Chapter 227: Spoiling the Plan
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei was beginning to feel the incredible aura of vigilance permeating the Golden Roc Fort. In the past, he had hidden behind the scenes and managed to put the blame for his killings on natural disasters or other people. However, after the assassination of Meng Mingxian and the attack on the Governor, he failed to hide his tracks, and the Blademaster Shen Liang had started to keep a close watch on him.
All of a sudden, Gu Shenwei felt that there was trouble brewing all around him. The surveillance by the Heart Cleansing Yard, the murderous intent of the Supreme King and Lady Meng's controlled vengefulness - he was aware of all these potential problems, but he never would have thought that the person who would spoil the plan would be Luo Ningcha.
The show of daughter and mother-in-law making peace would come to an abrupt end on the 16th day of the seventh month.
No one could tell what Luo Ningcha had in mind by looking at her; the thick veil she wore became her best disguise. She must have plotted for a long time, as she appeared to be very calm, self-assured and polite - just the way a virtuous daughter-in-law would behave. The act she put up was so good that even Lady Meng bought it. There was even a part of her that believed Luo Ningcha would really change her temper.
Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei were already waiting for Maid Lotus as she rejoined the group. They discreetly cleaned the dirt away on her and helped to touch up her make-up, while supporting her up.
As the sacrificial ceremony outside the hall drew to an end, the maids waiting behind came forward to their masters. It was a slightly chaotic scene. When Luo Ningcha came back surrounded by her maids, she placed one hand around the shoulder of the maid leading the way, and nonchalantly used the other to take away one of the wooden slabs which were filled with carvings from Maid Lotus' hand.
There were a total of ten wooden slabs. Maid Lotus had covered them with a piece of green silk as she held them with both hands, seeming to any onlooker to be a spare accessory box.
Maid Lotus had not caught any shut-eye for all three days and two nights while she was on the cliff. If she had not undergone the tough training of a killer before, she would have collapsed by now. Her mind and body had become slow to react. Even though she had tried her best to hold the slabs tightly, she was still unable to stop Luo Ningcha from taking one of them.
As the piece of green silk was about to fall off, Shangguan Ru quickly got hold of it and covered the slabs again. Luo Ningcha had acted differently from their plan, and both the Tenth Young Master and Maid Lotus were caught with surprise.
Luo Ningcha's veil served as the perfect cover as she hid the hand holding on to the slab under it. Seeing that, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus guessed that she probably was doing this to help carrying the slabs, and both breathed a sigh of relief.
They never expected that what happened next would cause them to gasp in shock.
Luo Ningcha turned around abruptly and said in a voice that was not too loud, but could be heard by everyone in the surrounding area. "Isn't this the Tenth Young Master? You are indeed mischievous to have gone so far as to dress up as a maid to join us here."
As she finished, Luo Ningcha walked slowly down the stairs and left. Still, no one managed to catch her expression.
As Luo Ningcha's maid, Maid Lotus could only leave with Miss Luo's entourage. Shangguan Ru was left to face the aftermath of Luo's surprise attack alone.
Not all out of the hundreds of women present were perceptive enough to understand the hidden meaning behind the Eighth Young Mistress' words. Some of them, giddy with excitement, went up to see for themselves. Pleasantly surprised that Shangguan Ru was present all along, they did not hesitate to point out that she was in disguise, "Oh, it really is the Tenth Young Master, her make-up was so good that if the Eighth Young Mistress hadn't mentioned anything, I wouldn't have noticed it was her. When did you arrive, Tenth Young Master? It must be tough leaving the Castle! The lady must be delighted..."
Lady Meng never thought that Luo Ningcha, someone whom she did not think highly of, would have counter-attacked at this time. The younger woman's actions caused irreparable damage to their relationship right after the ceremony which was supposed to signify their peace-making.
"Ru'er, come over here to support me." Lady Meng had on the slight smile of a loving mother on her face, as she called her distraught daughter to her side. "It's really true when people say it's better to have daughters rather than sons. See, now that I'm ill, it's my daughter that insists on coming to see me, while my son is gallivanting around mindlessly as if he doesn't know me," she continued.
The news of Lady Meng's illness caused a shockwave to spread through the crowd. The women all came forward to offer words of concern or to assist Lady Meng in walking. They swarmed forward, pushing Lady Meng's maids away from their positions.
As most of the women were not familiar with the rules of the Stone Castle, they did not realize what a great damage Luo Ningcha had caused to the Tenth Young Master's future by pointing her out in the crowd. Instead, they just kept praising the Tenth Young Master's filial piety instead, saying things like what a good daughter she was. When the killers heard the news, they immediately understood that the Eighth Young Mistress had made it even harder for the Shangguan Ru to earn the title of 'Young Master'.
Even with Lady Meng's damage control, the fact that Shangguan Ru had returned to the castle before her training was complete still became public news. Even though there was no rule stating that the training of a young master outside of the castle had to last up till a year, it had become a tradition and an unwritten expectation of the young masters. In this instance, the tradition influenced opinions more than written laws. In others' eyes, by returning to the castle before a year had passed, Shangguan Ru was almost openly declaring that she was not willing to earn the title of "Young Master".
Lady Meng kept up her calm demeanor until she returned to her chambers and dismissed the women who were concerned about her illness. When they were alone, she said darkly to her daughter, "I've always raised you as if you were my son, and you've never let me down. You should know how a son of the Shangguan family would react to the challenge issued by the Eighth Young Mistress today."
Amongst all involved in the matter, Maid Lotus was the most struck dumbfounded and the most self-critical. On the way back, all of her thoughts were focused on the slab of wood in Luo Ningcha's hands. However, she could not snatch it back in front of the crowd, and Miss Luo also was wary of her, only allowing her to follow from the back. Fortunately, Luo Ningcha did not think of taking the remaining slabs from Maid Lotus.
This was the news Gu Shenwei got after waiting anxiously for so long.
As he knew that Lady Meng was not certain where he and Maid Lotus stood in all this mess, and had them as well as Luo Ningcha in her sights, Gu Shenwei wanted to appease her quickly. He let Maid Lotus make a copy of the contents on the remaining nine wooden slabs first before sending them to the Inner Residence.
Then, he went to see Luo Ningcha himself.
Luo Ningcha received Slave Huan in her private chamber. A screen was erected in front of her, and only Maid Cui and Xu Yanwei were left behind to serve her. Her demeanor and speech were overflowing with pride from her 'victory' over Lady Meng, so much so that she was unable to sit still, and was pacing to and fro. When she spoke, she sound livelier than before. "I've waited so long for this day, I feel so at ease now. What do you think of my move, Slave Huan? Even you were fooled, weren't you? Haha, that that old bitch wanted to hide her daughter in the castle. I would never have let her have her way with it. You've contributed well this time, I followed your advice to 'Retreat first to strike later' and to 'Strike after gaining the trust of the enemy'. It was so much fun!"
Gu Shenwei had to suppress the rage building up inside him. This woman had put him in a very dangerous situation from which there could possibly be no return, yet she was still proud of herself. "Miss Luo is indeed smart. I just gave a few words of casual advice, yet you could apply it to real situations. May I ask where's the wooden slab you took?"
"I've hidden it."
"Can I take a look?"
"No." Came Luo Ningcha's steadfast refusal. She then laughed continuously before adding, "Poor little Slave Huan, do you think your story about treasure fooled me? I knew the thing you lot were eyeing could not have been simple as a treasure map. Even that old bitch is willing to make peace with me for this thing. My husband is incapable but full of ambition. He told me that he would take over the position of the Supreme King sooner or later, and had wanted to learn various kung fu techniques, such as Wayless Qigong. However, the lord was not fond of him, and as such, he never even knew where the manuals to the techniques were being kept at. Imagine now that I have the Wayless Qigong in my hands."
Gu Shenwei wanted to tell this woman that her father would be finished soon and she would be losing her backing. The aftermath of the Bighead Kingpin's end would be stirring up so much dirt that it would be enough to bury her ten times over.
"Miss, you've done great service in the name of the Eighth Young Master," said Gu Shenwei nonchalantly. He knew that if Luo Ningcha knew that the lives of three people were dependent on the wooden slab in her hands, she would not have wanted to give it up even more.
"Humph, I didn't do it for him."
"Do you plan to learn it yourself?"
"Pfft, I don't have the time to learn kung fu."
"So, you've another smart move up your sleeve, Miss."
"Hehe, do that old bitch and the little girl want this wooden slab very badly?"
"I believe so."
"Don't give me all that, if you dare to come up with something to trick me, Slave Huan, I'll... exchange this wooden slab for your life."
After hearing this, Gu Shenwei felt relieved instead of fear. He now knew that Luo Ningcha did not have any plan in mind as to how to use this wooden slab. He realized that she probably just had taken it to spite and taunt Lady Meng. He was getting more confused as to whether she was too foolish or too smart.
"Miss, you're too sharp, I can't hide anything from you. I shall tell you the truth then. There's a rule within the Stone Castle that only the lord can learn the Wayless Qigong technique. Lady Meng stole the manual as she wanted one of her twins to be the next Supreme King. However, she was ambushed by your sneak attack, and now you have her in the palm of your hand."
"Are you suggesting that she would agree to any demand of mine?"
"Of course, as long as you hand over the wooden slab."
"Um, I shall consider it seriously. I'm too excited today and can't think of anything. Tell that old bitch to continue waiting and not to play any dirty tricks. I hid the slab in a secure location, and even Maid Cui and Maid Wan don't know where it is, so none of you lot will be able to find it. If I'm threatened, I'll spill all the beans out to the public, and let the lord know that you lot have stolen the manual to the technique."
Gu Shenwei had to admit that Luo Ningcha had everything in control now. He knew that he had to coax her slowly to listen to his reasoning, as she never considered the consequences of her actions. Even though she was simple-minded and her motives were easy to understand, it was impossible to predict what she would do next.
Lady Meng did not receive Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus when they came to the Inner Residence with the other nine wooden slabs, in the pretense of being ill. Shangguan Ru, however, had already recovered from the incident and felt a mix of anger and humor out of it all. She asked the two killers, "What does Eighth Sister-in-Law actually want?"
After listening to Gu Shenwei's brief explanation on Luo Ningcha's ideas, Shangguan Ru was even more confused than before. "She hadn't even thought about her conditions before she decided to take one of the slabs to blackmail us?"
Luo Ningcha was like the rapids. Even though you could see clearly into the water, the force of its flow was ferocious and no one could predict the direction of the currents.
"Miss Luo... does have a strange temper," said Gu Shenwei helplessly.
"It's all because of me," said Maid Lotus. She had not broke free of the web of self-criticism. "If only I had held on more tightly... or if only I could've remembered the words better," she added.
"How could you be blamed? You hadn't got any rest over three days, it would be impossible to remember so many words. I should be blamed, for not carrying the slabs for you at that time."
The two teenage women took turns to take the blame, and Gu Shenwei said after listening to them for a while, "We have to think of a way for Miss Luo to give up the wooden slab."
The three of them read the contents of the remaining nine slabs. Maid Lotus had inscribed very neatly in very compact and small script; it was hard to think that she had done it in the dark of the night.
The contents of the first two slabs were familar to them, as it was the last portion of the strange script in the Death Scripture. Shangguan Ru had only learnt up till the first thousand words and was surprised to read them here.
What followed next was a complex set of Internal Strength mantra. While reading it, Shangguan Ru kept exclaiming in delightful surprise, "I know this part!" However, the contents grew unfamiliar for her when they came to the sixth slab.
The Internal Strength technique taught within the Golden Roc Fort was derived from the Wayless Book, and improvised from a small portion of it. The true Wayless Qigong technique was many times stronger in comparison, and each Supreme King managed to rule over all his killers because of this fact.
They looked at each other after they had finished reading all the slabs. Luo Ningcha had coincidentally took the last one, and they could still start practicing the technique even without it; but they could not finish learning it.
As she knew that Luo Ningcha's importance was diminished substantially due to this reason, Shangguan Ru thought of her mother's words: What would a man of the Shangguan Family do?