Chapter 173: Hold On, Imperial Advisor! I, the Emperor, Have Recovered 10

Chapter 173: Wait, National Preceptor! I've Recovered 10

Lin Huaiqing froze.

He had thought Qin Hanyue wouldn't call him out on it, but it seemed he had miscalculated.

"This... it's a mere trifle. Can't the National Preceptor use spiritual power to dispel the effects? Shouldn't any Golden Core stage cultivator know how to do that?"

"This drug's effects are strange. As for how to dispel them, I haven't the faintest idea at the moment." Qin Hanyue was reclining on his side on the couch, one hand propping up his chin, the other covering his modesty.

The man's deep, husky voice held a barely perceptible allure. It was a stark contrast to his pure, cold exterior, yet oddly fitting.

What a poser—even when drugged, he still had to be this elegant?

But who was Lin Huaiqing? How could he be swayed by such a cheap trick? Since Qin Hanyue wouldn't take a hint and chose the hard way, then don't blame him for being ruthless.

"In that case, I'll send a palace maid to your room to cure you of that poison!"

Having dropped that bombshell, Lin Huaiqing walked out of Penglai Pavilion without a backward glance, returning to his earlier, utterly unflappable demeanor.

Inside the room, the look of being consumed by desire on Qin Hanyue's face lasted only a split second before receding as quickly as the tide.

As if it had all been nothing but a fleeting, rose-tinted illusion.

The Imperial Household Department worked faster than Qin Hanyue had prepared for soul cultivation. In less than two days—it was quite a feat for them to have rounded up so many concubine candidates in such a short time.

However, Lin Huaiqing didn't mind the selection process itself; he even kind of enjoyed it.

After all, what man wouldn't want to see a row of young, beautiful women in their prime, standing before him, where a casual point of his finger could decide the rest of their lives?

Of course, he was a man but also human, and he did feel a hint of pity for these concubine candidates who would spend half their lives as widows once they entered the palace.

Regardless, picking two just to go through the motions would suffice. He shouldn't be ruining decent girls' lives in his current state.

The eunuch beside him read out each candidate's background one by one, which sounded like a bunch of droning chants to him. He basically shook his head, had them go through the motions, and then tossed their plaques aside.

It wasn't until Lin Huaiqing heard the next candidate's background that he snapped back to attention. He quietly asked the Empress Dowager beside him.

"Mother, this Zhao Ge's daughter..." Should he keep her or not...

That old bastard—just to keep tabs on him at all times, he'd even sent his own flesh and blood into the palace. What a heartless bastard.

The Empress Dowager couldn't help but give the candidate below a second look. "She's just a concubine-born daughter. But since she's the Prime Minister's daughter, without a good reason, it'd be hard to refuse."

The Empress Dowager asked a few casual questions, and the Prime Minister's daughter answered without a single slip. No need to guess—she'd definitely been drilled beforehand. It'd be nearly impossible to find any fault in her.

Besides, even if she's a concubine's daughter, she's got some real talent. If she didn't have some real skill, how could she be her father's eyes and ears?

"Lift your head and let me take a look."

Zhao Yan'er lifted her head slightly but didn't dare look straight at the emperor, or she'd be faulted for that too.

Lin Huaiqing gave her a once-over—she was indeed a looker, but too bad she'd inherited a bit of her father Zhao Ge's craftiness, which made her rather run-of-the-mill.

The other ministers all figured he wouldn't be emperor for long and had been forced to send their daughters into the palace. Rather than put someone else out, might as well let this one who's so eager to get in have her way.

Lin Huaiqing gave a slight nod to the eunuch reading the names, who immediately understood his intent.

"Zhao Yan'er, daughter of Prime Minister Zhao Ge—keep her plaque!"

Once Zhao Yan'er entered the palace, she was naturally not like ordinary concubine candidates. Before she'd even shared the emperor's bed, she was made a Pin, taking up residence in Weiyang Palace as its head.

Among the remaining candidates, Lin Huaiqing deliberately chose those who seemed more steady-tempered to keep in the palace, so at least there wouldn't be chaos.

After a whole day of picking concubines, he still had to go back and review memorials. Most crucially, tonight was the day he and Qin Hanyue had agreed upon for their first Dual Cultivation session.

Even though he had no particular fondness for Qin Hanyue, the thought of doing something like that with another man still made him inexplicably nervous.

After reviewing memorials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Lin Huaiqing's back ached, his whole body was sore, and his eyes were burning. Though he'd had the system fix his handwriting so it was indistinguishable from the original owner's, every single stroke was indeed his own chicken scratch.

Riding in a sedan chair back to Qianqing Palace, Lin Huaiqing sprawled face-down on the dragon bed, not wanting to move a single muscle.

If worst came to worst, he could just have a young eunuch pass a message to Qin Hanyue, telling him to pick another day... He was simply too exhausted today.

The second he started thinking about bailing, as if someone had heard his thoughts, a figure emerged from behind the screen.

"Your Majesty, have you gotten dizzy from all that concubine picking? Why are you so worn out?"

Lin Huaiqing was startled—the newcomer was actually Qin Hanyue?!

"How did you get in?!" With all those servants guarding outside, Qin Hanyue had just materialized in his bedchamber out of thin air, scared the hell out of him.

"Has Your Majesty forgotten what I do?"

Those mere mortals outside—how could they possibly stop him? He could naturally slip into Lin Huaiqing's bedchamber without anyone being the wiser.

"Fine! I'll let it go this time. Didn't you say you were at Penglai Pavilion? Why'd you suddenly show up here?"

"Since it's our first Dual Cultivation, I was worried you might feel out of place in an unfamiliar setting, so I took the initiative to come to you."

Qin Hanyue still had that faint, elusive smile on his lips, and that nearly perfect face leaned in close—even another man couldn't resist it.

That kind of talk really makes it easy to get the wrong idea. People who knew would understand they were prepping for soul cultivation; people who didn't might think...

Whether it was just Lin Huaiqing's imagination, he felt the Qin Hanyue before him now was a bit different from the one in the original owner's memories.

Both in personality and appearance, there were subtle changes.

Though not enough for others to notice anything off, someone who knew him well would definitely pick up on it. But he was completely alone, with no one around to notice anything off about him.

The Qin Hanyue the original owner had known was withdrawn, fake-warm, and genuinely aloof. Though he treated the original owner well, there was always this nagging sense that he was more like a predator, disguising himself to get close to his target.

But the Qin Hanyue before him now seemed more like fake aloof, genuinely flirtatious. He'd occasionally say things that were all too easy to take the wrong way, enough to make even him, a seasoned pro, blush.

Not only that, but the one before him was also far more refined in appearance than the Qin Hanyue the original owner had seen, with a hint of righteous, hero-of-the-realm energy in his brow—the spirit of a great knight vanquishing demons and upholding justice.

Could it be that Qin Hanyue had used spiritual power to enhance his looks just to get close to him?

Fine, fine! So that's how it is? Seduction didn't work, so now it's a charm offensive?

"Soul cultivation is soul cultivation—why call it dual cultivation?" Lin Huaiqing said, a bit annoyed, as he took off his outer robe.

He'd heard that soul cultivation made you hot, and you'd break out in a sweat at the drop of a hat. Better to just stay in his underclothes.