The tension between the two dissolved over a plate of lion's head meatballs and a single burp.
When Qingwu caught the teasing in his eyes, she felt an itch of annoyance and kicked the man's leg in frustration.
However, he didn't budge, and she ended up hurting her own foot instead!
"Your leg is too hard—it hurt my foot!" she huffed.
"Blaming others for your own actions," Xiao Chenyuan remarked with a teasing glance, his understanding of her shamelessness deepening further.
Qingwu snorted, carefully putting away the food container, planning to save it as a midnight snack, and added with a grin, "Well, as punishment, you'll treat me to a month's worth of lion's head meatballs. Deal?"
"Did a starving ghost climb into your body?" he asked, his tone devoid of mockery, merely curious.
He had witnessed her astonishing appetite earlier—it rivaled that of the men in his army camps.
His gaze shifted to her flat stomach, puzzled as to how she managed to fit so much food in there.
"Not dead yet, so I'll eat until I drop!" Qingwu replied casually.
Xiao Chenyuan had no words to counter that. Well, she wasn't human—what did she have to fear?
"But I do feel a bit stuffed," Qingwu pouted, glancing up at him slyly. "How about you give me a belly rub?"
She wanted to absorb some of the sinister energy off him to help with digestion.
"Come on, come on~"
Before he could react, Qingwu grabbed his arm and placed it on her stomach.
His arm stiffened, and under his palm, it felt less like warm, soft skin and more like a scorching hot brand.
He frowned and murmured, "Not in the carriage. Stop fooling around."
Qingwu raised a brow and lowered her voice suggestively. "So, behind closed doors instead?"
The featherlight brush of her breath against his ear sent a ticklish sensation coursing through him. Instinctively, he pulled back, unintentionally yanking her closer.
The scent of irises wafted into his senses as he reflexively grabbed her waist to steady her body.QingWu was caught off guard as she suddenly found herself straddling him, sitting in his lap. Both of them were stunned for a moment...
The man's gaze was as cold as gathered snow, his internal sinister energy dormant, yet a strange and intense heat stirred within him, surging uncontrollably. His throat shifted slightly, his voice low and husky, "Get up."
This time, QingWu obediently sat back across from him, muttering softly, "It was you the one who pulled me over."
Xiao Chenyuan didn't want to listen to her mosquito-like buzzing. He abruptly removed his cloak and threw it over her head.
By the time QingWu pulled off the cloak, he was already gone, he was out riding on horseback.
"Absurd... if you're hot, just don't wear it when you go out..."
The only sound in the carriage was the rolling of the wheels, while outside, the elderly attendant, with a face full of grievance, ran alongside the carriage, his legs carrying him quickly.
Why was he the one suffering when it was that old lady who provoked the King?
After a moment, the carriage stopped, and QingWu lifted the curtain, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
They hadn't gone back to the Manor, but had arrived at the Ministry of Revenue's mansion. She turned to Xiao Chenyuan, "Why are we here?"
"Minister Yun is unwell at home," Xiao Chenyuan extended his hand to her. "My Queen has been crying daily, worried about her father's health. Naturally, I must accompany her to visit."
QingWu nearly laughed out loud.
She had just realized that the bad temper he had in his youth still lingered in him!
Well, it worked out. She had planned to come here and check on Yun Houxing these days. Yun Houxing had fully experienced what it meant to be haunted by hundreds of ghosts—like a living hell.
Most of the servants and bodyguards in the residence were possessed by evil spirits. Yun Qingwu had even possessed Madam Luo, feeding Yun Houxing snakes, insects, rats, and ants every day. In just a short time, Yun Houxing had aged rapidly, his cheeks hollowed, his complexion turning pale.
When they arrived at the study, Yun Houxing's reaction was not one of fear, but rather, as if seeing a savior, he immediately fell to his knees with a loud thud.
"Qingwu, Wu'er... please, spare me!"
"I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong to you all these years !"
QingWu jumped behind Xiao Chenyuan, avoiding Yun Houxing's filthy hands, her gaze filled with amusement as she looked at the real Yun Qingwu.
If Yun Houxing were to turn around, he would see that Madam Luo's smile was twisted and mocking.
QingWu sneered. After being tortured for so long, did he not realize that the true ghost daughter was possessing Madam Luo?
"As the saying goes, when a woman marries, she follows her husband. Whether or not you are spared, that depends on what my Lord says~"
QingWu laughed coquettishly and easily teamed up with Xiao Chenyuan.
Yun Houxing had been tortured to the point where he could neither live nor die. When Xiao Chenyuan proposed the conditions before, he agreed without hesitation.
He knew he was a pawn, and any message he tried to send was like a stone sinking into the sea.
"I am willing to write a letter of repentance! I am willing to confess, just please take these evil spirits away. I can't stand it anymore, I really can't stand it...!"
For the past few days, he had been force-fed snakes, insects, rats, and ants, unable to close his eyes day or night. These evil spirits tormented him relentlessly.
Yun Houxing felt as if bugs were crawling in the gaps between his bones. He even thought that death would be more comfortable than living.
"In that case, please, Minister Yun, write down everything that happened back then, and all those involved. Sign and seal it," Xiao Chenyuan's gaze was cold as ice.
"No need for any brush and ink," he added, "Minister Yun can just write a blood letter."
Yun Houxing knelt on the ground, biting his finger and trembling as he wrote the blood letter.
QingWu watched coldly, her gaze eventually shifting to the man beside her.
She knew that Xiao Chenyuan had negotiated a deal with Yun Houxing using the account books and that he had been trying to fish out the 'poisonous snake' behind Yun Houxing all along.
But having Yun Houxing write a confession about the stolen property and the treason involving the Zhen Guo Marquis family was something she had just learned.
She knew he had come back for revenge, but she hadn't expected that his first move would be to clear the name of Zhen Guo Marquis family of the false accusations.
QingWu lowered her eyes, a smile curling at the corners of her lips.
This time, she hadn't helped Xiao Chenyuan for nothing!
It wasn't in vain that her elder brother had befriended to this good brother.
By the time Yun Houxing had bitten all ten of his fingers, the blood letter was finally complete.
The elderly attendant picked it up from the ground and presented it to Xiao Chenyuan for his review.
On the blood letter, Yun Houxing admitted that it was he who had deliberately delayed the supplies and hampered the military strategy. Later, in a bid for promotion, he had falsely accused the Zhen Guo Marquis family of colluding with the enemy and committing treason.
The blood letter also listed a few individuals who had been involved with him at the time—some were still alive, while others had already perished.
When Xiao Chenyuan saw the name of the mastermind, his gaze darkened, and he sneered. "The mastermind behind this conspiracy was the former Right Minister, Xu Shidao? You expect me to believe you, Yun Houxing, that you are using a dead man as a scapegoat?"
Yun Houxing was frantic. "Everything I wrote is true! It was indeed Xu Shidao who personally gave me the order back then."
Xu Shidao, the former Right Minister, and now the father of the Crown Princess, had passed away eight years ago.
"Your former master was Xu Shidao? Then who is your current master?"
Yun Houxing froze for a moment, his eyes momentarily unfocused. "Of course, it's the Eastern Palace..."
"The Eastern Palace?" Xiao Chenyuan's eyes showed clear derision. "Is that so?"
But the next moment, he was left speechless, his expression clouded with confusion.
QingWu furrowed her brows, her hand resting on Yun Houxing's head. The next moment, she was suddenly repelled by a burst of force.
Yun Houxing let out a pained scream, clutching his head as he convulsed on the ground. QingWu flicked her sleeve, and he stopped twitching, collapsing unconscious.
She lowered her eyes, staring at her fingertips as a wisp of smoke drifted away. The next moment, Xiao Chenyuan grabbed her wrist, his brows tightly furrowed. "Are you hurt?"
QingWu lifted her gaze, meeting his furrowed brow, and her thoughts wavered for a moment.
Was Xiao Chenyuan… concerned about her?