novelraw Chapter 688 Flower Dew
Chapter 688 Flower Dew
Chapter 688 Flower Dew
That person was clearly their target this time, the imposter Lan Wang who had been usurping power for over a decade.
This Prince Lan was dressed in magnificent robes. Although his face looked very old, his eyes gleamed with a sharpness that belied his age.
The steward led the group to the center of the courtyard, looked them over, and asked with a smile, "Among you gentlemen, who is in charge?"
Lu Qing nodded to him and took a step forward.
"Then please follow me. The rest of you, please make yourselves at home and enjoy yourselves. There's no need to be shy." The steward gestured to Lu Qing and then said to the other seven people, "This is all thanks to our king's hospitality. You must be tired from your journey, so please take your seats."
Upon hearing that Lu Qing was to come to the hall alone, the others could only stop there and silently looked at Lu Qing. After receiving Lu Qing's signal, they remained calm and did not react. They looked nonchalant and found a place not too far from the hall with a good view to sit down with Zhu Yu and the others.
Chang Yu sat down next to Zhu Yu, not letting Lin Kun follow closely behind, afraid that his overly cautious protectiveness would arouse suspicion.
Although Lin Kun was unwilling, he understood that the young master's considerations were reasonable, so he could only sit with Liao Yu and the others at a table not far away.
On those tables, plates of food were constantly being placed on the table, and maids kept coming to take away the empty wine jugs and replace them with ones filled with fine wine. Although the guests around did not know who they were, they seemed to be used to such a scene and did not find it strange that they were sitting here eating and drinking so much when the sun was high in the sky.
After Zhu Yu sat down, he appeared relaxed. He reached for the wine glass on the table and fiddled with it. He picked up the food in front of him with his chopsticks, as if he was about to enjoy it, but he did not put any food into his mouth for a long time.
This place is already eerie in every way, so how could anyone dare to eat or drink anything there?
While pretending to be relaxed and enjoying herself, she secretly observed Lu Qing and Prince Lan's every move in the hall. She saw that the two of them were talking about something, and Prince Lan seemed to be very interested, taking the initiative to ask Lu Qing many questions. Lu Qing was also calm and composed, answering the questions and responding. It seemed that they were having a good chat.
During this time, Prince Lan seemed to be in high spirits and even raised his cup to Lu Qing. Lu Qing also raised his cup in response and then respectfully drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.
Seeing this, Chang Yu couldn't help but feel worried and secretly glanced at Yu Changshi beside him.
Zhu Yu remained calm. She knew that Lu Qing had a wine pouch hidden in his sleeve; this guy was already very skilled at using this trick.
After a while, the musicians suddenly changed the tune, which sounded quite exotic. At the same time, a group of scantily clad dancers suddenly ran out and began to dance gracefully in the middle of the courtyard. They were all young and beautiful, and their dance moves were so graceful that they quickly attracted the attention of the guests in the courtyard.
Zhu Yu was a woman herself, so she didn't pay much attention to the lotus-like arms and shoulders that were faintly visible under the dancers' light gauze. Instead, she was slightly taken aback and couldn't help but cast her gaze at the dancers' faces, trying to catch the look in their eyes as they spun and danced.
It's really not warm at this time of year.
Even though Lan was slightly warmer than Jin, Shuo, and the even more northerly Jie, the warmth was still limited. She herself, dressed in thick clothes, felt barely warm sitting there. Meanwhile, the dancers, clad in light gauze gowns, moved gracefully, showing no sign of being bothered by the cold, not even a hint of shivering. Finally, as one of the dancers turned around, she saw her eyes.
Those eyes were beautiful yet empty, devoid of any sparkle. Though her smile was charming, her gaze was unfocused, as if she could see nothing at all.
There was definitely a problem!
Just as Zhu Yu had made up his mind about this matter, he suddenly saw the group of dancers each take out a jade bottle from somewhere, hold the jade bottle in one hand and a flower in the other, dip the flower stem into the nectar in the jade bottle, and begin to splash it on the guests around them.
Upon seeing this action, Zhu Yu's alarm bells went off, and he sensed that something was wrong. He quickly pretended to accidentally knock over a wine glass, spilling it all over himself and Chang Yu, and pretended to bend down to wipe it off. He then pushed Chang Yu under the table.
Just as she was about to dodge, she was a fraction of a second too slow, and a few drops of dew were splashed over her head, soaking her cheeks and the back of her hands.
Zhu Yu hurriedly squatted down, using the table to shield herself, and wiped the floral dew from her face and hands with her sleeves.
The fragrance of the floral dew was somewhat eerie, giving Zhu Yu a very bad premonition.
The floral dew that ordinary women like to use, no matter how fragrant it is, is ultimately just the fragrance of the flower itself. It is not particularly strong, and people can tell from which flower the fragrance comes from.
However, the floral dew that had just splashed on her had a fragrance that made it impossible to discern its source, causing a vague unease in her heart.
Sure enough, the atmosphere around them began to change after a short while. The guests, who had been drinking and chatting and eating and drinking, gradually became restless. They were all flushed and had glazed eyes. At first, they were like that, but after a while, some of them became more and more unruly. They even stood up, stepped over the table, and ran to try to catch the dancers dancing in the middle of the courtyard.
Before long, the others also began to behave in a dissolute manner, and the scene became increasingly chaotic.
Zhu Yu felt that she was not in any abnormality. She secretly checked her pulse under the table and found that it was very stable and there was nothing wrong with it. This made her breathe a sigh of relief and she silently thanked Yan Daoxin for the antidote pills he had left for them.
She gave the runes a wink, and the runes understood immediately. Although they had successfully avoided the flower dew and hadn't been touched, they now seemed to be drunk, swaying and staggering around the table.
Seeing this, Liao Yu and Lin Kun followed suit and mingled among the guests, which looked quite normal and not at all out of place.
Lu Qing sat in the hall, unaffected by the floral dew. He didn't need to pretend. He was supposed to talk to Prince Lan, but after the dancers sprinkled the dew, Prince Lan's attention quickly shifted from Lu Qing, the outsider, to the courtyard.
He seemed quite interested in the noisy scene in the courtyard, watching their every move with his eyes. He showed no displeasure at their indecent behavior in broad daylight; on the contrary, he seemed rather happy about it.
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