Chapter 022: Uncle’s Rise to Power

When Liu Yandai crouched before the bed and heard her Pomu say “drugged,” her head buzzed with the words.

Zhou Yuanting had drugged her.

She had given her Pomu medicine.

Her Pomu had been drugged!

Was Zhou Yuanting insane? Why would he give her such a drug?

Help! Pomu needs eight men! Where would she find eight men?

Where would she find them!

It was a hot summer noon, and the cicadas outside the window buzzed incessantly. The plump and tender Shizi Furen crouched on the floor, feeling as if her brain had turned to mush. It wasn’t until her Pomu extended a slender finger and gently tapped her forehead, saying, “Have you forgotten already? Didn’t Pomu give you eight men?” that she snapped back to reality.

Those were eight men Qin Chanyue had meticulously selected, each tall and imposing.

Liu Yandai belatedly remembered.

Those eight men had originally stayed with her in Shuhai Courtyard. Later, when she came to the Prince’s mansion, they followed along, though they were publicly claimed to be private soldiers and kept in a separate courtyard.

She had never dared to look at those eight men more than necessary. Now, now they were actually going to be used for Pomu!

Compared to the panicked Liu Yandai, Qin Chanyue was the one who truly saw things clearly—what was the big deal about finding a few men? Zhou Ziheng had already broken his vows by keeping an outside concubine, even having a child almost as old as Qin Chanyue’s own. Why couldn’t Qin Chanyue look elsewhere? After Zhou Ziheng died, she would definitely keep a handsome male companion for amusement. This was just a bit earlier than planned.

But this matter had to be handled carefully.

“Be cautious when bringing them over,” Qin Chanyue frowned as she instructed her hopelessly incompetent daughter-in-law. “The fewer people who know about this, the better. Make sure each of them keeps their mouth shut—never mind, if you can’t handle it, go call Nanny Li to do it.”

A scandal like being drugged couldn’t be made public; it had to be concealed carefully.

If this had happened in the Houfu, it would have been easier to manage, but in the Prince’s mansion, it was inevitably more difficult to maneuver.

Liu Yandai scrambled up from the floor in a fluster, saying hurriedly, “Pomu, wait for me. I’ll go inform Nanny Li right away.”

This was truly the first time Liu Yandai had encountered such a situation. As she ran out of the side chamber, she tripped over the threshold and nearly fell, the pearl flowers in her hair swaying with her movements.

Once out of the side chamber, she rushed anxiously to find Nanny Li. But of all times—Nanny Li wasn’t in the Prince’s mansion! She had no idea where she had gone or what she was busy with!

Liu Yandai paced anxiously in circles within the Shady Green Corridor.

A nearby maid, curious, asked, “Does Shizi Furen have any orders? You can tell us, and we can handle it.”

No way! How could such a matter be entrusted to others!

The summer breeze rustled the straw mats hanging along the corridor, producing faint rustling sounds. The charming and plump Shizi Furen paced two more circles in the corridor before hardening her resolve and declaring, “No need, everyone step aside!”

With Nanny Li absent, she was the only one who could shoulder this responsibility now!

Isn’t it just about picking a few men to serve Pomu? What’s so difficult about that! If she hadn’t foolishly given Pomu the things Zhou Yuanting sent over to drink, would Pomu have fallen into this trap? When it comes down to it, the root of this matter still lies with her—how could she just weep and shirk responsibility?

Pomu has been so kind to her; couldn’t she go all out for Pomu just once?

Let her pick one from among these men, teach them a lesson to keep their mouths shut, then clean them up and toss them into Pomu’s side chamber!

Pomu! Yandai can do it!

In places unseen by Qin Chanyue, her timid daughter-in-law was growing like bamboo shoots after rain!

Liu Yandai lifted her head high, clenched her fists, and shouted with fierce determination, “Everyone, step aside! No one is to approach Pomu’s side chamber until I return!”

Looking at Liu Yandai, she seemed like a soldier who had heard the call to battle—she was fired up!

Although the maid didn’t understand what Liu Yandai was so fired up about, since her mistress had given the order, the maid naturally nodded in agreement.

After speaking, Liu Yandai rushed straight to the courtyard where her eight private soldiers were staying.

These eight private soldiers were originally descendants of the Qin Family Army, assigned by Zhennan Wang to Qin Chanyue for close protection. Now that they had returned to the Prince of Southern Pacification’s Mansion, they felt as free as fish in water.

The Prince’s mansion had few women; even the dogs roaming the estate were male. Thus, there were no strict rules separating the front and rear courtyards, so the eight private soldiers were directly housed in the rear courtyard.

When Liu Yandai went to select these eight men, the commotion was not insignificant, attracting the attention of an observant individual—Zhennan Wang’s deputy general.

Every move Qin Chanyue and Liu Yandai made fell under the deputy general’s watchful eye. With the prince unconscious, he needed to serve as the prince’s eyes. Zhennan Wang wasn’t trying to monitor the two women, but with the court’s situation unclear and many forces secretly vying against each other, these two women remained completely unaware. Zhennan Wang feared they might be harmed or deceived.

So, when he noticed something unusual about the two women, the deputy general immediately followed them. However, he didn’t disturb Zhennan Wang directly. Instead, he quietly slipped back into the outer room where the prince resided.

Before reporting, he needed to investigate the cause to present it properly to the prince.

The outer room was spacious and bright. Upon entering, one was greeted by a pitch-black wooden tea table, on which leftover food and drink were still placed. The deputy general slowed his movements, walked to the tea table, and crouched down slowly. Frowning, he examined the plates of pastries and a jug of wine. Beside where Qin Chanyue had been sitting, a wine cup had fallen to the ground, dampening a small patch of the white woolen carpet.

The jade-colored wine cup lay on the floor, abandoned and lonely, with no one to pick it up.

After a moment of contemplation, the deputy general decided to carefully inspect the items Qin Chanyue and Liu Yandai had consumed.

He was a clever man. After the two women had eaten and drunk, Qin Chanyue was suddenly helped away, looking unwell. This raised his suspicions, prompting him to return and examine what they had used.

The pastries seemed fine, but the wine—

The deputy general brought the wine to his lips and took a small sip. To his shock, he realized the wine contained a drug—and a vile, indecent one at that!

Who had sent this wine, and why had it been given to Madam to drink?

The Deputy General hastily stood up, instinctively glancing at the door to the inner room.

The wooden door remained closed, inside lay a “comatose” general.

He hesitated for a moment, not daring to wake him directly, and instead chose to follow Liu Yandai.

At that moment, Liu Yandai was fueled by a surge of boldness, rushing to the rear courtyard.

Seizing this reckless momentum, she did everything she normally wouldn’t dare to do—first, she shooed everyone out of the courtyard, then had eight men line up under the corridor eaves, and scrutinized each of them one by one.

After careful selection, Liu Yandai picked out the most handsome personal guard, who appeared to be around the age of coming of age at twenty, tall and imposing, which greatly satisfied her.

Just as the Deputy General arrived, peering through the diamond-shaped lattice window on the wall, he caught sight of Liu Yandai pointing at a man and saying, “You, go bathe now, get clean immediately, and come out with me in half a quarter of an hour!”

Witnessing this scene, the Deputy General gasped sharply, nearly losing his footing. He immediately turned and dashed toward Zhennan Wang’s side chamber.

This was disastrous—Shizi Furen was selecting a male companion for Madam! And right under Zhennan Wang’s nose!

At that moment, the Deputy General felt as though the family records of eight generations were trembling.

If Madam were to sleep with another man right under Zhennan Wang’s watch, it would be like digging up soil on the Tai Sui’s head—Madam might not face consequences, but his own skin wouldn’t be spared!

Thus, he scrambled and stumbled back into Zhennan Wang’s side chamber.

Clad in iron boots, his hurried steps pounded loudly on the wooden floorboards as he rushed into Zhennan Wang’s side chamber, practically throwing himself inside and kneeling on the ground, shouting, “It’s terrible, Your Highness! Something major has happened!”

At that moment, the side chamber fell into silence.

After a few moments of stillness, movement finally came from Zhennan Wang’s bed.

The tall man who had been lying there slowly sat up, his sharp, single-lidded eyes calmly fixed on the Deputy General.

Seated there, he resembled a towering mountain.

The kneeling Deputy General felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on him. Though Zhennan Wang hadn’t uttered a word, he inexplicably felt the weight on his back grow heavier.

Lowering his head, the Deputy General slowly recounted the day’s events.

“Madam today—”

“I investigated the wine—”

“Who could be so malicious as to drug Shizi Furen and Madam? Who knows who they intended to harm! In any case, it’s Madam who’s been affected now.”

“Madam is currently lying in the neighboring room.”

“Right now, Shizi Furen is selecting a man for Madam!”

After finishing his report sentence by sentence, the Deputy General dared not lift his head, remaining obediently on his knees.

He knelt there, while the man seated on the bed remained silent, plunging the entire side chamber into stillness.

Gritting his teeth, the Deputy General stared at the floor beneath his knees and mustered the courage to add, “Your Highness, if you don’t go over, Madam might end up favoring some young lad she’s never even met before! Wouldn’t that be letting that kid off too easily?”

After saying this, the Deputy General truly dared not move another muscle, kneeling on the ground and awaiting orders.

If he had dared to look up, he might have seen the hesitation and bewilderment on Zhennan Wang’s face.

Having strategized and commanded for half his life, Zhennan Wang felt a rare moment of panic. He sat hesitantly on the bed, experiencing helplessness for the very first time.

He could charge through the battlefield seven times, drenched in blood without ever uttering the word “fear.” He could endure the gnawing of venomous insects on his flesh, then calmly carve out the rotting, worm-infested parts. He could wade through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, beheading the Southern Gu People with a single stroke of his blade, as if he had never known fear. Pain and endurance were the constants of his life—he had long grown accustomed to them.

But when he heard the Deputy General say that Qin Chanyue was now afflicted with a lust-inducing poison and needed a man, he sat frozen, unsure how to react.

It was as if he were trapped in a dead city, every brick, tile, and patch of earth built by his own hands. The city gate stood right before him, yet he lacked the courage to push it open.

He feared Qin Chanyue would not accept him.

If he remained her brother, her lifelong brother, he could stay by her side forever. But if he confessed his feelings, given Qin Chanyue’s temperament, she would surely refuse to see him for the rest of her life.

Qin Chanyue was a person of stark contrasts—when she loved, she loved wholeheartedly, giving her all; when she did not, she would sever all ties without hesitation.

He was afraid—afraid of never seeing Qin Chanyue again. So, he never dared speak of love in her presence.

Cowardly, like a defeated soldier fleeing without a fight, he buried those thoughts deep within, turning them into bricks and tiles, building a prison around himself.

Until one day, the Deputy General knocked on that door and told him such a thing.

His sister had been drugged… and now needed a man.

Any man would do—as long as it was a man.

If any man would suffice, why couldn’t it be him?

He could not compare to Zhou Ziheng in looks or talent, nor could he win Qin Chanyue’s affection. But was he not better than some lowly private soldier?

Even if he could not stay with her forever, even if it was only for this one time—

The desires buried deep within began to churn, like boiling water bubbling and frothing, brewing a mist of lust that seeped into Zhennan Wang’s very bones, roaring and surging through his blood, urging him on.

He had to do something.

After a moment, Zhennan Wang slowly rose to his feet.

“Go and capture the one who drugged her,” he said.

He would handle this matter personally.

The Deputy General, kneeling on the ground, silently shifted aside on his knees, clearing a path, then bowed his head and replied, “Yes.”

Zhennan Wang had already stepped out the door.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring side chamber, Liu Yandai finally arrived at the door with a freshly groomed private soldier.

She dismissed the surrounding attendants, then solemnly pushed the private soldier into the room, standing guard at the door herself.

As the door creaked shut, the fair-skinned Shizi Furen leaned against it and let out a long sigh of relief.

Pomu, Yandai has done it!

——

In Qin Chanyue’s side chamber on a summer afternoon.

Heat.

The cool air from the ice vat in the corner was but a drop in the bucket, doing little to soothe the searing heat raging within her body. The radiant Madam tossed and turned on the bed, clawing at the silk sheets in unbearable agony. Her Pearl Shoes had long been kicked to the floor, revealing snow-white ankles wrapped in fine silk.

Her ankles rubbed against the silk, the hem of her skirt twisted into a shape like a blooming flower—a silent invitation, ripe for the taking.

When movement sounded at the door of the side chamber, she lay prone on the bed, lifting her gaze to look.

No one entered the outer room for a long while, and she had no idea what was happening. Muttering to herself, she lowered her head, growing unbearably restless.

Her body felt as if set ablaze, her rationality scorched into powder that crumbled at the slightest touch. Her flesh turned into parched earth, cracked with deep fissures. When desire was magnified countless times, the body plummeted into an abyss, colluding with indulgence. In that state, one craved a torrential downpour with desperate intensity.

Amid this chaos, Qin Chanyue heard someone approaching her.

Struggling to open her eyes, she saw a tall figure walking toward her against the light.

The light from outside the window blurred his silhouette, revealing only a towering, robust frame clad in thin silk undergarments.

As he drew closer, Qin Chanyue noticed a thin silver mask covering his face, obscuring his features.

Was this the male companion Liu Yandai and the others had chosen for her?

Why was he wearing a mask? Was he too unsightly to show his face?

The woman lying on the bed propped herself up and, just as she had teased Liu Yandai earlier, extended a finger, slowly curling it twice in his direction.

The masked man stood rigidly in place for a moment before slowly, hesitantly, making his way to the bedside.

Instead of climbing onto the bed directly, he knelt slowly before it. He was so tall that when he knelt, his chest was level with Qin Chanyue, who lay on the bed. With a single glance, she could see his well-defined chest.

He was a martial artist, his build robust and muscular, unlike the frail scholars. Years of training had forged his body, every muscle sculpted to perfection. As soon as he drew near, waves of scorching heat radiated from him, washing over her face.

Qin Chanyue was completely overwhelmed by the effects of the drug.

Her rationality had deserted her. A vague sense of familiarity flickered within her, but she couldn’t grasp its source.

Soon, the tide of desire surged, scattering her fleeting thoughts. Guided by instinct, she reached out to caress his chest.

So hot.

Burning hot, like a winter stove. The firm texture rose and fell with his breath, exuding an overwhelming sense of power—like a great beast caged. If she loosened the leash, he would pounce and devour her whole.

But as long as she held the leash tight, he would remain kneeling there, not daring to overstep.

He was her beast, and her name was his chain.

Qin Chanyue’s mind swam in a haze. After touching him, she grew still, while the man kneeling on the floor trembled, his fingers shaking, his spine quivering.

——

Chu Heng had never experienced anything like this.

He had never been this close to Qin Chanyue before—close enough that with a slight bow of his head, he could catch the faint fragrance of peonies wafting from her, intoxicating and alluring. He longed to draw nearer, but as she remained motionless, he dared not move an inch.

He had never dared to harm her.

Outside the window, the height of summer reigned. Branches swayed, and the chorus of cicadas filled the air. The heat in the side chamber surged again and again, growing increasingly restless, increasingly stifling.

Compared to Qin Chanyue, Chu Heng seemed more like the one who had been drugged. His heart pounded like a drum, the violent beats echoing in his chest, until his ears seemed to hear nothing but that frantic thumping.

His chest felt as if it would shatter from the force of his own heart—yet that wasn’t enough. His spine tingled, a restless itch creeping through his bones. He was burning up, his breaths growing faster and more ragged, yet at this very moment, Qin Chanyue stopped moving.

How could he not be frantic?

Even if she demanded his life now, he would willingly offer it—but she had stopped.

Wave after wave of tingling shot down his spine, driving his body to inch forward. If she wouldn’t touch him, he would press his chest toward her instead. Gritting his teeth, he made no sound, yet his body moved beyond his control. With all his strength, he leaned into her hand.

The moment he made contact with her palm, his muscles tensed instantly, and a low, restless groan escaped his throat. Still kneeling, he lifted his head, gazing at her with pleading eyes as if begging for her mercy.

Like a massive wolfhound, he wagged his tail impatiently, emitting soft, pleading whimpers from his throat, and licked her fingertips with his tongue.

If pleas had a sound, all of Chang’an would have heard the hum of his longing.

Finally—

The figure on the bed seemed to gradually regain awareness, her long, elegant fingernail lightly tracing a line across his chest.

Chu Heng’s defenses crumbled in that instant. His knees slowly pressed into the bedding, and moments later, he lunged forward fiercely.