Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Supreme Commander’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea

Lady Xu was feeling fidgety. She wanted someone she could trust to discuss with, but there was nobody around.

Ning Xiaoyao paused for a moment. “How about this? Do you have any slow poison?”

“Your Majesty!” Lou Zigui instantly hollered.

Lady Xu narrowed her eyes at Ning Xiaoyao.

“Bring it over, I’ll eat it.” Ning Xiaoyao flung Lou Zigui’s hand away and sincerely made eye contact with Lady Xu. “You can give me the antidote after you and Great General Chen have your baby. How does that sound?”

“Your Majesty, are you for real?”

“Real! More real than pearls!”

Lou Zigui carried Ning Xiaoyao away.

“Hey! Hey!” Ning Xiaoyao yelled from his arms. “Show some respect, will you? Show Your Majesty some respect, ahhhhhh!!!”

Lady Xu: ...

Lou Zigui carried Ning Xiaoyao to the corner of a corridor and confined her in between a pillar and himself. He stared at her without saying a word.

*Gulp* Ning Xiaoyao swallowed down a mouthful of saliva. She was nervous for some odd reason.

“Am I really useless?” Lou Zigui asked dejectedly.

“Whaa?” Ning Xiaoyao opened her mouth wide. Uh, should we be talking about this right now?

“I’m useless. I’m unable to protect you. Is that what you think?” Lou Zigui demanded.

“No!? What’s wrong, Supreme Commander?” Ning Xiaoyao gently touched Lou Zigui’s face.

Lou Zigui didn’t reply.

The silence was causing Ning Xiaoyao to panic. “No!? What’s the matter? Right now we’re dealing with our country’s affairs! It’s not the time to talk about life, right?”

Lou Zigui’s expression softened. Now, he seemed a little upset.

Seeing this, Ning Xiaoyao rolled up her sleeves. She growled, “Who called you useless? Tell me and I’ll go beat them up!”

Ning Xiaoyao was so agitated that she puffed her cheeks like a bun. Now, she looked like a white elastic steamed bun. Although Lou Zigui was in a foul mood, he couldn’t help but poke the bun a few times. It was rather squishable and comforting.

Ning Xiaoyao: (￣△￣；) What’s wrong with him? Supreme Commander’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea!

Lou Zigui removed his hand and gazed at Ning Xiaoyao. He coughed awkwardly.

“Are you really hurt?” Ning Xiaoyao carefully probed, “Who’s that bi*ch?! Supreme Commander, tell me! I’m here. There’s no need to be afraid!”

“Deep down, is this how you view me?” Lou Zigui solemnly asked.

“Ah? You’re asking what I think deep down? Deep down, I think Supreme Commander is the best! Amazing!!!” grinned Ning Xiaoyao.

Lou Zigui... can he trust her words?

“It’s true!” Ning Xiaoyao didn’t look like she was lying at all. “Supreme Commander, you’re so amazing. Which blockhead dared to call you useless?”

Lou Zigui fixedly stared at Ning Xiaoyao and decided to drop the topic. “Do you know that the Xu Clan has an army of death squad*?”

“Nope,” Ning Xiaoyao shook her head. She just found out about the prominent figure Xu Jing last night. How would she know about this?

“Xu Clan uses a secret poison to control the death squad.”

“So what?” Ning Xiaoyao didn’t understand the big deal.

“So you can’t take their poison.” Lou Zigui stated sternly.

“Eh?” Ning Xiaoyao glanced at Lou Zigui. “Will taking the poison cause us to roll in the bedsheets?”

The tip of Lou Zigui’s ears began to turn red. He quietly mumbled, “No.”

“Then there’s nothing to fear!” Ning Xiaoyao dismissively waved her hand in the air. “I am immune to hundreds of poisons. They got nothin’ on me!”

“Xu Clan’s poison is different!” Lou Zigui anxiously seized Ning Xiaoyao’s hand again.

Ning Xiaoyao seriously thought about it. Poisons that could control people were probably morphine related. Future drugs such as opium, methamphetamine, and so on were also part of this category.

“Supreme Commander, do these death squads have a long lifespan?”

“How could death squads have a long lifespan?”

Ning Xiaoyao made a face. “These poisons are useless against me. Later when I have time, I’ll help them dissolve the poison.”

“They’re really useless against you?” Lou Zigui was still holding onto Ning Xiaoyao’s arm. He only heard the first sentence. The latter was unrelated to Ning Xiaoyao so he automatically disregarded it.

“Of course! It’s not like I wanna die,” Ning Xiaoyao stood on tiptoes and gave Lou Zigui a pat on the shoulder. “Have you forgotten? The empress failed at killing me!”

Lou Zigui wished that never happened to begin with!

His palm was covering half of Ning Xiaoyao’s face. Lou Zigui lightly murmured, “Even without Xu Jing, I can still get us through this. Don’t take the poison. Do it for me. I don’t want you to continue on like this.”

Ning Xiaoyao lowered her head and rubbed the tip of her foot against the ground. But this method would give them another troop.

“Xiaoyao!” Lou Zigui exclaimed.

Ning Xiaoyao lifted her head. “If we have another troop, we can prevent more deaths on our side. Supreme Commander, can you not be like this?”

Lou Zigui stared at Ning Xiaoyao. He had a conflicting expression.

Ning Xiaoyao stood on tiptoes and gave Lou Zigui a kiss on the lips. Then, her ankle landed back on the ground. “Lady Xu’s behaviour is understandable. Right now, we’re all talk. Why should she trust us? This will set her mind to rest. I’ll be fine. Eh, we’ll all be fine. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Lou Zigui’s lips were pale and tightly pursed.

“Just imagine it as a sugar bean,” Ning Xiaoyao thought about it and tried to coax Lou Zigui.

“She has no idea that you’re giving the Xu Clan another way out.” Lou Zigui growled.

“Who says it’s easy to do good things?” Ning Xiaoyao smiled. “We may think this is good, but in Lady Xu’s eyes, she’s risking her life.”

A creaking sound indicated someone was coming out. Lady Xu pushed open the door and walked out of her bedroom. Previously, she had warned all the servants of the Chen Estate not to bother her. As a result, there were no one else in the courtyard. On such a windless day, none of the flowers and trees moved. The huge silence in the courtyard was a bit intimidating.

Lady Xu walked over to Ning Xiaoyao and Lou Zigui. “Have you two finished discussing about how to deal with me?”

Ning Xiaoyao cleared her throat. “Lady Xu, I feel like you should be more respectful towards me.”

Lady Xu scoffed. “I’m not even afraid of death. Why would I need to respect anyone?”

“Don’t be like this. Your parents are still alive. If you don’t want to respect me, you should at least respect them, right!?”

Ning Xiaoyao caused Lady Xu to choke again.

“Where’s the poison?” Ning Xiaoyao displayed her palm. “Give it to me. I’ll take it.”

Lady Xu took out a black porcelain bottle and placed five pills on Ning Xiaoyao’s palm. “Your Majesty, are you certain about this?”

“I’m certain. Don’t tell me you wanna back out already?”

“The Xu Clan’s promises are worth one thousand in gold.”

“This is related to countless of lives! What would I do with your one thousand in gold?” Ning Xiaoyao frowned.

“Your Majesty can also give me a poison.” Lady Xu spoke in a matter of fact.

Ning Xiaoyao thought about it and took two sugar beans out of her pocket. She planted it on Lady Xu’s palm. “Here, one is the antidote and one is the poison. We’ll eat them at the same time. You alright with that?”

Lady Xu stared at Ning Xiaoyao.

Ning Xiaoyao lifted her neck and gulped down the five pills. Then, she immediately opened her mouth to show Lady Xu. “Look! I ate it!”

Lady Xu also devoured the two sugar beans. “It’s sweet?”

“I’m trying to harm people in the palace! How am I gonna get people to eat it if it tastes bad?”

Lady Xu thought that made sense.

“The poison used on you was also taken from palace. The empress dowager took it.” In order to make her story sound more perfect, Ning Xiaoyao added another line. “That’s why I have the antidote. Lady, you sure have a good life.”

Lady Xu thought His Majesty was being ridiculous with his words again. This is called a good life?

“Contact your father. If you don’t keep your word, I promise you, you won’t be the only one dead.” Lou Zigui cruelly threatened.

“I’ll be waiting for General Xu ah!” Ning Xiaoyao grinned harmlessly.

“Let’s go,” Lou Zigui dragged Ning Xiaoyao. But Ning Xiaoyao remained where she was. She touched Lady Xu’s hand and whispered, “This month, your Great Aunt Flow will be normal again.”

“What Great Aunt Flow?”

“Your menstruation ah,” Ning Xiaoyao explained, “You know? The time of the month when you bleed! What’s that called here?”

Lady Xu’s face turned so red, she looked like she was about to drip blood. His Majesty is truly shameless!

Lou Zigui carried Ning Xiaoyao away.

Ning Xiaoyao... hey, show me some respect!

“I’ll be expecting someone from your father’s side,” Lou Zigui took a few steps but stopped and turned to Lady Xu. “I expect to see him within two days.”

“What about Chen Lu?” asked Lady Xu.

“If he won’t listen, just beat him up!” Ning Xiaoyao hollered. “Just like how you did last night! Supreme Commander and I saw everything from the roof. Lady, you’re pro!”

Can he just get out of here?

“Xie Wenyuan would never lock Chen Lu up. Just let him know.”

“What if he doesn’t agree?”

“Then go beat...”

Lou Zigui smacked Ning Xiaoyao’s butt to make her shut up. He continued, “Then let him choose between Xie Wenyuan or the Xu Clan. Lady Xu, you’re on your own.”

“Remember, after you guys have your talk, you gotta roll in the bedsheets!” Ning Xiaoyao yelled. “You can’t have babies without some rolling yo!”

Lou Zigui put Ning Xiaoyao over his shoulder and carried her out.

Lady Xu’s face was flushed from embarrassment. She really wanted Ning Xiaoyao to get out as soon as possible!

Lou Zigui was about to flip over the wall with Ning Xiaoyao. When they got to the wall, Ning Xiaoyao turned to wave to Lady Xu with one hand. With her other hand, she made a fist arm to indicate ‘good luck at baby making’!

After they left, Lady Xu went back to her room. Before she could reach her couch, she already lost all her strength and fell to the floor. She had just risked her life. She had no idea whether she would win or lose this enormous gamble.

She knew early on that Xie Wenyuan wasn’t a good master. But the country wasn’t well governed. In order to gain a high position and great wealth, one must soak themselves in sewage. Perhaps, this was an opportunity for them to break away from Xie Wenyuan.

Lady Xu slowly stood up and took tiny steps towards her seat. She didn’t give His Majesty poison. Perhaps after everything is over, His Majesty could spare her, Chen Lu, and her Xu Clan. Even if His Majesty wants to settle scores, he could come after her alone.

She didn’t want the Xu Clan to be associated with evil and have a ruined reputation. Lady Xu sat down on her couch and touched her stomach. For this, she was willing to pay any price. (Author: His Majesty knows what you’re thinking. She cries too! Why do you think she’s trying so hard for? Also, His Majesty didn’t give you poison either! o(╯□╰)o)

*death squad = warriors/crack troops who aren’t afraid of death