Chapter 543 - 546: Let Me
In the bedroom.
Li Yu was sitting up in bed, looking weak and listless.
A maid knelt on the footstool by the bed, carefully feeding him porridge.
When he suddenly heard that the Regent King had arrived, Li Yu was so startled he couldn’t catch his breath and broke into a fit of violent coughing.
The maid hurriedly put down the bowl and used a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.
Li Yu swatted her hand away and scrambled to lie back down.
He instructed the maid.
"If the Regent King comes, just tell him I’m still unconscious."
If the Regent King hadn’t forced them to repair the roads, he wouldn’t have suffered this disaster.
’It would be a lie to say he didn’t harbor any resentment toward the Regent King.’
But given the vast difference in their status.
There was nothing he could do to the Regent King. He could only feign unconsciousness, hoping to use the opportunity to give the Regent King a scare and see if he would still dare to torment them in the future.
The next moment, the Regent King entered.
He was followed by a large group of people.
The maid hurried forward to greet him.
"This servant greets the Regent Prince."
Li Ji looked at Li Yu, who was lying in bed with his eyes shut tight, appearing to be still unconscious.
"Didn’t your Young Master already wake up?"
The maid was scared to death, but she didn’t dare disobey her master’s orders. She could only brace herself and say,
"The Young Master was awake for a short while, but then he fell unconscious again."
As soon as Feihua Zhenren heard this, he immediately jumped in and exclaimed,
"That’s impossible! I have already neutralized the poison for the Princely Heir. There’s no way he would fall unconscious again!"
The maid didn’t know how to explain, so she could only say sheepishly,
"This servant doesn’t know what happened either. In any case, the Young Master has fallen unconscious."
Li Ji’s gaze swept over her face, hearing her thoughts as clear as day.
He said unhurriedly,
"Since the Heir of Prince Qing has fainted again, it must mean there’s still some residual poison in his body. I’ve heard of a folk remedy that uses bloodletting to detoxify. We might as well give it a try now."
With that, he looked at Chen Wangbei.
"Go make an incision on the Heir of Prince Qing and help him release the poisoned blood."
Hua Manman quickly raised her hand, volunteering eagerly.
"Me, me! Let me do it!"
Li Yu had previously mistaken her for a prostitute and even tried to have his way with her. She had kept a careful record of those deeds in her little black book.
Now that she had a chance for revenge, she certainly wasn’t going to pass it up.
Seeing her rubbing her hands together, eager to give it a go, Li Ji couldn’t help but smile, a corner of his lips curling up as he agreed.
"Alright."
He took the dagger tucked at his waist and handed it to her.
Hua Manman took the dagger, and with a pull, she saw its blade was gleaming—obviously very sharp.
Seeing her brandishing the dagger, the maid’s face turned pale with fright.
The maid stammered.
"Th-that might not be necessary. Perhaps the Young Master is just a little unwell. He should be fine after some rest."
Li Ji watched her with a heavy gaze. "A moment ago, you said the Heir of Prince Qing was unconscious. Now you say he’s just resting. Which of your statements is true and which is false?"
His stare made her blood run cold, and a cold sweat broke out on her back.
She sullenly shut her mouth, not daring to make another sound.
Although Li Yu’s eyes were closed, he could still hear.
He heard the entire conversation in the room perfectly clearly.
When he heard the Regent King was going to have someone perform bloodletting on him to cure the poison, he was scared stiff.
The sound of footsteps grew closer.
He knew the Heir of Prince Yu was approaching.
Fear and unease made his heart pound wildly. The eyeballs hidden beneath his lids darted back and forth, and his eyelashes trembled faintly.
Hua Manman wasn’t blind. She saw the Heir of Prince Qing’s reaction and immediately understood he was faking it.
Her eyes darted, and an idea came to her.
Hua Manman ripped the blanket off Li Yu. She gestured left and right over his chest with the tip of the dagger, muttering to herself.
"Should I cut here? But this is the heart. What if I accidentally stab right through it?"
Li Yu: "..."
He desperately wanted to jump up and curse at her.
’If you stab me through the heart, how am I supposed to live?!’
Then he heard her continue to mutter.
"Or maybe I should cut here? But this is the stomach. What if I accidentally rupture his intestines? A scene with his guts spilling out would be pretty disgusting. Nah, never mind, I won’t cut here."
Li Yu’s face had turned pale.
He was half scared, half furious.
Hua Manman: "How about I cut here? This is the kidney. Even if I accidentally damage it, it’s fine. You’ll still have one left, so you’ll live. Aside from possibly becoming weak, sweating a lot, and urinating frequently at night, there shouldn’t be any major problems."
As she spoke, she poked Li Yu’s waist with her finger, murmuring to herself.
"Yes, I’ll start the incision here. A slow cut... it should be fine."
The hair on Li Yu’s entire body stood on end in terror.
He couldn’t take it anymore. His eyes flew open, and he violently shoved the person in front of him away, screaming in terror.
"You dare touch me?! My royal father will never let you get away with this!"
Hua Manman stumbled back two steps from the force of the push.
Li Ji, who had appeared behind her at some point, reached out and caught her by the small of her back, steadying her.
At that moment, everyone in the room stared silently at Li Yu.
As a bystander, even Hua Manman couldn’t help but feel secondhand embarrassment for him.
’This is a textbook case of social suicide!’
Li Yu was indeed mortified.
A moment ago, he had been so focused on saving his kidney that he’d completely forgotten he was still pretending to be unconscious.
Now, looking at the room full of people, his senses gradually returned, and he finally realized he had just been played.
Never mind whether bloodletting was a reliable detoxification method or not.
Even if it could cure poison, who would make an incision on someone’s waist?
She had obviously been testing him on purpose.
His lie had been exposed on the spot.
No matter how thick-skinned he was, even he couldn’t handle this level of humiliation.
Li Ji asked, "Weren’t you still unconscious? How did you suddenly wake up?"
’You were about to stab me with a dagger, and you expect me to keep pretending to be asleep?!’
But he couldn’t say those words out loud.
He could only swallow his anger and mumble,
"I wasn’t actually unconscious. I was just asleep."
Hua Manman pressed, "Then why did you suddenly start screaming?"
When Li Yu saw her face clearly, he was taken aback.
"Aren’t you the Heir of Prince Yu?"
Hua Manman was dressed as a man today. While not as fresh and delicate as when she wore women’s clothes, she possessed a dashing and heroic charm of her own.
Even holding a dagger that glinted coldly, she instantly captivated Li Yu.
He couldn’t help but murmur,
"You look quite good in men’s clothes, too."
Li Ji: "..."
Li Ji’s expression instantly soured.
He pulled Hua Manman behind him, his face grim as he stared at Li Yu. His tone was chilling.
"Since the Princely Heir is awake, tell us everything you know. How exactly were you poisoned?"