Chapter 146: Pain
Of the three people he pointed out, one was dead and the other two were seriously injured.
The words carried a hidden meaning, obvious without saying.
“Yes, Your Highness investigated very thoroughly.” Xue Sui’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s just that Xue Liu is dull and doesn’t know why Prince has suddenly visited. Is it to reopen Xue Liu’s old case and clear her name, or…”
“Did you do it?” Li Huan cut off her smile.
A moment of chill swept through her heart.
Xue Sui smiled faintly, “So Your Highness is here to demand an explanation?”
A flicker of coldness flashed in Li Huan’s eyes: “Ping An, this is your chance to confess.”
Xue Sui frowned, her face filled with confusion.
“Does Your Highness think too highly of me? If I had the ability to kill and set fires, how would I be covered in injuries?”
Li Huan’s gaze met hers in the air.
The sunlight was just right, slanting into the west window, casting a faint glow on her fair, jade-like face. She wore a simple and elegant plain dress, her demeanor light and graceful…
Xue Liu definitely had something going on.
But Li Huan found it hard to believe that such a woman could be the ruthless killer who dismembered bodies with extreme cruelty.
That hidden hand must be lurking behind her—
“Perhaps I’ve thought too much…”
Li Huan smiled, his jade thumb ring tapping lightly on the chessboard before him, causing the black and white chess pieces in the container to rattle.
The room door was suddenly knocked gently.
Jinshu respectfully reminded in a soft voice from the corridor, “Madam, it’s time for your medicine.”
Xue Sui replied, “Bring it in.”
Jinshu pushed the door open and placed the medicine bowl steadily on the desk.
Li Huan stared at the dark brown liquid and suddenly chuckled.
“What is Ping An drinking every day, medicine or poison? Why is her body getting weaker the more she takes it?”
Xue Sui pushed the medicine bowl forward by three inches, her eyes like a cold pool reflecting the moon, chilling and imposing.
“Your Highness is so suspicious of me. Why not try it yourself?”
Li Huan’s gaze was deep as he stared at her.
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Their eyes met, their breaths audible in the intense gaze. Li Huan’s heart suddenly quickened, as if bewitched, his gaze lingering on her face for a long time…
A crow cawed suddenly outside the window.
The Spirit Feather on the windowsill also cawed in response, sounding extremely impatient.
A sense of bitterness welled up in his heart. Li Huan waved his hand, signaling Jinshu to leave, then smiled and changed the subject.
“Regarding the matter last time, I’ve already thought it through…”
Xue Sui watched him quietly, her eyes calm.
Li Huan said, “As long as you can help me find the Imperial Envoy from the Old Mausoleum Swamp, no matter how things unfold in the future, I will ensure your safety.”
This was precisely the promise Xue Sui had requested last time.
After such a long time, Li Huan finally responded.
Xue Sui didn’t know whether to call him too pedantic, valuing promises too much, not even picking a suitable time to deceive someone, or to call him too cautious, never forgetting to guard against others.
She smiled, “To be honest, I can only go to the antique merchant you know…”
Seeing Li Huan’s expression change, Xue Sui added, “However, Your Highness is a noble person in Shangjing, and he will surely be wary and try to deceive Your Highness. But I am from the Old Mausoleum Swamp, and we know each other well. I believe he wouldn’t dare to refuse and would have to work diligently.”
Li Huan raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Then I shall await your good news.”
—
The prepared tea sat quietly on the table.
Li Huan did not drink a single sip until he left.
Xue Sui glanced at it and couldn’t help but smile, “Clear it away.”
Saying that, she turned back into the inner room, sat before the dressing table, took out the ointment, and gently applied it to the scars on her wrist.
In the bronze mirror, a tall figure suddenly appeared.
Li Zhao leaned against the screen, a noticeable bulge from a tightly bound bandage on his injured shoulder, his lips paler than usual.
“Is the Snow Toad Ointment I sent still useful?”
Xue Sui’s fingertips paused, and she withdrew her hand, touching the green jade hairpin on her head.
“The Crown Prince is barging into Prince Duan’s Mansion in broad daylight. Is he trying to add another new injury?”
Li Zhao looked at her with a half-smile, his gaze falling on the two identical porcelain bottles on the dressing table.
“I’ve come to collect a debt.”
He walked closer, carrying a scent of grass and wood, clear and unique. As he reached out and picked up a bottle of Snow Toad Ointment, the fragrance permeated Xue Sui’s nostrils, enveloping her.
“Madam Ping An owes me. How do you plan to repay it?”
Xue Sui pursed her lips, “When did I ever owe Your Highness?”
Li Zhao glanced sideways at his injured shoulder, “You treated others’ injuries and stayed for three days, yet you paid no attention to me…”
Xue Sui was speechless.
She had stayed at the Imperial Palace for Consort Wan.
Li Zhao, who was quibbling over such a trivial matter, was absurd and laughable.
“Crown Prince, this is not the Eastern Palace.”
“Hmm? Then what about this bottle of Snow Toad Ointment? It wasn’t sent from the Eastern Palace either, was it?” Li Zhao’s fingertip brushed her earlobe, sending a shiver through her.
“When did you become so close to Li Huan?”
The Love Silk Gu stirred in his blood, his eyes filled with the frenzy of a beast seeking pleasure. His heart pounded like a taut string. Xue Sui suddenly grabbed his wrist, wanting to stand up, but he pressed her back against the dressing table.
The horn comb fell to the ground with a crisp sound, like her precarious composure at that moment.
Almost instinctively, she bit Li Zhao’s arm, “Stop!”
Li Zhao’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he lowered his head with hot breath, stroking the dark hair at her forehead.
“Xue Ping An, are you a dog? Biting me when you see me…”
“Sit properly!” Under his scorching gaze, Xue Sui swallowed, “Does Your Highness not want to treat his injury anymore?”
“Treat it!”
The trauma ointment and gauze in the medicine box were readily available.
Xue Sui helped Li Zhao sit on a round stool, poured boiling water from the kettle into the copper basin, added the powdered medicine, and immersed a clean cloth in the steaming medicinal water, stirring it slowly…
Her fingertips created ripples on the water’s surface, reflecting Li Zhao’s slightly pale face.
She glanced sideways and said coldly, “Take it off!”
“Madam Ping An is quite domineering.”
Li Zhao chuckled and casually took off his outer robe, tossing it onto the camphor wood hanger.
At a glance, he saw the ivory chess pieces that Li Huan had sent to Tan Qiu Courtyard.
His eyes instantly turned icy, and his tone became sharp.
“Imperial Brother is quite thoughtful, sending you such a precious gift. What a pity he left in such a hurry. Why didn’t he stay a little longer to play chess with Madam Ping An?”
Xue Sui gathered the medicinal cloth and flicked it, causing water droplets to land on his collar.
“When Your Highness gifted chess pieces in the Golden Palace back then, you weren’t this stingy.”
Li Zhao snorted coldly.
He wasn’t angry that she detected his sarcasm; it strangely smoothed his displeasure.
“That day you said the Love Silk Gu is most afraid of falling in love. What if I insist on falling in love?”
Xue Sui calmly wrung out the cloth and carefully wiped away the dried blood around his wound. “Go ahead. When the Gu poison acts up… it will be much more unbearable than the pain of a Bone-Penetrating Nail.”
The lean muscles of the man’s back tensed slightly.
The muscles on his shoulder blades moved with each stroke of her wiping.
“Xue Ping An, do you have no other way to make me suffer less…”
Before he finished speaking, Xue Sui suddenly exerted force, tearing off the dressing covering his wound. The bloody cloth ripped at the wound, and Li Zhao felt a chill run down his spine, breaking out in a fine sweat.
“Xue Ping An… it hurts!”
“Endure it.”
Xue Sui looked at the wildfire in his eyes and smiled like a fox.
“If I hurt, don’t you hurt?” Li Zhao asked.
“I don’t hurt.” Seeing Li Zhao’s suspicious look, as if he were about to play a trick, she added indifferently, “However, if the Female Gu gnaws at the heart and bones, the Male Gu will also feel the same.”
Li Zhao looked at the slyness that flashed in her eyes and suddenly grabbed her wrist with such force that he seemed about to crush it, gritting his teeth fiercely.
“Why do you always get the advantage? Xue Ping An, just take my life.”
Xue Sui could see the torment of the Love Silk Gu acting up on his face.
Forget it!
Don’t provoke him.
Let him go mad.
She stopped speaking and lowered her head, focusing on treating his wound with an exceptionally gentle expression.
In the misty vapor, the blush on Li Zhao’s earlobe became even more alluring.
“Imperial Father has asked me to assist in managing the Ministry of Revenue, to audit the financial and grain records from the fifth to the eleventh year of Chongzhao… Tomorrow I plan to go to West Mountain…”
Last time, the Emperor had already issued a decree for the Ministry of Revenue to inventory the land and lakes occupied by the Ping Le Imperial Palace, and to return them all to the people. They also had to rebuild residences and construct houses to house the disaster-stricken populace…
However, this matter had progressed extremely slowly.
Li Zhao said, “Luo Huan is an old fox. I fear he might scheme against me.”
Xue Sui looked at the hideous wound on his shoulder.
“When Xiao Jing was the Vice Minister of Revenue, he likely had already transferred or otherwise dealt with the account books. Otherwise, Prince Duan has been investigating corruption in the Gold Department for so long and hasn’t brought down any significant officials…”
“That’s because Li Huan was hesitant, wanting to maintain his reputation for benevolence.” Li Zhao sneered, “Moreover, what Imperial Father wants me to investigate is from the fifth year of Chongzhao to the eleventh year of Chongzhao.”
The fifth to the eleventh year of Chongzhao?
Xue Sui pondered for a moment and said slowly.
“In the fifth year of Chongzhao, Xizi stopped paying tribute to Daliang and frequently raided the borders…”
“In the sixth year of Chongzhao, many areas suffered floods, and the Ministry of Revenue frequently allocated funds for disaster relief.”
“In the seventh year of Chongzhao, the imperial court repaired the Imperial Mausoleum, incurring significant expenses.”
“In the eighth year of Chongzhao, a new tax law was implemented, causing changes in taxation.”
“In the ninth year of Chongzhao, water conservancy projects were undertaken, with complex project funds.”
She paused and looked at Li Zhao.
“And Ping Le began large-scale construction at the West Mountain Villa at the end of the eleventh year of Chongzhao…”
Li Zhao laughed upon hearing this, “Xue Ping An, oh Xue Ping An, you are so intelligent. How should I praise you?”
Xue Sui met his gaze coldly, “It would be best if the Crown Prince didn’t come to collect his debt from me.”
Li Zhao subtly raised an eyebrow, “Then tell me, from which vine should I start investigating to unearth a major scandal?”
Xue Sui did not answer, humming indifferently, “Tomorrow is the coming-of-age ceremony for the Duke of Zheng’s daughter. I have to attend the banquet and don’t have time to accompany the Crown Prince in searching for scandals…”
Li Zhao understood.
The Minister of Revenue, Luo Huan, and the Duke of Zheng, Guo Pi, were in-laws.
And Xiao Jing, the Vice Minister of Revenue who had just been punished, had acted recklessly under Luo Huan’s nose for years. Luo Huan couldn’t be clean either.
The reason Li Huan hadn’t found anything on Luo Huan for so long was likely due to this relationship…
But Li Zhao would not indulge them.
“I like to dig to the root and eradicate all evil, leaving none behind.”
Xue Sui reminded him, “Be careful not to pull out a bunch of hedgehogs instead of a melon vine.”
She applied some force, and the pain from the wound made Li Zhao groan.
Turning back to see her dark eyes smiling, he couldn’t help but smile, leaning forward and asking her with a half-smile.
“This Gu… it truly won’t kill me?”
“It’s not the Gu that kills,” Xue Sui said, lifting her fingertip and poking his painful shoulder, twisting it hard. “It’s Your Highness’s choices.”
“It hurts!”
“…”
“If you don’t stop, I’ll call for people…”
“…”
Li Zhao: Everything hurts except the place that should hurt!
Xue Sui: Then for double monthly tickets, why don’t you ask the readers to vote for you?
Li Zhao: Alright, last time I broke a stone with my chest, this time I’ll break bricks with my bare hands and lift a cauldron with one arm…
