Chapter 78 I'll ask you one more time, do you want to be with me...?

Weishan Hall was in complete chaos.

Yu Mingshu called Jing Hong over, and the two of them, one on each side, helped He Zheng into the nearest room and settled him down. The guards outside the courtyard went straight to a nearby clinic to fetch a doctor to diagnose him.

He Zheng leaned against the edge of the table, his head drooping as he feigned weakness and discomfort, but he covered his eyes with his hand, his gaze occasionally following Yu Mingshu's figure as he paced around the room.

She was very anxious. Not the kind of anxiety one might feel when someone of high status gets into trouble on their own turf, but a genuine worry about his injuries.

Realizing this, his mood improved after several days of suffering.

While waiting for the doctor to arrive, Yu Mingshu stared fearfully at He Zheng's clothes. There was a lot of blood on him, but most of it was the other person's blood. She looked for a long time but couldn't find any wounds.

"Take off your clothes and let me see where you're injured."

He Zheng secretly controlled his meridians, his face turning slightly pale. "There are no external injuries, just a sudden dizziness, chest tightness, and stabbing pain in my heart."

"Dizziness, chest tightness, and stabbing pain in the chest?" Yu Mingshu panicked. He was so young and healthy; surely he couldn't possibly have heart disease?

She carefully poked He Zheng's upper limb, "Does it hurt here?"

He Zheng immediately tensed his arms. "It doesn't hurt."

She pinched his neck and shoulders again, causing him to involuntarily shrink his neck slightly.

"And here?"

"It doesn't hurt."

Yu Mingshu frowned, paced around the room twice, and then questioned him again: "How many meals did you eat today?"

"One meal."

When did you eat? What did you eat?

"It was roughly between 7 AM and 9 AM. I had a bowl of soup noodles and two pieces of lamb ribs."

Yu Mingshu roughly calculated the time in his mind. He ate a meal at seven or eight in the morning, skipped lunch, and then went out to fight in the afternoon. This is indeed unhealthy for people with poor digestion and low blood sugar, but He Zheng's body shouldn't be that weak, right?

We still need to listen to the analysis of professionals.

How far away is the clinic? It's taken so long to get a doctor to come back.

Seeing her preoccupied and worried, He Zheng suddenly regretted his decision. There are countless ways to break the ice, so why did he choose one that caused her so much distress?

He said slowly, "Actually, I felt much better after I went inside, so you don't need to worry about me."

How could I not be worried!

Yu Mingshu blurted out these words almost without thinking. After speaking, she met the other person's gaze and noticed that He Zheng's eyes were full of undisguised joy. Only then did she realize that she had been ignoring him for the past two days.

She turned her face away, revealing a hint of annoyance when no one was around.

Jinghong watched with great delight, but unable to speak, he kept nudging his husband's shoulder with his elbow.

He Zheng coughed twice and gave him a look.

Jinghong understood and immediately made an excuse to leave, saying, "I'll go back and get some clean clothes right away."

They thoughtfully closed the door before leaving.

He Zheng reached out to tug at Yu Mingshu's sleeve, but she seemed to have anticipated this and took a step back. Looking at her expression now, it had returned to the calm and distant demeanor she had displayed over the past few days.

"Your Excellency has no external injuries, so it must be due to overwork these past two days. I will have the physician examine you later, and then I will have the guards escort you back to rest properly."

It was that chilling tone again, and He Zheng felt a lump in his throat, wishing he could forcefully pull her into his arms. Whether it was snow from the Tianshan Mountains or ice from the Kunlun Mountains, he could always melt it with his warmth.

He thought it that way, and he did it that way.

He Zheng had just pulled her into his arms, forcing her against his burning chest, and before he could even inhale the lingering fragrance of osmanthus in her hair, he was pushed away by an astonishing force.

Yu Mingshu was much smaller than him, so naturally he couldn't push him down.

He Zheng subconsciously loosened his grip and took half a step back, only belatedly feeling a dull pain in his chest.

She didn't speak, but stared at him with a warning look in her eyes.

He Zheng placed his right hand on his chest, his brows furrowed, as if he were enduring pain, but the person in front of him showed no reaction.

It seems that feigning weakness can only be used once.

He Zheng lowered his right hand, pursed his lips, and said, "Ming Shu, I regret it."

Yu Mingshu glanced at him dismissively, "Regret what?"

He Zheng hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes and said, "As long as you don't distance yourself from me, any kind of relationship we have is fine."

Yu Mingshu smiled but didn't answer. She turned to open the door and called out into the courtyard, "Has the physician arrived yet?"

Almost at the same time she spoke, a guard led an elderly gentleman with white hair into the courtyard.

The old gentleman entered the room and was startled when he first saw the bloodstains on He Zheng. His wrinkled hands, carrying the suitcase, trembled slightly before he remembered that the person before him was an important figure and quickly bowed.

"No need for formalities. I just feel dizzy occasionally. Just prescribe a calming medicine for me."

"How can I prescribe medicine when I haven't even made a diagnosis?" The old man shook his head in disapproval, his white beard swaying.

He Zheng lowered his head under Yu Mingshu's gaze and silently reached out his hand, "Then you can examine him."

"The bloodstains on your body, Lord Marquis, are..."

"It's not my blood, and I have no external injuries," He Zheng had to explain again.

The old man personally checked again to make sure there were no external or obvious internal injuries on He Zheng's body before taking out a pulse pillow, placing it under He Zheng's wrist, closing his eyes, and carefully pressing his pulse.

He Zheng felt a little guilty and turned his gaze to the outside of the courtyard. Yu Mingshu, on the other hand, stared intently at the old man's expression, not missing even the slightest change in the corner of his eye.

The old man remained silent for a long time, and the room was completely quiet, as if the air had frozen.

Yu Mingshu couldn't help but ask, "How is he?"

"Well... it's nothing serious." The old man glanced at He Zheng's expression, then looked at the taut tendons in his wrist, and slowly withdrew his hand.

"Why would he suddenly feel dizzy if he's not sick?" Yu Mingshu wondered. Could it be that He Zheng really has low blood sugar?

The old gentleman looked up and met He Zheng's deep eyes. The other party gave him a subtle warning, so he nodded and replied, "The Marquis has returned from the battlefield and then came to Liangzhou without stopping. Perhaps he is too tired and has damaged his vitality. Today, he has also engaged in a great battle, exhausting his energy to the limit, hence his qi deficiency."

Upon hearing the words "qi deficiency," He Zheng's cheeks flushed an unusual red.

Yu Mingshu didn't think much of it, and simply instructed the servants outside the door to add two more dishes for dinner.

The old gentleman pondered for a moment, then his eyes darted around before he asked again, "Has the Marquis been troubled by something lately?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Mingshu turned around. He Zheng, under the intense gaze of the two, had no choice but to admit it.

"Everyone has worries, what's wrong with that?"

"Judging from your pulse and complexion, Your Excellency has a strong heart fire. You should pay attention to a light diet and practice the Five Animal Frolics to relieve your pent-up emotions in time." The old gentleman sighed, "Although it is normal for people to feel resentment and anger, if it is suppressed in the heart for a long time, it will also lead to illness and shorten one's lifespan."

Yu Mingshu naturally knew where this burning desire came from, and for a moment, he looked away guiltily.

After the old man finished explaining the medicinal diet recipes, the guards outside the courtyard escorted the person out safely, and Jinghong's clean clothes were also brought over.

As soon as he entered the room, seeing the strange atmosphere between the two people inside, Jinghong immediately put down his clothes, left, and closed both doors behind him.

Feeling thirsty, Yu Mingshu sat down and poured herself a glass of warm water.

He Zheng went behind the screen to change his clothes and came out shortly after. He tied his blood-stained old clothes into a ball and temporarily threw them out the window.

The collar of the newly changed dark red cross-collar robe was rather low. Yu Mingshu's gaze lingered on the bruise for a moment before shifting to examine his complexion.

Her lips, which had been deathly pale just moments before, were now back to normal, and her complexion was rosy, just like that of an ordinary person.

Recalling the doctor's subtle expression earlier, and carefully considering the old man's words, she seemed to understand something.

He Zheng has been in Liangzhou for half a month. He hasn't done any heavy work or stayed up all night. How could he be so exhausted and unable to recover?

Yu Mingshu gently tugged at his collar to cover the bruise she had pushed out, and looked into his eyes, saying, "Are you faking illness to fool me?"

He Zheng smiled helplessly, "Are you planning to leave me hanging forever without using some tricks?"

Yu Mingshu scoffed and turned to open the door to shoo the guest away.

He Zheng took two steps forward, grabbed her wrist, turned her halfway around, and pinned her against the door. He said urgently, "I was wrong, Ming Shu! Calm down. If you can't handle it, give me a couple of punches, and I won't fight back."

He leaned in as he spoke, his warm breath gently landing on her forehead.

Yu Mingshu looked up at him. "You said it yourself."

"yes……"

No sooner had He Zheng spoken than the usually reasonable girl in front of him suddenly sprang into action, launching a chaotic attack on his upper body, throwing punches left and right with considerable force.

He gritted his teeth in pain, and only asked when her strength had subsided, "Are you calm now?"

Yu Mingshu stopped, grabbed his collar, and said, "He Xingzhao, you are the first man to reject my confession."

"I'm innocent, how can that be called a refusal..." He Zheng cried out.

Yu Mingshu used some force to pull him closer, looked into his eyes and said, "Today I will ask you one more time, not talking about marriage, but only about love, do you want to date me?"

His cheeks visibly regained their rosy glow.

This isn't right, this is really wrong, something seems to be backwards.

For a moment, He Zheng was confused. He was the one who expressed his feelings first, so why did everything he said now sound like he was forced to give in to her?

He Zheng had no doubt that if he dared to say anything about illicit relations without a matchmaker or improper etiquette this time, she would completely sever ties with him.

Staring at the long, slender, fair hand at his collar, his breathing gradually warmed, his gaze moved upward, and finally landed on the parting lips.

He could no longer contain the emotions he had suppressed for the past few days. Instead of answering her, he pressed her back against the door and leaned down to kiss her lips.

He Zheng rarely showed his strong side in front of Yu Mingshu, but she knew that someone who could conquer cities and annihilate hundreds of thousands of Northern Yan troops could not possibly be shy and reserved.

Yu Mingshu was in pain from the pressure of the hair ornament on the back of her head, but the person in front of her was completely unaware and just kept eating.

She held his hand behind her head, and he seemed to sense it, supporting her head, releasing her lips, and breathing softly for a moment.

“This is the most outrageous thing I’ve done in my twenty-one years,” He Zheng suddenly whispered.

Yu Mingshu raised an eyebrow. "You regret it?"

"No." He Zheng kissed him again. Only today did he realize that a mere kiss could make someone crave more.

Some things are like a dam on a river; once the breach is made, there is no stopping it.

Yu Mingshu closed her eyes and responded to his kiss, which gradually turned from aggressive to tender. Her hands became more unrestrained, tightly wrapping around his waist.

She was fed up with the days of seeing but not being able to touch.

He felt a strange sensation in his waist, and his breathing became erratic.

Yu Mingshu frowned. This person had probably never eaten pork, let alone seen a pig run. It was just a kiss, yet he was so rough that she couldn't breathe.

She gently patted He Zheng's waist, then released his hand and waited for them to slowly disappear from sight.

“I’m hungry,” Yu Mingshu said.

He Zheng was slightly taken aback. "Then let's eat first."

Jinghong had been waiting outside the courtyard for a long time. He was far away and could only vaguely see two figures standing in front of the door for a long time. He couldn't hear them and didn't know whether they were arguing or fighting.

Having finally been allowed to enter, he could tell at a glance that the atmosphere between the two was not as stiff as it had been before.

This is a very happy occasion.

…

He Zheng barely slept all night.

With my eyes closed, the scene of our intimate moments at dusk kept replaying in my mind, and I could almost still feel that soft, warm, and sweet taste on my lips.

It was almost dawn when he finally managed to doze off for two hours.

In the afternoon, Yu Mingshu returned to Weishan Hall and saw him sitting in his seat, flipping through the letters on the table, with two barely noticeable bruises under his eyes.

"It is wrong to peek at other people's letters."

She snatched the letter from his hand and pressed it back under the paperweight.

He Zheng stood up to offer his seat and said leisurely, "You trust Xie Huaijin that much? The case has reached the Xie family, and you even let a member of the Xie family get involved."

"The Xie family is the Xie family, and Xie Huaijin is Xie Huaijin. Why do I feel like I've said this many times before?"

Yu Mingshu raised an eyebrow at him, and seeing his face growing increasingly grim, looking angry but unable to speak out, she finally laughed.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything. It was His Highness the Crown Prince's idea to reveal the information I found to him."

"Is the Crown Prince testing him?"

"Or rather, His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself."

The Xie family's crimes are enough to implicate the entire clan. Regardless of whether Xie Huaijin knew about them or not, whether he had enjoyed any benefits from the Xie family, or how close he was to the Xie family, he would inevitably be implicated during the reckoning.

Now, only by putting righteousness before family ties and exposing his own relatives can he possibly atone for his crimes.

Of course, he might also choose another path, which would be to contact Xie Shichang, destroy the evidence, and take a gamble.

No matter which path he chooses, Xie Huaijin is destined to be implicated by the Xie family.

The thought of personally pushing a friend into the abyss filled Yu Mingshu with a bitter pang. His gaze returned to the letter, and he remained unable to calm down for a long time.

She should have mailed this letter this morning, but she kept putting it off until now.

He Zheng stuffed the letter into the envelope for her, then changed the subject, saying, "How did you know that Xia Congsheng and the others would meet at Yangjiao Mountain?"

Yu Mingshu took a deep breath to calm himself down and said, "Baili Dun said that my father left clues in his notes on flood control. At first, I couldn't understand it. I personally sorted out those manuscripts for almost half a year. If there were secret messages hidden in them, how could I not have found them?"

He Zheng listened attentively and then asked, "And then?"

"Later, I remembered something." Yu Mingshu curled two fingers and tapped the table lightly with his knuckles.

“When I was organizing my father’s manuscripts, I found several errors in the description of the direction of rivers. The errors were so obvious that I even suspected that I had misremembered them. I went back to check geography books and confirmed it again and again. It was indeed my father’s mistake. That’s why I remember that passage so clearly.”

He Zheng raised his eyebrows, signaling her to continue.

Yu Mingshu said in a deep voice: "In my father's description, the water of the Yang River would flow through Huainan Road after merging into the main channel of the Yellow River, and finally flow into the East China Sea at Taozhou. But as far as I know, in the last hundred years, the Yang River has flowed into the Bohai Sea after merging into the main channel."

This was indeed a very obvious mistake. He Zheng frowned slightly after hearing this and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Imperial Censor Yu is a cautious person and should not have made such a big mistake."

"So I was thinking, is it possible that what started from Yanghe, went down to Liangzhou, headed towards Huainan Road, and finally flowed into Taozhou, was not river water, but something else?"

“Once I knew the shipping route, I started keeping an eye on the passing merchant ships. I soon discovered that the Xia family’s merchant ships at Liangzhou Wharf were always heavily guarded.” Yu Mingshu said, a smile appearing in his eyes. “By having people follow them, we naturally found our way to Yangjiao Mountain.”

He Zheng's expression gradually turned serious. He took her hand and gently stroked it, hesitatingly saying, "You intercepted this batch of goods and failed to deliver it to Taozhou on time. In less than a month, the Xie family will find out that things have been exposed..."

Yu Mingshu looked at him and said, "Therefore, before the Xie family reacts, we must sort out all the evidence and present it to the Emperor."

He Zheng remained silent for a long time, his palms sweating as he held hers.

Yu Mingshu knew what he was worried about, so she gently hooked his palm with her little finger and said with a smile, "The guards around me are all elites from the Imperial Guard, so nothing will happen."

He Zheng felt a faint itch in his palm, then suddenly released her, got up and went out to give a few instructions. When he came back, he had a pillow and a blanket in his hands.

Yu Mingshu paused, her gaze falling on the object in his hand. "What do you mean?"

He Zheng took the quilt and pillow into the inner room, threw them onto her bed, and came out saying, "I need to watch over you at all times to feel at ease. Starting tonight, I won't leave."

Yu Mingshu's expression was indescribable.

"Is it impolite not to say so now?"

He Zheng said frankly, "I'm the kind of person who's willing to fight and skip classes, when have I ever followed any rules of etiquette?"

Yu Mingshu thought to himself: Men can be quite fickle too.