Do You Like Me That Much? Miss Villainess

Duke Bai thought to himself, "just as expected," and said solemnly: "Please speak."

"It's nothing major."

Mu Qinglan shook her head, reached for the wheelchair armrest, and took out several sheets of letter paper from the small box under the armrest, folded neatly.

Old Master Bai: "?"

He had been thinking that after Mu Qinglan had made the Bai family owe such a big favor, she would make an outrageous request, demanding something that would make the Bai family bleed. But now she was taking out a few sheets of paper?

Had she written her demands on paper? How many conditions could there be!

Mu Qinglan handed over the letter papers: "Duke Bai, please look at this intelligence first, and then we'll discuss cooperation."

The old master took the papers with some suspicion, opened them, and began reading silently.

But after reading just a few lines, his pupils suddenly contracted, his back straightened, and he instinctively looked up at the calm-faced wheelchair girl across from him, his heart filled with doubt.

Rustle, rustle.

After flipping through all three sheets, the old master finally asked in a low voice: "Miss Mu, what this letter says...?"

"Of course it's true." Mu Qinglan looked at him, picked up her teacup, and said: "You should have already anticipated this in your heart."

The old man was silent.

Mu Qinglan continued: "The current court can roughly be divided into three factions: those who want war, those who don't, and those who are neutral. Prince Li and the Crown Prince both belong to the faction that wants war. My father belongs to the faction that doesn't want war. And you are clear that, apart from political enemies, the most annoying... are fence-sitters."

"But based on just this, they want to move against my Bai family?" the old man asked doubtfully.

"The tall tree catches the wind."

"Although the Bai family is not as grand as before, to move against us, I'm afraid that just the relationship between these two families is still insufficient."

"They're just the pushers," Mu Qinglan said calmly. "The one who truly wants to remove the Bai family from Heyang is someone else."

The old master was silent for two seconds, then pointed upward:

"That person?"

"In Heyang City, besides our beloved Emperor Wu, no one else would have such courage."

The old master was stunned for a moment, shocked that she dared to directly mention the emperor's title, while also feeling a momentary disorientation, as if the name suddenly seemed so unfamiliar.

Generally, emperors received posthumous titles after death.

But that Emperor Wu, with his unparalleled aura, had established his posthumous title—"Wu" (Martial)—while still alive.

The character "Wu," combined with his deployment of troops and annual campaigns upon ascending the throne, along with his astonishing martial arts attainments, left no one in the court able to object.

"But what does he gain from this?"

The old man tried hard to think.

"Great Xia hasn't waged external wars for several years. Our Emperor Wu has been recuperating for nearly ten years, planning something big." Mu Qinglan's tone remained steady. This was all guesswork based on the game's future storyline, but she was quite confident.

And it didn't matter if she guessed wrong.

As long as she convinced him.

Hearing this, the old master's gaze inevitably fell on the young girl.

Mu Qinglan looked at him calmly: "The demon race is located in the southwest, with fertile land. More than a decade ago, Prince Li conquered all the small countries to the south. Emperor Wu is itching to act, but he lacks a pretext that could provoke the anger of the entire court and openly start a war."

"We are that pretext?" The old man's expression changed.

Although he hadn't fully trusted Mu Qinglan's explanation yet, subconsciously, he had already begun considering the consequences of this matter.

"What do you want to do?"

The old master thought clearly. Regardless of whether this was true or not, he would treat it as if it were. After all, the Bai family owed Mu Qinglan a big favor that needed to be repaid.

If it was false, then it would just be repaying a favor.

If it was true, then it would be saving the entire Bai family!

Mu Qinglan gave an affirmative sound, unhurriedly putting down her teacup: "Everything should continue as normal. At certain times, we might need the Bai family's connections to give the Crown Prince and Prince Li a wake-up call. Meanwhile, we also need to help His Majesty find a good pretext for starting a war..."

"I'll follow your lead." The old master nodded when Mu Qinglan had said enough.

Consider the favor repaid.

○

After sitting for a while, Mu Qinglan left directly.

Bai Yuyu saw her off, then returned to her room, finding her grandfather still sitting there. She couldn't help but pout: "Grandfather."

"Hmm?"

"What are you still doing here?"

The old master was so angry that his beard bristled: "You're all smiles when meeting your friend, but when you see your grandfather, you look disgusted? What's wrong, is my old face too ugly to look at?"

Bai Yuyu stuck out her tongue, feeling guilty.

The old master was exasperated: "With your current strength, you're still thinking about others all day. Can you compare? If it wasn't for her, even if you entered that mystical weapon secret realm, you would have come out with your tail between your legs. How could you have obtained that item?"

"Forget it, just interact more with her in the future."

The old master's eyes showed some satisfaction.

Little fish had been lively and outgoing since childhood, enjoying interaction with people. She had many friends, but none could match up to her.

During this time after making this friend, perhaps unwilling to fall behind, the silly little fish's strength had been shooting up, and her training time had also increased compared to before.

To be honest, just for this alone, even without the favor of the mystical weapon, the old master would have been grateful to Mu Qinglan.

But with the mystical weapon, he began to truly pay attention.

He was even willing to believe her alarming words and establish a connection.

This was the privilege of genius.

At this moment, Bai Yuyu suddenly thought of something and asked: "By the way, what request did she make?"

"What, want to be her little overseer?" The old master chuckled: "Don't worry, our family is not the kind that goes back on their word. If she's willing to trust us, how can you, as a family member, not trust us?"

Bai Yuyu gave a light snort.

She had accepted the staff without any burden earlier because she only thought it was a spiritual weapon, not knowing its value.

But after learning it was a mystical weapon, the item in her hand immediately became too hot to handle. She was even thinking, maybe she should return it to Mu Mu. She couldn't buy a mystical weapon even if she sold everything she owned!

The old master, having lived for so many years, glanced at her and immediately guessed what she was thinking:

"Don't think about returning it. She knew what you needed, that's why she gave it to you. Returning it would be betraying her good intentions."

Bai Yuyu blinked: "It's too valuable."

"How could it be more valuable than my silly child?" The old master grumbled: "My granddaughter is almost being led astray, and I haven't said anything yet!"

"Who's being led astray?!" Bai Yuyu was embarrassed.

"Heh."

The old master glanced sideways at his granddaughter and sneered.

A leaky cotton-padded jacket, might as well not have one! Heartbreaking!

"It's rare to have such a treasure that suits you. These days, you should stay at home and contemplate the mystical weapon properly. Don't go out."

The old master said calmly: "They say innate destiny traits can fight across ranks. You are innate too, and now you have a mystical weapon. Before defeating your cousin Xia, you're not allowed to go anywhere except the Six Bureaus."

"Cousin Xia is at the seventh rank..."

Bai Yuyu muttered, feeling a bit unconvinced.

She hadn't activated her innate destiny trait yet, so why was he being so strict? Really.

"So what if she's at the seventh rank?" The old master shook his head: "With so many advantages in your hands, if you still can't fight across ranks, then you might as well stop practicing martial arts and be a vase."

He spoke earnestly:

"Your friend's situation isn't great either, with many people watching her. If you can't help her at all, then in the future, what possibility of interaction would you two have?"

Bai Yuyu pursed her lips, thinking that was true.

If it were her, she wouldn't want a useless vase bothering her every day when she was in trouble.

"I understand..."

Bai Yuyu, as if her weak spot had been pinched, muttered softly: "I'll practice hard."

The old master sighed in his heart. Damn it, why do I have to use others to motivate my granddaughter when I'm encouraging her to work hard? Who is she practicing for?

Thinking about this, the old master's mood also turned sour.

He stood up, flicking his sleeve:

"Alright, that's enough on this matter. I'll go tell your cousin Xia. There's still over a month, try your best. Just in time to visit your good friend during the New Year."

"Mm-hmm."

Bai Yuyu nodded repeatedly.

Infected by this serious atmosphere, Bai Yuyu's expression became solemn, feeling as if she had suddenly transformed from a husky to a good-natured Samoyed.

The old master's mouth twitched. He pushed open the door and walked out with his hands behind his back, not even taking his cane.

So irritating!

○

That day, Mu Qinglan returned home, dismissed her servants, and softly hummed a doggerel, in quite a good mood.

The Bai family was also quite sensible.

The evidence she provided was actually somewhat ambiguous and theoretically shouldn't have been able to convince them. But out of respect for the mystical weapon, the old master of the Bai family chose to cooperate.

Actually, it didn't matter whether they believed it or not; the main thing was their cooperation.

She was willing to help the Bai family only because of Bai Yuyu. As for the other members of the Bai family? Sorry, are we that close?

Gaining the Bai family's help was just Plan A. Besides this, she also had Plans B, C, D... But since Plan A had already succeeded, there was no need to continue with the others, at most keeping some thoughts as a backup to prevent accidents.

The Duke Bai's mansion had stood in Heyang for several hundred years, with an intricate network of connections far surpassing Prince Qi's mansion.

Having this ally would make things easier.

Shadow One, standing at the door, could clearly hear the young miss's humming and thought she had come at an inopportune time. But after consideration, she still knocked on the door and reported.

"Enter."

"You're looking for me, is something the matter?" Mu Qinglan stopped humming and asked: "Where's Zhu Yan? Shouldn't she be the one reporting these things?"

Shadow One made a salute and said:

"The three of us discussed it. Some miscellaneous tasks that don't require a personal maid will be handled by us Shadow sisters, allowing Zhu Yan more time to practice. After all, her current strength is somewhat lacking and can't be of much use."

Mu Qinglan understood: "That's fine."

Seeing the young miss agree, Shadow One finally relaxed and got to the main point:

"The Jiang family, who holds a position in the Revenue Bureau, has sent you an invitation. It's for their daughter's full-month celebration. Do you want to go?"

"Or, like before, decline?"

Mu Qinglan thought for a moment, recalling: "The Jiang family? The family of the Assistant Minister of Revenue? I remember they're on our faction's side?"

"Yes, their legitimate daughter was born, and in five days there will be a full-month celebration." Shadow One answered.

"We've declined all previous invitations?" Mu Qinglan asked curiously.

"Yes," Shadow One looked troubled: "After all, your health..."

Mu Qinglan's expression twitched slightly.

Come to think of it, before she awakened her transcendent abilities, she was completely like a glass beauty, the kind that seemed as if she would break at the slightest touch.

Under those conditions, it did seem best not to go out.

But now... perhaps she could socialize a bit, showing some presence to her opponents, and incidentally, making people think more.

Why did she suddenly go out?

Does she have some scheme?

After considering, Mu Qinglan nodded: "Then let's go. Tell them."

She remembered there were no side quests related to this full-month celebration in the game, so it seemed she could be a bit more at ease regarding safety.

○

Five days later, the Jiang family.

The carriage brought the young girl, and after she alighted, the young lady with a cat-faced mask, Zhu Yan, pushed her in.

In the Jiang family mansion, people came and went, with many honored guests.

After all, the elder Jiang was a high official with many friends. Many invitations had been sent out, and there were also numerous people hoping to gain connections through the banquet.

So, there were already quite a few people in the mansion.

"Please come with me."

Not long after entering, a young matron came out and greeted Mu Qinglan.

"Madam Jiang, thank you for your trouble."

Mu Qinglan nodded slightly, noticing her somewhat pale complexion, and recognized her identity.

She was the Jiang family matron. Being a warrior, her physical constitution exceeded ordinary people's, so even though she had just given birth to a daughter, she wasn't confined to bed and unable to stand.

"Not at all, not at all. When we heard your family's message, my husband was quite surprised."

Madam Jiang smiled.

The girl across from her was obedient and charming, instantly maximizing one's first impression.

That she would honor her daughter's full-month celebration with her presence also filled her with goodwill.

It was known that this princess had a weak constitution and had never accepted anyone's invitation in the past few years! By comparison, it made their family seem quite special.

"My health has improved recently, and coincidentally seeing your family's invitation, I've taken the liberty to intrude."

Mu Qinglan explained softly.

Madam Jiang led her to a seat, chiding gently: "How could it be an intrusion? Our two families have always been on good terms. If you wish to visit, just let us know. How could it be considered an intrusion?"

"Please attend to your other matters first," Mu Qinglan paused, then said: "I'll just sit here and wait."

She wanted to stay here for a while, indicating that she was now able to come out and make moves. Follow current novels on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

Madam Jiang relaxed, truly concerned that this princess might not be satisfied. The influence of Prince Qi's mansion far exceeded their family of civil officials.

But just as the two were about to part.

A cry of alarm rose from the crowd, followed by the guests scattering like they had seen a bomb.

Mu Qinglan looked over in surprise.

She saw someone clutching their chest, stumbling a few steps, reaching out as if seeking help, but continuously spitting blood, making guttural sounds.

Within seconds, they fell heavily to the ground, convulsed twice, and then went still.

"Someone's dead?"

"There's an assassin!"

The guests instantly burst into an uproar, losing all composure.

Mu Qinglan stared at the corpse for a full three seconds, almost in a trance, before reacting with a depressed expression.

Why did something happen again?

Heaven knows, this time she truly hadn't planned anything!

Was she the Death Goddess in a wheelchair?