Chapter 134

Chapter 134

Luo Qianyu woke up.

The moment his consciousness returned, he was met with an unfamiliar canopy above him. The brocade was intricately patterned, luxurious yet understated—nothing like any style he recognized from his own marquis’s residence. His bewilderment lasted only a moment before the last scene before his collapse crashed into his mind.

The Young Marquis’s heart tightened, and he instinctively tried to push himself up, but his elbows felt inexplicably weak, and he failed.

What’s happening?

Why… can’t I move?

It felt like all his strength had been drained, leaving him completely limp, unable even to lift a hand.

He looked around, his heart sinking.

This was clearly a bedchamber, furnished with the utmost elegance, outshining even his own Houfu Heir’s Brocade Scale Courtyard—even grander than the main hall. Clearly, it outranked his father’s.

Just then, a servant entered silently, carrying a bronze basin of hot water. Seeing him awake, the servant gave a slight bow.

Luo Qianyu immediately pressed forward, his voice hoarse and urgent, still groggy from sleep: “Where is this?”

“This is the Chancellor’s bedchamber, Young Lord Luo,” the servant replied respectfully, speaking softly.

…The Chancellor?

This was the inner main hall of the Chancellor’s mansion?!

Luo Qianyu’s fingertips went cold, and his heart sank to the depths.

Lin Jingyan really had ulterior motives.

But how did he end up in the main villain’s bed?

No—he’d just gotten the military tally… he needed to leave the city urgently.

Driven by that thought, he tried again, reaching out to grab the servant for answers, but his hand was so weak it slipped right off the servant’s wrist. He took a deep breath. “Where’s Lin Jingyan?”

The servant kept his eyes lowered: “The Chancellor is handling official business. Young Lord Luo, you’re weak and need rest—you really shouldn’t get out of bed…”

Anger flared in Luo Qianyu’s chest. He gritted his teeth. “Step aside. You’re the weak one.”

Not accepting it, he flipped over abruptly, trying to force himself to stand. But his legs were like cotton—useless.

A dull thud echoed as he hit the ground awkwardly, his whole body went numb from the impact. He couldn’t even push himself up, just gasping in shock.

The servant seemed to expect this and was about to help him up when footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Lin Jingyan showed up right then.

Their eyes met. Luo Qianyu watched him approach, bracing for accusations or mockery. Instead, Lin Jingyan bent down, his slender fingers lifting the hem of Luo Qianyu’s messy robe to check his knee, bruised from the fall.

Luo Qianyu’s lashes fluttered. His voice went cold and hard as he gritted out, “Chancellor, what’s the meaning of this? Why am I in the Chancellor’s mansion?”

Lin Jingyan straightened up, his gaze fixed on the Young Marquis’s face. “The plague hasn’t cleared the city yet, and danger lurks everywhere. Qianqian’s safest here.”

The young man’s face went pale, his heart sinking completely. This was outright imprisonment.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Luo Qianyu said quietly, “I went to the palace at dawn and haven’t come back. Everyone in the estate knows. If my parents sense something’s wrong, they won’t let this slide.”

“Detaining me here, Chancellor Lin, will only piss off the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion and stir up unnecessary trouble. What’s in it for you?”

To his surprise, the man didn’t budge. Instead, he bent down and scooped Luo Qianyu up with one arm.

He did it so effortlessly, Luo Qianyu felt like a fragile thing. “Qianqian can’t even muster any strength, yet he’s still got the energy to think about all this,” Lin Jingyan’s voice murmured close to his ear.

Luo Qianyu clenched his jaw, hands shaking. Unlike any previous encounter—even with a tricky rival like Liu Cixue, he’d had room to negotiate or maneuver—but against this deep, unfathomable main villain, all reason and emotion seemed pointless and laughable, totally useless.

Luo Qianyu’s throat bobbed, then asked the most direct, sharpest question on his mind: “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Lin Jingyan glanced at him sideways, replying softly, “Why would I kill you?”

Luo Qianyu was momentarily stunned.

That was true. Killing him would only bring more trouble. The Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion would surely investigate, and if any trace were found, it would become a blood feud with the entire Luo family and their allies. Detaining him served as both leverage and a direct deterrent.

Realizing this, Luo Qianyu’s heart grew even colder.

He clenched his fists, but only felt his fingers go weak. Still, the young man forced himself to maintain his composure, speaking each word deliberately: “Under the emperor’s very nose, with His Majesty still on the throne, you dare to secretly detain the son of a high minister? Lin Jingyan, are you truly planning to rebel?”

At this, Lin Jingyan let out a low, cold laugh, dripping with mockery. He leaned in close to Luo Qianyu, his voice dropping to a whisper, yet each word struck like thunder in Luo Qianyu’s ears:

“A ruler who killed his own father and usurped the throne—what right does he have to sit high in the hall of justice? If I were to reveal the true cause of the late emperor’s death to the world tomorrow, Qianqian, how many of those fools who still cling to ‘legitimacy’ would be willing to die for him?”

Holy shit…

Patricide?

The current emperor killed the late emperor?

What kind of earth-shattering secret was this?!

Luo Qianyu was stunned, unable to process this massive revelation. He even wondered if this was a hidden plot point never exposed in the original book, or if Lin Jingyan had fabricated the accusation to justify his own rise to power.

But at this moment, truth or falsehood no longer seemed to matter.

Since Lin Jingyan dared to say it, he must have evidence or be fully prepared.

He was already determined to take Da Xi.

This grand, smoke-free power struggle between the emperor and the chancellor, spanning the entire book—whether by timing, circumstance, or human effort—had ultimately been won by this unfathomable main villain.

Lin Jingyan settled him back onto the bed. Luo Qianyu looked up, barely managing to prop himself up, his neck held straight like a crane on the verge of death, his eyes blazing as he fixed them on the other man: “Lin Jingyan, whatever schemes you harbor, or however you intend to ‘repay’ me for what I did in the past, I don’t care.”

“But I cannot stay in the capital now. I must leave immediately for the Western Desert. My sister’s life is at stake, and so is the survival of the entire city. This realm may one day be yours to rule—are you willing to sit by and watch your own people suffer and die?”

Lin Jingyan’s fingertips brushed the young man’s temple. “Since Qianqian has a heart to save the world, I will send someone to the Western Desert to search for the medicine. The journey is dangerous, rife with bandits—there’s no need for you to risk yourself.”

The young man’s pupils trembled, his anxiety mounting.

No! No one else could find it!

Su He’s script had hinted obscurely that the Moon Blue Grass grew in treacherous places. Many who knew of it and went searching had died along the way. If anyone could retrieve it so easily, why would a “chosen savior” be necessary?

Luo Qianyu turned his head away from Lin Jingyan’s hand, his voice urgent: “I know I’ve been out of touch for three years, and I’ve forgotten many past grievances between us. If I have offended you, I beg you to set it aside for now.”

“I was not only a minister of Da Xi, but also the only one who has ever gone to the Western Desert and successfully brought back the Moon Blue Grass. In this situation, for both public and private reasons, I should be the one to go! How can I let others die in vain on your orders because of me?”

Lin Jingyan, hearing this, didn't back off but moved even closer, his breath almost grazing Luo Qianyu's ear.

Luo Qianyu went rigid, but then the man paused, his low voice dripping with cold sarcasm that cut right to the bone:

"When Qianqian was in Zhao, living as the Third Prince Xiao Yu, dressed in silk and living it up, how come you forgot you were once a subject of Da Xi?"

Luo Qianyu shook with rage, his fingertips trembling, but for a moment, he was speechless.

Just then, a servant's respectful voice came from outside: "My Lord, dinner is ready."

The voice broke the tense, standoff-like atmosphere in the room.

Luo Qianyu wanted to argue more, but the drug had left him completely weak. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Jingyan reached out and scooped him up.

Humiliation and helplessness washed over him. He dropped his gaze, staring at the neck right in front of him, and without thinking, he leaned in and bit down hard.

Using almost all his strength.

He gritted his teeth and cursed, "Old man, why don't you just drop dead?"

But Lin Jingyan didn't even flinch. The drug had not only made the Young Marquis's limbs limp but also sapped the strength from his bite.

The expected blood and gore didn't happen; only a bit of wetness and a faint, almost red tooth mark remained on his pale skin.

Lin Jingyan glanced down at the mark, his gaze unreadable, his arms holding the young man rock-steady as he walked straight out.

*

In the days that followed, the Young Marquis was always thinking about how to escape.

The Chancellor's mansion was heavily guarded inside and out, with countless visible and hidden guards—so tight even a fly couldn't get out. How was he supposed to find a chance to run?

Lin Jingyan seemed swamped with work and wasn't around all day, only showing up at set times for meals and sleep.

Luo Qianyu ran through every insult he could think of, from personal stakes and national duty to begging and cold threats, but that main villain, with his thick skin—who knows what it's made of—didn't budge, not even a frown.

He also tried to channel his inner energy, but unfortunately, this wasn't some xianxia novel. His inner energy was mostly for Lightness Skill moves, and right now, it could at most barely get his blood flowing and unblock his meridians—totally useless for countering the drug.

He even tried biting the tip of his tongue hard, using the sharp pain to jolt his nerves and briefly shake off the weakness.

But after biting his tongue in several places, the pain made him hiss, and it barely helped. He finally had to give up.

Gotta hand it to the Chancellor's mansion—even when keeping a hostage, they were thorough and considerate, giving him the best food and clothes. Putting aside the whole hostage thing, it was even more pampered than when he was the Third Prince in Zhao.

But he hated this gloomy mansion, with no warmth or life to it. All he saw day in and day out, besides the quiet, obedient servants, was Lin Jingyan.

What ate at him even more was the time.

Every day that passed could make Zhi Heng's condition worse and make the epidemic outside the city spiral even more out of control.

A terrifying thought kept popping up: even if Lin Jingyan let him go now, and he gathered his troops and rushed to the Western Desert, counting the time to find the medicine and the trip back... could Zhi Heng really last that long?

And the emperor.

He'd said he would save them.

But he also knew that in Lin Jingyan's eyes, these people's deaths were no different from squashing ants—completely meaningless.

Luo Qianyu gripped the military tally, feeling it weigh a ton, and let out a deep sigh.

That day, a servant led him to bathe.

Stepping into the hot spring pool, even Luo Qianyu, used to luxury, couldn't help but marvel. This place was even more splendid than the bathhouse in his marquis's residence—white jade for the pool, warm jade paving the floor, with swirling misty vapors, rivaling the imperial palace's forbidden gardens.

That Dog Chancellor sure knew how to enjoy himself.

Two servants were about to step forward to help him, but the young man shook them off: "I don't need you."

The pool was shrouded in mist, and the warm water enveloped his body, bringing a brief moment of relaxation.

Luo Qianyu glanced sideways and noticed a small, exquisitely crafted wooden boat floating on the water's surface, palm-sized. He vaguely remembered seeing a similar trinket in the bathhouse of his marquis's residence.

In normal times, he might have found it amusing, but now he had no mind for it.

He steadied himself and said coldly to the servants standing nearby: "Young Master never likes anyone around when he bathes. All of you, get out."

The servants hesitated, not moving: "Young Lord Luo, this..."

He braced his body and snapped, "Lin Jingyan only ordered you to attend to my daily needs. Since when does bathing and changing clothes require your personal service? Get out!"

The servants were startled by the young man's sudden fierceness. They exchanged glances, ultimately not daring to defy him too much, murmured "Yes," bowed, and filed out of the pool area, waiting in the outer corridor.

Finally, only he remained in the pool.

Steam rose, and Luo Qianyu leaned against the edge of the pool, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to a high wall on one side.

...

Yes.

Beyond the wall, there was a very tall ancient tree with gnarled branches and a peculiar shape. He recognized it—it was the tree by the street outside the Chancellor's mansion.

So this bathhouse was built on the boundary of the Chancellor's estate.

If he wanted to escape, this wall before him and that tree outside, which could serve as leverage, might be his only chance.

Confirming that no one was around, Luo Qianyu immediately sprang into action. He bit down hard on his still-unhealed tongue tip, and the sharp pain jolted his spirits, temporarily suppressing some of the weakness.

He forced himself to climb out of the pool, leaving a trail of dripping water, and quickly walked to the window facing the high wall, flinging it open.

The cold wind rushed in instantly, dispersing some of the mist.

...

...

In less than half an incense stick's time, the servants' cautious inquiry indeed came from outside: "Young Lord Luo? Do you need some more hot water?"

The room was dead silent.

Only the sound of dripping water could be heard.

The servant raised their voice and called out again, but the response was still utter silence.

Finally sensing something wrong, the servant rushed in through the door in panic. The pool was empty, with only a clear trail of water on the floor leading to the wide-open window!

"Not good!"

"Quick, chase after him!"

"Something's wrong! Young Lord Luo is gone!"

Gasps instantly shattered the tranquility of the mansion.

The sounds of footsteps, clanking armor, and anxious shouts rose one after another. The guards and servants outside the door erupted into chaos, rushing toward the high wall and the ancient tree outside the window in pursuit, the clamor quickly fading into the distance.

The bathing pool, which had been crowded with people moments ago, was now empty in the blink of an eye.

Only the faint, fading noise of the search echoed from outside.

Just then, a string of tiny bubbles silently rose from the calm water surface.

Then, with a soft "splash," a figure broke through the water.

He gulped in air, his entire body soaked through. His black hair clung wetly to his cheeks and neck, making his lips look redder and his skin paler.

A thought crossed the young man's mind.

The pursuers had been lured away, and his Lightness Skill was already proficient enough to even scale palace walls—there was no need to rely on that ancient tree.

Now was his best chance to get away!

Just as he braced himself on the pool's edge to get up, his gaze inadvertently lifted and abruptly met a calm, unwavering stare.

...

His heart seemed to stop.

On the opposite side of the pool, Lin Jingyan was already standing there, unbeknownst to him.

The man wore his official robes neatly, his expression cold and composed, as he looked down at him.