Before leaving Zuixiang Fang, Shen Qingzhuo specifically asked for a canopy to cover his little disciple’s face with black gauze.
He can come to investigate the case openly, but at this critical juncture, the Seventh Prince should not leave the palace at will.
Before leaving, Xiang Lian stared at Young Master Shen with her foxy eyes and said, “Young Master Shen, are you leaving now?”
Shen Qingzhuo smiled and said, “Why, is Miss Xiang Lian reluctant to part with me?”
“Of course.” Xiang Lian walked forward with her slender waist. “The servant was thinking about serving Young Master well tonight…”
Before the person could get close, she was immediately pushed away by the black figure. Xiao Shen warned in a low and cold voice, “Stay away from Master.”
Through the veil, the killing aura of the Seventh Young Master’s eyes did not diminish at all. Xiang Lian couldn’t help but shudder and said with a smile, “What a fierce Little Young Master ah.”
“Xiao Qi.” Shen Qing called out and then bowed, “Please keep today’s matter confidential, Miss Xiang Lian. Also, if you want to leave, just ask.”
His promise was not empty talk. Kong Shang inquired about it. Although the money required to redeem the body of the girl from Zuixiang Fang was a bit expensive, but it was not sky-high and was still within his affordability.
Xiang Lian’s expression was slightly stagnant, and her eyes involuntarily glanced at Master Kong, but she found that his eyes were wandering and did not stay on her at all.
“Young Master Shen’s kindness, the servant appreciated it.” In the blink of an eye, Xiang Lian’s expression returned to normal, and she smiled coquettishly, “But the servant used to live in Zuixiang Fang, and I also don’t have any means to make a living. I’m afraid it will be difficult for me to adapt when I go out for the first time.”
Shen Qingzhuo thought for a moment and replied, “Well, if Miss Xiang Lian changes her mind someday, my promise today will still stand.”
Xiang Lin showed a look of surprise: “Young Master Shen will come again?”
“What? Young Master, are you going to come to Zuixiang Fang again?” The wandering Kong Qianhu caught the key words and said happily, “Will you take me with you then?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
Xiang Lian rolled her eyes at him and sneered, “Master Kong, are you still thinking about Miss Chuntao?”
Kong Shang opened his mouth but then said nothing.
Shen Qingzhuo nodded slightly: “We’ll meet again if we’re destined to.”
“Master.” Xiao Shen was the only unhappy person present. He urged in a low voice, “Hurry up and leave. The gate will be closed if we are any later.”
“Got it.” Shen Qingzhuo gave his little disciple a soothing look, “Miss Xiang Lian, take care.”
The group walked down to the second floor in a low profile. At this time, the hall was quiet, and most of the patrons had gone into the girls’ private rooms to have fun.
After a while, the three of them left Zuixiang Fang unhindered.
***
On the way back to the palace, Xiao Shen opened the awning, leaned against the carriage’s window, and looked at the night view outside through the curtain.
Dayong has a developed business, open-minded people, and a bustling night market.
“Is it new?” Shen Qingzhuo looked at him with a smile. “When there is a chance in the future, Master will take you to visit the night market.”
“Really?” Xiao Shen’s eyes lit up, and he immediately turned back to face his master, asking with great interest, “When exactly is it?”
“En…” Shen Qingzhuo thought for a moment and replied, “Wait until Pan Chong’s case is settled.”
Xiao Shen looked back at him steadily, and after a moment he rushed over, “It’s a deal, Master, don’t lie to me again!”
Shen Qingzhuo was caught by the enthusiastic little disciple. His upper body leaned against the carriage crookedly. He couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Master only deceived you this time, but you caught me.”
“Hmph!” The youth in his arms snorted heavily, rubbed his face against his neck, and said in a coquettish tone, “I trust Master the most in the world. If Master lies to me, I will be very sad.”
Shen Qingzhuo felt soft at heart because of his rubbing. He stretched out his hand to pinch the youth’s earlobe and promised, “Alright, Master promises not to lie to you again.”
“Then what if you lied to me?” The youth held him tightly and asked persistently, “What if Master lies to me again?”
Shen Qingzhuo casually said, “Then you can do whatever you want with Master.”
“Really?” From an angle that he couldn’t see, the youth slowly raised the corners of his lips, his tone was particularly innocent and cute. “I can do anything to Master?”
Shen Qingzhuo felt that this was a bit strange, but he did not think deeply about it. He just jokingly replied, “Anything is fine, except letting Master get stabbed three thousand times.”
After several years of hard training, he is confident that he will not follow in the footsteps of the original owner and be cut into pieces and reduced to ashes by the tyrant who ascends the throne.
“What do you mean by three thousand cuts?” Xiao Shen suddenly jumped out of his arms, his high eyebrows wrinkled, and his handsome face was extremely serious. “Even if I stab myself three thousand times, I will never hurt Master in the slightest.”
Perhaps the youth looked too serious. Shen Qingzhuo suddenly admitted his mistake: “Alright, Master was wrong.”
Xiao Shen’s expression eased slightly, and he threw himself back into his arms and said in a serious manner, “Master, stop talking nonsense.”
“En, en…” Shen Qingzhuo coaxed his little disciple in a low voice, his mind gradually turning back to the clues he had found out today.
According to the information provided by Miss Ying Luo, the Crown Prince originally redeemed Ling Long in order to let her enter the palace and then try to infiltrate Emperor Guangxi. In his opinion, Ling Long was a girl from a brothel after all, and her methods of seducing people were more cunning than those of the ladies from famous families.
As to why she was favored by Pan Chong, the Governor of Dongchang, and how she killed Pan Chong and fled for fear of punishment, it remains a mystery.
At the same time, the Crown Prince also used the information in Ying Luo’s hands to obtain various leverage over some officials in the court and used this to force those officials to stand on the Eastern Palace’s side openly or secretly and do things for the Eastern Palace.
This is the fate of the men who cannot control their lower bodies. In a romantic place, with beautiful women by his side and a few drinks, he will be so carefree in bed that he doesn’t know where to go and will tell all the secrets.
According to the detailed list, there are far more than one or two important departments involved in this matter. There are several important officials in the court who are above the third rank.
This is a great opportunity to catch the Crown Prince’s Party in one fell swoop, but because there are so many things involved and the interests behind the noble families are intertwined, one move will affect everything, so he must be careful and prudent and make all the arrangements before taking action and must not make any mistakes.
“Master…” He was thinking, and the youth buried in his arms suddenly moved and complained softly, “It’s so hot…”
“Is it?” Shen Qingzhuo touched his face subconsciously and shuddered from the sudden heat. He asked in surprise, “Why is your face so hot?”
“I don’t know…” Xiao Shen pressed his hot cheek against his master’s neck and felt an inexplicable heat surging in his limbs and bones and quickly flowing along the blood. He felt like he was about to burn.
Shen Qingzhuo stretched out his arm with great effort, “Master will open the curtain and let in some air.”
“Hmm…” The abnormal heat made the youth dizzy. In a daze, he pressed his whole body against his master, rubbing against him unconsciously, trying to use the slightly cool fabric to relieve his body discomfort.
“Don’t hug Master. The more you squeeze, the hotter you will get.” Shen Qingzhuo pushed his head into his arms. “It will be soon—”
The voice stopped abruptly.
It was midsummer, and the clothes they wore were already thin…
Shen Qingzhuo’s body stiffened, and his thinking almost came to a standstill.
“Master…” The hot palm was pressed against him. The strange heat seemed to be able to penetrate the thin clothes. Xiao Shen stuttered, “It’s so hot… Master, I feel so uncomfortable…”
Shen Qingzhuo came back to his senses abruptly, as if he were scalded by boiling water. He hurriedly pushed the youth in his arms away.
Xiao Shen was completely unprepared and was pushed backwards, then fell unsteadily under the bench.
With a “bang” sound, the carriage shook violently. Kong Qianhu, who was concentrating on driving the carriage in the front room, was startled and immediately tightened the reins. He asked loudly, “My Lord? What happened?”
Could it be that Lord Shen had a physical conflict with the Seventh Prince? Although the master and disciple seemed to be in harmony today, but he always felt that there was something turbulent underneath.
“No problem!” Lord Shen’s voice echoed from the carriage: “Speed up and return to the palace as soon as possible!”
Kong Qianhu grumbled in his heart, but he had to obey his lord’s order, so he raised his whip and said, “Yes, My Lord!”
Inside the carriage, the youth fell off the bench and curled up on the spot, still calling out, “Master… Master…”
Shen Qingzhuo calmed down, reflected on himself, and felt that he seemed to have overreacted.
As a man, this was just a normal body reaction, but the question was, why would his little disciple suddenly…
“Could it be…” A white light flashed in Shen Qingzhuo’s mind. Looking at the youth who began to tear off his clothes, he couldn’t help but curse in a low voice.
As expected, the girls in Zuixiang Fang cannot be touched at will, even a sip of tea cannot be drunk at will.
Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t help feeling guilty. He shouldn’t have poured that cup of tea for his little disciple, and now he made his little disciple so uncomfortable.
He kneeled beside the youth on one knee, touching his burned forehead, trying to comfort his tormented disciple. “Be good, we’ll be back to the palace soon, just bear with it ah…”
The youth’s eyes were tightly closed due to the effect of the drug, as if he could not hear anything clearly. He grasped the ice-cold jade hand, put it on his blushing cheek, and rubbed it vigorously, “Master…”
“You still know who I am. The drug shouldn’t be that strong then?” Shen Qingzhuo comforted himself and continued to comfort his little disciple, “It’s fine. Master is here.”
He had indeed seen related records in ancient books, such as red lead acacia locks1According to legend, there was a love medicine in the Ming Dynasty called “Acacia Lock”. Taking this medicine can make lovers love each other forever, without end…, and aphrodisiac pills, including some aphrodisiac recipes, but those records were true and false, and they did not necessarily have much effect.
He just doesn’t know what ingredients were put in the tea that his little disciple drank today.
The carriage sped past and soon arrived at the gate of the imperial city.
As Haishi29-11pm approached, Kong Qianhu displayed his Jinyiwei’s tablet at the palace gates, but the imperial guards guarding the imperial city still insisted on checking the people in the carriage.
“How dare you!” Kong Shang shouted, “How dare you block Lord Shen’s path?”
The imperial guards replied, “The palace is under strict security. We are just following orders. Please forgive us, My Lord.”
Shen Qingzhuo tried to break free from his little disciple, but the drowsy little fellow used all his might and refused to let go.
He had no choice but to let his little disciple hold his hand, carefully stepped over, twisted his posture to open a corner of the curtain, and glanced at the guards, “Is it fine now?”
“Lord Shen!” When the imperial guards saw him, they quickly stepped back and waved, “Open the door and let them in!”
Kong Shang snorted coldly and drove away.
Soon, the carriage stopped outside Donghua Gate, and Kong Shang jumped down and said, “Lord Shen, Your Highness the Seventh Prince, we have arrived at the palace gate.”
The carriages could only stop here. All civil and military officials, including concubines in the harem, had to dismount here and walk or take a sedan chair into the palace.
Shen Qingzhuo looked at his whining little disciple and felt a terrible headache. This place was still quite a long way from Jiyue Pavilion or Changle Palace. Given the situation of his little disciple, how could he get him back?
“Kong Shang, the Seventh Prince might have been drugged.” Helplessly, he could only confess the truth: “Carry him back to Changle Palace.”
“Ah?” Kong Shang’s eyes widened in surprise. “What drug has His Highness the Seventh Prince taken?”
“Don’t worry about the drug for now, just send His Highness back.” Shen Qingzhuo opened the curtain and instructed, “Be careful along the way and avoid the patrolling imperial guards.”
No matter what, his little disciple ran away secretly today, so it is better to have less trouble than more.
“Master!” A gust of wind blew into the carriage, and Xiao Shen, who was rolling on the ground, seemed to wake up for a moment. He stared at him with his red eyes and asked in a very aggrieved tone, “Where is Master going?”
Shen Qingzhuo coaxed in a low voice, “Master is not going anywhere. I will send you back to Changle Palace first.”
The youth was strong and heavier than expected. In addition, he was unwilling to cooperate. It took the two people great pains to finally carry him back to Changle Palace.
As soon as they entered the palace, the young eunuch on duty came forward in a hurry, “Young Master Shen, what happened to His Highness?”
“Don’t ask yet.” Shen Qingzhuo panted and helped the youth down, “Carry your Highness back.”
As a result, the Seventh Prince started to make a fuss again, shouting, “Don’t want, don’t want… Master! I want Master!”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
Kong Shang wiped the sweat from his forehead with a confused look on his face, completely unable to understand what was happening.
Aren’t these master and disciple just in name only, remaining friendly in appearance but estranged at hearts? Why did the Seventh Prince become a different person after being drugged?
Shen Qingzhuo didn’t have time to explain to him, so he quickly said, “Kong Qianhu, you go back first. I’ll tell you the details tomorrow.”
Having said that, he half-pushed and half-dragged his little disciple into the bedroom.
He was weak and had neglected exercise. After this ordeal, he was sweating all over. The pleasant plum fragrance on his body became more fragrant and strong. To Xiao Shen, the medicinal effect was no less than that of the tea he drank.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and the bottom of his dark pupils were completely dyed red. He leaned forward and let his master help him to the bed. When the time was right, he hooked his strong arms and fell into the bed with him.
“Ah!” Shen Qingzhuo let out a short scream and threw himself into the youth’s messy arms. His wet and hot lips pressed against the youth’s adam apple right as he was swallowing.
Shen Qingzhuo: “!”
The author has something to say:
Kong Shang: I understand, His Highness has good acting skills!
The Wolf Cub: I’m drugged? I was just pretending!
The Master: Waiting online, what should I do if I accidentally take advantage of my disciple? Urgent!
