Nanny Mo didn't disturb and covered her with a blanket, staying by her side.
In general, so far, she didn't have many enemies except for the Mo family.
But she had a lot of hole cards. Having received the modern education, her insight wouldn't be less brilliant than an ancient person. As long as she acted attentively, there couldn't be obstacles that couldn't be overcome.
When she needed, there were also the Jian and Xin and Tong family. In a worst situation, she had money at least, on which she could build up her own power utilizing modern techniques.
A little Mo family wasn't a opponent to her.
*
At the Ning mansion, in the capital.
It was getting dark. In the thermal pavilion, a noble woman sat upright, and a nanny came to greet her and reminded, "Madam, it's time to greet master."
"Well, let's go."
Concubine Xie snorted disdainfully, stood up and walked outwards.
Many years ago, she had racked her brains to be able to marry him, not merely because of his identity, but also due to her true admiration towards him. She had tried her best to please him, but what about him?
In his heart, there was merely the Ning family and his dead wife's son. There wasn't a place for her, ever.
She also gave birth to a son, Shaoyu, whom he had never taken a glance or smiled or praised or encouraged.
Getting out of the yard and going through the garden by an arch gate, they arrived at a magnificent building.
That was the place where master Ning dealt with work and lived in if the work detained him until too late. Since one year ago when the eldest lord disappeared, master Ning caught a cold and hadn't been well ever since. Hence, he didn't go out at night and directly moved into this courtyard.
By the beginning of this year, his health got worse, so he hadn't left this yard at all.
Sound of coughing sent over from the room. Concubine Xie, followed by a nanny, covered her nose with a handkerchief and slowly approached.
Seeing her, Ning Kai, the servant waiting at the door walked over, all smiles, to greet her, bowing, "Madam."
"Get up." Concubine Xie waved her hand to gesture the servant up and then quickly covered her nose again, as if she would be infected at any moment, asking, "Is master better?" Ning Kai replied, "Master remains the same."
While talking, Ning Kai glimpsed at the inside to suggest the situation in the room.
Sound of constant coughing and various other noises made by servants were heard.
Xie asked again, "Did master take medicine on time?"
Ning Kai replied, "Yes, but it didn't seem to work."
Xie seemed to be very satisfied with this answer, "Well, I see. Take care of your master."
"Yes."
Inside the room.
Master Ning sat on the cough, deadpan and imposing. There wasn't a sign of coughing or illness at all. Two men, also with erected figures and extraordinary bearing, stood before him. Only a servant standing at the door kept coughing again and again.
One of the two men reported respectfully in a low voice, "The eldest lord is on the way back."
The indifferent face of master Ning finally had a touch of emotion, "He finally remembers this family and me and is coming back?" The tone sounded displeased but also unconceivably joyful.
The other man laughed and comforted, "The eldest son must have thought it through and decided to come back." "Cough…" Master Ning was talking while the servant at the door pinched his throat and coughed and then at once said in a trembling voice, "Master, I'm so worried about you…"
Meanwhile, he began to make loud noises with the cup in his hand, sounding like pouring a cup of tea in a hurry.
"I'm afraid he isn't thinking it through but forcing back by that vulgar village woman." Master Ning snorted, "Did you send people to investigate the identity of that woman?"
The man replied, "Yes. She is the legal daughter of the Founder, naming Mo Qianxue."
"Cough…" The servant pinched his throat and coughed again and said, "Master, there is blood in your sputum. It seems the last imperial doctor is useless. Don't worry, master, I've sent for the first miraculous doctor for you…"
The servant at the door focused on his own business, coughing and talking to himself.
Master Ning totally ignored him.
But one of the men standing before him found it a little intolerable, "Master, how long will you endure that bitch?"
Murderousness appeared in master Ning's eyes, "How long? Huh…"
Of course until the one behind the scene was caught, until the Xies took fright by themselves.
The hawk hunter would be pecked in the eye by a hawk!
Years ago, he had specially investigated her origin and even found her biological parents that had abandoned her, only fearing that she might have anything to do with the Xie clan.
Unexpectedly, all given to him was an appearance, a plot that aimed at leading him into the trap.
Fortunately, for so many years, he had never lifted the suspicion in his heart. The real power had been in the hand of his mother and never distributed to others. Shaoqing had also grown up safely under the protection of him and his mother.
But over ten years, no matter how cautious he had been, there was always a loophole that had been taken advantage by them.
At last, his Shaoqing got poisoned. Afterwards, he checked his only body and found himself poisoned by a kind of chronic drug too.
The poison was colorless and tasteless. At first, it only caused the recipient coughing like catching a cold, but as the dose increased, it coughing got more serious like pneumonia.
How could a woman who lived in the depth of a huge mansion get such an evil poison on her own? He stopped eating the food that was mixed with the poison and at the same time, pretended not to know this while lying in bed, sick.
To put drug in the food provided to the master, she didn't dare or had the ability to do that without ganging up with others.
To kill this bitch required merely one of his fingers.
However, he must figure out the one behind all this.
How did the marriage trap set up without the assistance of a person planted within his family? How did they get his trust? How did they know that he must resort to Shadow to investigate her background?
This person not only had brains but also a vital position in the Ning clan.
An outside enemy, either in light or dark, wasn't frightening. The most terrifying was spies or even traitors who made the situation out of control and unpredictable. He intended to take this opportunity to dig out this rat behind the scene and eradicate the black sheep of the family, so as to hand over to Shaoqing a clean clan.
Concubine Xie stood outside and listened for a while, sneering, "Master, I'm here to greet you!"
The servant in the room pinched his throat and said, "Cough…you go back, I…cough…" "Then I go back, master. If you need me, let Ning Kai come to find me." It seemed he couldn't live for long since he coughed too violently to speak.
That man was right. It took at most a hundred days and at least ten days to kill the old guy. Now he was already out of breath. Whenever at the thought of the superficial respectful faces but actually disdainful eyes of the ladies and madams that she had met on various banquets, she pissed off, vessels around the temples popping up.
A noble madam who had no power over the family, who wasn't loved, who had a son that couldn't inherit the family, who was a concubine, who was of a humble origin…
Nobody really took her seriously. That man had promised that as long as master Ning died, he would help Shaoyu take over the family. By then, she would be a madam of a super family in real terms. Then, who dared to look down upon her?
Xie, face looking vicious and sullen, left, and her nanny quickly gave Ning Kai a purse and followed away.
The men in the room got less angry after Xie left and went back to the topic, "Do I need to send assistance to eldest lord Ning?"
Master Ning replied decisively, "No need!" If his boy couldn't even deal with the bitchy mother and son, then how could he sit on the throne and face the future storms of blood?
The fragrance of plum blossom sharpens in the bitter cold.
Shaoqing had one problem since childhood—soft-hearted!
He appeared arrogant and aloof from the worldly affairs, but deep down, he was lonely and longed for tenderness.
He didn't know that in order to take the position and sit firmly in it, he needed not only wisdom but also a sharp knife to cut off relationships and love. If he couldn't, then his father would help him to do so.
He mustn't have a weak point!
That bitch had succeeded exactly because of his soft-heartedness.
This lesson was only the first step to let Shaoqing recognize the real face of the two disgusting people. If he couldn't become a hawk, then he would die of a hawk. The reason why the Ning family was able to achieve so much was because of the hard work, selflessness and wisdom of generations of masters.
What he considered was the glory and life of the entire Ning clan other than the interest and rise and fall of his own nuclear family.
If Shaoqing was able to take on this heavy responsibility, then he would be gratified. If not, the clan would select another talented man to shoulder this responsibility.
Shaoqing, sorry! Don't blame your old man for being cold-hearted. As the master of the Ning family, he must put the interest of the whole clan as the top priority.
Daddy loved you more than he loved himself. If his own death could save your life, then he would do it without hesitation, but daddy's life belonged not only to himself but also the entire Ning family and the ancestors.
Soon after concubine Xie left, the two men in the master's room also left after reporting and taking orders.
As soon as they walked out, master Ning couldn't help coughing slightly, and his servant hurriedly poured him a cup of tea, stroking his back to help him breathe smoothly. Although master Xie had stopped taken the poison, the dose already taken had already worked out to hurt his heart and buried a seed of disease.
Master Xie drank the tea, coughed for a while and finally breathed regularly again. When he looked up again, his face softened. It didn't look sickly, but not as majestic and firm as a moment ago.
Seeing master regained normal breathing, the servant asked carefully, "Why did master hide your illness from the head of Shadow and bank? Were they also…?"
Master Xie stayed silent for a while and sighed, "I didn't tell them not because I don't trust them, but because I don't want them to worry about me." He was the backbone of the family, their spiritual belief and the heaven in their heart. There couldn't be anything wrong with him.
By not telling them, on the one hand, he hoped that their confidence wouldn't reduced when dealing with outsiders; on the other hand, he was too proud to let others know that master Ning had suffered a trap and hadn't figure out the real committer who intended to crack down the Ning family. He felt so shameful.
The truth was fake. The fake was truth.
At least before Shaoqing returned, he didn't plan to let the two know.
To the bright daylight, the disgusting mother and son were pushed out by the Xie family, but who was hidden in the dark to control the whole game?
The emperor? A traitor within the Ning family who wanted to take the position? Or an old enemy who wished to smash the Ning family? Some were seeking after wealth, others after power and still others after his hidden forces…
Currently, the Ning family appeared glorious, but was in fact haunted by crisis. Several major powers were casting their eyes on it, making the situation inexplicably complicated. One minor mistake, and it would instantly become a reason for the various powers to start a fight. He couldn't be too cautious in taking every step.
Seeing master sighing, the servant shifted to another topic, "Should I pass down the words to put pressure on the Tong family?" How dared the old Tong to act against eldest lord Ning! He was digging his own grave.
The servant waited around master Ning was naturally the butler. He waited here all they long only because master Ning fell ill, so the butler handed all the affairs to others so that he could spend all his time serving his master.
Master Ning frowned for a long moment, "Let Shaoqing handle this on his own after he gets back. If an eagle wants to dominate the sky, he must learn to fly by himself."
"Then we're really not sending people to protect lord?"
"No! If he manages to return safely, I'll personally help him to obtain the position."
This was the last test of a father giving to his son. Cruel as it was, it contained more of his love and expectation…
Moreover, he had never believed that old Tong and the bitchy mother and son were able to defeat his son, who had secretly built up his own forces. His not mentioning didn't mean not knowing.
The butler asked, "Then madam…"
Master Ning glared his eyes round, "Call her bitch!"
"Yes. That bitch has bought many people's loyalty. Old madam is aging and less powerful, should I give her a hand?"
master Ning raised his hand and stopped him, "Don't worry about old madam."
Butler Ning suggestively looked at the door, "Now, even people in this courtyard have been bought by her…"
Master Ning smirked, "Those who can be bought aren't loyal people in the first place. They are useless to keep. After Shaoqing takes over my position, let's clean them away once and for all…"
He aimed at depriving everyone of their defense and waiting for the big fish to come out and collect it…
**
Tong Zijing finished a sculpture of a doll, carefully placed it into a box, and then took out a piggy from another box. He had let Tong Zhan prepared the carriage and happily ran in the direction of the Wang village.
He hadn't seen sister for many days and wished that this little doll in his hand could make her smile. This piggy was sculpted based on the one in the story scroll that she had brought him and took him many days to complete.
To his surprise, when he arrived, he found that the tofu workshop was in a clamor as usual but the gate of the Ning's was shut.
Tong Zhan walked over to knock on the door. After a long while, Mingyue came out. Seeing that behind him was Tong Zijing, she didn't dare to say much, returned inside to fetch a letter and whispered to Tong Zhan, "Lady told me to give this letter to lord Tong."
Having delivered the letter, she quickly closed the gate, only fearing that in a rage, lord Tong would throw her out again.
Mo Qianxue didn't give the letter to him prior to her departure was exactly because she feared he might be stubborn again and beg to follow her to the capital.
She didn't say goodbye to him personally for fear that he couldn't think it through and fell ill again. In fact, Mo Qianxue had thought too much. After Tong Zijing overcame his psychological obstacle and with Ji Xvyao's teaching day by day, he was now very broad-minded.
The knowledge and intelligence of a person who had been invited by Ning Shaoqing from thousands of miles away and gained favor by old Tong at the first sight shouldn't be underestimated.
Tong Zijing eagerly snatched over the envelop from Tong Zhan's hand and quickly opened it and draw out the letter.
Dear Zijing,
Sister is leaving for the capital.
I guess you must be very angry when you read this. Don't be. Anger would make you less pretty. After your brother-in-law and I settle down in the capital, I'll pick you up to hang around in the capital.
I've transferred two shares of the seasoning factory in the valley to you. Promise me that you'll attend to the factory. It took me much hard work and over half a year to build up…
In the end, don't go to the capital blindly. Be nice and listen to Mr. Ji. Work hard and take over the management of your family as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Mo Qianxue.
Tong Zijing remained silent for a long moment before her carefully folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. Then he drew out the contract and read it. Then, putting the letter into his pocket, he handed the contract to Tong Zhan.
"Give it to the butler. Since there are my shares, the factory should be protected by the Tong family."
He had heard Mr. Ji mentioned that brother-in-law wasn't an ordinary person, wondering whether sister would suffer in the capital…