Chapter 46: The Posture of a Tiger and Wolf, My Heart is Very Happy

The next day, at noon…

The old madam hurriedly ran into the Wenxiang Thatched Cottage, pacing back and forth anxiously outside the door, calling softly, “General, General.”

However, no one responded.

The old madam did not dare to rush into the Wenxiang Thatched Cottage, so she could only pull over a familiar red-robed courtesan, whispered a few words, and asked her to push the door and enter.

The red-robed courtesan shook her head repeatedly, and then pleaded, “Madam, please spare me. The General has ordered that if his sweet dreams are disturbed, there will be a heavy punishment.”

The old madam was so anxious that she was about to cry. Today, an arrogant envoy came and showed a token of a force that she absolutely could not afford to offend. He asked her to quickly inform General An Yuan that “the envoy of the Great General Qin’s residence has arrived.”

She pretended to come a few times, and then went back to report that “General An Yuan is still drunk and has not woken up.” The envoy waited a few times, but asked her to urge him again.

She still wanted to prevaricate, but the envoy took out his weapon and slapped it heavily on the table. The more than ten fierce armored soldiers behind him took a step forward, scaring the old madam so much that she sat down on the ground.

The envoy looked down at her and said, “If you can’t call him out, I’ll burn down this brothel!”

The old madam did not dare to offend, so she hurriedly ran over.

At this time, she paced back and forth anxiously in front of the door for a few more steps, and then suddenly gritted her teeth and was about to walk into the room.

However, just as she reached the door, she heard hurried footsteps from behind, and a “don’t.”

The old madam of the Chenxiang Pavilion turned her head and saw a petite lady in brocade clothes and wearing gold and jade, standing at the entrance of the courtyard with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back.

The old madam recognized her and hurriedly ran over, saying with a sad face, “Miss Jie, on one side is Great General Qin, and on the other is General Ning. I… I can’t afford to offend either of them.”

Xiao Jie smiled and said, “You old madam, how can you be so muddle-headed? Let me ask you, who is in charge of this Wangyue Prefecture?”

The old madam cried, “But, he wants to burn down this building. How… how can I explain to the boss?”

Xiao Jie smiled, revealing her white teeth. Her smile was very sweet, and then she said, “If this Chenxiang Pavilion of yours is really burned down, not only will your boss not blame you, but he will praise you.”

The old madam was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it again.

She couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the reasoning, but she had just been suddenly frightened, and the killing intent from those armored soldiers had almost scared her out of her wits, which was why she had almost rushed into the General’s bedroom.

“Thank you, Manager Jie, for the reminder.” The old madam said gratefully.

Xiao Jie shook her head, “I’m not a manager.”

Time flew by, and it was evening…

The glow of the setting sun shone through the wooden lattice window, spreading a dark and gloomy grid of light on the ground that was about to return to darkness.

In the Chenxiang Pavilion, the waiting envoy of the Great General Qin’s residence looked more and more gloomy.

He looked at the sky, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, he stood up and said sternly, “Burn it!!”

He had already fully understood General An Yuan’s debauched and dissolute deeds today, but what did these have to do with him? His task was to see General An Yuan, and then take him to see a noble.

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

He had already made that noble wait for a whole day.

He couldn’t wait any longer!

“Burn it, burn it, burn it all!!”

The envoy had the style of a battlefield, and was extremely decisive.

A soldier behind him immediately took out a personal black tube. This black tube contained a hidden weapon called “Palm Fire.” As long as it was used, a raging fire would rise, and this fire was enough to burn down the Chenxiang Pavilion.

The soldier was about to activate the “Palm Fire” mechanism, but he suddenly felt his body go soft and lose control.

He involuntarily fell to the ground, and a golden snake that had surged from the ground was tightly wrapped around him.

The envoy frowned and turned his head, and said sternly, “Who is it?!”

Outside the door, a young Taoist nun in a python robe had appeared at some point.

The envoy glanced at the python robe. In the past, only a prince could wear this kind of robe. Later, a great general could also wear it. And now… they had just received news that there was another kind of person who could wear it, and that was the Son of Heaven’s walker from the Zixia Temple in the imperial capital.

These walkers had special identities, and were specially granted by the Son of Heaven to wear python robes to show their identity.

However, there was still a difference between a python robe and a python robe.

The prince’s python robe was a bright yellow nine-python robe, the great general’s was a bright red seven-python robe, and these Son of Heaven’s walkers were a black five-python robe…

However, even if it was a black five-python robe, it was not something that he, a person under the general, could face head-on.

The envoy’s eyes rolled, and he finally gave up the idea of “fighting head-on.” He stood up and saluted, “The inner guard of the General Qin’s residence, I have seen the Son of Heaven’s walker.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “This is the jurisdiction of General Ning. Now that this poor Taoist is in charge of this place with him, how can I allow you to act recklessly?”

The envoy waved his hand.

The armored soldiers understood and drove away all the surrounding people, leaving only an empty space.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen raised her hand, and the earth-surging golden snake dispersed. The soldier who had fallen to the ground put away the “Palm Fire,” retreated silently, and closed the door.

Only two people were left in the hall.

Only then did the envoy lower his voice and say, “Reporting to the walker, my mistress has arrived secretly and is waiting for General Ning outside the city. The mistress has come in person, so there must be something important. I was forced to do this, so I came up with this bad idea. Now that the walker is here, please tell me what I should do.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “This is easy. You tell your mistress that General Ning is having fun every day and has no time for other things.”

The envoy said, “I’m afraid the mistress won’t believe it.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, “This is also easy. I will take your mistress to find General Ning. I will not make things difficult for the people below.”

After speaking, her figure moved, and she took the envoy and used earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) to go far away. A moment later, she brought a beautiful woman in military uniform from afar, and then quietly appeared behind a rockery in the Wenxiang Thatched Cottage.

The sound of laughter and the decadent smell drifted from the distance.

The beautiful woman in military uniform was the legal wife of Great General Qin – Madam Zhao. She looked out through the hole in the rockery and saw a young general surrounded by beautiful women. The frivolous and dissolute words were hard to listen to, and the decadent scene was unbearable to look at.

Madam Zhao frowned, and a look of undisguised disgust appeared on her face.

When Immortal Aunt Yaozhen saw this, she grabbed her and used earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) to leave again. They went to a high place in an empty building, and she said lightly, “General Ning is young and vigorous, and is dissolute and debauched. This poor Taoist has tried to persuade him many times, but with little effect. If the madam has come here to seek a marriage, I’m afraid you will be disappointed.”

Madam Zhao frowned and said, “I thought he was a young hero, but I didn’t expect him to be like this…”

She sighed lightly, and then said, “I’ll have to trouble the Immortal Aunt to send me back.”

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen secretly gritted her teeth. Using earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) continuously like this had also exhausted her. But when she thought that she could persuade the old-line general’s people to retreat and let Ning Xuan lean towards the Son of Heaven’s side, she was full of energy again. So she grabbed Madam Zhao and used earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) repeatedly, and returned to a long grassland outside the prefectural city that was not over the horse’s knees.

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

After Madam Zhao returned, Immortal Aunt Yaozhen did not stay. She disappeared from the spot, but stood quietly on a hidden high ground not far away, looking down at this “force of the old-line general.”

After a long time, when she saw these convoys turn around and go further and further away, she returned.

As soon as she returned to the General Ning’s residence, she was also exhausted. After bathing and changing clothes in the courtyard, she maintained a simple spell of “checking the ground” to prevent the General’s wife from returning. It was not until midnight that she did not see any shadow, and only then did she sleep peacefully, thinking to herself, “It’s a temporary end.”

Tomorrow, after reporting the matter of “requesting a reduction” to the imperial capital, she would find a deep mountain and an empty space and begin to refine pills for General Ning.

Madam Zhao’s carriage stopped twenty li away.

She sat in the carriage and waited quietly.

Debauchery and dissoluteness could not be the condition for her to reject the marriage.

She lifted the curtain and looked up.

The moon had passed the middle of the sky.

It was early morning.

She was not a rich wife who stayed at home, but often ran around outside. At this time, she murmured, “Today, that Son of Heaven’s walker has used the earth-遁 (dì dùn – earth escape) technique continuously. Now that she has seen my disgust and left decisively, she must have relaxed her vigilance. Although that Son of Heaven’s walker is wearing a black five-python robe, she is still too young.”

A beautiful young girl next to her said, “Mother, what should we do now?”

Madam Zhao pondered, “The key is not the attitude of that Son of Heaven’s walker, but Ning Xuan’s attitude. Ning Xuan, he is pretending to be like this…”

The young girl interrupted, “I heard from the inner guard that that General Ning has always been like this. It may not be a pretense.”

Madam Zhao smiled and said, “Hasn’t it always been like this, so it can’t be a mask?”

After laughing, the beautiful woman in military uniform fell into deep thought. She glanced at the three daughters who were waiting to be married, including the fiancée of the Zhuangyuan Lang, and asked, “The plan now is to pretend that you are looking for me, and you have found Wangyue Prefecture, and you have found General Ning’s home. At that time… can he still not see you?

But, only one of you three can go.

You must have understood the character of that general very well through the inner guard.

So, who dares to go to war?”

After thinking for a while, she added, “This time, you can’t mention the marriage, otherwise that Son of Heaven’s walker will send you out of the city directly and won’t give you a chance to get close to Ning Xuan. But you are all Qin family’s daughters. As long as you get a little close, you can’t get rid of it, so… you have to use some means.

Of course, you are not alone in this battle. In the past, that Ning Taiyi had pleaded for a marriage outside my residence for more than a month. I saw that he was pitiful, so I agreed to the marriage between Ning Xuan and Jin’er.

This favor, Ning Taiyi has to return.

After entering the city, you first find Ning Taiyi.

With Ning Taiyi here, and without mentioning the marriage on the surface, that Son of Heaven’s walker can’t send you out of the city.”

Another daughter said, “Mother, then why don’t we let sister Jin’er come and let the Ning family continue to fulfill the marriage contract?”

Madam Zhao said, “I want to take Ning Xuan as my son-in-law, not to turn a good thing into a bad thing. That marriage contract doesn’t even have a piece of paper. You want to force it, to let a dignified general marry an illegitimate daughter. Are you trying to humiliate him and push him directly to our opposite side?”

The daughter hurriedly said, “I dare not.”

Madam Zhao said again, “Alright, tell me, who of you will go?”

Another daughter said, “Mother, is this Ning Xuan really that good?”

Madam Zhao said, “The posture of a tiger and a wolf, my heart is very happy.”