Chapter 118 – The Old Emperor is Possessed by a Snake Spirit (3)

His looks were no doubt outstanding or else he would not have sired so many handsome sons.

Although these looks of his weren’t as outstanding as Ji Yunhuang’s, he was definitely quite handsome. Otherwise, all the beauties in his harem wouldn’t be falling for him and throwing themselves at him.

Even when he went out for inspections in disguise, he could still make 16-years-old beauties swoon…

Therefore, that little girl becoming his consort was definitely the epitome of someone marrying above her status, so he wasn’t ill-treating her…

Right now, Liu Gonggong, who was also in charge of handling the inner palaces affairs, felt really terrified watching Emperor Le Xuan admiring himself in the mirror, not understanding what the usually cold and arrogant Emperor was thinking at this moment.

Just at that instant, the four palace maidservants sent to Ning Xuemo returned and informed Emperor Le Xuan of Ning Xuemo taking all the betrothal gifts and not allowing them to manage them.

Emperor Le Xuan laughed in his mind. It seems like the little lass was terrified of poverty; her obsession for these material objects really was not weak. But this was within his expectations that she didn’t let them get a hold of the gifts .

Seeing as she was such a miser, she certainly would not leave behind those things in the Marquis’ Mansion when she married into the imperial family and would almost certainly bring them with her…

It was better that she had such a weakness. With it, he could control her and make her surrender, only listening to him and having her submitting wholeheartedly to him…

He thought for a bit. If he sent a bit more silver over and had the four palace maids arrange it as the dowry, it might make the forced marriage more appealing.

At first, the four palace maids had thought that he would fly into a rage and pin a crime onto Ning Xuemo, but never did they expect that he would instead agree with this amiably.

It seems like His Majesty really doted on this Miss Ning; she hadn’t even entered the Palace yet, and he already became this henpecked. It was inevitable that she would become a favored concubine when she entered the Palace…

They truly couldn’t afford to do anything to offend her!

The four palace maids were people who could tell which way the wind was blowing and knew which way to lean[1]. They immediately praised Ning Xuemo’s looks and character to high heavens, before leaving for the imperial treasury with an imperial edict to withdraw more silvers.

Withdrawing silvers from the imperial treasury involved an extensive tedious process. When they finally completed all the procedures and left, four hours had already passed. The sun was about to set, and night was about to fall.

When the four maidservants returned to the Marquis Jingyuan’s Mansion, they quickly discovered something amiss!

The gate was tightly shut, and it was extremely quiet; not a sound could be heard from inside.

They knocked on the door for long time yet no one replied.

It was as if the whole mansion turned into an empty house.

After all, they had some experience, and as their hearts became uneasy, they sent someone to make an urgent report to the Palace…

The Palace quickly dispatched a troop of imperial guards, who forced open the gate of the mansion, only to find a more shocking situation inside!

The servants of the Marquis’ Mansion were sprawled messily on the ground: each and every one of their faces looked green, and they could not be roused. Even Old Zhong slumped over a table in the main hall, and no matter how much they tried, they could not wake him. Every one of them showed symptoms of poisoning…

The safety of a few servants was not important to them; what was important was the safety of the mansion’s owner.

Hence, they hurriedly overturned every nook and cranny of the Jingyuan Mansion, yet they could not find any trace of Ning Xuemo.

The head of the imperial guards did not dare to be slow as he immediately dispatched someone to inform Emperor Le Xuan about the situation. Meanwhile, he dispatched someone else to invite a renowned physician in the capital to help cure Ning Xuemo’s servants…

Rushing over with his troop of guards, Emperor Le Xuan arrived just when Uncle Zhong and a few other servants were saved and regained consciousness…

They were all poisoned. Although the poison was a fatal one, fortunately, it was also a commonly seen poison; therefore, the physician could cure them. Adding to the timely response, everyone had been saved.

But when they were questioned about Ning Xuemo’s whereabouts, these people were even more at a loss than the Emperor…

They all said that Miss Ning was giving them instructions on how to run the Marquis’ Mansion in the future and what the rules they should follow were. However, they suddenly heard a strange and ethereal sound like music. Right after that, they immediately smelled a light flower fragrance. Before they could react, they had already collapsed…

[1] Finding trends and acting on them, or siding with the powerful.