The Birth of a Villainess

Qu Xing Xu secretly returned to the Qu residence. He didn't wish to alert anyone from outside and inside the residence that he had returned and avoid anyone from disrupting his mood.

Knowing the ladies living in the residence, they'll probably try harder to deduce some scheme to ruin the wedding and anger him so.

"Master. Should we arrange more flowers in front of the entrance?" Gu Yan stood beside him while discussing the arrangements for the upcoming wedding of the century.

For weeks, he was tasked to arrange everything and make sure that the wedding will be the talk in the four empires for a hundred years. From the wedding sedan, horses, flowers, food, and decorations, everything should be of top quality. The dowries that will be brought to the Lin family and the dresses that both the groom and bride will wear, everything should be handled with importance.

"No need. I think if you add more, the entrance will be buried with flowers and no one can enter it." Qu Xing Xu felt a headache forming when he remembered how the current Qu residence looked like right at this moment.

Earlier, when he just arrived and entered the residence in secret, he saw that several red cloths were hanging by the beams and pillars. The entrance was already filled with flowers and the entire residence was cleaned thoroughly that the floor was shining brightly. 

He hadn't thought much about the wedding ceremony and reception at first. But seeing how Gu Yan outdone himself and exaggerated the meaning of his wedding, it seems that several prying eyes will come and make trouble. Not that he was afraid of them.

He just didn't like the thought of having anyone see his bride. 

Qu Xing Xu sighed deeply and nodded along with Gu Yan's suggestions while rejecting the things that were too much for him.

In the end, it took them five full hours to finish discussing on what to do about the wedding. Qu Xing Xu, who was never tired even after a week straight battle in war, finally understood the meaning of being mentally stressed and drained.

"If you have nothing else to say, you can go back now." Qu Xing Xu leaned against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

Gu Yan hesitated upon seeing him like this but the most important thing to talk about was not yet discussed. "Uh… Master, the cost of the wedding is a bit…"

Qu Xing Xu waved a hand and said tiredly, "Don't worry about the cost." He took out a token from the side cabinet and threw it to him, "Use my token and take it to the Hundred Treasure Bank. Tell them how much you need."

Gu Yan was shocked to hear him say that. The red token in his hand felt like a burning ball of fire. He almost threw it back to his master in fear of losing it.

The red token was different from the gold token that the empire's bank use. The Hundred Treasure Bank was the only bank that the four empires would trust to hide their treasures. They had a great reputation for their security and service. Not only that, not everyone could easily get this red token. Only twenty people has this token in the entire country.

Even Emperor Yun was unable to use his authority as one of the emperor in the four empires to get a privilege of getting a token from them. 

"A-are you sure about this, master?" Gu Yan asked. 

"What's there not to be sure about?" Qu Xing Xu raised his eyebrows at him, "It's just a token anyway. And if I don't use this to make sure our wedding to be the best of all time, she'll probably lock the bedroom door and not let me in."

Gu Yan, the single dog almost cough up blood after he was served with hot dog food. He was already tired with the preparation of the wedding and with the addition of his master's shameless of showing his affection to his future duchess, the old man, Gu Yan, couldn't take it anymore.

He said no more and left the room quickly while holding the pouch where he put the token like it was a part of his body. 

…

Inside the Imperial Study. 

Thick, swirling smoke of herbal medicine flew in the air. The small fire in the candle swayed occasionally as the wind from the slightly opened hit it but didn't take out the fire. 

A group people stood in front of the golden table that has some patterns of flying dragon on its edges. Behind the table, a man wearing golden robes and a benevolent face of a ruler was seated on the golden chair.

The man's face gained a few kore wrinkles around his eyes and white hair grew more on his head. It was apparent that he had changed and his previous appearance was no longer there. But the viciousness in his eyes glowed in the slightly dimmed hall.

This man was precisely the current emperor of the Zheng empire, Emperor Yun.

'Pa!' 

Emperor Yun slapped the surface of the table with his palm, creating a sharp and loud sound that shook everyone out of their wits.

"Your majesty, please calm down." A minister from imperial court calmly said with his hands across his chest.

"How can I calm down?! You incompetent fool! Two of my daughters are lying waiting for their deaths to come!" Emperor Yun angrily said and pointed his finger at them, "Not only that, the most important thing that you fools should have reported to me just arrived today?!"

The group of ministers kneeled down on the floor amd simultaneously asked for forgiveness. One of them stood up and said, "Your majesty, please do forgive us. We also just got the news that the Duke of Xin will held his wedding in two days just this morning."

The ministers nodded their heads in unison while keeping quiet about the fact that they already heard of the rumors about the Duke's wedding. And yet, no one took it seriously as it was the words of women in the inner courtyard.