Chapter 538 - The Necklace, the Box of Catastrophe (1/2)
Mo Yarui suddenly fainted. Even though she woke up and claimed that it was not a big deal, she had just suffered from heatstroke due to physical weakness, and she just needed to be more careful. But Feng Yuxuan decided not to stay any longer and took his leave to Feng Yuran. When leaving, he repeatedly told Feng Yuran not to use the excuse of feeling unwell tomorrow. Otherwise, the Emperor would really get angry.
Feng Yuran sent Feng Yuxuan off at the door while promising that he would attend the banquet properly tomorrow and would definitely not be lazy.
Mo Xuetong had already changed into a light green skirt by the time Feng Yuran returned. She walked out of the room and saw Feng Yuran enter, she took the handkerchief in her maidservant’s hands and pulled his clothes, gesturing him to lower his head, and wiped his sweat carefully with the handkerchief.
After all, it was in summer. There was still a long distance to make a return from here the manor’s gate. And Feng Yuran was easy to feel hot. Just after a while, his forehead started to sweat.
The maidservants in the room had all left at this sight.
Smiling, Feng Yuran watched Mo Xuetong prop up her feet and wipe the sweat off his forehead carefully. Her fragrant body leaned into his embrace and her eyes gleamed crystal clear like dripping water. He reached out to put his arms around Mo Xuetong and sat on the chair beside in spite of her struggle. He took a deep breath on her neck, closed his eyes, and muttered, “Tong’er’s fragrance is still the best.”
“You’re not serious again.” Mo Xuetong pouted her pink lips and nudged him. Seeing that he was still ignoring her, she reached out to tug at his ear. “I’m talking about something serious with you.”
“Speak.” Feng Yuran said lazily. He opened his eyes and turned to look at her, only to meet her eyes opening wide full of unhappiness. He straightened up immediately and patted her back, showing that he was very serious and listened intently. Then, he gave a gentle smile, raised his eyebrows, and asked, “Tong’er, do you want to know the story about the exquisite South Pearl necklace?”
Mo Xuetong leaned against Feng Yuran, curled up the corners of her lips slightly, and asked, “Where did you get that necklace?”
Her beautiful eyes glowed with a hint of wisdom. She looked as elegant and pure as a beautiful flower, but more with prudence and cleverness that other women did not have, which cast a faraway streak on her as if she were wreathed in the fog. Feng Yuran tilted his head and looked at her with gentleness and love full of his eyes. His red lips curled up, and he looked at her with a faint smile and asked, “Tong’er, how did you know about this necklace?”
She did not know how to answer that. She could not say that she had heard about it in her past life. So she simply tugged on Feng Yuran’s sleeve and shook it in a cute manner. “It doesn’t matter how I know it. Tell me first if there’s something wrong with this necklace, and you happen to know it as well.”
More happiness appeared on Feng Yuran’s eyebrows when he saw the look of trust in her enchanting eyes. He looked at her with a soft smile on his handsome face and said, “The string of necklace was sent from the Southern Barbarian Lands, which was planned to present to Father. I received it several days ago. But because something wrong happened to the crown prince of the Southern Barbarian Lands, I haven’t presented till now and decided to wait a few days. But I don’t expect that someone has cast a greedy eye on it.”
Lazy as his voice was, there was a hint of coldness at the corners of his eyes. Viciousness spurted out from his eyes, making his handsome face look bloodthirsty like an Asura. Feng Yuran thought, his eldest brother did extend his hands too long. No sooner had the news come than the eldest brother reacted to it, trying to instigate Tong’er to open the box. It was rather malicious.
Mo Xuetong rolled the falling arm veil to her wrist, blinked her watery eyes, and smiled at Feng Yuran. “King Chu intentionally mentioned this string of top quality necklace in front of me to arouse my curiosity. He wanted me to open the box. Could it be that there is something terrible in the box, so it cannot be opened?”
In her past life, Mo Xuetong had been kept in the back courtyard. Therefore, even though the event had shaken the court, Mo Xuetong only knew little about it—that one of Emperor Zongwen’s favorite concubines had died an unnatural death, and many people in the concubine’s palace had also died a terrible death. The bottom of the disaster had been the necklace that the Empress had bestowed. All the arrows had been aimed at the Empress. The Emperor had detested the Empress so much that he almost had abandoned her.
But Mo Xuetong did not know the specific reasons in it. She had pondered about it for a long time in the pavilion, thinking that it must have something to do with the box. Otherwise, since the box had been presented from the Southern Barbarian Lands, why did nothing happen to the Empress after she seeing it, but the misfortune happened to the favored concubine after the box was bestowed to her? The items from the Southern Barbarian Lands were weird, so it was a must to be wary of it.
Feng Yuran held Mo Xuetong with one hand and supported himself on the table with the other. The purple sleeves embroidered with the pattern of Mandillo by golden and red threads fell from his elbow, which made him look even more handsome and fabulous. He curled up his vermilion lips a bit with charm on his face and joy in his eyes, and listened to Mo Xuetong’s detailed a.n.a.lysis.
His eyes gleamed s.h.i.+ningly.
“That box was sent by the Southern Barbarian Lands, and it’s covered with its national seal. Once it’s opened, the seal will definitely be different. Furthermore, I’ve long heard that the box is called Duo La in the Southern Barbarian Lands. In its language, Duo La is the meaning of disaster, which means that this set of so-called national treasure is a curse. However, since it’s always been placed in front of the temple altar of the Southern Barbarian Lands, fewer and fewer people know its true meaning.”
“Then what are you going to do? Do you want to give this box? What if something goes wrong by giving it?”
Feng Yuran could not bear to see Mo Xuetong frowning, and he reached out to gently stroke her furrowed brows and explained softly to her. When he saw that Mo Xuetong’s brows were smoothed out, he reached out and held Mo Xuetong’s tender fingers in his hand. Then, he placed them by his lips and kissed softly. Then, he looked up with his lively eyes. Mo Xuetong’s heart beat faster when she saw that. She could not help but curse that the man’s appearance was too attractive.