Yue Chen didn't care at all, and poured the water again, handing it over: "Do you know this person?"
That's complete nonsense. If you didn't know them, why would you hide like that?
"Of course, it's more than just knowing each other. The bottle of blood-dissolving powder that I left behind when I was asked to leave the palace was personally poured into my tea by this person." Hua Cai gulped down another cup like a cow, and was about to ask Yue Chen to refill it when she paused, suddenly remembering something and looking at Yue Chen: "You didn't take the opportunity to poison my tea, did you?"
When Yue Chen heard the first sentence, his heart was already filled with murderous intent. Hua Cai then said this sentence at the most inopportune time, making him want to stab her right then and there.
"Thanks for reminding me, I definitely won't forget next time." Yue Chen gritted his teeth, but still poured another glass.
Hua Cai held the teacup and stared at it again and again. After confirming that there was no poison in it, she gulped it down in one go, under Yue Chen's increasingly furious gaze.
After drinking three cups of cold tea, she finally felt a little better, so she stopped asking Yue Chen to add more tea and just focused on looking downstairs.
“Although Li Zheng did secretly go to the border town, he is still far away and it can’t be him.” Seeing that Hua Cai no longer wanted more tea, Yue instead brought over the teapot.
Even though he had already guessed that Hua Cai wasn't really still hung up on Li Zheng as she and Li Yuan had said, he still couldn't help but look at her face whenever Li Zheng was mentioned. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she didn't seem to be acting strangely.
“Of course he’s not Li Zheng.” Hua Cai chuckled. “Li Zheng only ordered me to be poisoned, but this man personally administered the drug. Don’t think that by dressing up like this and changing your voice with drugs, you can fool me, Chief Steward Defu.”
Defu? The Grand Steward?
As Yue Chen pondered the name, a wrinkled old face instantly appeared in his mind, sending a chill down his spine.
He actually got jealous of such an old monster; he's utterly shameless.
He glanced at Hua Cai's expression and, seeing that nothing seemed amiss, breathed a sigh of relief.
"In that case, let's kill him." Yue Chen sipped his tea leisurely, looking every bit the elegant gentleman, but his words were a real mood killer.
Hua Cai was speechless: "Besides killing, can't you think of anything else? No wonder you're so bloodthirsty, always thinking about making this girl suffer a terrible death."
The room was silent. Yue Chen stopped drinking his tea. After a long while, Yue Chen, who had been like a statue, suddenly moved and looked at Hua Cai seriously: "No."
"Hmm?" Hua Cai tilted her head and gave Yue Chen a strange look.
“I didn’t want to kill you.” Yue Chen sat up straight and looked at Hua Cai seriously. “I didn’t want to kill you at all.”
Hua Cai: ...Brother, what are you saying? Just go out and ask anyone right now, and see if they believe you.
Brother, your relentless pursuit of a woman has become famous throughout the entire Yue Kingdom, and has even spread to other countries.
"Oh," Hua Cai replied indifferently.
As long as you're happy.
Yue Chen had made a huge decision to say those words, but this was what he got in return. He was quite frustrated, staring at the tea in his hand without drinking or saying anything, his face clearly showing his unhappiness.
Defu downstairs ordered a pot of tea and has been sitting there for an hour. No one has come to meet him, nor has he taken the initiative to speak to anyone. He just quietly drinks his tea and occasionally looks at the scenery outside the window, as if he were a leisurely and elegant gentleman.
Hua Cai didn't believe that this person really seemed to have a liver pain, and that he would travel a long way to this place just to have a couple of sips of tea at a time like this.
The old eunuch who had poisoned her three years ago with a sinister look on his face didn't seem like a mentally ill person at all.
Aside from having a ton of storybooks to read, Hua Cai wasn't one to stand being alone. An hour had already been her limit, and even though it was only past noon, she was already yawning constantly.
“He will rest when he is tired, and I have someone keep an eye on him.”
Yue Chen couldn't bear to watch, so he volunteered to take on the task of monitoring.
Hua Cai perked up immediately. At this moment, there was no time for politeness. She stood up with great enthusiasm, raised her teacup to him, and said, "I'll take tea instead of wine. Thank you. I'll head back now."
After saying that, without waiting for Yue Chen, she pushed open the window behind her and leaped out.
Li Zheng, oh Li Zheng, I really hope you appear before me soon. When that happens, I'll definitely give you a big gift first.
"Achoo—Achoo—" In an inn a hundred miles away, a man in a brocade robe sneezed twice. He rubbed his nose in confusion, then quickly stepped out of the bath tub and draped the clothes hanging on the screen over himself.
"He must have been busy arranging things all night before leaving the palace and was exhausted," the man muttered, his eyes flashing with murderous intent as he thought of the endless nagging from those old, incorrigible ministers.
Do you really think that just because you came with your father, you wouldn't dare kill them?
The man dried the water droplets from his long hair, tossed the cloth aside, and without blowing out the lamp, lay down on the bed and gradually fell asleep. The flickering lamplight illuminated his handsome face, which was none other than Li Zheng, who was said to still be in the royal palace of the Li Kingdom.
A royal decree leading an expedition has always been a powerful way to boost morale, especially when one's own side already holds an absolute advantage.
Indeed, in Li Zheng's view, the alliance between them and Qiu Guo was absolutely overwhelming to Yue Guo, and the so-called Yue-Liang alliance was nothing more than a gimmick.
Although it's unclear why Zhao Qinglian suddenly had an uncle, who was none other than the regent of the Qiu Kingdom, it was definitely good news for him.
Having lost the beauty, he saw an opportunity to unify the four kingdoms. Compared to that, Zhao Qinglian seemed insignificant.
That's right, he unified the four kingdoms.
In Li Zheng's eyes, that so-called ally was nothing more than an enemy after turning around. After swallowing up Yue and taking over Liang, the rest would be his beloved ally.
So-called cooperation is only based on the premise that the strengths are roughly equal. When one side is far stronger than the other, all that remains is merger or annihilation.
However, cleverness can backfire.
Li Zheng thought he was clever enough to avoid everyone's attention and leave the palace first, but he was too successful in hiding.
Even with Yue Chen's strength, it was only a few days after he left the Li Kingdom's palace that he received news of Li Zheng's departure, which shows how secretive his actions were.
In order to deceive others, one inevitably deceives even one's own people.
Li Zheng had been out of the palace for several days, but the intelligence recording the earth-shaking changes that had taken place on the battlefield, as well as the letter of distress written by Li Yuan, just happened to pass by Li Zheng, who was on his way to the border.
He had imagined the border situation to be excellent, but upon arriving at the border, he discovered that a plan to launch a surprise attack on Vietnam had already turned into a pile of bubbles, and he was completely unaware of it.
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