C38

In the Unparalleled Pavilion, An Su sat in front of the bed, her expression was cold.

There were a few pieces of Xuan paper on the jade table beside her. The paper was as white as snow, and the ink-black lines painted a vivid picture of the faces on the paper.

On three pieces of paper, there were three people. Each of them had their own name written on it.

Ji Zhan, Mu Heng, Ji Yinli.

Previously, she had asked Zhen Zhu who held the military power, but unfortunately, Zhen Zhu, as a maid, did not know anything of the Court. She had also thought of asking Wang Xuanlang and Xie Wentao directly, but her investigation about Xiao Ye had already made them suspicious. If she were to ask about the whereabouts of the military power, even if Wang Xuanlang was unable to guess her ultimate motive, he would inevitably make an assumption.

That was why she dispelled the thought, and planned to have Zhen Zhu find a few beggars to secretly investigate, but did not expect to hear the answer from Ji Zhan's words.

"Ji Zhan, Mu Heng, Ji Yinli..."

An Su muttered the three names softly, her eyes staring coldly at the portraits of the three people. Among the three people, other than Marquis Yongning, one of the five marquises and Mu Heng, one of the three dukes, the one left was... The so-called three Duke’s Mansions, the State Duke Mu's Mansion, State Duke Su's Mansion, and Mansion of State Protector, which was died out.

Duke Su was the civilian minister, but the Mu Family, Ji Family, as well as the An Family, were all generals.

Although Mu Family and An Family were both three Dukes, who had higher position than Marquis Yongning, and had even stronger strength than that of Marquis Yongning, Mu Family’s and the An Family’s hereditary title could only be passed down for three generations, and Marquis Yongning’s hereditary dignity held in perpetuity.

The Ji Family could maintain its position for two hundred years, it naturally had its own set of rules on survival. Other than the tradition that not judging every successor by his status, but by his talent, once the successor of noble heir's position was chosen and succeed the rank of nobility, the rest of the his brothers and sisters would share the corresponding property, move away from the mansion and go on a career as an official or a businessman.

Ji Shaoyang and her both succeeded the title at a young age and had their own reasons.

She was forced by the situation, and Ji Shaoyang was closely favored by Old Lady Ji and Ji Zhan. Of course, Ji Shaoyang himself was outstanding enough, and it seemed that he was the most suitable for it.

Marquis Yongning's Mansion had been prosperous and declined, and almost disappeared because of the dispute over the title. In the end, it was able to hold on, and through the accumulation of generations of ancestors, it came up with a set of own rules on how to survive.

The An Family was indeed a large family in Linjiang, but their true prosperity was due to the her father, An Xiaoting’s achievement. The An Family also had a large number of members, her father had died early, the family struggle led to the decline of An Family, and in the end, because of her selfishness, the An family died out.

Just like the An Family, the prosperity of Mu Family had long passed.

Three years ago, when Old Duke Mu died, his eldest son, Mu Heng succeeded the title. Mu Heng was around forty years old, and his wife came from the Fang Family, one of The Eight Noble Families, and they had four sons and two daughters. He also had four brothers, two brothers and two half brothers. It was said that he had a very good relationship with the Third Brother, who was also a military general in his troop. On the contrary, his two brothers were all civilian minister.

Three years ago, she had met Mu Heng when she was returning to the Capital. His appearance was ordinary and his performance was mediocre. But when the State Duke Mu's Mansion was inherited to Mu Heng, it was already the third generation. In other words, if Mu Heng did not gain any great achievements in his life, the title of Mu Family would be taken back by the Emperor after he died.

From this, the destruction of the An Family was extremely beneficial to the Mu Family.

However, was Mu Heng a mediocre person, or was he an expert at hiding his true strength?

No one knew that. After all, the world was unpredictable. There were too many double-dealers in this world, they thought one way and acted another.

And the last one, Ji Yinli!

In An Su's mind, a human figure appeared, it was even more three-dimensional than the picture, with clear outline and handsome appearance. He trained in the barracks with a long spear in his hand, sweat was flowing down his cheeks, his hands and feet were aching and trembling uncontrollably, but he refused to give up.

She knew Ji Yinli better than she Mu Heng, he was one of her trusted aides that she promoted. Before joining the army, he was a scholar with fine features who did not even know how to fight. He was smart but also stubborn. He was meticulous and did not hesitate to sacrifice his life. So he was also called workaholic, and had many brilliant achievements in war in the past.

Although Ji Yinli's background was not prominent, it was said that he was also from a wealthy southern family, and was the son by the legal wife in the family. However, after his birth mother passed away, his father did not like his for being slow of speech, so he joined the army in the end.

The Ji Family didn’t live in the Capital.

Among The Eight Noble Families, there was no Ji Family. As far as she knew,, there were no officials worked in the Court with the surname of Ji. These were unintentionally mentioned by Ji Yinli after he got drunk at a celebratory feast. She didn't want to suspect that her former subordinate was the main culprit behind the deaths of her entire family.

But if it really was him …

Lowering her head to look at the portrait, An Su took out flammable wrap and lit up a few pieces of paper. The person in the portrait was slowly being distorted by the fire until he turned into ashes. The bright flame reflected the woman’s cold face with a kind of bloodthirsty evil intent.

But it only disappeared for an instant.

"Creak ~ ~ ~"

A moment later, the door to the room was pushed open, Zhen Zhu and Liu Su walked in carrying the bird's-nest soup.

"Your Majesty, this is the bird's-nest soup that I order the cook to stew since morning, you have exhausted a lot of energy today and need to eat some tonic to refresh yourself. Your Majesty, you are so mighty today, to actually shock so many people, I was worried to death at that time."

A pair of large eyes on Liu Su's oval face was wide open as she talked with excitement, and she swiftly poured the bird's-nest soup into the bowl. From time to time, however, she would glance over with a gaze that could not conceal her concern and adoration.

An Su raised her head and looked at the girl in green who was about fifteen or sixteen years old.

"You're called Liu Su?"

"Your Majesty, you are so smart, I only said it once and you already remember. Your Majesty, my name is Liu Su. " Liu Su put down the porcelain cup. She did not seem to be afraid like the other servants when they looked at An Su. Instead, she had a pleasantly surprised look on her face.

"This name suits you. Did the Old Lady order you anything when she sent you over?" The cold voice suddenly became softer. That faint green, light and playful tone, that vivid expression on her face, that pair of eyes that were also filled with light …

It always reminded her of someone else.

The woman who had grown up with her, who had always loved to look at her like that, who had always said whatever she wanted to say in front of her, who had always loved to drink but always become drunk soon when she was just started.

Although they were master and servants, they were actually like sisters.

They were partners, friends, relatives and also comrades.

“Your Majesty, the Old Lady didn't say anything special. She only told us to serve you well, and that if anything happened, we should report it to her immediately. If anyone angered you, we should persuade you not to get into a fight with the other Ladies. And we should report every conversation between the mistress and you to her...”

Liu Su counted one by one as she spoke, but her expression suddenly changed as she said, "Ah, your Majesty, just now when I came back from the kitchen and passed by Hua Luo, I saw the old master going over to the mistress's room. Your Majesty, today you hit the Second Miss, would the mistress say something ill of you in front of the master?"

An Su did not answer her question directly, instead she asked, "Then, how did you tell the Old Lady?"

Hearing that, Liu Su immediately laughed and said, "Don't worry, your Majesty, Elder Sister Yarong told the Old Lady the truth. Those people are too hateful, to actually treat your Majesty like that, how could they block the way? They deserve to be beaten. So many people were unable to defeat your Majesty, they are really useless! " Especially the scene of the young lady stripping State Advisor's clothes, it was so mighty that it made her feel excited.

That was a dignified State Advisor.

Who would dare to attack the State Advisor? Most likely, only young lady would dare to do so.

Liu Su thought back to that scene and her eyes lit up. What bullshit, the young lady was evil girl? Those people were like blind. That kind of lady was like a goddess that descended from the Heaven with a domineering aura or she was like a seductive fairy. Especially when she stood together with State Advisor, they looked like a perfect match.

Liu Su would probably be the only one who think like this in the entire Capital. No, even in the entire Great Ye!

An Su asked again, "Only Ya Rong can go see the Old Lady. What about the others?"

"Other people? Your Majesty, are you asking Elder Sister Qingxuan or Su Qing, Qing Rou, Qing Yi, Qing Zi, Dai Fu, Dai Rong, Dai Mei, or Dai Xi?" Liusu was stunned for a moment, then reported out a bunch of names, all of them were names of first- and second-class servants from the Unparalleled Pavilion.

An Su said clearly, "Everyone."

"This, sorry, I don’t know!"

Liu Su thought for a while and said with confusion, “Maybe all of them can go there, the Old Lady did not prohibit anyone. However, the Old Lady had specially instructed the Elder Sister Yarong and Elder Sister Qingxuan, so I told them about what happened today when I returned today. Then Elder Sister Yarong reported to the Old Lady, but the Old Lady said nothing. I had said that the Old Lady was the most sensible person in the world, and this was not your Majesty's fault in the first place, so how could the Old Lady blame your Majesty? It’s just...”

Of course the Old Lady wouldn't say anything, but she wouldn't let her go to the Shuyun Garden either.

Marquis Yongning had already seen her.

Liu Su was still chattering nonstop, An Su remained silent as if she was listening seriously.

Zhen Zhu noticed that embroidered shoes at the corner of the curtain at the second door, then looked at An Su. After hesitating for a while, she lowered her head and stood silently at the side, yet, in her heart, her eyes were rolling back.

She had thought that Liu Su was a sycophant, but now she realized that she was actually an idiot with no brains at all.

A real silly girl.

She sincerely answered every single question An Su asked. Zhen Zhu really didn't know what the Old Lady was thinking, why would she choose such a person and even gave her the rank of first class? This was simply too outrageous. Working with such a person, she might just be the one to get killed.

Zhen Zhu secretly warned herself to stay away from Liu Su in the future.

Zhen Zhu said a lot. An Su listened for a long time, and only when she found that the things that she talked later were all small matters, did she open her mouth to interrupt, "I understand, Liu Su, you can go now."

"Yes, your Majesty. Oh right, remember to eat bird's-nest soup, I have already tried it." Liu Su nodded, but when she was about to leave, she did not forget to remind An Su to eat bird's-nest soup.

The room was once again in silence. Zhen Zhu carefully served by the side, and only after An Su had finished drinking the bird's-nest soup did she open her mouth to say, "Your Majesty, just now, there was someone outside, and then, that person had sneakily left just now. I saw the embroidered shoes she was wearing and the color pattern of her skirt, so it should be Ya Rong."

An Su put down the spoon in her hand, and looked at Zhen Zhu, said "You have done well, and observed very carefully."

Before Zhen Zhu gave her a meaningful glance, she had already heard the sounds of breathing and footsteps outside the door. Since the first day of these people entering the Unparalleled Pavilion, she had already distinguished all twenty-four of them.

However, she loved peace and quiet and did not like to be served by others.

As a result, she only allowed Zhen Zhu and the seemingly simpler Liu Su to enter the room to take care of things. Usually, the others could only enter when they had something to report. In addition, everyone was frightened by rumors about her, and no one would dare to ruffle her up.

However, she did not expect Liu Su to answer every question she asked just like that. Her confused and straightforward personality was similar to Ying Luo's.

This was good as well, saving her a lot of trouble.

"Then your Majesty, do you want to call them over for questioning, or let me warn them?" Zhen Zhu hesitated for a while and then asked. Young lady would never allow such double-dealer to stay, but those two were sent by the Old Lady. It would not be easy for the young lady to chase them out of the Unparalleled Pavilion.

Report
Share
Comments
|
Setting
Background
Font
18
Nunito
Merriweather
Libre Baskerville
Gentium Book Basic
Roboto
Rubik
Nunito
Page with
1000
Line-Height