Chapter 5
Xue Jin'an woke up precisely after sleeping for eight hours. The Do Not Disturb mode was deactivated the moment he opened his eyes, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.
There was a heavy weight on him, as if something was pressing down on him. The texture wasn't the damp blanket. He looked down and realized it was clothes, folded up so thickly they were even thicker than the blanket. An arm, which wasn't particularly strong, was tightly wrapped around his body, sealing him inside this "clothes blanket." Most of the weight he felt came from this arm.
The owner of the arm was sleeping by the bedside, his brow furrowed with unease, and dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well all night.
Xue Jin'an couldn't quite understand the current situation, and felt as if he had missed out on a lot after waking up.
In his memory, aside from the initial period after arriving at Qifeng Courtyard, when the original owner was terrified and had nightmares that kept him awake at night, Xiao Luzi only slept by his bedside a few times. Otherwise, he usually slept on the bed in the side room. Xiao Luzi was always well-behaved and respected the distinction between master and servant. Without Xue Jin'an's instructions, he would not do anything unnecessary.
So how did Xiao Luzi end up here?
Xue Jin'an couldn't understand why. He tried to sit up in bed, but as soon as he moved, Xiao Luzi woke up with a start.
"Master, you're awake?" He struggled to open his bloodshot eyes, seemingly startled by Xue Jin'an, and even stammered as he spoke.
Xue Jin'an's high-definition camera keenly captured his unnatural micro-expressions: his facial muscles were somewhat stiff, his breathing rhythm tightened for a moment, his eyes darted around, and a little sweat appeared on his forehead.
These are classic micro-expressions; they practically scream "I have a guilty conscience!"
The little spirit couldn't understand human emotions or the art of conversation, but he was very good at things with formulas. He tilted his head and observed quietly.
Xiao Luzi quickly composed himself, reached out and touched Xue Jin'an's forehead, feeling its temperature. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, the fever has subsided."
“You had a high fever in the middle of the night, it was terribly hot. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t woken you up outside the door yesterday, you wouldn’t have come out to check on me and wouldn’t have caught a cold…” Xiao Luzi felt sorry for herself and her eyes immediately turned red.
Xue Jin'an's habit of using his phone as a phone made him subconsciously abandon the previous topic and pick up the current one.
He tried to explain to this human that it's easy for a phone to overheat when it's charging and being used, saying in a serious tone, "It's normal for it to overheat without any cold, it's not your fault."
Xiao Luzi thought his master was comforting him, and he felt extremely guilty. He barely managed to hold back his tears in front of his master. He said, "Although the high fever has subsided, it's hard to say whether it has harmed my health. We still need to invite a royal physician—please ask the royal physician to prescribe some medicine to dispel wind and cold."
At this point, Xiao Luzi's expression finally betrayed his true feelings, which Xue Jin'an found to be quite complex and difficult to describe.
"Imperial physician?" Xue Jin'an tried to search for the answer using keywords.
Xiao Luzi nodded, then earnestly instructed, "Master, if you feel unwell in the future, please tell me and I will go to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine for you. Unless absolutely necessary, do not let those imperial physicians take your pulse. We don't know who they are working for behind the scenes, do you understand?"
Last night, Xiao Luzi didn't go to see the imperial physician. Firstly, there were only two people in Qifeng Courtyard, and since his master was still unconscious after he left, he was afraid something would happen without him. Secondly, his master was a restless sleeper and had developed a habit of kicking off the covers as soon as he was put on, which made him uneasy.
Secondly, the palace is the most sycophantic and opportunistic place. When you are favored, there are flatterers everywhere who will do you favors. When you fall out of favor, everyone will kick you while you're down. Many times, the fierce infighting in the harem is not due to any great grudge. Those eunuchs and palace maids who rush to make things difficult for others are only doing it for their own lives. In this palace, if you choose the wrong side, you can still be saved. But if you are a fence-sitter, you will die young.
This rule applies throughout the entire palace, including the Imperial Medical Academy.
The third point, and the one that cannot be told to outsiders, is that Xiao Luzi noticed something was wrong with Xue Jin'an's body.
Last night, the master's body alternated between hot and cold. When it was hot, it was burning hot to the touch, but when it was cold, it was like a corpse, and even its breathing had stopped. Xiao Luzi stared at the other's face, which remained unchanged like a dead person regardless of whether it was breathing or not, and observed it all night. Later, he couldn't bear it any longer and lay down to sleep for a while. In his dreams, he was still filled with this strange breathing cycle.
Time seemed to stretch on forever in the dream. Xiao Luzi eventually reached a reconciliation in the dream, deciding to keep his master's abnormality a secret for the time being. After all, no one could guarantee what the consequences would be if this matter were leaked. Would they say that his master was a reincarnation of a demon? Or something else...? None of that would be good.
The death of Consort Zhen taught him a lesson: special treatment only brings bad consequences.
However, we can't completely ignore the fact that the master is unwell. We need to establish connections with the Imperial Hospital and also find ways to control the imperial physicians so they don't go around spreading rumors... Let's explore the area around the Imperial Hospital more often.
Xiao Luzi suppressed the turmoil in his heart. At this moment, he only wanted to find a reliable doctor to give his master a full physical examination. Little did he know that this was the first step he would take towards the future of the Ninth Prince of the Imperial City.
Xue Jin'an stared at Xiao Luzi for a long time but couldn't figure it out. The little spirit decided not to make things difficult for its mechanical brain and cleared its memory. The inexplicable emotional garbage flew away like a rocket, and it instantly felt refreshed.
All the princes' kitchens are communal and have a 24-hour hot water supply, so they can heat up their meals regularly. However, they are quite far from the Chiffon Courtyard, and it is currently peak water usage time. If the kitchen staff deliberately make things difficult, it might take an hour to get water from there.
Xiao Luzi simply built a makeshift stove out of stones in the yard, gathered fallen leaves and flowers to use as firewood, and lit it with a tinderbox. He did the whole process very smoothly and skillfully, clearly not the first time he had done it.
After washing up, Xue Jin'an glanced at the battery level, which was dropping to 30%, and said, "I'm hungry."
As if he had expected it, Xiao Luzi took out the plain brocade handkerchief with cloud patterns. Inside, there was actually a piece and a half of crystal cake. It turned out that he had only broken off half of it and eaten it last night, and then carefully wrapped it up again while Xue Jin'an was watching the live stream and not paying attention.
The handkerchief was slightly damp and warm to the touch, with some ash on the edges, clearly indicating that he had warmed it while starting a fire to boil water.
"Master, please have something to eat first. I'll go to the Imperial Kitchen to get the food." Xiao Luzi trembled slightly when he mentioned the Imperial Kitchen, trying his best to suppress his fear.
Xue Jin'an opened the list of grudges in her memo, thought of the battery accessories that hadn't arrived yet, and said with a slight rise in her voice, "I'll go with you."
As he spoke, he opened the live streaming app and looked at the Imperial Kitchen channel. The atmosphere was bustling, and there was a dazzling array of dishes... Of course, what attracted Xue Jin'an the most was the white, crystal-clear rice.
We absolutely must replace it with a good battery, one with over 80% battery remaining. Xue Jin'an was very motivated.
Xiao Luzi was startled by his words, but not wanting his master to suffer scorn and neglect, he quickly stopped him, "That kind of place is not for you..."
Xue Jin'an strode out, having already set his itinerary on his phone and not intending to change it at the last minute. Xiao Luzi had no choice but to follow him with a worried look on his face.
Hopefully, those bastards in the Imperial Kitchen won't push their luck. Beating him is one thing, but if they hurt their master... Xiao Lu Zi pursed his lips, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
As it turns out, what you fear most is what happens; Murphy's Law is effective in every era.
It was during the morning court session, and the princes and princesses had all gone to the Imperial Study to study, thus avoiding the peak mealtime. Therefore, there weren't many people coming to the Imperial Kitchen to pick up their meals.
Xue Jin'an scanned the area from a distance with a high-definition camera and only spotted a lame old eunuch and two young palace maids. The two maids were sweating, probably having waited there for quite a while. Despite being harassed, they only smiled apologetically, suggesting they were servants of some unfavored concubines or princesses.
The old eunuch was the last to arrive. Judging from his attire, he was of high rank. The people in the imperial kitchen treated him with utmost respect. Even though they couldn't hear each other from a distance, they could see the obsequiousness in the head eunuch's hunched back. In the end, the head eunuch personally carried the food box and handed it to him. The whole process took less than five minutes.
He remained bowed until the old eunuch had walked several meters away before standing up.
"Very hypocritical," Xue Jin'an commented.
What he didn't expect was that this double standard would soon be applied to him.
Although Xue Jin'an was wearing wrinkled old clothes, the material was of good quality and clearly not ordinary. Moreover, only princes and their companions could wear ordinary clothes in the palace.
Even though the people in the imperial kitchen didn't recognize the Seventh Prince's face, they were all familiar with Xiao Luzi and could guess Xue Jin'an's identity with a little thought.
However, no one took the disgraced seventh prince seriously.
They pretended to be ignorant, burying themselves in their own work or watching the commotion. No one came out to pay their respects. The head eunuch of the kitchen was even lying in his rocking chair, not even sitting up straight, with his eyelids half-open, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "I'm so sorry, Eunuch Lu, you're late today. There are only some leftovers."
He waved his hand, and two eunuchs came out carrying two full buckets of slop. He pointed to them and said, "These are all. If you don't mind, feel free to take them."
Xiao Luzi was so angry that his face turned green. "Wang Deming, how dare you!"
"Eunuch Lu, please forgive me. This old servant has done his best. If you don't like it, you can simply refuse it. Why make things difficult for this old servant?" Wang Deming glanced at the Seventh Prince's blank expression behind him. His words were passable, but his face was full of indifference.
Xiao Luzi looked fierce.
Xue Jin'an remained calm. He had just scanned the area and found that Wang Deming's heartbeat was the healthiest. He calculated that the battery health should be around 80%. He was thinking about where to get the money to buy a new battery and paid no attention to the two spies on either side.
For him, it doesn't matter if others don't let him in to get what he wants to eat, since he provides food and lodging.
Xue Jin'an thought this and did it. He calmly walked past the two people and went straight into the imperial kitchen. He casually picked up an empty food box and, amidst the surprised and uncertain gazes of the crowd, took whatever he liked.
“Oh, this was ordered by Consort Rong—” A young eunuch tried to step forward to stop her.
Xue Jin'an turned her head and stared at him, her dark eyes devoid of any emotion, carrying a chilling indifference.
Instantly, no one dared to move.
In reality, Xue Jin'an was just wondering who Consort Rong was. He had cleared out his memory junk files last night and this morning, and some unimportant names were also released along with the rocket.
Xue Jin'an couldn't recall it for a moment and was too lazy to search his memory. He nodded and said, "I see. Have her come to me."
He continued picking out vegetables.
Wang Deming couldn't sit still any longer. He jumped up from his chair and strode inside. Seeing that things were not going well, Xiao Luzi rushed in and blocked Xue Jin'an's way.
Wang Deming gave a forced smile, "Seventh Prince, isn't this inappropriate? What if His Majesty finds out—"
"Have him come find me." Xue Jin'an was calculating the amount of rice needed to charge the battery to 80% when he turned on the auto-reply without even looking up.
Wang Deming's face twitched, and his expression immediately darkened. After a breath, however, he suddenly put on a big smile and said, "You are His Highness the Prince, so naturally you can have whatever you want. It's just that this old servant is blind. Your Highness, you don't need to do these dirty and tiring jobs yourself."
As he spoke, he winked at several eunuchs, who immediately stepped forward, saying, "Seventh Prince, this servant will help you," while simultaneously pulling at Xiao Luzi. They then used the force of pulling Xiao Luzi to launch a sneak attack on Xue Jin'an.
Xue Jin'an activated his firewall, avoiding the sneak attack, and spilled the rice he was holding all over the ground.
"Master!" Xiao Luzi's eyes widened in fury. "You—"
But the eunuchs, looking terrified, released him and knelt down, then kept begging for mercy, silencing all the questions that Xiao Luzi was about to ask.
"Oh dear, Your Highness, please be careful! It's all these maids' fault for being too clumsy and accidentally injuring you. Although they were eager to make a name for themselves... sigh, it's all my fault for not disciplining them properly. You may punish them as you see fit." Wang Deming smiled broadly, but his eyes were cold and sinister.
Xiao Luzi gritted his teeth, wishing he could take a knife and chop him up.
Then, seeing that his master had actually taken out a knife, his usually calm and unwavering eyes lit up for once. "Really? I won't hit you or punish you, I just want some compensation."
Xue Jin'an walked step by step to Wang Deming. Seeing the fear in Wang Deming's trembling eyes, Xue Jin'an placed his hand on Wang Deming's chest to feel the beating of his heart, which was at 80% health. He said in a light tone, "Don't worry, I won't make a mistake. I will remove it completely."
He even smiled as a gesture of goodwill.
Wang Deming: "..."
Wang Deming felt that the Seventh Prince in front of him was even more terrifying. Seeing that the prince actually raised his knife, he rolled his eyes and fainted.
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