Chapter 48: A Paper Tiger
In the past few days, Jiang Xue had repeatedly wondered if the Crown Prince was secretly plotting something. Although Xiao Luohan had learned that he was preoccupied with military affairs, she had also been more vigilant.
Seeing the Crown Prince arrive tonight, his body reeking of blood, as if he had just returned from the battlefield, she wasn’t flustered. She simply got out of bed, stood barefoot on the cold floor, and bowed. “I apologize for not being aware of Your Highness’s late-night visit. I have been remiss.”
Despite her anger, she was currently unarmed, and having glimpsed the disarray on the bookshelf, she wasn’t sure if the stun gun had been found. She had to appease the Crown Prince for now.
The room was as bright as day under the sea of lamps, and she could see the scattered books all over the floor with a single glance.
Even the English-Chinese Dictionary hidden inside Lessons for Women was lying open on the ground.
…Those were all books Jiang Xue had sent her.
Xiao Luohan’s heart pounded. When the Crown Prince called her name, she suppressed her anger, lest the killing intent in her eyes be noticed when she looked up at him.
“I’m out there fighting enemies, and you’re here enjoying the blessings of ghosts and spirits in your warm nest!” The Crown Prince snorted coldly, closing the novel in his hand and throwing it behind him.
The vase of plum blossoms, buds about to bloom, shattered on the floor, the crisp sound breaking the silence.
Xiao Luohan didn’t show any emotion, her hands clenching her clothes tightly inside her sleeves.
“I’ve been watching you since the moment you arrived in Daying.”
The Crown Prince slowly walked around the desk and towards her, his armor indeed stained with blood, his face also covered in bloodstains, looking even more menacing. “After all, you’re my future concubine. I can’t be completely ignorant about my bed partner.”
“But now, I’ve seen through you completely.”
“You’re nothing but a useless parasite!”
He kicked Xiao Luohan in the stomach, sending her sprawling to the floor!
“Sucking Beiliao’s blood in Beiliao! And now sucking Daying’s blood in Daying! Shameless!”
“You can communicate with ghosts and spirits, but you only know how to enjoy the blessings of another world! Even when I’m determined to kill you, you only dare to send ghosts and spirits to cause havoc in my father’s palace! Pathetic! Laughable! Typical woman’s tricks!”
Having prepared beforehand, Xiao Luohan had been wary of him hurting her, even wearing the protective gear Jiang Xue sent every day. Before being kicked, she had also used her skills to deflect some of the force.
But when she fell to the ground, she still groaned in pain, gasping for air.
Although his boots didn’t have metal studs, there must have been metal plates inside.
“Beiliao is about to fall, and you’re no longer of any use! You can neither contribute to the peace between our two countries, nor bear children for me—ha, having your first period at seventeen, truly an eye-opener!”
The Crown Prince’s voice grew louder with each sentence. However, precisely because he mentioned Beiliao and was so enraged, his words were incoherent, and Xiao Luohan sensed a hint of bluster.
—Beiliao probably wasn’t about to fall, but had experienced an unexpected turn of events.
Otherwise, why would the Crown Prince, who should be on the battlefield, come to find fault with her in the middle of the night?
She had read many novels and watched many TV series with ancient settings and knew very well—when a man’s career wasn’t going well, and he had a violent temper, he would take out his anger on his helpless wives, children, or even animals when he returned home.
A classic case of “domestic violence.”
“However, for the sake of the ghosts and spirits, I’ll give you one more chance. Someone!”
A eunuch immediately presented a tray with a wine cup, a length of white silk, a piece of silver silk charcoal, and a red candle.
“Choose,” the Crown Prince said, his gaze sharp as a knife.
Xiao Luohan wasn’t afraid at all, but found it amusing.
Having resolved to kill the Crown Prince, she now saw him as nothing more than a clown.
However, she needed to buy more time for herself and Jiang Xue, preferably using this opportunity to lull the Crown Prince into a false sense of security, to make him… more careless.
With a single glance, she understood what each item represented. Without hesitation, she picked up the red candle.
She knew that no matter what she chose, the road ahead was a dead end, so she simply played along, pretending to be terrified and choosing the red candle, the only option that could buy her time, the one the Crown Prince wanted to see most.
Transforming her boundless rage into fear, she put on a terrified and weak facade, her voice trembling as she held the candle. “Spare me, Your Highness! I-I just want to live one more day…”
The next moment, a bloody hand grabbed her chin.
“Ha! Where are the ghosts and spirits you’re so proud of?” The Crown Prince’s eyes were inches from hers. “They showed you all those rebellious books, but in the face of danger, you still have to rely on my mercy!”
Xiao Luohan didn’t struggle—this contempt was exactly what she wanted!
Let him see her as a weak and sickly person, completely defenseless, at his mercy!
She could even hear the almost manic glee in the Crown Prince’s voice.
A grown man, resorting to finding a sense of superiority from her, further convinced her that something good had happened in Beiliao.
The late Empress’s death couldn’t be hidden forever, and her powerful maternal family would never let it go.
“Since you’re so eager to marry me and beg for your life, then come to the Eastern Palace in three days and broaden your horizons!”
The Crown Prince finally let go of her. He stood up and stepped back, then said, “Someone, take all these books to the courtyard and burn them! They say Wangmei Pavilion is haunted by ghosts and spirits. Tonight, I will exorcise them!”
Having maintained her composure until now, hearing these words, Xiao Luohan finally couldn’t suppress her anger and blurted out, “There’s no need for Your Highness to be tainted by bad luck! Since these books were gifts from the ghosts and spirits, they should be returned to them!”
“I will deal with them myself tonight. Your Highness can come and check tomorrow morning. There won’t be a single book left in Wangmei Pavilion!”
The servants holding lamps had already started picking up the books, preparing to take them outside and burn them. The light in the room dimmed slightly, and the Crown Prince suddenly felt a sharp glare, immediately fixing his gaze on the young woman before him.
But after saying those words, she remained kneeling on the floor, her head lowered, looking as if a gust of wind could knock her over.
The Crown Prince laughed and waved to the servants. “Burn them.”
“If the ghosts and spirits are truly angered, my head is here in the Eastern Palace. Let them come and take it if they dare!”
Jiang Xue was changing clothes in the dance studio when everything suddenly went dark.
She fell into that familiar darkness, but fortunately, she soon saw the familiar bright red rushing towards her from afar.
“You’ve come to pick me up, Elder Sister Red Fox!” She quickly floated over. “During the performance, I was wondering if Xiao Luo woke up because she was excited, or…”
Or if something had happened, forcing her to wake up.
The red fox, as always, didn’t speak, but this time, instead of leading the way, it transformed into a large fox, as tall as a person, and crouched beside her.
Jiang Xue immediately climbed onto its back and let it carry her through the dark passage.
After an unknown amount of time, she saw a window open in the distance.
She looked closely. Wasn’t that a corner of the room in the mindscape?!
The red fox ran quickly, soon leaping through the window. After running a few more steps, Jiang Xue saw flickering flames.
There was a fire in the courtyard! Something was burning!
She watched in horror, and when she saw a familiar figure in plain clothes, she couldn’t sit still any longer and jumped off the fox’s back.
“Xiao Luohan!!”
She had thought Xiao Luohan was being burned along with the other things, but as she flew closer, she saw that Xiao Luohan was throwing snow onto the fire, trying to salvage the books from the flames.
“That dog of a Crown Prince!!”
Roaring hysterically, Jiang Xue grabbed Xiao Luohan’s arm and pulled her towards the house. “Go back inside!”
“Those are the books you gave me!” Xiao Luohan refused to leave.
Her hair was disheveled, her eyes dark, her lips bloodless. She looked nothing like the energetic girl from this morning!
“Your life is more important!” Jiang Xue raised her voice. “Listen to me! Go back inside! I’ll put out the fire! Shizhu isn’t here, and if you get sick again from the cold, it’ll be troublesome!”
Afraid that Xiao Luohan would refuse, she transformed into the large white cat again, carried her back inside, placed her on the bed, closed the door, and rushed back to the courtyard.
It was snowing heavily in the courtyard, and there were piles of snow. The place where the books were being burned had been specially cleared.
Jiang Xue cursed the Crown Prince, imitated the red fox, and transformed into a giant white cat as tall as a person, scooping up snow with her paws and throwing it onto the fire!
Believing it was a ghostly act, the servants didn’t dare approach. Even the eunuch who had been left behind to supervise the burning was terrified.
He was just about to relight the books when Jiang Xue swatted at the torch with her paw, setting half his hair and clothes on fire. He was so scared that he scrambled out of Wangmei Pavilion, probably to report to the Crown Prince.
The courtyard was in chaos. Jiang Xue put out the fire, then carried the books back to Wangmei Pavilion one by one, her heart filled with rage.
She was still too late. Judging by the ashes in the courtyard, many books had already been burned.
Although they weren’t important books, and could be replaced, she knew how much they meant to Xiao Luohan.
She repeatedly wanted to rush to the Eastern Palace and teach the Crown Prince a lesson, but every time, she was stopped at the courtyard gate by the suddenly appearing red fox.
Jiang Xue understood that the red fox Elder Sister was stopping her because what she could do now wouldn’t truly deter the Crown Prince and would only cause more trouble for Xiao Luohan.
Even if she smashed all the vases and lamps in the Eastern Palace, or even went to the dog emperor’s bedchamber and caused havoc again, what good would it do?
If the Crown Prince was truly afraid of ghosts and spirits, her previous actions should have been enough to make him stop, and tonight’s incident wouldn’t have happened!
To solve the problem, they had to get rid of the Crown Prince completely!
“I will… I will definitely not let him go!” She looked at the red fox, her eyes burning with determination. “Elder Sister Red Fox, Shizhu isn’t here. If anything happens again, please bring me here as soon as possible, please!”
She couldn’t imagine how the Crown Prince had mistreated Xiao Luohan while she wasn’t there!
After checking the fire, Jiang Xue nodded to the red fox, returned to her human form, and floated towards the house.
Perhaps because of her instructions, when she entered the room, Xiao Luohan had already changed into her fluffy pajamas and wrapped herself in the quilt, trying to stay warm.
Seeing Jiang Xue arrive, she held up the electric hot water bottle and pointed to the bowl and spoon on the bedside table. “I’ve taken my medicine as a precaution.”
But the room was a mess. The broken door bolt lay by the door, and the surviving books and drawings were either scattered on the floor or torn to shreds.
Even the plum blossom branch on the windowsill lay among the shards of the broken vase in a pool of cold water.
Only the plastic Scream bottle was relatively intact, but it was also dented in the middle, as if stepped on.
Jiang Xue took a deep breath, pushed the table and chairs against the door to block the wind, and then went to check on Xiao Luohan.
She dried Xiao Luohan’s hair, found a heat patch, and applied it to her undergarments.
She even wrapped Xiao Luohan’s cold feet in a small blanket and a fluffy scarf.
After doing all this, Jiang Xue was still worried, so she transformed into the giant white cat and jumped onto the bed.
“I’m warm, hug me.”
Her giant cat body almost occupied the entire bed, surrounding Xiao Luohan.
Seeing her lean against her soft fur and hug her tightly, Jiang Xue finally felt a little at ease.
“Tomorrow… tomorrow afternoon, around one or two o’clock, I should be at Uncle Seuss’s house,” she whispered into Xiao Luohan’s ear, making a promise.
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