The charcoal brazier made the whole room warm as spring, but the dizziness made Lin Zikui unable to stand up, for fear of making a fool of himself if he stood up.

If he were sober, he would definitely not be able to respond to Xiao Fu's words, but his mind was not clear, Lin Zikui dared to look at him and said: "The second young lady is pretty, but she is bookish... I still have to study, because I have to take the spring exam next year. I can't fail."

"You've gone blind, so you're bound to fail the exam, right?"

Lin Zikui has his own reasoning: "But I don't need to read more, I just need to listen to people reading to me. My book boy reads a word, and I can recite the next sentence."

"Your bookboy has a hoarse voice, are you willing to embarrass a child?" Xiao Fu said softly, "How about I read to you? I have all the Four Books and Five Classics here, what do you want to hear?"

Lin Zikui had already memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by heart.

With a dry mouth and a foggy mind, he said, "All right."

His lips were dry, he licked them, then lowered his head to sip the tea, which was also sweet.

Lord Xiao went to look for books. He was not well educated and had never liked reading since childhood. The only books he could read were books on military strategy. It was good enough for him to be able to read at his age. However, there were no Four Books and Five Classics in the room, only a few dusty Taoist scriptures.

He sat down and opened the book to read. His voice was low and gentle. Lin Zikui listened for a long time before finally understanding: "Second Miss, isn't this the Tao Te Ching?"

"Yeah, you don't like to hear it?"

Lin Zikui shook his head, his eyes misty but bright: "I like it."

"Then I'll continue reading to you. Are you warm now?"

He nodded: "Yeah, it's warm."

But the more Lin Zikui listened to the Tao Te Ching, the sleepier he became. His head was shaking and he almost fell into the charcoal basin. Xiao Fu stretched out a hand and caught his chin.

Maybe Lin Zikui was bolder because of the alcohol, but she didn't move away. She put her chin in his palm and said, "Second Miss, your hands... are so big."

This is something he would never dare to say when he was sober, for fear of hurting the young lady.

This is certainly not Xiao Fu’s sad thing.

The more he looked at Lin Zikui, the more he liked him, and asked him, "Isn't it good to be big?"

Lin Zikui shook his head slowly: "Very good."

Yuan Qing got goose bumps all over his body, grabbed Jin Zun and went out: "Let's go, let's not get in the way."

Jinzun protested: "Brother Qing, I want to play chess with a scholar."

"What kind of chess are you playing? You're disturbing the Marquis's good deeds. Be careful or he'll beat you up!"

At this moment, a low-key gray carriage arrived outside the Xingzhi Temple. The carriage was plain and without any decorations. The driver was a middle-aged man with a feminine appearance and wearing a crimson robe. He lifted the curtain of the carriage and whispered, "Master, I have seen your behavior."

A fair and delicate hand stretched out from the carriage, placed on the back of the feminine man's hand, and bent down to get out of the carriage.

She was wrapped in a black cloak, which was not made of dazzling and luxurious material. The hood covered most of her face, so her face could not be seen at all. However, her whole body had an extraordinary aura, as if she was a superior.

After entering the Taoist temple, the feminine man led the way with the woman and said, "The Marquis lives in the East Guest Hall of the Xingzhi Temple."

The woman arrived outside the East Guest Hall and was discovered by Yuan Wu. He was about to scold her, but he saw the person next to her.

Surprised: "Eunuch Cao?"

Could it be...

Yuan Qing also stood up: "Empress Dowager?!"

Empress Dowager Xiao lifted her hood slightly, revealing her pointed chin and red lips, and interrupted their greetings: "No need to be polite, generals. Where is your Lord?"

"The Marquis is here..." Yuan Qing turned his head and looked at the door, saying, "The Marquis is inside, Queen Mother, please wait a moment, I will report to him right away!"

After that, he knocked on the door and went in. Lord Xiao turned his head and glanced at him, frowning: "What's the matter?"

Lin Zikui was already a little tipsy, and felt sleepy while listening to the sutras. He half-closed his eyes but was not asleep. He rested his elbows on his arms, holding up his face, which was as rosy as a peach due to the alcohol, in his palms. With the light and warmth of the charcoal fire, his eyes were fixed on the second girl.

He seemed not to hear Yuan Qing coming in, and just stared at Xiao Fu quietly and intently.

Occasionally Xiao Fu looked at him, and he didn't know what was going on with his eyes, he just kept staring at him.

Xiao Fu felt as if he was being watched by an innocent little lamb.

So he was naturally unhappy when Yuanqing came in.

"Master, it's..." Yuan Qing paused and said, "Your elder sister is here."

"Why is she here?" Xiao Fu became even more unhappy.

At the door, Empress Dowager Xiao's voice could be heard. She looked like she was about to break in and shouted, "Xiao Fu, Xiao Fu! It's me! I know you are here! Don't hide!"

When Lin Zikui heard the voice, he looked up in confusion: "Second Miss..."

"She is my elder sister, don't be afraid." Xiao Fu closed the book.

"Your...sister?" Lin Zikui reacted and quickly stood up: "Should I..." He looked around and saw the window and was about to climb through it, but was grabbed by Xiao Fu's wrist. Xiao Fu held a stone picked up from the windowsill in one hand and threw it out, hitting Empress Dowager Xiao's mute point. With his other arm, he held Lin Zikui and pushed him onto the bed, lowering the curtains: "Don't make a sound."

Lin Zikui was pushed dizzy onto the bed. He lay straight, not daring to breathe, his mind in a fuzzy state. The second girl's bed... smelled so good.

He closed his eyes and covered himself with the quilt.

In a daze, Xiao Fu's voice was heard outside: "Why is my elder sister here?"

His eldest sister said nothing.

Lin Zikui didn't know that Empress Dowager Xiao wanted to speak but couldn't. She pointed at her throat and stared at him angrily: "You..."

Eunuch Cao, who was not far away, said anxiously: "Master!"

Xiao Fu's cold eyes swept over: "Cao Guang, you stand outside."

Xiao Fu walked out first, then untied her collarbone. The smile on his face turned into a fake one: "What does the Queen Mother want from me?"

Empress Dowager Xiao clenched her hands angrily and glanced into his bedroom.

Is there something shameful in there?

But she had no time to care about these things, and immediately said: "Brother, you come back to the palace with me now!"

Xiao Fu raised his eyebrows: "What?"

"The emperor..." Empress Dowager Xiao looked worried and lowered her voice, "He was poisoned."

"Then why are you looking for me? If he is poisoned by a poison, he should go to the Imperial Hospital. As you know, Queen Mother, I can't smell anything, I don't know any medical skills, and I can't remove the poison." Xiao Fu was very calm.

Empress Dowager Xiao grabbed his arm, but Xiao Fu pulled it out without leaving a trace. Seeing this, her expression froze slightly, and she did not touch him. She clenched her hands and said, "Xiao Fu, Imperial Doctor Zhang said that this Gu is probably only your master, the Gu King, who can cure it. But his whereabouts are elusive, and now only you can find the Gu King."

"Empress Dowager, you know that my master has always been on the move and has lived in seclusion. I have been sent to the interior for seven years and was not allowed to come back without the emperor's order. I have not been to Yunnan for so many years. How do I know where he is? Why do you ask me?" His smiling eyes turned completely cold.

"Xiao Fu..." Empress Dowager Xiao turned her head and saw that Eunuch Cao and the Chen brothers were gone. She looked up at Xiao Fu again, but her knees still couldn't bend. She bit her lip and said, "I beg you! What happened back then was the emperor's fault for you. Now he is in trouble and only you can save him! The prince is still young and cannot inherit the throne. If the emperor falls again at this time, the border guards, vassal kings, and princes will all be ready to move. What should the people of this world do? I beg you! Do you really want me to kneel down?"

"Even if you kneel down and kowtow to me today, I still won't be able to find my master." Xiao Fu looked down at her from above, his voice cold, "Why doesn't the Queen Mother find out who poisoned the woman? Wouldn't it be faster to ask the person who poisoned the woman to remove the poison than to find me?"

"But the palace has already investigated three times and arrested several eunuchs, but they all committed suicide out of fear of punishment! The person who put the poison in the palace is really cunning!"

"Does the Queen Mother know that I was assassinated before entering Nanjing? Who could mobilize hundreds of assassins, and why did they stop me from entering the capital?"

"I know." Empress Dowager Xiao paused, "You mean..."

Xiao Fu nodded.

Empress Dowager Xiao: "The person who assassinated you is most likely the one who poisoned the emperor!" She became excited, "Brother, who assassinated you!"

Xiao Fu looked at her with his dark eyes, and suddenly smiled: "I don't know, because I killed everyone."

Empress Dowager Xiao stared at him in astonishment and took half a step back.

After a while, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"You knew he was poisoned by a Gu long ago. You also knew that the person who planned to assassinate you was the one who poisoned the emperor! That person was afraid that you would return to the palace to rescue him, and was also afraid that you would know about the changes in the palace, so you mobilized the troops from the Yunnan Palace..."

But Xiao Fu killed all those assassins, making it impossible to trace them.

He intended to put the emperor to death!

Facing her implicit accusation, Xiao Fu remained noncommittal and said in a calm tone: "Queen Dowager, please return to the palace. You shouldn't have come to this temple. The person living in this temple probably never wants to see you in his lifetime."

Empress Dowager Xiao was silent.

Xiao Fu said in a deep voice: "I want to remind my elder sister that the person who can summon so many assassins to Jinling is closely related to the forces in the capital."

Several candidates appeared in Empress Dowager Xiao's mind. The prince was young, and if the emperor passed away, the remaining princes might become the new emperor.

She prepared for the worst in her heart and said sadly, "I don't know how long the emperor's poison can last. If... that day comes, I beg you, the prince is still young, he is your nephew, he is innocent."

"Your Majesty, please go back."

Empress Dowager Xiao turned around and took one last look at him. His whole face was shrouded in a cold shadow. Xiao Fu was her younger brother. Although not her biological brother, she had watched him grow up. He was a man of the world, but like the Duke of Changguo, he was upright, innocent, kind and good.

If she had not been banished to the cold palace and her son was about to be secretly executed, Empress Dowager Xiao would have had to beg her father, who borrowed the power of the King of Yunnan, so how could Xiao Fu have participated in the party struggle.

Empress Dowager Xiao knew that she could not blame Xiao Fu for being heartless. For the past seven years, the emperor had always been wary of him and had sent people to harm Xiao Fu many times. If Xiao Fu had not been lucky and had not been protected by experts and treated by doctors, he would have died in the northern frontier long ago.

I heard that Xiao Fu's close confidant died in this unclear manner.

Eunuch Cao supported Empress Dowager Xiao and said, "Master, are we going back to the palace now?"

After a while, Empress Dowager Xiao seemed to have become much thinner. She whispered, "Eunuch Cao, help me go to worship Guanyin, and then return to the palace."

After she left, Xiao Fu reached out to catch the raindrops falling from the eaves. The rain had stopped, and the remaining water droplets rolled a few times in the palm of his hand. He lowered his hand, and the water droplets rolled down with it.

Xiao Fu turned around and entered the room. The charcoal in the bedroom was burning hot. He lifted the bed curtain and found Lin Zikui buried in his quilt with his hands clasped on the corners of the quilt above his head. His face could not be seen.

Xiao Fu paused for a moment, slowly pried open his fingers and lifted the quilt.

Lin Zikui closed his eyes tightly, his long eyelashes drooped obediently, and he didn't move at all.

He stretched out his hand to call Lin Zikui, and his fingers touched his rosy, drunken cheek, which was slightly hot. Lin Zikui still did not respond, his breathing was even and long, and his lips were rosy. Xiao Fu then realized that Lin Lang had fallen asleep.