Chapter 187: Harming others because of jealousy Original and most updated translations are from volare. If read elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
After being scared by Ning Xiaoyao, Madame Fu was now kneeling on the ground. Her head whipped towards Lady w.a.n.g at the emperor’s words. After this gets out, will anyone be willing to marry my daughter? Did her ladys.h.i.+p ever think of the consequences when she trapped the head commander in front of her room on purpose?
“Don’t be fooled,” Ning Xiaoyao said as she looked at Madame Fu. She’d seen the interactions between the two women loud and clear. Although she had no idea who Madame Fu was, she had a sense that this was probably Xie Duoying’s mother. “Do you really think she’ll uphold justice for your daughter’s sake? She’s using your daughter as a weapon,” Ning Xiaoyao explained.
Madame Fu lowered her head, her hands digging into the dirt. She understood Lady w.a.n.g’s intentions, but what could she do as a mere concubine? How could she protect her own daughter? This was the child she gave birth to, but the girl didn’t even have the right to call her ‘mother.’
After being exposed, Lady w.a.n.g fell mute for a while before she raised her voice again. “A daughter of the Xie Clan will never live an ign.o.ble existence! This wife only wants to seek justice for Fifth Young Miss!”
“Y-Your Ladys.h.i.+p?!” Madame Fu shrieked. Her Ladys.h.i.+p is shouting so loudly, does she want to push my daughter to the point of no return.
“Shut your mouth!” Lady w.a.n.g screeched at Madame Fu.
“Should we go in?” the Lord Protector asked Lou Zigui from the entrance to the courtyard. Lou Zigui stood with his hands behind his back and slightly shook his head.
“Do you think we can go in and kill the Grand Preceptor?”
The Lord Protector fell silent. Is Lou Zigui joking with me? But his face looks completely serious.
“You shut up,” Ning Xiaoyao shouted at Lady w.a.n.g. “Would our Windy want to look at your Xie Duoying? What face you have! The palace is full of beauties, so if he really took a fancy to someone, wouldn’t it be a girl from the palace? Do you think your family’s Xie Duoying is some sort of celestial fairy? Dream on!”
One of the Dragon Guards tugged on Ning Xiaoyao’s sleeve. He knew His Majesty was speaking up for the head commander’s sake, but all that nonsense about eyeing beauties from the palace was unnecessary! Words like that could condemn a man to death!
“You’re both made of the same stuff,” Ning Xiaoyao was in the midst of battling with Lady w.a.n.g, so she never noticed the guard tugging on her sleeve. Ignoring him completely, she stared at Lady w.a.n.g and said, “All of you want to toy with Windy with your motherf**king beauty schemes, can’t you think of something else?”
His Majesty’s words came as a ma.s.sive info dump. Even the Lord Protector standing by the entrance couldn’t help but wonder who His Majesty was a.s.sociating with Lady w.a.n.g. But soon enough, many people in the courtyard seemed to understand what Ning Xiaoyao meant. Who else would have the means to try a beauty scheme against the head commander of the Dragon Guards? Besides the Esteemed Empress Dowager in the palace proper, there were no other possible candidates, right?
“Windy is a Dragon Guard,” Ning Xiaoyao said with a cold glare, “Could he be moved by l.u.s.t? Lady w.a.n.g, are you cursing the imperial family for being too blind to pick their surbordinates?”
Lady w.a.n.g really hadn’t intended to try a beauty scheme against Shadowgale. She was simply using the fact that Shadowgale had dropped by to capture him in a trap. But now Ning Xiaoyao was accusing her of so many things that she couldn’t take it. Deriding the royal family for having no insight? If I had the guts to do that, I would’ve risked my life to fight against His Majesty and save my son!
“Xiaoyao,” a voice called from Ning Xiaoyao’s shoulder. Ning Xiaoyao glanced down and saw A’Mo perched there.
“Cough,” Ning Xiaoyao walked to the side and lowered her voice. “A’Mo, why have you come?”
“Windy came to save Fifth Young Miss,” A’Mo told Ning Xiaoyao.
Ning Xiaoyao’s eyes grew wide. As expected, there’s a story behind all of this!
It took effort for A’Mo to speak while standing on Ning Xiaoyao’s collar, so he simply crawled into her ear instead. “The old madame died, so Fifth Young Miss has been having a terrible time at the estate. All of the Xie Clan daughters bully her.”
Ning Xiaoyao said, “Eh, are they jealous because the old madame liked her best?”
“I don’t know, ah,” A’Mo said, “In any case, all the girls said that the old madame’s gone blind with age. My big brother says all humans get blinded when they’re older.”
“It’s not an issue of eyesight,” Ning Xiaoyao said, “Go back and tell your big brother that they’re just cursing old madame for having no insight.”
“Oh,” A’Mo expressed his understanding.
“Keep talking,” Ning Xiaoyao said, “What happened next?”
“Next, they found some rogue man to ruin Fifth Young Miss,” A’Mo said, “Those girls arranged everything. When Fifth Young Miss was bathing, they’d get him to do the bad deed.”
Ning Xiaoyao rubbed her chin. “So that rogue prepared to go inside the room when Fifth Young Miss yelled for help, and then my Windy appeared?”
A’Mo said, “Wah, you’re so smart, Xiaoyao!”
Ning Xiaoyao was quite modest. “I’m only so-so. Forget about smarts, I’m just someone as das.h.i.+ng as the Heavens!” (Author: Does that count as being modest? o(╯□╰)o )
“Mm,” Though A’Mo didn’t understand the compliment, he still said, “Xiaoyao, you’re as das.h.i.+ng as the Heavens!”
“Haha,” Ning Xiaoyao laughed.
“But A’Mo doesn’t understand,” A’Mo said, “Why doesn’t Windy say what happened?”
Ning Xiaoyao turned back to glance at Shadowgale, who was still standing in front of the boudoir. “Could he say that a man was trying to get in while Fifth Young Miss was bathing? It’d completely ruin her reputation and finish her off for good.”
This world was different from the apocalypse. The latter only concerned itself with survival and avoiding zombie bites. The former had its own standards and was too d.a.m.ned troublesome, in Ning Xiaoyao’s opinion. She sighed.
“Yah,” A’Mo said, “Windy is a good guy.”
Ning Xiaoyao clicked her tongue. Was it as simple as just being a good guy? “That rogue, and the daughters who conspired the plot—are they all still here?” she asked.
“The girls aren’t here, but the rogue is crouched way over in the back there,” A’Mo said.
Ning Xiaoyao glanced at the area behind the Grand Preceptor’s men until she found the back row. Alright, even without asking she could see a retainer crouched near the ground.
“He’s the one, there’s no mistake,” A’Mo was convinced.
“And which daughters were involved? A’Mo, do you know?” Ning Xiaoyao asked.
“Eldest young Miss, third young Miss, fourth young Miss, sixth young Miss, and seventh young Miss and eighth young Miss,” A’Mo smoothly reported off the numbers. Ning Xiaoyao nodded.
A’Mo asked, “Xiaoyao, what are you going to do now, ah?”
“Although I don’t like Xie Duoying much,” Ning Xiaoyao said, “I hate people who ruin others out of jealousy even more. They’re nothing but a pile of tras.h.!.+”
Looks like the Xie Clan daughters are doomed, A’Mo thought to himself. Ning Xiaoyao placed her hands behind her back and strode over the designated rogue. The man had no idea that Ning Xiaoyao already knew the truth, and simply knelt respectfully on the ground. Without a word, Ning Xiaoyao raised a leg and kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling in front of the Dragon Guards.
“Capture him!” she cried.
Although the Dragon Guards had no idea what was going on, they still did as they were told. A few of them stepped forward and pressed the man against the ground. Shadowgale only looked at Ning Xiaoyao in astonishment. How did His Majesty find out?
Ning Xiaoyao walked into the crowd of Dragon Guards before ordering, “Go and bring out the estate’s eldest young Miss, third young Miss, fourth young Miss, sixth young Miss, seventh young Miss, and eighth young Miss over here.”
One of the Dragon Guards gave Ning Xiaoyao a troubled look. “Your Majesty, this servant doesn’t know what they look like.”
Ning Xiaoyao muttered, “That’s true.”
A’Mo volunteered for the task. “I do!”
Ning Xiaoyao rubbed her nose before walking off to the side again. “But those brothers won’t understand what you’re saying.”
“……” said A’Mo. That’s true. The only human who can talk to ants is probably Xiaoyao.
Ning Xiaoyao surveyed the occupants of the courtyard. By now, Lady w.a.n.g had already been stunned by Ning Xiaoyao’s orders and was still lost in a daze. After Ning Xiaoyao finished scanning the courtyard, she walked to a teary-eyed servant girl with puffy red eyes. “Are you one of Xie Duoying’s people?”
Hearing this, the little servant girl trembled. In her eyes, the Xie Clan’s masters were already terribly and frightening figures, to say nothing of the emperor himself. She didn’t dare to think.
Ning Xiaoyao half-crouched and said, “I already know all about what happened to Xie Duoying. Do you want to seek justice for her sake?”
The little servant girl looked up at Ning Xiaoyao. Ning Xiaoyao stuffed a sugar bean into her mouth and said, “It was my household’s Windy that saved your young Miss, oh. Little girl, you don’t want to see a perfectly good person framed either, right?”
“I don’t,” the little servant girl replied.
“Then help lead the way, won’t you?” Ning Xiaoyao said in a very soft voice. “Ill winds blow hard and peace is scarce in the Grand Preceptor’s estate. Have you considered moving to a different place to stay?”
The servant girl looked blankly at her. “Your Majesty wants to take this servant away?”
“If you lead the way, I’ll bring you out of here,” Ning Xiaoyao said.
The little servant girl promptly nodded. Between a sovereign and his subjects, only a fool wouldn’t choose the emperor. Forget about telling an eight-year-old like her the intricacies of power plays, she wasn’t old enough to understand the finer details.
“It’s a deal,” Ning Xiaoyao pulled the little servant girl to the Dragon Guards. “This little sister will lead the way. Capture anyone who refuses to show and drag them here.”
With their problem solved, the Dragon Guards went off with the little servant girl.
“Your Majesty?” Shadowgale called out.
“You can stop talking,” Ning Xiaoyao said. “We’ll talk about your matters back at the palace. You have a situation going on.”
Shadowgale opened and closed his mouth a few times, at a loss for what to say.
“Your Majesty, what are you doing?!” Lady w.a.n.g finally regained her wits and cried out.
“You two, go ask the Grand Preceptor to come,” Ning Xiaoyao instructed another pair of Dragon Guards. “Tell him there’s a war between women going on here, and we’re waiting for him to come see the show.”
The two Dragon Guards accepted the decree and left, while Lady w.a.n.g nearly howled. “Your Majesty!”
“What’s with all the yelling?” Ning Xiaoyao asked. “In any case, I’m not summoning them to pick a concubine candidate.”
Lady w.a.n.g had already lost most of her souls. Does this person want to ruin our Xie Clan daughters?!
“N-no, you can’t do this,” Lady w.a.n.g grew frantic. Somehow, she mustered up the courage to stand up and rush towards Ning Xiaoyao. Without a hint of manners, Ning Xiaoyao raised a hand and slapped Lady w.a.n.g on the face, knocking her senseless onto the ground.
“…….” said the Dragon Guards. Actually, there’s no need for any of us, is there?
“None of you move,” Ning Xiaoyao told the stunned servants of the estate. “Anyone who does will end up just like her ladys.h.i.+p. This Majesty won’t show mercy to anyone.”
None of the Grand Preceptor’s people had the guts to budge anymore. All of them were worrying over whether they’d live past today.
“Isn’t that a little too much?” the Lord Protector asked Lou Zigui in a small voice. Raising a hand against a woman of the inner court, it’d be bad for His Majesty’s reputation if the news spread.
Lou Zigui said, “Shadowgale wouldn’t show up in front of a young lady’s room without reason. His Majesty must have his reasons for such actions.”
“……” said the Lord Protector. So you want to help His Majesty solve the Xie Clan’s domestic affairs?!