Chapter 46: A Fierce and Predatory Stance, My Heart Rejoices Greatly

Chapter 46: A Predatory Stature, My Heart Rejoices

The next day, at noon.

The madam of the brothel ran hurriedly into the Fragrant Herb Hut, pacing anxiously outside the door, whispering, "General, General."

However, there was no response.

The madam did not dare to rush into the hut; she could only pull in a familiar courtesan and whisper a few instructions, telling her to push the door and enter.

The courtesan shook her head repeatedly and pleaded, "Madam, please spare me. The General instructed that if his peaceful slumber is disturbed, there will be severe punishment."

The madam was so anxious she was nearly in tears. An arrogant messenger had arrived today, presenting a token of a power she absolutely could not afford to offend, demanding that she immediately notify General Anyuan that "the messenger from the Great General Qin's Manor has arrived."

She had made several perfunctory attempts to announce him, only to return and report that "General Anyuan is still asleep from a drunken stupor." After several waits, the messenger had demanded she urge him again.

When she tried to brush him off once more, the messenger had slammed his weapon heavily onto the table, and the dozen or so fierce armored soldiers behind him had taken a step forward, scaring the madam so much that she collapsed onto the ground.

The messenger had looked down at her and said, "If he cannot be summoned, I will burn this brothel down!"

Not daring to offend him, she had rushed here in a panic.

At this moment, she paced anxiously before the door once more, then suddenly gritted her teeth, preparing to walk into the room.

However, just as she reached the door, hurried footsteps sounded behind her, followed by a cry: "Do not!"

The madam of the Chenxiang Pavilion turned her head to see a petite lady dressed in exquisite silks and adorned with gold and jade, standing at the courtyard entrance with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back.

The madam recognized her instantly and rushed over, her face a mask of grief. "Lady Jie, on one side is the Great General Qin, and on the other is General Ning. I... I cannot afford to offend either of them."

Little Jie smiled and said, "You old madam, how can you be so muddled? Let me ask you, who manages this Wangyue Manor?"

The madam cried, "But he wants to burn this building down! I... how can I face the owner?"

Little Jie’s smile revealed her white teeth. Her smile was sweet as she said, "If this Chenxiang Pavilion were truly burned down, your owner would not blame you; on the contrary, he would reward you handsomely."

The madam froze, then thought it over.

Cold sweat began to pour down her face.

It wasn't that she didn't understand the logic, but she had been so suddenly terrified by the murderous aura of those armored soldiers that she had nearly lost her soul, nearly causing a confrontation at the General's residence.

"Thank you for the reminder, Manager Jie," the madam said gratefully.

Little Jie shook her head. "I am not a manager."

***

Time flew by, and it was soon evening.

The glow of the setting sun poured through the wooden-slatted windows, spreading dark patterns across the floor that seemed to signal the approaching darkness.

Inside the Chenxiang Pavilion, the expression of the waiting messenger from the Great General Qin's Manor grew increasingly grim.

He glanced at the sky, a flash of ferocity crossing his eyes.

Suddenly, he stood up and shouted sternly, "Burn it!!"

He had fully understood the scandalous history of General Anyuan's debauchery today, but what did that have to do with him? His mission was to see General Anyuan and then take him to meet a certain VIP.

That VIP had come from afar and was currently waiting outside the city.

He had already kept that VIP waiting for an entire day.

He could not wait any longer!

"Burn it! Burn it all! Burn everything!!"

The messenger possessed the decisive air of a battlefield commander.

One of the armored soldiers behind him immediately pulled out a black cylinder from his person. This cylinder contained a concealed weapon called "Palm Fire," which, once activated, would erupt into raging flames capable of reducing the Chenxiang Pavilion to ashes.

Just as the soldier was about to trigger the "Palm Fire" mechanism, he felt his body go limp, losing all control.

He collapsed uncontrollably to the ground as a golden snake emerging from beneath the earth coiled tightly around him.

The messenger frowned and turned his head, shouting, "Who goes there?!"

Outside the door, a young Taoist nun in a python-patterned robe had appeared at some unknown moment.

The messenger glanced at the robe. In the past, such robes could only be worn by Princes, and later by Great Generals, but now... they had just received news that a new class of people was permitted to wear them: the Emperor's Attendants of the Zixia Temple in the Imperial Capital.

These Attendants held special status and were specially granted the right to wear python robes to signify their rank.

However, there were still distinctions between the robes.

A Prince's robe featured bright yellow with nine pythons, a Great General's was crimson with seven, and these Emperor's Attendants wore black with five.

Even so, even a black robe with five pythons was not something a subordinate of a general could face head-on.

The messenger's eyes darted around, and he finally abandoned the idea of a direct confrontation. He stood up and bowed, saying, "An inner guard of the Qin General's Manor greets the Emperor's Attendant."

The Taoist nun, Yaozhen, said, "This is General Ning's jurisdiction. Now that I am co-managing this place with him, how can I allow you to act recklessly?"

The messenger waved his hand.

The armored soldiers understood and cleared the surrounding area, leaving only an empty space.

With a lift of Yaozhen's hand, the golden snake vanished. The fallen soldier stowed away his "Palm Fire" and retreated silently, closing the door behind them.

Only two people remained in the hall.

The messenger then lowered his voice and said, "Reporting to the Attendant, my mistress has arrived secretly and is waiting outside the city for General Ning. Her arrival is due to a matter of great importance; I was forced to resort to this desperate measure. Now that the Attendant is here, please advise me on what I should do."

Yaozhen said, "That is easy. Tell your mistress that General Ning spends his days in pursuit of pleasure and has no mind for other matters."

The messenger replied, "I fear the mistress will not believe it."

Yaozhen said, "That is also easy. I shall bring your mistress to seek out General Ning myself, so as not to make things difficult for your subordinates."

With that, her figure moved, and she took the messenger away through the earth. A moment later, she returned from afar leading a beautiful woman in military attire, and they quietly appeared behind a rockery in the Fragrant Herb Hut.

Sounds of laughter and the scent of debauchery drifted from a distance.

The woman in military attire was none other than the legal wife of the Great General Qin—Madam Zhao. She peered through a hole in the rockery, only to see the young general surrounded by a bevy of women, their flirtatious and lewd chatter being unbearable to the ears, creating a scene of indecency that was hard to watch.

Madam Zhao frowned, her face showing unmistakable disdain.

Seeing this, Yaozhen grabbed her and fled through the earth again, arriving at a high, empty building. She said calmly, "General Ning is young and impetuous, prone to debauchery. I have tried to advise him many times, but to little effect. If Madam has come here seeking a marriage alliance, I fear you will return disappointed."

Madam Zhao frowned. "I thought he was a young talent, I did not expect him to be like this..."

She sighed softly and said, "I must trouble the Immortal to take me back."

Yaozhen gritted her teeth inwardly; continuous earth-traveling was exhausting her. But thinking that she could persuade the old-guard generals to step back and nudge Ning Xuan toward the Emperor's side, she found her motivation again. She grabbed Madam Zhao and performed a series of earth-travels, returning to a patch of knee-high grass outside the provincial capital.

The convoy was waiting quietly by a wild pond in the grassland.

After Madam Zhao returned, Yaozhen did not linger. She vanished from the spot, but stood quietly on a nearby hidden high ground to overlook this "force of the old-guard generals."

After a long time, seeing the convoy turn around and gradually move away, she finally returned.

Upon returning to General Ning's manor, she was exhausted. After bathing and changing in the courtyard, she maintained a simple "ground-checking" spell to prevent the General's wife from returning. When midnight arrived and she saw no sign of her, she finally slept peacefully, thinking, "That is one matter settled."

Tomorrow, after reporting the request for "adjudication" to the Imperial Capital, she would find a secluded spot in the mountains to begin refining pills for General Ning.

***

Madam Zhao's carriage stopped twenty miles away.

She sat in the carriage, waiting quietly.

Debauchery and profligacy would not be sufficient grounds for her to veto a marriage alliance.

She lifted the curtain and looked toward the high ground.

The moon was high in the sky.

It was the early hours of the morning.

She was not a sheltered lady of leisure, but a woman who frequently traveled. She murmured to herself, "Today, that Emperor's Attendant used earth-traveling techniques repeatedly. Now that she has seen my face and expressed disdain, and left so decisively, she must have let her guard down. Even though that Attendant wears the black robe with five pythons, she is still too young."

A beautiful young girl beside her asked, "Mother, what should we do now?"

Madam Zhao mused, "The key is not the attitude of that Emperor's Attendant, but the attitude of Ning Xuan. Ning Xuan is feigning this behavior..."

The girl interrupted, "I heard from the inner guards that General Ning has always been this way; it might not be an act."

Madam Zhao smiled. "If he has always been this way, could it not be a mask?"

After smiling, the woman in military attire's gaze swept over her three daughters awaiting marriage, one of whom was the fiancée of the top scholar. She asked, "Our current plan is to pretend that you are coming to find me. Find the Wangyue Manor, find General Ning's home, and when that time comes... how could he possibly avoid seeing you?

However, only one of you three can go.

You should all understand General Ning's temperament well through the inner guards.

So, who dares to go to battle?"

After a moment's thought, she added, "In this mission, you must not mention the marriage alliance, otherwise that Emperor's Attendant will send you straight out of the city without giving you a chance to get close to Ning Xuan. But you are all daughters of the Qin family; once you have established a slight closeness, it will be impossible to shake you off. Therefore... you must use your wits.

Of course, you are not fighting this battle alone. In the past, Ning Taiyi once pleaded for a marriage alliance outside my manor and stayed for over a month. Seeing his plight, I permitted the marriage between Ning Xuan and Jin'er.

Ning Taiyi owes this favor.

Once you enter the city, find Ning Taiyi first.

With Ning Taiyi there, and by not mentioning the marriage alliance openly, even the Emperor's Attendant will not be able to drive you out of the city."

Another daughter said, "Mother, why not let Sister Jin'er go, and let the Ning family continue to fulfill the marriage contract?"

Madam Zhao replied, "I want to take Ning Xuan as a son-in-law, not turn a good thing into a bad one. That contract isn't even a piece of paper. If you try to force it and make a dignified General marry a concubine's daughter, are you trying to humiliate him and push him directly to our opposition?"

The daughter hurriedly said, "I wouldn't dare."

Madam Zhao asked again, "Alright, tell me, which of you will go?"

Another daughter asked, "Mother, is this Ning Xuan truly that good?"

Madam Zhao replied, "A predatory stature; my heart rejoices."