Startled by Jun Beiyue’s furious shout, Imperial Physician Gu momentarily lost his composure, unable to find any words at all.

Ziqing kept retching, everything in her stomach already brought up, even the bile long since expelled—there was nothing left for her body to bring up at all, and yet she kept retching anyway, the convulsions so violent they seemed to tear at her very core, unable to stop.

“Imperial Physician Gu! What do we do!”

Jun Beiyue looked half-mad with panic. Had he not been holding Ziqing, he might well have strangled the physician on the spot. Watching her suffer like this, utterly powerless to help, unable to take her place—this was a feeling he’d never once experienced in his entire life. So this was what helplessness truly felt like.

Only then did Imperial Physician Gu snap back to his senses, hurrying to retrieve his silver needles!

“My lord, hold her steady, don’t let her move!” he called out, his hands trembling—he’d never in his life encountered a woman with such tolerance for liquor, nor a woman who reacted to drunkenness quite like this.

Under Jun Beiyue’s furious glare, the physician’s hands couldn’t steady themselves at all, and he finally had no choice but to beg outright, “My lord, please, don’t watch—this old subject is too rattled, please don’t watch!”

Only then did Jun Beiyue turn his head away, his handsome brow furrowed so tightly it seemed ready to draw blood, his usually icy eyes suddenly looking as though they’d aged years in an instant, bloodshot and clouded.

Imperial Physician Gu took several deep breaths, finally steadying his hands, slowly inserting the needles—five silver needles quickly settled into the acupoints atop Ziqing’s head!

She was in no state to swallow any medicine, leaving acupuncture as the only option. Imperial Physician Gu’s heart pounded with uncertainty; he had no confidence this would even work.

His hands trembling with fear, he finished placing the needles, only for Ziqing to suddenly retch again—still nothing but dry heaves, going on and on, until finally another mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out!

Standing so close, Imperial Physician Gu clearly noticed Jun Beiyue trembling. He held Ziqing tight, yet her body kept curling forward, her neck stretched out impossibly long, her face contorted with unbearable agony, desperately trying to retch but bringing up nothing at all!

Her whole body seemed twisted with the effort of it, every organ wrung together in the strain!

Listening to those retching sounds, one could almost mistake them for anguished sobbing!

Jun Beiyue’s furious gaze snapped up, his eyes bloodshot crimson, his handsome face contorted with rage, looking every bit like some feral beast that had lost its mind entirely.

“My lord, wait and see—this is the last option we have. Even acupuncture can’t work miracles instantly!” Imperial Physician Gu hurried to reassure him.

Only then did Jun Beiyue relent, holding Ziqing close, his large hand ceaselessly stroking her back, murmuring soothing, heartbroken words. “Qing’er, be good… no more throwing up, no more, it’ll be over soon. Be good, just bear with it a little longer, it’ll pass soon.”

But before long, Ziqing began retching again, too weak even to lift her head, collapsed entirely against Jun Beiyue, her small face pressed against his chest, dry-heaving without pause!

Jun Beiyue kept rubbing her chest, clearly frantic with worry, yet forcing himself to hold back, careful not to move too roughly, gently stroking her. “Qing’er, be good, be good, listen to me. It’s going to be all right, I promise you, it’s going to be fine. Please, stop throwing up, won’t you?”

What good were words of comfort now?

Ziqing had lost all awareness; even this dry heaving was purely her body’s own instinctive reaction.

Her tolerance for liquor was genuinely impressive—she’d survived plenty of forced drinking sessions back in her old life without any real trouble at all.

But how could she have known—the liquor of this era was something she’d never once tasted before, not a single drop, ever!

To go straight for three enormous jars, without pausing for breath even once—no matter how impressive her tolerance, there was simply no way her body could withstand that.

“Ugh… hnn… ah…”

Sounds so agonizing they were painful just to hear, forced up from a throat gone utterly raw and dry. Even Imperial Physician Gu grew visibly alarmed, a terrible sense of foreboding creeping in.

Hongyi’s mouth hung open, unable to make a sound, tears streaming down her face, desperately wishing she could share even the smallest fraction of her mistress’s suffering, if only a little!

But there was nothing anyone could do—all they could do was watch helplessly as she… clung to life by the thinnest thread!

“Han Ziqing… I was wrong! I was wrong, all right! I’ll never drink again, please, please don’t do this to me!”

Jun Beiyue was actually apologizing, actually admitting fault—anyone witnessing this would have found it hard to believe this was the same, dignified Prince Yao! He’d lost all reason entirely, suddenly forcing Ziqing’s mouth open, shouting furiously, “Han Ziqing, no more throwing up!”

“Han Ziqing, if you throw up again, this king will kill you!”

The moment the furious words left his mouth, to everyone’s utter shock, he suddenly pressed his lips down hard against hers—and yet, even so, Imperial Physician Gu and the others could clearly still hear Ziqing’s pained, retching sounds continuing beneath it.

“My lord, please don’t—” Imperial Physician Gu tried to intervene.

Jun Beiyue paid him no mind at all—this fierce, overbearing act was, in its own way, an attempt to save her life, and yet it was also a plunge into something far deeper, heedless of any cost, even his own life.

Jun Beiyue’s overbearing, ruthless determination burned with such intensity, so fierce it seemed almost as if he meant to swallow Ziqing whole entirely.

Everyone watched, utterly dumbstruck, not even noticing that Ziqing had, at some point, stopped retching entirely!

Not until Ziqing finally came around did everyone breathe a collective sigh of relief. Imperial Physician Gu, overjoyed, was just about to speak when he noticed Hongyi and Yingzi both blushing furiously, and found himself flushing right along with them, falling silent, uncertain what to do or say.

And it was exactly then that Jun Beiyue finally released Ziqing, one large hand still cradling the back of her head, gasping for breath as he stared at her, his heart pounding so fiercely it seemed ready to burst straight out of his chest.

Ziqing had finally stopped retching, her once-pale face now flushed a deep, vivid red, her eyes slowly opening to look at Jun Beiyue—a hazy, unfocused gaze, utterly bereft of conscious thought, and looking at it, Jun Beiyue suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to pull her tight into his arms!

But then, very quickly, he noticed something off about her body temperature—could the drug’s effects be flaring up again?

Suddenly, Imperial Physician Gu let out a startled cry, as though he’d noticed something, and was just about to speak when Jun Beiyue abruptly barked, “Everyone, out!”

Hongyi, though inexperienced in such matters, had served in a noble household long enough to sense what was going on, though she assumed it was simply that their lord couldn’t hold back his desire any longer, never imagining anything more complicated than that—she pulled Yingzi along and left at once.

Imperial Physician Gu hesitated, backing away repeatedly, yet still tried to urge caution. “My lord… please, think this through!”

He was frantic, unable to say what he truly meant in front of Hongyi. “My lord… this…”

Before he could figure out how to continue, Jun Beiyue snapped furiously, “Get out!”