Chapter 864 - 863: The Monarch Seizes His Minister’s Wife!

The whole little dark room reeked of Huoxiang Zhengqi water. The bowl Cheng Zhirang poured down him earlier must’ve been diluted, so it looked pretty light in color.

But anyone who’s had the misfortune of coming into contact with Huoxiang Zhengqi water knows its smell lasts longer than any perfume. Even diluted, the stench is enough to make people sick.

The assistant awkwardly slapped his shoulder twice again, and whispered, "Just pretend you’re hiding from the heat. Everyone outside is running around and doesn’t even have time to drink it. You’re squatting in the little dark room and became the first one to drink it. Although the method is a bit cruel..."

But you look good.

Shi Yuhuai stared at him blankly. That look basically said: if this kind of "luck" was given to you, would you want it?

So the assistant shut up.

After coughing for quite a while and drinking a good amount of water, Shi Yuhuai finally felt the bitterness in his mouth fade a little.

But since it had splashed onto his face and clothes, the smell was still stuck in his nasal cavity. The stench successfully killed any desire he had for snacks, so he could only sit on the floor bored out of his mind and watch the livestream.

This dose of Huoxiang Zhengqi water was playing the role of a drug that can poison a person mute. He was now a proper character who couldn’t open his mouth to speak. Even if those two lunatics came back later, he could comfortably keep silent.

Though those two probably didn’t have time to come over now.

Mu Qiu lay on the bedboard, and only after she cooled down a bit did she "slowly come to."

Cheng Zhirang had almost reached the point of not being able to act anymore by himself. Seeing her wake up, he hurriedly sat on the edge of the bed and carefully helped her up, then picked up a bowl of light brown medicine and held it to her lips.

The smell suddenly rushed up, and Mu Qiu nearly threw up. She stared at Cheng Zhirang in shock.

You’ve got to be kidding me—she just went to see her lover, how did things jump straight to "poison murder mode"?

Seeing she didn’t drink, Cheng Zhirang lowered his voice and coaxed, "You’ve been weighed down with worries lately, and with the weather so hot, getting worked up made you faint. This is medicine to clear heat and calm your heart. Drink a little, all right?"

Watching the bowl move closer to her lips again, she slapped it away. Just smelling it made her feel like ascending; if she drank it, wouldn’t her soul just leave her body on the spot?

Her voice trembled as her hand crawled up Cheng Zhirang’s chest: "Take... take, take it away. I’ll get better on my own."

Looks like he doesn’t like the smell either.

Cheng Zhirang held back a laugh, slipped his arm around her from behind her head, lightly pinched her chin, and fed the bowl toward her mouth again. This time he leaned close to her ear and said a line outside the script.

"It’s too hot, you’ll get heatstroke. Be good, drink a little."

His voice was very soft, too low for the mics to pick up. She glanced at his eyes, scrunched up her face, and took two sips.

The taste was way too intense. Ever since she was a kid, she’d suspected Huoxiang Zhengqi water repels heatstroke purely through its smell. It’s that pungent and nasty.

Yet Cheng Zhirang still coaxed her again: "Drink a little more."

She gave him a complicated look, then took two more sips. This time, no matter what he said, she refused, pushed the bowl away, and tried to lie back down.

Then Cheng Zhirang calmly finished the rest of the "medicine" in one gulp, set the bowl aside, and sat silent at the edge of the bed.

Mu Qiu smacked her lips twice, endured the lingering taste, and picked up the plot thread.

"Say it. What did you do to him? Why did you lock him up and humiliate him? Aren’t you afraid the Huainan Royal Mansion will come after you?"

"I don’t want to hear anything about him from your mouth. You just stay here and rest up. The Eastern Palace still has matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave."

He kept his eyes down and didn’t dare look up at her. He stood, told the extra playing the maid beside them to take good care of her, then lifted his foot and walked off.

He had just gone out when Mu Qiu hadn’t even gotten up yet and heard a lot of footsteps outside, followed by a woman’s voice.

"Your Highness!"

She scrambled up, furtively peeking out through the crack in the window.

It was that arrogant Miss Zhang—oh right, the current Crown Princess Consort—being supported by two maids as she blocked Cheng Zhirang’s path.

Cheng Zhirang glanced at her, then turned and headed for the pavilion to the side. He sat down steadily, picked up a teacup, and asked, "What brings the Crown Princess Consort here? If your health is poor, you shouldn’t be out walking around."

"If I don’t come out, how would I know you’d be acting like this?! I know full well you cannot forget Miss Mu. You forcibly took her back, and I didn’t dare say much—after all, this is the Eastern Palace’s scandal! But Your Highness! You met Miss Bai today, and then made a big fuss over Miss Mu. They say you even... Have you completely lost your mind?!"

Cheng Zhirang let out a cold laugh.

"When has it ever been your turn to judge or criticize what I do? Rest assured, Bai... Bai Yueguang is here to visit Consort Bai and will never enter the Eastern Palace. The only one I want is Mu Qiu."

That line was ridiculously overbearing and doting. Mu Qiu clung to the window listening, her face a little hot.

Then she heard the Crown Princess Consort say, "The only one?! Easy for you to say. Of all the women you could have chosen, why pick one who has already married into the Huainan Royal Mansion! You are the monarch, and everyone in the Huainan Royal Mansion are your subjects! You’re a ruler snatching his subject’s wife!"

"Insolence!"

Cheng Zhirang slammed the teacup down on the table, his gaze dark and vicious as he stared at her. "You said yourself I am the monarch! Whatever the monarch wants, they can only offer! How dare you meddle?! Someone, escort the Crown Princess Consort back!"

Two sturdy maids stepped up from outside the pavilion and dragged the Crown Princess Consort away.

Being a Crown Princess Consort to this extent was pretty miserable. A bunch of maids clustered around her, worried yet not daring to intervene. Even at this point, the Crown Princess Consort still stubbornly shouted:

"Your Highness! Acting like this, one day you’ll lose your ministers’ loyalty! You know well what fate awaits a monarch who loses his subjects’ hearts! If you truly fancy her, I have not blocked you. Why can’t you have her divorce first and then keep her in a residence outside? Your Highness!"

Lose the ministers’ hearts? Humiliate the Huainan Royal Mansion this much... would they rebel?

Seems the production team and extras really did help flesh out their story nicely. This was the perfect timing for her to reveal her green-tea skills.

She clung to the window watching a bit longer, saw Cheng Zhirang walk out, then sat on a stool and mulled over her upcoming scenes.

But what was Cheng Zhirang going out to do now? Was there more plot outside?

Outside Qingyin Pavilion.

Cheng Zhirang followed the guard who brought the message out. Once outside, he saw a man dressed like a wealthy gentleman, sneaking toward them with a hunched-over eunuch in tow.

Running into each other like this, and with overlapping identities, they had to at least exchange greetings.

"Sixth Brother?"

Song Weili hadn’t reacted yet. It was Xu Jihua who poked him, and only then did he jolt and turn toward Cheng Zhirang.

"Cheng... Brother, why are you here?"

His expression had still looked a bit serious earlier. He shot the question back: "This is my place. As for you, why are you still outside at this hour? The palace is probably looking for you again."

Song Weili nodded timidly, said he’d head back right away, then took Xu Jihua and started walking ahead.

How could a younger brother walk in front of the Crown Prince? But this younger brother was a bit stupid, so it wasn’t worth getting angry.

He called out to Song Weili, glanced at Xu Jihua, his eyes deep. "Sixth Brother, why did you come out with only this one eunuch? Where are your guards?"