It was already mid-March.
Compared to previous years, the weather was exceptionally cold, especially in the mornings and evenings. People walking on the streets were all bundled up tightly, afraid of accidentally catching a cold and falling ill.
Over here, however, Second Uncle Guan was not wearing much.
The reception room was very warm. He had long taken off his thick outer coat, but as he kept his head down, sweat poured profusely from his forehead and the tip of his nose. Struggling and full of regret, he told himself he shouldn't have passed on this deadly message for The Last Emperor...
Meet? Meet for what?
A man who used to be an emperor wanting to meet a rich, young, and beautiful woman—what else could it be for!
He glanced at his watch.
Twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
Miss Su had been silent for this long.
Closing his eyes in despair to feel the heartache, he knew the message was just incidental. The main reason he came here and was able to see Miss Su was to deliver the antiques he had collected recently.
If they couldn't be sold...
This time, Su Ning really wasn't leaving him hanging on purpose. She wasn't stupid; the moment she heard the news, she instantly understood what that person was thinking and what he wanted to do.
She even understood more than Second Uncle Guan did.
After all, in a few years.
This The Last Emperor would not hesitate to become a puppet of the Japanese just to ascend the throne again and re-enjoy the glory of an emperor. Ambition and reluctance are not built in a day.
Su Ning thought about herself. Her temper and disposition went without saying—she was definitely not the docile type. Her looks were okay but not stunningly beautiful. What the other party wanted was obvious.
A massive amount of money, a fertilizer plant, or perhaps her mysterious foreign background.
"Pfft—"
The more Su Ning thought about it, the more hilarious she found it, and she actually laughed out loud. She sighed in her heart; she had been so busy and annoyed lately that she even wanted to stomp on the snow by the roadside.
What a good day was it today?
To think that two stress-relieving pieces of news arrived one after another.
On the other side.
Hearing the laughter, Second Uncle Guan was stunned at first. No way... Could Miss Su actually be interested in giving it a shot? It was possible; an emperor was an emperor, after all.
And the world was in such chaos right now.
Speaking of which, the voices calling for a restoration had never really stopped.
He thought of Su Ning's usual arrogant and bold style, the background of the Su family's ancestors, and the empress and concubines The Last Emperor had already married. His thoughts even wandered to whether the Guan family should contact old friends and family connections to build momentum for Miss Su.
"...Pass a verbal message back for me, just say..."
Having laughed enough, Su Ning tilted her head and leaned on the sofa. The amusement in her tone was still very thick, making her seem much softer than her usual coldness:
"Tell him to look in the mirror."
Ah?
Second Uncle Guan didn't react when he first heard it and actually looked up, letting out a foolish ah. Look in the mirror? The Last Emperor's looks were indeed nothing special... Wait, no!
Did this mean a rejection?
He pondered it carefully.
Not only was it a rejection, but it also carried a hint of mockery, something akin to a toad lusting after swan meat. As Second Uncle Guan's eyes widened, he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for Su Ning.
It hadn't been that long since the previous dynasty fell.
Facing The Last Emperor.
Not only did the common people have an instinctive awe, but even former nobles and princes like them, who would curse and complain in private, still felt panicked and hesitant about openly offending him.
"I will definitely deliver it for you word for word."
Second Uncle Guan guaranteed subconsciously. When he realized what he said, he almost bit his tongue. The Emperor, that was the Emperor. What if he really restored the throne...
But he glanced at Su Ning, who was looking down and drinking tea.
His heart suddenly settled.
Hehe.
Compared to something that had no shadow of happening, it seemed Miss Su was a bit more terrifying right now...
"Mm."
Su Ning nodded casually. The Last Emperor was now a tiger without claws. He looked majestic and intimidating, but in reality, he didn't even have the attack power of a kitten. She really wasn't afraid.
It was a bit of a pity, though—
This person actually didn't count as a plot character, otherwise she could have earned some rewards.
No, maybe there were some.
Su Ning remembered that in the original novel, there were quite a few plot characters who deeply yearned for the previous dynasty and ran around for The Last Emperor. Although none of them were big shots, it was better than nothing, right?
When the master is humiliated, the subjects die... She hoped they were truly loyal.
"By the way, are there any mirrors among the antiques you brought? If there are, send one over. He was an emperor once, after all; an ordinary mirror wouldn't be worthy of him."
Could he be humiliated like this?
Even Lin Sen, who was acting as a background prop, couldn't help but shift a little.
"There is one, but..."
Second Uncle Guan nodded hesitantly, rubbing his hands together in embarrassment. "The antique mirror I brought was actually collected from The Last Emperor. Don't worry, it was through legitimate channels; they are running out of money over there."
For some reason, speaking of this gave him more courage.
—If he was so poor that he had to pawn things, this The Last Emperor really wasn't much of a big deal anymore, right?
"Isn't that perfect?"
Su Ning gave him a strange look, stood up leisurely, and chuckled. "Returning the jade intact to its owner. He should probably say thank you to me."
Saying thank you was impossible.
Getting so angry that he ended up in the hospital and cursing her ancestors to the eighteenth generation was highly likely.
Second Uncle Guan naturally had no objections.
Unlike his idiot nephew, he didn't have any feelings of blaming others, embarrassment, or humiliation. In his eyes, there was only money and profit, and Su Ning provided plenty of both.
As for The Last Emperor?
Hehehe, he didn't give a single cent, and previously even made a joke of demanding tributes from them. After the filter was shattered, Second Uncle Guan cared even less about offending The Last Emperor.
"Let's go, take me to see the antiques."
Su Ning waved her hand dismissively, enthusiastically asking the system to record a video. When she returned to the modern world, she might even be able to become an antique appraiser.
"Then the people making fake antiques are going to get rich."
The system quipped.
But it still recorded for her.
"..."
Su Ning walked at the very front. She had to go out often recently, so she wasn't dressed too casually. She wore a qipao inside and a sharply tailored short black coat outside, which cut an arc through the air as she moved.
It seemed to carry the sound of the wind.
The others hurriedly followed.
Second Uncle Guan originally wanted to follow closer. Although it was only a few steps away, with his ability, he could easily throw in at least three, no, four words of flattery!
Unfortunately, things didn't go as he wished.
Pushed aside by that silent bodyguard, Second Uncle Guan wanted to say something, but upon meeting those emotionless eyes, he cowardly lowered his head and gestured for him to go first.
He glared fiercely at his back.
Turning his head, he saw Lin Sen next to him, who was always smiling, gentle, and genial. He thought to himself how everyone around Miss Su was so different.
There were men, there were women.
There were older ones, there were younger ones. Even their personalities were all different; he simply couldn't find any duplicates.
............
"You, you are still too young."
Old Madam Guan was smoking a water pipe. Amidst the swirling smoke, she knocked the pipe against the corner of the table, her expression certain. "Isn't it easy to find what they have in common? Think about it, aren't all those people quite good-looking!"
Her words awakened the dreamer.
Second Uncle Guan recalled the looks of Lin Sen, Shang Wenyun, Su One, Chu Yan, and even the three members of the Su family... He was so shocked that he couldn't help but clap his hands together.
He felt as if he had discovered a massive secret.
"But, Miss Su is a woman..."
"What's wrong with being a woman?"
Old Madam Guan turned around and smashed her tobacco pipe pouch onto her son's head, snorting coldly, "In the past, capable and confident Manchu ladies, when impatient with their husbands, would inevitably keep a few pretty maids in their rooms, and the more arrogant ones would even buy houses outside to keep handsome young men."
"It's only because the world has been in chaos these years that such things are rarely seen."
Her tone actually carried a sense of appreciation for Su Ning's behavior.
Hearing this, Second Uncle Guan rubbed his swollen red head absentmindedly. "You are still the one with great insight; others definitely wouldn't have thought of this."
Knowing it ahead of others was his advantage.
Should he bring a few good-looking ones next time he goes to deliver antiques?
Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard Old Madam Guan let out a long sigh. He looked up in confusion and asked, "What's wrong? Don't worry, The Last Emperor might be angry, but he can't touch us... Miss Su is still more important."
"It's not that."
Old Madam Guan shook her head. After pondering for a moment, she decided to share her speculations with her second son. "I'm wondering who Su Ning's biological mother really is."
"She grew up abroad, but she doesn't have a foreign air about her. She has all sorts of old knowledge and old rules at her fingertips. There are some that even I can't remember clearly, yet Su Ning can casually mention them. Do you think this is normal?"
"Maybe she just had a good teacher."
Second Uncle Guan was unconvinced.
"What kind of good teacher would know the affairs of the imperial court so clearly... you blockhead."
Old Madam Guan tried to hold it in, but still couldn't resist.
Her voice grew a bit louder.
In a corner of the inner room, a figure hiding behind the bed curtains trembled.
"The identity of Su Ning's biological mother is not simple."
Her words were profoundly meaningful.
Second Uncle Guan's head wasn't truly made of wood, so naturally, he understood.
It was precisely because he understood that he found it utterly unbelievable, but he realized that with this premise, all previous doubts were resolved.
For example, how Su Huaishan could reach such a status abroad in just over twenty years, leaving Su Ning with astonishing wealth, connections, and subordinates.
For example, why Su Ning never mentioned her biological mother.
And even why she rejected The Last Emperor without hesitation, not even considering it for a moment.
"These are all just guesses, nothing certain." Having spoken what had been pent up in her heart for a long time, Old Madam Guan felt relieved and reminded her stunned son,
"Just keep it to yourself. Don't go spouting nonsense outside, otherwise, whether it's true or false, our family will be in trouble, understand?"
"Understood."
In the inner room, Mu Wan's heart was beating like a drum. A sour and swollen sensation came from her already bulging belly, but she completely ignored it, her eyes shining—she finally had Su Ning's weakness in her hands!
...
The Last Emperor lived in Tianjin.
Therefore, in just a day's time, he received a reply and a parcel. Thinking it was a gift, he smugly opened it, only to see a familiar antique mirror. He picked it up and examined it in confusion, finding it more and more familiar the longer he looked.
And then—
"Miss Su said that you should look in the mirror more often," the messenger lowered his head. "She is returning this mirror to its rightful owner as a gift to you."
Hearing this, The Last Emperor felt his chest tighten and his breath catch. He flung his hand and smashed the mirror fiercely onto the ground, roaring through gritted teeth,
"A mere merchant dares to humiliate me!"
