"What's missing?" Liu Lanyan asked curiously.
"These are the things." As Bing Ling spoke, a thin piece of paper appeared in Liu Lanyan's hand.
After quickly glancing through it, Liu Lanyan smiled slightly: "That's easy, I've got it ready, I'll give it to you later."
"Ah? But these are extremely precious potions, not so easy to obtain." Bingling had great faith in her young mistress's abilities, but gathering all these things in a short time would probably be quite difficult.
"Don't worry, it will be fully prepared within five days," Liu Lanyan said confidently before leaving.
Bingling, hidden in the shadows, blinked her big eyes in confusion, muttering to herself, "Some of the potions here only come out once every few hundred years. How is Miss going to get them?"
!
☆, Chapter Twenty-Three: Operation Begins
Upon returning to the Liu residence, Liu Lanyan did not go directly to her room. Instead, she bypassed the guards and went to Liu Xinrong's courtyard.
Before even getting close to Liu Xinrong's boudoir, one could hear weak curses coming from inside, and maids bustling about at the door.
Hidden in the darkness, Liu Lanyan listened with her arms crossed, listening to Liu Xinrong's angry and resentful curses, interspersed with cries of pain and wails, which were truly disturbing to her sweet dreams.
"Daughter, daughter, don't get so agitated. Your wound has just been treated, don't move around too much. We can talk about anything after you've recovered." Liu Jinli kept comforting her daughter in the room, afraid that something might happen to her.
"Kill her, kill that bitch!" Liu Xinrong screamed, but the movement aggravated her back injury, causing her to grimace and groan in pain.
From the waist down to the knees, the wounds were covered in blood. Even with the best medicine, red spots still remained on the gauze.
"Okay, okay, kill her. Father will definitely help you kill her! My good daughter, don't move, don't move." Seeing the blood seeping from Liu Xinrong's body, Liu Jinli was flustered, wanting to comfort Liu Xinrong, but afraid of touching her wounds, and paced anxiously around.
"That bitch!" Liu Xinrong's wound was being torn open, and she gasped for breath several times before she could recover.
She originally intended to take this opportunity to eliminate Liu Lanyan permanently, but she never expected the Demon God's actions to be so unexpected.
Not only did she fail to kick Liu Lanyan out of the Liu family, but she also caused her all these injuries. This matter is definitely not over, and she will repay Liu Lanyan properly.
"My good daughter, don't think so much. Your father will handle things. Just focus on recovering." Liu Jinli said to Liu Xinrong with heartache, then ordered the maids and servants to be extremely careful and take good care of Liu Xinrong before leaving her room.
Liu Jinli's confidant whispered a word of advice: "Master, you can't be so open about harming Liu Lanyan now. She still has the Grand Elder's jade token."
"Of course I know." Liu Jinli lowered his voice, afraid that others would hear him. If it reached Liu Xinrong's ears, she would start another commotion. "The girl has been bullied. Comfort her first. If I could move Liu Lanyan, I would have done it already. We need to find a legitimate reason to get rid of her as soon as possible."
Liu Jinli pondered this with difficulty.
I always felt that Liu Lanyan was a bit strange. How could she have caught the eye of the Demon God and made him protect her?
"Master, there's no need to worry. The Demon God is just using her as a joke." The confidant laughed gleefully. "The Demon God will even have Liu Lanyan attend the appraisal meeting in half a month."
"Oh? The Demon God wants her to participate in the discussion?" Upon hearing this, Liu Jinli perked up, and his previous gloom vanished.
"Yes, the master returned early just now, and these were said by the demon god himself," the confidant said with certainty.
"Haha..." Liu Jinli suddenly laughed, "I thought Liu Lanyan had somehow gotten involved with the Demon God, but it turns out she was just a pastime for the Demon God when he was bored."
What's the point of going to the discussion meeting if you have no demonic power whatsoever?
Are we going to our deaths?
Liu Jinli couldn't stop smiling when he thought about the final outcome of Liu Lanyan's participation in the appraisal meeting.
After casually saying a few more words to his trusted confidants, Liu Jinli and his group slowly walked away.
After listening to these things, Liu Lanyan smiled slightly and quietly returned to her room.
Unlike Liu Xinrong, who tossed and turned all night, she slept soundly until dawn.
The next morning, after having breakfast, Liu Lanyan packed up and left the Liu residence.
After Liu Xinrong got up and had her dressing changed again, she felt the pain in her body. The physical pain was far less intense than the shame in her heart; all of this had been caused by that woman.
"Go and bring that woman to me!" Liu Xinrong ordered the maid beside her.
Huan Cui immediately said, "Miss, that woman left very early this morning."
"Oh? What's she doing going out?" Liu Xinrong looked at Huan Cui in surprise.
"I don't know. She's probably going up the mountain to chop firewood." As Liu Xinrong's personal maid, Huancui was absolutely dutiful and kept track of Liu Lanyan's every move. "She probably wants to do something to please her mistress."
"Hmph, trying to curry favor with me now? Too late!" Liu Xinrong sneered and ordered Huancui, "When she returns, have her come over immediately."
Thinking she could get away from her like that? No way! She was going to teach Liu Lanyan a lesson.
She was in so much pain last night that she made the wrong judgment.
Killing Liu Lanyan in one fell swoop would be far too lenient on her.
"Yes, Miss." Huan Cui bowed slightly and smiled gently.
While Liu Xinrong and her servant were plotting against Liu Lanyan, she had already traversed part of the royal city and was now heading towards her next target.
The vermilion gate had high steps leading up to it, and spirited guards stood on both sides. It was obvious without asking that the people living here were either rich or noble.
Liu Lanyan walked up the steps, but before she even got close to the gate, a shout suddenly rang out, making everyone's ears ring: "Stop!"
"Is this a place you can just come and go as you please?" The guard sized up Liu Lanyan. The fabric of her clothes wasn't too bad, but it wasn't exactly fine either. It couldn't be called servant's fabric, but it certainly wasn't the kind of fabric used by masters.
Being a guard in a wealthy household, one's eyes are already sharp enough to discern who is rich and powerful and deserves to be curried over, and who is insignificant and can be ignored.
"I'm here to deliver a letter," Liu Lanyan said with a sweet smile, choosing to ignore the guard's arrogance.
"To deliver a letter?" The guard understood immediately.
It turned out he was just a servant who ran errands.
"My master might not even know how to read it..." The guard's words were cut short. Anyone with a discerning eye would know that they should slip something into the guard's hand now, otherwise, it would be a question whether the letter would even get through.
"Don't worry, don't worry, your master will definitely read it." Liu Lanyan nodded vigorously, speaking with a naive yet certain expression.
This made the guard frown and stare at her with displeasure. How could he have encountered such an inflexible and stubborn girl?
They will definitely watch it; they can guarantee that their master won't even see it.
Just as they were about to give her a few perfunctory words and send her away, the woman unexpectedly took out a jade pendant from her bosom and held it up to them along with the letter: "Your master will definitely read this, won't he?"
Before the guard could finish his insult, it was as if someone had grabbed his throat, choking him so he couldn't utter a single word.
"Yes, we will, we will definitely read it. Would you like to come in and sit down, young lady, and personally deliver the letter to our master?" The guard's attitude immediately underwent a complete 180-degree turn, becoming extremely attentive.
"No need, I have other things to do." Liu Lanyan handed the letter to the guard and turned to leave.
"What does the Grand Elder want with a letter to our master?" The guard muttered to himself, thinking of the jade token that represented the Grand Elder's identity.
"Who knows? Just give it to the master," another guard said casually. The truth was beyond the knowledge of lowly guards like them.
!
Chapter Twenty-Four: Big Trouble
Upon seeing the jade tablet representing the Grand Elder's identity, the guard dared not delay any longer. He hurriedly handed over the thin letter with both hands.
The master of this mansion is considered one of the most prominent figures in the royal city. Although he does not hold an official position, he enjoys considerable prestige.
His shops are all over the demon realm, and he is very wealthy.
He had just picked up a fine jade artifact and was admiring it when the guard rudely interrupted him, nearly smashing the jade artifact to the ground. Enraged, he shouted, "Nonsense! You almost destroyed a tenth of the royal city!"
The guard was startled and stole a glance at the exquisite jade artifact. He knew that the treasures in his master's possession were all very valuable.
"What made you so reckless?" After carefully putting the jade away, he questioned her impatiently.
My subordinates have always known how to behave properly, so what's wrong with them today?
"Sir, someone has delivered a letter." Upon hearing the master's question, the guard hurriedly presented the letter with both hands in a respectful manner.
The man looked down and was so angry he almost kicked the guard to death.
How dare they present him with such a crudely made envelope, the kind of envelope only the lowest of families would use?
"Are you out of your mind? How dare you bring in something like this!" The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he couldn't help but scold him. The person who sent this letter could not possibly be of high status; it was clearly an insult to him.
"Master, this was sent by the Grand Elder." The guard hurriedly explained, knowing how angry his master would be to see such a thing.
"Elder?" All his anger was temporarily suppressed. He reached out and took the letter, opened it, and pulled out the letter paper inside. It was still made of simple paper.
The letter contained few words, but its meaning was clear. However, after reading it, the man's face suddenly turned from white to green, and he trembled with rage.
"Liu Jinli has gone too far!" The man slammed the letter in his hand heavily on the table. The sturdy solid wood table shook twice and then cracked in the middle, splitting into two pieces.
The guard was so startled that he took two steps back, moving away from his master's storm circle.
"Go, prepare the sedan chair. I need to have a serious talk with Liu Jinli. What does he mean by this!"
"Yes." The guard was so frightened that he hurriedly went out to instruct the servants to prepare a sedan chair.
Soon, the sedan chair was ready and it stormed off towards the Liu residence.
At this moment, inside the Liu residence, Liu Jinli had just finished setting out lunch and hadn't even touched his chopsticks when the steward stumbled in from outside, panting heavily, his face covered in cold sweat, and immediately collapsed to the ground: "Master...Master...outside..."
"What's going on outside?" Liu Jinli frowned, not understanding why his old butler, who had been with him for so long, would act so flustered and erratically.
"Did the sky fall or the earth collapse?" Liu Jinli said half-jokingly. If word got out that the Grand Elder's steward had lost his composure like this, what kind of image would it have?
The butler, half-kneeling and half-prostrate on the ground, stammered in a trembling voice, "Master, so many people are coming..."
"Who? Who has the audacity to trespass on the elder's residence?" Liu Jinli was alarmed upon hearing this and slammed his fist on the table, standing up abruptly.
As the head of the four great elders of the demon realm, how dare someone disregard him? This is intolerable!
Seeing Liu Jinli so angry that he was about to rush out, the butler quickly revealed the crucial information: "Master, those people are Mr. Li from Cuihuanju, Manager Zhang from Jubaolou, and..."