CHAPTER 91: FLOWER BLOSSOM’S CRUELTY

Yue Mingxuan stared at Rong Qinglei, who had turned his face aside.

He wasn’t without fear.

Everyone said you should never slap someone’s face.

But he had done exactly that.

And the man’s clothes and manner clearly showed he belonged to the beirong royal family.

Silence flowed slowly between the two of them.

Time seemed frozen and no one moved.

Yue Mingxuan felt he was about to go crazy from the awkward atmosphere. He then turned around and tried to run away from the "scene of the crime."

However, how could Rong Qinglei allow the person he longed for to disappear again?

Ignoring the pain on his face, he flashed in front of Yue Mingxuan and blocked his path.

It’s over, Yue Mingxuan thought gloomily.

He had hoped to run away while the man was stunned, but now he couldn’t.

He wondered how Beirong punished someone for slapping a royal family member.

Would they punished him by beating? Fines? Or they would straight sent him to jail for disrespecting the royal family?

Thinking of this, Yue Mingxuan lifted his chin while closed his eyes and said, "I was wrong for slapping you. But you offended me first. However, because I’m generous, I’ll let you slap me back if you’re not satisfied."

When Yue Mingxuan lifted his head and closed his eyes, Rong Qinglei felt a wave of excitement rise inside him.

Without thinking, he slowly raised his hand, tracing the outline of Yue Mingxuan’s lips in the air.

But the moment he realized what he was doing and understood the intention hidden in his own heart, a trace of shame flashed through him.

How could he have such thoughts about Yue Mingxuan?

They had only met twice.

Why would such desire rise in him?

Rong Qinglei who had always prided himself on his self control suddenly learned for the first time that he also had feelings that he could not control.

Afraid that he would do something improper and offend Yue Mingxuan, he quickly turned his face away, forced himself to turn around and leave, even forgetting to return the mask that was still in his hand.

Yue Mingxuan opened his eyes and discovered that Rong Qinglei had already walked away.

He quietly let out a breath.

Perhaps this counted as escaping disaster.

If someone survived a great danger, good fortune would follow later.

Then he remembered that the mask had been taken away by that man and he felt annoyed.

But he decided to take it as payment for the slap he had given Rong Qinglei earlier.

He bent down, grabbed a handful of dirt from the flower bed by the path and simply smeared it across his own face.

Yue Mingxuan felt that coming to this banquet had been the worst decision he had made in a long time.

There was good wine and good food, yes, but also endless shocks and fear.

He wondered if the food he ate tonight could make up for all the brain cells he had lost from being frightened.

He walked toward his courtyard while thinking gloomily,

As for the imperial kitchen, he had already thrown that thought to the back of his mind.

When he returned to his courtyard, Yue Mingxuan did not see Sui He anywhere.

A trace of confusion flashed through his heart.

Sui He was naturally cautious and almost never left without reason.

Thinking of this, Yue Mingxuan’s heart grew uneasy.

He pushed open the door and walked into the inner room, only to find Sui He lying on the floor with thin lines of blood at the corner of her mouth.

Seeing this scene, Yue Mingxuan felt as if all the blood in his body rushed to his head.

He quickly run forward and placed her on the bed. Then he noticed a small patch of rotting skin beneath her chin.

"Sui He..." Yue Mingxuan’s sorrowful cry sounded very loud in the quiet night.

Yue Mingxuan did not know how he managed to run to the Imperial Infirmary and call all the imperial physicians.

He only knew that when he finally came back to his senses, every physician from the infirmary was already gathered inside his courtyard.

He stood to the side while watching them examine Sui He and use acupuncture.

Everything was right in front of his eyes, yet he felt as if he were watching a silent film, everything seemed far away from him.

After discussing for a moment, the leading imperial physician finally spoke carefully.

"Prince Rong, based on what we see, your maid has been poisoned with something called Flower Blossom. Although it will not take her life, I fear her face cannot be saved."

Hearing the physician’s words, Yue Mingxuan’s heart was already filled with burning anger.

He remembered Sui He once mentioning this poison in casual conversation.

It was a poison that circulated within the Beirong harem.

Although it had a beautiful name, it was extremely cruel and vicious.

It would not kill a woman, but the women who suffered from it often lived the rest of their lives in misery, wishing for death rather than living.

Appearance, especially for the women of the inner palace was more important than life itself.

And the poison called Flower Blossom, although not deadly, could completely ruin a woman’s face.

Once poisoned, there was no cure at all.

Yue Mingxuan looked at Sui He who lay unconscious on the bed and his eyes turned red with anger.

He grabbed the imperial doctor’s collar and shouted without care, "I don’t care what it takes, you must cure this poison!"

The determination in Yue Mingxuan’s eyes scared the imperial doctor so much that he fell to his knees at once. "Prince Yue, it is not that we refuse to detoxify it. This poison truly has no cure. It had already disappeared from the world. This officer does not know why it appeared here. If Prince Yue can find the one who used the poison, perhaps... there may be a tiny hope."