Poison Genius Consort

s before he hastened to bow.
“Very pleased to meet you.”

Ning JIng’s father had shown up, but not her mother.
Perhaps she already passed away.
In any case, Tang Li didn’t care, so he didn’t ask.
Meanwhile, Han Yunxi had already brought Lady Tang out of the carriage.
The old president quickly came to greet them.
“And I expect this must be Lady Tang?”

“Precisely.
Old President Ouyang, very pleased to meet you.” Lady Tang remained polite.

The two exchanged greetings before ex-president Ouyang invited them into the hall.
Han Yunxi accompanied Lady Tang while Long Feiye stood by the entrance instead.
Noticing this, the old man smiled and said, “Come in with us.
The guards here are strict, so you can set your mind at rest.”

“These are the rules of the Tang Clan.
Just leave him by the door, it’s fine,” Lady Tang explained.

The old man didn’t press the issue.
As they entered the main hall, Han Yunxi was the last to go in.
She stole a peek towards their guide and found that he had left off a side hall instead.
Inside the hall was empty besides a few servant girls.
Ning Jing was nowhere in sight.
A wedding was an important affair equivalent to the life of one’s mother and father.
It was unsuitable for Ning Jing to be absent, but their circumstances were too unique.
It would only be strange if Ning Jing showed up, considering her temper and bearing.

Tang Li secretly felt a little disappointed when he saw nobody around.
Because today was simply the betrothal meeting, he only needed to show up without saying any words.
He ended up sitting quietly on the side.
Meanwhile, Lady Tang and old President Ouyang began discussing matters with polite banalities.
It took a while before they got Ning Jing’s Eight Characters (her year, month, day, and hour of birth in four pairs, each consisting of one Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch) and had the fortune teller calculate a fortuitous wedding date.

Naturally, the fortune teller had been arranged beforehand to give the most satisfactory results to both parties.
Han Yunxi was only dispirited to find that Ning Jing was only 19 years old—three years younger than Tang Li! She thought that the girl was much older.
For such a young girl to have Cloud Realm Trade Consortium under her grasp was no simple thing! Leaving aside all the complicated relationships involved, Tang Li had managed to snag quite a catch despite being a rich son who never fretted much about anything in his life.

She stole a peek at him, hoping to poke fun with her look, but Tang Li was actually lost in his own thoughts.

“The twenty-eighth day of this month is the auspicious hour and lucky day.
But the bride must pass over the threshold of the door before noon.
It’ll be inauspicious if she crosses after noon!” the fortune-teller said as he stroked his beard.*

Both the old president and Lady Tang nodded without protest.
The fortune-teller went on to talk about a few other details while the two old people listened.
An hour or so of talk thus passed by smoothly.
Finally, Lady Tang gave a glance towards the wedding nanny, who was better suited to speak in her place.

She and ex-president Ouyang began to talk about customs and usual practices before they got to the subject of betrothal gifts.

“Old President Ouyang, here are the betrothal gifts from the Tang Clan.
There are 10 assassination weapons and ten carts worth of gold, silver, and jewels,” the wedding nanny patted the chests with a cheery laugh.
“The Tang Clan is one of the most generous groom’s clans I’ve ever see.
Leaving aside these 10 weapons, the ten carts’ worth of treasure definitely deserve to be called Cloud Realm’s best! Here’s the Tang Clan’s good faith and sincerity in full display! President Jing is very lucky!”

At this moment, Ning Jing curled up her lip contemptuously from her hiding place in a corner.
Yes, ten carts’ worth of treasures was a big sum, but she didn’t lack for wealth! The riches she controlled in her hands, along with the ones she created for Cloud Realm Trade Consortium each year, were hundreds, if not thousands time more than these measly 10 carts.
She was more interested in the 10 assassination weapons, because her older brother had specifically given instructions on them.

Old President Ouyang rose to his feet and looked past the chests of treasure to the one containing the weapons in the back.
The wedding nanny quickly opened them up to reveal 10 smaller treasure chests.
These she opened one by one with introductions.
The last chest contained the Plum Blossom Rain Needles.
“This is the second-ranked treasure of the Tang Clan.
The young clan head has looked after it all this time.
You can regard it as his heartfelt feelings for gifting the Plum Blossom Rain Needles as part of the betrothal gifts.”

“His heart is clear,” the old President Ouyang finally felt his heart sink back into his chest.
He was simply one of the Ning JIng’s subordinates, ordered here to put on a show.
All she had said was to make sure to see the Plum Blossom Rain Needles in person, or else the wedding would be for naught.

“Could I marry Ning Jing if I didn’t have a heart?” Tang Li suddenly gave a careless laugh.
Those who didn’t know any better would only assume he was acting frivolous again, but Lady Tang and Han Yunxi both knew he had words hiding within his words.

The Plum Blossom Rain Needles had long been all used up.
Now there was only an empty husk with no center–no heart–inside.
Old President Ouyang only smiled and avoided answering, but Ning Jing couldn’t take the jibe.
She had already decided to ignore this man, but his words spurred her to give him a second look.
Seeing him sitting there with that expression on his face, coupled with his tone of voice, only made her unwell all over.
She could bear it when just hearing accounts from the guide, but now she’d seen his true face for herself.
It was impossible for her to bear him.
How could she….how could she have been so blind?!

Besides his robes of white, there was nothing ethereal about him at all! When was he ever as handsome and light-hearted as the breeze? How was she supposed to deal with him for an entire year? And she even had to stay in the Tang Clan during that time!

Finally, Ning Jing stalked into the open and demanded, “Tang Li, if I say that you can’t, will you give up on marrying me?”

*Author’s Note: In ancient times, one month had 28 days (according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar).