Chapter 54

Thanks to ‘A Thousand Years of Intoxication’, Xingyi was in a hurry to serve Prince Mu, so instead of torturing Zixiu, she only struck his acupuncture point, which deprived him of the abilities to speak and move.

It was warm and stuffy with cicadas chirping outside all afternoon. Wrapped in the quilt in bed, Zixiu couldn’t help sweating, but he didn’t realize how ruthless Xingyi was until the moment he was about to faint from the heat.

In a state of half-consciousness, the night fell. As it cooled down a little, his sweat-soaked clothes gradually dried out and he felt a little more comfortable. Now that the drowsiness was gone, he stared at the half-open red window, lost in thought.

Outside of the window, the crescent was hanging in the sky with a bright star next to it.

“Alas…” As he couldn’t speak at the moment, Zixiu let out a sigh inwardly, feeling more restless. “What a wimp I am! Is there anyone worse off than me? I finally got a chance to escape, but was caught by that woman! When will the days of living in fear come to an end?” From the way the emperor and the empress dowager looked at him the day before, Zixiu could tell they were suspicious about him. “Now that they have known Nangong Du was poisoned, will they suspect I did it? God, please show mercy and help me get out of here for the sake of the life I’ve saved… Wait! Did Physician Ling mean to commit suicide?”

Recalling what Lingxiao had done at noon, Zixiu couldn’t help but start doubting his intention. “It seemed this physician of my age was holding me tight, so I couldn’t break free.  No one who is about to commit suicide will hold on to the person who comes to save him! Besides, why did he say ‘Xiuxiu’1 every time he saw me?

Full of doubts, Zixiu keenly realized that his situation was getting more dangerous. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out what kind of intrigue he was involved in. He had to admit that he couldn’t stay calm anymore and now he was filled with fear, which almost drove him crazy!

“Xiuxiu!” A faint voice suddenly rang in the dim, quiet chamber.

“Who’s there?” Zixiu felt his heart skip a beat and he couldn’t help but sweat. “Who is daring enough to come to the princess’s bedroom at this time of night? Wait! ‘Xiuxiu’? Could it be… Lingxiao?”

In the blink of an eye, a white figure flashed to his bed.

The intruder didn’t make a sound as he walked, and because he had his back to the moonlight, the features on his face were blurred, which triggered Zixiu’s imagination of a face without features dangling in front of him and even giving a terrible laugh…

“Ah—”He was so terrified that a stream of energy in him burst through his blocked acupuncture point and turned into a scream. Almost at the same time, someone covered his widened mouth with one hand.

“Hmm…” After struggling for a while, Zixiu suddenly found out that he could move!

“Shhh… It’s me!” Leaning against his chest, the white figure said in a low voice.

Although he wasn’t certain if it was Lingxiao, the warmth coming from the hand of the white figure and the faint smell of herbs in him made Zixiu feel much relieved. At least he could tell it wasn’t a ghost!

Translator’s note:

[1] Zixiu mistook what Lingxiao said (Xiuxiu) for two other Chinese characters meaning ‘Don’t you feel embarrassed?’, whose pronunciation is exactly the same.