Doping

Inn lobby.

The fragrance of food and wine mixed with sweat.

Shi Yun drank a couple of sips of harsh wine.

His gaze swept over A Xiu's plump figure, despite the prisoner uniform she wore.

"A Xiu, sometimes you don't necessarily have to rely on money to smooth things over..."

Suddenly, Shi Yun grabbed the hand A Xiu was using to hold her chopsticks.

"M-Milord..."

A Xiu was grabbed by Shi Yun.

Her face turned ashen, and tears were about to fall.

"Slap!"

Right as she was at a loss.

With a crisp sound, Shen Qingzhu batted Shi Yun's hand away with a single palm strike.

That force was greater than that of an average adult male.

"Keep your filthy hands to yourself, they really ruin my appetite."

Shen Qingzhu stared at Shi Yun, completely unafraid.

"Shen Qingzhu, have you lost your mind..."

Shi Yun cursed.

The escorting bailiffs had always held the high ground.

When had they ever been stepped on by a female prisoner's head.

Yet Shen Qingzhu's status made him deeply wary.

"According to the Great Harvest Statutes, if a female prisoner loses her chastity during the journey, the escorting bailiffs shall be charged with the crime of violating a prisoner, sentenced to three thousand Li of exile, or execution by hanging at worst."

"Lord Shi, is this your way of wanting to join our ranks?"

Shen Qingzhu brought out the dynastic laws.

"What are you saying, don't talk nonsense."

Bao Tianbao and Bao Dibao glared viciously at Shen Qingzhu.

However, Shen Qingzhu kept her eyes fixed on Shi Yun.

She paid those two clowns no mind.

As soon as Shen Qingzhu spoke those words.

They caused Shi Yun's expression to shift.

The Great Harvest indeed had this regulation; if escorting bailiffs raped a female prisoner, once verified, the punishment would be extremely severe.

Generally, though, lower-class women lacked power and influence, making it difficult to gather evidence or file complaints after suffering abuse, so most could only swallow their teeth mixed with blood.

Even if he bullied A Xiu, the other party would still find it hard to pose any substantive threat to him.

Shen Qingzhu was different, however.

This woman was not ordinary.

In the event that the matter came to light.

He would bring quite a bit of trouble upon himself.

"Hehe, Lady Shen has misunderstood."

"I merely saw that Lady A Xiu had it hard and wanted to take extra good care of her, I had no other meaning."

Shi Yun's expression changed extremely quickly.

He chuckled dryly as he pulled back his hand.

He could only swallow this bitter pill in silence.

With that, Shi Yun pushed the plate of sliced braised beef in front of him toward A Xiu: "Here, eat more meat to build up your strength."

Shen Qingzhu ignored his hypocrisy, turning her head to tell A Xiu in a flat tone: "Sit down and eat, these people wouldn't dare touch you."

With Shen Qingzhu's words, A Xiu finally dared to straighten her posture again, eating in small, cautious bites.

Right at that moment, Bai-chai Bao Tianbao sitting beside Shi Yun rolled his eyes.

He hurriedly leaned forward, poured a cup of wine, and handed it to A Xiu, saying with a grin: "Lady A Xiu, Lord Shi has taken such good care of you and isn't making you do anything else, the least you can do is toast Lord Shi a cup of wine, right?"

"This escort run didn't have enough public funds, it was Lord Shi who paid out of his own pocket so we could all eat, drink, and have a place to stay!"

A Xiu looked at the wine cup thrust before her, not daring to refuse.

Shen Qingzhu glanced at Shi Yun, her gaze carrying thinly veiled warning.

Shi Yun merely smiled indifferently: "Drink this cup of wine, and the rest of our journey will be smooth. It'll also make it easier for me to report back to my superiors, won't it?"

Since Shi Yun had put it that way.

A Xiu's hands trembled as she brought the wine cup to her lips.

Shen Qingzhu abruptly snatched A Xiu's wine cup away.

"I actually quite like drinking."

Saying that, Shen Qingzhu drained it in one go.

"Good! Lady Shen is straightforward!" Seeing this, Shi Yun laughed. "That's more like it! We all have to look out for one another; if we don't deliver you safely to the destination, we'll have to take the blame ourselves."

Lu Yuan, sitting at the neighboring table.

Had taken in every bit of this scene.

He had just seen Bao Tianbao fidgeting and making little stealthy movements.

Though he wasn't sure what it was, it certainly wasn't anything good.

This Shen Qingzhu was still far too young.

"Forget it, I'm already overwhelmed with my own troubles, why bother thinking this much."

Lu Yuan shook his head.

He ate his beef unconcernedly.

He hadn't touched a single drop of the wine in his cup.

When the meal ended, everyone returned to their respective rooms to rest.

The two female prisoners were locked in the woodshed at the corner of the inn, while the two rooms adjacent to the woodshed had naturally been booked by the bailiffs.

Lu Yuan was assigned a room to himself, while Shi Yun squeezed into one with the two Bai-chai, Bao Tianbao and Bao Dibao.

Deep in the night, the inn gradually grew quiet.

Just as Lu Yuan was sleeping soundly in his room, an extremely light sound of footsteps suddenly traveled from outside the door.

With a soft creak, the door was quietly pushed open.

Lu Yuan was an extremely light sleeper, opening his eyes almost the instant the door hinges moved, his hand already brushing against the rusted saber by his pillow.

Yet, aided by the faint moonlight, what Lu Yuan saw was not an assassin.

Instead, it was A Xiu supporting a completely limp.

Shen Qingzhu, whose face was somewhat flushed.

"A Xiu... why have you brought me here..."

Shen Qingzhu spoke powerlessly, her voice leaking a trace of painful panting.

"Sister Shen, you've fallen ill, Lord Lu will save you."

A Xiu moved swiftly.

After shoving Shen Qingzhu into Lu Yuan's room.

She herself quickly retreated outside.

"Clack!!!"

The crisp sound of a lock snapping shut rang out.

A Xiu's speed was extremely fast, her movements flowing like water, clearly pre-planned.

Just as Lu Yuan pulled back the blanket to get out of bed, he only saw Shen Qingzhu, weak and powerless, sliding down the doorframe to sit on the floor.

"What kind of scheme is this?"

Lu Yuan couldn't quite make sense of it.

Frowning, he quickly strode to the door.

He gave it a pull.

It didn't budge an inch.

He walked to the window, only to find it tightly nailed shut with wooden strips.

Both doors and windows had been sealed shut?

"Bastard... you beast!"

Leaning against the door, Shen Qingzhu mustered the last sliver of her sobriety, biting her lip hard.

She stared straight at Lu Yuan and began to curse.

"Big sister, get your facts straight before you talk."

"This is my room, in the dead of night, you're the one who broke in—how am I a beast?"

Lu Yuan was utterly speechless.

"It's you, you must have all arranged this. You bailiffs are all in cahoots, this is a trap you set."

"If... if you dare touch me, I swear I'll hack you into ten thousand pieces!"

Shen Qingzhu threatened Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan really wanted to strangle this idiot.

Just as Lu Yuan was wondering how to explain.

"Mmm... ah..."

At that moment, a seductive, ambiguous sound drifted over from next door.

That voice belonged precisely to A Xiu.

This sudden sound.

Caused Shen Qingzhu's already restless heart to violently tremble.

Her whole person froze right there on the spot.

"What? We've reached this point, and you still haven't figured out that that A Xiu is in league with them?"

Lu Yuan reminded her.

"In league with them?"

Shen Qingzhu's pupils constricted, and she looked toward Lu Yuan. "They're after you?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

This foolish woman had finally figured it out.

This was clearly a trap laid for him!

"Hot... so hot..."

Right at that moment, the medicinal effects erupted completely.

Shen Qingzhu panted.

Her delicate fingers uncontrollably tugged open the collar of her prisoner uniform.

The gaze she cast toward Lu Yuan grew hazy as well.