Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 412: Messing with the Marriage Arrangements (2)

At night, Xiaobai arrived at the Imperial Palace as promised and saw the Emperor still reviewing petitions. He glanced at the guards and eunuchs below before twisting his body and jumping off the roof, looking for an opportunity to poison the drink.

Dugu Han was busy until late into the night before he put down the Vermilion Brush. When he picked up his teacup, it was empty. Eunuch Shi saw this, turned around, and brewed a new cup of tea for His Majesty. Just as he was about to pick it up, a cat knocked it over, which made Eunuch Shi jump in anger, "Where did this stray cat come from, sneaking into the Imperial Palace now?" Watching the cat run away and then looking at the tea on the floor, he sighed and brewed another cup of tea.

In the corner, Xiaobai saw the old man carrying the teacup away and smiled with a tigerish grin, believing that tonight would not be a boring one.

Xiaobai, lying on the roof, looked left and right but did not see any abnormal reaction from Dugu Han. He was puzzled. The drug made by his sister should have a good effect, so why was there still no reaction?

Bored from lying on the roof, he watched Dugu Han sleep in his own chamber; the lights were already out, so he decided to take a nap on the roof as well.

At that time, Jueqing received a letter from Feng Xuxu with just two words, "Nothing." Jueqing smiled wryly and thought about dismissing Zhuifeng, who was waiting in the castle for news, the next day.

As soon as day broke, Jueqing was having a meal with his grandparents and parents when an uninvited guest barged in.

"Young Castle Master, the Emperor has sent an urgent message. When will you hand over the Rainbow Lotus to me?" Zhuifeng, bypassing the servants, stormed into the dining room and confronted Jueqing.

"Our castle only had that one Rainbow Lotus, and it has been given to the Empress Dowager. There isn’t a second one, and we don’t grow them here," he said elegantly, picking up a napkin to wipe his mouth.

Zhuifeng didn’t believe it and stepped forward with his sword pointed at Jueqing, growling angrily, "The Emperor has issued an edict. Are you defying his decree? Doing so would result in the extermination of nine generations."

"Hmph, if we don’t have it, are we supposed to give you a fake one? If that’s not deceiving the sovereign, then I’d like to see one," Jueqing said, glancing at him from his seat, not bothering to look at his sword.

"You... Being sharp-tongued doesn’t do your clan any good. Hand it over, and your clan might still find support among the other Hidden Clans. If you don’t, then wait and see—you’ll be wiped out just like the Shangguan Hidden Clan," he snorted coldly, sheathing his Longsword at his waist.

"If we don’t have one, we don’t have one. No matter how much you threaten, it’s the same," Jueqing calmly stood up and walked over to Zhuifeng, looking at him disdainfully with raised eyebrows.

Zhuifeng frowned tightly, considering Jueqing’s firm stance that there really was no Rainbow Lotus. His eyes squinted slightly, planning to take a look around the castle at midnight and decide what to do then.

After coming to a decision, Zhuifeng turned to leave but was stopped by Jueqing, "Guard Zhuifeng, where are you off to?"

"Going back to sleep in my quarters," Zhuifeng rolled his eyes at Jueqing, undaunted because of his position as the Emperor’s personal guard.

Jueqing sneered with a mocking curve of his lips, "Since the Young Master here has told you we don’t have it, you’d best go back and report that. Your horse and provisions have already been prepared; you should leave."

"Are you sending me away?"

"Yes, not sending, seeing you off," Jueqing said with a raised tone.

"Don’t go too far!"

"No, no, no, how can this be going too far?" Jueqing asked, his face revealing a look of feigned surprise and a smile. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"You... If this isn’t going too far, then what is?" Zhuifeng, looking at his expression, felt his heart pound like a fist. Being sent away was going too far; was it not supposed to be a warm welcome instead?

"Hehe, want to know what’s going too far? I’ll show you!" The angrier Zhuifeng got, the happier Jueqing felt.