Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 088

Chapter 88: Cui Zi Xuan’s Contingency Plan

Upon hearing the question from the Young Master, Jiang Mi’s little face immediately scrunched up. She looked distressed, her eyes sparkling as she replied, “Scared.”

At that moment, Jiang Mi’s chubby face was indeed full of sorrow, but somehow, the others felt that combined with her bright eyes and her overly serious expression—as if afraid others would not know she was carefully expressing her opinion—there was an indescribable sense of amusement.

The Young Master could not help but laugh. After a moment, he turned to his friend and sighed, “I’ve been to Shu State before, and I always thought the people of Shu were fond of pleasure and cowardly, lacking backbone. Now it seems my thinking was wrong. A young lady like Princess Yihua, at such a young age, already possesses a generosity and chivalry that most men in the world lack!”

Upon hearing the Young Master’s words, everyone around nodded in agreement. At this moment, when they looked at Jiang Mi, their eyes held a mixture of respect and pity.

But what these people did not know was that Jiang Mi was not really afraid, but when asked why, she could not give a clear answer.

On one side, the Southern Tang envoy surnamed Li glanced at Jiang Mi, then turned to the handsome man and said calmly, “Shen Dan, if you cherish Princess Yihua, you can always ask the Emperor of Shu for her hand in marriage. Given the power of the Southern Tang, even if the Emperor of Shu hates this Young Lady Jiang, he will likely consider your request.”

The Southern Tang envoy’s words were reasonable, but his casual remarks elicited amused smiles from the other Southern Tang envoys. The handsome man named Shen Dan gave a wry smile but remained silent.

Jiang Mi knew that only these Southern Tang people could save her, but she had risen from poverty. Knowing she was not exceptionally beautiful, nor did she possess any other particularly appealing qualities, Jiang Mi was being unrealistic in expecting these Southern Tang people, with whom she had no connection, to ask the Emperor of Shu for help.

Because she had no demands, Jiang Mi was not disappointed. Under the watchful eyes of the Southern Tang people, she calmly and naturally drank two small cups of wine and ate some pastries. Under the lamplight, Jiang Mi’s composed demeanor and steady attitude even earned her a slightly higher regard from the Southern Tang people.

Because the Emperor of Shu had stormed out in anger, the remaining banquet could not continue. Half an hour later, people finally began to leave.

Watching everyone in the hall retreat one by one, Jiang Mi gazed at the wine and meat dishes that had just been placed on the four sides of the hall, still warm from the previous arrangement. She touched her stomach, feeling surprisingly not hungry, and saw no need to die of overeating, so she turned and followed the crowd out of the main hall.

In fact, as long as Jiang Mi did not leave, everyone slowed their pace, intentionally or unintentionally. Seeing her gazing at the feast with such a charmingly naive expression, the onlookers felt a mixture of amusement and pity. Meanwhile, Wang Yu, Fan Yufeng, and the Young Master already wore expressions of sadness.

…

The Emperor of Shu stood high on the loft.

Before him lay the bustling, grand hall. Watching the people leave one by one, seeing the Southern Tang envoys stride away, and seeing Jiang Mi left all alone at the back, both the center of attention and the target of everyone’s isolation, a murderous glint finally appeared on the Emperor of Shu’s cold, purplish-black face.

His fingers, resting on the vermilion railing, slowly tightened. The Emperor of Shu spoke in a deep, cold voice, “I do not want her to see tomorrow’s sun!”

Although the loft was empty, after Emperor of Shu’s voice fell, a blurry shadow emerged from the darkness. The shadow bowed deeply to the Emperor of Shu and responded in a rough, low voice, “Yes!”

But just as the shadow vanished again, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairs.

In the blink of an eye, a eunuch appeared behind the Emperor of Shu. This was an elderly eunuch, and he had always been the Emperor of Shu’s confidant.

The eunuch leaned closer to the Emperor of Shu and whispered, “Your Majesty, a young man surnamed Cui wishes to see you.”

Emperor of Shu frowned and turned to ask, “Surname Cui?”

“Yes!” the eunuch whispered. “He should be one of Cui Zi Xuan’s trusted men. I’ve seen him near Young Master Cui before.”

“Cui Zi Xuan’s man?” the Emperor of Shu murmured, a slow smile spreading across his face. Looking ahead, he said calmly, “Let him come up.”

“Yes.”

A short while later, the eunuch brought up a young man.

The young man approached the Emperor of Shu and bowed respectfully. He then said, “I, Cui Wu, am here on the orders of Young Master Cui Zi Xuan to present a gift to Your Majesty.”

“A gift?” Emperor of Shu was surprised. He turned and looked at Cui Wu carefully, scrutinizing him from head to toe before finally speaking with a smile. “Why would Young Master Cui suddenly think of giving me a gift?” Everyone knew that someone like Cui Zi Xuan would never deign to pay homage to even the greatest sums of money. For someone like him to mention a “gift” meant its value must be extraordinary!

For a moment, the Emperor of Shu was unusually curious. “Yes!” Cui Wu replied respectfully, then bowed his head and said politely, “My Young Master instructed me before leaving Shu that this gift could be used to ask Your Majesty for a small favor.”

With that, Cui Wu took a cloth bag from his robes and respectfully presented it to the Emperor of Shu.

The eunuch quickly reached out and took it.

The Emperor of Shu took the bag from the eunuch and slowly opened it: inside was a drawing.

After examining the drawing by lamplight for a while, the Emperor of Shu said in bewilderment, “Is this not my southeastern prefecture? Why did Young Master Cui draw it and send it to me?”

Cui Wu slowly replied, “My Young Master said that two years ago, while traveling in the southeast, he discovered a sizable iron ore deposit somewhere!”

“What?” the Emperor of Shu exclaimed in surprise.

He was not the only one startled; the eunuch beside him also quickly looked up!

Although Shu was rich in resources, iron ore was extremely rare. Or perhaps it should be said that it was not that iron ore was rare, but rather that the two Emperors of Shu State had found very few.

Iron was a powerful weapon. The existence of iron ore meant that Shu State could possess more powerful weapons. In this chaotic era, for an Emperor, having weapons meant having everything!

Emperor of Shu’s heart suddenly burned with excitement. He rushed to Cui Wu, grabbed his arm tightly, and urgently asked, “Where in the southeast did your Young Master discover the iron ore? Why did he not mark it?”

He had barely uttered the last sentence when the Emperor of Shu immediately realized his foolishness. He released Cui Wu, slowly straightened his back, and said authoritatively, “Speak, what does your Young Master require?”

“Yes,” Cui Wu replied, still bowing his head and maintaining a respectful demeanor. “My Young Master said before he left that in all his years, he had never truly cared for any young lady. During his time at Shu Capital, the only one who truly made him feel happy and reluctant to leave was Princess Yihua…”

Almost immediately upon hearing the name “Princess Yihua” from Cui Wu, both the Emperor of Shu and the eunuch understood his meaning.

The Emperor of Shu stood there coldly, staring expressionlessly at Cui Wu. After a long silence, the Emperor of Shu said calmly, “So, if it were not for tonight’s events, I, the Shu State Emperor, would probably never have known such an iron mine existed within my territory?”

Cui Wu did not answer.

At this moment, the Emperor of Shu was extremely furious with Jiang Mi. He breathed heavily for a few moments, then put his hands behind his back and began pacing on the loft.

As he paced rapidly, the Emperor of Shu said in an unfriendly tone, “From what you are saying, it seems Jiang Mi absolutely must be saved for Cui Zi Xuan?”

Cui Wu kept his head down, and even his tone remained calm and quiet: “Yes!”

Emperor of Shu sneered.

After a brief, cold laugh, the Emperor of Shu wearily rubbed his temples and said hoarsely, “Since that is the case, I agree.”

Then, the Emperor of Shu added, “Now you can mark that place, right?”

Unexpectedly, Cui Wu merely smiled and remained silent upon hearing this.

The Emperor of Shu’s face was ashen. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, “I understand… Tomorrow, I will announce to the world that when Princess Yihua moved into Shu Capital, I granted her a pardon, sparing her three death sentences!”

Cui Wu was satisfied. He bowed deeply to the Emperor of Shu and said respectfully and elegantly, “Please send someone to my young master’s residence at Elegant Gathering Pavilion tomorrow.” He then added, “Then I will take my leave.”

The Emperor of Shu watched Cui Wu leave with an air of elegance, his face expressionless.

After a long, long silence, the Emperor of Shu suddenly chuckled, coldly saying, “Cui Zi Xuan is nothing special!”

The eunuch knew perfectly well why the Emperor of Shu would say such a thing. Even he himself sneered inwardly: How priceless was that iron ore? That Cui Zi Xuan, worthy of being called Shu State’s Young Master Cui, had now given up such a great benefit for a mere plaything—utterly foolish!

At that moment, the Emperor of Shu even felt for the first time that his previous wariness of Cui Zi Xuan had been unnecessary! Did such a spoiled brat, who would throw away any benefit for a woman, deserve his concern?

…

Jiang Mi followed the crowd to the square.

Until she boarded her carriage, until her carriage left the palace gates, and until the crowd began to disperse, Jiang Mi remained utterly alone. Neither her former friends nor the young masters who had once treated her kindly avoided her like the plague, never approaching her nor even glancing back at her.

In this solitude, Jiang Mi returned home.

The Princess Mansion was also quiet. Her Three Mothers were already asleep, and Jiang Mi did not want to wake them to discuss things; after all, facing the immense power of the Emperor of Shu, their discussions would be futile.

Back in her chambers, Jiang Mi obediently fell asleep.