Xu Zhengming let go of the empress and immediately distanced himself from her highness. His throat is acting up again. And his pair of canine teeth aches. His heart starts to race and his blood rushes through his veins at an abnormally fast pace.
He can feel that the poison within him got triggered. He grits his teeth as he clutches on his lapels. He thought the spirit herb already healed him completely. Turns out, there's still remaining poison that circulates in his body.
Although it's not as intense and as painful as his previous metamorphosis, he's still afraid that he'll lose his consciousness again, and worse, he might attack people. It was hard for him to stand but he still managed to rise on his feet. He needs to get away from here or else, he might end up harming the empress.
"Ming'er... you still have..." The empress couldn't finish what she wants to say.
Uttering a word is too painful and hard for her in her state. She's very exhausted and speaking would make her breath stop. She thought the emperor already cured him.
Xu Zhengming's breathing is heavy, and his agony is evident in his perfectly chiseled face. Even so, he still tried to speak to her highness. "Chi'er... I'm sorry but... I need to stay away from you. Or else... or else I might hurt you."
It pains her to see that this innocent man who owns her heart is hurting because of the dark plans that they plotted. Yes, she's also one of the three empresses who plotted this ill-intended plan. Even though she's forced to participate, she's still part of it.
While Xue Chi is still staying at the Liaodong Xue Sect, she chose to specialize in the art of medicine and healing. She has a wide range of knowledge in terms of medicinal herbs, unfortunately, she hasn't heard of the spirit herb Yuegguang Hua before. She also knows what to do in case of an emergency and if someone needs first aid.
Even though she already has the knowledge of how to treat Xu Zhengming's condition, or at least make a temporary remedy for him, she can't do anything right now. Her body is betraying her and she can barely feel anything physically. And now, she's asking herself, "Why can't I do the thing I truly want?"
She uses her remaining strength to lift her head and extend her arms to Xu Zhengming. She's very exhausted but she still managed to put a weak smile on her face. "Come. You'll feel relieved... if you drink my blood."
Xu Zhengming stubbornly shakes his head and sternly refused. "No! I-I don't want to hurt you."
He keeps on losing his ground but managed to get his balance back again before he could even fall. While he's trying to normalize his breathing and calm himself, he also takes a step backward away from the empress. Slowly but surely, he distances himself from her. The farther, the better. This keeps up until his back collided with something that made his little steps halt.
The next thing he knew is that a pair of hands are holding his both arms. His long and wide sleeves are as white as snow.
Xu Zhengming unhurriedly lifts his head and slightly turns it to see who is this person behind him. He pursed his lips when he sees those pair of phoenix eyes look straight at him. Unlike the usual one, the pure concern is evident in this person's eyes but the fierceness is still there.
"Renshu...?"
"Mn. I'm here." Yin Renshu let Xu Zhengming lean on him.
Even though he is the bad-tempered emperor, his voice this time is unusually low and rather rough. It makes the other feel somehow secured but of course, the fear of getting berserk is still there.
"Are you feeling dizzy? What's bothering you in particular?"
"I think... I think I'm losing myself again. I don't feel... very well." Then his heart rate suddenly dropped. The sudden slow-down of his heartbeats resulted in the lack of oxygenated blood circulating in his body. This made Xu Zhengming's knees are wobbly, and eventually lost his balance. Good thing, Yin Renshu caught him in his arms in time.
It's as if his body is undergoing a forced shutdown. Xu Zhengming could barely keep his eyes open, his eyelids seem to get heavier, pulling him into sleep. "I'm sleepy..."
"Don't close your eyes. Look at me." Yin Renshu is afraid that Xu Zhengming might turn into a bloodthirsty monster again after he wakes up from a short slumber. Or worse, he might not open his eyes again! In any case, he needs to keep Xu Zhengming awake. "Xu Zhengming, look at me!"
Meanwhile, Xu Zhengming is slowly closing his eyes then opening them again, making his long lashes tremble in his every try to stay awake.
Then the unexpected happened. Xu Zhengming's mind is in a mess and could hardly keep up with what's happening around them. But the moment he realized what Yin Renshu did to him, his sleepiness fade in an instant.
Their lips interlocked with each other. For some unknown reason, Xu Zhengming's blood seems to rush towards his head, making his entire face red and warmer than usual.
That made him regain some of his strength and pushed Yin Renshu away from him. However, this push isn't too forceful due to the lack of exerted strength. Their lips only parted for about a couple of centimeters.
Little did he know, Yin Renshu is nervous, and to tell the truth, he really never gave it a thought before kissing him. He doesn't even know why he kissed him in the first place. Just as Xu Zhengming managed to push him a little, Yin Renshu cuts the distance in between them and kissed him once again. This time, it's a little longer... and moist.
The empress gasps and her eyes open widely. For a moment, she forgot that she's hurting all over her body. So, the rumors are true? Eunuch Xu really captured his majesty's heart? If not, why would the emperor kiss him passionately?
The man who has her heart, and the man she tried to love... they're actually into each other?!
Now, Xu Zhengming is really awake. Although his eyes are wide open, his mind is no better than his drunk state. For the second time, Xu Zhengming managed to push Yin Renshu away and free himself from his arms.
"Waaah... Y-your majesty! I'm not sleepy anymore!" Xu Zhengming is quick to rise and distance himself from Yin Renshu about a meter away. "Wide awake! I'm wide awake!"
Even though it's dark, the gentle moonlight reveals how red his face became. He can't even look at Yin Renshu in the eyes. Xu Zhengming can't believe himself. His body originally has 206 bones, now he has 207!
He took a deep breath trying to calm himself. Women. He likes women. He only likes women!
"Great... That's good." Yin Renshu looks at him from head to toe and vice versa, trying to observe him. "Are you feeling okay now?"
Seeing the other is staring at him, Xu Zhengming pulls his red robes trying to hide what he's hiding.
Meanwhile, Yin Renshu actually finds it surprising. Xu Zhengming looks like he's about to pass out just earlier, and now, he's standing on his own. He even hopped his way to his current post. He doesn't seem to be turning into a monster anytime soon too.
Looks like the kiss is something else.
"Yes, I'm fine. I can even run now!" And with that Xu Zhengming sprinted his way out of the Empress Dowager's Hall.
"Xu Zhengming! Where are you going?! It's dangerous outside!" Yin Renshu doesn't have any idea why he suddenly fled at full speed. However, he doesn't have much time to think about it and just runs after the runaway bride. He could only whisper to himself, "Are you even aware that you're marrying my brother?"
For goodness' sake! That was only a kiss... well a couple of kisses.
"Ming'er...?" And just like that, the empress is left alone with her unconscious little brother.
Without any idea where to go, Xu Zhengming just runs wherever his feet take him. Knowing he's being chased by the other, he runs even faster. In fact, he had never run like this before. Not even when women were chasing him.
As he's trying to get as far as possible from Yin Renshu, he noticed the commotion on the other side of the imperial palace. The noises are coming from the direction near the Union Hall. He subconsciously turns his head, and as expected, he's not seeing the chaos in that part since there are several structures that are blocking the sight from his post.
However, there's one figure that his eyes caught. It's Princess Yin Xiulan in mid-air! With the holy weapon in her hand, she looks like she's gracefully dancing in the air. Every swing of her fan creates a strong wind pressure. He can even feel the harsh breeze despite the great distance.
Xu Zhengming doesn't know what she's fighting with but whatever it is he better not go over there. And besides, she told him not to leave. He should not let her see him or else who knows what she'll do?
As we all know, Xu Zhengming has a poor sense of direction. Coincidentally, his feet brought him to the imperial garden where he usually hangs out with the emperor (Yin Wenyan). Perhaps it's because he once always came here when he's still young whenever he wants to relax his troubled mind. And later on, the place where he once meets up with his mysterious friend.
The fact that Yin Renshu was once a cultivator, of course, he has swift moves. It's easy for him to catch up with Xu Zhengming in no time.
"Xu Zhengming, stop running away!"
"Then stop chasing me first!" Seeing how close the other gets, and has no intention of stopping, Xu Zhengming didn't give it a second thought and jumps on the lake.
"Xu Zhengming!" Xu Zhengming still heard Yin Renshu's voice even though his head is underwater.
Surprisingly, this lake is deeper than he imagined. He thought he'll be able to land his feet on the ground. It's too late for him to realize that he's been going down for some time now yet his feet haven't landed yet.
The water is cold. He can feel his body shivering. He thought, should I swim back above? But Yin Renshu is up there. And then he remembered, he doesn't know how to swim. Instead of panicking, he chose to just let himself sink in the deepest part of the waters. He chose death over admitting that he got a boner from his majesty's kiss.
He thought, "No! I'd accept it if it's him who falls for me. I'm good-looking after all! But I'll never forgive myself if I turn my back to the beautiful women and be a cut sleeve instead. I'd rather just die than to step on my pride!"
"Xu Zhengming! Hey! Where are you?!"
Yin Renshu lost his composure and panicked the moment he can't find Xu Zhengming underwater. There are no movements as well so he really can't point out where he is exactly. Plus it's already nighttime so it's hard for him to see whatever's below the waters. The light coming from the full moon only lets him see his own reflection.
"Xu Zhengming!" He yells at the top of his lungs but he still got nothing as a reply. This is when he decided to take off his white cloak and dive into the lake.
Silence... at first, all he hears are the bubbles that go upwards.
Just as he expected, there's nothing much he can see underwater but a faint light coming from the moon somehow aided him. After a little while of looking around, he sees some bubbles that come up nearby. He thought it must be Xu Zhengming.
He follows where the bubbles came from. He dives deeper until he sees locks of hair floating. He's right, it's Xu Zhengming. The bride's half bun loosens, and the golden hair accessories fall on the deeper part of the lake. This beau's eyes were closed, and his face is very relaxed. He looks like he's just sleeping where in fact he's actually waiting for his death.
Yin Renshu reaches for his cheek and caressed it. Why does he look so good without even trying? If only he could stare at him and silently adore him...
Feeling the touch of the other, Xu Zhengming opens his eyes, and his almond-shaped eyes glare at the other. He tried to push him away. Can't this temperamental emperor see? He's committing suicide! Why is he getting on his way?
This time, Yin Renshu didn't let himself be shoved away. He put his arm around Xu Zhengming's waist while he used his other arm to push them back to the surface.
Xu Zhengming tried to struggle and get away from the other but what can he possibly do against Yin Renshu? His body isn't even made for a physical match! He's too fragile for it. Perhaps this is the reason why Emperor Yin Wenyan is overprotective of him.
Both of them gasped for air the moment they reached the surface of the water. Yin Renshu helped Xu Zhengming to get back up to the ground before he pulled himself out of the water.
"What were you thinking, jumping on the lake?! It could kill you!" He scolded him the moment he's able to get back on the ground.
Xu Zhengming averted his eyes, refusing to tell the truth. "It's because you're catching up soon."
Yin Renshu sighs. So it's his fault now? Really? Well, maybe a part of it is his fault. "Why are you running in the first place?"
"Because you're chasing me!" Xu Zhengming gives him his usual response to that question.
"Ridiculous! You ran away that's why I chased you." Then out of nowhere, Yin Renshu pulls Xu Zhengming closer to his chest and wraps his arms around him. He buried his face on the other's shoulder as he speaks, "Don't try to scare me like that again."
Although confused, Xu Zhengming still responded. "I'm not trying to scare you though." He's having second thoughts about whether he'll hug him back too or not.
Now, this is strange. According to Xu Zhengming's own observation of his majesty the emperor, it's not unusual for the fluffy side of the emperor to act intimate towards him. However, this emperor in front of him is clearly the bad-tempered one. It's new that he's acting like this. Or maybe he's acting like this for some time now but Xu Zhengming just failed to notice.
Does his majesty really see him as a wife material? Or maybe he just wants him to add to his collection of beauties? He doesn't really know why the emperor wants to marry him. He never bothered to ask, and the deal they made is too good to refuse.
In the end, Xu Zhengming decided to hug him back. Why is this temperamental emperor irresistible?