Poison

"Rising Ming City, Ming Clan Residence!"

Inside a luxurious room illuminated by floating orbs of bright light, a handsome young man with purple lips quietly slouched on a cozy chair beside a royal bed. His face showed no expression, and his calm eyes focused on the bed. To be precise, his gaze was glued to the face of the person lying atop the purple silk bedding, neatly tucked inside a similar purple silk quilt.

Above the bed hung a magnificent chandelier made of gold and decorated with valuable and rare jade stones that came in different colors, shapes, and sizes. The room, with its residents, had a unique charm and calm. If one looked at it from afar, they would think that the entire scene was but a painting of immortals.

"Knock! Knock!"

As the young man was watching the sleeping beauty in front of him, he heard the sound of knocks coming from the door behind. Immediately, the young man opened his mouth and asked in a soft, almost inaudible, voice, "Who?"

Even though the young man spoke in a very low voice, the person on the other side of the door seemed to have heard his question as he immediately replied in a soft, but still audible, voice, "Young master, it is I, your humble slave, Ming Long!"

"How goes the job I gave you?" The youth again questioned in the same soft and almost inaudible voice. To this, Ming Long started to slowly give a report on the matter that he had been commanded to do, "Young master, I did as you commanded and tore down the Hundred Flower Garden's establishment, building and courtyards included. Besides that, all the personnel of the garden — i.e. the pimps, prostitutes, entertainers, maids, and guards — were arrested and locked up in the first floor of the family's dungeon. Although I encountered some resistance from the Miao Clan that owned the establishment, they easily shut up and left once I told them it was you who issued the command! That is all about the Hundred Flower Garden, young master!"

After Ming Long was done explaining the details of his job, he quietened down and waited for his young master's response. He wanted to know if the night would end at this, or the young master wanted to deal with the captives right then. And as Ming Long expected, the night was going to end without any more major movements from his young master after he received his reply.

"Make sure those people from that establishment don't commit suicide or shit like that, especially that Mama Lian; I will interrogate her tomorrow morning. If there's nothing else, you can leave as I need to rest," the young man slouched on the chair said to Ming Long who was still standing outside the door. Once done giving instructions to his servant, the young man slowly stood up and moved towards the cozy-looking bed, prepared to have a deep sleep.

'Using a beauty to poison the greatest Alchemist in existence… What a bunch of retards!' The young man thought to himself as he raised the purple quilt atop the bed, prepared to sleep with a beauty in his arms. But just when the young man raised the quilt halfway, he heard Ming Long, his servant outside, gulp audibly before he said, "Young master, the Madam wishes to see you right now!"

Pausing for a moment, the young man resumed his actions after a quick thought and got into the cozy quilt. Making himself comfortable in the warm bed, the young man turned towards the door and said once more, "Tell her to wait until tomorrow. I am tired and am going to sleep now!"

Finished giving his last instruction for the night, the young man turned his face towards the beauty quietly sleeping right next to him and said in a voice that was somewhat louder than before, "Night!"

Immediately, as if hearing the command of some deity, all the bright floating orbs inside the room went out and darkness descended. The only source of light left inside the room was the soft silver moonlight that fell through the half-open window, illuminating the two faces — one handsome, and the other, immensely beautiful. In the next moment, the young man cleared all thoughts from his mind and closed his eyes, falling into a deep slumber.

'I am screwed,' Ming Long, on the other hand, stood outside the young master's room with an awkward expression. He had thought that the young master would immediately come out of the room to visit the Madam once he received the Madam's command, but who would have thought his young master would tell him to tell her to wait until the morning.

Let alone wait until the morning, the Madam would normally fly into a rage if she had to wait more than a few minutes. It was only this seventh young master of their's who always made the Madam wait, but even then, it was only by an hour or half an hour. Never before had he shown so much disregard so as to have the Madam wait for an entire night. After all, no matter how much the Madam spoiled him, there was still a limit to her patience.

Ming Long had no doubt that as soon as he relayed the message to the Madam, she would personally make her way over to beat the young master's ass. Well, he didn't have the luxury to care about the young master for now, as he was more than assured of the fact that the first one going to suffer tonight was none other than him. The Madam already knew of the fact that the young master left the clan's residence under his watch, and even went to the Hundred Flower Garden.

"Good luck, young master's ass! Good luck, my ass!" Softly saying his final prayers, Ming Long sighed and turned around. He had steeled his heart for the inevitable, as he walked forward while rubbing his big ass that would soon turn even bigger.

...

"Light!" Inside a dark room illuminated only by the soft silver moonlight, a mellow voice resembling the chimes of some golden bells sounded out. Followed by the voice that could capture a person's attention for hours on end, various orbs started to light up and float around in the air. In just a few moments, the room that was previously only dimly lit turned as bright as if it were the day.

Inside the room, a woman with a veil over her face and an oversize cloak covering her body stood at the foot of a luxurious bed as her watery purple phoenix eyes that seemed to hold the world inside them fixated themselves on the two — a man, and a woman — tightly embracing each other as they slept without a care for the world.

The man, who previously had a pale face and purple lips, had long regained his former fair complexion and rosy lips. The woman, on the other hand, had her head buried in the man's chest as she mumbled some incoherent nonsense every now and then. The two looked just like a married couple would, and the scene was immensely adorable. It was just that… the woman watching the two from the foot of the bed didn't think so.

With a fire that seemed to wish it could burn the two into cinders burning in her eyes, the woman looked immensely enraged even with a veil covering her face. Grounding her teeth, she raised her right hand which immediately produced a condensed ball of water atop her snow-white and jade-like palm. The condensed ball of water shook with the shaking of her entire person drowned in rage, seeming to be very unstable. It was apparent that if she didn't have a high control over her ability, the condensed ball of water would have exploded right there and then.

"Bastard!" Uttering softly through gritted teeth, the veiled woman took in a deep breath as her shaking body calmed down and the condensed ball of water floating atop her palm steadied down. In the next moment, the ball of water dispersed into nothingness, just like it had appeared out of nothingness, and the veiled woman turned around. Immediately after she turned around, her entire person vanished from the spot as if she was never there. The only proof of her having been there were the bright orbs of light floating around, illuminating the luxurious room.

'Woman, you are too young to make this lord flustered! Kek, with how many women I had in the past, I have long mastered the Art of Absolute Deceit!' Qing Lu, who was asleep when the woman was in the room, suddenly opened his eyes as he looked towards the foot of the bed where the veiled woman previously stood. Staring at the same spot for a few moments, he closed his eyes as he spoke his last word for the night, "Night!"

Immediately, darkness descended once more in the room as the various orbs of light floated down and settled in different corners of the luxurious room.