Chapter 252: The Crown Prince’s Anger
Inside the monastic room, the charcoal fire crackled, a hidden undercurrent surging like a deep abyss.
Beyond the door, Li Huan’s greeting sounded once more.
Li Zhao lowered his head, pressing his forehead against Xue Sui’s, his nose tip brushing her feverish earlobe.
“Xue Ping’an, your heart is beating so rapidly, are you afraid?”
Beneath Xue Sui’s monk’s robe, her shoulder blades were taut as a drawn bowstring.
“Your Highness…”
Before she could finish speaking, Li Zhao grasped her chin, a low chuckle escaping his lips.
“If you move again, I’ll wrap you up like a zongzi and carry you out.”
He made no excessive moves, merely gazing down as his thumb traced the fading red marks on her cheek, seemingly admiring his own handiwork.
“I insist on letting him know that the person he holds dear, I can touch whenever I please.”
What person did Li Huan hold dear?
“This is a sacred Buddhist place, I ask Your Highness to conduct yourself with decorum—”
As Xue Sui spoke, she suddenly stood up. The wind from her sleeve swept across the scripture desk, knocking over a teacup. Scalding tea splashed onto the front of her monk’s robe.
As she sidestepped to evade, Li Zhao pressed forward, his hand resting on the edge of the scripture desk behind her, trapping her, narrowly avoiding…
Then he wiped away the tea stains on her sleeve, his eyes glinting triumphantly as he flipped over and pinned her down.
“The rules and precepts are for those who have left the secular world; I insist on breaking them this once…”
He leaned down, brushing against her slightly cool scalp. The ambergris mingled with the warmth of the charcoal fire, searing a trembling ripple across her skin…
Li Huan’s voice from outside the door suddenly turned cold and sharp.
“If the Crown Prince does not open the door soon, I will have no choice but to seek the Imperial Father’s judgment!”
Amidst the clanging of scabbards, Xue Yuechen’s tearful plea also carried through the wind and snow.
“Prince, Sixth Sister is a nun. Such behavior… what will people think if this gets out?”
“Move aside!” Li Huan’s deep roar made the window paper tremble.
Guan Ya stood expressionless, raising his knife hilt, remaining still.
“His Highness has important matters to discuss with Master Liaochen, so Prince Duan is asked to wait for now!”
“Oh?! Important matters?” Li Huan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the snow-covered blue stone slabs. A smile touched his lips, but his eyes held no warmth.
He clearly didn’t believe it.
Even the people Li Zhao brought with him thought Guan Ya’s excuse was rather clumsy…
For the dignified Crown Prince to have important matters to discuss with a nun?
Lai Fu bowed as he stepped forward, his pale, plump face creased with a fawning smile.
“Reporting to Prince Duan, on the night of the Lantern Festival, the lantern tower caught fire. His Highness was injured while saving the townspeople. He heard that Master Liaochen possesses divine abilities and has come to seek medical treatment…”
Li Huan’s fingers tightened further.
“Does healing require closing the door and dismissing the guards?… I suspect someone intends to harm the Crown Prince under the guise of treatment…”
Lai Fu glanced at the gap under the door, squinting and smiling.
“No, no, no, Prince Duan misunderstands. Master Liaochen… is currently performing a ritual to help His Highness… to help His Highness overcome a tribulation.”
A tribulation?
How could he even say such a thing!
Li Huan’s throat bobbed, and he let out a cold snort.
Finally, he gritted out.
“Then I shall wait outside.”
Inside the monastic room, Li Zhao chuckled upon hearing this. He slowly and deliberately smoothed Xue Sui’s collar, his fingertips brushing her soft waist.
“Listen, my Second Imperial Brother cares so much for you.”
Xue Sui abruptly flung his hand away: “What exactly do you want to do, Your Highness?”
She frowned and took half a step back, her voice suppressed deep in her throat.
“Do you really want the Censorate to submit a memorial impeaching you, saying Your Highness forcibly abducted a young nun and defiled the Buddhist precepts…”
Li Zhao chuckled, his reddened eyes fixed on her. His long lashes cast trembling shadows in the candlelight, making him look almost innocent.
“Didn’t Lai Fu say it was for healing? Xue Ping’an, you planted the Love Silk Gu on me, and my injuries are for you. How can you stand by and do nothing?”
Xue Sui found it both laughable and exasperating.
Where had it reached the point of life or death?
She knew.
Li Zhao didn’t necessarily intend to do anything to her; he just wanted to make Li Huan uncomfortable. Given his personality, even if the King of Heaven himself came, he wouldn’t be able to get Li Zhao to leave at this point…
“Fine.”
She said with a cold face.
“Where is the injury? Let me see.”
Li Zhao’s knuckles lightly brushed his nose, the corners of his lips curving up, deliberately drawing out his tone.
“Shall I help you undress?”
Xue Sui glanced at his feigned ignorance and retrieved a trauma ointment bottle from under the scripture desk.
“Undress!”
“I must state the unpleasant truth first: don’t say I begged you…”
“I am begging Your Highness to treat your injury, is that acceptable?” Xue Sui lowered her eyes, fiddling with the cap of the ointment bottle. Her fingertip brushed the cool porcelain surface as she gestured for him to proceed.
Only then did Li Zhao smile with satisfaction and slowly untie his belt.
His dark brocade robe slid to the floor like flowing clouds, revealing smooth shoulders and a well-defined back.
His lean, powerful physique was toned and symmetrical. The hollows of his collarbones were beaded with fine sweat, his waist rising and falling with his breath, outlining a clear mermaid line, as if carved by a knife.
He turned sideways, the old wound on his shoulder blade faint as a pale moon, already scabbed over, showing delicate muscle texture in the candlelight.
The new wound was an inch below the back of his neck, oozing a faint trace of blood, like a touch of vibrant cinnabar…
That day at the Lantern Festival, Xue Sui had only seen him rush forward recklessly. The corner of his robe had been scorched black when it was caught by a burning lantern, and she hadn’t realized he was actually injured…
“Have you seen enough?” Li Zhao raised an eyebrow, clearly confident in his physique. He deliberately turned halfway, his shoulder blades subtly revealed. As his fingertips traced his waistline, he paused, leaving an ambiguous mark…
“If you keep looking, I’ll charge interest.”
Xue Sui turned her face away, her earlobes warming.
“Your Highness, please turn around so I can apply the medicine.”
Li Zhao narrowed his eyes, his voice muffled with a threatening smile, looking at her with unease.
“You won’t run?”
“I won’t run.”
“You won’t lie?”
“I won’t lie.”
“You won’t see Li Huan?”
“I won’t see Li Huan.”
Seeing her impatience, Li Zhao finally let out a soft hum, imprinted a very light kiss on her forehead, and then, like a large cat being stroked, lazily turned around, his voice carrying an undeniable dominance.
“Hurry up, my patience is limited.”
Xue Sui tapped his nape with a silver spoon.
“Close your eyes.”
Li Zhao obediently closed his eyes, his long lashes casting fan-shaped shadows beneath his eyelids.
The familiar scent of Suxin Orchid mingled with the smell of herbs, spreading from her sleeves. The cool touch of the medicinal cotton landed on the wound, and a faint sigh escaped his throat. The muscles in his shoulder blades instantly tensed—
“Relax,” Xue Sui raised her arm. “Are you a grown man afraid of pain?”
Li Zhao inhaled, secretly opening his eyes a slit. He watched her focused expression as she applied the cotton to the wound, deliberately groaning softly.
Xue Sui’s hand paused.
This man was truly detestable!
Didn’t he know that groaning like that would make someone blush and their heart race?
She grumbled inwardly, wanting to curse him, but saw Li Zhao feigning a frown, looking as if he were at her mercy, as docile as a wild beast begging for food.
Having shed all his defenses, revealing gentleness, where was the ruthless decisiveness he was known for?
At this moment, everyone outside the monastic room could hardly imagine…
that this was the chilling Crown Prince.
“All done,” she said, putting away the cotton and placing the trauma ointment bottle back on the scripture desk with a calm expression.
Li Zhao narrowed his eyes, like a large cat purring after being petted.
“I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days, plagued by nightmares every night. I heard you have the skill of golden needle acupuncture; why not give me a couple of needles?”
“Your Highness should summon an Imperial Physician for treatment. This nun’s medical skills are crude…”
Before she finished speaking, Li Zhao turned around, his movement precisely touching his injured spot.
She recoiled as if shocked, but he clasped her fingers.
“What are you afraid of? Didn’t you like to watch? If you give me acupuncture to calm my nerves, I’ll let you watch all you want, how about that?”
Xue Sui met his gaze for a moment, then bent down, moved the scripture scroll aside, took out silver needles from under the drawer, and sat on the edge of the couch with a stool.
“Lie down.”
Administering needles and massage were her specialties.
During her free time at the convent, she often performed acupuncture and massage for Abbess Huiming, and also for herself to relieve muscle tension.
She treated the person before her as an ordinary patient.
As for Li Huan, their feud was already established. If Li Zhao didn’t want him to have an easy time, she couldn’t be bothered to care.
Li Huan’s mood was even less of her concern.
She held a silver needle and slowly drew it through the flame…
Li Zhao stared at her without blinking.
As if waiting for prey to fall into a trap, his pupils gleamed.
Xue Sui’s fingertips paused: “I’m starting now.”
“Mm,” Li Zhao’s voice was muffled, like a child begging for candy.
She focused on inserting the needle into the acupoints, all of which were for calming the spirit and steadying the nerves. Her fingertips pressed down, the force and lightness perfectly balanced.
As she lifted and rotated the needle, the cuff of her monk’s robe suddenly rolled up, revealing an old scar on her wrist.
Li Zhao’s gaze darkened. He suddenly touched it with his fingertips and kissed the scar.
“Does it hurt?”
Xue Sui trembled all over, gasping for air. The needle bag almost slipped from her lap.
In the years when swords and blades were upon her, few people had ever asked her if those scars hurt.
“It stopped hurting long ago.” She turned her head to avoid his breath, but he cupped her chin and turned her face back.
“I hurt—” His palm pressed against her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat through the thin fabric. His Adam’s apple bobbed violently.
“My Ping’an hurts, to have suffered so much hardship at such a young age…”
The wind and snow howled outside the window, isolating them from the voices outside.
The entire convent seemed to fall into silence.
Li Zhao initially tried to maintain his composure and say some nonsense, but slowly, his eyes narrowed into thin lines, his long lashes trembled a few times in the candlelight, and his breathing gradually became long and even. He had truly fallen into a deep sleep.
Xue Sui stopped her hand and gazed at him.
Beneath his eyes, there was a heavy shadow of dark circles.
Undeniable fatigue.
He must not have slept well these past few days.
Xue Sui sighed softly, gently pulled the corner of the quilt over him, and was about to get up and leave when her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Li Zhao did not open his eyes, but pressed her hand to his chest.
“Xue Ping’an, how dare you—”
He murmured, as if in a dream.
This was an unconscious action. His fingertips rubbed her palm, slowly pulling her closer, his arm firmly encircling her waist, his chin resting on the top of her head, as if embracing a treasure found after being lost.
Xue Sui struggled but couldn’t break free, so she sat down to watch him, feeling the beating pulse…
The candlelight flickered in the monastic room, casting their overlapping shadows on the wall, but failing to illuminate the love, hate, and obsession in this mortal world.
Outside the monastic room, Li Huan stood in the corridor, snowflakes landing on his shoulders before melting silently.
Time passed by, little by little.
Xue Yuechen looked at the closed door, gently touched her abdomen, her gaze complex.
“Prince, it’s cold and freezing. Why not go to the guest hall to warm yourself…”
Li Huan did not look at her, his voice gentle, but he did not move an inch.
“Fei Cui, quickly help the Princess Consort to the guest hall to rest.”
Xue Yuechen wanted to speak but stopped. Just then, the door creaked open.
