“Wretch!”
“You worthless cur, no better than a dog, pig, rat, or bug!”
“You damned bastard!”
The sound of porcelain shattering rang through the study alongside the furious curses.
Seated in the main chair, a fat, round-faced man was barely able to contain his rage.
This man was none other than Lou Jianshan, Minister of Revenue.
“My lord, please calm down. I’ve already dispatched more men. We’ll surely find this Mr. Fugui as soon as possible!”
As Lou Jianshan’s most loyal confidant, Liu Xi had been run ragged over this matter. He had not even had time to seek out the exotic beauty from beyond the borders he had recently taken a fancy to.
It had all begun half a month ago. For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Fugui had suddenly started using his stories—both openly and subtly—to attack the Minister of Revenue.
He insinuated that Lou Jianshan was corrupt, had thrown the imperial court into chaos, was a remnant of the previous dynasty, and even portrayed him as the reincarnation of a gluttonous monster: ugly, brutal, greedy, and murderous, intent first on destroying the court and then bringing ruin upon the nation.
By now, public resentment was running rampant. In private, the people cursed Minister Lou. Some had even begun neglecting their taxes, saying they could not allow the “calamity of a gluttonous monster” to grow stronger at their expense. Literati and righteous scholars had also started publicly denouncing Lou Jianshan.
By the time they realized what was happening and learned the true cause, the situation had already spiraled out of control.
If this had been any ordinary storyteller, they would have found and killed him long ago.
But the other party was none other than the illustrious and untouchable Mr. Fugui!
Mr. Fugui had never shown his face, yet every time one of his stories came out, all the bookstores competed to print and sell it. Those with some money bought copies to read, while ordinary people without the means listened to storytellers recount the tales or passed them along by word of mouth.
Ever since Mr. Fugui had become famous, whenever the nobles and commoners of the capital met, they no longer asked one another what they had eaten. Instead, they asked, “Have you read Mr. Fugui’s latest story?” and “How do you think the story will develop from here?” or exclaimed, “When will Mr. Fugui release the next volume? I can hardly wait!”
Moreover, Mr. Fugui seemed to have powerful backing. No matter how thoroughly they searched, they could not find him.
“I am a dignified Minister of Revenue! I refuse to believe I can’t find a mere storyteller!” Lou Jianshan was seething. “Once we find him, I’ll have him drawn and quartered!”
“Yes!” Liu Xi hurriedly agreed. Then he added, “My lord, this matter arose too suddenly and suspiciously. Could it be that someone from the imperial court is behind it?”
Lou Jianshan let out a cold laugh. “The only person in the court who would dare target me is His Majesty. The Ministry of Revenue has always been a thorn in his side. It seems he’s preparing to make his move against us!”
“His Majesty?” Liu Xi asked in alarm. “His Majesty only recently ascended the throne, and his power has yet to stabilize. How could he dare move against you now?”
“Hmph. Tu Shanjin is a man of unfathomable schemes and shifting moods. He has plenty of nerve!” A vicious glint flashed through Lou Jianshan’s eyes. “Since he wants to play it that way, don’t blame me for embarrassing him.”
“Liu Xi, come here…”
The autumn wind was bleak, and the weather had grown steadily colder. It was yet another ordinary day after court.
Yun Yaoyao was making her way briskly back toward her palace when she ran into Niu Xiu’er, who came hurrying over.
Niu Xiu’er gave a bow, then wailed in her booming voice, “Your Majesty, Consort Miao suddenly fell ill and is in unbearable pain! Please hurry and go see her!”
Yun Yaoyao’s heart lurched. She quickly hurried toward Yunning Palace.
When she arrived at Yunning Palace, all the palace maids attending to the consort wore anxious expressions, some of them on the verge of tears. The entire palace was shrouded in gloom.
Yun Yaoyao grew even more frantic.
“Have you sent for the imperial physicians?” she asked as she pushed open the door, with Niu Xiu’er following close behind.
Niu Xiu’er nodded vigorously, crying so hard that her nose was running. “Paper and Ink have already gone to call the imperial physicians, Your Majesty. What happened to Her Highness? Waaaah…”
She tried to follow Yun Yaoyao inside, but the door slammed shut in her face.
Yun Yaoyao strode forward and finally saw Tu Shanjin lying on the bed. His face was pale, his expression weak and pained, and a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead.
“Tu Shanjin, what happened to you?” Yun Yaoyao asked anxiously, crouching beside him and placing a hand against his forehead.
His temperature did not seem particularly high.
“I… don’t know either.” Tu Shanjin clutched his stomach, enduring excruciating pain. “After finishing an hour of military drills this morning, I drank a bowl of porridge. Not long afterward, I began suffering unbearable abdominal pain. I felt weak and nauseated, and cold sweat broke out all over my body.”
Yun Yaoyao’s eyes sharpened. “You drank a bowl of porridge? You’ve been poisoned!”
Tu Shanjin nodded, then frowned as another wave of pain struck him. “That was my thought as well. The bowl of porridge is on the table. Once the imperial physicians arrive, they can test it and determine what poison it was.”
There was one thing Tu Shanjin had been too embarrassed to mention: along with the abdominal pain, he had also been bleeding from below the waist. The poison’s potency was evident from that alone.
Suddenly, an even more violent pain tore through his abdomen.
Tu Shanjin gripped the quilt. His lips turned deathly pale, and he let out a low groan of agony.
Yun Yaoyao knew how much pain Tu Shanjin could endure. To see him reduced to this state, she was genuinely afraid he might die right here.
She had been living with the tyrant for over half a month, and she had actually grown somewhat reluctant to see him suddenly kick the bucket.
Besides, if this body called “Yun Yaoyao” died, and she suddenly switched back to her own body someday, wouldn’t she die along with it?
Absolutely not!
“Why haven’t the imperial physicians arrived yet?” Yun Yaoyao was truly frantic now. She seized Tu Shanjin’s hand. “Tu Shanjin, you have to hold on. You can’t die, understand?”
The warmth that suddenly spread across the back of his hand made Tu Shanjin pause. A strange feeling passed through his heart.
His eyelids began to grow heavy. “Yun Yaoyao, I’m sleepy.”
The moment Yun Yaoyao heard the word “sleepy,” her heart clenched. Wasn’t that a sign that someone was about to die?
“You’re not allowed to sleep! I’ll keep talking to you. Tu Shanjin, you have to hold on until the imperial physicians get here!”
She forcibly pried open his eyelids with her fingers.
Her rough actions made Tu Shanjin feel even worse, but when he saw Yun Yaoyao’s face damp with anxious sweat, a strange sense of satisfaction rose within him.
“Then apologize for all the disrespectful things you’ve said and done to me.”
Yun Yaoyao: “?”
She could never lower her head. Not in this lifetime.
But seeing Tu Shanjin grow increasingly uncomfortable, looking as though he might keel over at any moment, she hurriedly said, “Your Majesty Tu Shanjin, I was wrong. I was blind, insolent, disrespectful, reckless, and utterly ignorant to offend you. Please forgive me.”
Yun Yaoyao even pressed her palms together and bowed to him with utmost sincerity.
“Pfft.”
Tu Shanjin let out a quiet laugh.
Realizing how childish he had been, he quickly suppressed his smile.
But he was going to die anyway. Just this once, he might as well indulge himself.
Tu Shanjin raised a hand with great effort and patted Yun Yaoyao on the head. In a weak voice, he said, “Very well, very well. I forgive you, this blind, insolent, disrespectful, reckless little creature with one foot in the grave.”
Yun Yaoyao’s nose stung. Her other hand, braced against the bed, suddenly touched something wet.
She lowered her head and saw bright red blood seeping out from beneath the quilt.
Yun Yaoyao’s heart trembled. “Imperial physicians!”
Just then, a large group of imperial physicians came bursting through the door. The moment they saw Tu Shanjin’s condition, every one of them paled in shock.
They hurried forward. Some tested the porridge for poison, some brought out large bundles of silver needles, and others opened one wooden box after another, each filled with lifesaving pills.
Among them, the most skilled physician, Imperial Physician Shan, placed his fingers on Tu Shanjin’s wrist and closed his eyes, beginning to take his pulse.
After a moment of utter silence, Imperial Physician Shan opened his eyes, his expression indescribably complicated.
Uh… were His Majesty and the Empress engaging in some kind of intimate game known only to the two of them?
