Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 142: The truth (2)

It was not very appropriate to place the coffin of the princess and Wei Xiaobao side by side, but todayʼs incident happened very suddenly, and no one was in the mood to object to it.

Jianning, who has always been arrogant and domineering, was quietly lying in the coffin. Song Qingshu was still not quite used to such a sight, and he thought back to what happened the night before.

Not long after Wei Xiaobao left, Song Qingshu entered Princess Jianningʼs room. After reminiscing about their joyous time on the bed, Jianning noticed that someone had entered and was furious. She was about to curse at the intruder, but her eyes met a pair of dark eyes.

”Princess, you have been deceived by Wei Xiaobao. According to imperial decorum, Pingxi Palace will send someone to test the princessʼ chastity soon. Wei Xiaobao is worried that his affairs with you will be exposed, and Wu Sangui will skin him alive. So he came up with the plan that requires you to seduce Fuk’anggan. Killing Wu Yingxiong is not his priority, he actually wants to put the blame on Fuk’anggan for the crime of defiling the princess. Wei Xiaobao will not come to save you tomorrow. He will let you be defiled by Fuk’anggan. And then bring Wu Sangui and his son to witness everything with their own eyes.” Song Qingshu whispered in Jianningʼs ear while using the Bewitching Technique.

”No, Xiao Guizi wouldnʼt do this to me.” Jianningʼs expression was dull, but she still muttered subconsciously. (G: Xiao Guizi is Wei Xiaobao’s another name, used by the Kangxi Emperor.)

”Tomorrow, the princess will naturally understand everything.” Song Qingshu continued to increase the intensity of his technique, ”If you find out that Wei Xiaobao has lied to you, what are you going to do?”

”I will kill him!” Jianningʼs face showed a stern look.

”I heard that the princess has a musket, which is unparalleled in terms of lethality…” Song Qingshu stopped.

”Musket?” Jianning kept mumbling in her mouth.

”After killing Wei Xiaobao, what does the princess plan to do?” Song Qingshuʼs face seemed to be covered with a dark shadow at that moment, making it difficult for anyone to see it clearly, and his aura seemed extremely obscure.

”Plan?” Jianning showed a puzzled expression, ”I donʼt know.”

”Could it be that the princess still plans to continue marrying Wu Yingxiong and let a third man have your body?” Song Qingshuʼs voice gradually became colder.

”No, I donʼt want that!” Jianning showed a hint of panic, ”Xiao Guizi is dead, there is nothing fun in this world. Anyway, if I avenge myself, I will go to the underworld and continue to play with Xiao Guizi.”

”I canʼt use the musket, hanging would be too ugly, it will scare Xiao Guizi, and using a knife will be too painful. Ah… I can use the poison that I collected before…”

Seeing that Jianningʼs expression was getting calmer, Song Qingshu slowly exited the room.

In fact, even if he didn’t do all of this, Song Qingshu reckoned that with Jianningʼs character, if Wei Xiaobao did not rescue her as agreed, resulting in the loss of her virtue to Fuk’anggan, it was very likely that she would surely choose an extreme form of revenge. For example, shooting him with a gun, or cutting off his manhood?

Itʼs a pity that Song Qingshu couldnʼt take chances on all the variables. In order to let the matter develop as he wanted, he decided to adopt the method of Bewitching Technique, and guided Jianningʼs subconscious mind step by step to make a desired choice.

In order to be safe, Song Qingshu decided to add a last insurance, the Michun Wine.

The last time he witnessed the potency of Michun Wine was in Yangzhou at the Lichun Courtyard. Under its effect even a virtuous woman like Xia Qingqing took the initiative to undress in front of another man. So, the result was guaranteed.

After hearing Wei Xiaobao mention it, Song Qingshu managed to acquire some to always carry with him. This was the first time he used it.

Originally, the princess only used the medicine that was effective for men only in Fuk’angganʼs wine, but Song Qingshu quietly added the Michun Wine, which had miraculous effects on women.

*****

Early the next morning, King Pingxi sent someone over to invite Song Qingshu to the mansion for a talk. Song Qingshu carefully hid the forged copy of a part of ”Sutra of Forty-two Chapters” that he had prepared beforehand in his clothes. He planned to see if there was a chance to switch it with Wu Sangui’s part today and make the real one his own.

When he arrived at the Pingxi palace, Wu Sangui treated him like a guest of honor, and he brought Song Qingshu to his study.

Song Qingshu hid the joy in his heart, and calmly looked at the place where the scriptures might be hidden, while listening to Wu Sanguiʼs countermeasures.

”This King knows that the Pingxi Palace canʼt escape the responsibility of what happened yesterday, and the Emperor may also order this King to be removed from the post, and there might be a ten-year fine as well.”

Song Qingshu almost laughed out loud when he heard his words. Remove his status as a King? Although Kangxi would be eager to agree, but with his level of intelligence, he would realize that this was just Wu Sanguiʼs plan to distance himself from the imperial power. So, how could he really agree? As for the ten-year fine, if it was a clean official, it might have been fatal, but for the dignified King Pingxi Wu Sangui, it would be just a drop in the pond.

Wu Sangui continued, ”As for the betrothal granted by the emperor, although the princess never entered through the door, but the Wu family will admit that she was the daughter-in-law of the Wu family. This king will let Yingxiong marry the princess as usual, and the princess will be buried in the Wu familyʼs ancestral tomb. Her name will be added in our family records.”

‘But Jianning may not be happy to be the daughter-in-law of the Wu family.’ Song Qingshu sneered in his heart, but did not say anything to stop him, and said, ”This is very good, it can save the face of the imperial family to the greatest extent, and the Emperor would be very pleased to know that.”

Song Qingshu believed that if Jianning’s soul in heaven heard this, she would never want to be buried in the Wu familyʼs ancestral tomb. He felt a little guilty about what he did to Jianning. If he proposed to transport Jianning back to the capital and bury her in the imperial tomb, Wu Sangui would not dare to say a word. It would not only allow Jianning to rest in peace, but also make up for his guilt.

However, he did not choose to do so.

Song Qingshu once heard a story —There was a man who had been buying lottery tickets for an old man who lived alone in his neighborhood. He won a million-dollar jackpot for his last try. The man went to the old manʼs house with envy and wanted to congratulate him. However, he found that the old man had died, and the lottery ticket lay quietly in the old manʼs pocket. The man became greedy, so he took the lottery ticket to redeem the prize. Because he was the one who bought the lottery ticket, no one doubted him. But he was full of guilt for the old man, so he paid to build a very luxurious tomb for him, and expressed his apology. What he didnʼt expect was that such a trivial matter aroused the suspicion of a distant nephew of the old man. After repeated investigations, his unlawful possession of the lottery ticket was also exposed. In addition, he lived in guilt all the time, and finally his life ended in misery.

”Donʼt do it, or donʼt rest!” This was Song Qingshuʼs creed. Since he chose to do this, he would not let some unnecessary emotions affect his judgment. Burying Jianning in the ancestral tomb of the Wu family was a win-win choice for the imperial family and Wu Sangui. Song Qingshu stood on the imperial courtʼs side and had no reason to disagree. (G: An idiom, it means either give up, or go through to the end.)

Upon receiving his affirmation, Wu Sangui was overjoyed, and understood that the other party had no intention of making things difficult. So he let go of more than half the worries in his heart, and continued, ”This King also knows that it is difficult to make up for the faults of the Pingxi Palace. It stands to reason that This King should personally go to the capital to plead guilty. But it is a time of great unrest. Mongolia has been eyeing the empire like a tiger, so in order to protect the Qing Dynasty, This King has to continue to guard Shanhaiguan. So, This King can only send my precious daughter Ake to the imperial palace as a servant, and atone for the sins of her father.”

(G: Another important chapter. This chapter shows the protagonistʼs growth as a person and his current mindset. The readers can clearly see, to what length the protagonist would go to achieve his goals. He is not indecisive and he has learned to be a more meticulous schemer. Expect more of this in the future. And, yes…he is more of a villain than most villains, but itʼs necessary to survive in this world.)

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