The daughter of the Marquis is too delicate, the abstinent prince pinches her waist and loves her

Chapter 178 You're Not Listening

Upon hearing this, Ye Jingnian's eyes widened slightly, and he frowned, saying, "Speak quickly!"

"According to some books, the blood of the host of the love potion can prolong the life of the person who suffers the backlash."

Seeing the smile on Ye Jingnian's lips, Yan Chuan's heart skipped a beat. He knelt on the ground and said, "Your Highness! You are the crown prince of a nation, a person of inestimable worth. How can your body be so easily harmed..."

Ye Jingnian did not respond to him, but instead turned and went back into the house: "If the Crown Princess finds out, you'll lose your head."

As the morning light shone through the carved window lattice, Zhi Xing stirred in bed, feeling a wave of soreness wash over her.

She quietly opened her eyes and found Ye Jingnian already dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her.

Ye Jingnian gently pinched her cheek and asked, "Awake?"

Ye Jingnian's voice seemed much gentler than usual, and his slender fingers tucked the strands of hair that had fallen down her temple behind her ear.

"Mmm..." Zhi Xing lowered her head and responded softly, her cheeks flushed slightly.

Seeing her trying to sit up, Ye Jingnian reached out to support her, put his arm around her slender waist, and whispered in her ear, "Are you still afraid?"

Zhi Xing lowered her head, bit her lip, shook her head, and didn't say anything.

Ye Jingnian lowered his head and kissed the top of her head, then released her. He took a bowl of herbal medicine from the table beside the bed; the dark brown liquid emitted a bitter smell.

"Drink it while it's hot."

Zhi Xing took the medicine bowl, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against Ye Jingnian's hand, noticing a thin cloth wrapped around his wrist.

She paused slightly and asked, "Is Your Highness injured?"

Ye Jingnian quickly pulled his hand back into his sleeve: "It's just a minor injury."

His gaze fell on the medicine bowl, and he said in an unquestionable tone, "Drink the medicine."

Zhi Xing looked down at the medicine, responded softly, and obediently tilted her head back to drink it all.

The medicine was more bitter than I had imagined, but it had a strange, metallic taste.

She frowned slightly and handed the empty bowl back.

"Is it bitter?" he suddenly asked, his voice soft.

Zhi Xing shook her head and forced a smile: "It's not bitter."

Ye Jingnian paused slightly, gazed at her for a moment, then suddenly leaned down and kissed her lips, his tongue gently licking away the remaining medicine on the corner of her lips.

“Lying,” he whispered, “is bitter.”

Zhi Xing lowered her head and said, "I drank it that day, and I'm used to it now."

Ye Jingnian's body stiffened, a hint of pain flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She recognized the contraceptive medicine from that day with just one bite.

He gently stroked her cheek and said, "Aren't you going to ask me?"

Zhi Xing gently leaned against his chest and said, "It is already a hard-won happiness for Zhi Xing to be with Your Highness. I dare not disobey Your Highness's wishes. I am very obedient."

Upon hearing this, Ye Jingnian chuckled softly, stroked her hair, and said, "You're so disobedient."

His eyes suddenly darkened, and he frowned slightly.

Given Zhi Xing's personality, she'll probably tamper with the medicine...

“Your health isn’t good, so you shouldn’t get pregnant,” Ye Jingnian explained earnestly, his thumb stroking her cheek. “Zhixing, listen to me.” Hearing this, Zhixing nodded gently.

After calming Zhi Xing down, Ye Jingnian got up and left.

As he turned around, his left hand unconsciously pressed against the wound on his right wrist, where blood began to seep out again, staining the snow-white bandage red.

Outside the door, Yan Chuan had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Ye Jingnian come out, he immediately stepped forward and whispered, "Your Highness, a secret report from Western Shu."

Ye Jingnian's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he said, "Speak."

"That person from the Western Shu Kingdom seems to have discovered the Crown Princess's identity and is mobilizing his forces..."

"Increase the number of secret guards," Ye Jingnian said coldly. "The Crown Princess must be accompanied by someone every twelve hours."

"Yes."

Two days later.

Yan Chuan reported to Ye Jingnian in the back garden: "I sent several assassins to infiltrate the Western Shu Kingdom to steal the secret manual of Gu poison. They risked their lives to find it."

He took out two blood-stained tattered pages from his pocket and presented them to him.

"The Western Shu Kingdom was once struck by a small meteorite from outer space. That meteorite faintly glowed with golden light and possessed strange power. It was the most precious treasure of the Western Shu Kingdom. Possessing the meteorite would make all Gu worms submit. Your Highness's love Gu can be cured with that meteorite."

Ye Jingnian looked at the record on the tattered page, narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, and asked, "Where is the meteorite?"

"The meteorite is in the royal palace of the Western Shu Kingdom. The Emperor of Western Shu relied on the meteorite for cultivation, so he probably can't get it."

"However, it is said that eighteen years ago, some fragments were made into jade pendants by the Emperor of Western Shu. I have learned that both the eldest and second princesses of Western Shu have these jade pendants. The eldest princess's pendant is called the Sunbeam Jade Pendant, and the second princess's pendant is called the Moonbeam Jade Pendant."

Upon hearing this, Ye Jingnian's expression shifted slightly, and then he let out a long breath and said, "In that case, we can only ask Mu Jiyue for it."

Yan Chuan frowned slightly, and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, I have discovered something... but I don't know if I should say it..."

Ye Jingnian glanced at him and said lazily, "Speak."

Yan Chuan's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was extremely low: "Your Highness, the star-shaped jade pendant that the Crown Princess always wears... has the same name as the sun-shaped and moon-shaped pendants worn by the two princesses of Western Shu. What's even stranger is..."

He glanced at Ye Jingnian's gloomy face and said, "Since Your Highness entered the palace, your love potion has truly never acted up again."

With a crisp "crack", the teacup in Ye Jingnian's hand shattered.

The porcelain shards pierced deep into his palm, and blood dripped from between his fingers onto the dark blue hem of his robe, spreading out in a dark hue.

"Yan Chuan," Ye Jingnian's voice was terrifyingly soft, "how many years have you been following me?"

Yan Chuan slammed his forehead heavily against the bluestone slab: "Ten years and four months."

"Do you still remember how, six years ago on the battlefield of Western Shu, the people of Western Shu used Gu worms to devour my three thousand soldiers alive?"

Ye Jingnian slowly stood up, his dark eyes in the night seeming to reveal a dangerous glint of a wild beast. "Would you like me to help you recall what those corpses with Gu worms crawling out of their seven orifices looked like?"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Yan Chuan's temple. Years ago, he followed Ye Jingnian to aid the border of Western Shu and witnessed firsthand how people parasitized by Gu worms tore their own flesh before dying. Those screams still echoed in his nightmares.

"Your subordinate dares not forget," Yan Chuan's voice trembled, "but Her Majesty's jade pendant is indeed..."

"Shut up!" Ye Jingnian suddenly roared, kicking the stone bench to pieces. The flying shards cut Yan Chuan's face, drawing blood. He lowered his head, not daring to raise his hand to wipe it away.

"That vixen from Western Shu is skilled in insidious tricks." He grabbed Yan Chuan by the collar, his eyes surging with bloodlust. "Back then, that woman pretended to heal my wounds, but she planted an even more vicious Gu seed! I hate the people of Western Shu to the core. If you compare the Crown Princess to those treacherous barbarians from Western Shu again, I'll twist your head off!"