HMIME Chapter 42: Keep Men Away from Me

Within Donghua Court, everyone was busy packing their belongings. With Mei Fei’s death, the once magnificent Donghua Court now bore a desolate and heavy atmosphere.

The servants of Donghua Court were either transferred to other palace gardens or dismissed from service altogether. Those who were transferred still followed the rules, while those who were dismissed were bolder, their hands not as clean. They would sneakily take a pair of golden earrings from the dressing table or a small piece of jade from the screen.

Since the master was no longer there, chaos reigned in the court, and no one cared.

Bi Tao was packing his things in the room, or more accurately, he was cleaning up the traces of his past life.

Having only stayed in Donghua Court for half a year and being conscious of his actions, he didn’t leave many traces behind. In a few more months, even if someone wanted to investigate, they wouldn’t find any leads.

Bi Tao sighed with regret as he picked up a light blue chiffon dress.

Women’s clothes were so beautiful, ethereal and colorful. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to wear them anymore because his beloved Majesty said they were disgusting…

Bi Tao bid farewell to his little dress with sadness and then packed it into a bamboo box, carrying it out of the room.

As soon as he stepped out of the threshold and walked a few steps, Bi Tao noticed someone following him from behind. Without a sound, without looking back, he pretended not to notice and continued walking as if nothing was amiss, leading the person to a secluded and deserted corner.

Sure enough, as soon as they reached the quiet place, the person suddenly grabbed his hand from behind and quickly felt his fingers.

Bi Tao was startled, turned his head pale and shook his hand vigorously, shouting, “What are you doing! Rude! Rogue! Let go of me!”

Bai Lu’s face was cold as he reprimanded, “Don’t move!”

He carefully felt the fingertips of Bi Tao’s right hand, and as he expected, there were calluses on the fingertips and finger pads.

Bi Tao was a personal maid, considered a higher rank than a first-class palace maid. He didn’t have to do any of the miscellaneous chores like sweeping the floor or wiping the table. He only combed the master’s hair, poured tea, and helped with dressing every day. It was impossible for him to have such obvious calluses on his hands.

There was only one reason: it was from years of training.

Bai Lu stared at him intently and asked straightforwardly, “Did you kill her?”

Bi Tao widened his almond-shaped eyes, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Enough pretending! You killed Mei Fei, and it was Chu Ya who ordered you to do it, right?”

Bi Tao immediately changed his expression. The confusion on his face disappeared, replaced by a strange, ambiguous look. With a slight movement of his fingers, a thin silver needle appeared between his index and middle fingers as if by magic.

Bai Lu looked down and saw the needle. Unable to help himself, he sneered, “Do you want to use this kind of thing to kill someone and keep it quiet? Then you might…”

As he spoke, before he could finish his sentence, the silver needle in Bi Tao’s hand pierced Bai Lu’s hand like lightning. The needle was so thin that Bai Lu barely felt any pain. He continued to mock, “You might have to put in more effort… hmm?”

A sudden intense dizziness swept over him like a tide, instantly destroying all of Bai Lu’s clarity. His vision quickly darkened, and an invisible force drained his strength. His body went limp, and he fainted.

Bi Tao easily caught Bai Lu’s limp body and quickly left the scene.

It was unknown how long it took for Bai Lu to regain some consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, immediately feeling something bound to his wrist, preventing him from moving.

With a start, Bai Lu fully awakened.

It was a dim and narrow room with a low ceiling. The walls were covered in mottled mossy bricks, and there was only a very small window on the left wall, fitted with three iron bars. The air was cold and damp, and the sound of dripping water could be heard from somewhere.

He was half-lying on a simple wooden bed, leaning against a coarse cloth pillow, with his hands tied to the head of the bed with a rough hemp rope.

Bai Lu struggled hard but couldn’t break free. He could only turn his head to look at the other person in the room.

Bi Tao had changed back into black male clothing, his hair was also untied and tied into a high ponytail behind his head, looking like a handsome young man.

Even his height seemed to have increased slightly, appearing to be a bit taller than Bai Lu. This was due to a special skill called “bone shrinking,” which allowed him to disguise himself as someone else, a skill he had mastered since childhood.

He was sitting on a mahogany chair with one leg crossed over the other, looking mocking, eyebrows raised as he looked at Bai Lu.

Bai Lu was dumbfounded, stuttering, “You… you’re actually a man?! You’re armed?”

Bi Tao… or rather, Si Zhu, ran his hand through his hair, “Can’t you tell? Why do you look so disappointed?”

Bai Lu turned his face away, muttering softly, “No, actually, Bi Tao is quite attractive to me. It’s a pity he’s a man.”

Perhaps influenced by Bai Lin, Bai Lu really liked the spunky and arrogant little girls, so even though Bi Tao was Mei Fei’s personal maid and often looked down on people, Bai Lu didn’t quarrel with her.

Upon hearing this, Si Zhu couldn’t help but burst into laughter, deliberately pulling down his shirt to reveal a small piece of fair and delicate collarbone. He joked, “What? Could it be that you’ve taken a liking to me?”

“…” Bai Lu’s expression was as numb as a boiled fish, even feeling a bit nauseous in his stomach. “Forget it, keep men away from me.”

“?” Si Zhu felt inexplicably insulted. He, a beautiful young man as delicate as a flower, had lived for nineteen years and was actually despised by someone? And so blatantly? His Majesty despises him, fine, but you’re not even as good-looking as me, what qualifications do you have to be so picky?

With a swift motion, he stood up from the chair, took out a black leather whip from the side, and gave it a loud snap, making a crisp and intimidating sound.

“Alright, enough talk, let’s get down to business.”

Seeing the whip, Bai Lu finally vaguely realized that his situation was not good. Looking around at the environment, it seemed to be a cell, and it was located in a remote and isolated place.

He had originally thought that Si Zhu was one of Chu Ya’s subordinates, but now he didn’t see Chu Ya’s figure. Did he guess wrong, or did Si Zhu take the initiative to tie him up here?

Of course, there was a very small probability, but not nonexistent, that Chu Ya tacitly allowed Si Zhu to interrogate him.

Regardless of the reason, Bai Lu’s current situation was very bad. Because Si Zhu was holding a whip and standing by his bed.

With his hands tied, unable to resist, Bai Lu felt a bit uneasy. He subconsciously shuffled towards the inside of the bed, seemingly trying to avoid the other person.

Seeing this scene, Si Zhu couldn’t help but sneer, “So you’re afraid too. I thought you were a tough guy who could face off against me alone, but what are you, if not a fearless tough guy? Tell me, how far have you investigated Mei Fei’s case? What do you know?”

Bai Lu didn’t speak, just coldly staring at him.

Si Zhu smirked, “If you don’t speak now, you’ll cry later. Don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Si Zhu raised the whip in his hand high and fiercely struck downwards.

Snap!

The thick leather whip made a sharp whistling sound in the air. Bai Lu shivered and instinctively closed his eyes, although he tried to appear strong intellectually and unwilling to be underestimated, his body reacted first, shrinking back in fear.

However, when the whip came down, it didn’t land on Bai Lu’s body but on the side of the bed, making a loud crack followed by a crisp sound as the solid wooden board cracked!

“!!” Bai Lu was scared, trembling, and quickly opened his eyes, staring at the deep crack. His chest rose and fell violently due to rapid breathing.

Undoubtedly, if that whip had landed on him, it would have been a light punishment, and it might even have broken his bones.

But he didn’t understand why Si Zhu didn’t use real force. As he stared at him in shock and fear, Si Zhu calmly put away the whip, crossed his arms, and called out to the door, “Your Majesty, come in. He’s scared now.”

“What?” Bai Lu looked towards the heavy stone door in surprise, and then saw the door being slowly pushed open.

Bai Lu saw Chu Ya walking in calmly, his expression calm as he looked at him.

Bai Lu was stunned for two seconds, first unconsciously exhaling a sigh of relief, then instantly becoming furious, his anger rising. He shouted, “What are you doing? Are you playing with me?!”

“Just scaring you a bit, letting you know what danger is.”

Chu Ya didn’t seem too pleased either, his voice low with a hint of reproach, “Like Si Zhu said, you already suspected him of being the killer and still dared to go find him alone. If Si Zhu wasn’t under my command, the substance on that silver needle wouldn’t have been an anesthetic, but a deadly poison.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t die and fall into the enemy’s hands. Can you withstand harsh torture? I’ve taught you to think before you act, have you seriously listened?”

After this scolding, Bai Lu felt guilty. The fire that had been burning vigorously just now was extinguished, and he felt as if he had shrunk, becoming smaller.

He avoided eye contact, muttering softly, “Because I was too angry… I went to find him in a moment of haste…”

Wait, why was he angry again?

Bai Lu’s head felt like a big iron pot. Si Zhu’s scare was like pouring a bucket of water into it, and Chu Ya’s scolding was like adding a few spoonfuls of rice. With a stir, it turned into a pot of confused porridge.

These two were too self-righteous, to the point that Bai Lu was completely deceived and forgot that he was the one who came to question them. The little fool struggled to remember and finally managed to turn the situation around.

Bai Lu burst out angrily, “Shut up! You’re just trying to shift the blame onto me! Do you think you’re right in what you’re doing? Today, I’ll talk to you properly about whose fault it is. Let me go first!”

Si Zhu turned to look at Chu Ya, who nodded with his eyes. Si Zhu then walked over, took out a small knife from his sleeve, and skillfully cut the rope on Bai Lu’s hands.

Bai Lu immediately sat up straight, rubbed his reddened wrists, and stared at Chu Ya, “Did you kill Mei Fei?”

Chu Ya nodded without much explanation.

“Hmph, you lied to me earlier, saying it wasn’t you!”

Chu Ya calmly explained, “I only said it wasn’t me who did it directly.”

“What’s wrong with you? Playing these word games with me.”

Bai Lu breathed a sigh of relief and suppressed the impulse to go over and beat him up a bit. He patiently asked, “Why did you kill her? Was it because of me?”

Chu Ya said flatly, “Partly.”

“Partly? What about the other half?”

Chu Ya thought for a moment before speaking, “Because she touched something she shouldn’t have.”