Xia Yixin was awakened in the middle of the night and instinctively grabbed a sleeping pill. She was slightly taken aback when she found it was Qi Yu.
Qi Yu reeked of alcohol, his clothes were disheveled, and he hadn't had a proper rest since his injury. He was even thinner now, and although he was under the influence of a drug, he was forcing himself to stay awake. His obsidian-like eyes were filled with suppressed emotions.
"Wan'er..." He knelt down, his hand stroking her cheek, and then he collapsed.
The Northern Martial Guards who were on guard outside rushed in upon hearing the noise, but when they saw that it was Qi Yu who had fallen, they all fell silent again.
Even a fool could see that Qi Yu was tormented by the word "love," but unfortunately...
Xia Yixin lowered her eyes to suppress the surging emotions in her heart. "Please invite His Majesty back to Zhengyang Palace and notify the imperial physician."
Although Qi Yu had internal energy protecting him some time ago, falling from a height still injured his internal organs. He had barely recovered when these three drinking sessions inevitably caused his old injuries to relapse.
Before Qi Yu was carried away, she couldn't bear it and secretly slipped a pill into his mouth to protect his heart meridian.
Strictly speaking, was she angry? Yes, she was angry that he didn't trust her and that he lied to her, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to be ruthless when she saw him.
Three more days passed before Qi Yu finally calmed down.
Xia Yixin was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when Qi Yu suddenly vomited blood in court.
Empress Dowager Xiaode was anxious. Cao De came directly with an imperial decree ordering the Empress to attend to her illness. Before Cao De could even read the decree, Xia Yixin had already run quickly towards Zhengyang Palace.
Cao De couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that His Majesty had really made the right bet this time. He just hoped that the Empress wouldn't be too angry when she found out.
On the other side.
Xia Yixin felt something was wrong. She had clearly given him the pill that protected his heart meridian, so why was he vomiting blood?
When she ran to Zhengyang Palace and, panting, pushed open the door to his bedchamber, she realized she had been tricked when she didn't see Empress Dowager Xiaode or the imperial physician. She turned to leave, but someone quickly blocked her way.
A spring breeze suddenly rose inside the hall, disturbing Xia Yixin's calm heart.
He was unshaven and unkempt, reeking of alcohol, and had lost even more weight; his wrists were thinner than hers.
"You've come..." His voice was filled with joy, even trembling.
Xia Yixin forced an explanation, "It's because of the Empress Dowager's decree; I cannot disobey it."
Her response was a man's hoarse laughter.
After Qi Yu returned home that day and the imperial physician diagnosed him with a special elixir that protected his heart meridian, he knew she was just a stubborn but soft-hearted little liar.
Xia Yixin knew that explaining was useless, and judging from his expression, he was doing it on purpose. "You did it on purpose," she said angrily.
"If I didn't do this, how could I force Wan'er to see herself clearly?" Qi Yu simply admitted that he had used a self-inflicted injury as a ruse.
She was about to administer a sleeping potion, but he seemed to have seen right through her.
"If Wan'er drug me, the guards will tie you up immediately, and you won't be able to go back."
"Qi Yu, what exactly do you want?" she asked angrily.
Meeting his eyes, she was speechless; she had nowhere to escape.
He looked at her intently. "Wan'er, I'm sorry. I was too clever for my own good and betrayed your trust. I was arrogant. But you are not a pawn, never have been. I love you. Please stay by my side. I don't want anything else, I just want you."
Although Xia Yixin had long guessed that he liked her, she still panicked when he actually said it.
She didn't know where she got the strength or how she managed to break free from him, and fled in panic.
She returned to Phoenix Palace and unconsciously touched her lips, finally confirming one thing: she had actually fallen for him.
Just then, the system suddenly popped up and spoiled the mood: "Host, it doesn't really matter if you lie to him. He's not far from death anyway. This is just a plane, and the people in it are all code. Why do you always take it so seriously?"
The system realized it had almost let something slip and quickly stopped.
Xia Yixin only paid attention to the first half of the sentence.
The system's words reminded her that she had almost forgotten that Qi Yu would commit suicide on the day of the rebellion.
The system warned, "Host, don't even think about changing the plot. At the current pace, Qi Yu will die within a week at the latest, and within three days at the earliest."
Xia Yixin's heart seemed to stop for a moment, and she calmed down completely.
"Host, the choice is yours: short-lived pleasure or letting go," the system said cheekily.
Xia Yixin was a little confused at first, but she quickly chose the latter. Since it was destined to be fruitless, there was no need to start.
But is Qi Yu truly doomed to die?
However, she didn't expect that she would soon have to worry, because the Shen family couldn't wait any longer.
In the past few days, Qi Yu was not actually "only engrossed in private matters" as he appeared on the surface; instead, he had An Wu and the others spread a lot of rumors.
For example, when the Empress Dowager wanted to reopen the imperial concubine selection, Xia Jingfeng objected. Rumors circulated that "the Prime Minister even drew his sword, and that Prime Minister Xia had fallen out with Qi Yu and caused a scene in the Imperial Study, among other true and false rumors."
The officials in the court were buzzing with discussion, and the people of the capital were also whispering rumors that the Xia family was a jinx that brought disaster to the country and its people. They even said that what happened at the sacrificial ceremony that day was that the Xia family wanted to kill the young emperor.
In an instant, the little bit of goodwill that the people had just begun to feel towards the Xia family vanished.
Instead of keeping a low profile, Xia Jingfeng spent his days frequenting brothels and, while drunk, uttered many outrageous and disrespectful words.
Even the most ordinary people knew that "Prime Minister Xia didn't take the young emperor seriously at all."
Upon hearing this news, the officials who supported Grand Commandant Shen were extremely excited.
This is a perfect opportunity to impeach Prime Minister Xia!
Although he did not attend court, he could still write memorials to the emperor, and so a flurry of impeachment memorials were sent to the imperial study.
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