Chapter 409: Chapter 151 Nightmare_3
That was an outlet for the sarcastic jeers behind his back, calling him "well-behaved."
It was his silent rebellion against his father.
His body gradually became hot and dry, the Cold Food Powder beginning to take effect.
Qi Yutai stripped off his outer garment and strode naked back and forth in the room.
If Qi Qing saw this scene, he would certainly punish him severely. The Grand Preceptor’s Mansion valued propriety above all, and from childhood to adulthood, he could not afford to make even the slightest misstep in public.
Qi Yutai then felt a strange sense of pleasure, as if to spite that shining rigidity on purpose. He walked back and forth in the elegant room, shouting aloud, feeling as if a fierce fire was surging in his chest. The relief in his mind and the suffocation in his body could not be reconciled. In that frenzied state, he suddenly flung open the door of the elegant room.
A cry of surprise came from outside the door.
A young woman followed by a maid, her hands holding a mahogany food basket, appeared to not expect someone to suddenly open the door. Turning around and seeing his naked form, the maid screamed in fright, and the woman, her face flushed, grabbed the maid and tried to flee.
His head hot with impulse, he dragged the woman into the room.
The maid shouted for help, reaching out to pull the woman, and was also dragged inside.
Qi Yutai felt light, faint screams and cries reaching his ears. These sounds made him feel even more comfortable, like a bloodthirsty beast tasting its first bite of flesh. He became wild, invincible, relying only on instinct to gnaw at his weak prey. His surroundings seemed distant and blurred.
He couldn’t discern her face; with the Cold Food Powder taking effect, he only felt an extreme joy, freedom gained amidst brutal plunder.
As for crying and tears, struggling and pain...
What did they have to do with him?
He did not care, having done this many times before.
Not worth mentioning.
In the elegant room, the Green Jade Furnace burned with a dream-like, gentle fragrance. Through the haze of swirling smoke, someone sighed.
This sigh was long and piercing, chilling to the soul; Qi Yutai abruptly came to his senses.
"You killed her..."
the voice said.
"No... I didn’t..." Qi Yutai defended, "I only..."
Suddenly, his words froze in his throat.
Only what?
He had never killed anyone because there was never any need.
No matter what he did outside, how great the fault, someone would always cover for him, cleaning up the mess neatly.
The incident at Fengle Building had never bothered him; it was just a low-status woman, whose name he didn’t even need to know.
He didn’t remember her face, only that when he awoke in a dazed state, as the steward found him, he saw chaos everywhere. The woman lay on the bed, a sight he found too bothersome to look at. At the threshold, soup and food lay shattered on the floor, a mahogany basket trampled beyond recognition, mingled with the skirt of the dead maid, a particularly filthy and untidy sight.
He just glimpsed it and then looked away, stepping over the winding blood to avoid wetting the silk shoes on his feet.
The steward followed, somewhat troubled, "Young Master, that woman was of decent family."
He was nonchalant, "Give them some silver to deal with it."
In this world, everyone had a price.
A couple of silvers couldn’t buy a cup of fine wine at Yuxian Tower, but it could buy a low-born servant.
They were very cheap.
So he straightened his garments and returned to the mansion.
Latter he vaguely heard that the woman was pregnant; he didn’t really care about it either. The woman’s husband was eager to curry favor with the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion; he would have licked the mud from his shoes if it was required, and that insignificant anger was hardly a cause for concern.
What truly caused him panic was the woman’s brother.
News from the Trial Court came that the woman’s brother had somehow discovered the truth; the petition had already reached the hands of the Examiner Official, causing Qi Yutai to finally feel fear.
It wasn’t the Liang Dynasty laws he feared, nor the hatred of the other party.
He was only afraid of his father finding out.
Qi Qing valued reputation above all else, and if this matter were to escalate within the Imperial Court, his father would certainly not spare him.
That’s why Qi Yutai had his steward negotiate with the Trial Court, and they agreed to handle the matter discreetly. Later, when he heard that the woman’s entire family had disappeared, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However...
His father still found out.
Upon learning of the incident, Qi Qing placed him under soft confinement within the mansion, forbidding him to leave. His father’s look of disappointment was like a nightmare, causing him to toss and turn sleeplessly for a good while, only finding relief through the Spirit Rhinoceros Fragrance.
He thought the matter was over, that in the past twenty-odd years, such incidents had occurred countless times, and he did not expect it to be brought up today.
A cold voice like smoke whispered in his ear, "Young Master Qi, you killed someone...".
He instinctively retorted, "No, no, I didn’t kill anyone...".
"You sent the servants away, you went to Fengle Building to kill...".
Sent the servants away?
Qi Yutai was stunned and subconsciously said, "No, I just didn’t want my father to know I was taking the powder... It was she who barged in...".
"I didn’t... I didn’t kill on purpose!".
There was silence all around.
Lu Tong looked down with drooping eyes at Qi Yutai, who sat on the chair with a confused expression, his eyes growing colder by the second.
On the door of the Purple Sandalwood Inlaid Gemstone Screen, the dazzling rubies made even the smoke from the Incense Burner seem a desolate shade of bright red. The swirling smoke faintly resembled grey shadows, vaguely present yet quickly dissipating without leaving a trace.
Taking the powder.
Lu Tong silently reflected on these two words.
Qi Yutai, with closed eyes, was murmuring something softly, as if asleep. Only by drawing close could one hear what he was saying.
Lu Tong’s gaze fell upon him.
The red silk tree cotton from Hongfang Garden at the Imperial Apothecary was a material exclusively used by Consort Rou to treat insomnia, but the raw material was poisonous; prolonged exposure led to dizziness, brain swelling, and bleeding from the mouth and nose.
She went to the Imperial Apothecary to ask He Xiu for some remaining scraps of red silk tree cotton. Without asking what it was for, He Xiu sent her a half-bundle overnight.
She processed the scraps just a bit, soaked them in the Silver Jar, ground them up, and boiled them with other ingredients, finally mixing them into the fragrant pills that Jin Xianrong had given her.
Spirit Rhinoceros Fragrance could soothe the mind and calm the spirit, but with a slight alteration, it could make a person talk nonsense and be unable to distinguish between dream and reality...
Sweet dreams turned into nightmares.
The person in the chair was still immersed in his dream. Lu Tong, looking down from above, took two steps forward. Her silver needle in hand, she traced from his neck over his cheek, finally resting on his not so plump temple.
If she were to thrust it in there, pushing it all the way, he would die instantly.
Qi Yutai was still murmuring, "It’s not me... I didn’t...".
Lu Tong extended her hand.
The tip of the needle pressed against the skin, slowly pushing inwards.
Qi Yutai seemed to sense something, his face showing a pained expression.
"Creak——"
Just then, a sudden noise came from behind.