Chapter 905: A Million Times for You (267)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“A vixen like her should die as soon as possible. The Princess Consort had caught her red-handed when she climbed onto His Highness’ bed previously, and yet she didn’t learn her lesson even after a severe beating. She deserves it,” An Xiaoning’s roommate, Xiao Liu, remarked snidely.
“Exactly, His Highness is not one whom she should be harboring designs on. She ought to take a look at herself in the mirror and know her place.”
“Great, she’s going to be beaten to death for not knowing any better. She’ll even get her tongue cut off…”
“…”
After shrieking in agony for a long while, her voice soon began to fade, and she only stopped when she decided that it was time to feign being dead.
A red liquid was then smeared all over her body. She lay on the straw mat and was carried out of the room.
She was then brought away from the palace and sent to the arranged venue.
An Xiaoning knew that she was just dreaming, though she had no idea when she would wake up again.
I slept for several consecutive days previously. What will happen this time?
I’m not going to dwell on it. I’ll wake up when it’s time for me to.
She finally got inside the carriage.
One of Jin Qingyan’s skilled bodyguards was accompanying her.
He was riding the horse while An Xiaoning sat inside the carriage.
“May I ask you a few questions?” she asked.
“Feel free, Miss Jin.”
“Does Brother Ling have any children with the Princess Consort?”
Dumbfounded, the bodyguard answered, “Miss Jin… His Highness has yet to have any children, although other princes his age have already become fathers to several children. Don’t you know that as well?”
“I mean, do they plan to have any children…”
“Of course not.”
An Xiaoning was filled with an inexplicable feeling upon hearing his words.
The carriage trod along the roads at a slow and steady pace, and she soon dozed off.
This time, her dream lasted shorter than it did previously.
It was already daybreak by the time she woke up.
Staring at the face that was closely in front of hers, An Xiaoning inched closer toward him and rubbed her face against his affectionately. She then wrapped her arms around him tightly, not wanting to let go at all.
Jin Qingyan opened his eyes slowly and asked in a hoarse voice, “You’re awake?”
“I had another dream. I thought I would stay asleep for several consecutive days again. To my surprise, I actually woke up really soon.”
“Well, it was just an awakening of your memory of your previous lifetime. How could it last for the same duration every single time? Besides, your dreams don’t follow the chronological sequence of events anyway. Tell me, what did you dream of this time?”
An Xiaoning described every detail of her dream to him, after which she let out a long sigh and said, “I was really afraid that you would gang up with that princess consort and cut my tongue off before beating me to death in that dream. However, I was rather relieved when I found out about something.”
“What did you find out?”
“When I asked your bodyguard if you and the Princess Consort were planning to have any children, he said ‘Of course not’…”
Jin Qingyan tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “Yes, you’re the only person I want to have children with.”
She stood up and said, “Get up, I still have to visit them at the hospital today.”
“Sure.”
The two of them got out of bed together. As soon as they arrived downstairs, they were greeted with the sight of Fan Shixin entering with a lunchbox in his hands. “Here’s some breakfast Auntie Chen made,” he said.
An Xiaoning took it from his hands and asked, “Has Bei Qi come up with an answer yet?”
“He said he’ll be done soon. Let’s wait a little while longer.”
Jin Qingyan lifted the lid of the lunchbox and said, “Let’s eat first.”
“Sure.” She sat down and picked up her chopsticks.
Bei Qi came by personally after breakfast.
He was pushed into the house in his wheelchair.
There was a vial containing a blue liquid in his hands.
Pointing at the vial, Bei Qi said, “This is a newly-formulated poison that contains extracts from tobacco and another poison. It’s completely odorless when dissolved in water and first attacks the stomach after ingestion. The poison will then infiltrate the blood circulation system and rapidly destroy the immune system so as to attack the cells in all parts of the body. If no emergency rescue action is taken within five minutes of ingestion, the results would be fatal. It takes more than an ordinary person to be able to concoct such a menacing poison.”
An Xiaoning took the bottle of blue liquid from his hands. This is it, the very thing that…
“I must let the culprit have a taste of his or her own medicine and experience the grave effects of such a deadly poison.”
Bei Qi looked up and said, “The amount in this small vial is enough to kill tens of lives.”
After putting away the vial in her pocket, An Xiaoning asked Bei Qi, “Has there been any progress in the chemical I wanted you to invent?”
“I’m still in the midst of research and production. It’ll take some time before I can produce it. After all, it’s no ordinary chemical. Please be patient and wait a while longer.”
“Alright, I have faith in your abilities.” She looked at Xiao Lu, who was pushing Bei Qi’s wheelchair, and said, “Bring Teacher Bei Qi back and take good care of him.”
“Yes, Young Madam.”
An Xiaoning then looked at Jin Qingyan and Fan Shixin. “We can’t afford any more delay. I’m going to start investigating this matter.”
“I don’t think any of the perpetrators who received orders from the mastermind is still alive now. Since the mastermind has decided to act in secret, how could he possibly let any insiders survive?” said Jin Qingyan.
“Even if they died last night, I must find out who did it. Who said that a dead man keeps secrets best?” An Xiaoning said with a look of determination in her eyes.
“I’ll get Shixin to assist you. I have to head to the office now.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
Jin Qingyan walked toward her and kissed her forehead before leaving.
“Where do we head to first? Do we go to the management and security office?”
“Of course.” She took a look at the time and said, “Give me a minute, I’ll go upstairs to get something.”
“Alright.”
Minutes later, she hurriedly rushed downstairs and got inside the car with Fan Shixin, who was in charge of driving. An Xiaoning sat in the passenger’s seat and called her hospitalized mother to ask about their condition. She felt much more relieved upon hearing that they were doing just fine.
Thirty seconds later, the car pulled over in front of the management and security office.
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin alighted from the car and proceeded to the guard room together.
Upon the sight of them, the guards on duty asked composedly, “Ms. An, is there anything we can help you with?”
“May I ask if any one of your staff members died within the past few days?”
“No.”
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “Some of my bodyguards died last night. I want to view the surveillance camera footages. May I?”
“Of course you may. I’ll show you the footage from yesterday,” said the guard on duty.
“Sure, thank you.” She took a step forward and stood beside the guard whom she had focused the bulk of her attention on.
There could only be two reasons why he allowed her to watch the footages so compliantly. It could be that he was really just being cooperative. But another reason could be that he had already viewed the footages and knew that there was nothing unusual or suspicious recorded by the surveillance cameras…
“Ms. An, look, this was taken in the day and you can see everything that happened all the way until the night. The surveillance cameras were all working fine and there were no malfunctions.”
The last line he added was rather redundant.
“I’m not suspecting that the cameras malfunctioned. After all, there was no rain or thunder or lightning last night. Intentional malfunctions probably wouldn’t happen so coincidentally either,” said An Xiaoning, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.