Chapter 324: He Must Die Today
Zhao Mingyan lowered his head, resting his chin right on her right shoulder. His hot breath washed over her ear and neck.
Ji Qingwu’s right earlobe turned bright red.
With one ear filled with his deep breathing, she had to focus her other ear on the conversation outside.
She tried to concentrate, but unfortunately, there was a troublemaker right in front of her.
Zhao Mingyan’s hand moved to her face, and he playfully flicked her earlobe a couple of times.
Even though it was too dark inside the cabinet to see the color of her jade-like earlobe, he could feel its charming heat through his fingertips.
Ji Qingwu decided to just assume he had idle hands and a bad habit of teasing people’s ears.
She took a breath and endured it.
But then his finger began tracing the shell of her ear. The intermittent touches stirred a fire within Ji Qingwu.
Besides, Ji Qingwu was just getting to the crucial part of the conversation.
’That damn old man actually wants to cause chaos, to bloodbath the Beili Royal Family, to make her Yuan Heng die a horrible death!’
She grabbed his mischievous hand, her eyes glittering, ignited by the fury in her chest.
Ji Qingwu hissed fiercely in a low voice, "Don’t mess around."
The threat worked. Zhao Mingyan stopped moving.
He pulled his hand back and looked at her eyes, the only two points of light in the dimness. They looked so fierce, as if she were about to pounce and bite him.
That light pierced straight into his heart.
Zhao Mingyan’s lips curled into a smile. He tightened his arms around her waist, holding her even closer, and nuzzled his head against the crook of her neck.
"Alright, I won’t mess around."
After her burst of fierceness, Ji Qingwu actually felt a little nervous. After all, she had just used a harsh tone with the Emperor. ’It wouldn’t be good if he decided to settle the score later.’
He was, after all, famous for being "petty and holding grudges."
Ji Qingwu’s worries were not unfounded. In the next instant, the score was settled.
Taking advantage of the moment she relaxed, Zhao Mingyan tilted his head and gently bit her soft, warm earlobe.
Then, he maliciously ground it between his teeth.
At this sudden "turn of events," Ji Qingwu tried her utmost to restrain herself, digging her nails into her palms until they left marks, but she still couldn’t hold back.
A faint, soft moan escaped her throat.
Ji Qingwu quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
’I hope these cabinet doors are thick enough.’ Ji Qingwu prayed that Su Fengyue was old and his hearing had declined, so he wouldn’t have heard that little sound.
But heaven did not hear Ji Qingwu’s prayer. She heard the rustle of fabric; Su Fengyue was getting up.
The sound of boots on the stone floor grew clearer and clearer, getting closer to their hiding place.
Unhurried, Zhao Mingyan took her hand, found her lips with unerring accuracy in the darkness, and gave her a peck.
Ji Qingwu’s eyes widened as far as they could go, her dark pupils shimmering with a watery light.
When he pulled back slightly, she bit down hard on his shoulder.
But it didn’t cause him any real harm and only made her own jaw ache.
Zhao Mingyan’s chest rumbled. He was clearly laughing at her.
Instead of making him cry out in pain, she had only managed to make him stifle a laugh. ’Well,’ Ji Qingwu thought, ’I suppose all roads lead to Rome.’
The footsteps stopped. Through the narrow crack in the cabinet door, Ji Qingwu could see someone had stopped at the doorway, right in front of them.
Su Fengyue seemed to be lost in thought.
’Looks like it’s time to prepare my ultimate move to greet Prime Minister Su.’
With a few quick movements, Ji Qingwu prepared her colorful medicinal powders, but a hand pressed down on hers, stopping her.
His palm enveloped her hand, and he squeezed her cool fingertips twice.
A warm current flowed from where they touched, seeping into her skin and making her arm relax.
Wisps of warmth also coiled around her heart.
Even though they were about to be discovered at any moment, Ji Qingwu felt incredibly at ease.
’This feeling of having someone at my back... it’s not bad.’
Su Fengyue stood at the door, his gaze sweeping over every furnishing in the reception hall before finally landing on the cabinet.
"Master, Prince Yong has arrived," Shang Rong announced from outside.
A strange smile crossed Su Fengyue’s lips. "Please escort the Prince to the front hall." He pushed the door open and left.
Once the room fell silent, Ji Qingwu opened the cabinet door and stepped out to get some air.
The bright lamplight was sudden, and Ji Qingwu squinted, unaccustomed to it.
Zhao Mingyan followed her out. "Your face..."
"Did I smudge it on something?" Ji Qingwu, who had been shielding her eyes, rubbed her face, thinking she had gotten dust on it from the cabinet.
Zhao Mingyan’s gaze shifted. "It’s like the coral next to you."
Ji Qingwu looked over and saw a multi-branched coral ornament nearby, resting on a hollow-carved, mountain-shaped red sandalwood base.
The red coral had a vibrant luster, yet it was also gentle and lovely.
Ji Qingwu’s flushed face could rival the coral’s color.
Thinking about what had caused her to get this way, she sidestepped the culprit and headed outside.
"Let’s go to the rear courtyard first."
She walked out of the room but realized no one was following her. Puzzled, she turned back just in time to see him emerge from inside.
His expression was absolutely terrible.
It was a kind of gloom she had never seen on him before—a deep, thick darkness.
When Zhao Mingyan’s eyes met hers, the storm in them subsided, but a dense layer of dark clouds remained.
Ji Qingwu didn’t dare to speak. ’What on earth did he see in that room to make him look like that?’
She was a little curious and wanted to go back and see, but he grabbed her by the wrist.
"Let’s go."
"Where are we going?"
Ji Qingwu looked at the direction they were headed. It didn’t seem like they were going to the rear courtyard, but rather toward the front hall.
She pressed, "What are we going to do at the front?"
’We should be going to the rear courtyard, to the woodshed they mentioned earlier. There must be something strange there.’
Zhao Mingyan’s face was expressionless. "To kill someone," he said indifferently.
Ji Qingwu’s feet froze to the spot, but his pace only quickened. She was practically being dragged forward by him.
’Kill someone? Who is he going to kill?’
Heedless of her tone, she said urgently, "Wait, wait!"
’Just now, Su Fengyue and his steward mentioned Prince Yong. Could it be that Prince Yong has defected, breaking the Emperor’s heart and sending him into a rage?’
’But looking at Zhao Minghong’s behavior since the Emperor was injured, he doesn’t seem like the type to betray him.’
Ji Qingwu said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Prince Yong might just be here to sound out Prime Minister Su. He has no intention of being disloyal."
Zhao Mingyan glanced back at her, his eyes filled with frost.
He enunciated each word, "Su Fengyue must die today."
’So it’s that damn old man.’ Ji Qingwu felt a little relieved.
Suddenly, Ji Qingwu had a feeling she knew what the Emperor had seen that would make him so enraged and lose his composure.
’The person in that portrait... it was me.’
’And it probably wasn’t a respectable portrait.’
Emperor Wu Su came here late at night to find evidence of his crimes. If he were to kill Su Fengyue without justification, it wouldn’t just be a matter of impropriety. The bigger problem was that he wouldn’t be able to root out all of his co-conspirators, which would leave endless trouble for the future.
That would be equivalent to planting a hidden danger for Yuan Heng.
Ji Qingwu hugged his arm tightly...