Chapter 455 – From heaven to hell (2)
Ji Man let out a long sigh of relief. Ning Yuxuan showed signs of happiness too. They were finally obtaining an imperial edict for marriage.
However, after Zhao Zhe finished writing, he smiled at Ning Yuxuan and said, “Marquis, take a look. Is this correct?”
Furrowing his brow, Ning Yuxuan stepped forward to take the imperial edict and read it.
Ning Yuxuan’s expression turned ugly. He raised his head and looked Zhao Zhe. “Your Majesty, since you’ve already agreed, why make things difficult for us?”
“There’ll be an auspicious day five years from now.” Zhao Zhe lightly smiled. “It’ll be a very suitable day for a wedding. The head of the astrology department specially calculated this date for the emperor. There’ll be a gorgeous spectacle in the sky that day. Be sure to not let down this emperor’s good intentions.”
Although they couldn’t complain that he hadn’t bestowed them a marriage, but with the way he did it, he might as well not have bestowed it. The only difference was that he had given Ji Man the title of Ning Yuxuan’s fiancée.
Still, this was good too. This way, he couldn’t have Ji Man enter the inner place anymore.
When everyone was departing the hall, Zhao Zhe called out to Xiao Tianyi, who was walking at the very end of the group.
Zhao Zhe simply said, “Cousin, don’t forget which family you belong to.”
Xiao Tianyi nodded and left after saluting.
—
On the carriage ride back to the estate, Ji Man’s heart was full of happiness. Sitting next to Ning Yuxuan, she hummed a tune. Seeing that he wasn’t showing any response, she touched his forehead and asked in concern, “Did you lose your mind from bumping your head?”
Ning Yuxuan pulled her hand down and held it in his. He chuckled. “I haven’t. It’s just rare to see you so happy.”
“How can I not be happy?” Ji Man thought that if she had a tail, it would be raised up to the sky right now. “I’ve finally gotten rid of that big pervert, and I have my child. Even if someone offered me fifty gold taels right now to cry, I wouldn’t be able to.”
Marquis Moyu chuckled. Her good mood was infectious. He wished they could get home sooner, so he could take her and Haohao out to eat some snacks.
However, as soon as they arrived, they saw there was something very wrong in the estate. The servant girl that was supposed to watch Haohao was waiting at the entrance. As soon as she saw them, she knelt down and kowtowed until her head was bleeding. “This servant deserves to die!”
Generally, servants wouldn’t be so sincere with kowtowing. Ji Man smiled. When they were supposedly kowtowing, their heads would never actually touch the ground. What could this servant girl have possibly done wrong for her to continue repeatedly knock her forehead against the ground even after it was bleeding?
Ning Yuxuan’s expression had already changed. He went forward and wrenched the servant girl up. “What happened? Where’s the heir?”
“The heir is in the estate…. he’s in his courtyard.” The servant girl was trembling in fear. Looking at Ning Yuxuan, she pleased, “My lord, please spare this servant’s life.”
If Haohao was in the courtyard, why was she begging for her life? Ji Man felt puzzled, but she suppressed her unease. Haohao would be okay. Hadn’t a monk said that Haohao was meant for riches and nobility?
They turned and sprinted towards Haohao’s courtyard. This was the first time that Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan ran without any regard to keeping an elegant image. They even ran through a flowerbed on their way to the courtyard.
When they arrived, the room was quiet and didn’t have the usual sound of Haohao reciting from a book or laughing. Although a doctor had already arrived before them, he was sitting next to Haohao and at a complete loss. He had opened his medicine box and was holding a needle in his hand.
“What happened?” Ning Yuxuan walked to the bed and looked at Haohao’s little face that was turning blue.
Haohao was silently lying there without making any sound. He almost seemed if he had stopped breathing.
The nearby doctor trembled as he said, “My lord, the heir has been poisoned with something strange…”
Ji Man laughed when heard these words. A strange poison? It was another strange poison again. Why were there so many sinister poisons in the ancient world? Why were there so many malicious people?!
Ji Man went forward and stroked Haohao’s face. She looked at the doctor and asked, “Why aren’t you using your needles? You already took them out. Why aren’t you using them?
Hard-pressed, the doctor replied, “This one has already tried them. They didn’t work. There’s no antidote to the heir’s poison. This one is afraid…”
Ji Man’s eyes widened. Ning Yuxuan couldn’t accept reality either. He turned his head to look at the servant girl with the bleeding forehead and angrily said, “Who did this?”
The servant girl repeatedly shook her head. “This servant just went to the toilet. When this servant came back to the garden, the heir was already on the ground. Many of the servants went back to visit their families recently, so there was no one around to see whom else entered the garden. This servant… This servant really doesn’t know.”
Ning Yuxuan’s eyes were red. Ji Man blankly sat down on the bed and didn’t say a word. When the doctor packed up his stuff, Haohao started to painfully whimper, “Dad…”
“I’m here.” Ning Yuxuan hastily returned to the bed and picked up Haohao. “Dad is here.”
Haohao’s little face, which had finally regained some weight after his kidnapping, looked deathly pale right now. Ji Man clenched her jaw as tears fell down. She had clearly been in heaven a moment ago, why had she fallen to hell in the next moment?
Who was so vicious that they could harm a child?
“Check everyone in the estate,” Ning Yuxuan ordered Guibai, “Tell me if anyone has disappeared.”
“Understood,” Guibai left right after acknowledging the order.
It was as if the estate was shrouded in black fog. Ning Yuxuan invited over many famous doctors, but they all said that Haohao would die in a few days if the antidote wasn’t found.
During this time, Ji Man tirelessly watched after Haohao. She even knelt down towards the cloak in the wardrobe and pleaded with Nie Sangyu, “He’s your son too. Can you send him to modern-day for medical treatment? The medical treatment in modern-day can save him.”
However, Nie Sangyu hadn’t appeared again after that previous dream.
