DLWAV CH138

On this very day, the news of the Prince of Qinghe’s armed rebellion spread throughout the entire capital.

To Emperor Jianzhao and his court, the best way to deal with the Prince of Qinghe was to immediately deploy troops, catch him off guard, breach his fiefdom, capture him alive, and then make his treason public.

In this way, the imperial court could eliminate this major threat without suffering heavy losses.

But what they did not expect was that when the troops they dispatched arrived at Yongzhou, they were met with a heavily fortified city.

Clearly, the Prince of Qinghe already knew of the court’s impending attack.

Then, using the excuse that the imperial court was falsely accusing him of treason just to reduce the power of the vassal kings, the Prince of Qinghe genuinely raised his banner in rebellion.

Emperor Jianzhao’s face instantly darkened.

He simply assumed that the Prince of Qinghe had received the news so quickly due to Ao Ruize’s meddling, intending for the Emperor and the Prince of Qinghe to fight to the death so he could reap the benefits.

Soon, however, his face turned even darker.

Because his spy planted in Prince Wu’s manor suddenly reported that the news of the impending attack hadn’t been leaked by Prince Wu’s faction at all. Furthermore, Prince Wu’s people had discovered that the leak came from the Crown Prince’s favorite concubine, Consort Wu—she was a spy planted beside the Crown Prince by the Prince of Qinghe.

She knew about this because the Crown Prince loved to recount major court events to her after sessions, seeking her advice. Since she had subtly guided several of his past successful assignments, the Crown Prince trusted her implicitly.

Emperor Jianzhao sent men to investigate and, sure enough, found a small hidden room beneath Consort Wu’s bed, where they discovered a pile of correspondence between her and the Prince of Qinghe.

Not only that, but through her, they uncovered over a dozen other spies planted by the Prince of Qinghe in the backyards of major officials.

If it weren’t for the fact that the court still needed to suppress the Prince of Qinghe and guard against Prince Wu’s manor—and to avoid triggering further political upheaval that could threaten his rule—Emperor Jianzhao would have deposed the Crown Prince on the spot. No, he even harbored the urge to kill him outright.

Thus, he could only turn his sights back to the Third Prince, formerly Prince Rui.

After all, the Crown Prince was undoubtedly useless, and the other princes hadn’t yet matured enough to shoulder such a heavy burden. So who else could he rely on but the Third Prince?

“You will personally go to the front lines to supervise the army. You must annihilate the Prince of Qinghe within a month.”

The Third Prince’s eyes lit up; he hadn’t expected his chance for redemption to arrive so quickly.

“Your son receives the decree.”

When the news reached Prince Wu’s manor, everyone there was left speechless.

“Who would have thought that among the black-hearted Ji family, such a fool like the Crown Prince would emerge.”

“Emperor Jianzhao’s health is surprisingly robust, to not have died of sheer anger from being so thoroughly screwed over by his own son.”

Ao Ruize merely said, “Still, we need to find a way to end this war as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, everyone immediately dropped their mocking expressions: “Yes.”

They gained a new understanding of Ao Ruize’s benevolence, and their inner conviction in him deepened.

After all, as a ruler, to remain unblinded by hatred and genuinely care for the common people was a rare trait indeed.

This was especially apparent when contrasted with the Yangji imperial family, who hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice a hundred thousand southern troops just to achieve the goal of killing the deposed Prince Wu.

Yao Wenju immediately spoke up: “As it happens, a few days ago I learned that the Chief Administrator of the Prince of Qinghe’s estate has an illegitimate son—his only son. He is being raised in his hometown, which is still under the court’s control.”

“I will send someone to deliver this information to the Third Prince shortly.”

“Good.”

Ao Ruize nodded in satisfaction.

The Little Milk Dumpling was also very satisfied.

Because the supreme body-strengthening potion it had ordered finally arrived.

It planned to give it to Jiang Zimo that evening.

After all, watching Jiang Zimo pant every three steps and look deathly pale eight days out of ten was incredibly heart-wrenching.

Most importantly, it had originally been a little worried that once Jiang Zimo became Wu Chuyao’s teacher, Ao Ruize would seize the chance to seduce him. Unexpectedly, despite Jiang Zimo having lived in Prince Wu’s manor for so many days, Ao Ruize hadn’t sought him out even once.

What did this mean?

It meant that finally, one of its “wives” could escape Ao Ruize’s demonic clutches.

Even though it didn’t know why Ao Ruize had suddenly turned over a new leaf and restrained himself.

Just then, someone came to report: “Mr. Jiang invites Your Highness over. He says he wishes to discuss taking the Princess to the outer city to experience the hardships of the commoners, and he’d like to treat Your Highness to dinner.”

Naturally, Ao Ruize did not refuse: “Alright.”

The Little Milk Dumpling didn’t think much of it at first, and when the food was served, it immediately slipped the body-strengthening potion into the wine cup in front of Jiang Zimo.

Ao Ruize raised an eyebrow, but his focus wasn’t on Jiang Zimo’s cup; it was on his own.

“Can Mr. Jiang drink right now?”

“Oh, right.”

The Little Milk Dumpling said.

But it quickly realized something.

It was fine.

Although the supreme body-strengthening potion took effect slowly, as long as it was ingested, even the most severe illness would eventually be cured without any lingering side effects.

Jiang Zimo, his expression unchanged, replied, “Dr. Li says my health has improved significantly, so a little drink won’t hurt.”

“Very well.”

Ao Ruize said.

Jiang Zimo looked at Ao Ruize: “This first cup is to thank Your Highness for extending a helping hand when I was critically ill.”

“It was but a trifling matter, barely worth mentioning.”

Ao Ruize immediately raised his cup, clinked it against Jiang Zimo’s, and drained it in one gulp.

Seeing this, the delight in Jiang Zimo’s eyes instantly deepened.

After draining the plain water from his own cup, he picked up the flagon and poured Ao Ruize another glass.

“This second cup is to thank Your Highness for recognizing my worth.”

Ao Ruize promptly raised his cup and downed it again.

Jiang Zimo: “This third cup…”

Jiang Zimo toasted Ao Ruize six or seven times in a row before finally setting down his cup, picking up serving chopsticks, and placing a piece of shrimp into Ao Ruize’s bowl: “These are fresh river shrimp brought by a fellow townsman this afternoon. Please have a taste, Your Highness.”

Ao Ruize said, “What a coincidence. My favorite dish these days is precisely stir-fried river shrimp.”

Jiang Zimo immediately served him another helping of shrimp: “Then you must eat more, Your Highness.”

Otherwise, what would happen when he ran out of energy later?

Ao Ruize thought for a moment and served Jiang Zimo a piece of chicken: “Please, Mr. Jiang.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

But Jiang Zimo could hardly focus on eating right now. His attention was entirely fixed on Ao Ruize, resulting in topics utterly devoid of substance—

“I heard Your Highness used to live in Lizhou. I had the fortune of visiting once; the sugarcane there is incredibly juicy and sweet. I still haven’t forgotten the taste.”

“I deeply admire the resilience of Your Highness’s character.”

“Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will certainly teach the Princess well and will not betray your trust.”

…

Listening to all this, the Little Milk Dumpling’s head couldn’t help but nod off toward its toes.

Before long, unable to hold on, it rolled right off and landed on the floor.

Deciding that lying down was probably more comfortable, it twitched its little legs and promptly fell fast asleep.

Jiang Zimo, however, pressed his lips into a tight line.

Because almost half an hour had passed, and Ao Ruize still showed no reaction whatsoever?

This shouldn’t be.

After all, the drug he had slipped into Ao Ruize’s wine was ‘Trace-less’, the most potent aphrodisiac he had stolen from Dr. Li—it was colorless, odorless, and guaranteed that the victim would have zero memory of what transpired after waking up the next day.

According to Dr. Li, this drug’s onset time was a mere fifteen minutes.

Unexpectedly, just at that moment, Ao Ruize suddenly said: “Are the windows closed? Why is it suddenly so hot in here?”

Jiang Zimo’s hand holding the chopsticks instantly paused.

He replied calmly: “They’re open, but it might be about to rain, so it feels a bit stifling inside.”

“Come, Your Highness, have another drink.”

And so, Ao Ruize downed a few more cups of wine.

But soon he couldn’t drink anymore, and even began tugging at his clothes to relieve the burning heat in his body.

Staring at Ao Ruize’s half-open collar, Jiang Zimo’s eyes flickered. He slowly put down his chopsticks and said: “It seems Your Highness has had too much to drink. Why not rest here in my quarters for the night?”

“Alright.”

Ao Ruize’s voice already sounded a little slurred.

Jiang Zimo immediately helped Ao Ruize over to the bed.

He stood looking down at Ao Ruize, who had already slipped into a stupor on the bed, his gaze exceptionally dark and deep.

However, he didn’t immediately go to admire the more ‘elevated’ regions of Ao Ruize’s body; instead, he first reached out and slowly untied Ao Ruize’s belt.

Watching the robes instantly spill open without the restraint of the belt, revealing the muscles he had been longing for, Jiang Zimo casually tossed the belt onto the nearby screen, a look of profound satisfaction settling on his face.

He admired the view for quite a while before finally reaching out to touch Ao Ruize’s chiseled jawline, and then trailing downward…

He finally understood why Emperor Jianzhao liked to take people hunting at the paddocks so often: because there was nothing in the world quite as satisfying as playing with one’s prey firsthand.

Thus, by the time he finally stopped, an hour had already passed.

Not because he had grown tired of playing, but because he was completely out of energy.

Lying on top of his prey, beads of sweat trailed down his smooth neck, over his pale back, and finally dripped onto the bedsheets, pooling with the surrounding mess.

Still, he was very satisfied.

Because facts proved that tonight had not failed his expectations.

And his eye for picking prey was indeed as excellent as ever.

With that thought, he prepared to slide off his prey.

Who could have known that in the very next second, his waist would be clamped down by two large hands.

He instinctively looked back, only to lock gazes with a pair of fiery eyes that looked ready to melt him down in an instant.

Only then did he realize that the issue right now was no longer whether he had any energy left. Rather, it was that while hunting was fine, one must never provoke a ferocious beast—especially a starving wolf. Because once you provoked a starving wolf, it was no longer up to you when you could break free.

In short, when two hours had passed and he genuinely couldn’t hold on anymore, practically on the verge of blacking out, those two large hands still refused to let him go.

So, in his hazy state of mind, only two thoughts remained.

First, he shouldn’t have kept piling food into Ao Ruize’s bowl earlier and feeding him until he was so full.

Second, he had previously thought that Ao Ruize’s luck was terrible, having helped him only to inevitably die by his hands. But now, his mind was entirely filled with the thought that if this kept up, before he could even make a move, he was going to die at Ao Ruize’s hands first.