Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Zhao Zhengbei came in carrying an eight-treasure box. When he saw the empty medicine bowl, he didn’t say anything.

He sat down beside me and took out a blueprint for me to look at.

“This is the residence bestowed by the Emperor. It’s still being renovated. Take a look-are there any changes you’d like made?”

I noticed the gauze wrapped around his palm. He must have blocked the Marquis’s whip.

That made sense. He was a renowned Great General now. How could he possibly let his father whip him at will?

As for the residence, I had no interest in looking.

It wasn’t as if I truly intended to settle down and live a proper married life with him. I said casually, “Anything is fine. I’ll defer to you, husband.”

Inwardly, I was thinking, If there’s nothing else, hurry up and leave.

I still wanted to get some proper sleep.

As long as he didn’t make me leave with Li Jing, that was enough. I had no desire to deal with him day after day.

Who would have thought Zhao Zhengbei would take off his outer robe and squeeze onto the narrow couch with me, pulling me into his arms?

My head rested against his chest. I listened to his heartbeat thundering like a drum, then noticed a certain bulge in his trousers.

Me: “…”

No, wait. I hadn’t even burned any Love-Enchanted Flower Poison today.

Zhao Zhengbei noticed where I was looking. He pulled the blanket over his waist and said very calmly, “My lady, I am, after all, a hot-blooded man in the prime of life. This sort of thing will be very common in the future. I hope you will get used to it and be understanding.”

He closed his eyes and patted my back gently, as if coaxing an infant to sleep.

When a man was aroused, his body gave off a unique scent.

Zhao Zhengbei smelled somewhat cold and sharp.

My thoughts were restless, and I couldn’t sleep at all.

Counting the days, my monthly courses would arrive in another three to five days.

Every time this period approached, I was always more easily stirred.

Zhao Zhengbei stroked my hair and said, “Since my lady cannot sleep, let us chat.”

The more one talked, the more mistakes one made. I would rather pretend to be asleep.

I closed my eyes and played dead.

Seeing me like this, Zhao Zhengbei let out a low laugh.

He pinched my cheek and said, “Let me be honest with you about something. When I was young, someone poisoned me and damaged my foundation. Later, I spent two years treating poison with poison and recovered, but I could no longer feel desire like a normal man.”

I thought to myself, You’re certainly standing at attention just fine right now.

He was clearly trying to get something going with me, saying all this just to coax me.

Fine. Between men and women, it always came down to that one thing anyway.

If I wanted to stay here, I would have to pay some price eventually.

I opened my eyes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and smiled gently. “Husband, shall we go back to the bed?”

With my hands around his neck, I quietly turned the silver bracelet on my wrist and released the illusion poison.

Zhao Zhengbei picked me up and strode toward the bed.

He set me down gently, kissed my forehead, and gazed at me as he said, “Let me be honest with you about one more thing. After that poisoning incident, my grandfather went to Medicine King Valley and begged for a priceless Poison-Avoiding Pearl on my behalf.”

He lifted his wrist. Tied to a red cord was a lustrous pearl.

At this very moment, the pearl’s color was slowly deepening.

My heart sank.

How could I not have heard of the famous Poison-Avoiding Pearl? As long as it encountered poison, its color would darken.

The more potent the poison, the darker the pearl became.

In other words, as early as the night Zhao Zhengbei came near me, he had already realized I carried Love-Enchanted Flower Poison on me.

I blinked and said innocently, “That’s wonderful. From now on, husband won’t have to fear being poisoned by anyone again.”

One of my principles in life:

Even if the evidence was seized and thrown right in front of me, I would deny it to the end.

As long as I wasn’t dead, there would always be a chance to turn things around.

Zhao Zhengbei did not expose me outright. That meant he had no intention of driving me into a corner.

He tied the pearl around my wrist and gazed at me. “Poison harms the body, no matter what kind it is. My lady, you should cherish your health.”

I lowered my eyes and did not meet his gaze.

My elder sister had once said the same thing to me.

She had said worriedly, “Zhichun, poison harms the body, no matter what kind it is. Even if you have the antidote, using too much poison will still hurt you.”

When I was seven, in order to save my sister, I sold myself to a medicine hall as a test subject.

In a way, it was a blessing in disguise. I ended up developing a body that could not be killed by medicine or poison no matter what.

All these years, in order to test flower poisons, all kinds of toxins had intertwined inside my body, yet I had survived just fine.

There was a price, though. I had almost lost my sense of taste.

In the past two years, I had even begun to lose my ability to distinguish many colors.

At night, without candlelight, I could not see clearly at all.

So my body was already like this. Whether I cherished it or not hardly mattered.

I struggled inwardly. I couldn’t use the Illusion Flower Poison on Zhao Zhengbei anymore.

If he wanted to sleep with me, did that mean I would have to do it for real?

I looked him over and fell into thought.

Actually, it wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Zhao Zhengbei caught my hand and kissed it, smiling. “I know my lady is impatient, but the doctor said your body is depleted and you still need to take tonics for a while. Once you recover, your husband will certainly satisfy you.”

I truly couldn’t hold back anymore.

I lifted my foot to kick Zhao Zhengbei, only for him to catch my ankle instead.

I felt his breathing grow heavy all at once.

“…”

Something was wrong. He was a pervert.

With great restraint, Zhao Zhengbei kissed the top of my foot, then looked up and said, “My lady, whether it was love at first sight or desire born from beauty, I only know that my body has deep feelings for you. I am a stubborn man, and I am a man who remains devoted once I choose someone. Once I have made up my mind, I will never let go. I also hope my lady will treat feelings as seriously as I do.”

What did he mean, his body had deep feelings for me?

Wasn’t that just being a lecher? And he had the nerve to make it sound so refined!

Zhao Zhengbei said regretfully, “Although I very much wish to share your bed, with me here, I imagine my lady will not be able to sleep. I will sleep on the narrow couch in the outer room instead. If my lady has any needs, call me anytime.”

My mind was a little muddled. I barely managed to keep my composure and smiled with gentle grace. “Don’t worry, husband. I won’t have any needs.”

After he left, I wrapped myself tightly in the quilt.

An indescribable undercurrent seemed to ripple faintly through my body, making even my mood feel sticky and damp.

Perhaps I had burned too much Love-Enchanted Flower Poison some time ago.

Instead of poisoning Zhao Zhengbei, I had made myself restless.

Could it be that my body also had feelings for Zhao Zhengbei?