The footsteps in the distance gradually grew closer. Chu Xunsheng remained silent, watching him quietly.
The man let out an ambiguous, low chuckle from his throat, then leaned in closer, capturing Chu Xunsheng’s lower lip to gently nip and explore it repeatedly.
Chu Xunsheng bit down hard, a faint trace of blood spreading across his mouth. The man let out a low gasp of pain and finally released him.
That small gasp seemed to draw someone from further away, as a clear and gentle voice called out, “Lord Chu?”
The man in front of him licked his bleeding tongue tip, let out a low laugh, and turned to walk away.
Covering his mouth with his hand, Chu Xunsheng peered out. Under the moonlight, he could make out Su Yun’s mild and refined face.
Su Yun walked over, taking in Chu Xunsheng’s disheveled clothing, his moist, shimmering eyes, and his hand tightly pressed over his mouth. His gaze darkened for a fraction of a second before he instantly resumed his usual gentlemanly composure.
He did not pry excessively. Instead, he politely produced a handkerchief and asked, “Does Lord Chu need me to bid farewell to the others on your behalf?”
Accepting the handkerchief, Chu Xunsheng nodded and murmured, “Sorry to trouble you, Lord Su.”
With that, he beat a hasty retreat from the Wei residence.
Walking down the road together, the system poked its head out and asked cautiously, “Xiao Chu, are you alright?”
Chu Xunsheng used the handkerchief to wipe the blood from his lips, curving his lips into a smile. “What could possibly be wrong?”
“Then does Xiao Chu know who that bad guy is? We need to find out who it is so we can go make trouble for him!”
Chu Xunsheng did not answer immediately. Licking his split corner of lip, he smiled, “What is the rush? I reckon he is probably in a bigger hurry than I am.”
The system scratched its head in confusion. “He did not get taken advantage of, why would he be in a hurry?”
What a silly little system.
Chu Xunsheng gave its head a light tap. “It is fine. I just bit his tongue, so we can identify him by checking everyone’s tongues.”
The system brightened up instantly. “Xiao Chu is so smart! But with so many guests here, are we going to pull them out one by one and check their tongues?”
Naturally not. Man and system meticulously mapped out an elimination method.
The people who had left the banquet around the same time included Su Yun, Zhang Yi, the slender-waist minor civil official from earlier, and Ji Jing.
Xiao Jing was his nephew, so he was excluded first.
Su Yun was also excluded.
That left only the minor civil official and Zhang Yi.
The minor civil official was easy enough to handle. Taking advantage of a morning court session, Chu Xunsheng deliberately sought him out and gave his waist a firm squeeze.
Even though everyone looked utterly shocked by such public indecency and let out a collective gasp of air the moment his hand landed, Chu Xunsheng grabbed a handful anyway.
After all, he was an annoying little cannon fodder! A little more hate would not hurt.
Nope, not him. It was too soft and lacked firmness.
Chu Xunsheng walked away with firm resolve.
That left only Zhang Yi!
This one could not be handled so casually. While the minor civil official had to swallow his teeth and bear the humiliation, this big shot might very well slice someone into minced meat right in the middle of court.
Chu Xunsheng shivered. Prompted by the system’s nagging, he wrapped himself tightly in a hooded cloak on a dark, windless night and sneaked into the Zhang estate.
All he needed to do was blow the system’s special sleeping powder into Zhang Yi’s room, pull down his jaw to check his tongue, and the mission would be complete!
However, ideals were plump while reality was skeletal.
As Chu Xunsheng was pinned down to the ground by a crowd of guards, he still could not figure out which step had gone wrong to cause such a miserable failure in stealth.
The guards hauled him before Zhang Yi and reported the details.
Zhang Yi leaned lazily in a chair, a heavy black cloak pooling on the floor. Hearing the report, he let out a soft chuckle. “Daring to sneak into my estate, are you tired of living?”
His scarlet lips curved into a smile, making his striking face look more like an evil spirit than a man. “What kind of punishment do you fancy? Skinning? Tendon removal? Hmm?”
How terrifying!
Chu Xunsheng and the system shivered in unison and shook their heads.
“None of them? Then…”
As he spoke, Zhang Yi reached out and hooked his fingers under the hood concealing Chu Xunsheng’s face, saying with cruel amusement, “…”
That familiar, handsome face was revealed before him, his eyes still holding a trace of lingering fear.
Zhang Yi abruptly changed his tune. “Then you are coming to my room instead.”
The guards looked as though their jaws were about to hit the floor, their gazes bouncing back and forth between the two men. Bound by fear, they dared not make a sound, yet the frantic sparks flying between their eyes practically ignited the air.
Guard A: He looks pretty, so he is dragging him straight to the bedroom! Guard B: My god, what a pervert!
Chu Xunsheng was equally shocked. He stared at the striking Zhang Yi, looking him up and down until a flush began to creep across the other man’s face.
Slowly, Chu Xunsheng spoke up, “Th-then you have to let me see your tongue first.”
Zhang Yi blinked, staring at the deadpan Lord Chu and realizing he was entirely serious.
The guards’ eyes widened even further, the speed of their visual exchanges threatening to spark a massive inferno. Guard A: I did not expect this one to be a weirdo too! Guard B: Lord Zhang is going to slice him into shreds!
Under Chu Xunsheng’s expectant gaze, Zhang Yi parted his scarlet lips slightly, extending a crimson tongue to slowly trace a circle around them with heavy implication. “Does Lord Chu find this satisfactory?”
No wound.
Chu Xunsheng shook his head. “Apologies, I do not.”
Audacious! Unbelievable! The guards’ eyes grew as large as copper bells as they stared in unison at Lord Zhang, whose body was radiating an intimidating, icy chill.
Zhang Yi clenched his fists tightly, though his face betrayed no emotion, keeping a polite smile plastered in place.
Without waiting for anyone else, Chu Xunsheng turned around and swaggered right out through the front gates.
Zhang Yi’s voice rang out from behind, vibrant and brilliant just like its owner, “Then what kind of tongue do you like?”
The guards were practically on the verge of fainting. Sheer physical and mental endurance kept them upright as they stared at Chu Xunsheng with burning anticipation.
Without stopping or looking back, Chu Xunsheng walked off into the distance.
Although the journey had been full of peril and nearly ended in being skinned alive, the objective had been achieved!
The system solemnly drew a giant X over Zhang Yi’s head on its mental interface, staring at it for a long time before saying despondently, “What do we do now that there are no suspects left?”
Chu Xunsheng idly plucked at the leaves of a small potted green plant by the windowsill. “It is fine. He will pop out eventually.”
The system wailed, “What if he does not pop out? If the mission fails, I will not get my physical body, wuwu!”
Huh? A physical body?
Chu Xunsheng poked the system. “What kind of body?”
The moment the topic turned to this, the system perked up. It opened the system panel for Chu Xunsheng to see, boasting loudly and proudly, “HQ promised me that once we finish this arc, they will grant me a physical body! After that, I can stay right by Xiao Chu’s side forever! Is not Xiao Chu happy?”
Chu Xunsheng narrowed his eyes into a smile, pressing his palms together as he looked at the system with shining eyes. He asked softly, “That is wonderful! What does the system want to turn into? Could it be a little kitty cat?”
The system hesitated for a fraction of a second. It had originally wanted to constexpr become a fierce, mighty tiger, but since Xiao Chu wanted a cat…
“Yes! A kitty cat sounds great!” Smitten by affection, the system rolled around and rubbed against him, its digital eyes transforming into glowing stars.
Armed with a new goal, man and system surged with fighting spirit, preparing to go all out to track down the villain. Yet before they could even begin, an imperial summons arrived.
Following the chief eunuch into the Forbidden City, Chu Xunsheng straightened his collar, which had not been fastened properly, and murmured, “Does His Majesty want something with me?”
The chief eunuch smiled kindly. “This old servant does not know either, but His Majesty certainly does not look displeased!”
Getting nothing out of him, Chu Xunsheng could only follow in silence, passing through layer after layer of crimson palace walls and solemn, majestic gates until a resplendent palace came into view.
The ground was paved with gold bricks and the roofs tiled with glazed ceramic. Golden dragons coiled lifelike around the pillars, and exquisitely carved white jade red-paper lanterns hung from the eaves, exuding an air of solemn magnificence.
A winding flight of stairs stretched upward, with guards and palace maids stationed on every single step.
Bowing slightly, the chief eunuch said, “Lord Chu, please enter on your own.”
Even under the immense majesty of the imperial household, Chu Xunsheng could not help holding his breath slightly.
He pushed open the heavy doors inlaid with golden dragons. A pleasant, unfamiliar fragrance drifted from an incense burner, and through the wisps of smoke stood a hollow-carved folding screen.
The scent was painfully familiar, as though he had smelled it somewhere before.
Circling around the screen, Chu Xunsheng finally spotted the emperor sitting on a couch with his chin propped in his hand, eyes closed as if deep in thought. The warm light cast a soft glow over his golden mask, though the oppressive aura of a supreme ruler filled the air, chilling one to the bone.
Before the emperor stood a wooden desk crafted from extremely precious timber, carved with intricate patterns and piled high with various documents.
Stepping forward slowly, Chu Xunsheng called out softly, “Your Majesty.”
The sovereign lifted his head to look at him, his voice holding an unreadable emotion.
“Come here.”
Pausing for a few seconds, Chu Xunsheng slowly walked forward.
The emperor beckoned again. “Closer.”
Measuring the distance between himself and the emperor, Chu Xunsheng offered awkwardly, “Your humble subject…”
“I told you to come here, so come here.”
With no other choice, Chu Xunsheng took a few more steps, stopping just a few paces away from the imperial throne.
“I heard that Lord Chu today…”
The voice carried a trace of frost that chilled Chu Xunsheng from head to toe, prompting him to frantically review his behavior earlier that day.
Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen.
The emperor cast a sideways glance at him. “Lord Chu acted presumptuously toward some minor official today?”
Chu Xunsheng’s heart skipped a beat. Oh no! His petty misconduct was caught by the boss! It must have been about him pinching that official’s waist. Using imperial power to harass officials in broad daylight, what a grave crime!
Was he going to be thrown into the Dali Temple? But he had offended Lord Zhang of the Dali Temple just recently, so going in there meant certain torture…
Darkness fell over Chu Xunsheng’s vision, and he felt all hope for his mission vanish.
The system’s kitty cat body, gone forever, wuwu…
Perhaps sensing that his silence had dragged on too long, the emperor spoke again, “Could it be that Lord Chu genuinely fancies that minor official?”
Chu Xunsheng gritted his teeth. Reasoning that flirting out of genuine affection sounded much better than bullying someone with absolute power, he hurriedly nodded.
To his surprise, the emperor’s cold pressure only intensified. The piece of jade he was holding instantly shattered into fine powder, and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he enunciated each word, “Really?”
Chu Xunsheng nodded hastily once more.
The next second, his perspective spun violently. The sovereign grabbed him by the collar and slammed him mercilessly down onto the wooden desk. The documents scattered across the surface in disarray, and the desk shuddered violently under the impact, emitting a sharp, creaking groan.
A pair of well-defined hands with bulging veins reached out, sliding inward from Chu Xunsheng’s collar.
The icy touch contrasted sharply against his warm body, causing Chu Xunsheng to struggle to speak. “What is Your Majesty doing?”
Half of the emperor’s face was cast in shadow, while the other half was illuminated scarlet by the firelight, flashing with a distinctly tyrannical intent.