Chapter 83 The Self-Cultivation of a Drama Queen: The Male Ghost in the Snow

Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Huangfu Li assumed she was worried and pondering. He raised his chin and said knowingly, "I have already done you a great favor by not holding a grudge. The position of Crown Princess is so important that there will naturally be competition. Just marry me and leave the rumors from the previous dynasty to me."

Jin Suiqing smiled.

Huangfu Li thought she had fallen for him, but Jin Suiqing sighed and sneered, "Huangfu Li, you just said that no noble lady in the capital was willing to get close to you, but now you say that the position of Crown Princess is important. Isn't that a contradiction?"

Huangfu Li was taken aback when the loophole in his words was exposed.

Jin Suiqing continued, "You still want me to help you ascend the throne? You are the crown prince. If you were truly useful, would you need to seek help from outside?"

Another blow, and Huangfu Li nearly coughed up blood. She stood up and lunged at Jin Suiqing's neck, but Jin Suiqing was prepared. She grabbed a red-hot iron rod used to add sulfur to the gold plating in the furnace and swung it at Huangfu Li, cursing as she did so: "You dog, you think you can ride on my head? You really think the Crown Princess is some kind of hot commodity? Bullshit! Get out of here! Get out of the village!"

Huangfu Li dodged left and right, the iron rods flying wildly in front of him without any pattern. Afraid of being burned, he dared not raise his hand to block them. His tone had also lost its previous arrogance, and he said in a sorry state, "It's getting dark. How am I supposed to get out of the mountain?"

"You'll leave the same way you came in!"

Huangfu Li fled the house in a disheveled state, startling the officials waiting outside. Confused and bewildered, they followed suit, running as Jin Suiqing shouted, "Huangfu Li, do you still think I'm the stupid little sister you used to bully? You still want to marry me? Keep dreaming!"

Fine snow fell on the stick, and the mist rose, gradually restoring its iron-black color. Huangfu Li saw that its temperature was dropping, so he grabbed it with his backhand. He wanted to argue a few more words, but unexpectedly, a large group of people rushed out of the side room and were peering at him through the door.

Leading the group was the large and robust Gong Dagou.

Feeling humiliated, Huangfu Li forcefully pulled the iron rod, leaned close to Jin Suiqing, and smeared all the black and gray iron filings on her face, saying fiercely, "Say what you will, I'll come again next time."

Jin Suiqing flicked his wrist, forcefully stabbing Huangfu Li in the waist with the iron rod, sending him flying. He glared at him coldly, then turned and took Huangfu Li's black cloak from inside the house, throwing it on the ground. "Get lost."

Huangfu Li bent down to pick up the cloak. "Was the lamb leg delicious?"

Jin Suiqing glanced at him without saying a word, watching as the official draped a black cloak over his shoulders.

Huangfu Li glanced at her again, smiled slightly, and turned to leave the courtyard.

Huangfu Li actually obeyed her and left Xu Village amidst the fine snow.

The people hiding in the side room rushed forward, huddled around Jin Suiqing, and took her back to the main house. Huihong held a warm handkerchief to wipe Jin Suiqing's face and whispered to her, "Won't he be angry?"

Jin Suiqing's angry face instantly calmed down, and he said with a wicked smile, "Angry? Of course I'm angry, but I'm of use to him, so I'm just swallowing my anger."

Huangfu Li is a narcissist to the extreme; such people can turn setbacks into successes and displays of charm.

He might be secretly pleased right now.

Jin Suiqing clicked his tongue, shook his head, and put the iron rod back into the heater. He said seriously, "The New Year is coming soon. Thank you all for your hard work. We need to keep an eye on the factory these next few days. Huangfu Li has found that being lenient won't work, so he'll probably have to resort to force."

A few days later, Jin Suiqing Courtyard frequently received gifts from Huangfu Li.

Unlike the restaurant where he accepted everything without question, Jin Suiqing glanced at the bill, gave the person a small tip, and then had it all returned untouched.

This continued until the day before New Year's Eve.

Early in the morning, someone came to the courtyard again. After knocking on the door, Jin Suiqing opened it and found it was an official from the administrative office.

Jin Suiqing recognized him; his surname was Wang, and he was neither a big shot nor a small one in the government office, so he wasn't particularly noticeable.

Official Wang smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "Mr. Jin, Happy New Year."

They've taken the bait.

Jin Suiqing snapped out of her thoughts and smiled back, "Happy New Year, Lord Wang. What brings you here today instead of spending time with your family?"

Official Wang said respectfully, "Mr. Jin, His Highness the Crown Prince is about to depart for the capital. Before he leaves, he would like to discuss the orders for next year with you."

Jin Suiqing's face instantly turned cold, and she decisively said, "I'm not going. Whatever it is, we can talk about it after the New Year."

Wang, the official, was in a difficult position. Jin Suiqing didn't give him a chance to speak, and slammed the door shut. A muffled sound came from inside. Jin Suiqing said, "Go back and report."

Jin Suiqing stuck the door to the door and listened to the crunching sound of people walking away in the snow outside. She went back inside and sat in front of the stove to warm her hands.

Two hours after Lord Wang left, there was a knock on the door. Jin Suiqing said, "Come in," and the door opened.

It's Gong Dagou.

He said, "The man was caught, but he slipped into the factory and waited for an hour before setting the fire. He was stopped by the workers on duty. Thanks to the sandboxes you had prepared a couple of days ago, the fire wasn't big and was extinguished quickly, so there was no loss."

Jin Suiqing crossed her legs and said calmly, "Have Lord Wang write a confession, clearly explaining his arson crime. There's no need to send it to the government. Send the confession to the Marquis of Huai'an's residence, then have a good talk with Lord Wang and let him go home for the New Year."

After dealing with the bedbugs in the administrative office, it's time to deal with Huangfu Li.

Jin Suiqing stood up, took a snow-white cloak from the rack, and draped it over her shoulders. She turned around and smiled at Gong Dagou, "By the way, could you ask Lord Wang where His Highness the Crown Prince is waiting for me in Jinling?"

She also needed to use Huangfu Li to return to the capital legitimately.

*

Huangfu Li bought a house in Jinling and spent a lot of money to hire the best chef from Jinling Restaurant to cook a table full of dishes, waiting for Jin Suiqing to arrive.

Tomorrow he has to ride the Kui Dragon back to the capital, so today he must lay out all the pros and cons for Jin Suiqing and force her to consider the position of Crown Princess.

Huangfu Li thought to himself that he was quite generous. Not only did he not hold her past actions against him against her, but he also let her celebrate the New Year. He promised that he would bring Jin Suiqing back to the capital next year, whether she wanted to or not.

As she was thinking this, she looked up and saw Jin Suiqing wearing a cloak, her white skin almost melting into the snow. She walked quickly, her cloak open, revealing a silver-purple fur-collared jacket underneath.

Under the wind and snow, people looked particularly lively and beautiful.

If you ignore the anger on her face.

Jin Suiqing strode into the room, glared at Huangfu Li, then grabbed a wine cup full of wine from the table. Suddenly enraged, she picked up the cup and splashed the wine in Huangfu Li's face!

The icy wine splashed on his face, and Huangfu Li's breath hitched. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths to suppress his anger, wiped his face, opened his eyes to look at Jin Suiqing, and smiled, "Are you calmed down?"

"No!"

After saying that, Jin Suiqing picked up the wine pot, poured another cup, and splashed it on his face.

Huangfu Li shuddered again from being splashed, and could no longer suppress his anger. He said coldly, "Jin Suiqing, you'd better stop now."

Jin Suiqing narrowed her eyes in anger and gritted her teeth, saying, "Am I the one who should stop now? Your Highness, do you know that the factory is the lifeblood of Xu Village? If the factory is burned down, the entire village will go hungry!"

After hearing this, Huangfu Li smiled and said, "What does this have to do with me?"

Jin Suiqing said angrily, "Didn't you order the fire to be set?"

Huangfu Li stood up, looked down at Jin Suiqing, and pressed closer to her, his face full of doubt, "Do you have any evidence?"

Jin Suiqing's pupils flickered, realizing that she really did have evidence. She pretended to be sad and lowered her eyes, no longer looking at Huangfu Li.

Huangfu, observing the changes in her expression, was overjoyed, thinking he had found her weakness. He became even more unrestrained and said, "Today it's fire, what will it be tomorrow, and what will it be after that? Can you guess, Sister Suiqing?"

Jin Suiqing looked up, her panic genuine. Huangfu Li looked at her and found this woman who made him grit his teeth incredibly cute. He pinched her chin with two fingers and said, "Suiqing, do you still remember what I told you?"

Jin Suiqing's breath trembled. "The...Crown Princess?"

“Yes,” Huangfu Li gently stroked Jin Suiqing’s lower lip with his thumb. Jin Suiqing turned her head away. He rubbed his fingers together with some regret. “As long as Sister Suiqing is willing to become the Crown Princess, these things will not happen again. You can do whatever you want. No one in the world will dare to stop you.”

Bah! You dog, you're talking nonsense!

Jin Suiqing found it funny and was about to burst out laughing. He quickly lowered his head and covered his mouth, but still choked.

Huangfu Li leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Did you cry?"

Jin Suiqing pretended to cry, "You... why are you treating me like this?"

Huangfu Li, knowing the situation, didn't touch Jin Suiqing. Taking advantage of this excellent opportunity, he said affectionately, "Because I like you."

It's disgusting!

Jin Suiqing almost vomited, rolled her eyes to the sky, and complained in her heart that Huangfu Li really had the domineering president syndrome. He was so greasy that he could render a pot of lard to feed the whole village for a year's worth of cooking and lighting.

Huangfu Li reached out, wanting to hug and comfort her, but Jin Suiqing covered her face and dodged him, pretending to cry twice before running out the door.

Just as she was about to run away, Huangfu Li stopped her, "Jin Suiqing, think it through. Becoming the Crown Princess is a path to instant success, much easier than fighting alone now."

Jin Suiqing leaned weakly against the door, nodding through her tears.

Huangfu Li raised his chin again and said coldly, "Jin Suiqing, I'll only wait for you for one winter."

*

Jin Suiqing stumbled out of the house, climbed into the rhinoceros-horn carriage, and after the carriage drove away, she hurriedly asked Huihong for a handkerchief, wiping her jaw and lower lip while cursing, "Disgusting! Huangfu Li is a dog, a dog..."

Huihong hesitated for a moment, then timidly said, "His Highness the Crown Prince... he... he kissed..."

Jin Suiqing said fiercely, "If he dares to bite, I'll definitely scrape him."

Huihong obediently shut her mouth and carefully lifted the corner of Jin Suiqing's cloak to see if there was any blood on her clothes.

No.

If Jin Suiqing were truly capable of such a thing, he would surely be killed on the spot.

It was still early, so Jin Suiqing and Hui Hong took a rhinoceros-horn carriage to Kuilong Post Station, then took a Kuilong carriage to the nearest Kuilong Post Station in Xu Village, and then transferred to a rhinoceros-horn carriage to head towards Xu Village.

As darkness fell, fine snowflakes drifted down, and the heavy black and white blended together, turning into a thick gray that pressed down on the eyebrows.

The snowfall seemed to be intensifying.

Seeing this, Jin Suiqing wanted the rhinoceros-drawn carriage to go faster and return to the village before dark. Huihong was about to operate the control lever on the back of the iron rhinoceros to adjust the speed when she lifted the curtain and saw a dark figure standing motionless in the white snow in the distance.

It's so cold, why would an ordinary person stand in the snow?

Moreover, to Huihong's naked eye, the person's shoulders were empty, as if he had no head.

Startled, she flinched, the curtain fell, and she slumped back into the carriage.

Jin Suiqing quickly helped her up: "What's wrong? Why are you so frightened?"

Huihong pointed tremblingly at the curtain, panicking, "A ghost... Suiqing, there's a ghost!"

Jin Suiqing asked in confusion, "It's not even completely dark yet, where did this ghost come from?"

"It really is there! It's black and looks like a piece of charcoal, standing right in the middle of the road, and it doesn't have a head. It's... it's a headless ghost!"

Jin Suiqing frowned, wondering what strange thing it was. What if it was a person, and Huihong mistook it for someone else and bumped into it? So she lifted the curtain to look.

The rhinoceros chariot didn't stop, and it was closer to the person than before, so Jin Suiqing could see it more clearly.

It's clearly a man.

Perhaps it was because he was too thin and pale, and he was dressed in all black. He had been standing in the snow for a long time, and his head was covered with a layer of snow. In the lush snow curtain, he looked like an old man with gray hair, which is why Huihong mistook him for a headless ghost blocking the way.

The rhinoceros-horn carriage swayed and drew closer, but the snow was falling heavier and heavier, making it even harder to see people's faces.

The location was remote, and it was snowing. The man was blocking the road and wouldn't move. Jin Suiqing was afraid that he was something more ferocious than a ghost, so he quietly drew the dagger hidden at his waist and concealed it under the carriage curtain. He stopped the carriage and said calmly, "Brother, the snow is getting heavier and heavier. Could you please make way so we can go home?"

She didn't know what words provoked the man, but he suddenly looked up at her, took a half-inch step forward, and then stopped.