Chapter 376 - 276: Guarding Against a Gentleman Too?

Chapter 376: Chapter 276: Guarding Against a Gentleman Too?

The bonfire erupted in a shower of golden-red sparks.

The courtyard was quite warm.

But Tang Wen felt a bone-chilling cold, as if buffeted by wind from all sides.

’Is there something wrong with Queen Xia Qingge’s body?’

’What kind of problem?’

’Is it a lingering injury from a previous fight?’

’Or...’

’Or did she take some unorthodox path to forcefully raise her Realm and combat power, causing her body to break down?’

Tang Wen took a deep breath, calming himself as he recalled everyone’s expressions. ’Hmm, it seems like no one else noticed anything was wrong with the Queen.’

’Does that mean this symptom only appeared recently?’

’Hmm, could it be a lingering effect from her one-on-five battle?’

’That can’t be right. She’s taken so many Elixirs and so much Wound Medicine. Elder Ya and the physicians all checked on her. With her powerful Constitution, her wounds should have been almost completely healed by now, right?’

He immediately sent a telepathic message to Hu Qi. "Sister Qi, what’s wrong? What’s the problem? Is it that her wounds from the last battle still haven’t healed?"

As for Tang Wen’s shameless habit of calling her "Sister Qi" when he needed something and "Ah Qi" when he didn’t...

...the big white cat was long used to it.

Chewing on a piece of roasted chicken cartilage, she said, "I can only tell it isn’t a serious wound, nor is it a new injury to her muscles or bones. Those superficial wounds healed long ago. But when she was drinking, her hand wouldn’t stop shaking. There’s definitely something wrong."

"Sister Qi, have you ever seen this kind of situation before?"

"I’m not the clan’s doctor. I haven’t. I just sensed that something was off."

With that said, a roasted red duck flew out of the oven.

A gentle breeze swept by. The roast duck, its skin a glossy, date-red and fragrant with fruitwood and honey, was precisely sliced into 108 pieces in midair.

A thin pancake, larger than a person’s head, wrapped up slivers of scallion, half-cooked and gamy duck blood, and dozens of slices of duck meat in midair before flying right into her mouth.

Hu Qi had a taste for gamy flavors and had recently taken a liking to half-cooked duck blood.

One roast duck was finished in just three or four of these wraps.

The camp cooks had set up three ovens the size of wine urns specifically for her. Four or five people attended to Hu Qi, preparing a steady stream of roast duck, roast chicken, and roast goose.

Tang Wen fought back the urge to go up to the roof and "question" Xia Qingge right then and there.

Seeing how exquisitely Hu Qi was dining, he rubbed his own stomach, pulled out some wine, and started eating with her.

Of course, he could not bring himself to eat the duck blood.

The bonfire feast was lively with dancing.

The festivities weren’t limited to the Inner City; the Outer City Guards had also lit bonfires at every crossroads in their camp.

However, they had no meat to eat.

All they had were the coarse, dry flatbreads rationed out to each person.

They tossed the flatbreads into the coals to heat them up. Washed down with hot water, the bread would swell in their stomachs.

A few of these flatbreads were enough to satisfy a stomach that had long been hungry.

At dawn, everyone, filled with a mix of excitement and exhaustion, went to sleep.

General Zhou gave the Guards a day off, then led Commanders like Zhou Bing and Tangtang to take inventory of supplies and manage the cleanup.

Tang Wen had nothing to do, but he couldn’t stop worrying about Xia Qingge.

Seeing that she was nowhere in sight, he headed down a secret passage, intending to find her and ask what was wrong.

’If she really has some hidden ailment, it’s best to treat it as early as possible.’

The Queen lived in the Underground Palace.

He didn’t know exactly where her chambers were, though.

He followed the general direction and soon arrived in the depths of the Underground Palace.

He didn’t use his Spiritual Power to scan the area.

The New Year’s bonfire celebration had just ended.

Xia Qingge probably wouldn’t have gone to sleep so early.

Looking at the heavy Stone Gate before him, Tang Wen knocked twice. When there was no response, he pushed the door open and went inside. It was empty.

He knocked on five doors in a row, but found no one.

The sixth room was clearly a bedroom.

A red dress lay carelessly on the bed. A faint, sweet fragrance lingered in the air—the same scent as Xia Qingge’s.

She wasn’t in the bedroom, so he casually knocked on the seventh door. A languid voice drifted out, "Come in."

Tang Wen breathed a sigh of relief. ’I was afraid she had run off somewhere to treat her injuries.’

He pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to be greeted by a swirl of steam. Before him was a pool.

’A bathroom?’

Two lanterns lit the bathroom, revealing a stunningly curvaceous beauty half-submerged in the misty water, her eyes closed.

The water in the pool wasn’t deep, and the lamplight was dim.

If an ordinary Maid had entered, she would likely have seen nothing but a thick cloud of steam.

But this was Tang Wen.

Never mind that the bathwater was crystal clear; even if it had been murkier, he would have been able to see everything perfectly.

The first things he saw were a pair of long, jade-like legs, toned abs, and perfectly sculpted breasts. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

’Hmm?’

’No waterweeds?’

Tang Wen keenly noticed the issue. His pupils dilated, but he quickly snapped back to his senses.

In the water, the radiant, heroic beauty kept her eyes closed, unaware that anything was amiss.

Not until another set of footsteps sounded from outside the door.

SWISH.

Xia Qingge sensed something was wrong and opened her eyes. "Why is it you?"

"Shh!"

Tang Wen gestured and quickly activated his Invisibility.

A Maid walked in carrying a wooden basin, from which the scent of medicine wafted.

Tang Wen sniffed the air. ’Why does that smell like a pain-relieving ointment?’

SPLASH. The medicinal herbs were poured into the pool.

"You may leave," she said, her voice cold.

The Maid looked slightly surprised. She gave Xia Qingge a worried glance before turning, closing the Stone Gate, and leaving.

A sharp gaze fell precisely on the spot where the invisible Tang Wen stood.

The latter rubbed his nose, kept his eyes squeezed shut, and let his form reappear.

Xia Qingge snorted, picked up a wine jug, and said irritably, "Go on, open them. You’ve seen everything there is to see, anyway."

Tang Wen peeked through a narrow slit.

"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!" Wine dribbled from the corner of her mouth. "You brat! You’re actually looking?"

Tang Wen snapped his eyes shut. ’What a shame,’ he thought.

’Such a beautiful sight right in front of me, and I can’t even look!’

Of course, he would never dare say that out loud.

He was afraid of getting beaten up. ℯℯ𝘭.

Then, a sentence he could never have imagined came from Xia Qingge’s rosy lips:

"One look costs you one jar—no, three jars of Bamboo Leaf Green wine! You’ve already taken five, six, seven, eight glances. I’ll just round it up for you: fifty jars of wine!"

She held up five slender fingers.