Don't Die
Su Zhenzhen knew that Shen Yanci had placed many of his own hidden spies within the palace, but she never expected that Mu Dan was actually one of his people too.
Wait a minute, since they were both hidden spies, did that mean she could pursue him without worry? Even if they died, they could be buried together like a pair of lovebirds sharing the same tomb.
Of course, there was still one more thing.
"How did you know I was... a hidden spy?"
The young eunuch sat on the edge of the bed, playing with the tassel pendant hanging from the bed curtain. "My rank is higher than yours."
Su Zhenzhen was speechless.
She remembered now. She was the lowest-ranking spy, so naturally, she would not know the identities of those above her, but the higher-ranking spies knew hers.
Ever since Su Zhenzhen had arrived in this book's world, she always felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. A single gust of wind, a slight stumble, and she would plummet into the abyss, her body shattered into pieces at any moment.
But now, there was another person by her side.
Although it was now two people standing on the edge of the cliff, Su Zhenzhen felt unexpectedly reassured.
The room was very quiet. The breath of frustration that had choked Su Zhenzhen all day instantly cleared, and her thoughts began to turn romantic again.
Su Zhenzhen tilted her head slightly to look at the young man.
The dark green tassel pendant was pressed against his pale fingers, winding around them loop by loop, making his fingers look as slender and white as jade.
Su Zhenzhen wondered why there was someone in this world whose appearance so perfectly matched her aesthetics. From the strands of his hair to the tips of his fingers, everything was exactly to her liking.
Lu Hexu turned his head and caught Su Zhenzhen's gaze.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and extended a finger toward her.
Su Zhenzhen subconsciously leaned her face closer, her nose perfectly aligning with the tip of the young man's finger.
A friend of Su Zhenzhen's used to keep an adorable little Pomeranian that looked just like a little fox, covered in white fur. If you held out a finger, it would lean its little nose toward you.
With its wet nose pressed against your finger, those beautiful puppy eyes would look at you, appearing incredibly obedient and cute.
Lu Hexu curled his lips into a smile, clearly finding it amusing. He did not move, but simply said, "You have something on your face."
Su Zhenzhen froze, instinctively straightening up, her cheeks flushing bright red.
She reached out and casually wiped her face.
She saw a thin piece of herbal medicine stuck to the back of her hand.
She had no idea when it had gotten onto her face.
Was there more?
Su Zhenzhen touched her face. She got up, hooked up half of the bed curtain, and then used the light from Mu Dan's glass lamp to look at herself in the mirror.
It was gone.
Although the room was dim, Su Zhenzhen could see the blurry reflection of the young eunuch in the mirror.
She spoke to the mirror, "It must be very exhausting for you to follow Wei Heng around, right?"
Su Zhenzhen recalled how the young eunuch was nowhere to be seen during the day and looked completely exhausted at night.
"Wei Heng is the Eunuch Director who handles the court's affairs. I have to keep an eye on these matters and secretly send the information out."
The young man replied slowly.
So that was it.
That was definitely not an easy task.
"Then aren't you... in a lot of danger?"
Wei Heng was not an easy person to deal with.
Although in the original novel he died a tragic death at the hands of Wang Ji, he had clearly become much deeper and more calculating now that his fate had been altered.
From the recent changes to the palace regulations and the hidden spies being continuously rooted out, it was evident that after surviving his fatal tribulation, this Eunuch Director had seemingly broken free from the fate of a mere NPC and begun to rewrite his own life.
"Are you afraid I'll drag you down with me?" The young eunuch was still sitting on the edge of her bed. The bed curtains were half-raised and half-lowered, casting a shallow shadow over the boy's figure.
Su Zhenzhen shook her head.
"I'm not afraid of that. I'm just afraid that you might... die."
When the woman said this, her gaze was fixed on the boy's reflection in the mirror.
Suddenly, a profound silence fell behind her.
The quietness came abruptly, lingering until the boy stood up and walked up behind her.
He was very thin. The loose, oversized clothes draped over him, hinting at his sharp, angular bones. His shadow fell lightly, yet it was enough to cover half of her body.
Su Zhenzhen sat before the dressing table, having just applied a fragrant balm to her face.
The soft, delicate balm rested on her skin, exuding a faint, moist scent of medicinal herbs.
The boy stood right behind her. He reached out with both hands, cupping her neck from behind and tilting it upward.
Forced to tilt her head back, Su Zhenzhen felt his hands enveloping her neck, the pads of his fingers pressing gently against her windpipe.
He leaned down to look at her, speaking in a calm tone. "No one has ever said they were afraid of me dying."
Everyone else was only afraid that he wouldn't die.
Su Zhenzhen met his gaze.
She swallowed, feeling the pressure of his fingertips against her throat as it bobbed.
Su Zhenzhen said, "Well, now someone has."
Please do not die.
The young eunuch looked at her. The glass lantern had been left on the bed, a fair distance away, and its light failed to reach them. It was simply too dim.
Su Zhenzhen couldn't make out the expression on his face, but she felt the fingers lightly gripping her neck trail upward to press against the corner of her lips, rubbing gently.
Steeped in the darkness, the boy remained silent, lost in unknown thoughts. The next moment, he leaned in closer, and Su Zhenzhen's vision of him suddenly cleared.
He broke into an abrupt smile. He was exceptionally handsome, and when he smiled, he looked even more beautiful than the blooming king peonies in the Peony Pavilion.
He said, "Alright."
He only hoped that after she discovered his true identity, she would still wish for him "not to die."
-
Before the hour of Yin, Lu Hexu returned to the Qingliang Palace.
Wei Heng had already been waiting for a while. "Your Majesty, an urgent military report."
Lu Hexu placed the glass lantern in his hand beside the desk.
"You handle it." After saying that, he turned around, ready to lie down on the floor.
After taking three steps, Lu Hexu suddenly furrowed his brows as if remembering something, and turned back.
"Where is the military report?"
"On the desk, Your Majesty."
Lu Hexu swept his robes aside and sat behind the desk, flipping open the military report and reading it with furrowed brows.
Wei Heng stood beside the young emperor.
Lu Hexu did not like reading memorials; doing so for too long easily gave him a headache.
In the past, he hadn't cared whether he lived or died. But now that he had found this amusing palace maid, he figured he could live a little longer.
After dealing with the military affairs, Lu Hexu stood up to leave. Wei Heng quickly spoke up, "Your Majesty, Zhou Mo says he has an account book recording the amounts of the bribes he has given over the years. He hopes to use it to atone for his crimes."
"Hmm."
"However, this account book has gone missing."
"Understood. I will have the hidden guards look into it."
Wei Heng breathed a sigh of relief.
-
Fanning herself with one hand, Su Zhenzhen closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
The summer days were sweltering, and she slept straight through until nightfall.
The darkness was like a giant beast from the abyss, fond of devouring human spirit.
Lying there with her eyes open, Su Zhenzhen looked up at the starry night sky. Her first reaction was not that it was beautiful, but rather, lonely.
The courtyard was far too quiet. She slowly propped herself up to sit, her gaze subconsciously shifting toward the courtyard gate.
As if answering her thoughts, that slender figure appeared, walking gracefully toward her with a glass lantern in hand.
Although the little eunuch was just a little eunuch, for some unknown reason, Su Zhenzhen could always feel a dignified sense of etiquette from him.
Could this be the legendary beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
With the appearance of the glazed lantern, the darkness in the courtyard was slowly dispelled.
Su Zhenzhen's eyes also grew increasingly bright.
She stood up to welcome him, meeting the young man's pitch-black pupils.
Su Zhenzhen nervously gripped her fan. "Um, something in my room is broken."
This was how you seduced someone, right?
-
There were not many things in Su Zhenzhen's room; most of them were herbs she had dug up from the fields over the past few days.
The sun had been good lately, so she laid the herbs out in the courtyard to dry during the day and moved them inside her room at night.
Therefore, as soon as the two entered the room, they were greeted by a rich herbal fragrance.
Su Zhenzhen hurried to light the lamp first.
Once the lamp was lit, the outlines of the objects in the room slowly emerged.
Mosquito-repellent medicine bags hung by the window, soothing sachets dangled from the bed curtain hooks, and a bamboo basket in the corner held herbs she had not yet had time to tidy up.
"This, this cabinet seems to be broken."
Su Zhenzhen stood in front of the mother-of-pearl inlaid wardrobe, reaching out to tap the copper handle on it.
The handle wobbled; the nails holding it must have come loose.
The young man tilted his head and looked at it for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Su Zhenzhen's face. "I don't know how to fix it."
Su Zhenzhen: ... Seduction failed.
According to Su Zhenzhen's plan, with a lone man and woman alone together, the ambiguous atmosphere was set, so at least something mildly inappropriate should happen, right?
Of course, she knew Mu Dan was a eunuch and could not perform in bed, but liking someone could also just be on an emotional level.
Was it really the handle he did not know how to fix, or was he simply not interested in her?
How frustrating.
The woman tilted her head, her long hair slightly loose, staring blankly at the cabinet handle.
Su Zhenzhen reached out to press the handle. She thought that if Mu Dan was interested in her, even if he did not know how to fix it, he would at least pretend to try, right?
A finger suddenly lifted her long hair.
Su Zhenzhen subconsciously turned her head and saw the young man crouching beside her. He twirled that strand of fine black hair between his fingertips and brought it beneath his nose.
The woman carried a medicinal fragrance on her.
It smelled even better than the sachet she had given him.
Su Zhenzhen had always been someone with lustful thoughts but no guts, and absolutely zero practical experience.
She dared to fantasize about all sorts of scenarios in her head, but once things got real, she chickened out.
Her ears subconsciously turned red.
Just who was seducing whom here?
"They turned red."
Lu Hexu let go of her hair. His expression looked extremely serious as his beautiful finger bones brushed against her earlobe, as casually as if he were stating that the moonlight was nice today.
At this, Su Zhenzhen's entire face turned red.
"The, the weather is too hot."
The young man stood up, his expression suddenly turning gloomy.
He reached up to press his forehead. "Headache."
Migraine?
Su Zhenzhen's professional skills were immediately and passively triggered. "Do you usually feel nauseous, vomit, or have a fear of wind, light, or loud noises?"
"You are so noisy."
Diagnosis confirmed.
"If you have a headache, acupuncture is the fastest way to get results."
"No."
The young man subconsciously turned his head away. From Su Zhenzhen's angle, she could see the slightly reddened corners of his eyes.
Anyone familiar with Lu Hexu would know that they should stay away from this tyrant right now; he probably wanted to kill someone again.
But when Su Zhenzhen saw the reddened corners of the young man's eyes, her heart softened.
So pitiful.
Su Zhenzhen knew that some patients were afraid of needles.
"Then how about I blindfold you with a black cloth?"
"No."
This wouldn't do, that wouldn't do.
"Then let's try moxibustion."
Generally speaking, the best moxa sticks for moxibustion are those aged for three years.
Su Zhenzhen only had newly made ones from this past spring. Although they hadn't been aged for very long, it was still better than nothing.
The young man lay on his side on the couch. Su Zhenzhen pulled up a round stool and sat beside him. Holding the freshly lit moxa stick, she gently hovered it about three centimeters above the Fengchi acupoint on his head. After about ten minutes, she moved it to the Baihui acupoint.
Since moxa sticks produce a rather strong smell, Su Zhenzhen had opened the doors and windows in advance to keep the room well-ventilated.
Twenty minutes later, Su Zhenzhen grabbed her sore, stiff wrist with her free hand and rolled it a bit. Lowering her gaze, she saw the young man with his eyes closed. He had fallen asleep at some point.
The long couch wasn't narrow, yet he had subconsciously curled himself up, wrapping his body tightly like a cat on high alert.
Su Zhenzhen carefully extinguished the moxa stick, then sat on the stool with her chin resting in her hand.
She reached out with her free hand, her fingers hovering in the air as they traced the beautiful, undulating contours of the young man's face.
Such exquisite bone structure.
Just stealing a little glimpse of this grumpy kitten's handsome face.
