Chapter 36 Malicious Intent

Chapter 36: Ulterior Motives

Zhou Zhan turned around and saw Zhou Mingqi approaching with a stern face, accompanied by Grand Tutor Chang Yingyan.

His heart tightened, and he immediately straightened his posture to bow. "Your son pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Zhou Mingqi looked at Cheng Ge, who was coughing up blood on the ground, furrowed his brow, and shot a glance at Fu Quan, who was standing nearby.

Fu Quan understood at once and quickly stepped forward to check on Cheng Ge's condition.

Zhou Mingqi's gaze was icy as he swept it over Zhou Zhan. "What is this? Why did you hurt someone?"

Zhou Zhan stammered, not knowing how to explain.

The eunuch beside him immediately knelt and recounted the whole incident in detail.

After hearing it, Zhou Mingqi's expression grew even more somber. He stared at Zhou Zhan and said in a deep voice, "Crown Prince, as the heir to the throne, if you're narrow-minded and lack tolerance, how can you handle great responsibility?"

Zhou Zhan was so frightened that he fell to his knees, lowering his head without daring to speak, a bitter ache welling up in his heart.

These words were extremely harsh, basically saying Zhou Zhan wasn't fit to be the Crown Prince, like slapping him in public.

Cheng Ge struggled to his feet, suppressed his discomfort, and knelt down. "Your Majesty, it was I who offended the Crown Prince. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

It wasn't that Cheng Ge had some noble virtue of returning good for evil.

Rather, with the emperor reprimanding the Crown Prince like this, as the one who caused it, he'd inevitably be resented and dragged into it.

This cushy job had just been secured, but now it was about to shatter. He had to at least say something nice for his young boss.

Seeing this, Chang Yingyan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The Crown Prince may have acted on a momentary impulse."

"On normal days, His Highness is kind and generous. This was probably an accident."

Zhou Mingqi's expression softened slightly. He looked at Cheng Ge, still kneeling on the ground, and after a moment of silence, finally sighed and said, "Enough, rise first."

Cheng Ge felt like he'd been granted a pardon. He quickly kowtowed in gratitude, then slowly stood up, not forgetting to pull the Crown Prince up too.

His legs were a bit shaky, but he forced himself to stand firm.

The emperor waved his hand, signaling the palace attendants to call the imperial physician, and turned his gaze to the two before him.

"As the Crown Prince, you must set an example for the common people. A gentleman's capacity should be limitless, with a heart vast enough to swallow rivers and streams, only then can you be a worthy ruler."

His gaze shifted to Cheng Ge. "Now that you are the Crown Prince's Tutor, you have the duty to supervise and correct him. If the Crown Prince says or does something improper, you should advise him right away."

"If the Crown Prince stays stubborn and won't listen, you can report it to me honestly."

Cheng Ge glanced at Zhou Zhan, cupped his hands, and replied, "I will definitely not let Your Majesty down."

Zhou Zhan lowered his head, his voice carrying a hint of sincerity. "Your son will remember this and will change his ways in the future."

Hearing their words, Zhou Mingqi said nothing more. He had only come to check on the Crown Prince after the morning court.

Now, with a pile of official business waiting for him, he naturally wouldn't stick around.

The imperial physician examined Cheng Ge's pulse, gave a diagnosis similar to the last time, and prescribed some medicine, still just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.

To get rid of the poison, he'd have to find the divine physician Bai Yuxing and take a chance.

Lin Nanshu also knew about his condition and had sent many people to search, but there had been no word.

However, Cheng Ge couldn't let too many people know about the poison, lest it be exploited by people with ulterior motives.

Seeing Cheng Ge and the imperial physician emerge from the room, Zhou Zhan, standing not far away, glanced at him sideways with a slightly awkward look.

"Thank you for your trouble, Doctor Liu," Cheng Ge said to the physician.

Doctor Liu replied respectfully, "My pleasure, Tutor Cheng."

With that, he bowed to Zhou Zhan from a distance and left. Zhou Zhan hesitated a moment, then walked over to Cheng Ge. "How is it?"

His voice was low, with a barely noticeable trace of embarrassment.

Cheng Ge turned to look at him, a bit confused. "What?"

Zhou Zhan pursed his lips, a hint of irritation on his face. "Tsk, I'm asking about your injury. How are you?"

Cheng Ge realized he was asking about his injury and felt a bit surprised. He smiled and said, "It's nothing serious. Thanks for asking, Your Highness."

Zhou Zhan cleared his throat and turned away. "Hmph, still laughing. You were coughing up blood."

"I didn't even use much force, and you're like this. You're probably not long for this world."

Cheng Ge: "..." If you can't say something nice, better not say anything at all.

But after a day of interaction, Cheng Ge had somewhat figured out Zhou Zhan's personality.

This guy was just sharp-tongued; his nature wasn't bad.

Besides, he was still young, with some childishness, so Cheng Ge didn't plan to hold it against him and would yield when possible.

Moreover, his current salary was several times higher than before. Cheng Ge could bend when necessary.

In this job, as long as the pay was high, enduring a little frustration was fine—he'd just treat it like a dog barking.

And when you didn't provoke him, Zhou Zhan was quite easy to get along with.

What's more... he was quite generous.

Looking at the several large boxes of precious medicinal herbs in the hands of the palace attendants before him, Cheng Ge couldn't help but swallow a few times.

"Your Highness, this is...?"

Zhou Zhan snorted, feigning disdain. "I see you look all sickly. I'm bestowing these herbs on you. Take good care of yourself, so you don't have a relapse and blame me, then go stirring up trouble in front of Father."

Cheng Ge's mouth twitched slightly, inwardly complaining that this guy still had such a sharp tongue.

The Crown Prince didn't know what illness he had and still thought Cheng Ge was coughing up blood from his kick, so he was only sending ginseng and lingzhi.

But looking at those precious herbs, if he sold them for money...

Cheng Ge's face flushed with excitement. "Thank you for your generous gift, Your Highness. I will take good care of myself and live up to your expectations."

"You'd better know your place. I..." But before Zhou Zhan could finish, Cheng Ge had already disappeared.

Cheng Ge hugged the wooden boxes and walked extremely fast, afraid they might be taken back, his mouth nearly splitting into a grin.

As soon as he left the palace, he saw the same guards from the morning, likely just changing shifts.

Seeing Cheng Ge, they instantly remembered how smug he was this morning, their faces were hard to read.

Yet Cheng Ge, as if on purpose, suddenly slowed his pace.

Clutching those clearly expensive boxes, he hung around the gate, swaying back and forth, but wouldn't step out.

The guards couldn't help glancing at Cheng Ge out of the corner of their eyes, muttering to themselves.

The palace gates were about to be locked—why wasn't this young tutor leaving the palace yet? What was he doing, just spinning around here?

Then they couldn't help sneaking a few more glances at Cheng Ge, but he still showed no sign of leaving.

Their hearts tightened, and a crazy thought suddenly crossed their minds: "Could this young guy be into us?"

Gotta say, this young guy was really good-looking.

The Great Zhou dynasty was pretty open-minded, and homosexuality was not considered strange. In some poor areas, there were even customs of sworn brothers or partners living together.

Among the noble families, male favor was common, and plenty of guys were into men.

Cheng Ge held the herbs and noticed the guards sneaking glances, clearly jealous.

His vanity was instantly satisfied. Seeing that it was getting late, he headed out of the palace.

The guards conducted a routine check, and Cheng Ge held the boxes, a smug smile on his face.

The inspection found nothing wrong, and they were about to let him go, but when they looked up, they saw Cheng Ge smiling at them.

Their hearts skipped a beat, and a storm suddenly brewed inside them...

It was confirmed, absolutely confirmed!!! This young guy was indeed up to no good with them.