Chapter 42: The Nightmare Came True

Proofreader: Prof. Zhu Yuan

“They are here to welcome the lord?” Ruan Jiujiu lifted the curtain and was shocked by the huge crowds of people swarming around the city gate.

The scene gave her a false impression that she was one of the soldiers marching in a grand military parade.

That required remarkable psychological quality.

Fortunately, Ruan Jiujiu’s heart was big enough to accommodate the water in the Pacific Ocean.

“Your Highness! Your Highness! Long live the Lord Ming!”

Although Beiming Xuan had yet to come into sight, people started to cheer for him upon seeing the army banner embroidered with the character “Ming” flying in the wind.

The deafeningly loud cheer was emblematic of Beiming Xuan’s high prestige.

Everyone knelt down deferentially on the ground without the slightest reluctance, from common people to high-ranking officials as well as aristocrats.

Beiming Xuan’s guards, following the carriage, also knelt down. Everyone had their gaze fixed on that carriage whose curtain remained still. They are all waiting for Beiming Xuan to lift the curtain and step out of the carriage.

The curtain suddenly moved as everyone was watching with expectant eyes.

Everyone was holding his breath in concentration.

People regarded it as a great honor to see Beiming Xuan with their own eyes.

Suddenly, the curtain was lifted. A foot appeared from the carriage. With a purple gleam flashing through the air, the one who was sitting in the carriage came out.

A slim figure in light purple dress appeared on the carriage, with a rather bright smile on her beautiful face. All the people were so impressed that they froze, without knowing what to do.

At that moment, everyone was thinking the one they intended to welcome was that girl who was standing on the carriage with a cunning smile.

Realizing that she had become the center of attention, Ruan Jiujiu smiled satisfactorily. She felt as if she should be treated like this. She hoped that moment would last longer.

“Ruan Jiujiu!” She heard someone scream out.

Her voice was so ear-piercing that it caught Ruan Jiujiu’s attention. She turned to Ruan Qingqing who was entirely possessed by astonishment. As a member of the welcoming team, Ruan Qingqing was the first one to discover that the person standing on the carriage was not Beiming Xuan.

Ruan Jiujiu squinted her eyes. Her enemy came to confront her even before she decided to seek revenge.

Ruan Qingqing felt as if she was struck by thunderbolts.

Why Ruan Jiujiu was in that carriage?

It was the Lord Ming’s carriage!

An idea suddenly occurred to her.

That unidentified lady, who had saved Beiming Xuan’s life, turned out to be Ruan Jiujiu!

Her nightmare, however, eventually came true!

Ruan Qingqing froze with terror. Seeing that, Ruan Jiujiu put on an even more cunning smile.

Get ready for savoring every moment of your nightmare.

“Ruan Jiujiu? The eldest daughter in the Ruan Family?” Upon hearing Ruan Qingqing’s scream, other people came to realize who that person was.

“It’s the eldest daughter in the Ruan Family!”

“Why was she sitting in the Lord Ming’s carriage?” Someone raised the doubt which everyone harbored.

There should be little connection between Ruan Jiujiu and the Lord Ming. More precisely, there should be no connection between them.

“It couldn’t be the eldest daughter in the Ruan Family.” Someone cast his doubt.

Also born in the Ruan Family, Ruan Jiujiu had acquired a reputation, though outshone by Ruan Qingqing, a well-known talented lady. Her inability had become the talk of the town, so Ruan Jiujiu’s name was a household one.

However, the way Ruan Jiujiu behaved was different from what people had imagined.

People had always thought of Ruan Jiujiu as incapable and submissive, bearing no comparison with Ruan Qingqing.

The lady standing on the carriage, however, was smiling confidently. An entirely different person! Her purple dress was flapping in the breeze.

“Ruan Jiujiu, Why are you here?” Ruan Qingqing couldn’t resist the urge to ask before other people had a closer look. How she hoped what happened right now was a dream rather than reality.

Unfortunately, her nightmare had come true despite her reluctance to accept.

Ruan Jiujiu was standing in front of her, commanding a much higher position.

Behind her was the Lord Ming’s carriage. Everyone understood what that meant.

“My dear sister, you know perfectly well the reason why I stand here.”

She felt dizzy with shock. If her previous plan was carried on smoothly, Ruan Jiujiu should have died in the Yun Palace instead of standing in front of her.

“She is the eldest daughter in the Ruan Family!” From the talk between the two ladies, people concluded that the lady standing in front of them was Ruan Jiujiu.

Nobody dared to voice his doubt since that lady was standing on the Lord Ming’s carriage. Someone gave a compelling explanation.

“It was the eldest daughter in the Ruan Family who has saved the Lord Ming’s life! She was that ‘unidentified lady’!”

It seemed that everyone was waking up to reality all of a sudden upon hearing that.

The news spread widely that the Lord Ming was attacked by an assassin, and had a narrow escape thanks to the timely treatment by an unidentified lady arriving unexpectedly.

That unidentified lady turned out to be Ruan Jiujiu!

“By the way. Ruan Jiujiu masters extraordinary medical skills. It was Ruan Jiujiu who cured Infanta Lianhua’s epilepsy.”

“Yeah, yeah. I saw that with my own eyes. The Infanta once suffered an epileptic fit right on the street, and Ruan Jiujiu saved her.”

They came up with their version of story by establishing connections between those events.

It seemed that the confusing mess had been untangled instantly.

Ruan Jiujiu stood in sullen silence. Beiming Xuan was so vicious that he had set a trap for her even before she could realize. She was bound to get exposed to those conflicts.

Ruan Qingqing, however, pulled an even longer face.

Ruan Jiujiu’s status as Beiming Xuan’s savior had already got Ruan Qingqing fully enraged. Why on earth did they star tainting Ruan Qingqing’s reputation?

She had never suffered from epilepsy! And Ruan Jiujiu was no medical practitioner! It was Ruan Qingqing who possessed medical skills.

However, nobody cared about Ruan Qingqing’s resentment. She established her reputation through demonstrating her medical skills and prescribing drugs, but what she did was nothing compared to Ruan Jiujiu’s feat.

Ruan Jiujiu saved the Lord Ming, the guardian of Tiansheng!

In other words, even if Ruan Qingqing saved the life of the Emperor, she would still receive less attention from the common people than Ruan Jiujiu did.

Ruan Qingqing could do nothing about that, neither did the Emperor.

All the subjects were trying to express their utmost appreciation to Ruan Jiujiu, for she had saved Beiming Xuan’s life. Seeing that, the Emperor was simmering with intense hatred.

He, rather than Beiming Xuan, was the ruler of Tiansheng!

He turned to Ruan Jiujiu, with murderous look in his eyes.

“She helped my brother eliminate the toxin?”

“Your Majesty, she is Ruan Jiujiu, an orphan girl. Her father was General Ruan Sheng who died for our country.”

“It couldn’t be that simple!” A girl who was competent enough to save Beiming Xuan’s life as well as remain on intimate terms with him must be well connected! “Continue the investigation. Find out the ins and outs of the matter and probe into all Ruan Jiujiu’s past history! ” The Emperor ordered.