Chapter 71
Sai Taxue murmured, "Back to where she should go?"
Su Yuexing secretly disguised herself and came to the palace. Li Jinghe sat in the high seat and reviewed the memorials.
The palace was full of Meng Kang's spies. Li Jinghe had not obtained the antidote for Sai Taxue, so he could only bide his time and pretend that he was being controlled by Meng Kang and his son.
Su Yuexing glanced at the eunuchs and palace maids around her, pondering how to subtly draw Li Jinghe's attention to her.
I need to give myself and him some alone time so I can give him the antidote.
The head eunuch walked up to Li Jinghe and whispered, "Your Majesty, it's time to take a bath and rest."
Li Jinghe put down the memorial in his hand and followed the eunuch to the bathing room.
Upon seeing this, Su Yuexing immediately followed. Just as she was about to enter, the head eunuch stopped her and warned, "The Emperor does not like women to be near him when he is bathing."
"You'd better keep your tricks to yourself, or you'll lose your head!"
Su Yuexing took out a bag of silver from her sleeve and said in a polite tone, "Father-in-law, please do me a favor. When I become successful in the future, you will definitely benefit from it."
The eunuch weighed the money bag in his hand and estimated in his mind that it contained quite a lot of money.
"I won't be responsible if anything goes wrong!" the eunuch warned.
Su Yuexing, ever the sensible one, replied, "I sneaked in by myself."
The eunuch waved his hand, gesturing for her to go inside.
Su Yuexing said gratefully, "Thank you, Father-in-law."
She paused in her forward motion and said, "It would be better for you to stay away from here, Father-in-law. If I get kicked out, it would be a real sin to implicate you."
The eunuch praised, "You little girl are really thoughtful."
Su Yuexing smiled but didn't say anything.
The eunuch then said, "Alright! I'll leave this place to you." He then left.
Seeing that the eunuch had finally been sent away, Su Yuexing breathed a sigh of relief and pushed open the door.
Hearing the door open, Li Jinghe frowned, thinking it was someone with ill intentions. He quickly put on his undergarments and hid to the side.
Su Yuexing noticed that there was no one in the bathtub and wondered, "Where is everyone?"
She suddenly felt a tightness in her throat; someone had attacked her from behind, using their arms to restrain her neck.
“Speak! Who sent you?” Li Jinghe demanded.
Su Yuexing managed to say, "It's me!"
Upon hearing the voice, Li Jinghe immediately released her, turned her around, and said with a delighted expression, "Why are you here!"
"Cough cough cough!" Su Yuexing gasped for breath.
Li Jinghe patted her back guiltily, "I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you!"
It took her a while to recover before she noticed that Li Jinghe was only wearing a white undershirt.
His body was partially obscured by the water that hadn't been dried off.
Su Yuexing was too embarrassed to look at him, so she lowered her head, and then...
Her face flushed red, she gasped, and her body temperature rose.
She dared not look at him, so she closed her eyes and shakily took out a medicine bottle from her bosom. "This is the antidote."
Li Jinghe noticed her unease and wanted to tease her.
He took the medicine bottle, his fingertips subtly tracing her hand as he moved closer to her, saying, "You really know how to pick your time to come in."
Su Yuexing swallowed hard as he approached, explaining, "I didn't want to either, but this is the only time I can avoid him..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Jinghe silenced her with his lips.
Li Jinghe felt the heat emanating from her skin, his eyes filled with laughter, and he tightly embraced her waist.
He hadn't seen her for a month, and he really, really wanted to see her.
He didn't know how much he missed her, so the moment they met, he couldn't help but kiss her.
The atmosphere between the two gradually warmed up, and Su Yuexing went from being shocked at the beginning to slowly accepting it.
Even as she went from being proactive at the beginning to being passive later on, Li Jinghe thought to himself: This little girl learns pretty quickly.
Water splashed everywhere, the movements progressed gradually, and shouts rose and fell.
As dawn broke, the two stopped what they were doing, and Li Jinghe carried the exhausted Su Yuexing back to the palace.
He looked at the medicine bottle in his hand, poured out the pills, swallowed them in one gulp, and then felt the changes in his body.
Duke's Mansion
Meng Kang sat down in front of the old Duke and said, "Father, Jing He has already ascended to the throne. Shouldn't what rightfully belongs to me be returned to me?"
The old Duke looked grave and said, "You want those two thousand secret guards!"
Meng Kang retorted, unconvinced, "What do you mean 'I want it'? This should belong to me!"
"These two thousand secret guards were originally given to the Meng family by the late emperor! Why should Li Jinghe have any of them!"
The old Duke's eyes darkened, and he said, "Actually, there's something I've never told you."
Meng Kang frowned and asked, "What is it?"
The old Duke sighed and said, "Actually, I have already handed over those two thousand secret guards to the late Emperor."
Meng Kang abruptly stood up from his seat, shocked, and exclaimed, "What!"
"Father! Why did you do this!"
The old Duke said sternly, "If I hadn't done this, neither of us would be alive today!"
Seeing his puzzled expression, the old Duke continued, "As the old Duke, I have enough power and influence to make the Meng family powerful and influential in the capital."
"And you are the Prime Minister. If the Meng Mansion still has two thousand secret guards, do you think the late Emperor would let us live well?"
Meng Kang was startled.
Meng Kang then explained, "Back when you were fighting with the former Prime Minister Zhang Wen, the Emperor's original intention was to bring you down!"
"Support Zhang Wen to oppose our Duke's Mansion, so as to put pressure on us."
"You accuse Zhang Wen of embezzlement and bribery. Which person who works for the imperial court doesn't embezzle and accept bribes!"
"You yourself also accepted money from other officials. Do you think the late emperor didn't know about these things?"
"But why did you have to win!"
"I will hand over my two thousand guards to save your life!"
Meng Kang trembled all over, and he stood there stunned, speechless for a long time.
What he had always wanted had long been taken away by others.
"Father! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Meng Kang questioned.
The old Duke said, "Let me tell you, what can you do? What are you capable of doing?"
“I…” Meng Kang choked.
The old Duke continued, "Alright, there's no use saying all this now. The only thing you need to do now is to support Jinghe properly!"
"Do what a subject should do!" The old Duke's eyes turned cold as he warned, "I don't want the reputation of our Duke's mansion to be ruined in your hands!"
Meng Kang clenched his fist and said, "I understand."
He then asked, "Where has the Emperor placed those secret guards now?"
The old Duke said, "The Imperial Guards are under the command of General Huang."
"Besides giving it to Jinghe and the other four, I gave the rest to the late emperor."
Meng Kang emerged from the old Duke's study, looking utterly dejected.
Xiao Si found him and whispered a few words in his ear: "The Emperor is killing people, and they are all spies planted by the Prime Minister!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Kang panicked and hurriedly led Meng Wang into the palace.
Everyone in the palace lived in constant fear, afraid that the emperor's sword would fall on their heads.
They rushed to the main hall, where the ground was littered with corpses and the air was thick with the nauseating smell of blood.
"Uncle! Cousins, you've arrived! This gift is from me. Do you like it?" Li Jinghe said maniacally.
Meng Kang knelt on the ground, his face deathly pale, and asked, "Your Majesty, why is this happening?"
Li Jinghe said quietly, "Some people are overreaching; it's time to do something about it!"
Meng Kang and Meng Wang felt a chill run down their spines.
General Huang, the commander of the Imperial Guards, stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister, you have worked hard these past few days. His Majesty has ordered me to temporarily imprison you so you can get some rest."
Meng Kang looked up and threatened in a cold voice, "Li Jinghe! Don't you know your own body?!"
Li Jinghe said indifferently, "Before I die, I will make sure you die first!"
“You!” Mengwang stood up.
Li Jinghe said impatiently, "Throw Meng Kang and his son into jail! We'll decide their fate after that!"
Meng Kang was incredulous as they led him away, realizing that his nephew had been faking it all along.
When Su Yuexing woke up, she was unaware that the palace had changed. She remembered that she had taken a nap in the palace, and if the Empress found out, she would definitely be in trouble.
She quickly dressed, trying to sneak out, when Li Jinghe came in from outside and asked, "Where are you going?"
Without a second thought, she replied, "Of course, I'll leave the palace!"
Li Jinghe asked with displeasure, "Don't you like being here?"
Su Yuexing said, "Of course I don't like it. I still prefer to go back to the place I'm familiar with."
Li Jinghe lowered his eyes in thought, returning to familiar places. Yes, this cold palace was not suitable for him.
She suddenly remembered and asked, "Did you take your medicine?"
“I ate,” he replied.
"Go find Sai Taxue and get the fake death potion," he said.
Su Yuexing asked in confusion, "What do you need that thing for?"
Li Jinghe whispered a few words in her ear, and she asked incredulously, "Are you really going to do this?"
Li Jinghe nodded seriously and said, "Yes!"
Su Yuexing came out of the palace and returned to the courtyard, where she saw Sai Taxue staring blankly at a certain spot.
She waved her hand in front of him, but he still didn't react. She finally spoke up, "Hey! What are you thinking about?"
Sai Taxue snapped out of her daze and asked, "You're back. Did he take his medicine?"
Su Yuexing nodded and said, "He ate it."
"He also wants me to ask you for the fake death drug."
Sai Taxue thought for a moment and said, "I can give it to him, but I have a condition."
Su Yuexing gave her a cold look, thinking, "What are your conditions?" She thought, "What kind of opportunist is this?"
He hesitated, stammering, "I...I...I want to..."
Su Yuexing urged, "What are you going to do? Tell me quickly!"
Sai Taxue said, "I want to see Hua."
Su Yuexing was taken aback, then lowered her eyes and said, "During the month you were developing the antidote, I was thinking every single moment about how to kill you?"
"Avenge my brother!"
"She told me to let you off the hook, to give you a chance, and to also let myself go, and not to live in hatred."
"Their secret guards spend their entire lives killing; they either kill others or are killed by others."
"So, with her guidance, I decided to let go of my hatred for you, but that doesn't mean I will forgive you."
Sai Taxue remained silent, listening quietly as she finished speaking.
"If you want to know she exists, go find her yourself."
"As for the fake death medicine, it doesn't matter whether you give it to me or not, because I believe that with Li Jinghe's medical skills, he can also make it, it's just a matter of time."
After Su Yuexing finished speaking, she turned and left. In fact, she didn't know where Hua was now.
Ever since that day when Hua returned from outside, she told Li Jinghe that she could not be a bodyguard and begged him to let her leave.
Without a second thought, Li Jinghe took out the antidote he had already developed to control their secret guards. "Hua! I've been waiting for you to say that."
Hua was shocked and asked in confusion, "Why, Master?"
Li Jinghe explained, "You were recruited into the secret guard training camp from a young age and suffered more hardships than ordinary people."
"You were later assigned to protect me, and you've been through so much with me, so this antidote is something I should give you."
"Unfortunately, now I only have you and Yue by my side."
Hua left with the antidote, her face full of gratitude, and from then on, no one knew her whereabouts.
After taking the antidote, Yue stayed by Li Jinghe's side and couldn't be driven away no matter what.
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