The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

Hua Manman first drank a large bowl of herbal medicine, followed by two bowls of millet porridge.

Her ravenous stomach was finally sated.

She flopped onto the bed and let out a contented burp.

Only then did Li Ji get around to asking her where she had gone last night and why she had been soaking wet.

Hua Manman scratched her head.

She wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, either.

Last night, the pain in her chest had been so excruciating she wished she were dead.

It seemed someone had approached her, but she’d been in such a terrible state that she hadn’t had the presence of mind to even look at them, so she had no idea who it was.

Once she finally made it through the wave of excruciating pain, she passed out.

She had no idea what happened after she lost consciousness.

In any case, when she woke up, she was already in an old well.

Hua Manman couldn’t explain the knife-twisting pain in her chest to Prince Zhao, so she could only give him a vague, edited version of events.

"I suddenly felt unwell. I must have wandered off somewhere in a daze before passing out."

"When I woke up, I found myself in a well and nearly drowned."

"Thankfully, a kind palace maid rescued me."

Hearing her thoughts, Li Ji finally understood why she had been crying out in pain while unconscious.

’So there really is something wrong with her heart.’

’But why won’t she tell me the truth?’

Li Ji knew she was hiding many secrets. He couldn’t ask about them directly, lest he scare her away.

He would have to be patient.

One day, he would make her tell him all her secrets of her own accord.

Li Ji asked, "Why did you suddenly feel unwell? Are you ill?"

Hua Manman shook her head. "I don’t know, either. I just suddenly got so dizzy I couldn’t even stand straight."

Meeting Prince Zhao’s concerned gaze, she smiled and said with feigned ease.

"I’m all right now. You don’t have to worry."

Li Ji pointed to the cut on her forehead. "Then how did you get that?"

Hua Manman had gotten the wound from banging her own head against a wall.

But she couldn’t tell the truth, so she just answered vaguely.

"I don’t know. I must have fallen by accident."

Hearing her true thoughts, Li Ji’s heart grew heavier and more pained.

’What kind of unbearable pain could possibly drive her to slam her head against a wall to end her own life?’

He didn’t want Manman to dwell on such a painful memory, so he changed the subject, asking for the exact location of the old well.

Hua Manman said, "The well is in Chaoyang Palace."

Li Ji frowned slightly. "Hardly anyone ever goes there. How did you end up there? Someone must have done something to you while you were unconscious."

As he said this, he reached for the collar of her robes.

Hua Manman scrambled backward, her hands pressed to her chest as she glared at him like he was some kind of pervert.

"Your Highness, debauchery in broad daylight is unseemly! What’s more, this is Hanzhang Hall, the Saint’s personal bedchamber! No matter how desperate you are, you can’t just do as you please in here."

Li Ji stared at her, speechless. "I just wanted to see if you have any injuries."

"What if that person hurt you while you were unconscious? We need to treat it as soon as possible."

The Imperial Physician had already examined Hua Manman, but he had only checked external indicators like her pulse, complexion, tongue, pupils, hands, and feet.

The Imperial Physician had not seen more private areas like her chest, back, and thighs.

Hua Manman knew her own thoughts were far too dirty.

She felt deeply ashamed.

Still, she refused Prince Zhao’s kind offer.

"I can have a palace maid help me check. There’s no need to trouble Your Highness to do it personally."

Li Ji was so exasperated by her defensive posture that he laughed.

The way she was acting, you’d think he was about to force himself on her at any moment.

’She’s still sick. How could I possibly bring myself to lay a hand on her?’

’I’m not an animal!’

Li Ji reached out, pulled her toward him, and, ignoring her resistance, forcefully untied the sash of her robes.

As her robes were pulled open, a large expanse of her snow-white skin was revealed.

Li Ji was momentarily dazzled.

He froze for a moment.

But he quickly suppressed the strange feeling stirring in his heart and whispered a warning to the restless little thing in his arms.

"Don’t move."

Hua Manman could feel his breathing grow heavier, the air he exhaled against her neck growing warmer.

She wasn’t some naive little girl. She knew exactly what state he was in.

Afraid he would suddenly turn into a wolf, she stopped struggling, not wanting to provoke him further.

As the woman in his arms went still, Li Ji slightly relaxed his hold on her.

He first checked her back and found a bruise, as if she had slammed into something hard.

Li Ji fetched some ointment and carefully applied it to the bruise.

Then, he reached for her bodice, wanting to check her chest.

Hua Manman clutched her bodice, refusing to let go.

"I can check it myself."

Li Ji didn’t force the issue, releasing the bodice strap he held.

Hua Manman turned her back, quickly loosened her bodice to check her chest for injuries, and, finding none, swiftly retied it and pulled her robes closed.

She lifted her trouser legs, revealing two long, slender legs.

Li Ji spotted another bruise on her calf.

He leaned over slightly and carefully applied the ointment.

His fingertips, dabbed with ointment, gently glided across her skin.

Hua Manman tensed involuntarily, even her toes curling slightly.

A tingling sensation spread over the spot he touched.

’It’s probably the ointment,’ she thought.

Once the ointment was applied, Li Ji went to wash his hands.

Hua Manman lowered her trouser leg and pulled the covers back over herself.

Li Ji dried his hands and sat down beside her.

He then asked about something else that had been weighing on his mind.

"The poison in my system has been neutralized. Was that your doing?"

Hua Manman tried to play dumb. "You’re all better? When did that happen?"

Li Ji stared at her intently.

His expression clearly said—

’Go on, pretend. I’m waiting to see how long you can keep it up.’

His stare made Hua Manman so flustered that her gaze involuntarily drifted elsewhere.

Li Ji said, "I’ll ask you one last time. What did you do to that bowl of Yangchun Noodles?"

"If you still refuse to tell the truth, I’ll make you eat nothing but watery porridge and pickled vegetables for every meal. Without a single drop of oil."

Hua Manman looked as if she had been struck by lightning.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief.

’I risked angering the system and chose to endure the agonizing, knife-twisting pain of its punishment just to use a Life Reviving Pill to cure him.’

’Not only is he not grateful, but he’s actually threatening to make me eat watery porridge and pickled vegetables for every meal?’

’Heavens!’

’Is this a sign of moral decay? Or the death of humanity itself?!’