Chapter 50: Ruan Jiujiu Ran Away!

Proofreader: Prof. Zhu Yuan

“I thought you were planning to go back on foot.”

It seemed that those cold remarks sounded more scathing when they were made by a handsome nobleman like Beiming Xuan. Ruan Jiujiu was about to take a seat on the carriage when she heard Beiming Xuan’s words. She felt her legs trembling.

“Aha! I never thought about that. It’s such a comfortable carriage.” Ruan Jiujiu put on a feigned smile as she believed a wise man should submit to circumstances. Then she moved closer to Beiming Xuan and asked,“My lord, are you taking me to Ruan Mansion?”

All she wanted to do was to punish Ruan Qingqing, that real bitch, in the Ruan Mansion!

Beiming Xuan answered coldly,“In my Ming Mansion, you will have somewhere to live.”

She was by no means indicating she had nowhere to live outside the Ruan Mansion! Ruan Jiujiu was almost driven mad by Beiming Xuan!

It didn’t take long to return to the Ming Mansion. Ruan Jiujiu was brought away even before she was able to figure out which gate was the main entrance.

Beiming Xuan, however, walked into the study.

“Any new discoveries about the Wusi Poison case?”

“The Emperor was one of the backstage manipulators of the assassination attempt in the Yun Palace. However, the Wusi Poison was not produced in the Imperial Palace. In my estimation, what the Emperor knows is no more than the name of Wusi Poison.” Ning Chao followed Beiming Xuan into the study and reported to Beiming Xuan what he had discovered.

Beiming Xuan lowered his gaze and murmured to himself, “Turns out the assassination attempt concerns different parties.”

“Do I need to continue the investigation in the Imperial Palace?” Ning Chao asked.

Beiming Xuan smiled coldly: “There is no need to do that. Wusi Poison ‘appeared’ on the treasures the Emperor prepared for me. My dear brother would definitely contact me.”

“It was so wicked of him to poison you and make his crime known to the public!” Ning Chao roared.

Beiming Xuan, however, sneered: “He didn’t dare to do that. He was not the one who applied poison. And the poison on the treasures was not Wusi Poison.”

“But Miss Ruan said…” Ning Chao froze with surprise. Then he came to realize: “Did you ask her to do that?”

“I didn’t. She came up with that plan. It was Ruan Jiujiu who insisted that someone had applied Wusi Poison on those treasures. The Emperor will focus his efforts on investigating Ruan Jiujiu, since he couldn’t find clues elsewhere. However, Ruan Jiujiu is under my control.” Beiming Xuan squinted his eyes. Upon hearing that, Ning Chao trembled with fear.

Ning Chao couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards Ruan Jiujiu.

As expected, the Emperor asked someone to probe into all Ruan Jiujiu’s past history after he returned to the Imperial Palace.

It didn’t take long for officials in charge of the investigation to gain information about the Wusi Poison case. However, the Emperor got more confused after he read all those files.

Ruan Jiujiu was nothing more than an orphan girl and had never made her presence felt. How could she get established in Beiming Xuan’s political camp? As a medical practitioner, she was much more professional than the imperial physicians! So strange!

Nobody, except for Ruan Jiujiu, was able to discover that the assassins had used Wusi Poison.

Ruan Qingqing posed no threat to the Emperor. She insisted that the treasures were non-toxic even when her life was at stake.

Maybe it was Beiming Xuan who asked Ruan Jiujiu to vilify Ruan Qingqing!

“Bang!”

The Emperor stroke the table, his eyes blazed with fury.

“Your Majesty, do you remember you sent Princess Changle to visit Beiming Xuan?” Wu An spoke to the Emperor in a trembling voice. He was on suspicion of poisoning those treasures. Irritated, the Emperor was continuing the investigation in a rather haphazard way. Wu An was in constant fear of being wronged, although there was not a shred of evidence that he had applied Wusi Poison.

Wu An racked his brains, trying to relieve the Emperor of his worries.

Right! The Emperor finally thought of Princess Changle after he got reminded.

He sent Princess Changle to meet Beiming Xuan in the Yun Palace, hoping to keep watch on what Beiming Xuan was doing through Princess Changle’s eyes. What had she learned?

“Somebody goes to the Ming Mansion!”

Before long, the guard who was assigned to find Princess Changle in the Yun Palace returned with Beiming Xuan’s response: “I never met Princess Changle.” The Emperor froze.

Never met?

Princess Changle didn’t come back with Beiming Xuan. Why? She failed to meet Beiming Xuan in the Yun Palace?

That was unimportant. What really concerned the Emperor was Princess Changle’s failure to serve as the clue provider in the Wusi Poison case.

The Emperor had to explain to Beiming Xuan why Wusi Poison appeared on those treasures. The case had aroused public attention. Some officials had sent letters to him, urging him to launch a thorough investigation.

Wusi Poison would put one into mortal danger. Nobody would set his mind at ease when the Lord Ming was directly concerned.

Even the Emperor himself could not set his mind at ease. Why Wusi Poison appeared on those treasures? Did Beiming Xuan play dirty?

The Emperor was overwhelmed with fury. His servants reminded him: “Your Majesty, Ruan Jiujiu was the first one to discover the Wusi Poison after the Lord Ming and his guards were attacked. Only through interrogating Ruan Jiujiu could we gain more information.”

The Emperor had already realized that! The crux of the problem, however, lay in the Emperor’s reluctance to make contact with Beiming Xuan. Unfortunately, Ruan Jiujiu was under Beiming Xuan’s control right now.

Suddenly, Beiming Yue rushed in and cried in front of the Emperor: “Father, my mother’s arm has turned black! She will die if nobody helps her to eliminate the toxin!”

She was the Emperor’s favorite concubine, although what she did at the city tower was of no help. What’s more, their son was crying his heart out for curing his mother.

The Emperor felt as if he was having a splitting headache. He almost went mad!

Ruan Jiujiu, a girl who dared to ruffle the Emperor’s feathers, was sauntering around her new dwelling.

She was guided by Butler Ming, the main male servant in the Ming Mansion.

Somehow, Ruan Jiujiu felt the way Butler Ming looked at her was pretty strange.

With an appreciative yet sympathetic look in his eyes, Butler Ming was looking at her carefully the same way as the mother-in-law was examining her daughter’s fiancé. His gaze brought her out in goose pimples.

“Miss Ruan, here is the Summer Yard, quite close to the Winter Yard where the Lord Ming lived.” Butler Ming’s words contained an undertone. However, he failed to make that undertone understood by Ruan Jiujiu. At the moment, Ruan Jiujiu was commenting silently on the name of his dwelling.

Winter Yard? It came as no surprise to learn that a callous man like Beiming Xuan would use the word “winter” to name his dwelling.

“I want to meet the Lord Ming.” Ruan Jiujiu asked Butler Ming to send her message. She sat on a luxurious couch, with legs crossed and one foot in the air.

Ning Chao said the Lord Ming might have had sex with her? Butler Ming couldn’t help but question the Lord Ming’s judgment...

“What?” Butler Ming made no response. Ruan Jiujiu stood up and said: “I can just go and see him.”

Lingering in the yard was a complete waste of time. Ruan Jiujiu decided to implement her plan right now!

It took Butler Ming quite a while to realize what had happened. Then he stopped Ruan Jiujiu: “Miss Ruan, nobody is allowed to step into the lord’s study without his permission. I will send your message to the lord.”

Too much trouble! Ruan Jiujiu ground her teeth. She understood that beggars could not be choosers.

Butler Ming trotted all the way to send Ruan Jiujiu’s message. Then he returned with Beiming Xuan’s message.

“The lord said that you could wait with your mind at ease.”

With her mind at ease? Impossible!

Ruan Jiujiu ground her teeth. She was not a silly girl. She would never wait passively for her end.

Ruan Jiujiu lied down on the couch and pretended to be weak: “I’m hungry.”

It had been more than a year since Beiming Xuan left the capital. He was recurrently schemed against after he came back. In the study, he buried himself in dealing with important matters without having a rest. Night fell.

Ning Chao was about to go into the study and discuss something with the lord when he saw Butler Ming lingering at the gateway.

“Butler Ming, what’s up?”

“I’ve got something to report. Miss Ruan disappeared!” Butler Ming looked at Ning Chao as if Ning Chao was his savior. Having lingered at the gateway for a while, he had yet to pluck up the courage to step inside and report Ruan Jiujiu’s missing to the Lord Ming.

“What?” Ning Chao froze!

Ruan Jiujiu disappeared?!

“How long has it been since she disappeared?”

“Four hours ago, Miss Ruan said she was hungry. So I went out and arranged a meal for her. I didn’t expect…” The way Ning Chao reacted to the news shocked Butler Ming.

Four hours ago…Ning Chao could barely resist his urge to use foul language. He spoke to Butler Ming: “You are doomed!” Then he rushed into the study.

Butler Ming almost cracked up, with his hair disheveled in the wind.

Did Miss Ruan mean a lot to the Lord Ming?