Chapter 125: You Are Trying to Scam Me

As the mottled viper slithered through the crowd, panic spread all around.

“Where did that snake go?”

“Oh my, why is there a snake here? Get away!”

“Where did it run off to?”

“Is it poisonous?”

Many of the guests leaped from their seats, dodging frantically from side to side. Hearing the commotion, the guards hurried over and searched everywhere, eager to catch the venomous snake. But it was far too cunning and had vanished without a trace.

The Dark North King bowed toward Emperor Zongkang. “Your Majesty, please forgive us. That was a venomous snake raised by our princess. It is only a beast, and I have no idea why it suddenly disobeyed and escaped. If it has injured any of the distinguished guests present, I happen to have the antidote here. I trust Your Majesty will not take offense.”

The Dark North King spoke with effortless smugness, as though he were deliberately enjoying the spectacle of the Glass Kingdom’s embarrassment.

Amid the frantic footsteps, the mottled viper raced toward Xia Jiujang. Mingning Zi’s lips curled into a triumphant smile as she secretly directed the snake to strike.

She stared at Xia Jiujang, eager to see her writhe in pain. Yet, strangely, Xia Jiujang did not react at all. She even lifted her wine cup and took a leisurely sip.

Mingning Zi frowned and summoned the mottled viper, but received no response. She suddenly rose to her feet.

“How strange. Little Flower, where did you run off to?”

Mingning Zi had lost control of Little Flower.

The Dark North King knitted his brows and asked in a low voice, “What happened?”

“Little Flower isn’t responding.”

The Dark North King was visibly startled. Mingning Zi was merely a princess of the Southern Kingdom, and her ability to control spirit creatures was inferior to that of the Southern Kingdom’s holy maiden. Even so, the mottled viper had always remained at her side. It was the spirit creature she handled most skillfully, and she had never once lost control of it. How could it have suddenly stopped responding?

Mingning Zi rushed before Xia Jiujang and demanded, “You! What did you do to my Little Flower?”

Xia Jiujang raised a question of her own. “Oh? With so many people here, Princess Mingning, why did you come straight to me in search of this Little Flower?”

Obviously, Little Flower had to be here. Mingning Zi had ordered it to bite Xia Jiujang.

Seeing how furious Mingning Zi had become, Xia Jiujang stopped teasing her. She suddenly extended her hand. Clutched in her fingers was a mottled viper, barely alive.

“Is this the Little Flower Princess Mingning was talking about?”

Everyone nearby drew a sharp breath at the sight. No one had expected Xia Jiujang to be so bold as to seize a venomous snake with her bare hands.

Emperor Zongkang’s gaze toward Xia Jiujang changed. He had already been displeased when the Southern Kingdom’s envoys used the snake to throw the palace banquet into disorder. Now Xia Jiujang had caught it herself, humiliating the envoys in full view of everyone and venting the emperor’s resentment on his behalf.

Little Flower hung limp in Xia Jiujang’s hand.

Mingning Zi cried out in alarm. “Little Flower, what happened to you?”

She snatched the snake from Xia Jiujang, but the mottled viper was already motionless.

How could this have happened? Little Flower had grown up beside Mingning Zi since it was young. It was highly poisonous and obeyed Mingning Zi’s commands without fail. How had it died the moment it reached Xia Jiujang?

Mingning Zi shouted furiously, “You! You killed my Little Flower!”

Xia Jiujang replied without the slightest courtesy, “Is this venomous snake yours? I thought it had escaped from somewhere. After all, when it was crawling wildly around Moon Sparrow Palace, the Southern Kingdom’s envoys seemed entirely unconcerned.”

“Compensate me for Little Flower!” Mingning Zi roared.

Xia Jiujang gave a mocking smile. “Wasn’t it Princess Mingning who ignored it in the first place?”

Those words left Mingning Zi speechless. She had ignored Little Flower because she intended to use it to teach Xia Jiujang a lesson. Now Xia Jiujang had turned that very fact against her.

Xia Jiujang continued, “The Southern Kingdom’s envoys were nowhere near me, yet they watched as the venomous snake crawled about unchecked. This happened because they failed to keep proper control of it. What does that have to do with me?”

The Dark North King stepped forward and bowed. “Princess Consort Jin, it is true that we failed to keep Little Flower properly restrained. But the fact that it suddenly died in your hands is exceedingly suspicious. Little Flower was a gift bestowed upon Princess Mingning by the Southern Kingdom’s holy maiden. It grew up alongside the princess from childhood. You killed it without a second thought—is that not a sign that you hold the Southern Kingdom in contempt?”

Xia Jiujang let out a cold laugh. “When I killed it, I had no idea it was a gift from the Southern Kingdom’s holy maiden, nor that it had grown up with Princess Mingning. It never told me, and it was not wearing a sign around its neck. Besides, while it was running wild through Moon Sparrow Palace, none of the Southern Kingdom’s envoys explained any of this. Now that it is dead, you suddenly have so much to say. Are you trying to extort me?”

The Dark North King’s expression darkened.

Princess Mingning had used Little Flower to punish Princess Consort Jin. The Southern Kingdom’s envoys had known exactly what was happening, yet deliberately kept silent because they wanted to watch the Glass Kingdom descend into panic and take advantage of the chaos to humble them. If they had refused to speak beforehand, what meaning was there in bringing it up afterward?

The people of the Southern Kingdom had simply been too confident—so certain that they would be the ones to injure the people of the Glass Kingdom. They had never imagined that they would be the ones to suffer instead.

Prince Jun Wuwen remarked casually, “I seem to recall the Dark North King saying moments ago that it was only a venomous snake, and that even if it bit someone, there was an antidote. Since it was merely an uncontrollable beast, why not raise another one after this one died?”

Those words had come from the Dark North King’s own mouth. Now that Prince Jun Wuwen had turned them against him, his face stiffened, becoming extremely unpleasant to behold.

Prince Jun Wuwen rarely spoke, but whenever he did, his words were astonishing. The Dark North King was left utterly defenseless.

Mingning Zi’s face turned livid. “Raise another one after it dies? You make it sound so simple. Do you know how long it takes to cultivate the understanding required between a handler and a mottled viper?”

Prince Jun Wuwen glanced at her and sneered. “That is your own fault, Princess Mingning. If it was so important, why did you let it escape? I have not even blamed the Southern Kingdom’s envoys for the venomous snake they brought into Moon Sparrow Palace and the chaos it caused. Yet you have the nerve to twist the facts and make unreasonable demands.”

“You… you…” Mingning Zi trembled with rage.

Mingze stepped forward to smooth things over. “Enough. This was your fault from the beginning, Mingning. You failed to notice when Little Flower escaped, and when the snake was discovered in Moon Sparrow Palace, you remained indifferent. Now that Little Flower is dead, you are trying to make Princess Consort Jin the culprit. Leave at once.”

Mingning Zi’s face turned livid. She pointed at Mingze and snapped, “Third Brother, how can you keep siding with outsiders? What is so wonderful about this Xia Jiujang that you defend her at every turn? She has not even married you, yet you are already trying so hard to please her. You should give up on that idea first. Hmph!”

With that, Mingning Zi turned and stormed away.

Her words caused everyone in Moon Sparrow Palace to cast startled glances between Mingze and Xia Jiujang, as though the two of them shared some secret that could not be spoken aloud.

Mingze sighed helplessly, then turned and bowed toward Emperor Zongkang. “Your Majesty, please forgive us. My younger sister is willful, and her failure to restrain the snake caused turmoil in Moon Sparrow Palace. I have failed in my duty to discipline her.”

Although Mingning Zi’s snake had caused some disorder, Xia Jiujang’s intervention had humbled the Southern Kingdom’s envoys, so Emperor Zongkang did not take the matter too seriously.

Yet someone else had taken a keen interest in the fact that Xia Jiujang had caught the mottled viper. The gaze directed at her had changed.

One shadowed figure whispered to another behind him, “Mingning Zi’s snake should never have lost control, let alone died in Xia Jiujang’s hands. Unless the spirit serpent encountered someone with even greater mastery over spirit control.”

The other figure asked, “Can Xia Jiujang control spirit creatures?”

“Whether she can or not… there is only one way to find out.”

The figure stared at Xia Jiujang, eyes gleaming with ill intent.