Grand Commandant Lei was a cunning old fox who had been in officialdom for a long time. How could he not see that Minister Zhuang was about to lose power? With his intelligence and cunning, how could he continue to have close ties with Minister Zhuang?
"Master, is it really beyond repair?" Madam Zhuang asked with a sorrowful look in her eyes, unwilling to give up.
Minister Zhuang shook his head, sighed softly, and looked dejected. The rumors were like the wind, growing stronger the more they were stopped. How easy would it be to reverse them?
Madam Zhuang frowned and pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up: "My lord, I will arrange a marriage for Cheng'er immediately, and then marry Xin'er off. In this way, the rumors will be dispelled..."
"Foolish!" Minister Zhuang glared at Madam Zhuang. "You used the excuse that Cheng'er was too busy and Xin'er was too young to refuse so many matchmakers. Now that something has happened, you are so eager to arrange a marriage for them. It will make people think that you are trying to cover up the truth, and the matter will only get worse!"
"Then... is there really no hope for us?" Madam Zhuang's eyes were filled with sorrow and resentment. Noble families are most afraid of unfavorable rumors, especially such rumors that violate etiquette. Once they circulate in the streets and alleys, the reputation of the noble family will be completely ruined.
Minister Zhuang sighed heavily. In just a few hours, a few strands of gray hair had appeared at his temples: "The only way now is to hope that Cheng'er's injuries will heal quickly and that he can make more contributions to make up for his mistakes. If he does, then our Minister's Mansion will still have hope!"
On the street, Dongfang Heng, dressed in white, moved swiftly like an immortal, with Shen Lixue closely following behind. Dressed in a black outfit that accentuated her slender figure, her clear, cold voice rang out sharply in the quiet night: "Dongfang Heng, how about I exchange my treasures for your Heavenly Snow Lotus?"
"I have no shortage of money!" Dongfang Heng replied indifferently, walking quickly forward without turning his head.
Shen Lixue: "Then I'll use a thousand-year-old ginseng..."
Dongfang Heng: "I have no shortage of medicinal herbs!"
Shen Lixue: "Then I'll use..."
Dongfang Heng: "I have no shortage of..."
Shen Lixue suddenly stopped in her tracks, glaring angrily at Dongfang Heng's tall and slender back: "Dongfang Heng, are you saying that you want the Tianshan Snow Lotus so badly that you wouldn't trade it for mountains of gold and silver? I'm going to find other medicinal herbs. I'm not going to bother you anymore."
The Tian Shan snow lotus has excellent medicinal properties. Although other precious medicinal herbs cannot compare to its efficacy, they should not be too bad. I should go back and study it carefully. It's better than wasting time talking nonsense with that stubborn man, Dongfang Heng...
Shen Lixue turned to leave, but behind her came Dongfang Heng's slightly cold, magnetic voice: "If you want me to give up the Heavenly Snow Lotus, it's not impossible, but you must give me what I want!"
"What do you want?" Shen Lixue stopped and frowned as she looked at Dongfang Heng. As the Prince of Qingyan, he had everything: gold, silver, jewels, silks, and rare treasures. What else could he want?
Dongfang Heng slowly approached Shen Lixue, each step he took resounding, as if stepping on one's heartbeat, making one's heart tremble.
His tall figure stood before her, his cold demeanor giving off an invisible sense of oppression. Shen Lixue looked up and met Dongfang Heng's deep gaze. His dark pupils clearly reflected her figure, and his jade-like fingers lightly touched her small face. Shen Lixue trembled all over and subconsciously wanted to back away.
Suddenly, Dongfang Heng gripped her chin tightly. Shen Lixue didn't pull away. Dongfang Heng's handsome face leaned down, his warm breath brushing against her face, an indescribable ambiguity in his tone: "Actually, what I want most is..."
"Behave yourself, don't move around..." A sharp, forceful female voice came with the wind, interrupting Dongfang Heng's ambiguous words. His gaze sharpened, and he put his arm around Shen Lixue's small waist and hid in a dark corner.
A woman's figure appeared not far away, dressed in a colorful ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). She had a fairly slender figure. The night was too dark to see her face, but she was carrying a person on her shoulder. Judging from her clothes and figure, it was a man.
In the dead of night, a woman was seen carrying a large man on her back, moving with incredible speed. The sight was quite bizarre.
"You ugly monster, where are you taking this young master?" The man carried on her shoulder asked angrily. The familiar voice and tone startled Shen Lixue, who looked up in disbelief. It was Nangong Xiao!
"What are you yelling for? If you yell again, I'll cut your tongue out!" The woman slapped Nangong Xiao's buttocks fiercely.
Nangong Xiao yelled angrily, "You ugly monster, how dare you spank this young master's bottom!"
"Hehe, this isn't hitting, it's caressing. I'll caress your whole body later!" The woman chuckled ambiguously as she carried Nangong Xiao into a small house, instantly illuminating the dark room.
Shen Lixue quickly crept to the window, poked a small hole in the paper, and peeked inside. The woman had her back to her, took a long bench, pressed the man on her shoulder onto the bench, and tied him up tightly. The woman's bewitching face and wicked eyes were none other than Nangong Xiao.
Shen Lixue was puzzled. Nangong Xiao was extremely skilled in martial arts, so how come he had no power to resist this woman?
"Nangong Xiao has been drugged, his internal energy and martial arts have been sealed!"
The familiar scent of pine resin wafted gently, and a familiar voice rang in her ears. Shen Lixue knew that Dongfang Heng was approaching. Without turning around, she frowned and lowered her voice, saying, "This woman is a master of medicine!"
"Hmm, even Nangong Xiao was outmaneuvered by her, which shows how cunning she is. There's also some poison in this room, so don't make any rash moves!" Dongfang Heng said softly, his deep gaze fixed on the starry sky.
“I know!” Shen Lixue nodded and continued to observe the situation inside the house. She was not a reckless person. Even if she wanted to save someone, she would examine the situation before taking action and would not act impulsively.
"Ugly freak, what are you going to do to this young master?" Perhaps because he had struggled before, Nangong Xiao's clothes were slightly open at the chest, revealing his strong, fair chest. The woman clicked her tongue in admiration: "After searching for so long, I have finally found a decent man. Don't worry, I will take good care of you and make you very comfortable."
Her fingers lightly caressed Nangong Xiao's handsome face, causing him to break out in a cold sweat. His lips twitched uncontrollably: "Ugly freak, get your filthy hands off me! How long has it been since you washed your hands? You stink!"
"Tsk tsk, spicy enough, I like it!" The woman smiled and gave Nangong Xiao a light kiss on the forehead, then stood up and quickly ran to the side to rummage through the cabinet.
Nangong Xiao broke out in a cold sweat, and the place where he had been kissed twitched slightly. There are always some awful people every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual: "Ugly freak, if you know what's good for you, release this young master now, or I will make you wish you were dead!"
The woman glanced at Nangong Xiao with a captivating allure: "This young lady isn't easily intimidated. Since you're protesting, I'll give you two choices. One is to serve me now, and if I'm satisfied, I'll naturally let you go. The other is that I'll kill you and then tear you to pieces, leaving you with no complete corpse!"
Nangong Xiao glanced at the woman, then closed his eyes with a look of resignation: "Kill me!"
"You..." The woman gritted her teeth in anger, glaring hatefully at Nangong Xiao: "You'd rather die than serve me?"
“That’s right!” Nangong Xiao narrowed his eyes, his tone firm and powerful: “This young master doesn’t sell himself, and even if he did, he wouldn’t sell himself to an ugly monster like you. If you’re going to kill me, then do it quickly and don’t waste my time!”
"Hehe." The woman suddenly chuckled strangely, but didn't fly into a rage: "I've finally found a man as pleasing to the eye as you, I'm not going to kill you so easily. Even if I were to kill you, I'd have my fill of playing with you first!"
The woman turned around, a strange smile playing on her lips, and slowly walked towards Nangong Xiao, holding various instruments of torture such as a whip, candles, a short knife, and a dagger.
By the candlelight, Shen Lixue could see her face clearly. Her skin was dark, her teeth were dark, her nostrils were upturned, her mouth was as big as a sausage, and with her droopy eyes and big, protruding ears, this woman could be summed up in one word: ugly, and the ugliest of the ugly.
Each of her features is extremely ugly. If they appeared individually on her face, they would only be somewhat unsightly, not particularly ugly. But when these extremely ugly features were all placed on her face, it was beyond description.
No wonder Nangong Xiao would rather die than choose her; her appearance is truly repulsive...
"What...what are you doing?" The woman's sinister smile and the various instruments of torture in her hands sent chills down Nangong Xiao's spine. His lips twitched involuntarily, especially when he saw one of the instruments. His eyes widened in shock. If that instrument were used, he would become a eunuch, and his happiness for the rest of his life would be ruined.
"Since you're unwilling to serve me, then it's my turn to serve you!" The woman chuckled, picked up her long whip, and cracked it sharply. The crisp sound of the whip resonated through the quiet night.
The woman licked her lips, her greedy, bloodthirsty gaze sweeping over Nangong Xiao's bare chest: "This whip will feel absolutely wonderful on you!"
Shen Lixue raised the corners of her mouth, never expecting that there would be such a pervert in ancient times, and that the pervert was an ugly woman.