Chapter 52 - Three Days, Rascally but Surprised

Chapter 52: Three Days, Rascally but SurprisedTranslator: Li XinyiProofread by Prof Zhu Yuan

“In that case, I will speak plainly.” To his surprise, Nangong Ning said suddenly and very formally with a solemn expression. “Uncle,” she said, “I’ve got the token. So, I want to tell you that from today on, I’m going to take over all the family businesses of the Nangong family.”

“What do you mean?” Nangong Luo said, watching her casually take an ornate gold token from her sleeve. As the head of the Nangong family, he realized that she was holding Nangong Token. He had never got the token, but he knew clearly what it looked like. Nangong Ning gave a charming smile, saying, “For you are my elder and the head of my family, I have decided to tell you my decision to show my respect before I do this.”

Nangong Luo hissed in his heart, hehe……respect? If you really respect me, give me that token! But he did not dare, for it was evident that she was no longer easy to deceive. Although she was smiling and seemed innocent, she made him alarming.

He had promised Jun Zixuan that he would send five hundred thousand taels of gold to the East Palace in the shortest time with the help of Nangong Token. Usually he could collect half a million taels of gold without using the assets of Nangong family, but yesterday she had taken away a hundred thousand taels of gold from him, and now fifty thousand taels of gold was a huge sum to him, let alone five hundred thousand taels.

“Ning, what do you mean by saying you will take over all the businesses? I cannot understand you.”

Nangong Ning gave a sly smile and said, “How can you not understand? Are you fooling me? I mean that you needn’t have to worry about our family businesses any more. What you should do is to go and enjoy your retirement. Leave all the businesses to me and give me a chance to show filial piety to you.”

Nangong Luo almost vomited blood with anger and stared at her. He had never expected such a statement. She had been a little dull before, but it was impossible for her to say something so irritating and irrefutable. Did she say filial piety? What a lie! “You won’t have a fever and burn your head silly, will you?” He felt her forehead in his impatience, but she turned aside from his hand.

“It is you who get a fever!”

Nangong Luo’s face trembled with anger, and he asked, “Are you really going to do this?”

“I’ve got the token. Why do you think I’m joking? Or do you want to deny the token? Well, then, shall I call all the kinsmen and let them come here to witness?” Nangong Ning said coldly.

Nangong Luo’s heart sank, and he thought that if she called all the kinsmen, her decision would be set in stone. Now her actions were so unpredictable that she might take his place and become a new leader of their family if she thought it was interesting. At this thought he changed his mind and finally, he decided to make concessions in order to gain advantages.

“Ning, since you are so sweet, I’m not going to stop you, but I think it’s better to let you try first, as you have never done this before, I am afraid that you will be bothered by too many things. What is more, you may too busy to arrange everything……”

Before Nangong Luo could make up his excuse, Nangong Ning nodded and said, “You’re right. Well, give me three days and during those three days, if I don’t manage the family business properly, after three days, I will withdraw the token and stay out of the family business.” She smiled again at his surprise and said, “But, uncle, please support my management during these days.”

Did she say she wanted three days? Nangong Luo thought, with surprise and delight. She wanted only three days, and that he would have her suffer enough in those three days to force her to give up control of the family. “It’s good of you to understand. Don’t be worried, I will give you my full support during the three days.”

“Thank you very much, uncle” Nangong Ning said with a “simple” smile, looking excited, “But I don’t just mean that you can’t question my conduct during these three days, moreover…… If anyone questions me, you have to help me stop them.”

Nangong Luo thought for a moment, then nodded quickly and said, “No problem. You are my favorite child. If anyone doubts you, I will help you.” And in his mind he thought, it’s only three days. What can she do? If she wants to look for trouble then let her do it. Three days later she will has nothing more to say!

Seeing Nangong Luo leave, Nangong Ning called Su Yuan to come over.

Su Yuan had just stood in the dark, and of course he had heard the dialogue between Nangong Ning and Nangong Luo. He thought that Nangong Ning was so treacherous! She not only openly asked for three days, but also had Nangong Luo help if anything went wrong. The idea, he must say, was both rascal and surprising

“Su Yuan, as you have heard, we should start from now.” Nangong Ning handed him the token. Su Yuan stretched out his hand to take it, saying with no hesitation, “Fine.”

Nangong Luo returned to his yard and was still uneasy. He had originally intended to send someone to watch her, but she was so smart that all the maids in the Feihua Courtyard had been turned out by her. She had not spoken directly to him, but it was clear that if he sent another man, she would send them out again.

The only thing he could do now was to have his eyes on the Feihua Courtyard from a distance. But, all who came back to him told him that Nangong Ning had never been outside the Feihua Courtyard in the afternoon. For none could see her, they naturally did not seek out any useful information about her. Nangong Luo was very angry and uneasy at the same time.

Nangong Qingyao had been knocked unconscious by the crown prince with a chair, and had been helped back to her yard by servants. The prince completely forgot about her when he left, so she was still in the Nangong Mansion now. When she woke up, and the first thing she had done was to find Nangong Ning, but she had not arrived at the Feihua Courtyard and was stopped by Nangong Luo’s servant.

“What do you mean? My father won’t let me go to the palace?” Nangong Qingyao asked, shocked and puzzled, staring at the servant.

“Yes, Miss,” replied the servant, “And the master has asked you to go to the library. He has something to discuss with you.”

“Damned you, what do you mean, Miss? I am now the prince’s concubine! Call me Lady Nangong! Remember that if you make one more mistake, I will send people to hit you!” Nangong Qingyao scolded loudly, as if she had been hit a nerve, and she was instantly irritated, and her face flushed with anger.

The servant’s face changed with fear, and he fell to his knees and kowtowed. Nangong Qingyao’s anger subsided when she saw the blood on his forehead. With a flick of her sleeve, she went to Nangong Luo’s study.

“Father, why did you let me be stopped?” Nangong Qingyao asked with anger as soon as she entered the study. Nangong Luo looked at her, saying, “If I let you go, what are you going to do? She is very shrewd now, and if you try to provoke her, you will only be offended.”

“I am now the crown prince’s concubine. Who is she? She can only kowtow before me and beg for mercy!” Nangong Qingyao was very unconvinced and said tough things.

However, Nangong Luo interrupted his daughter and said impatiently, “You are the crown prince’s concubine only because of your dowry. The crown prince gives you the title for the large amount of money you brought to him after you married him. If you really let the prince like you, he would not treat me in such attitude!”

He had thought that because his daughter had become the prince’s concubine, although he was not the crown prince’s real father-in-law, the prince would at least show him a little respect. But then he realized that in the eyes of the prince, he was still only a minister serving the royal family. The prince ignored him because he was only the “head” of the Nangong family, not the real master of the family, and another reason was that his daughter was not taken seriously by the prince; otherwise, the prince would not have hit her so hard.

This, too, struck a nerve with Nangong Qingyao. According to him, her title was based on dowry which had been belonged to Nangong Ning. So what he meant was that she leaned on Nangong Ning to get where she was today?

“Father, are you blaming your daughter? Didn’t you first think of the idea of me marrying the prince instead of her? You said we’d be in trouble if we just killed her, so we did it this way. I did as you said, and now you blame me!”

Nangong Luo found his daughter angry and was also scared. If she became crown princess, he would rely on her, so he could not offend her too much. He said, “Don’t be angry. I’m only irritated by her. You don’t know, while you were in a coma, she took out Nangong Token and demanded that she would take over all the businesses of Nangong family and even asked me to enjoy my retirement. I’m so angry to say that!”

Nangong Qingyao listened to his description with great surprise, asking anxiously, with a grim expression, “How dare she! If she said so, father, what are you waiting for? If she does take over all businesses, how can we survive in Nangong Mansion?”

“Don’t worry. If she dares to do that, of course I won’t just wait for the end. I only give her three days, and she agrees to withdraw her order if she makes a mistake during the three days. Three days later, I’ll take what she took from her.” Nangong Luo calmed his daughter, sneering, “Three days are not given to her, but to me.”