Wondrous Intent - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My eyes snapped to Xiao Yanci. Sure enough, his expression was ugly, his gaze filled with disgust.

The maid behind him, the one called Chuntao, was someone I had seen a few times before.

At that moment, the two of them were gazing deeply into each other’s eyes, looking for all the world like a pair of star-crossed lovers cruelly torn apart.

And I was the cruel part!

So everything Qinghe said was true. I had actually never noticed their affair before.

[According to the original plot, Xiao Yanci will eventually rise to the position of prime minister. Because Miss stole the position of legal wife from the woman he loves, he will frame the General’s Mansion for treason and wipe out the entire household!]

My knees went weak, and I nearly collapsed to the floor.

His Majesty looked puzzled. Beside me, my father was frantically making eyes at me.

Thinking of how I had just agreed to make a request, I broke out in a cold sweat.

At that critical moment, desperation made me clever.

“Yes. This subject’s daughter wants the cook from the Xiao Residence. I beg Minister Xiao to part with her!”

The moment I finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

I had just been poisoned, and I was still thinking about food?

His Majesty froze for a moment as well, then burst out laughing. “Oh? The cook from Minister Xiao’s residence?”

Xiao Yanci’s face turned even darker than before. Even the tender affection frozen on his face as he exchanged looks with Chuntao stiffened.

Without showing it, His Majesty glanced between me and Xiao Yanci.

“Miss Su, there is no need to worry so much. You may ask for what your heart desires.”

With absolute sincerity, I smiled a little sheepishly and said, “Your Majesty, this subject’s daughter has loved eating since childhood. I heard that the cook at the Xiao Residence makes peerless braised pork. I’ve been craving it for ages. Now that I have received Your Majesty’s favor, of course I want to bring her back to my own home so I can eat it at every meal from now on.”

At those words, even my father was stunned for a moment.

Then he quickly reacted and hurried to smooth things over. “Your Majesty, my daughter truly has been greedy since she was little. One meal from her can equal three strong laborers. Please forgive the spectacle.”

His Majesty clapped his hands and laughed. “No harm, no harm. Such a small matter, We grant it.”

“Minister Xiao, the cook in your residence shall be bestowed upon the General’s Mansion.”

In addition, His Majesty awarded me a thousand taels of gold to display the grace of the imperial family.

Xiao Yanci clenched his teeth and bowed. “This subject… obeys the decree.”

Looking at his ashen face, I breathed a sigh of relief.

The two of them could walk their lovebird path on their own.

I, Su Miao, would not be accompanying them.

After returning to the residence, my mother fussed over me endlessly and summoned the household physician.

Only after confirming that I was all right did she cook me a late-night snack.

I took a huge bite to calm my nerves.

My father looked relieved. Watching me devour my food, he was not angry at all. “My Miaomiao has grown up!”

He had never liked me getting involved with anyone from the Xiao Clan. Now, things had gone exactly as he wished.

The Xiao Clan was the Empress’s maternal family, while my Su Family held heavy military power, and my eldest brother was still stationed at the border.

If we were too close to the Xiao Clan, there would be the danger of being suspected of forming a faction.

My mother said, “Didn’t you like that Xiao Yanci? Why didn’t you seize the chance to ask for a marriage decree?”

“I liked him before. I don’t like him now.”

She looked at me in confusion. “What, did Young Master Xiao become disfigured?”

I choked on my food.

I could not blame my mother for being so sarcastic. Since childhood, I had been obsessed with good looks and had absolutely no resistance toward handsome men.

Ever since I returned to the capital from the border a year ago and saw Xiao Yanci once at a restaurant, I had fallen head over heels.

After that, wherever Xiao Yanci appeared, I, Su Miao, would definitely be there too.

Slowly, rumors spread through the capital that I was hopelessly infatuated with Xiao Yanci.

My parents hated that I was such a disappointment, but they truly doted on me too much, so they could only let me do as I pleased.

Now, after this whole incident, both of them craned their necks, waiting for my answer.

I shook my head. “He isn’t disfigured, but he is dirty.”

My mother froze for a moment, then grabbed my hand.

“Tell me everything!”

“Everything is that he and his maid Chuntao have a child together.”

Before my parents could be shocked, Qinghe had already started shrieking like a boiling kettle.

[Holy crap! Holy crap! How does Miss know that Xiao Yanci has a child? The Xiao Clan has kept this matter tightly under wraps.]

[The way she turned the tide in the main hall today… Could Miss have been reborn?]

Although I did not understand exactly what Qinghe meant, I roughly understood one thing.

Qinghe knew things other people did not.

My father was also astonished. “How did you know that?”

Pretending to be mysterious, I lowered my voice and said, “An immortal told me in a dream.”

My mother asked, “And what else did that immortal tell you?”

My father looked disdainful. “She’s making it up, and you actually believe her?”

“Father doesn’t believe me?”

“I don’t.”

“The immortal also told me that your private savings are hidden behind the ancestral tablets in the shrine, and also-”

My father slapped a hand over my mouth. “My good daughter, I believe you. I believe everything!”

“Well, well, Su Daniu. You actually dared to hide private savings.”

My mother grabbed him by the ear. My father clutched his ear and cried, “It hurts! At least leave me some dignity in front of our daughter!”

As my parents left, bickering and playing around, I bit my chopsticks and smiled.

Since Heaven had let me know in advance what was going to happen, then I had to protect this courtyard full of warm lights.

So I tested Qinghe and asked, “Qinghe, I pestered Xiao Yanci shamelessly for so long before. Do you think he might hold a grudge against me?”

“He probably won’t. Young Master Xiao doesn’t look like such a petty person.”

But in her heart, she was ranting wildly: [Of course he’ll hold a grudge against you! That guy is narrow-minded as hell. After he rises to power, he kills a lot of people.]

So angry I wanted to punch the wall, I asked, “Is there no one who can deal with him?”

“This servant doesn’t know either.”

[I know, I know! The Fifth Prince can. Less than three years after the Crown Prince supported by Xiao Yanci ascends the throne, the Fifth Prince, Li Chenyao, rebels.]

[Most importantly, Li Chenyao likes you, Miss. After he takes the throne, he kills Xiao Yanci. The death-by-a-thousand-cuts kind, too.]

[What a pity. Miss died too early. If she were still alive, the later plot would have been the emperor stealing his minister’s wife.]

I was completely shocked. The Fifth Prince liked me?

I did not even know who the Fifth Prince was.

I tried hard to think of anything related to the Fifth Prince, but my mind came up blank.

Besides, too much had happened tonight, and my two eyelids were taking turns giving up on me.

I could only wash up and go to sleep for now.