Chapter 34 | Interrogation

Note: Please read the explanations in bold to fully understand the names and meanings of the drug(s).

---

In the room, An Ruolan sat quietly beside the bed. Although her accessories and clothes appeared immaculate, her charming face had worn away a lot as compared to the past. Hearing footsteps approaching, she turned her head slowly. 

When she saw Qi Xutian, a glimmer of fear flashed through her eyes. Her eyes then travelled over to see Qi Mingyue in his arms, An Ruolan's eyes showed undisguised disgust and fright. She stood up and saluted, "This concubine has seen Your Majesty."

She knew that someone would come to inquire about this matter sooner or later. She thought it might be a shadow guard or Chief Liu, but didn't expect Qi Xutian's appearance. "Since Your Majesty has come in person, there must be many things to ask. I will answer truthfully, please rest assured." She had confidence in Lianxin gu and didn't need to worry about them harming her. 

Now that she was calm, she appeared gentle and dignified like always, but as Qi Xutian faced her, raging killing intent burned in his heart. It was her who laid her hands on MingEr and gave him gu, even if she was his mother, he didn't intend to spare her life. Once MingEr recovered, the only thing waiting for her was death or a life worse than death.

His slightly closed eyes were dreadful and full of murderous intent. Qi Xutian sat down on the chair indifferently and gently placed Qi Mingyue next to himself. 

Chief Liu lowered his head slightly and stood behind Qi Xutian. He knew very well that at this time, His Majesty's mind was full of dark and crazy thoughts. An Ruolan had become a dead body in His Majesty's eyes. But for now, her condition was closely related to His Highness Mingyue. Chief Liu only paid attention to His Majesty's condition for the time being. In case she angered His Majesty, he would be able to prevent His Majesty from letting his wrath out on her and stop him from making a big mistake.

An Ruolan quietly sat down again. She knew that since the matter of gu was already known, her life was hanging by a thread; she was on one end and on the other was Qi Mingyue. Whether she admitted it or not, her former position as an Imperial Consort, as well as those days of glory and wealth, no longer belonged to her. She just wanted to save her life, therefore, listened to Ziqi's words and made a decision.

She always believed that she had never made a mistake. Her sole mistake was that she shouldn't have spoken in that moment of panic and fear.

Qi Xutian leaned his back against the chair and stroked the hair of the young man sitting beside him. No ups and downs were visible on his face. He asked casually, "Yesterday, did you bring pastries to the Xuantian Palace?"

An Ruolan nodded, "Yes, I did take a food box with some pastries in it." When she spoke about the pastries, there was a flicker of confusion in her eyes but she concealed it.

She couldn't understand why His Majesty's first sentence wasn't about Lianxin gu, but about the pastries. In comparison, although the pastries... But it wasn't enough to make His Majesty inquire about it so cautiously.

Seeing her expression, Qi Xutian slowly raised the corner of his mouth and chuckled, "It seems that you don't even know what was put in it."

What he meant was... An Ruolan's eyes widened slightly, "What does Your Majesty mean? In the pastries... " She appeared to want to argue but upon seeing Qi Xutian's face, she hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head and admitted, "There was a medicine in the pastries, but it was just... just..."

She seemed to find it a little difficult to speak further and there was an awkward look on her face. Qi Mingyue immediately understood, his teasing eyes swept towards Qi Xutian. Qi Xutian raised his eyebrows and continued to ask, "Just what?"

"Emotional lure[1]." An Ruolan whispered these two words. 

[1] She said 情牵 (qíng qiān) which literally translates to Love/Emotional/Affection Pull. The only word I could think of that made sense here is aphrodisiac but it isn't fully correct because of reasons you'll understand after reading further.

Just after listening to its name, everyone understood the effect of this medicine. Just when Qi Mingyue wanted to make fun of his Father, Ying Ran walked in. She solemnly said to Qi Xutian, "Your Majesty, this servant has seen it. Shadow Five was indeed poisoned but I have already resolved it for him. Fortunately, the poisoning wasn't deep and there was still time to cure it. This poison... has to the same origin as the 'Emotional lure' I just heard."

In other words, the one who murdered the guards and let An Ruolan enter the Xuantian Palace was also the one who gave her the poisonous drug. But Ying Ran looked so serious, there seemed to be some other reasons.

Qi Mingyue had a thought in his mind and asked her, "Ying Ran knows what poison was put in the pastries?"

Yingran replied with certainty, "Soul lure[2]. If it is supplemented with Luo Tong, it can cause death in an instant. If there is no Luo Tong, long-term use can make people muddle-headed and lose their mind."

[2] She said 引魂 (yîn hún) which translates to 'lead the soul'. It can be understood as "lure/induce the soul" or simply, soul lure.

An Ruolan heard her words and rushed towards Ying Ran. She shouted fiercely, "No, it's not! It's just Emotional Lure, it can only make people more emotional, how can it be deadly? Impossible! He said it was an emotional lure!"

Ying Ran looked at her coldly, "Emotional Lure is colourless and tasteless and it has the effect of stimulating lust. But if there is no love in the heart, how can it induce lust? If you are under the impression that it would make someone love you and induce lust, you're mistaken. It wouldn't work no matter who you give it to. He lied to you, there was Soul Lure in the pastries."

As soon as Ying Ran's words came out, An Ruolan stumbled back a few steps and fell on the bed. She shook her head and murmured to herself in disbelief, "Why did he deceive me? Why did he want me to murder His Majesty? He helped me. He wanted to help me save my life, so he taught me to do this. Was all of that a lie?"

She didn't believe that Ziqi - who entered the palace and became a concubine just for her, her Ziqi ge who accompanied her when she was a child - would actually hurt her so much.

"Let Mingyue guess. Whether it was poisoning me or the pastries, Han Ziqi taught you, but does consort mother know that both need Luo Tong as a guide?" At this time, he still called her 'consort mother', it wasn't known whether he did it to mock her or not, but Qi Xutian was displeased. The hand resting on his waist pinched lightly, although it didn't hurt, it still made Qi Mingyue stiffen. His Father was too--

Qi Xutian's eyes were slightly, almost imperceptibly, tinged with a smile. Where was MingEr's body sensitive? He was very clear about it.

On the other side, An Ruolan, who had just calmed down from the shock, listened to his question and looked surprised. "Luo Tong flower?" After a while, she replied stiffly, "How do you know? What if I don't know?" She didn't feel any guilt towards this strange star and naturally didn't have to give him a good face.

Seeing that she still seemed to be protecting Han Ziqi, Qi Mingyue shook his head. "Consort mother turned out to be so naive. You should know where there are Luo Tong flowers in the palace?" Seeing her contemplative expression, he continued, "Luo Tong is a rare item. Only the Empress' pavilion in the entire palace has them in full bloom. Ranxin Pavilion isn't far from you. If other people came to know that Father was poisoned and the poison is Luo Tong, whom do you think they will doubt? You, who frequently comes and goes to the Imperial Study to see him or the Empress who is not even allowed to leave her room?"

To An Ruolan's discoloured face, Qi Xutian said nonchalantly, "Everyone will think that you stole Luo Tong and plotted to murder me secretly but accused Jiang Yao."

Her face paled instantly. She thought of Han Ziqi's words and deeds and could not help but wonder if he intentionally tried to frame her? In retrospect, he did hear that she personally made pastries and sent them to His Majesty and Qi Mingyue. Then, he asked if she had tried putting in Luo Tong flower's juice in it. After that, he came to see her several times and told her that Qi Mingyue was not her son, but actually an alien star that killed her actual son. This made her eager to save her life and she poisoned him.

It was also because he said that the Empress had offended His Majesty recently and her position wasn't guaranteed. Upon seeing her considering, he gave her the so-called emotional lure. Were these all his schemes?

Her countenance changed, it was obvious she was hit hard. Qi Xutian sneered, "Trying to murder the prince, intentions of poisoning me - even if you were instigated, you cannot escape death."

Although it was indeed because of Han Ziqi's words that she started, the thorn in her heart had bred for a long time. Since she did it, she wouldn't dare to admit it, but... An Ruolan raised her head grimly, "I didn't plot against the prince, Qi Mingyue is not my son. He is the alien star! My prince died when he was in my womb, he was killed by him! He will kill me!"

"Why do you say that?" Qi Xutian's eyes were half-closed, revealing a dangerous expression.

He heard her continue, "I learned that when I was pregnant with the prince, I was drugged. His life was weak. Even if he was born, he wouldn't have been able to live for many days, but he was very healthy. It is clear that he killed my son in my belly and replaced him!"

Everyone was shocked by her words. Was it true? Or was it a lie Han Ziqi made up to lure her? Regardless of whether it was true or false, as long as she believed it, the second prince was the alien star that seized the body of her child. For her, he wasn't only someone who killed and seized the body of her son but also the one who would take her life. Therefore, she was instigated by Han Ziqi to poison Qi Mingyue without any guilt.

He didn't reincarnate? Instead, because of his arrival, the real Qi Mingyue died and then he borrowed that corpse to return to life? It was ridiculous. Qi Mingyue's slowly closed his eyes that were full of mockery, he didn't care about her words, but somehow, he didn't want to turn to look at his Father's expression at this time.

Really didn't want to? Or didn't dare to? Suddenly, he realised the strangeness in his heart. He reflected from the bottom of his heart, hesitated again and again, and finally looked at the person beside him.

But he found Qi Xutian looking at him, a deep look brewing in his eyes. Qi Mingyue felt shocked and his heart jumped uncontrollably, he was... afraid.

He was afraid that there would be no more gentle indulgence or ambiguity in the eyes of his Father, or even a little concern. He clearly wasn't a person with deep feelings and affection, but at this moment, he felt panicked. Suddenly, he heard Qi Xutian sigh as he took him into his arms like he usually did in the bedroom, embraced him, exhaled softly in his ear, then licked and kissed it. Then he said in complain, "MingEr doesn't fully trust his Father. You must remember that in my eyes, you are my child."

Thinking of him being like this in front of everyone, Qi Mingyue immediately froze and his ears flushed crimson. He had never been so embarrassed before, but because of one person's eyes, he let go of his worries. The wild pounding of his heart as well as his worries about gains and losses, Father probably knew all this.

"It's my fault. It won't happen in the future." When he answered, he also sighed a little and recovered his composure. He also sighed internally, after all, he fell into a trap. He thought that his feelings for his Father were still within control and didn't realise when it reached such a point where he couldn't extricate himself.

Both father and son sighed and embraced each other. Their whispers and ambiguous actions weren't something that occurred between ordinary father and son, let alone between royals. One was the gentle and elegant prince and the other was Qi Xutian, the Emperor who was had always been cold and fickle; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was astounding.

Ying Ran, who had never seen this scene, and the shadow guards who were also unfamiliar, had surprise flash in their eyes. But after a moment, they all recovered their senses.

The shadow guards just feel that no matter how His Majesty and the Second Prince were, it had nothing to do with them. The only thing they had to remember was their duty, as for everything else - what should be forgotten, would be forgotten and what should be ignored, would be ignored.

They didn't see anything. Their eyes turned to look down and they collectively ignored it. Their faces were expressionless as if they hadn't seen the scene in front of them.

Ying Ran smiled after her surprise waned. In her eyes, His Majesty was His Majesty, and His Royal Highness Mingyue was still her master. No matter whether he was the abnormal star or in an unethical relationship, as long as her Master was happy, everything was good.

Liu Yi paid attention to the expressions of these people around him. A smile of happiness and relief flashed on his immovable face, which was fleeting, and soon his facial expression returned to normal. He dropped his eyes to look at the ground and he continued to stay behind Qi Xutian.

When An Ruolan saw this, she stood up in rage and incredulity, "Are you all blind?! Don't you see what His Majesty is doing?! He has been bewitched by the alien star and you still haven't stopped him!" She pointed to Qi Mingyue again, "You are a monster! You made His Majesty commit acts of incest! Confused the Son of Heaven, murdered a concubine! You will be punished by God and won't have any descendants in the future!"

"So what? Since I love Father, I'm doomed to have no descendants. I don't mind. Why does consort mother worry about me so much? Do you think I will care about this?" For ancient people, it may be a great crime to be unfilial. For him, however, it didn't mean anything. Qi Mingyue sat leisurely in Qi Xutian's arms and wrapped an arm around his neck, evidently provocative, he brought his face close and dropped a kiss on his lips.

Qi Xutian raised his lips to reveal a smile. He moved his arm that was around Qi Mingyue's waist to the back of his head, exerted a little force and pressed the body that wanted to leave against his own, and inserted his tongue to deepen their kiss. The sight of their intertwined lips and tongues made An Ruolan crazy.

First of all, the matter was exposed and she got demoted here, lost her status and all her glory. Then, she learned that Han Ziqi, whom she trusted wholeheartedly, was using her; her feelings of the past became a scam. And now, Qi Xutian did such an intimate action in front of everyone without any shame, but no one objected. Could it be that the world had gone crazy?!

Yes, she couldn't trust anyone! Couldn't believe anyone! The palace maids she ordered to be removed were not the same. As long as they're weak, they would be trampled on effortlessly. Whoever believes in them would die, there was no place to bury them. She, however, was different. She still had dependence and even Heart gu. She would not be slaughtered by others, no one could harm her! Han Ziqi can't, Qi Xutian can't, and that alien star, he won't even think about it!

An Ruolan bit her lips fiercely and muttered to herself. Blood flowed down from the corner of her mouth. Suddenly, she snapped, "Just you wait! I will not lose to you! Don't you want to kill me?! And you, Qi Xutian, one day, I will tell the world! The Emperor of Cang He committed incest with the young prince! I will make your Cang He be despised by the world!" Her shrill laughter was full of insanity. The blood flowing from her mouth made her look like a biting female ghost. It was frightening. When everyone present frowned, they found that the second prince coughed and spat out blood!

"Lianxin!" Ying Ran exclaimed and saw An Ruolan laugh wildly, she actually intended to slam her head against the wall! At this moment, she saw a figure flash and An Roulan's body suddenly fell on the ground.

She saw that beside her, Chief Liu Yi slowly closed his palm. Without any change in expression, he stood back behind Qi Xutian.

An Ruolan had fainted and could no longer hurt herself and naturally, the Lianxin gu in Mingyue's body wouldn't act up. Fortunately, this time it wasn't serious. Qi Mingyue wiped the blood on his lips. He saw that Qi Xutian had some blood on his lips, leaned in towards him a little and licked it naturally. But Qi Xutian licked his lips, with a sense of bloodthirsty temptation in his actions, he whispered, "MingEr's blood tastes good." But his eyes looked at An Ruolan lying on the ground and gradually turned a deep shade of red.

"Tell people to supervise her day and night, and don't let her harm herself anymore. If she does something like this again, just knock her out and leave her be, maybe she'll waste away faster."

After listening to his words, Ying Ran shook her head. "Your Majesty, that can't be done. The Heart gu moves when it discovers blood. As long as there is any abnormality in the blood meridians of her body, it would cause harm through the child gu. Even if she really sleeps day after day, she will have physical exhaustion one day, and her blood vessels would wither. When that happens, both the child gu and the mother gu would be stimulated at the same time and the host would die."

Qi Xutian frowned and felt that it was hard to handle. Even if An Ruolan was left alive without any harm done to her, in case she died before MingEr, then MingEr would be implicated. Qi Mingyue, who was in his arms, had a different thought. Even if he had a perfect strategy to prevent Heart gu from attacking, his life would still be under the control of others. He would rather die than let his life be controlled by others.

Qi Xutian seemed to guess what he had thought and warned, "No matter what, MingEr is not allowed to mess around, understand?"

Qi Mingyue nodded lightly, "Father can rest assured. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will not give up. Moreover, it hasn't been long since I was poisoned with Lianxin gu, we still have time to find a solution."

For some time, the room sunk into silence and everyone began to think hard about Lianxin gu.

---

Previous | Project Page | Next