The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 120: So Disloyal

Although the Emperor was not in the Imperial Palace, the Flying Dragon Cavalry delivered news from the palace to him every day, so he was well-informed about the court’s developments.

With the recent continuous heavy rains, floods had indeed begun to plague the south again.

The Crown Prince heeded the advice of the two Prime Ministers, allocating funds from the national treasury to purchase grain. He then had the Ministry of War dispatch men to escort the funds and provisions to the disaster areas to aid the victims. Simultaneously, they had to prevent displaced people from using the situation to stir up trouble and incite riots.

Additionally, the Crown Prince dispatched two Imperial Censors as imperial envoys to oversee the entire disaster relief process and prevent any corruption or bribery.

The Emperor was fairly satisfied with the Crown Prince’s arrangements.

In the Emperor’s eyes, although the Crown Prince lacked decisiveness and pioneering courage, he could at least listen to loyal counsel. As a ruler meant to maintain the existing order, that was sufficient.

The Emperor then asked about the Flying Dragon Cavalry.

Jin Zhi had been silenced in prison, which meant there had to be a traitor within the Flying Dragon Cavalry.

This matter had always been a thorn in the Emperor’s side.

He had to pull this thorn out, or he would never know a moment’s peace.

Wu Wang answered respectfully, "General Wang is already conducting a thorough investigation within the Flying Dragon Cavalry. He has a few leads now and expects results by noon tomorrow at the latest."

The Emperor gazed at the drizzling rain outside the window and slowly let out a breath.

"I hope this can be resolved smoothly, without any more complications." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

「The night grew deeper.」

As usual, Hua Manman massaged Prince Zhao’s legs.

She had used up all the Broken Jade Ointment long ago. Logically, Prince Zhao should be able to stand by now.

But that wasn’t the case.

He still needed a wheelchair to get around.

Hua Manman suspected the system had played her for a fool.

After she finished massaging Prince Zhao, she took the opportunity to wash her hands in the outer room and quietly asked the system in her mind.

’Why hasn’t Prince Zhao recovered even after using all the Broken Jade Ointment?’

The system replied coldly, ’Prince Zhao has already recovered.’

Hua Manman pressed, ’Then why can’t he stand up?’

The system: ’You’ll have to ask him that.’

Hua Manman fell into deep thought.

’This damn system is often a real jerk, but it probably wouldn’t go so far as to lie to me about something like this.’

’But if the system wasn’t lying, why wouldn’t Prince Zhao stand up?’

’Is it because he hasn’t realized his legs are healed yet?’

’Or is he hiding it on purpose?’

Hua Manman couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

She dried her hands and returned to the inner chamber.

Li Ji was sitting on the bed. He wore loose, lavender-colored nightclothes, his jet-black hair cascading down his back. Though he wore no lipstick, his lips were exceptionally red and vibrant. Paired with his long, narrow eyes and thick, dark brows, he looked exactly like a bewitching spirit that had stepped out of a book of supernatural tales.

He gave a lazy yawn. "It’s getting late. Let’s sleep."

Hua Manman walked over and helped him lie down.

The two of them soon fell asleep.

The night passed without a dream.

The next day, Li Ji woke up early as usual.

When he got up, Hua Manman had to get up too, or she wouldn’t get any breakfast.

As she was helping Prince Zhao out of bed, she deliberately pretended to twist her ankle, her body lurching forward.

She feigned panic, clinging tightly to Prince Zhao’s arm!

’If Prince Zhao’s legs hadn’t healed, he would definitely be dragged down with me.’

’But if they had, that might not be the case.’

This was her little test.

Li Ji saw right through her little scheme.

But at the critical moment, he steadied himself, grabbed her hand firmly in return, and forcefully pulled her into his embrace.

Li Ji had practiced martial arts for years, and his strength was extraordinary.

With that pull, Hua Manman had no strength to resist and crashed right into his chest.

His chest was solid, and the impact made Hua Manman see stars, her head spinning.

Li Ji wrapped his arms around her waist, looking down at her with a faint, unreadable smile.

"How could you be so clumsy?"

Hua Manman first looked up at his handsome face, then down at his two long legs standing perfectly straight. Her eyes darted around slowly before she spoke cautiously.

"Your Highness, your legs..."

Li Ji admitted frankly, "They’re healed."

Hua Manman was first overjoyed, then she asked.

"When did this happen?"

Li Ji: "The day after we ran out of Broken Jade Ointment, my legs were already fully healed."

Hua Manman quickly calculated the time in her head. Her eyes widened in astonishment.

"That was over ten days ago! Why didn’t you say so sooner?"

Li Ji said with a grin, "You never asked, did you?"

Hua Manman: "..."

’Even a fool could see that Prince Zhao had deliberately hidden it from her!’

’All her efforts were wasted! She’d been massaging his legs every single night. Even a professional masseuse wasn’t as dedicated as she was.’

’And he still hid it from her!’

’So disloyal!’

Hua Manman puffed up like a pufferfish on the spot.

She pushed Prince Zhao away forcefully, wanting to get away from him.

Li Ji held her and refused to let go.

In truth, on the very day his legs had healed, he had wanted to share the good news with Hua Manman.

He only wanted to share this joy with her and her alone.

But when he saw her diligently massaging his legs with all her effort, he couldn’t help but change his mind.

If Hua Manman knew his legs were healed, she certainly wouldn’t massage them for him like this anymore.

It wasn’t that he particularly enjoyed the massages. He purely enjoyed the feeling of Hua Manman touching him. He hadn’t delved into the specific reason why, but he just found the skin-to-skin contact very comfortable.

Out of this selfish desire, he hid the fact that his legs had recovered and continued to enjoy Hua Manman’s daily massage service.

Li Ji didn’t want to say this reason out loud.

Lest people think he was some kind of desperate, touch-starved man.

He said to Hua Manman.

"It was my fault for hiding it from you. As compensation, I’ll give you a day off today. You can rest as much as you like, no reading or sword practice."

Hua Manman immediately seized the opportunity and started bargaining, "Three days off!"

Li Ji: "One day."

Hua Manman reluctantly conceded, "Two days!"

Li Ji: "One day. Take it or leave it."

Hua Manman hurriedly said, "I’ll take it, I’ll take it! I want it!"

’One day is one day. Better than nothing.’

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Jinxiu’s voice came from outside.

"Your Highness, Nanny, are you awake?"

Hua Manman replied that they were awake while pushing Prince Zhao away.

Li Ji let her go and sat back down in the wheelchair unhurriedly.

Seeing this, Hua Manman couldn’t help but ask.

"You’re still using the wheelchair?"

Li Ji said slowly, "Some things haven’t been fully investigated yet. I need to keep up the pretense for a while longer to make those hiding in the shadows lower their guard. It will help me uncover the truth."

Hua Manman couldn’t help asking, "What are you trying to uncover?"

Before Li Ji could answer, she quickly added.

"Alright, never mind. I know you’re just going to tell me to ’take a guess.’ I don’t want to guess, so just pretend I never asked."

Li Ji stared at her for a moment, then suddenly said, "When the time is right, I will naturally tell you."

His words sounded almost like a promise.

Hua Manman waved her hand. "It’s fine even if you don’t tell me. I was just curious and asked casually. You don’t have to take it to heart."

But Li Ji said, enunciating each word.

"I will tell you."