Volume Two: Inheriting the Legacy, Brocade Robes Soaked in Blood Chapter 149: Snake Venom

The emperor had bestowed a title of nobility, and the entire Marquis's Mansion was filled with joy and jubilation. Gu Qinghan had also made preparations in advance, instructing the accountant to distribute a reward bonus to everyone.

Returning to the main hall, Yang Ning saw that the two boxes bestowed by the emperor were still on the table. He smiled at Gu Qinghan, "Third Sister, what do you think is inside these? That old eunuch said they were rare treasures and they should be quite valuable. If we are ever really short on silver, selling these two items would surely fetch a handsome price."

Gu Qinghan cast a sideways glance at Yang Ning, and retorted unhappily, "These are things just bestowed by His Majesty, and you are already thinking of selling them? Leaving aside the fact that the Marquis's Mansion will not be reduced to the point of starvation, even if it truly reached that stage, things bestowed by His Majesty cannot be sold. People are currently watching you for mistakes, looking for any handle to use against you. If you sell items bestowed by His Majesty, wouldn't you simply be handing them ammunition?"

Yang Ning laughed heartily, "I was only joking." Then he added, "And I must say, this emperor is truly something. Sending so-called rare treasures that cannot be converted into ready cash! If he were truly sincere, bestowing tens of thousands of taels of gold would be far more practical."

Gu Qinghan raised a hand and gently patted the back of Yang Ning's hand, reproaching him, "Ninger, you are now a Marquis. From now on, you must be even more careful with your words. Do not utter such disrespectful remarks. Walls have ears; if someone were to overhear you, it would inevitably invite trouble."

Noticing that the two boxes were of different sizes and equipped with delicately crafted hidden mechanisms whose opening clasps were quite conspicuous, Yang Ning opened the larger box. As the lid lifted, a faint, ethereal glow emanated from within. Gu Qinghan glanced down and saw that the wooden box contained a sword-shaped jade artifact.

Yang Ning carefully took it out, observing that the material was indeed fine white jade, yet it had been carved into the shape of a precious sword.

"What does this mean?" Yang Ning asked, puzzled. "A jade sword? That is certainly unusual."

Gu Qinghan's beautiful eyes turned slightly, and she smiled, "His Majesty's meaning, presumably, is that the Marquis of Jin Yi has rendered distinguished military service, and this jade sword serves as a reminder that our Marquis's Mansion remains a sharp blade of Great Chu, or perhaps, he hopes you will become a sword that protects the nation of Great Chu."

"Third Sister makes sense," Yang Ning nodded slightly. He had originally expected some rare and exotic treasure, but it turned out to be merely a piece of jade-ware.

Although the quality of the jade was not poor, in truth, even if one were to fake it, it could not be sold for a massive fortune.

He placed the jade sword back into the box and opened the smaller one. He had thought that since the emperor bestowed gifts, he surely could not be overly stingy; the jade sword might not be excessively precious and was likely just symbolic, meaning the true masterpiece should be inside the small box. To his surprise, upon opening it, he found the box completely empty. He froze, and Gu Qinghan looked on with a trace of confusion.

"What kind of trick is this?" Yang Ning said, somewhat annoyed. "Who sends an empty box as a gift?"

"Ninger, there is... there is a piece of paper inside." Gu Qinghan reached in and picked up a piece of paper. Initially expecting something to be written on it, she carefully examined both sides, only to find it was a blank sheet of white paper. Her slender brows knitted together in even greater perplexity.

Yang Ning had still held some expectations for the contents of the small box. Finding not only no rare treasures, but not even a single piece of jade-ware inside, he felt quite displeased and could not help muttering, "Third Sister, it seems this new emperor of ours is quite a miser."

"Do not speak recklessly," Gu Qinghan observed it closely. Finding no discernible clues whatsoever on the blank paper, she said doubtfully, "Since His Majesty bestowed this item, there must be a reason for it. Yet... yet it is merely a blank sheet of paper without a single character. What could that possibly mean?"

"Third Sister, pray do not tell me the emperor wants me to be as pure and immaculate as this blank sheet of paper," Yang Ning slumped heavily into a chair. "I thought I would make a fortune today, but now look at this! Just sending off those eunuchs cost a fair amount of silver. Even if I sold this jade sword, it wouldn't cover the silver we gave away as tips. This business deal has turned out to be a massive loss."

Gu Qinghan sat down beside him, staring at the blank paper in deep thought.

"Right." Yang Ning's brows suddenly unfurled as a thought struck him. He called out toward the outer hall, "Second Brother Duan, Duan Canghai, come here immediately."

Duan Canghai was just outside. Hearing the summons, he hurried in, smiling broadly as he said, "Does the Marquis have another reward for me? There's no need, the Third Mistress has already given out the bonus, though...!"

Just as he was beaming with joy, Yang Ning gave him a sideways look, pointed at the blank paper in Gu Qinghan's hand, and said, "This is a treasure bestowed by the Emperor. Tell me, where does its preciousness lie?"

Gu Qinghan handed it over. Duan Canghai received it with both hands, examined it carefully, and frowned as he asked, "My Lord, is this something bestowed by His Majesty?" His face was etched with skepticism.

Yang Ning said, "You can't make out anything special either, can you? I called you in because you are a man of wide experience."

"I dare not claim such praise, I dare not," Duan Canghai said modestly, laughing heartily. "Since the Marquis thinks so highly of me, is there something specific the Marquis wishes to ask?"

"Good that you know," Yang Ning leaned back in his chair, speaking lazily. "I have heard that certain kinds of paper look like nothing at all at first glance, but once immersed in water or exposed to fire, handwriting will appear. Would this happen to be one of those?"

Duan Canghai shook his head and replied, "No. The method the Marquis speaks of is indeed used by some people, but paper of that sort always shares one characteristic—it must be aged paper so that tampering can be done. This sheet of white paper is brand new. At a single glance, I can tell no tampering has been done to it. If the Marquis does not believe me, we can test it out."

Yang Ning had only been struck by a sudden whim, but he trusted Duan Canghai's judgment implicitly. Since Duan Canghai said so, this sheet of white paper truly had not been tampered with in any way.

"Forget it, let's keep it for now. The emperor is making us play a riddle; even if we can't guess it today, one day the emperor will tell us," Yang Ning said. Although he had been granted a noble title, the items bestowed by the emperor were somewhat shabby indeed, and the initial wave of excitement had completely dissipated.

Still, for the Marquis's Mansion, this was naturally a major event and an occasion that called for celebration.

The capital was going through a critical period, so hanging colorful lanterns and hosting a lavish banquet was out of the question; nevertheless, Gu Qinghan still had the household arrange a modest celebration within the estate.

At the banquet table, Yang Ning initially only took a few casual sips of wine. However, being easygoing and lacking any airs, the servants of the mansion stepped forward one after another to offer toasts of congratulations. Although Yang Ning tried his best to exercise restraint, by midnight he had still drunk himself into a daze, his vision swimming, until Duan Canghai supported him back to his room to rest.

Duan Canghai himself had consumed quite a bit of alcohol. He stationed a servant outside Yang Ning's room to attend to him and then retired to his own quarters to sleep.

Yang Ning had no idea how long he had been asleep when, in his hazy half-consciousness, he felt something was amiss. He abruptly opened his eyes, sat up straight, and instantly felt a sharp prick of pain on his thigh, followed by the sensation of a slimy, gelatinous object writhing against his leg. Taken aback—for dawn had not yet broken and the lamps in the room had been extinguished, rendering everything pitch black—Yang Ning reached out blindly and grabbed it. His hand met with a wet surface, and immediately, something whipped around and tightly coiled itself around his arm. In that fraction of a second, he realized he had grabbed a snake.

Cold sweat broke out all over Yang Ning's body. He grabbed the snake with both hands, only to feel another sharp pain on the back of his hand as he was bitten a second time.

"Dammit, I'm done for this time," Yang Ning muttered. All traces of drunkenness instantly vanished. In the dimness, having caught a glimpse of where the snake's head was located, and knowing he had already been bitten twice, he threw all hesitation aside. Reaching out with lightning speed, he clamped his hand firmly onto the snake's head, accurately pinching its vital seven-inch spot.

The snake was not particularly thick, and Yang Ning's strength was naturally far from negligible. Pressing hard on its vulnerable spot, he felt the snake tighten its coils around his arm. With a fierce, low roar, he exerted all his might and pulled sharply. Throwing every ounce of his strength into the motion, he forcibly ripped the snake apart and hurled it violently away.

Hearing the commotion, someone outside immediately called out, "My Lord? My Lord, what is the matter?"

"There's a snake!" Yang Ning felt his vision blurring and the world spinning around him. Furthermore, after his violent exertion of strength, every ounce of energy in his body seemed to have been instantly drained away. He knew this was definitely not the effects of alcohol; the snake venom must have already taken effect. If he remained silent, he feared he might die right here without a soul ever knowing. He strained his throat and shouted, "Quick... quickly call someone...!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the guard outside threw caution to the wind and kicked the door open with force. Seeing Yang Ning collapsed from the bed and struggling violently on the floor, the guard rushed over to support him, asking urgently, "My Lord, what has happened to you?"

"Call... go call Miss Tang...!" Yang Ning could now only see absolute pitch black before his eyes, unable to make out anything at all. His chest felt constricted, and breathing had become extremely difficult. "I... I've been poisoned...!"

Realizing there was not a moment to lose, the guard turned and bolted out the door, raising his voice to a scream, "Help! Something is wrong, come quickly, come quickly...!"

Within moments, several people charged into the courtyard. Although the entire mansion was celebrating with a banquet tonight, security had not been slacked. Hearing the commotion, the guards stationed nearby quickly rushed over.

"Quickly fetch Miss Tang, the Marquis has been poisoned...!"

"What? Hurry, go find Miss Tang!"

"Go report this to the Third Mistress at once! And you, hurry and inform Second Brother Duan! Everyone else, search the surroundings thoroughly, an assassin has broken into the estate!"

Amidst a flurry of chaos, the entire mansion was soon filled with shouting.

Yang Ning lay flat on the ground, feeling as though every part of his body had lost all sensation. At this moment, only his mind remained exceptionally clear.

Terror gripped his heart.

He knew very well that ordinary venomous snakes, no matter how potent their venom, could never take effect so violently in such a short span of time; the sheer speed at which the toxin spread was utterly baffling.

Moreover, every corner of the Marquis's Mansion was swept and cleaned daily, and the courtyard he resided in was kept impeccably clean; it was utterly impossible for a venomous snake to have crawled into his room on its own.

In the dead of night, for a snake to appear on his bed—and one of such lethal toxicity—was by no means a coincidence.

Was someone trying to take his life?

Usually, Yang Ning took most things with a grain of indifference, but when faced with major crises, especially moments of peril, he was capable of maintaining absolute calmness.

He had already deduced that someone must have used this venomous snake to murder him. But who on earth was the culprit? The Marquis's Mansion had always maintained stringent security, and these past few days in particular were guarded with extreme tightness. Who could possibly have sneaked into the mansion to commit such a foul deed? If no outsider could have infiltrated the estate, could it be that someone from within the Marquis's Mansion itself had sought to harm him?

Had Qi Yu, her son, and Steward Qiu still been around, Yang Ning would have immediately suspected them. But since those individuals had already been expelled from the mansion, it naturally could not be their doing, nor did they possess such capability.

Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps inside the room and anxious cries from those around him, he could only clearly hear the commotion nearby, yet he could see nothing at all, and his body remained as rigid as a block of wood, devoid of any feeling.