On the way to the private rooms on the second floor, the air was thick with the smell of makeup mixed with wine and greasy food.
The first floor wasn’t too bad, but in the upstairs corridor, some private room doors were half-open. Wealthy young men in fine clothes sat with beautiful dancers or young male entertainers in their arms, whispering crude jokes.
Mu Jue completely lost his appetite.
He wanted to tell the Ninth Prince he felt unwell and return to the carriage to rest. But remembering what Lu Shiting had told him a few days ago, he hesitated.
“Sixth Brother, why are you dawdling? Did you fall for one of the singers?”
The Ninth Prince pushed open a door. The private room was large, and the central table was already covered with exquisite dishes.
“Tell me if you like one. I can afford to pay for a singer for you. My only worry is…”
Mu Jue walked inside and immediately opened a window to breathe. He heard the Ninth Prince’s mocking laugh behind him.
“My only worry is that if Chief Lu finds out your body was touched by a dirty singer, he won’t let you off! Hahaha…”
Mu Jue stood by the window and took a few deep breaths until the heavy scent of makeup cleared from his nose. Only then did he return to the table to sit down.
He picked up his chopsticks and ate a few bites of food.
Beside him, the Ninth Prince had already taken a cup and was pouring wine. After a few drinks, the Ninth Prince’s face turned red, and he looked over.
“Drinking alone is boring. Have a few drinks with me.”
Mu Jue shook his head. “I don’t know how to drink. Your Highness can have the servants join you.”
“How can servants eat with their master?” The Ninth Prince frowned. He snatched the cup from in front of Mu Jue and filled it to the brim. “If you don’t drink, I’ll tell Brother Crown Prince that you brought me to a restaurant to see brothel girls.”
Mu Jue was shocked. “You were the one who wanted to come here, and those girls aren’t—”
“So what? The Crown Prince is my full-blooded brother. You are just the son of a discarded consort. Do you think he will believe me or an outsider like you?”
The Ninth Prince raised an eyebrow, looking quite smug.
“This is Xiao Yun Restaurant’s famous ‘End of Bitterness’ wine. One jar cost ten gold taels. Giving you a drink is doing you a favor.”
A plainclothes Eastern Depot guard moved silently through the corridor and stepped into a small, inconspicuous side room.
“Chief, the Sixth Prince is drinking with the Ninth Prince. The Little Khan of Northern Di has left his residence. Based on the carriage’s direction, he is heading toward Xiao Yun Restaurant.”
Lu Shiting looked down. The wine in his cup was slightly yellow, the color of withered grass in winter.
Next to the cup lay an invitation with the Ninth Prince’s seal.
“Chief, the Ninth Prince sent a special invitation for you to come here. Was this also the Crown Prince’s idea?”
“No. The Crown Prince doesn’t know about this invitation. These princes’ talent for plotting against their own brothers is exactly like their father’s.”
Cao Yi stood beside Lu Shiting and whispered.
“The Ninth Prince put a drug on the Sixth Prince’s cup beforehand. I checked the dosage. It should make him unconscious for about half an hour. When he wakes up, his body will be burning hot and his mind will be clouded… It’s a drug commonly used in brothels.”
“Did he drink from that cup?”
Cao Yi nodded. “He did. The Ninth Prince bullied him, saying he’d report him to the Crown Prince if he didn’t. His Highness likely never imagined his own brother would drug him like this.”
Lu Shiting drained his cup of wine. After the initial bitterness, a very faint fruity aroma spread—like the dried fruit Mu Jue had given him.
“…He doesn’t seem like the Emperor’s seed at all.”
Cao Yi was stunned.
The Chief’s voice was cold, as if he were telling a common story.
“Unfortunately, Consort Li was framed. He is the Emperor’s son. If he weren’t, I wouldn’t mind putting him on that dragon throne myself.”
If a new Emperor took the throne and news was spread that he didn’t have royal blood, the dynasty would become a massive laughingstock.
But since Mu Jue was a royal prince, he would eventually have to join his brothers in the underworld to comfort the spirits of those who died unjustly.
A faint flush rose on Mu Jue’s pale face. The sweet aftertaste of the wine remained in his mouth.
The wine felt like nothing at first, but as it hit his throat, it became spicy and choking. By the time he finished one cup, a layer of hot sweat covered his back.
“I… I can’t drink anymore.”
He pushed away the second cup the Ninth Prince offered. The young man’s dark eyes were covered in a light watery sheen, and the corners of his eyes were flushed red. The cinnabar mole near his eye looked even more vivid, like a red plum blossom in the snow.
“I can’t drink anymore.”
The Ninth Prince studied him for a moment and didn’t push further. He ignored Mu Jue and continued eating.
Mu Jue used the table for support as he tried to stand up. He accidentally knocked over the empty cup, spilling the dregs onto his fingers and staining his clothes.
His head felt heavy and dizzy, as if the wine was dragging him down into a bottomless cliff. The scene before him blurred; Xia Ming’s concerned face and the Ninth Prince’s sneer merged into a double image.
He gripped the edge of the table, but he had no strength. His body swayed.
“…Xia Ming.”
He sensed something was wrong.
“Help me out. I need to go, go outside for some air.”
No matter how strong a normal wine was, one cup shouldn’t do this to him.
Lu Shiting had promised to have hidden guards following him. As long as he left the room, those guards would see something was wrong.
Xia Ming walked over worriedly to support him. “Master, are you alright?”
Behind them, the Ninth Prince’s gaze felt like a physical weight on his back.
Mu Jue stayed quiet, struggling to fight off the urge to pass out. “…I’m fine. The wine is just strong. It’s my first time, so I’m a bit drunk.”
They took a few steps, but the light grew dimmer and dimmer. Colors turned to gray, and then to total darkness.
His head spun. Mu Jue tried to push open the door, but as he fell forward, his fingers missed the frame.
He heard Xia Ming’s panicked voice: “Sixth Prince! Master! What’s wrong?!”
The Ninth Prince watched the young man collapse, looking lazy.
“Finally, it’s working. I thought the Crown Prince gave me fake medicine. Knock out that annoying little eunuch and tie him up. Then carry my brother to the bed inside—has the Little Khan arrived yet?”
Lu Shiting was in a room on the top floor of the restaurant. He watched from a half-open window as the Ninth Prince and his servants left their room and entered the one next door.
He looked away. “Cao Yi, when the Little Khan arrives, tell the Ninth Prince I received his invitation and am waiting for him here.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Now, bring the Sixth Prince here.”
Cao Yi bowed and left silently. A few moments later, he climbed back through the inner courtyard window, carrying the unconscious young man on his back.
“Chief, the Sixth Prince…”
Where should he put him?
The Chief looked over, his cold gaze landing on the young man’s flushed face.
Cao Yi hesitated to put the Prince directly on the bed behind the screen. He started to crouch down, thinking he’d just let him lie on the floor for a bit.
“Put him on the bed. When will the antidote arrive?”
Cao Yi scrambled to his feet.
“Reporting to the Chief, the antidote is still being prepared. It will take about an hour to get here.”
Lu Shiting stood up. Dressed in black, he looked elegant and composed. He walked slowly behind the screen, looking down at the young man on the bed whose hair was damp with sweat and whose face was beautiful and flushed.
“You may leave.”