The Sickly Seedling Dresses Up As An Unfortunate And Muddled Monarch - Chapter 7

If it weren’t for having been rigorously trained since childhood as a young nobleman, when Qiu Junyao uttered those words, Yin Yuan might have collapsed mentally, kneeling down with weak legs, and tearfully confessing his crimes.

But luckily, just as Yin Yuan was about to admit guilt, Qiu Junyao averted his gaze, no longer showing that ambiguous smile, but instead focusing on the defense on the table, then reached out and picked up the silver chopsticks on the table.

His movements with the chopsticks were graceful, standing like a pine, sitting like a bell, calm and quiet. In the candlelight, his profile faintly emanated a soft silver glow, outlining a jawline edged with gold.

His fair and well-defined hands held the chopsticks against his rosy lips. Anyone witnessing this scene would find it hard not to think of him as a gallant gentleman, for only a gentleman could possess such elegant and noble demeanor.

Strange, was Qiu Junyao always like this before?

Yin Yuan stared at Qiu Junyao’s exquisite and delicate face, involuntarily feeling some doubt. Because he vaguely remembered, during the time when he was the top scholar in high school, the Qiu Junyao at the Qionglin Feast was definitely not like this.

Back then, Qiu Junyao had already been immersed in alchemy for many years, his eyes devoid of vitality, his face seemingly rough and dull like it was covered in a layer of light yellow mud, lips faintly tinged with purple, cracked and pale, even requiring eunuchs to feed him.

But even so, Qiu Junyao couldn’t endure long banquets. He lied on the chair for less than an hour, then left early under the pretext of feeling unwell.

When he left, his legs were like mud, his posture ungraceful, and in the end, it was the eunuchs who had to carry him onto the sedan chair.

This scene had a profound psychological impact on Yin Yuan, who had just entered the court and was full of ambition. He couldn’t believe that the king he wanted to serve wholeheartedly was such a useless waste. When he returned, he angrily wrote several poems expressing his inner resentment. Eventually, these poems inexplicably spread out, and he was accused of disrespecting the current monarch. Finally, he was sent to serve as a county magistrate in Liuzhou for two years. Later, because he exposed the corruption involving disaster relief funds embezzled by officials, he was targeted for retaliation and assassination by vested interests. Fortunately, with the efforts of his father and grandfather, he barely escaped with his life, but he was stripped of his official position by the incompetent and gullible Qiu Junyao and banned from entering the court for life.

The experience of having great talent but never achieving success left Yin Yuan with a deep hatred towards Qiu Junyao. So when he saw Qiu Junyao in the palace, he acted impulsively and couldn’t restrain himself from attacking.

To end up in such a miserable state after gaining fame and recognition at a young age was even more unbearable for Yin Yuan, who had always been proud and ambitious.

The past was vividly present before his eyes, as Yin Yuan stared blankly at the graceful and elegant young nobleman in front of him, finding it difficult to connect this person with the incompetent monarch in his memory.

“What are you looking at?”

Qiu Junyao was truly hungry. He picked up the chopsticks, grabbed a piece of plum pastry, and stuffed it into his mouth, asking as he ate, “Do you want some?”

“…No, Your Majesty, I don’t eat.” Yin Yuan lowered his eyes, twisting the handkerchief lightly with his fingertips, and asked inadvertently, “Your Majesty, is this plum pastry delicious?”

Qiu Junyao smiled as he chewed, then, seeing Yin Yuan’s slightly expectant expression, he spit it out, “It’s disgusting.”

Yin Yuan: “…”

He instantly clenched his fists.

Even though he knew this despicable emperor’s words were never to be trusted, why did he feel an extra urge to punch him this time?!

Just as Yin Yuan’s desire to take the righteous path and kill the emperor was stirring again, Qiu Junyao stood up and walked towards the inner hall of the Incense Pavilion, stretching lazily, “Alright, I’ve eaten. I’m going to sleep now.”

The medicinal fragrance at the tip of the nose seemed to still retain Qiu Junyao’s original body temperature, somewhat warm and very comfortable to smell.

Huan Chen helped the still-dazed Yin Yuan up, hesitated for a moment, and couldn’t help but ask:

“Master… Your Majesty, is he, different from before?”

“Why do you say that?” Yin Yuan tilted his head to look at her.

Huan Chen said, “Because after the emperor and empress got married, according to custom, the emperor needs to stay in the empress’s palace for seven days. Otherwise, the new empress will be considered not favored and not respected by the six palaces.”

She sighed, “Before, when His Majesty said those words to us, I thought we were destined to be feared and neglected.”

Yin Yuan was stunned for a moment. He never expected that Qiu Junyao’s special visit in the snow was for this reason. He clenched the ties of his cloak with his fingertips and remained silent for a while.

After nightfall, Yin Yuan couldn’t sleep tossing and turning. Unable to resist, he took out Qiu Junyao’s cloak again, looked at it, then folded it neatly and placed it together with the bottle of muscle-strengthening powder on the bedside cabinet.

Forget it… Seeing Qiu Junyao’s understanding, he would deal with killing the despicable emperor tomorrow.

In the following days, Qiu Junyao would come to Yin Yuan’s palace every night, eat, and then return to the Qinzheng Hall to rest.

However, whether it was because Yin Yuan’s cooking was too unpalatable and caused stomach problems, or because traveling back and forth in the snow every day was too strenuous, Qiu Junyao soon couldn’t bear this kind of exhaustion. Finally, on the seventh day, he caught a severe cold and fell ill.

At first, Yin Yuan didn’t know about it and still prepared plum pastries and such for Qiu Junyao in the palace. It wasn’t until a palace maid came to report that the emperor had a high fever that he suddenly realized what was happening.

When he hurriedly rushed to the Qinzheng Hall, Qiu Jing and several princes had heard the news and also rushed over, kneeling in the hall and guarding Qiu Junyao, who was burning with fever.

Usually, if he saw these princes, Yin Yuan would exchange pleasantries with them. But today, he surprisingly didn’t have the mood for it. He just hurriedly nodded at the princes and didn’t even have time to return their greetings. He then asked the imperial physician:

“What’s wrong with His Majesty?!”

Before the imperial physician could reply, Qiu Jingming couldn’t help but interject, “Mother, Father is fine.”

He glanced at Yin Yuan’s face and slowly said, “He just caught a cold and got a chill.”

“…” Yin Yuan thought to himself, “I didn’t ask you, why are you chiming in?” Just as he was about to speak, Qiu Junyao, who was beside him, seemed to hear the conversation between Yin Yuan and the princes, slowly opened his eyes.

He felt as if his throat was being stabbed by hot pokers, and his lungs were burning. He glanced at Yin Yuan, weakly saying:

“Water…”

Yin Yuan quickly helped him up and gave Qiu Junyao some water to drink.

After drinking the water, Qiu Junyao felt a lot clearer.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had already crossed over, and the three sons kneeling in front of him were ready to take his life at any moment. Then, he glanced at Qiu Jingming and the others, coughed a few times, and whispered:

“You all should go back.”

He said, “It’s not a serious illness, so you all should go back and rest.”

“We will stay here with Mother to serve Father.”

Qiu Jing also spoke up, his voice calm, “Father, you rest assured.”

Qiu Junyao thought to himself, “If I sleep now, maybe I’ll wake up with an extra cuckold tomorrow.” He said irritably, “No need to stay. Yin… Yuan, you go back too.”

Qiu Junyao waved his hand for Lai Fu to come and help him lie down, then turned to Lai Fu and said:

“Escort the three princes and the empress out.”

“Yes.” Lai Fu bowed, assuming the posture of seeing off guests:

“Please.”

Although it was difficult to disobey the emperor’s command, even if the four of them harbored sinister intentions, they dared not stay here any longer.

Yin Yuan didn’t have deep feelings for Qiu Junyao, and the princes were just here to put on a show. The four of them walked together to the outer hall, and only then did the tense atmosphere gradually relax.

The night was deep, and admiring a beauty under the lamp had its own charm.

People always liked beautiful things. Even though they knew the person in front of them was their future successor, both Qiu Jingming and Qiu Jingyue couldn’t help but strike up conversations with Yin Yuan. Yin Yuan would answer any questions asked, appearing affectionate and harmonious, a demeanor that would not arouse any suspicion in anyone’s eyes. But upon closer inspection, one could detect that the gazes of these individuals towards Yin Yuan were not entirely innocent.

Qiu Jingming tapped his fan against his palm, wearing a very gentle expression:

“Mother.”

He smiled at Yin Yuan:

“Did His Majesty like the plum pastries?”

The plum pastries, detested by His Majesty his entire life, were given to Qiu Junyao by Yin Yuan. Wasn’t this already a sign of being cold-shouldered by the emperor?

Thinking of this, a hint of coldness emerged in the smiling eyes of Qiu Jingming.

Although his stepmother had a good appearance, he would not allow her to be favored, nor would he let her give birth to children who posed a threat to his position as the future heir.

Beauty is like a knife. If it cannot be used for him, once it threatens him, he will mercilessly eliminate it… Moreover, his weak and incompetent father, it seemed, was not qualified to possess such a beautiful knife?

Originally, Qiu Jingming thought Yin Yuan would confide in him about being neglected by Qiu Junyao and thereby bring them closer to each other. But to his surprise, instead of lamenting to him, Yin Yuan froze for a moment. Then, after a moment, for some reason, he suddenly looked towards the inner hall where Qiu Junyao was, and a faint blush appeared on his face. Finally, without saying a word, he left with Huan Chen.

“???” Qiu Jingming was dumbfounded.

Wait, why are you blushing like a teapot?!

Meanwhile, in the side hall, Doctor Qiu knelt beside Qiu Junyao’s bed, carefully examining his pulse.

His face was unusually solemn, stroking his white beard. He took out a silver needle from his medicine box and pricked Qiu Junyao’s fingertip.

Blood slowly slid down his fingertip, dripping into a special solution, which soon started turning yellow.

“Doctor Qiu, have you discovered anything?” Qiu Junyao sat up, his expression no longer as weak as it was in front of others, but rather as if he had anticipated this, with a hint of determination in his eyes.

“Your Majesty, you are poisoned.”

“…Go on.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Doctor Qiu said, “This poison is sinister. Many people don’t know that after it is ingested, it does not cause immediate death. Instead, it lurks in the person’s veins silently. Once the poisoned person has a cold or catches a chill, the toxicity will manifest. Others will think the poisoned person died of a fever caused by catching a cold and will not investigate further.”

“…” Qiu Junyao waved his hand, and Lai Fu brought over the bowl of yellowish liquid for Qiu Junyao to inspect.

Looking at his pale face reflected in the murky water, Qiu Junyao sighed softly, suppressing the pain in his lungs, and asked in a deep voice:

“What is the name of this poison?”

“This poison is called Yi Jin Powder,” Doctor Qiu said. “If ingested, death is inevitable within a month.”

*Yi Jin Powder is Easy Muscle Powder