Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 146 Pain

Of the three people he pointed out, one died and one was seriously injured.

There is more to the words than meets the eye.

"Yes, Your Highness has investigated very carefully." Xue Sui's smile did not reach his eyes, "It's just that Xue Liu is stupid. I don't know whether the prince's sudden visit is to reopen the old case for Xue Liu and clear his grievances, or..."

"Did you do this?" Li Huan interrupted her laughter.

A moment of chill passed through the heart.

Xue Sui smiled, "So Your Highness is here to call for justice?"

A hint of coldness flashed across Li Huan's eyes: "Ping An, this is your chance to confess."

Xue Sui frowned, his face full of confusion.

"Your Majesty, do you think too highly of me? If I had the ability to kill people and set fires, how could I be covered in wounds?"

Li Huan's eyes met hers in the air.

The sun was shining brightly, slanting in through the west window, and lightly shining on her fair jade-like face. She was dressed in a simple and elegant plain dress, and her movements were graceful and gentle...

Something must be wrong with Xue Liu.

But Li Huan found it hard to believe that such a woman could be the murderer who was so cruel and brutal that she could kill and dismember people.

That dark hand must be hiding behind her——

"Perhaps I am overthinking..."

Li Huan smiled and tapped the chessboard in front of him lightly with his jade ring, causing the black and white chess pieces in the chess box to tremble.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Jinshu respectfully reminded in the corridor: "Madam, it's time to take the medicine."

Xue Sui responded, "Bring it in."

Jinshu pushed the door open and walked in, placing the medicine cup steadily on the table.

Li Huan stared at the dark brown medicinal juice and suddenly chuckled.

"Is what Ping An drinks every day medicine or poison? Why does his body become weaker and weaker?"

Xue Sui pushed the medicine cup forward three inches, his eyes and brows like the moon reflected in a cold pond, cold and compelling.

"Since your Highness is so suspicious of me, why not try it yourself?"

Li Huan stared at her with deep eyes.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

The two looked into each other's eyes, their breathing could be heard between their shining eyes. Li Huan's heartbeat suddenly sped up, as if he was possessed by a demon, and he did not take his eyes off her face for a long time...

A crow suddenly cried outside the window.

Lingyu on the windowsill also started to coo, seeming extremely impatient.

A feeling of bitterness surged in his heart. Li Huan waved his hand, motioning Jinshu to go out, then changed the subject with a smile.

"I have already thought about what happened last time..."

Xue Sui looked at him quietly, his eyes calm.

Li Huan said: "As long as you can help me find the emissary from Jiuling Marsh, no matter what happens in the future, I will ensure that you are safe."

This was exactly the promise Xue Sui asked for last time.

It took such a long time for Li Huan to respond.

Xue Sui didn't know whether to say that he was too pedantic and took promises too seriously, not even choosing the right time to lie, or whether to say that he was too cautious and always on guard against others.

She smiled and said, "To be honest, I can only go to find the antique dealer that the prince knows..."

Seeing Li Huan's expression change, Xue Sui said, "However, the prince is a nobleman from the capital, he will definitely be afraid and try to deceive the prince. And I came from the old mausoleum, we know each other well, I'm sure he won't dare to shirk his responsibility, so he has to do his best."

Li Huan raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Then this king will wait for good news."
-
The prepared tea was quietly placed on the table.

Li Huan didn't even take a sip until he left.

Xue Sui took a look and couldn't help but smile, "Let's clean it up."

After saying that, she turned back to the inner room, sat in front of the dressing table, took out the ointment, and gently applied it to the scar on her wrist.

A tall figure suddenly appeared in the bronze mirror.

Li Zhao stood leaning against the screen. There was an obvious bulge on his injured shoulder where the bandage was tied, and his lips were paler than usual.

"Is the Snow Toad Cream I gave you still useful?"

Xue Sui paused, withdrew his hand, and touched the green jade hairpin on his head.

"The prince broke into Prince Duan's mansion in broad daylight. Could it be that he wanted to inflict another new injury?"

Li Zhao looked over with a smile, his eyes falling on the two identical porcelain bottles on the dressing table.

"I'm here to collect a debt."

He walked slowly towards her, with a scent of plants on his body, fresh and unique. As he reached out and picked up a bottle of snow toad cream, the fragrance spread to Xue Sui's nose and enveloped her.

"Mrs. Ping'an, how are you going to pay me back for what I owe you?"

Xue Sui pursed his lips: "When did I owe His Highness?"

Li Zhao glanced at his injured shoulder and said, "You stayed here for three days to treat someone else's injury, but you didn't care about me..."

Xue Sui was speechless.

She stayed in the palace for the sake of Concubine Wan.

Li Zhao's fuss over such trivial matters was full of absurdity and ridiculousness.

"My Lord, this is not the East Palace."

"Hmm? What about this bottle of Snow Toad Cream? It wasn't sent by the Eastern Palace either, right?" Li Zhao's fingertips brushed across her earlobe, causing her to shudder.

"When did you become so close to Li Huan?"

The love poison was stirring in his blood, and his eyes were full of the frenzy of a wild beast seeking pleasure, and his heartbeat was like a string of a harp, making a noisy sound. Xue Sui suddenly grabbed his wrist and tried to stand up, but he pressed her backhand onto the dressing table.

The horn comb fell to the ground with a crisp sound, just like her shaky calm at the moment.

Almost subconsciously, she bit Li Zhao's arm and said, "Stop!"

Li Zhao's Adam's apple rolled, his breathing was hot as he lowered his head and stroked the black hair on her forehead.

"Xue Ping'an, are you a dog? You bite me when you see me..."

"Sit still!" Xue Sui swallowed his saliva under his scorching gaze, "Your Highness, do you not want to treat your injury?"

"rule!"

The gold wound medicine and gauze in the medicine box were ready. Xue Sui helped Li Zhao sit on a round stool, poured the boiling water from the kettle into the copper basin, added the medicine powder, dipped a clean cloth into the steaming hot medicine, and slowly stirred it...

The fingertips drew a ripple on the water surface, reflecting Li Zhao's slightly pale face.

She glanced sideways and said coldly, "Take it off!"

"Mrs. Ping An is so domineering."

Li Zhao chuckled, took off his outer robe and threw it on the camphor wood clothes hanger.

At this glance, he saw the ivory jade chess pieces that Li Huan sent to Tan Qiuyuan.

His eyebrows and eyes instantly froze like ice, and his tone also became cold.

"My royal brother was thoughtful enough to give you such a precious gift. It's a pity that you came and went in such a hurry. Why don't you stay a little longer and play chess with Madam Ping'an?"

Xue Sui gathered the medicine towel and flicked it gently, and the water droplets fell on his lapel.

"Your Highness was not so stingy when he gave me chess as a present in the Golden Palace."

Li Zhao snorted coldly.

She noticed the sarcastic tone, but he didn't get angry, and strangely, he smoothed out her dissatisfaction.

"That day you said that the love thread Gu should not be moved, what if I want to be moved?"

Xue Sui calmly wrung out the medicine towel and carefully wiped the dried blood around his wound, "Move. When the poison takes effect... it will be a hundred times more painful than the injury from the bone-piercing nail."

The man's lean back muscles were slightly tense.

The texture on her shoulder blades bulged as she wiped.

"Xue Ping'an, don't you have any other way to make me suffer?"

Before he finished speaking, Xue Sui suddenly exerted force and peeled off the dressing covering his wound. The bloody cloth tore at the wound. Li Zhao felt a chill on his back and a layer of fine cold sweat broke out all over his body.

"Xue Ping'an...it hurts!"

"Bear it."

Xue Sui looked at the sparks in his eyes that seemed to set the prairie on fire, and smiled like a fox.

"I'm in pain, aren't you in pain?" Li Zhao asked.

"I'm not in pain." Seeing Li Zhao's suspicious expression, as if he was going to do something bad, she said calmly, "But if the female Gu eats at her heart and bones, the male Gu will also feel the same."

Li Zhao looked at the cunning that inadvertently flashed across her eyes, and suddenly grabbed her wrist with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to crush her, and gritted his teeth viciously.

"Why do you always take advantage? Xue Ping'an, why don't you just take my life?"

Xue Sui could see from his face the torment of the love poison.

That's it!

Don't provoke.

Just let him go crazy.

She stopped talking, lowered her head and concentrated on treating his wounds, her expression extremely gentle.

In the misty water vapor, the blush on Li Zhao's earlobe looked even more enchanting.

"My father asked me to assist the Ministry of Revenue and check the yellow books of money and grain from the fifth to the eleventh year of Chongzhao... I plan to go to Xishan tomorrow..."

Last time, the emperor issued an order to the Ministry of Revenue to count the fields, mountains and swamps occupied by the Pingle Palace and return them all to the people. They also had to rebuild houses and build houses for the affected people to live in...

But progress has been extremely slow.

Li Zhao said: "Luo Huan is an old fox, I am afraid he will secretly interfere."

Xue Sui looked at the hideous wound on his shoulder.

"When Xiao Jing was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I'm afraid he had already transferred the account books or handled them in a different way. Otherwise, Prince Duan investigated the corruption in the Ministry of Finance for such a long time, but he didn't catch many important officials..."

"That's because Li Huan is worried about maintaining his reputation for kindness." Li Zhao smiled coldly, "What's more, my father asked me to check the period from Chongzhao 5 to Chongzhao 11."

From the fifth year of Chongzhao to the eleventh year of Chongzhao?
Xue Sui pondered for a moment and spoke slowly.

"In the fifth year of Chongzhao, Xizi stopped paying tribute to Daliang and often disturbed the border..."

"In the sixth year of Chongzhao, there were floods in many places, and the Ministry of Revenue allocated funds for disaster relief frequently."

"In the seventh year of Chongzhao, the imperial court repaired the imperial mausoleum, which cost a lot."

"In the eighth year of Chongzhao, a new tax law was implemented and taxes were changed."

"In the ninth year of Chongzhao, water conservancy projects were built, and the cost of the project was complicated."

After a pause, she looked at Li Zhao.

"Pingle started building a large-scale compound in the West Mountain Villa at the end of the eleventh year of Chongzhao..."

Li Zhao laughed when he heard this. "Xue Ping'an, Xue Ping'an, you are so smart. How can I praise you?"

Xue Sui responded coldly, "It's great that the prince doesn't ask me for a debt."

Li Zhao raised his eyebrows imperceptibly, "Then tell me, which vine should I start from to pick the big melon?"

Xue Sui did not answer, but hummed indifferently: "Tomorrow, the daughter of Duke Zheng will have her coming-of-age ceremony. I have to go to the banquet, but I don't have time to eat melons with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."

Li Zhao understood.

Luo Huan, the Minister of Revenue, and Guo Pi, the Duke of Zheng, were in-laws.

And Xiao Jing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue who was just convicted, had been acting recklessly under Luo Huan's nose for many years, so Luo Huan must not be clean either.

Li Huan has been investigating for so long but has not found Luo Huan, probably because of this relationship...

But Li Zhao will not indulge them.

"I love to dig up the root of evil and get rid of it completely, leaving no one behind."

Xue Sui warned: "Be careful that the vines don't lead to melons, but instead lead to a bunch of hedgehogs."

She used some force on her hands, and the pain from the wound made Li Zhao groan.

Turning around, he saw her smiling black eyes, and he couldn't help but raise his lips, lean forward, and asked her with a smile.

"This Gu...will it really not kill people?"

"It's not the Gu that's fatal." Xue Sui raised his fingertips lightly, poked his painful shoulder, and twisted it hard, "It's your Highness's choice."

"pain!"

"..."

"If you don't stop, I'll call for help..."

"..."

Li Zhao: Except for no one being in pain, everything hurts!
Xue Sui: Let my fellow readers vote for you for the double monthly tickets.

Li Zhao: Okay, last time I crushed a rock with my chest, this time I split bricks with my bare hands and lifted a tripod with one arm...