Chapter 201: Elixir

Chapter 201: The Pill

Cheng Ge instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, his face crumpling as he plopped down dejectedly on the couch.

Staring at the half-packed bundle on the bed, he felt his prospects grow utterly bleak.

Lü Rou watched him, her hands continuing her work, her voice as gentle as ever.

"I recall, it seems payday is in a few days."

Cheng Ge: "!!!"

Salary! His silver! His hard-earned cash—he almost forgot about that.

If he bolted now, wouldn't this month's salary go down the drain?

Cheng Ge grabbed his head in agony, frantically clawing at his hair, feeling like he was splitting apart.

On one side, there was the deadly crisis of fleeing or losing both his chastity and his head.

On the other side, there was the harsh reality that running away might end even worse.

He thought on the couch for a long time, but his stomach chose that moment to let out a loud growl, echoing loudly in the silent room.

Cheng Ge: "..." Tsk, might as well eat first.

As soon as Cheng Ge started eating, he couldn't care about anything else.

Lü Rou and the housekeeper were initially worried about Cheng Ge's appetite.

But after a while, they realized he just had a big appetite and didn't seem to have any issues, so they let him be.

Funiang went even further, treating Cheng Ge like her own grandson.

Every day, she would find new ways to cook new dishes for him, and without fail, she made him midnight snacks every night.

She claimed Cheng Ge was still growing—though whether he was actually growing was unknown, but he sure wasn't putting on any weight.

Eating more meals wouldn't make him fat, but skipping a few meals would immediately make him lose weight. It drove them crazy.

At that moment, Cheng Ge was burying his head in his food, wolfing down the feast, his cheeks stuffed full.

As he ate with gusto, a shadow fell across the table, and a figure slid into the seat opposite him, bringing a cool, subtle fragrance.

Cheng Ge glanced up—it was Yun Xunyu.

The guy's complexion looked much better compared to his half-dead state from before.

With his rosy lips and pearly white teeth, that flirtatious air about him seemed to have returned. He must have been secretly eating goji berries.

Cheng Ge ignored him, continuing to focus on the braised spare ribs in front of him.

Yun Xunyu didn’t speak either. He just lazily rested his chin on his hand, watching Cheng Ge with a smile.

His wide sleeve slipped, revealing a pale wrist, and the pendants on him made the faintest clinking sounds with his movements.

Cheng Ge felt a bit creeped out by his stare and pushed the plate of smoked fish he had barely touched over.

He jutted his chin out arrogantly: "Tsk, here, a treat for you—dig in..."

Yun Xunyu looked at the porcelain dish that suddenly appeared before him, paused briefly, then let out a low, melodious laugh like jade striking.

He wasn’t offended at all. He actually picked up his chopsticks, took a small piece of fish, and meticulously picked out the bones.

Cheng Ge, while gnawing on the ribs furiously and spitting out bones at a rapid pace, casually asked, "Hey, why haven't you gone back to Nanling yet? Aren't you afraid someone will snatch up your homeland?"

Yun Xunyu’s hand paused almost imperceptibly, then he lifted his eyes, his phoenix-like eyes curving into a seductive arc, smiling: "My husband’s in Great Zhou. A wife follows her husband, so I have to stay here with him."

Cheng Ge: "..." Seriously fed up with these scheming gays, talking smut without missing a beat.

But he was already immune to all this. He rolled his eyes, snatched the last rib, and shoved it into his mouth, crunching loudly.

His eyes darted around as he spoke slightly indistinctly: "If you don't go back soon, the throne's going to end up with someone else. I heard your brothers have been quite active lately?"

As far as Cheng Ge knew, after the former crown prince of Nanling died suddenly, the heir's position had been empty.

Yun Xunyu's pull in Nanling wasn't something to sneeze at. If he really wanted to go for it, he stood a good chance.

Yun Xunyu's smile widened lazily, tinged with indifference.

"What's the point in chasing worthless things?" He set down his chopsticks, his gaze refocusing on Cheng Ge’s face, articulating each word, his voice soft yet clear, "If I’m going to compete, naturally I want to compete for... the one right at the core of my heart."

Cheng Ge: "..." Cheng Ge gave him a hard kick in the shin and flipped him the bird as an afterthought.

But Yun Xunyu, as if a weird switch had been flipped, smiled and smoothly hooked Cheng Ge’s ankle with his own foot.

His phoenix eyes slanted up, his gaze carrying an almost bewitching charm as he continued slowly.

"However... if my dear wants to have a go at that throne, it wouldn’t hurt to try for it."

Cheng Ge: "..." Is this guy a dock manager? He sure knows how to act smug.

Cheng Ge polished off his last bite of rice irritably, pushed the bowl and chopsticks aside, leaned back, patted his full belly contentedly, and declared shamelessly: "I don’t want to be emperor. I want to be the frickin' Jade Emperor!"

Hearing this, Yun Xunyu laughed softly and nonchalantly slid the smoked fish, having carefully deboned it, back beside Cheng Ge’s hand.

"What’s the fun in being the Jade Emperor?" He rested his chin on his hand, his gaze like a hook. "Sitting alone in the Lingxiao Hall day in, day out—sounds dull, doesn’t it?"

He lowered his voice, sounding almost coaxing.

"If my dear finds it dull, why not become the intertwined branches with me, tangled together for all eternity? Wouldn’t that be better?"

Cheng Ge: "..." Flirt. I give up.

His lips twitched. He decided to ignore the tease, simply reached out, and grabbed another piece of smoked fish.

Viciously stuffing it into his mouth, he chewed forcefully, as if he were gnawing on someone’s flesh.

Just as he swallowed, a small white jade bottle was gently placed on the table before him.

Cheng Ge paused, looked up at the smiling Yun Xunyu across from him, his eyes filled with confusion and caution.

Yun Xunyu tapped the bottle with his fingertip, his tone as casual as commenting on the weather: "The medicine you asked for last time, my dear."

Dubious, Cheng Ge picked up the jade bottle, pulled out the red cloth stopper, and peeked inside.

Inside, several round, pitch-black pills lay quietly.

He immediately slammed the bottle down on the table in disgust and said crossly, "Last time it was clearly a decoction, and now you're trying to fool me with these death pills?"

Yun Xunyu wasn't annoyed; instead, he leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice, feigning a hint of grievance.

"Dear, you're wronging me. That decoction back then had unstable properties, so I specially refined these elixir pills for you—they have a better effect."

As he spoke, he held his hand out in front of Cheng Ge, revealing a small but obvious fresh burn blister near his little finger on his long, jade-like finger.

Cheng Ge raised his eyes to glance at the blister, then swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

His lips twitched a few times, his gaze flickered for a moment, and he seemed a bit uneasy.

After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly reached into his own clothes and fumbled around, pulling out a limp money pouch.