Chapter 349

Chapter 349: A Burning Kiss "You come from a distinguished household, yet you open your mouth with such filth. What if I do lay a hand on you?" Xie Yunting's brow was steeped in murderous intent. Zhao Zhongren swallowed instinctively. It was Prince Rong who reached out a hand. "Xie Yunting, let go!" "Heh. I'm telling you two—father and son—if you slander Sister Cui one more time, I'll make your lives a living hell!" Xie Yunting withdrew his hand. The atmosphere in the room remained deadlocked. Outside, darkness was falling. Steward Lin of Jing'an Hall asked cautiously, "It's getting late. Since you all can't seem to reach an agreement, why not stay the night and continue tomorrow?" "What's there to discuss?" Xie Yunting had already torn up the letter. "Without a letter from the Jiangyuan Marquis Mansion, if Jing'an Hall dares to release her, I'll burn this shabby place to the ground!" Steward Lin had only heard of Xie Yunting's reputation by name. Seeing him today, he truly was a ferocious brute. But it was indeed dark, so Cui Lingrong and the others had no choice but to stay. After paying the fee, Cui Lingrong was led to a guest room. Xie Yunting stayed in the room next door. As for Prince Rong's side, Prince Rong had a splitting headache. Zhao Zhongren blamed Song Shulan. "It's all that beast Song Shulan's fault—that two-faced bastard. Otherwise, we'd have taken Susu away by now." "Yes, that Song Shulan truly has no bottom line. Marrying Susu to him in the first place was a mistake." Prince Rong could only sigh. "If we ever get the chance, we must make Song Shulan pay." "That's certain. A petty man like Song Shulan—we need to strip him of the official post he treasures most." Zhao Zhongren said indignantly. "Father, what about Susu? We've all seen it—Jing'an Hall is a place of torment. If we don't take Susu away this time, who knows when we'll get another chance." Speaking of his daughter, Prince Rong was at his wit's end. He had no solution either. "Let's sleep first. Sitting here racking our brains won't yield an answer." Just as Prince Rong was about to lie down, someone knocked on the door. He walked to the door and saw a woman wearing a veiled hat. Through the gauze, he couldn't make out her face. "Prince Rong, Susu asked me to give this to you." The woman handed over a bottle of medicine. "What is this?" Prince Rong asked. "This? It's a fine thing that stirs desire between men and women." Speaking of the medicine bottle, the woman's voice turned seductive. "Susu said, since that Lady Cui keeps clinging to old grudges, why not take this opportunity to hit her hard. If you have leverage over her, Susu will have nothing to fear." Prince Rong looked at the unfamiliar woman before him, hesitating, unsure whether he could trust her. "Does the Prince not trust me?" The woman chuckled twice. "Fair enough—you don't even know who I am. But this is your only option. Do you have any other way?" The night outside had grown deep. Prince Rong thought of Xie Yunting's arrogant demeanor today. "But that Xie Yunting—he can't perform as a man. How would that be of any use?" "Can't perform as a man? There are ways to play that too. Besides, what we need to ruin is Lady Cui's reputation, not Xie Yunting's. He's a grown man—even if he ran around naked, it wouldn't matter. But if Lady Cui tore open her clothes and ran a few laps outside, do you think she could go on living?" The woman said, "Whether to do it or not is up to you. Susu is your daughter, not mine." This bottle of medicine was what Jing'an Hall used to deal with stubborn women. Occasionally, nobles would come here. And the women sent to Jing'an Hall weren't all guilty of straying—many had been forcibly sent by their own families. After the woman left, Prince Rong looked at the medicine bottle in his hand. In a brief moment, he made up his mind. He summoned someone and whispered a few words. Over at Cui Lingrong's room, a candle was still burning. Nanny Qiu had borrowed the kitchen and cooked some noodles, bringing them over. "Master, we came in a hurry. Please eat a little?" Nanny Qiu said. "Did you send some to General Xie?" Cui Lingrong asked. "Yes, cooked together with yours." Nanny Qiu said she had eaten some dry rations herself. Cui Lingrong sat down and took a couple of bites, but had no appetite. Nanny Qiu cleaned up the dishes and settled down to rest. But about half an hour later, Cui Lingrong suddenly felt feverish. She patted Nanny Qiu beside her. "Nanny Qiu, pour me a glass of water." Nanny Qiu poured the water, and when her fingers touched her master, she found her body burning hot. "You... what's wrong with you?" "I don't know... I just feel... my body is so hot." As Cui Lingrong spoke, she sensed something was wrong. Just then, a crashing sound of something heavy falling came from the next room. Nanny Qiu's heart pounded. She brought the candle over and saw her master's cheeks flushed crimson. "You... you... this won't do—this servant will go call for help!" Cui Lingrong also realized something was amiss. This feeling—an intense craving for relief—she grabbed Nanny Qiu's hand. "No, we've been set up. This Jing'an Hall truly is no good place!" Cui Lingrong panted as she spoke. She told Nanny Qiu to fetch cold water. At a time like this, she couldn't trust the people at Jing'an Hall. Nanny Qiu's heart raced as she rushed out to fetch water. Cui Lingrong lay sprawled on the bed, gasping for breath. Hearing footsteps, she assumed it was Nanny Qiu and looked up—only to see Xie Yunting, veins bulging on his forehead. "Sister Cui, we've been drugged." Xie Yunting's forehead was drenched in sweat. He was straining to control his body, but he was nearing his limit. "The potency of this drug is extremely fierce. I submerged my head in cold water, but it was useless." Cui Lingrong was equally afflicted, but she still retained some clarity of mind. "General... General Xie, can we leave right now?" The moment she spoke, her words drifted to Xie Yunting's ears like seductive whispers, soft and honeyed, stoking the fire of his desire. At some point, Cui Lingrong had grabbed Xie Yunting's arm. She tilted her head up, about to speak, when Xie Yunting suddenly kissed her. Soft as cotton, sweet upon the lips—an indescribable pleasure. Their breathing grew heavier and heavier. Just then, Xie Yunting heard someone approaching from outside. He scooped Cui Lingrong into his arms and leaped through the window into the darkness of the night. "Sister Cui, I have wronged you today. I will surely take responsibility for you." Meanwhile, the person arriving outside was Nanny Qiu. Seeing the room empty, she immediately panicked. Before she could react, a knock came at the door. Nanny Qiu asked, "Who is it?" "A thief slipped in tonight. We've come to check." It was Steward Lin. But the master of this room was absent. If Steward Lin asked questions, Nanny Qiu would have no way to explain. "All is well here. We've already gone to bed. Steward Lin, please go back." Realizing that her master might have been drugged, and that this Steward Lin had come in the middle of the night—could it be that Steward Lin was behind this? Nanny Qiu held her breath and crept to the door, where she heard a familiar voice. Though she couldn't make out the words, she recognized it as Prince Rong. So that's it! That scoundrel Prince Rong had resorted to such despicable tactics! Nanny Qiu worried for her master while also racking her brain for how to deal with Steward Lin and his men. Hearing Prince Rong order his men to barge in directly, Nanny Qiu yanked the door open and stepped out. "Prince Rong, why are you here as well?" Prince Rong snorted. "Do you even need to ask? I'm here to catch the thief, of course! Move aside. Once we've searched this place, we'll move on to the next!" "Shame on you, Prince Rong! Breaking into my master's bedchamber in the middle of the night—what is the meaning of this?" Nanny Qiu raised her voice. "A prince of the realm, and you would stoop to such shameless behavior?" "How dare you! A lowly servant, speaking to me like that!" Prince Rong moved to kick her, but Nanny Qiu's loud voice had already drawn other guests from their rooms to open their doors. He lowered his voice. "Nanny Qiu, if you won't let us in, is there something suspicious hidden inside?" "What could be suspicious? It's the middle of the night—we're sleeping, of course. What else would we be doing?" Nanny Qiu shot back. "The real question is, why are you, a prince, lurking at a married woman's door, trying to force your way in? What are your intentions? When we return to Bianjing, we'll see who has the right of it!" "You're spouting nonsense! A thief stole my jade pendant—a gift from His Majesty himself! Why else would I be here?" Prince Rong snorted. "Besides, who said I need to go in? Just have Steward Lin go in." Just then, one of Prince Rong's men came over and reported that Xie Yunting was not in his room. Hearing this, Prince Rong grew even more confident that Cui Lingrong and Xie Yunting had been drugged. Even if Xie Yunting wasn't in Cui Lingrong's room, Cui Lingrong was now under the influence of an aphrodisiac. She would surely be in a disgraceful state—if anyone saw her like this, she would lose all face! "What's the matter? Afraid to let Steward Lin in? Is there something shameful hidden in your room?" Prince Rong chuckled. "Steward Lin, go on in and search. Whatever happens, I'll take full responsibility!" Nanny Qiu immediately spread her arms wide to block the way. "I'd like to see who dares! Steward Lin, if you dare enter, you'll be offending not just the Cui family, but also the Duke of Dingguo's household and the Crown Prince's Tutor. Think carefully—whose words carry more weight: a fallen prince's, or that of ministers with real power?" Steward Lin hesitated. She had been roused from bed in the middle of the night, and though she had taken Prince Rong's bribes, she didn't dare offend the people Nanny Qiu had named. "Your Highness, Nanny Qiu seems perfectly fine. The thief is probably not here. Why don't we check elsewhere?" Steward Lin had also noticed something odd. Jing'an Hall had guards patrolling all night—a common thief wouldn't be able to get in. Prince Rong had come all this way and refused to leave. "Steward Lin, I'm simply asking you to go in and take a look. You're a woman, and Lady Cui is a woman too—there's nothing unreasonable about this request. If the thief gets away, can you bear the responsibility for losing my jade pendant?" "Well..." Steward Lin looked at Nanny Qiu again. "Nanny Qiu, His Highness does have a point. We're all women here. Let us take a quick look, and you'll be at ease, and we can continue searching for the pendant elsewhere. If you keep blocking us like this, everyone will start to think you're hiding something." Nanny Qiu knew things were going badly, but her master wasn't in the room. What was she to do? At that moment, Nanny Qiu heard a weak voice from inside the room, "Nanny Qiu, just let Steward Lin come in and look. If there are no thieves in our room, then I shall ask Prince Rong what he is scheming."