Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 163 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (67)

Lu Liruan watched their backs; one strode forward, while the other seemed somewhat dazed.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review left with the Emperor, leaving He Pingyan with a slightly complicated expression as he looked at Ji Shumin.

"Your Highness." He wanted to ask something, but because Lu Liruan was beside him, he only called out vaguely.

Ji Shumin supported his forehead with his hand, as if he was about to use up his last bit of strength. Hearing He Pingyan's voice, he took a breath and said, "Let's go back."

He Pingyan didn't say much, simply gave a curt bow, and turned to leave.

The room fell silent immediately, the windows were wide open, and the wind was blowing in.

After a long period of gloom, the rain finally fell crisply, kicking up dust from the ground.

Moisture was blown into the room, and Lu Liruan smelled the cool scent, which cleared her mind a bit. So much had just happened.

"Close the window," Lu Liruan instructed, as a chill seeped in, making everyone feel cold.

Xiao Xizi quietly closed the window.

"Mother, Your Majesty... This servant will have someone... tidy up the house."

As far as the eye could see, everything was in a mess. When the guards came in to search, they were probably on orders to make the mess as messy and noisy as possible. All the books on the shelves were torn apart, and the small tables were overturned.

"Ah."

Lu Liruan walked outside, and Qinghe followed closely behind, carrying a cloak and holding an umbrella.

Stepping into the rain, Lu Liruan bent down to check if the plants she had planted in the yard were damaged, while Qinghe silently shielded her from the rain.

Seeing that Lu Liruan did not reply for a long time, she said, "Your Highness, please put on some clothes, be careful not to catch a cold."

Lu Liruan took the cloak. Her skin was already cold from the wind, and the soles of her shoes were damp and uncomfortable from the rain, but she just didn't want to go inside.

I don't know how to get along with Ji Shumin.

The person who is deceived and kept in the dark is often more bewildered than the person who deceived them.

Just as Lu Liruan was thinking that she would go in after Ji Shumin went to rest, she stood there stiffly.

But before it could be quiet for even a moment, the sound of a wheelchair running over the bluestone bricks rang out.

Lu Liruan bent down and looked under the umbrella. She saw Ji Shumin walking in the rain, with Xiao Xizi looking distressed and on the verge of tears, but he could only follow closely behind.

Ji Shumin's hair was soaked by the rain, his sideburns were messy and stuck to the sides of his pale face, and rainwater slid down his nose, staining his pale lips wet.

They look completely harmless, which is quite pitiful.

Xiao Xizi was holding an umbrella, but he didn't dare to open it, presumably because Ji Shumin wouldn't allow it.

He didn't say anything, just stared straight at Lu Liruan, as if waiting for her to come closer.

He didn't care that his moon-white clothes were half-transparent, displaying a stubborn and crazy attitude that seemed to say, "If you don't come to my side, I'll kill myself."

Lu Liruan felt a surge of anger.

Who's this pitiful act for? He's clearly not like that at all.

You're risking your life to elicit sympathy; there's no point in even thinking about saving you!

Blood rushed to her head, and Lu Liruan grabbed the umbrella from Qinghe's hand and rushed over in a few strides.

Before Ji Shumin could say a word, Lu Liruan threw the open umbrella at him.

The umbrella covered Ji Shumin's bewildered expression. Lu Liruan angrily walked past him and returned to the house in the rain.

Xiao Xizi hurriedly removed the umbrella from Ji Shumin's body and saw a half-finger-long bloodstain on the side of the Crown Prince's neck, which was caused by the protruding umbrella ribs.

"Your Highness..."

Ji Shumin wiped his face with his sleeve, the thin blood spreading out, appearing strangely vivid against the pale moonlight.

Seeing that the Crown Princess had disappeared through the door, Xiao Xizi hurriedly and cautiously shielded Ji Shumin from the rain.

Seeing the Crown Prince's solemn and inscrutable expression, he asked in a low voice, "Your Highness...you...you should go back."

"She doesn't want to see me."

You can't ruin yourself like this! What a foolish move! Xiao Xizi felt that even a eunuch like himself understood this, so why was His Highness the Crown Prince getting so confused and stubborn?

"Mother, Your Majesty, it's...it's because I feel sorry for you, getting soaked in the rain...if you keep getting wet, Your Majesty will...will get angry again." Little Xizi stammered, trying to muster her courage.

Ji Shumin was barely holding on at this moment. His vision was blurry, his mind was dizzy, and he felt alternating chills and fever.

His thoughts were stuck in a dead end, with only one thought remaining: he had angered the Crown Princess.

“The more you make a fuss, the angrier Her Majesty gets,” Xiao Xizi affirmed.

"Let's go back. I'm standing here getting soaked, and she won't even glance at me." Ji Shumin twitched the corners of his mouth, already feeling resentful.

When Xiao Xizi heard that he had finally stopped making a fuss, she quickly pushed the wheelchair back into the house.

The palace maids had almost tidied up the messy place.

"Her Majesty said she wasn't feeling well and has already rested in the side room," Qinghe said softly.

"Why?" Ji Shumin's heart skipped a beat. Since their wedding day, they had been sleeping in the same bed. Now, the Crown Princess had gone to rest on her side without even saying hello.

"What else did she say?" Ji Shumin asked weakly, using the last of her strength.

"Your Majesty, please... rest first. We can discuss this later."

The green rice stalks droop.

The Empress didn't actually say it, but it felt like if the Prince hadn't given instructions, he would have rushed into the side bedroom and made a scene again.

"Hmm." Ji Shumin tilted his head back and slammed it against the back of the chair a few times, as if trying to knock the waves of pain out of his head.

Those around dared not utter a sound, only feeling that... His Highness the Crown Prince's appearance was like returning to the past, before the Crown Princess entered the palace.

He is capricious, self-torturing, moody, and eccentric.

But in the end, Ji Shumin remained silent for a moment before taking a break.

He wasn't unaware of this, but his subconscious instinct was to use a method to force Lu Liruan to compromise and seize the initiative between the two of them.

After a day of fear and anxiety, Lu Liruan felt utterly exhausted, as if her spine had been ripped out, after changing her clothes and sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes barely open.

So she stopped fighting with herself. Lu Liruan and Ji Shumin were completely different types of people. Ji Shumin had something on his mind and couldn't get the feedback he hoped for, so he tormented others and himself.

Lu Liruan, however, believed that things would work themselves out in the end, and that taking care of herself was the most important thing, no matter what happened.

She slept soundly as soon as she lay down.

Completely unaware that Ji Shumin was tossing and turning in bed, his fever so high that he was delirious, sometimes lucid and sometimes confused.

While he was still able to think, Ji Shumin instructed that no one was to disturb the Crown Princess's rest, so no one dared to call Lu Liruan and could only take good care of her.

When Lu Liruan woke up again, it was already late at night. She didn't know what time it was. The rain outside had long since stopped, and there were only a few insect chirps in the silence.

Pushing back the covers and getting up, Lu Liruan called out softly, "Qinghe."

Immediately, soft footsteps came from outside: "Your Majesty."

"Turn on the light." Lu Liruan's throat was dry and tight, wondering if she was catching a cold because of the rain.

"Bring me some ginger water." Lu Liruan coughed lightly.

"Yes."

Soon, steaming ginger water with brown sugar was served to Lu Liruan. Qinghe also instructed a palace maid to bring water so that Lu Liruan could soak her feet to ward off the cold.

Lu Liruan drank a few sips of ginger water, and her whole body warmed up from the inside out. Her mind also became clear, and the turmoil she felt in the afternoon was now much calmer, and she was no longer so impulsive.

"You should go and rest too," Lu Liruan said, asking Qinghe to pour her a glass of ginger water.

"I'm not tired."

Having been in Songjingyuan for so long, Lu Liruan had long since realized that those who served here were not ordinary palace servants.

Whether it's Qinghe or Xiaoxizi.

"You've been up all day, how can you not be tired?" Lu Liruan carefully observed Qinghe, but found that she really didn't seem tired at all, and she didn't know what kind of kung fu she was practicing.

Lu Liruan slept for a long time and her stomach was empty. Qinghe wanted to serve her a meal, but Lu Liruan waved her hand and ate two pastries with hot tea.

Completely unable to fall asleep, Lu Liruan leaned against the headboard, glancing at her notes half-heartedly.

Qinghe, who was standing to the side, did not bring up Ji Shumin's situation.

After waiting for a while, Lu Liruan sighed and put the book down: "How is Your Highness's health? Have you had dinner?"

The house was so calm and peaceful, so the inhabitants must be alive. But it wasn't easy to say she wasn't worried, so Lu Liruan didn't bother arguing with herself.

I'm just asking.

"No, His Highness had a slight fever this afternoon. He took his medicine and then rested. He woke up around dinner time and took his medicine again. He has been lying down ever since," Qinghe explained in detail.

"Mmm." Lu Liruan lowered her eyelashes.

"Your Highness doesn't want anyone serving you, so send them all out," Qinghe said, seeing that Lu Liruan was willing to bring up Ji Shu.

They're still making a fuss.

Lu Liruan was so angry in the afternoon that she felt like she was going to die, but now, looking back, she realized, "I haven't even gone crazy yet, so what kind of crazy thing is he doing?"

It's both infuriating and absurd.

Qinghe was sent off to rest by Lu Liruan, leaving Lu Liruan alone in the room. The candlelight flickered on the wall, and the quiet made one feel uneasy.

Finally getting out of bed, Lu Liruan quietly pushed open the door and walked towards her usual bedroom.

The door was ajar, and there was no light inside. Songjingyuan was different from other palaces; it was small and secluded, with a structure somewhat like an ordinary mansion.

After going inside, Lu Liruan stood there for a while to let her eyes adjust, but when she looked at the bed, she still couldn't see anything clearly.

The further you go, the stronger the smell of bitter medicine becomes.

When she finally stood by the bedside, Lu Liruan leaned forward slightly, mentally justifying herself: I just wanted to see if he was still alive...

"what--"

The next instant, Lu Liruan felt herself being pulled hard, and she lost her balance and fell forward!

Reflexively closing her eyes, Lu Liruan tensed up, afraid of falling, but ended up bumping into the blankets, with someone underneath her.

"Well."

A muffled groan reached her ears, and Lu Liruan felt a pair of arms tightly encircling her back, so tightly that she could hardly breathe.

"release."

In a moment of panic, Lu Liruan knew who was behind it and struggled to push them away.

But Ji Shumin wouldn't let go. He went even further, pulling Lu Liruan into his arms and pinning her down with half his body. The two of them rolled around in a ball with the blanket, surrounded by soft, yielding restraints.

Lu Liruan was bound by the blanket and could only stop moving in the darkness.

"Li Ruan..." A soft, sigh-like whisper fell into her ear, and the person on top of her seemed to lose all strength and slumped down.

Her chin rested on her shoulder, and her hair was wrapped around her neck, as if she was helping him hold on.

"Don't ignore me."

Ji Shumin was like a clinging snake. His body temperature was lower than Lu Liruan's, and their skin felt cool to the touch. He hissed and whispered, giving Lu Liruan the illusion of being entangled by a cold-blooded animal.

"Speak to me, speak to me..."

Seeing that pleading was useless, he became angry and opened his mouth to bite Lu Liruan's neck!

"Ah! Are you crazy?!" Lu Liruan didn't expect him to do this. A sharp, piercing pain shot through her head, causing her to jump up and struggle violently, trying to break free from Ji Shumin's grip.

Ji Shumin was already weak, and when Lu Liruan struggled, he was thrown to the side. He still refused to let go of Lu Liruan, holding her wrist. His dark and obsessive eyes stared at Lu Liruan in the darkness.

Lu Liruan was enraged by his antics. In a moment of impulsiveness, she flipped over and straddled Ji Shumin. The hand that wasn't being held gripped used force to pinch his thin neck, her fingers tightening, robbing Ji Shumin of his breath.

Seeing that he was suffocating and unable to speak, Lu Liruan decided to fight fire with fire, leaning down and biting his earlobe!

The sensation of teeth grinding against soft flesh is a strange and unfamiliar feeling, but it is also a very stress-relieving release.

It wasn't until a faint, sweet, and metallic taste lingered between her teeth that Lu Liruan came to her senses and released her mouth.

"Will you still bite?"

When Ji Shumin saw her stop, he naturally turned his head to the other side.

Lu Liruan swallowed the fishy taste with difficulty and loosened her grip on his hand.

"You keep everything from me because you think I won't be angry that you've lied to me?"

“You wouldn’t have seen what happened this afternoon,” Ji Shumin said honestly, catching his breath.

"I didn't expect to be affected by the medicine."

"What medicine?"

“When I went to my father’s palace, the medicinal incense I was using clashed with the effects of the medicine I was using.”

"You keep everything from me when I can't see you? Do you think I'm stupid?" Lu Liruan was about to continue asking when she suddenly realized that her topic had almost gone astray with him.

“How could that be? I am just…” Ji Shumin suddenly stopped. If the light were bright enough, Lu Liruan would have seen an abnormal blush on his face.

Emerging from beneath his pale skin, the color spread to his collar, revealing a patch of his chest tinged with blood from his vigorous movements…

"Li Ruan, I can take you out of the palace now..." His tone carried a strange excitement, an enthusiasm he couldn't hide.

"Leave the palace?" Lu Liruan was bewildered by what he said. What was all this about?

“Didn’t you dislike the palace? Then we won’t stay here anymore, Li Ruan. I will take you out of the palace to build a mansion. It will be exactly the same as the He’an Marquis’s mansion. Isn’t that the kind of home you want?” Ji Shumin’s breathing was rapid. He tilted his head back, clung to Lu Li Ruan’s shoulders, and struggled to lift himself closer to her.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you... I wanted you to know only after everything had settled down." He seemed to be caught in a strange obsession: "I didn't want you to see the ugly side of me..."

"All I want you to see is that I can fulfill all your desires. So, Li Ruan, you must stay with me forever, through life and death."

Listening to his words, Lu Liruan felt that he really was crazy.