His body grew increasingly stiff, every step a painstaking effort until he finally had to lean against the corridor, pressing sideways against the railing. He had no idea how long the drug would take effect or who had slipped it to him.
If he had known this would happen, he should have declined the invitation. Coming to the banquet all alone, he wouldn’t even know where to hide if something happened. He must look so pathetic right now. What if he actually ran into someone with ill intentions?
No, it was too hot. The drug was gradually taking effect, stirring an unbearable restlessness deep within. It was the June Lantern Festival; the weather was dry, and the palace was lively for a rare change. Even maids and eunuchs would take the opportunity to secretly exchange tokens of affection.
A thin layer of sweat broke out across his skin. He raised a hand to wipe it, but even his arms had turned weak. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and upon hearing a round of footsteps passing by, he couldn’t help but call out, “Stop right there!”
Several palace maids paused at the sound, stepped forward, and said, “Greetings, Lord Chancellor.”
“Help, help me!”
“Is My Lord drunk?”
“Yes, yes. First, help me to the side hall.”
“Understood.” The maids supported him by either arm, struggling forward. After all, Mei Jinshu was a grown man, while the palace maidservants were only around fourteen or fifteen years old, making their walk unsteady, laborious, and swaying from side to side.
With a loud explosion, dazzling fireworks burst across the night sky, brilliant and dazzling without a moment’s rest. Everyone looked up at the sky in awe, including him, whose vision was already blurring.
Such beautiful fireworks.
Even if it was brilliant for only a fleeting moment, it was enough to make everyone pause for them.
The maids walked while looking up, their eyes captivated by the fireworks. Mei Jinshu stepped heavily on the hem of his robe, losing his balance, and all three of them tumbled to the ground, briefly losing consciousness.
“Lord Chancellor! Lord Chancellor!”
“Quick, help My Lord up!”
Two frail young women naturally couldn’t lift a grown man on their own. After being tossed and turned for a while, Mei Jinshu suddenly felt his body float, his consciousness returning as if he were among the clouds, while a very fragrant scent drifted into his nostrils.
No, who was holding him? His body gave a start, immediately followed by a surge of desire as fierce as the ocean tides. He stiffened, grabbed the arm of the person right in front of him, and demanded, “Who are you? Let go of me this instant!”
“I am the Crown Prince of Wuhuan, Chu Lingji.”
“My Lord, we must have met at court.”
Mei Jinshu went black in front of his eyes. How could he run into the Crown Prince of Wuhuan of all people, and why was the man carrying him around so brazenly? What kind of propriety was this? Whoever you are, just let me go first!
Yet, the words that came out of his mouth turned into a soft, whimpering pant, “Thank you, Your Highness, but this really isn’t appropriate.”
Chu Lingji ignored him and continued walking forward, “I couldn’t bear to see My Lord sleeping on the cold ground, so I took the liberty of carrying you to the side hall.”
“Thank you, but I can walk by myself.”
“Are you certain you can walk like that?”
“Please release me, Your Highness.”
“As you wish.” Chu Lingji carefully set him down on the ground, followed close behind, and looked him up and down with great interest. Was he drunk, or had he been drugged?
Seeing him standing there completely rigid, with a flushed face, like a marionette, it was clear he couldn’t possibly walk to the side hall. Upon closer observation, it looked like he was suffering from a hallucinogenic aphrodisiac unique to Wuhuan.
Mei Jinshu gritted his teeth inwardly, cursing every single person he could think of, including the Wuhuan Crown Prince lingering right behind him. How annoying! Just how handsome did he think he was to still be hanging around and refusing to leave?
After forcing himself to take a few steps, his feet felt light and his legs were like two chopsticks. Amidst the dizzy, spinning world, he tilted straight over to one side in a rather comical fashion.
Chu Lingji hurried forward to wrap an arm around his waist, saying awkwardly, “Let me take you there after all.”
“Don’t get any wrong ideas! I’m just doing a good deed!”
“Just doing a good deed.”
“Cough!” Mei Jinshu frowned in distress as Chu Lingji picked him up and carried him forward. Logically speaking, everyone was watching the fireworks and enjoying the lanterns; no one should be resting in the quiet side hall. So how on earth did he just happen to run into Meng Changqi?
“Lord Mei?!” Meng Changqi gasped in surprise. Maintaining his composure, he stepped forward and said, “I wonder why is the Crown Prince of Wuhuan carrying our Chancellor?”
Chu Lingji quickly explained, “He collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious, so this Prince is taking him to…”
“Thank you for Your Highness’s kind heart.” Meng Changqi scooped him straight out of the other man’s arms and said with practiced politeness, “Since Your Highness has come all the way from afar to the Sheng Empire during the Lantern Festival, you should be enjoying the flowers, drinking wine, and making conversation as our guest. Someone, escort His Highness back to the banquet and attend to him properly.”
With things put this way, Chu Lingji naturally had to return. He cast one final glance at Mei Jinshu’s side profile, eyes tightly shut, before turning and leaving with the crown prince’s attendants.
Meng Changqi brought him into the side hall, laid him down on the soft couch, and poured a cup of tea down his throat. However, this measure was like drinking poison to quench thirst; it had zero effect.
“So uncomfortable, ah!” Mei Jinshu exhaled a hot breath, his eyelashes trembling slightly, his face abnormally flushed, and glistening moisture lingering at the corners of his lips. This appearance was something Meng Changqi would never have dared to imagine, let alone witness.
He pressed a hand to the other man’s forehead. It was burning hot. Was he drunk, or was it something else?
He didn’t dare to think further.
“Chancellor, Chancellor?”
“Lord Mei?” Meng Changqi tried to rouse him, but the longer he looked, the faster his heart beat. His fingertips slid downward to stroke that clear, elegant, and cold-yet-captivating face, crossing a line so far, his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest.
Mei Jinshu felt like he was losing his mind. How could he possibly be with Meng Changqi? Could it be that the two of them actually had a past?
No way, absolutely not! Mei Jinshu mustered every ounce of strength to open his eyes, catching sight of that face hovering so close to his own. He wanted nothing more than to slap him across the face, but the drug rendered his body completely unresponsive, and his voice came out soft and weak, “Changqi, is that you?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Help me, Changqi.”
“How should I help you? What would you like Gu to do?”
“I’ve been poisoned, I need…” The rest of the words simply wouldn’t come out. Clearly, Meng Changqi already understood. Mei Jinshu lay stiffly on the soft couch like a fish at the mercy of another, as large hands wandered over his body, brushing against his waist to untie his sash.
His robes fell into disarray, revealing a bare shoulder, while the loose sash was tossed aside. Mei Jinshu felt as though he were going to die, how could this kind of thing be happening! He turned his head away, screaming frantically in his heart, utterly unable to accept or acknowledge it.
In a daze, his gaze locked onto a pair of eyes filled with extreme resentment, shocking him into a cold sweat. His fingers trembled as if he had been caught in the act of adultery.
“Chang, Changqi!” Mei Jinshu’s voice shook, carrying a trace of thinly veiled shame. To have someone secretly spy on him doing such a shameful thing meant his reputation was completely ruined.
No wonder Meng Xueran hated him so much. How could someone who had nothing, who had never gained anything, keep from going mad after suddenly losing the sole support and person to whom they had entrusted their sincere heart?
He was truly terrified and wanted to stop all of this.
Yet Meng Changqi had not yet noticed the person lurking in the shadows, nor did he see the gaze that wished to tear him limb from limb. Perhaps due to the alcohol, he was completely immersed in the tender, ambiguous intimacy.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss against Mei Jinshu’s snow-white skin, kissing his collarbone with gentle probing. Only when he saw that the person beneath him wasn’t resisting did he dare to kiss his neck and cheeks step by step, softly inhaling the faint, cool fragrance lingering in his hair.
That dragonfly-light kiss made Mei Jinshu’s entire body tingle with numbness, making him feel like a puppet controlled by the drug, even craving more. He forced his eyes open, yet he was powerless to stop what was happening right before him.
End it already, make it stop! He didn’t want to watch anymore!
“Changqi, stop!” Mei Jinshu’s voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz, signaling him not to proceed any further. “This is wrong, we cannot do this.”
“Leave. Don’t mind me.”
“Why?” Meng Changqi refused to leave, stubbornly asking, “You like Gu as well, don’t you?”
“I like you, but not in this way.”
“Impossible. Gu refuses to believe you have never given your heart. In the Eastern Palace, the gifts you brought could fill an entire room. After court is dismissed, you often stay in the Eastern Palace to accompany Gu in calligraphy, swordsmanship, and storytelling. Through all these years, only you have stood steadfastly by Gu’s side!”
Mei Jinshu wanted to die. So no matter what he did, it was wrong?!
“Enough. You are the Crown Prince. Whatever kindness subjects show you is merely because they wish to stand on the right side.”
“So, you’ve always felt that Gu is the right person?” Meng Changqi pulled him into an embrace, burying his face in the crook of his neck, overflowing with joy. “Is it really that hard to admit your feelings? Mei Jinshu, Gu will prove to you that you didn’t choose the wrong person.”
Mei Jinshu glanced out the window, raising a stiff hand to push him away. He was genuinely afraid that Meng Xueran would lose control and do something extreme. Sinking his fingernails deep into his palms, he gritted his teeth and hissed, “Let go, Changqi. You cannot touch me.”
Meng Changqi said, “Why? Gu is willing to bear every consequence of loving you!”
“No, mmh!” Meng Changqi pinched his jaw, cutting off any sound he tried to make, and lowered his head to kiss him. But before his lips could touch those of the other man, darkness consumed his vision and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Still shaken, Mei Jinshu gasped for air. At the crucial moment, Meng Xueran had knocked the prince out.
“A lantern festival, a night for secret rendezvous, and you were driven to such a desperate, starving state?” Meng Xueran let out a cold sneer as he sat down on the edge of the couch, his eyes locked viciously onto the disheveled figure beneath him. “You were in such a rush to draw a clear line between us just so you could sneak off and eat tainted meat with Meng Changqi?”
“No, Ah Jiu!”
“Didn’t you want to draw a clear line? Then why are you still calling me Mei Jiu?!”
Mei Jinshu froze at the roar, tears instantly welling up and filling his eyes. His throat choked up, leaving him completely unable to speak a single word. He wanted to grab Meng Xueran’s arm, only to find that right then, he couldn’t move so much as a finger.
“Do you have any idea how long I searched for you tonight?!” Meng Xueran pressed down on his shoulders, seething with unstoppable rage. “All these years, you gave Meng Changqi so much care and love, and now you were about to give him yourself as well? How noble of you!”
“But he is the Crown Prince! The future Emperor! You’ve devoted yourself heart and soul to him, willing to pay any price. What is it you’re trying to do?”
“Are you trying to be a royal concubine or an Empress? Or don’t tell me you plan to fight other women for favor in the inner palace later on? Just look at this slutty appearance of yours. Never mind Meng Changqi; anyone with a pulse would want to mount you!”
Mei Jinshu was practically driven to fury. The world had truly turned upside down! Why couldn’t he just beat this bastard to death? What good was crying? Why didn’t he curse him out or argue back?!
Mei Jinshu, throughout this lifetime, what on earth are you hesitating and clinging to?