Male Lead, Please Don’t Covet the Mob Character Cannon Fodder (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 13

The following day, the Summer Lotus Banquet was held.

The venue was the Summer Lotus Manor under the Empress’s name. It was currently the perfect season for admiring the lotuses.

Gu Jiuli led Qingshi by the hand as they entered the banquet, causing jaws to drop everywhere. The two equally handsome men, one in black and one in white, appeared exceptionally harmonious together.

He led Qingshi to a seat, poured him a cup of tea, and picked up a piece of mung bean cake, holding it to the youth’s lips. “Master, try this pastry. It is the work of the imperial chefs.”

“…” Qingshi felt incredibly embarrassed. “Could you, perhaps, let me eat it myself?”

“Master, they are all watching.”

Qingshi sighed inwardly and silently accepted Gu Jiuli’s feeding.

In the bustling banquet, the space around the two seemed to have its own barrier. Some bold noble ladies wanted to approach and strike up a conversation, but as soon as they drew near, they were locked in by Gu Jiuli’s icy gaze. His eyes seemed to say, “Take one step closer and die.” For a time, no one dared to approach.

Eventually, the Empress sent someone over. “General Gu, Her Majesty requests your presence.”

Gu Jiuli frowned and whispered to Qingshi, “Master, wait for me here. Do not go anywhere. I will be back soon.”

Qingshi nodded obediently.

Gu Jiuli stood up and brushed his sleeves. “Lead the way.”

Once Gu Jiuli left, Qingshi noticed the number of gazes fixed on him significantly decreased. He relaxed his tense back muscles and shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

“Guest, please have some mung bean soup. Ah!” A young maid’s voice sounded beside him. The next second, Qingshi felt a cool, viscous liquid splash onto his chest.

“I am terribly sorry, Guest! It was not intentional!” The maid knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to Qingshi.

Hearing the thumping sound of her head hitting the floor, Qingshi hurried to stand up and stop her. “It is fine, it is fine. It does not matter. I do not blame you.”

The maid said, “Thank you, Guest. There are spare men’s clothes in the rear palace. Let me take you to change.”

Qingshi remembered Gu Jiuli’s instructions and feared the General would not be able to find him upon his return. He tried to refuse. “There is no need. I”

“Guest, if you do not change, I will be punished. Please, Guest, show some mercy.” The maid began kowtowing again.

“Alright, alright, I will change.” Seeing how pitiful she was, Qingshi agreed. He would try to go and return as quickly as possible.

“Thank you, Guest. Please follow me.” Noticing Qingshi’s vision impairment, the maid used a cloth ribbon to lead him.

“Guest, the clothes are inside. You may change them yourself.” The maid brought Qingshi to a side palace. After watching Qingshi grope his way inside, the maid curled her lips into a smile and closed the door directly.

The room seemed to be filled with incense. The fragrance was complex, light, and elusive.

Qingshi walked quickly toward the inner room, wanting to change and leave immediately. He felt around for the clothes but suddenly heard another person’s heavy breathing in the room. He was startled. “Who is there?!”

A hand grabbed Qingshi’s arm. The next second, he was thrown onto the bed. A hot body pressed down on top of him, and a faint scent of apricot blossoms wafted into his nose.

“Heh, they actually sent me a blind one,” Qi Chao gripped the chin of the person beneath him. “However, you look quite good, so I will accept this gift with pleasure.”

“???” Qingshi was dazed by this series of moves. By now, he would be a fool not to realize the maid was a problem. Where had she brought him? It certainly was not a place to change clothes.

Qingshi struggled to stop Qi Chao’s improper movements and tried to reason with him. “This, this gentleman, I entered here by mistake. I am terribly sorry for disturbing you, but I am not”

“I know,” Qi Chao said, biting Qingshi’s ear. “But it does not matter who you are.”

Qingshi felt that this person’s state was not right. He was likely under the influence of some kind of drug. He reached out and grabbed Qi Chao’s wrist, taking the opportunity to check his pulse.

As expected. “Sir, wait a moment. You are afflicted with a passion poison. Even if you do this, the poison will not be cured. Instead, it will only become deeper and more severe.”

Qi Chao stopped abruptly and squeezed Qingshi’s neck. “How do you know I am poisoned?”

Qingshi’s vision went dark from the lack of oxygen. “Cough, I have studied a bit of medical arts.”

Qi Chao looked at Qingshi’s flushed face, let out a sneer, and released his grip. “Who wants to play new tricks now? A blind man who knows medicine? Hahaha, that is truly hilarious.”

“Cough, cough, cough!” Qingshi breathed heavily for a long time before recovering. “Sir, the poison you have is called passion poison. The poisoned person will feel an unbearable heat and a sense of losing control. The symptoms will ease after intimacy, but the next outbreak will be even stronger. This poison is colorless and odorless, but the victim will emit a faint scent of apricot blossoms.”

Seeing that Qingshi could actually explain it, Qi Chao raised an eyebrow. “Can you cure this poison?”

Qingshi pondered for a moment. “I am not entirely certain, but I can try.”

“Heh,” Qi Chao sat up and put on his clothes. “Fine then, give it a try.”

Qingshi felt his way off the bed and straightened his collar. He then pulled a palm length leather pouch from his chest. When unfolded, it contained ten gold needles of uniform thickness.

“You certainly carry your tools everywhere.” Qi Chao crossed his arms and watched Qingshi with interest.

“I observe that you have been afflicted by this poison for three years. It is unrealistic to expect a complete cure all at once. I plan to use the gold needles to draw out the poison first, supplemented by herbal therapy. About seven sessions should be enough to completely eradicate the poison,” Qingshi stated his plan. “I will perform the first session for you today.”

“Fine. Where do you want to prick? Do I need to take off my pants?” Qi Chao asked nonchalantly.

The corner of Qingshi’s mouth twitched. “No. I will prick your head, specifically the acupoints on the bladder meridian.”

Just as Qingshi was performing the acupuncture on Qi Chao, a large group of people arrived at the side palace. Leading them was Gu Jiuli, whose expression was extremely grim. He was holding a maid by the collar.

“General, I am being wronged! That gentleman said himself he wanted to come here. After arriving, he even drove me out!”

“Shut up! Just lead the way!” Gu Jiuli barked through gritted teeth.

In the crowd behind them, Qi Fei could barely hide the smile on her face.

She felt her plan was brilliant. She had the person packaged and thrown to her third brother, who was not picky about his partners. Once the deed was done, Gu Jiuli would catch them himself. Although Gu Jiuli had discovered the disappearance earlier than she planned, it did not matter. Perhaps they would even witness a live scene now.

When Gu Jiuli saw his beloved person’s betrayal with his own eyes and became disheartened, she would notify her second cousin to step in and offer comfort. It would be effortless! She was truly a genius!

Arriving at the side palace, Gu Jiuli threw the maid aside and ordered Li Ming to lead the team to block the others. He stepped forward and kicked the door open.

“Bang!” The door was kicked open with a loud noise. Qingshi almost accidentally reinserted the needle he had just pulled from Qi Chao’s head. Both of them looked toward the door simultaneously.

Gu Jiuli’s originally dark expression shifted to confusion when he saw Qingshi with his clothes perfectly intact and Qi Chao with a head full of gold needles. “What are you two doing?”

“Treating an illness. Can you not see, General Gu?” Qi Chao, who found Qingshi’s treatment truly effective, was now in a good mood.

“Jiuli,” Qingshi, recognizing Gu Jiuli’s voice, called out.

Gu Jiuli’s nerves, which had been tense since he discovered Qingshi was missing, suddenly relaxed. He strode forward and pulled Qingshi into an embrace. “My apologies. I should not have brought you here.”

Qingshi was held in a full embrace while holding needles in both hands. He hesitated for a moment, then stroked Gu Jiuli’s back a few times as if soothing a ruffled animal. “I am fine.”

“Hey, hey, hey! You two, there is still someone else here.” The ignored Qi Chao raised an objection. “Physician Song, did you not say you were going to remove the needles?”

“Oh, right, right. Jiuli, let me go for a moment. I need to remove the needles.”

Gu Jiuli released him and watched as Qingshi deftly removed the gold needles from Qi Chao’s head one by one and put them away.

Qi Chao stood up and stretched, letting out a comfortable sigh. “I have not felt this good in a long time. Thank you, Physician Song.”

“Why is the Third Prince here?” Gu Jiuli blocked Qingshi behind him, his eyes looking sharply at Qi Chao.

Qi Chao was not at all afraid of Gu Jiuli. His eyes darted between him and Qingshi twice before he said meaningfully, “I do not know. I said I wanted to rest, and someone brought me here. Later, they sent Physician Song over too.”

“Pfft. Honestly, I should thank that person.”

Gu Jiuli understood his meaning. He stepped back and grabbed Qingshi’s hand. “Master, let us go back.”

“Alright.” Qingshi was obediently led away. Qi Chao waved at them from behind. “See you again, Physician Song.”

When Qingshi emerged behind Gu Jiuli completely unharmed, Qi Fei almost lost her composed princess demeanor. What was going on? Was her third brother incapable? How could the person be perfectly fine after all that time?

After finding the person, Gu Jiuli immediately led his men out of the Summer Lotus Manor, not staying a moment longer.

In the carriage, Gu Jiuli held Qingshi’s hand tightly and did not let go. “Master, are you really alright? The Third Prince did not do anything to you, did he?”

“I am fine. I just gave the Third Prince a few needles.”

Qingshi leaned against the carriage seat, but he suddenly realized his body temperature seemed a bit high. Only the area held by Gu Jiuli felt comfortable. He really wanted to”

Stop! Qingshi quickly checked his own pulse. It was fast and floating, a typical sign of excess kidney yang.

Damn it. When did he get affected?

Qingshi recalled everything that had happened. The only thing out of place was the incense. It was that incense!

Qingshi was nearly moved to laughter by his anger. It was truly one trap after another, like a nesting doll.

“Jiuli, let me go first.” Qingshi wanted to pull back his hand; otherwise, he feared his willpower would not be strong enough to keep him from pouncing on the man.

Gu Jiuli noticed something was wrong with Qingshi and frowned slightly. “Master, what is wrong?”

Qingshi tried to shrink into the corner as much as possible. “The incense burning in that room earlier had an aphrodisiac effect. I stayed in there too long and got affected.”

Gu Jiuli looked at Qingshi’s flushed face. His eyes darkened, and killing intent rose in his heart.

“Hah, get away from me.” Even as Qingshi said to leave, he gripped Gu Jiuli’s hand tighter.

Watching Qingshi bite his lower lip in distress, Gu Jiuli said with heartache, “Master, hold on. Once we return to the estate, I will have the physician prepare an antidote for you.”

Qingshi shook his head and said, “This kind has no antidote. It just needs to be released. Please, later, take me to the bathhouse.”

“Master, how about you resolve it in the carriage first?” Gu Jiuli gripped Qingshi’s hand back. “If you are embarrassed, I can step out first.”

Qingshi shook his head without a thought. In the carriage, that was too shameful.

Seeing Qingshi bite his own knuckles forcefully, Gu Jiuli suddenly pulled him into his embrace. “Be good, Master. Do not bite yourself.”

“Mhm! So cool!” Falling into the cool embrace, Qingshi let out a sigh and then instinctively burrowed inward, pressing himself closer to Gu Jiuli.

Gu Jiuli pulled Qingshi’s fingers out and replaced them with his own. Sharp canine teeth left tiny marks on his fingers.

Upon returning to the General’s Estate, Gu Jiuli carried Qingshi off the carriage and headed straight for the bathhouse.

Qingshi’s burning cheek pressed against his chest. He could not help but try to increase the surface area of contact. “So hot, so cool”

Gu Jiuli gritted his teeth and did not stop his pace.

The cool water enveloped his entire body, briefly bringing back Qingshi’s senses. Resting his head on the edge of the pool, he looked up and saw the concerned Gu Jiuli. The corners of his mouth rose slightly. “Do not worry, Da Hei. I am fine.”

“Mhm.” For the first time, Gu Jiuli felt that the name “Da Hei” sounded quite good. “Master, I will wait for you outside. Call me if you need anything.”

“Alright.”

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