation, he had exposed this vulnerability.
Without hesitation, Ji Qingzhou drew the dagger, ready to stab the man. However, he hesitated.
This was the regent. No matter what happened, if he went through with it, there was no chance for him to survive…
As Ji Qingzhou hesitated, he felt a sudden softness in his hand and an unusual sensation spreading through his body. His breathing grew rapid and his face flushed…
Ji Qingzhou: …
Damn it, the drug wasn’t administered at the banquet, but here in the incense altar?
Hadn’t he already been made a eunuch? Why was he still reacting?
He had no time to ponder further as the drug’s effects set in quickly. In moments, his consciousness became foggy, and all he could focus on was the heat and presence of the man above him.
The night deepened in the hall.
Ji Qingzhou, having given up struggling, couldn’t help but think with some relief that extinguishing the candle had spared him from being seen in such a compromising situation….
……
In his previous life, Ji Qingzhou had died at twenty and had never experienced anything like this. Although he had heard it could be painful, he hadn’t expected it to be this excruciating, with the pain nearly causing him to lose consciousness multiple times. Despite the regent’s apparent loss of reason, there was a strange, lingering trace of restraint that allowed him to let Ji Qingzhou catch his breath.
However, this trace of restraint did not alleviate Ji Qingzhou’s suffering.
He later realized that the drug’s effect on him seemed to be limited. Although he had lost some control, he had not completely lost consciousness, meaning he remembered every detail of what happened tonight.
Including the incoherent words he uttered and the scratches he inflicted on the regent.
Ji Qingzhou did not dare stay in the Fengxian Pavilion. Once the regent had fallen asleep, he sneaked out. His injuries were in critical areas, causing him excruciating pain with every step, but he couldn’t afford to delay and had to stagger towards the courtyard through the night.
As he rounded a corner, he saw a figure hiding nearby.
Ji Qingzhou was startled but, upon closer inspection, saw it was the same girl from earlier.
“Why haven’t you left?” Ji Qingzhou asked, his voice hoarse due to various reasons.
“I was worried about you…” the girl said cautiously, “Are you injured?”
Ji Qingzhou was surprised. According to the regent, this girl was the younger sister of Duke Qiu, who must be the emperor’s maternal uncle. The young emperor was only four or five years old and had no empress, so this Duke Qiu was likely the Emperor’s maternal uncle, and the girl must be the Emperor’s aunt.
But…. she didn’t seem very smart.
It seemed she had lived a sheltered life without experiencing the harshness of palace intrigue.
Seeing Ji Qingzhou’s helpless expression, the girl hurriedly said, “I was going to find someone to help, but…”
“It’s good you didn’t find anyone,” Ji Qingzhou said, looking around. “If you had, I might not be alive today. What happened tonight must not be told to anyone. Otherwise, it will tarnish your reputation…”
He wasn’t so concerned about the girl’s reputation as he was about the regent finding him and silencing him. After all, the regent had been drugged and had an encounter with a eunuch. If word got out, it would be a serious blow to his dignity.
The girl nodded quickly and said, “I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
Ji Qingzhou, fearing that someone might find them, did not linger to talk more and tried to send her away. However, the girl was worried about his injuries and insisted on helping him.
Ji Qingzhou, having only managed to make it this far through sheer willpower, was now exhausted and allowed the girl to support him. As he regained some of his composure and realized the severity of the situation, he asked her, “You haven’t told anyone about this, have you?”
The girl blushed at Ji Qingzhou’s words and said, “I… I certainly wouldn’t dare tell anyone.”
“Today, the regent was poisoned in Fengxian Pavilion, and you were seen by him. If… if he doesn’t forget what happened tonight, he will definitely come to question you tomorrow,” Ji Qingzhou said.
“Ah? You mean he will come to find me…” The girl became frightened at the thought of the regent’s fierce demeanor.
“It’s impossible to keep it a secret,” Ji Qingzhou said.
“What should we do then?” the girl asked.
“Do you trust me?” Ji Qingzhou turned to the girl and asked.
She looked at Ji Qingzhou’s pale but strikingly bright eyes. Despite his wan appearance, those eyes shone like stars in the dark night. She nodded seriously, “I trust you.”
Ji Qingzhou whispered a few words into her ear, and the girl nodded earnestly in response.
Although Ji Qingzhou was unsure of her reliability, he had no other options at the moment. He couldn’t exactly resort to killing to cover up the matter.
He could only hope for a bit of luck and wish that after this cruel joke played by fate, he might receive some favor.
The girl helped him to the vicinity of the small courtyard. Seeing the patrolling guards ahead, Ji Qingzhou dismissed her to avoid being seen.
“Where are you injured? Is it your leg? I’ll get some medicine for you tomorrow,” the girl asked, concerned as she released Ji Qingzhou’s arm.
Ji Qingzhou was momentarily stunned, realizing that the young girl, who had grown up in a prestigious family, though she had secretly admired the handsome regent and even risked coming to spy on him, was still naïve about matters of intimacy, particularly same-sex matters. As a result, she was completely unaware of what Ji Qingzhou had experienced.
Considering this, Ji Qingzhou said with a meaningful tone, “He used a needle to… injure my leg!”
The girl was astonished and responded, “A needle could cause you such severe injury?”
Ji Qingzhou: …
If you love what Ciacia is doing, then consider showing your support by supporting a cup of coffee for her at Kofi. If you can’t wait for the next release chapter, subscribe to advanced chapters membership on her Kofi to get access to up to 10 chapters!
