Since ancient times, medicine and poison had gone hand in hand.
Yun Shen was well versed in poisons, so naturally, his medical skills were good too.
Zhou Ye naturally intended to make good use of that. He had thought of Wei Mingxiu's poor health at the time and asked for these two bottles of medicine for him.
Wei Mingxiu stared blankly as he tightened his grip on the porcelain bottles, a faint glimmer stirring in his eyes.
After a long while, he finally said, "Thank you, Junior Preceptor. I will never be so eager for quick results again."
"That's more like it." Zhou Ye patted his head out of habit.
Then he yawned and sat down under the tree, patting the spot beside him. "Your Highness, you've practiced enough today. Stay here with me now, and let's talk."
Wei Mingxiu obediently sat down beside him.
The next moment, Zhou Ye suddenly took off his official hat and placed it to one side. He leaned over and rested his head on Wei Mingxiu's lap.
"Junior Preceptor..." Wei Mingxiu's whole body went stiff.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. I'm terribly dizzy, so let me borrow your lap for a while. If you really mind, you can push me onto the ground."
How could Wei Mingxiu bear to push his benefactor onto the ground?
He simply wasn't used to it at first. Once he adjusted, he relaxed his muscles and asked, "General, are you dizzy because you drank too much?"
When they had been close earlier, he had smelled the alcohol all over Zhou Ye, so he took the opportunity to ask.
"Mm. I drank nearly a whole jar."
Zhou Ye closed his eyes to rest and changed the subject before Wei Mingxiu could ask anything else.
"Did Your Highness read yesterday's note?"
Wei Mingxiu answered truthfully, "I did."
"What will Your Highness do?"
Wei Mingxiu lowered his eyes to Zhou Ye's face, the thoughts in his heart growing firmer.
He said, "Rest assured, Junior Preceptor. I will never let you down."
He already understood what the note meant.
The next move Zhou Ye had spoken of was for him to do everything he could to have himself adopted and raised by the empress.
That way, he could use the empress's influence to gain a foothold in the imperial harem and use it to stand against Wei Chengye, establishing a solid position in the struggle for the throne.
There was only one way to achieve all that: through the simpleminded second prince.
All he had to do was stir up conflict between Wei Chengye and the second prince, planting a thought in the empress's mind: If Wei Chengye succeeds to the throne, he will surely turn on her son and her.
The empress would naturally think of backing a puppet to serve her.
And now Wei Mingxiu, who had lost his mother as a child and suffered Wei Chengye's bullying for years, would be the best candidate for a puppet in her eyes.
But doing this required Wei Mingxiu to put aside, for the time being, his desire to stand up for his birth mother.
It also required him to fawn on the empress and go out of his way to curry favor with her.
Only then could he turn around and use her.
Zhou Ye had told him that whether to do it and how were entirely up to him.
That showed he respected Wei Mingxiu's choice.
How could Wei Mingxiu possibly let him down?
"It seems Your Highness has made your decision. In that case, I can finally rest easy." Zhou Ye marveled at his intelligence.
At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
After all, as long as Wei Mingxiu didn't drop the ball, the plans he, Yun Shen, and Zhou Ya had made would all work.
As Zhou Ye relaxed, he felt increasingly sleepy.
He reached out to steady himself against Wei Mingxiu's leg and spoke softly.
"Your Highness, I'm sleepy. Would you allow me to sleep like this for a little while?"
Seeing the exhaustion on his face, Wei Mingxiu reached out as if compelled and gently pressed both hands to Zhou Ye's temples.
His voice grew softer too. "Mm, go to sleep, Junior Preceptor. I'll keep watch over you."
Wei Mingxiu's massage was gentle but firm.
It effectively relieved Zhou Ye's dizziness, and before long, he fell asleep.
When Xiao Wu came into the Imperial Medical Bureau to bring Wei Mingxiu his meal, he saw the man resting on the young man's lap beneath the scholar tree, sleeping peacefully in a scene of quiet serenity.
He stepped forward and asked softly, "Your Highness, what happened to the Junior Preceptor?"
"He drank too much and has a headache." Wei Mingxiu told Xiao Wu to put down the food box, then added, "Go back to the Southern Spring Courtyard and brew a pot of hot ginger tea. Bring it to the Junior Preceptor in half an hour to help him sober up."
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Daylight broke.
Zhou Ye was awakened by Wei Mingxiu.
He sat up groggily, and a steaming bowl of ginger tea was placed in his hands.
The young man's clear voice sounded beside his ear. "Junior Preceptor, you'll feel much better after drinking the ginger tea."
Zhou Ye drank the ginger tea and felt awake again.
Seeing the concern on Wei Mingxiu's face, he felt like laughing, though he didn't know why.
Truth be told, he had lived alone for over twenty years in the modern world, right up until his death.
A scene like this, with someone watching over him and caring for him when he woke up, was an exceptionally novel sight to him.
Novel as it was, though,
the feeling wasn't bad.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Zhou Ye finished the ginger tea and put his official hat back on. Then he heard a commotion outside the courtyard.
He figured Wei Chengye and the others had arrived.
Zhou Ye said one last thing to Wei Mingxiu: "Your Highness, tonight, have Xiao Wu take the back paths to the Elegant Music Palace and use a cat's meow as a signal. Someone will deliver a letter to you."
Wei Mingxiu nodded.
Zhou Ye put some distance between them and went straight to meet Wei Chengye and Wei Yuanshi.
After Zhou Ye finished his morning lessons and left the palace, he ran into Zhou Da, whose face was as pale as a sheet.
The moment Zhou Da saw him, he ran over and said, "General! You'd better find somewhere to hide, quickly! Word has spread all over the capital that you spent last night talking with Young Master Yun Shen and didn't leave the Jade Fragrance House until this morning! Madam is furious at the residence right now! She's practically going to tear the whole marquis's residence down!"
Hearing this gave Zhou Ye a splitting headache too.
But since he had made this arrangement, he had to bear the consequences.
Hiding was no solution at all.
"Come on, let's go home. I'll explain it to Mother."
Thinking he had a plan, Zhou Da hurriedly asked, "General, how are you going to explain it?"
"I'll tell the truth."
"What truth?"
Zhou Da didn't understand at the time. Only when they returned to the marquis's residence and he heard Zhou Ye admit in front of Wang Yulan and Zhou Zhenghai that he liked men did he finally realize what Zhou Ye meant.
But by then, it was too late for him to stop Zhou Ye.
He could only watch helplessly as Wang Yulan's expression changed from anger to shock, then to a complicated look, and finally to deep concern.
She walked up to Zhou Ye one step at a time and raised her hand.
Zhou Ye's muscles tensed, and he braced himself for a slap.
But to his surprise, the woman placed her hand over his and gripped it tightly.
He heard her ask him with a serious expression,
"Ye'er, let me ask you."
"Between you and that Young Master Yun Shen, who's on top?"
Zhou Ye: "?"