A life of idleness in the world of demons

Chapter 46. His fierce and wolfish demeanor delights me greatly.

The next day, at noon.
The madam rushed into the Fragrant Herb House, pacing anxiously back and forth outside the door, softly calling, "General, General."

However, no one responded.

The madam didn't dare rush into the Fragrant Grass Cottage, so she pulled over a familiar courtesan, whispered a few instructions, and told her to push the door open and come in.

The courtesan shook her head repeatedly, then pleaded, "Mother, please spare me! The general has ordered that if I disturb his peaceful sleep, I will be severely punished."

The madam was so anxious she was almost in tears. Today, an arrogant messenger arrived, displaying a powerful token that she absolutely could not afford to offend, and demanded that she immediately inform General An Yuan that "an envoy from General Qin's mansion has arrived."

She made a few feigned visits, then went back to report that "General An Yuan is still hungover." The messenger waited several times, but then asked her to urge him again.

She tried to brush it off, but the messenger touched his weapon and slammed it heavily on the table. The dozen or so fierce-looking armored soldiers behind him took a half step forward, scaring the madam so much that she fell to the ground with a thud.

The messenger looked down at her and said, "If you can't scream, I'll burn this brothel down!"

The madam dared not offend her, which is why she hurriedly came over.

At this moment, she paced anxiously back and forth in front of the door a few times, then suddenly gritted her teeth and prepared to go inside.

However, just as she reached the door, she heard hurried footsteps behind her, along with a "No!"

The madam of Chenxiang Pavilion turned her head and saw a petite woman in brocade clothes, adorned with gold and jade, standing with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back at the entrance of the courtyard.

The madam recognized him immediately and rushed over, her face contorted with grief, saying, "Madam Jie, on one side is General Qin, and on the other is General Ning. I... I can't afford to offend either of them!"

Xiao Jie laughed and said, "How can you be so confused, madam? Let me ask you, who is in charge of Wangyue Mansion?"

The madam cried, "But he's going to burn this building down. How am I supposed to explain this to the boss?"

Xiao Jie smiled, revealing her white teeth. Her smile was sweet, and then she said, "If your Agarwood Pavilion really gets burned down, your boss won't blame you at all; on the contrary, he'll praise you highly."

The madam paused for a moment, then thought about it again.

She broke out in a cold sweat.

She wasn't unaware of the reasoning behind it, but she was suddenly startled by the murderous aura emanating from those armored soldiers, which nearly scared her out of her wits and caused her to almost crash into the general's quarters.

"Thank you for the reminder, Manager Jie," the madam said gratefully.

Xiao Jie shook her head: "I'm not in charge."

Time flew by and it was already evening.
The light of the setting sun streamed through the wooden lattice window, spreading a dim, soon-to-be-dark grid of light across the ground.

Inside the Agarwood Pavilion, the envoy from General Qin's mansion, who was waiting, grew increasingly gloomy.

He glanced at the sky, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

Suddenly, he stood up and shouted sharply, "Burn!!"

He now fully understood General An Yuan's dissolute and extravagant lifestyle, but what did it matter to him? His mission was to meet General An Yuan and then take him to see a distinguished person.

The distinguished guest had come from afar and was waiting outside the city.

He had kept that important person waiting all day.

Can't wait any longer!
"Burn, burn, burn it all!!"

The envoy possessed the bearing of a warrior on the battlefield, and was extremely decisive.

Immediately, a soldier behind him took out a black tube that he kept close to his body. Inside the tube was a hidden weapon called "Palm Fire," which could be used to ignite a raging fire that would be enough to burn down the Chenxiang Pavilion.

Just as the armored soldier was about to activate the "fire in the palm" mechanism, he suddenly felt his body go limp and he lost control.

He involuntarily fell to the ground, where a golden snake that had emerged from the earth was tightly coiling around him.

The envoy frowned, turned his head, and said sternly, "Who goes there?!"

Outside the door, a young Taoist nun in a python robe had appeared out of nowhere.

The envoy glanced at the python robe. In the past, only princes could wear this kind of robe, and later generals could also wear it. But now, they had just received news that there was another type of person who could wear it: the Imperial Attendants of the Zixia Temple in the capital.

These people had special status and were specially granted the privilege of wearing python robes by the emperor to signify their identity.

However, there are still differences between different python robes.

The prince's robe was bright yellow with nine pythons, the general's was bright red with seven pythons, and the emperor's robes were black with five pythons.
However, even though they were five black pythons, they were not something that he, a subordinate of the general, could face head-on.

The envoy's eyes darted around, and he finally gave up his plan to confront the emperor head-on. He stood up and bowed, saying, "I am a guard from General Qin's residence, and I greet the Emperor."

Fairy Yao Zhen said, "This place is under the jurisdiction of General Ning. Now I am jointly governing this place with him. How can I allow you to act recklessly?"

The messenger waved his hand.

The soldiers understood and chased away everyone around them, leaving only an open space.

With a wave of her hand, the golden snakes that had sprung from the ground dispersed, and the armored soldiers who had fallen to the ground put away their "palm fire," silently retreated, and closed the door behind them.

Only two people remained in the hall. The envoy then lowered his voice and said, "Reporting to you, my mistress has secretly arrived and is waiting for General Ning outside the city. The arrival of my mistress must be due to something important. I was forced to resort to this tactic. Now that you are here, please tell me what to do."

Fairy Yao Zhen said, "That's easy. Tell your mistress that General Ning spends his days indulging in pleasure and has no interest in anything else."

The messenger said, "I'm afraid the mistress doesn't believe it."

Fairy Yao Zhen said, "That's easy to handle. I'll bring your mistress to find General Ning, so as not to cause trouble for the servants."

Having said that, she moved swiftly, taking the messenger with her and disappearing into the ground. A moment later, she returned with a beautiful woman in military attire, and they quietly appeared behind a rockery in the Fragrant Herb Cottage.

Laughter and the scent of debauchery wafted from afar.

The beautiful woman in military attire was none other than General Qin's wife, Lady Zhao. She peered out through a hole in the artificial hill and saw a young general surrounded by beautiful women, their frivolous and lewd words unbearable to hear, and the scene of debauchery unspeakable.

Madam Zhao frowned, her face revealing undisguised disgust.

Seeing this, Fairy Yao Zhen grabbed her and disappeared into the ground, going to a high place in an empty building. She said indifferently, "General Ning is young and impetuous, licentious and dissolute. I have tried to dissuade him many times, but to little avail. If you come here seeking a marriage alliance, I am afraid you will leave disappointed."

Madam Zhao frowned and said, "I thought he was a promising young talent, but I never expected him to be like this."

She sighed softly, then said, "I'd like to trouble you to escort me back, Fairy."

Fairy Yao Zhen gritted her teeth in secret. She was exhausted from continuously escaping underground. But when she thought about how she could persuade the old generals to back down and let Ning Xuan lean towards the emperor, she regained her energy. So she grabbed Madam Zhao and kept escaping underground until they returned to a grassy area outside the city that was taller than a horse's knee.

The convoy was waiting quietly by a pond in the meadow.

After Madam Zhao returned, Fairy Yao Zhen did not linger. She disappeared from the spot, but quietly stood on a hidden high ground not far away, overlooking the "forces of the old generals".

After a long while, seeing the convoy return to its original location and gradually disappear into the distance, she then returned.

When she returned to General Ning's mansion, she was exhausted. After bathing and changing in the courtyard, she maintained a simple "surveillance" spell to prevent the general's wife from returning. When midnight came and she did not see a trace of her, she finally fell asleep peacefully, thinking, "It's finally over."

Tomorrow, after reporting the matter of "requesting a resignation" to the capital, she will find a secluded spot in the mountains to begin refining elixirs for General Ning.

Madam Zhao's carriage stopped twenty miles away.

She sat quietly in the car and waited.

Debauchery and licentiousness could not possibly be conditions for her to reject the marriage.

She lifted the curtain and looked up.

The moon is high in the sky.

It's early morning.

She wasn't a stay-at-home rich lady, but someone who was always out and about. She murmured to herself, "That imperial attendant used the technique of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic used by the emperor) repeatedly today. Now that he saw my face, he looked disgusted and left decisively. He must have let his guard down. Even though that imperial attendant was wearing a black robe with five pythons, he is still too young."

A beautiful young girl beside her asked, "Mother, what should we do now?"

Madam Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "The key is not the emperor's attitude, but Ning Xuan's. Ning Xuan is deliberately acting this way."

The girl interrupted, "I heard from the Imperial Guards that General Ning has always been like this, so he may not be acting this way on purpose."

Madam Zhao smiled and said, "If it's always been like this, then it's not a mask, is it?"

After laughing, the beautiful woman in military attire walked away, lost in thought. Her gaze swept over her three daughters who were about to be married, including the fiancée of the top scholar. She asked, "The best course of action now is to pretend that you are looking for me, that you are looking for Wangyue Mansion, that you are looking for General Ning's house. At that time, will he still refuse to see you?"

However, only one of the three of you can go.

You all probably already know that general's temperament very well through the Imperial Guards.

So, who dares to fight?

After thinking for a moment, she added, "This time, you must not mention marriage alliances, otherwise the Emperor's Envoy will send you directly out of the city, preventing you from getting close to Ning Xuan. But you are all daughters of the Qin family, and once you get even a little close, you won't be able to escape it, so we must use some methods."

Of course, you are not alone in this battle. In the past, Ning Taiyi begged for a marriage alliance outside my mansion and stayed for more than a month. I took pity on him and agreed to the marriage between Ning Xuan and Jin'er.

This favor is too easy to repay.

After entering the city, you should first look for Ning Taiyi.

With Ning Taiyi around, and by avoiding an open marriage alliance beforehand, even the Emperor's Attendant cannot escort you out of the city.

Another daughter said, "Mother, why don't we let Jin'er come again and let the Ning family continue to fulfill the marriage agreement?"

Madam Zhao said, "I want to take Ning Xuan as my son-in-law, not turn a good thing into a bad one. There isn't even a piece of paper for the marriage contract. Do you want to force it and make a general marry a concubine's daughter? Do you want to humiliate him and push him directly to the opposite side of us?"

The daughter quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare."

Madam Zhao then said, "Alright, tell me, who of you will go?"

Another daughter asked, "Mother, is Ning Xuanzhen really that good?"

Madam Zhao said, "I am very pleased with his fierce and ruthless demeanor."

(End of this chapter)