My Husband's Subordinates Want to Take Me to Bed Every Night- Chapter 29

Chapter 29: If You Don’t Seek Trouble, Trouble Won’t Find You

A purple copper basin, the size of a washbasin, was placed atop a fire of burning redwood. Inside the basin, a blue-green liquid bubbled and churned, its surface frothing with foam.

Ji Fanyao weighed a handful of peculiar-looking herbs in his hand before tossing them into the basin, followed by a few red crystals. As the liquid thickened into a viscous, reddish-black substance, he picked up a gilded ladle and began to stir.

He counted the seconds in his mind, his golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on the thick, almost solid substance in the basin. He couldn’t afford to lose focus now, or the entire batch would be ruined.

He was making a healing salve, a task assigned to him by the Demon King.

The demon race had excellent regenerative abilities, but even though the black-haired demon hadn’t explicitly said so, Ji Fanyao knew this salve was meant for the human queen.

This was his third attempt. The first two had failed, and he was running out of materials. If this batch didn’t work, he’d have to start over.

In theory, a healing salve was only a second-level alchemical product. It shouldn’t have been this difficult to make.

But Ji Fanyao had noticed the way the queen walked with a slight limp, her steps unconsciously splayed outward. He knew her wounds were still causing her pain. He wanted to adjust the formula, to make the salve more potent, so that the black-haired woman wouldn’t suffer so much.

The medical ward in the city, overseen by the fallen angel, was a place Ji Fanyao had only visited once—on his first day in the Demon King’s castle.

Back then, the human village he had lived in had been destroyed. The Beast King and his minions had nearly flattened his homeland.

If it hadn’t been for Kessert’s timely intervention, Ji Fanyao would have died under the fangs of the beastmen.

Of course, Kessert hadn’t saved him out of the goodness of his heart. The Demon King had come to the human realm specifically to recruit Ji Fanyao after hearing of his alchemical skills.

It was pure coincidence that he had arrived just as the beastmen were ravaging the village, saving Ji Fanyao in the process.

Ji Fanyao had nowhere to return to, no one to miss.

Almost simultaneously, they had spoken.

"Can you take me with you?"

"Come with me!"

Upon being brought to the Demon King’s castle, Ji Fanyao was immediately thrown into the medical ward.

The fallen angel, with his deceptively gentle smile, had stripped Ji Fanyao bare without a word. Before Ji Fanyao could even scream, he noticed that the wounds inflicted by the beastmen were healing under the fallen angel’s touch.

That was when he realized the fallen angel was treating him.

Perhaps it was because of the need to be stripped naked during treatment that the human queen hadn’t visited the medical ward.

That would explain why her wounds were healing so slowly.

Ji Fanyao mused to himself as he continued stirring the thick liquid in the basin.

In one hand, he held a bottle of transparent Newtonian fluid, while the other carefully stirred the mixture to prevent it from burning.

Just then, he heard the sound of a door opening, but he couldn’t afford to look away now.

This was the most critical step in the alchemical process. Success or failure hinged on this moment.

If he spoke now, even a drop of saliva could ruin the entire batch.

When Posaton entered Ji Fanyao’s room, a pungent smell assaulted his senses.

The white-haired demon frowned, his gaze falling on the golden-haired man standing in front of the copper basin.

What strange concoction was this human brewing now?

Posaton had little respect for alchemy. For demons, such things were largely useless.

Fire bottles, water seeds, storm orbs—these elemental tools were things they could summon with a flick of their fingers and a muttered incantation. Why go through all this trouble?

The only things that slightly piqued his interest were the earth and wood golems, or the lock-sealing flying letters.

But even those were mere curiosities, with little practical value to him.

Posaton’s azure eyes scanned the room, searching for a place to put down the books and scrolls he was carrying. He eventually settled on a cluttered coffee table, piling the items on top of the mess.

"Give these to the queen," he said before turning to leave.

The smell in the room was unbearable, and he couldn’t stand it any longer.

Ji Fanyao barely glanced at the door as it closed behind Posaton. When he turned back to the basin, he found that the nearly finished healing salve had turned into a charred, chocolate-like mass, emitting black smoke and a foul odor.

The golden-haired man cursed under his breath, setting down the bottle and ladle before extinguishing the fire beneath the basin.

That Prime Minister sure had a knack for showing up at the worst possible times. Ji Fanyao decided to take a look at what Posaton had left for the queen.

He walked over to the coffee table and picked up the scroll, untying the blue ribbon that bound it.

As he unrolled the parchment, he began to sense something amiss.

Clutching the scroll, Ji Fanyao hurried after the white-haired demon.

He pushed open the door just as Posaton was spreading his bat-like wings, preparing to take flight.

"Prime Minister, wait!"

Posaton retracted his wings and turned to face the golden-haired human. "What is it, Ji Fanyao?"

Ji Fanyao held up the scroll. "I don’t understand your intentions."

"I spoke in plain language. Is it so hard to understand that I want you to deliver this to the queen?" Posaton looked down at Ji Fanyao, his eyes half-lidded. Though his words were sharp, his face still wore a gentle smile.

"Why not deliver it yourself?" Ji Fanyao asked. "You see her more often than I do."

Posaton had looked for her but couldn’t find her. Not that he owed the human an explanation.

"Aren’t you teaching the queen to read demonic script?" Posaton replied matter-of-factly. With that, he turned to leave.

It was almost time for dinner, and it had been two days. It was time to release the king.

"I won’t tell the queen this is from you," Ji Fanyao called after the white-haired demon.

"Do as you please."

How childish. How laughable.

Posaton wasn’t doing this to earn gratitude or anything else. The queen was Kessert's woman and the queen of the demon realm. Assisting the royal family was his duty, but Ji Fanyao had twisted it into something else.

Posaton glanced back at the human man, his black wings rising. Before he could take flight, Ji Fanyao spoke again.

"Prime Minister, aren’t you a bit too concerned about the queen?" Ji Fanyao smirked, staring at the silver-haired demon. He was determined to see the true face behind the castle’s smiling demon.

Posaton didn’t take the human seriously. After all, Ji Fanyao’s age was a fraction of his own. To Posaton, the man’s intellectual development was inferior to that of a demon child.

"Assisting the royal family and tending to their needs is my duty," Posaton replied flawlessly.

He had been born to serve the royal family.

But Ji Fanyao wasn’t satisfied. He refused to believe that the white-haired demon had no ulterior motives toward the woman he himself coveted.

"Let me put it bluntly. Do you have feelings for the queen?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a gust of wind swept through the corridor.

In the blink of an eye, Ji Fanyao felt a searing pain in his back. A slender hand gripped his neck, lifting him off the ground.

The golden-haired man teetered on his toes, his face pale as a sheet.

Posaton held the human by his most vulnerable spot. A slight squeeze, and the man would be dead.

"Ji Fanyao, know your limits," Posaton said coldly.

If these words reached Kessert's ears, Posaton would be in an impossible position.

Fortunately, this corridor wasn’t heavily patrolled, and no one was around to witness the scene. Otherwise, Posaton would have torn the human to shreds.

Ji Fanyao clawed at Posaton’s hand, desperate to free himself. Even on the brink of death, he couldn’t resist speaking.

"Then say it. Say you don’t have feelings for the queen, and I’ll believe you."

To a lowly creature like Ji Fanyao, Posaton had no need to explain himself.

Though he wanted to silence the human forever, Kessert still had use for him. Suppressing his murderous intent, Posaton flung Ji Fanyao against a pillar like a ragdoll.

The golden-haired man slid to the floor, dazed.

In his fading consciousness, Ji Fanyao heard a voice, deep and cold, as if from the depths of the ocean.

"In my eyes, that reckless woman is no different from you—ugly, insignificant ants clinging to Kessert for survival in this castle. She’s just more tactful than you, knowing when to keep her mouth shut. If you dare show your face in front of me again, I’ll make sure you never speak another word."

***

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