I Rely on the Collapse of the Character Setting to Survive in the Hands of the Male Lead Chapter 148

Chapter 148

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Influenced by the surroundings, the two quickly regained their composure. After all, they were still in enemy territory, and their lives were under threat.

Soon, they heard the sound of Jing Rouyin being frightened, followed by Yuan Ye’s anxious apologies, and then the endless cycle of conversations.

Feeling wronged, apologizing, getting angry, and making up.

Indeed, Jing Rouyin completely controlled Yuan Ye’s emotions. If Yuan Ye could successfully ascend the throne, then Jing Rouyin would indeed fulfill her phoenix destiny.

In the subsequent conversation, Jing Rouyin remained aloof, Yuan Ye acted like a lapdog. Lin Qingyang and Chu Lishu were too lazy to listen.

Before long, Jing Rouyin and Yuan Ye left, restoring peace outside.

Chu Lishu activated the mechanism, and Lin Qingyang couldn’t wait to roll out. If this continued, he would lose his sanity.

However, Lin Qingyang remembered the issue with Chu Lishu’s ribs and quickly turned around, preparing to reach out and help Chu Lishu out.

But he saw Chu Lishu sitting on the bed, putting on clothes.

Even though it was a normal movement, Lin Qingyang was somewhat hesitant to look. He averted his gaze, stiffly extending his hand until another hand gently rested on his palm.

Lin Qingyang had a strange sensation in that moment.

It felt like… his heart found a place.

Lin Qingyang awkwardly said, “Although it doesn’t hurt for now, shouldn’t we stabilize your injury since it’s a fracture?”

“Let’s change locations first,” Chu Lishu said, getting off the bed while covering the wound on his side.

The shadow guards were no longer around. They successfully left the backyard and returned to their separate room.

Qi Yan, who seemed to have abandoned any attempt at studying, enjoyed small dishes and wine that he somehow managed to acquire. Obviously, he had no intention of turning over a new leaf.

Upon their sudden entrance, Qi Yan chuckled, “Hey, you’re back so early… Oh, what have you guys been up to? Why do you look…” Qi Yan noticed Lin Qingyang supporting Chu Lishu as they entered. Chu Lishu’s clothes and hair were visibly disheveled, and Lin Qingyang had faint red marks on his neck. Qi Yan’s gaze instantly turned lecherous, giving Lin Qingyang a suggestive look, as if admiring his brother’s achievement.

In the playground of frivolity, the brotherhood was still going strong.

Playing wild in the Yamo Garden, his brother really can play.

Lin Qingyang was about to explain that Chu Lishu had accidentally been injured and was planning to ask Qi Yan to find a physician. However, Chu Lishu spoke up, “Could Brother Qi spare us some space?”

Qi Yan immediately understood; they needed to discuss follow-up matters. Suppressing a smile, he kindly asked, “Do you need hot water?”

Qi Yan’s expression was too obvious, and Lin Qingyang felt extremely awkward. However, Chu Lishu went along with it, saying, “Yes, we do. Thank you.”

Qi Yan was momentarily stunned, suddenly feeling that Chu Lishu was quite magnanimous. Despite being pressed down, he remained so calm. Not bad, not bad.

Qi Yan waved his hand and went to fetch hot water for them.

Lin Qingyang’s face turned red, unable to hold back any longer. “By doing this, he might misunderstand.”

“It’s better than him knowing I was injured accidentally. Being cautious is always right, and with this kind of injury, I can handle it,” explained Chu Lishu.

Lin Qingyang thought about it and agreed. When Qi Yan brought the hot water over, Lin Qingyang decided to ignore Qi Yan’s teasing.

Qi Yan cleared a room for them and went to wait at the place where the lanterns were set up.

After a while, Lin Qingyang, watching Chu Lishu take off his shirt, became much calmer. Seeing the large red mark under his ribs, Lin Qingyang frowned slightly. He could have used the medications available in the system for Chu Lishu, but those effects were too astonishing and even more incredible than painkillers. Lin Qingyang couldn’t bring himself to use them on someone else.

He could only approach with a furrowed brow, offering a helping hand to assist in stabilizing the injury.

Then, he gave Chu Lishu all the painkillers he had exchanged before. “Take them if it hurts.”

Chu Lishu, however, refused, saying, “You keep them. Your injury hasn’t fully healed yet, right?”

“What do my injuries amount to!” Lin Qingyang objected.

“No, if I don’t feel pain, it’s very likely that I might accidentally strain the wound due to certain movements, making it difficult to heal properly. So, this pain is necessary.”

Lin Qingyang was immediately speechless, understanding the reasoning.

Seeing Lin Qingyang’s worried expression, Chu Lishu felt a sweetness in his heart, like honey.

“It’s okay; I originally have a slow perception of pain,” Chu Lishu reassured Lin Qingyang.

However, Lin Qingyang still wanted to give him the painkillers. Since the painkillers were already exposed, there was no need for Chu Lishu to endure that kind of pain every month.

When Lin Qingyang mentioned this, Chu Lishu hesitated for a moment. He didn’t know if these pills would be effective, but if they were, it would indeed be a great help. So, he found a pill bottle and divided the pills. There were six in total—three for each of them, just in case.

In reality, the type of painkiller didn’t matter much. Although the pain during an episode was intense, what was more terrifying was the loss of control over one’s body, plunging into the abyss of helpless darkness. This painkiller could alleviate the physical pain but couldn’t stop the other sensations.

He hoped that during his most vulnerable moments, Lin Qingyang would be by his side. However, he couldn’t ensure that he wouldn’t lose control and harm Lin Qingyang, so he decided against it.

“Let’s go, and see the lanterns,” Chu Lishu said, preparing to get up. Lin Qingyang quickly pressed him down. “Forget it. Considering your condition, let’s go back to recover.”

“But…”

“In the future, we can see it another time,” Lin Qingyang insisted.

Chu Lishu nodded, suddenly thinking that the palace often lit lanterns to celebrate various occasions.

For example, the Emperor’s birthday, or… the enthronement ceremony.

On such celebratory days, the entire sky above the palace would be filled with sky lanterns, almost illuminating every corner of the palace, competing with the stars and shining even more splendidly than the civil service examination prayer lamps.

Chu Lishu’s eyes twinkled, and he smiled, “We’ll watch together in the future.”

Lin Qingyang nodded with a smile, then went to bid farewell to Qi Yan.

Qi Yan wasn’t angry and, with Chu Lishu gone, spoke freely. He patted Lin Qingyang’s shoulder in an ambiguous manner and said, “Brother, be more gentle next time. Did you get too anxious? Forgot to use the ointment in advance? If you injure the foundation, it’ll be disastrous. For long-term considerations in these matters, you have to take it slowly… Hey, hey, I haven’t finished yet, why are you running away? Brother is doing this for your own good… Do you need me to bring you some good stuff?”

Lin Qingyang blushed, ignoring Qi Yan’s shouts, and hurried away.

As he passed through the crowd, he overheard a few remarks.

“This time, I’m sure to top the imperial examination. Watch and learn, all of you.”

“Don’t be so arrogant. This time… I feel like I’ve received divine assistance.”

“Hehe, you guys are usually hopeless. Do you really think releasing a prayer lantern will make your wishes come true?”

“You don’t understand… Man conquers heaven, haha.”

Lin Qingyang glanced back at those arrogant-looking scholars, probably the ones who fell into the trap.

On the other side, Lu Yi and Lu Shi both appeared in the compartment.

“Master, we…”

Chu Lishu stopped their apologies. It was an accident, and he hadn’t expected the Pei family to be so anxious.

“What’s the situation over there?”

“Everything is going smoothly, just waiting for tomorrow…”

“Good, I’ll head back first, you keep an eye on things.”

“Yes!”

As the two were about to leave, Chu Lishu’s meticulous thoughts seemed to have discovered a loophole.

“Wait, I have something to instruct you. Go check the water tank, if…”

Chu Lishu then carefully explained a situation, and Lu Yi and Lu Shi immediately nodded in acknowledgment.

Not long after, Lin Qingyang took Chu Lishu back to the other courtyard to recuperate.

The next morning, Chu Lishu’s pain had subsided, but he showed no intention of going out. Lin Qingyang thought Chu Lishu must be confident in his arrangements, but Lin Qingyang was still somewhat uneasy. He had not been involved in the other task at all, and he worried that something unexpected might happen.

Since Chu Lishu was recuperating at home, Lin Qingyang also couldn’t easily find a reason to go out. Coincidentally, at this time, a messenger from Marquis An Nan’s residence delivered a letter, stating that they needed to return for the upcoming examination of Lin Qingxu. After all, there was a family member participating in the imperial examination, and it wouldn’t look good if they didn’t return.

This gave Lin Qingyang a reason to send Chu Lishu back home to continue his recovery while he took the carriage to Marquis An Nan’s residence to pick up Lin Qingxu.

However, unexpectedly, the carriage did not take him to the Marquis’s mansion but brought him to Yamo Garden. While this aligned with Lin Qingyang’s preference, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why are we here?”

The servant in charge of picking him up hurriedly explained, “Second Young Master, don’t you know? Third Young Master has been at Yamo Garden. The Marquis asked us to pick up Third Young Master, so we can all return to the residencfe together.”

As the servant spoke, the carriage came to a stop. Lin Qingyang could hear the commotion outside, indicating that the road was blocked.

Not far from Yamo Garden, Lin Qingyang lifted the curtain and saw a large group of soldiers being mobilized ahead.

Quickly getting off the carriage, Lin Qingyang ran over, finding a crowd already gathered at the entrance of Yamo Garden.

Squeezing through, he immediately recognized several familiar faces.

At the front entrance, the Minister of Rites, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Chief Magistrate of the Capital City, the Minister of the Imperial Court of Justice Review, and Chief Steward Ning were confronting each other.

Whispers from the onlookers nearby could be heard.

“What’s going on?”

“I heard that Mr. Cao, who temporarily stayed here this morning, felt unwell. The Palace immediately sent someone to attend to him. After all, he is a venerable imperial tutor…”

“Why are there suddenly so many soldiers?”

“It turns out that the people from the palace accidentally discovered that the examination questions sent from the palace for the imperial examination were leaked. They came to investigate.”

“What! Leakage of examination questions? Then isn’t this imperial examination…”

“It’s afraid it will be postponed.”

As Lin Qingyang was listening, suddenly, a scream was heard.

“Ah! Is that a fire?”

Lin Qingyang looked up and saw a corner of the Yamo Garden indeed emitting flames. Is it… destroying evidence?

Lin Qingyang’s face changed suddenly. He remembered that in the original plot, the discovery of Yuan Ye and Jing Rouyin’s accident was triggered by this big fire.

The fire was indeed to destroy evidence, but the location was too close to the backyard. Following the wind, it ended up making the backyard burn even more fiercely.

The original firefighting efforts faced obstruction, so they might not have caught up in protecting the evidence.

But with the backyard on fire, Yuan Ye was still unconscious under the influence of drugs, and the shadow guards had to both rescue him and assist in firefighting.

As the situation unfolded, everyone knew that the Crown Prince was in the fire, so they hurried to extinguish it.

As a result, the illicit affair was discovered, and evidence of cheating was successfully preserved.

Is all of this planned by the male lead, or perhaps not, but due to the protagonist’s halo coincidentally helping the male lead? So, what now? Without the evidence of an affair, what about this fire…

Soldiers inside have already started to put out the fire, but the flames seem a bit uncontrollable.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Heavens, is that an automatic fire extinguisher?”

They saw water falling from the eaves of a nearby high place, instantly controlling the fire, preventing it from spreading to the backyard.

The big fire turned into small flames, and even the less successful rescue efforts managed to extinguish the flames.

Lin Qingyang remembered the water tank he saw last night; someone must have opened it for the water to flow. Do people here still remember to use this? Unless… did Chu Lishu arrange for Lu Yi and Lu Shi to do it?

Lin Qingyang was excited at the thought that Chu Lishu anticipated their use of fire to destroy evidence. It seemed like the mission was in the clear.

Most of the officials from the Ministry of Rites had unpleasant expressions, while Chief Steward Ning sneered and looked at the fire control mechanism, “It seems that even in death, someone still care about all of you. What a misfortune for all of you.”

The others had awkward expressions but were seeking Chief Steward Ning’s guidance.

“Investigating the case is your responsibility. I was only responsible for bringing the royal physician to treat Mr. Cao and accidentally discovered something His Majesty cannot tolerate. However… His Majesty will surely thoroughly investigate the matters here, so you must treat them seriously,” Chief Steward Ning said before turning around to go inside and find a place to relocate Mr. Cao.

Soon, a group of people was escorted out by the soldiers, including the Ministry of Rites assistant, who had just been transferred yesterday, as well as some scholars and exam candidates. Some struggled, some tried to explain, some wailed, and some looked utterly defeated.

Finally, the Chief of the Ministry of Rites could no longer stand firm. Normally, he engaged in a few secret transactions every year, being cautious, sealing both ends, and making it impossible for information to leak. However, this time, one of his foolish subordinates, driven by greed, attempted to make extra profits without authorization, resulting in a chaotic situation that Chief Ning, who was vigilant, promptly discovered. The chief should have been more vigilant against his gambling assistant, whose family had long been financially strained, and such a person, when encountering lucrative opportunities, would certainly take advantage. How did he let this chance slip through his fingers?

The Chief of the Ministry of Rites believed it was his negligence that led to this foolish reassignment, completely unaware that Chu Lishu had secretly orchestrated it behind the scenes.

With an unpleasant expression, the chief wanted to use an excuse to leave but was stopped by the Deputy Chief. The Deputy Chief held numerous account books and lists, demanding the entire Ministry of Rites to cooperate in the investigation.

Apart from Yang Jin, who took sick leave and didn’t have to be present temporarily, everyone else was taken to Imperial Court of Justice Review.

What made Lin Qingyang unable to move forward had shifted the course of the mission from smooth progress to another direction.

Because among the captured individuals was unexpectedly Lin Qingxu.

Lin Qingxu was pushed forward in a sorry state. Passing by Lin Qingyang, he suddenly lifted his head and glared at him fiercely.

Lin Qingyang could hardly believe it, “How could you…”

But Lin Qingxu just stared, then was escorted away.

Servants hurriedly came to find Lin Qingyang.

Faced with such a situation, Lin Qingyang could only quickly return to the Marquis’s residence.

Marquis An Nan had already learned about the capture of his third son and quickly mobilized his connections to find out what had happened.

Lin Qingyang also had a bewildered expression. After all, Lin Qingxu was originally very talented in his studies, almost becoming a study companion.

The imperial examination was supposed to be his only hope for a turnaround, so why would he resort to cheating when everything seemed fine?

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