TRBDM -Chapter 116 The Joyful Union

“What’s wrong, Shuxin?”

“Sister, I think I just saw Miss Qin, the one who studied with me at Nanny’s. I’ll just say a few words to her and come right back.”

“Mm, go ahead.” Doushu Yao didn’t suspect anything.

Dou Shuxin hurried out of the noodle shop and headed toward the alley from earlier.

Before entering, she deliberately glanced back to make sure no one was watching.

Just as she slipped into the darkness, someone suddenly covered her mouth and pressed her against the wall.

A scorching breath swept across the side of her neck, making every hair on her body stand on end.

“Who told you to come here?!” The hoarse, low voice struck Dou Shuxin’s heart like a hammer, making her already overburdened heartbeat teeter on the edge of collapse.

“Y-Your… Highness…” She barely got the words out.

Huff… huff…

His rough, scorching breaths burned the skin on her neck almost to the point of melting.

Before she could steady her own breathing, a sudden force pushed her away: “Go.”

But it seemed that was all the strength he had left—he collapsed heavily to the ground the next moment.

Dou Shuxin’s whole body trembled. She fought to control the fear rising in her chest and staggered to the wall, crouching down.

Her soft, slender hand pressed against his feverish forehead. “Your Highness… you have a fever.”

Zhao Jingheng’s eyes were bloodshot, and he glared at her viciously. “I said go.”

“I’m not leaving. Your Highness, you’re sick. I’ll find a doctor for you.”

She stood up, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed. “Don’t go.”

Her hand throbbed painfully in his grip, but gradually, she stopped trembling.

She slowly knelt beside Zhao Jingheng, her voice soft, coaxing: “Your Highness, you’re sick. We need to see a doctor.”

Zhao Jingheng stared at her directly, his sharp gaze fierce, but Dou Shuxin wasn’t afraid—she only worried about him.

After a long moment, the figure in the dark spoke:

“You want to help me?”

Dou Shuxin nodded immediately. “I’ll help you.”

“I’ve been poisoned with the Hehuan Poison.”

“…”

The Hehuan Poison—a very potent aphrodisiac.

“W-who… who drugged you?”

“Zhao Jingyan.”

The Third Prince.

Zhao Jingheng closed his eyes, leaning against the wall, cold and merciless. “So… you can leave now.”

Dou Shuxin’s little face flushed red enough to drip blood.

No one had ever been so brutally cold to her.

As the epitome of a noble lady in the capital, Dou Shuxin attracted many suitors.

In the past two years, matchmakers came and went at the Zhang residence almost nonstop.

After her parents passed away, with her only elder sister married off, she had locked her heart, never letting herself feel for anyone.

Except… him.

“I’ve learned a bit of medicine. My teacher said… we can use acupuncture and bloodletting to relieve the drug’s effect.”

A cold snort.

“Do you even believe that?”

Dou Shuxin swallowed hard. She didn’t.

What she said was just nonsense.

The Hehuan Poison was incurable—unless someone performed Hehuan on him.

Silence. Stillness.

The distant crowd and the two in the dark were split into completely different worlds.

Zhao Jingheng’s breaths grew heavier, mingled with uncontrollable gasps.

Suppressed. Low.

Dou Shuxin’s breathing was even more hurried. Summoning all her courage, she blurted out: “I… I’ll help you.”

Zhao Jingheng’s jaw tightened into a straight line. “There are thousands of women in this world. Any one of them could help me. Why must it be you?”

Zhao Jingheng’s words were firm, yet his body went limp. He let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground.

Dou Shuxin exerted all her strength to lift him up. “The women you can find are all planted by the Third Prince. Only I… am not.”

Dou Shuxin had long seen through Zhao Jingheng. If he insisted on hiding here alone, it was precisely because he didn’t want to fall into the Third Prince’s trap.

The only people who could get close to him were the Third Prince’s men.

Except for her.

Zhao Jingheng’s will was on the brink of collapse. His blood felt like boiling water, scorching his entire body from the inside out.

“Think carefully. Even if you help me, I cannot marry you.”

A prince’s marriage was a transaction.

Zhao Jingheng had no power, no authority—he could not choose his own consort.

Today, after Zhao Jingyan drugged him, he shoved a woman into his room.

He recognized her—the eldest daughter of the Left Minister. Rumor had it she was licentious, already entangling herself with various men even before officially marrying.

The Left Minister was an ally of Zhao Jingyan. By pushing his daughter onto Zhao Jingheng, he not only cut off Zhao Jingheng’s chance of gaining a backing through marriage but also solidified his own faction.

A malicious scheme that killed two birds with one stone.

Zhao Jingheng cut his palm with a dagger to regain clarity, then escaped.

Unexpectedly, it was Flower Festival today, and people were everywhere.

He had nowhere to hide and finally collapsed in an alley.

“I’ll help you, without expecting anything in return.”

Dou Shuxin’s voice was soft, yet unwavering.

She spoke, then struggled to support Zhao Jingheng.

“I’ll help you out.”

Zhao Jingheng had nearly lost all his strength, his half-formed body leaning against her.

Dou Shuxin gritted her teeth and, step by step, moved deeper into the alley.

After an unknown length of time, they arrived at a secluded courtyard. Dou Shuxin took out a key and opened the door.

The moment they stepped inside, the door slammed shut with a thud.

Dou Shuxin found herself pressed against the door by Zhao Jingheng.

“The door’s closed.”

“Mm.”

“You know what closing the door means.”

Dou Shuxin’s long lashes trembled. “I know. Don’t worry, Your Highness. After tonight, we’ll still be strangers.”

Zhao Jingheng closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, sinking into her embrace.

The bridge of his nose pressed against her fair neck, leaving an indentation.

“Where… is this?” His voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable.

Under his ragged breathing, Dou Shuxin struggled to lift her head. “An old residence belonging to the Prime Minister’s estate. No one knows about this place.”

Zhao Jingheng visibly relaxed. Were it not for leaning against her, he would have already collapsed.

“Do you regret it?”

“No.”

Zhao Jingheng propped himself against the doorframe and looked up at her.

“Help me inside.”

Dou Shuxin dared not meet his eyes. “Alright.”

From the main door to the bedroom was over twenty meters. They walked for a long time, large beads of sweat sliding down Dou Shuxin’s forehead. Their clothes were already tangled together.

Once Zhao Jingheng was helped onto the bed, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood awkwardly in place.

Zhao Jingheng was hidden beneath layers of bed curtains.

“Take it off!”

Dou Shuxin gritted her teeth and reached for the belt around his waist.

“Not you. Take it off for me.”

Zhao Jingheng was burning with a feverish intensity, nearly losing all rational thought.

“When you’re done, fetch me a bucket of well water.”

Time was tight. Dou Shuxin didn’t have a moment to wonder why he said that—she chose to obey unconditionally.

Removing Zhao Jingheng’s clothes was agonizing.

The scent of the young girl lingered at his nose, intoxicating, tormenting him. He had cut his arm in advance, yet the amplified fragrance was still overwhelming.

He wanted to devour her, drink her blood, consume her flesh.