Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1026 - 1024_1

Chapter 1026: Chapter 1024_1

After leaving the gates of the Imperial Palace, Mrs. Ruan and Ruan Yanhong couldn’t contain their laughter any longer once they were back in the carriage.

"Haha, I just died of laughter! She really thought that after an audience with His Majesty, she would receive more rewards and the empress dowager and emperor would look at her differently? Little did she know, you can’t make a snake swallow an elephant. Our wise and martial emperor must have seen through whatever she was plotting," said Ruan Yanhong after Fang Wanping personally thanked the emperor for his grace, received no extra rewards but had all her original rewards revoked, save for a bowl of pork rib soup. What kind of reward was that? She almost burst into laughter when she heard the news.

"Do they not know who the emperor and the empress dowager are that they think they can be fooled by these pay-a-favor-with-favor people? They stuck their tails out and as a result, a laughing stock is made of them!" Mrs. Ruan felt somewhat pleased.

The pair of them, reminded once more of the bowl of soup, burst into uncontrollable laughter, eventually laughing until their stomachs cramped.

Second-rate people will always be second-rate. Even when provided such a golden opportunity, she squandered it! If it had been her own daughter, the empress dowager would probably have adopted her as her daughter. After that, their Ruan family would truly ascend into heaven in one leap!

Mrs. Ruan and Ruan Yanhong’s ridicule and mockery caused Fang Wanping to close her eyes tightly and clench her fist in the sleeve of her dress: One day, she would repay them tenfold for the humiliation she suffered today.

At that moment, the carriage Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi were in happened to pass theirs, and the two heard snippets of their conversation thanks to their sharp hearing.

"Master Fang is already on the way to the Imperial Capital," Shangguan Xuanyi suddenly said.

This was the reason why he had not exposed Fang Wanping earlier. He noticed how the empress dowager looked at Fang Wanping and knew what her plan was. Shangguan was not going to let that happen. Once Master Fang arrived, this matter would explode in the Imperial City, she would see if these mother and daughter duo had the guts to stay in the Imperial City any longer! He would cut them off from where he was, making them never dare to appear where he was.

Xiao’er had no sympathy for Fang Wanping; everyone must pay the price for their own actions. Today, she saved the empress dowager and was rewarded, which was what she was supposed to receive.

However, she was too greedy and in too much of a hurry, she could not restrain her eagerness, so she aroused the suspicion of the emperor. She also thought she had become the empress dowager’s savior and tried to trip her up, which was why she ended up with only a bowl of pork rib soup, which was her penalty.

Fang Wanping and her daughter had disrupted the homes of Mrs. Ruan and Ruan Yanhong. The verbal attacks they received from them were also normal.

Nature was probably like this for most animals. Most of the beasts in this world, upon being hurt, would try to retaliate, to cause harm to the other side as well.

Even tiny creatures like mosquitoes did the same. When humans swatted at them with electronic mosquito swatters, if they weren’t zapped dead by the electricity, they would, when you least expected it, vigorously suck your blood, giving you an unbearably irritating itch.

While Xiao’er was thinking about the natural instinct of animals and about Darwin’s theory of evolution, the center of her palm suddenly felt searingly hot, and then Bai Tian’s worried voice came into her mind, "Master, the space is sealed, you can’t enter!"

And then Bai Tian’s voice disappeared.

Shangguan Xuanyi was holding Xiao’er’s hand all along, and he also felt the burning hot temperature coming from her palm. Shangguan Xuanyi immediately guessed that something must have gone wrong with Xiao’er’s space. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Xiao’er’s hand, and his other hand quickly wrapped Xiao’er in his arms, fearing that she might vanish out of the blue! This was the worst-case scenario he had imagined if something actually happened to the space.

"Bai Tian! Bai Tian! Tian Bai! Xiao Huang! Xiao Bai!..." Xiao’er shouted the names of her pets out of desperation, but not a single one responded to her.

"What happened to the space?" Seeing Xiao’er’s anxious expression, Shangguan Xuanyi asked with worry in his voice, while simultaneously increasing the strength in his arm holding Xiao’er.

Who knows, if the space disappeared, would it take her along as well? If he kept hold of her, that definitely wouldn’t happen. Even if she did disappear into thin air, he would disappear with her! He won’t let her vanish alone!

Xiao’er tried to enter the space but indeed couldn’t enter! She wanted to pull back her little hand from Shangguan Xuanyi’s grasp in order to inspect it more closely, but Shangguan Xuanyi held her even tighter. Helplessly, Xiao’er said, "Brother Shangguan, the space is sealed, I can’t enter! Can you loosen your hold a bit? I want to check my palm, the burning sensation is painful!"

Hearing this, Shangguan Xuanyi was relieved; it was good that she couldn’t enter, as long as she didn’t go in and couldn’t come out, Shangguan felt that everything else was manageable!

A sealed space is one thing; it doesn’t matter. As long as she wasn’t in danger, nothing else mattered.

So he let go of her hand, changing from holding her hand to gripping on to her wrist, as a precaution.

Xiao’er opened her palm and saw the once vague swan-shaped birthmark was now blood-red, as if it was giving out a warning signal—red to the point of shocking everyone who saw it.

Seeing this, Shangguan Xuanyi gasped with shock. He couldn’t help himself as he lightly traced over it with his fingertips, expressing his concern, "Does it hurt? Do you feel discomfort anywhere else?"

Xiao’er shook her head, "No, it’s just burning. Plus, I can’t communicate with Bai Tian and the others. I don’t know if they’re in danger in there."

Shangguan Xuanyi’s eyes narrowed dangerously upon hearing this. "Zhao Yong, proceed to that woman’s house!" he commanded.

"Yes sir!" Having overheard Xiao’er and Shangguan’s conversation, Zhao Yong did not quite understand, but he could tell from their conversation that something serious must have happened!

With that, he took the horsewhip in his hand and gave it a quick flick. With that, the steed dashed forward, making haste for their destination.

A mansion in the suburbs of a certain village was completely deserted.

When Shangguan Xuanyi and Xiao’er arrived at the house, the front door was shut tight and no one was inside. Even the hidden guards stationed in the area were nowhere to be found!

Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi exchanged a glance, and Shangguan Xuanyi commanded Zhao Yong: "Break down the door!"

Zhao Yong then promptly stepped forth and knocked the front door open.

The group of them walked into the house.

But where did the hidden guards that were previously stationed here go? They had been trapped in the secret passage for more than half a day. No matter where they tried to go, they could not get out.

"Damn, really uncanny—how is it possible to tread the same path over and over without finding an exit? We’re really in a fix here!" Stuck in the secret passage, after walking in circles throughout the entire morning, An Shiyi couldn’t contain himself and blurted out a curse.

"It’s too weird. Could it be that we’ve encountered something unclean?" The moment Fourteen uttered his words, everything around them seemed eerily silent.

"Don’t scare yourself. This is just a formation, even our master can sense it," voiced Twelve after hearing the other two’s conversation.

"Do we need to wait for our master to come save us? Jesus Christ, I’d rather starve to death here!" groaned Eighteen sobbingly. He couldn’t keep a closer eye on the woman, yet, needing their master to come and save them from this plight was just too humiliating!

"Pay no mind to him." Twelve ignored Eighteen’s comment and focused on marking the walls, hoping to expedite the process of finding the exit.

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