Flower Stealing Master - Chapter 240

Ma Chunhua, as her name implied, was as beautiful as a flower in spring. She had been the focus of her surroundings since she was a child, and she was also deeply loved by her parents. It was just a pity that her father was the leader of Flying Steeds Security Service, which may be quite well-known locally, but it couldn’t be considered as even a third-rate martial art in the Wulin.

She didn’t know since when, but Ma Chunhua had always felt that she was a phoenix in the mountain nest, and she didn’t want to live a life of mediocrity in such a small place. If she stayed there, she could be a pheasant at most. 

Later, her father Ma Xingkong betrothed her to his apprentice Xu Zheng. Although Xu Zheng loved her very much, he was too vulgar and rough for her taste. When she thought of marrying such a man, and then spending the rest of her life with him, Ma Chunhua shuddered inside.

So one day she resolutely decided to run away from home. On a night when the stars were scarce in the sky, she left the Flying Steeds Security Service and set foot on the unknown path of Wulin.

Soon, the money she had taken with her ran out, and as she was such a beautiful young woman, she faced trouble wherever she went, and finally she was surrounded by a group of thugs. Although Ma Chunhua knew some martial arts, they were only some superficial skills, and coupled with her low physical strength, she soon fell into danger.

Hearing the foul language of the men around her, where they said that they would sell her to a brothel after they were done playing her, Ma Chunhua started to feel desperate. Just as she was about to slash her own throat, a young man in brocade clothes suddenly appeared. Although he looked weak, the people under him were like wolves and tigers, and they quickly beat the thugs to the ground.

“Miss, are you okay?”

Ma Chunhua still remembered the scene like it happened yesterday— she was kneeling on the ground and the young man in brocade clothes reached out to help her up.

Hearing that she wanted to travel the Wulin, the Young Master smiled and invited her to travel with him. Ma Chunhua knew in her heart that as a woman, she should refuse an invitation from an unfamiliar man, but his smile was so nice that Ma Chunhua nodded in agreement without thinking.

That Young Master had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes; he had an indescribable aura of nobility and majesty about him, which was quite rare to find in people at his age. In the next ten days, Ma Chunhua quickly fell, both psychologically and physically.

During their journey, Ma Chunhua found that the local officials were very afraid of this Young Master, until one day she accidentally found a prefect kneeling in front of him and shouting “Long live!”, which gave her a fright.

You must know that even the Flying Steeds Security Service had to bow when facing a prefect! And here he was, a prefect, who was many times more powerful than the Flying Steeds Security Service kneeling down in front of this Young Master!

The Young Master also found her, and had no choice but to reveal his identity. It turned out that he was none other than the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty— Kangxi!

At that moment, Ma Chunhua felt that she was the happiest woman in the world, and she served him even more tenderly at night. It’s a pity that the good times didn’t last long. After spending more than a month playing around like that, Kangxi suddenly told her with a solemn expression that he was going back to the capital to deal with an urgent matter.

Ma Chunhua naturally asked him what had happened. Kangxi hesitated for a while, and then told her about the enmity between him and the ruler of Shengjin, Prince Bao— Hongli. 

Although Ma Chunhua was a naive girl, it didn’t mean that she was stupid. In fact, all this while, she has always been feeling quite uneasy. According to the rumors she had heard, all Emperors had seventy-two concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards, also they had three thousand beauties in their harem. 

She was beautiful, but considering that the other party was the Emperor, she began to lose confidence in herself. She was only the daughter of a leader of a small security service, and she understood that she was definitely not worthy of being his wife, let alone qualified to enter the imperial palace.

Ma Chunhua had long been thinking about how to tie Kangxi’s heart. After hearing Kangxi talking about his troubles, she knew that it was her chance and volunteered to help him. After Kangxi struggled for a while, he told her about his “honey trap” plan. When she heard that she would have to serve other men, Ma Chunhua subconsciously resisted, but agreed in the end. Proving once again that love really lowered the IQs of young girls.

Burying this secret in her heart, Ma Chunhua returned to the Flying Steeds Security Service, and then things happened as known to all. She “just happened” to meet Fukang’an at the Merchant Fort, and then she became “fascinated” by Fukang’an’s charm. Because she had prepared in advance, it wasn’t difficult for her to hide from Fukang’an that she was no longer a virgin.

After the incident at Merchant Fort, Ma Chunhua quickly found out that she was pregnant. She actually wasn’t sure whether the child’s father was Kangxi or Fukang’an, but considering the time, she felt that it was more likely to be Kangxi.

Ma Xingkong died in the Battle of the Merchant Fort, and Xu Zheng became incharge of the entire Flying Steeds Security Service. Ma Chunhua’s pregnancy before marriage was certainly not a glorious thing, even if she was likely to be pregnant with a child who had imperial blood. In desperation, Ma Chunhua married her Senior Brother Xu Zheng to hide it from the public. During that period, Kangxi’s spies contacted her several times and gave her a lot of help.

After Kangxi found out that Ma Chunhua was pregnant, he asked her to continue with the plan and regard the child as Fukang’an’s son, and then ordered a spy to quietly mention Ma Chunhua in front of Fukang’an. After that incident, Fukang’an actually missed her a little, so he immediately sent someone to bring Ma Chunhua to Shengjing, and what happened after that was encountered by Song Qingshu.

Ma Chunhua was sullied by several different men, and she had long given up on being able to enter the imperial palace as a concubine. However, Kangxi repeatedly assured her that after the plan was completed, she would be named a noble concubine, and her son would be named a King. Therefore, Ma Chunhua continued to follow Kangxi’s instructions for the sake of her son and the possibility of being a concubine.

After experiencing so many things, Ma Chunhua was no longer the ignorant girl she used to be. She knew that without the protection of Fukang’an, she was very likely to be executed in secret. So Ma Chunhua deliberately seduced Hongli last night.

As the sky turned dark, Hongli pushed open the door to visit her once again. Ma Chunhua smiled in her heart, ‘The day when the task will be completed is getting closer…’

“Your…Your Highness, may I know why you are visiting so late?” Ma Chunhua steadied her mood and looked at Hongli while pretending to be in a panic.

Seeing her act like a frightened rabbit, Hongli’s heart became even hotter, and he stretched out his hand, “Miss Ma, this Prince came over to see if you are feeling better.”

Ma Chunhua remained silent for a long time, and finally said in a low voice, “Your Highness, you are, after all, my father-in-law…”

“You haven’t officially married Fu’er anyway… Don’t be afraid, if you obey this Prince, this Prince will not treat you badly in the future. If you don’t obey, this Prince will have to…” Hongli didn’t continue, but his threat was quite obvious.

“Shameless!” Ma Chunhua bit her lip, while her body trembled with anger.

“Even if you don’t care about yourself, think about your two children.” Hongli didn’t know why he felt such a strong desire when facing her, and he didn’t hesitate to do such beastly things.

“They are your grandsons!” Ma Chunhua looked at him in disbelief.

“Whether they are or not depends on your performance. If you perform well, this Prince will let them recognize their ancestors and bear the family name. If your performance is poor, they will only be wild seeds.” Hongli stretched out his hand to raise Ma Chunhua’s chin, and slowly approached her lips. 

Soon a man’s roar and a woman’s choked moans sounded in the room…

*****

After returning to Yanjing City, Song Qingshu hurried to the Imperial Palace.

“You almost ruined Our plan!” This was the first thing Song Qingshu heard when he saw Kangxi.

“This one seeks Your Majesty’s forgiveness.” Song Qingshu was also feeling a little embarrassed. After all, Kangxi had sent him to appease Hongli, but in the end, he riled up the conflict even further.

“Forget it, when you confronted Prince Bao, he surely tasted the feeling of being suppressed. As long as the hundreds of thousands of troops in the north don’t know about our conflict, it doesn’t matter.” Kangxi waved his hand, “Speaking of which, it is a good thing that Fukang’an is dead, it made up for your little mishap.”

Kangxi’s expression turned a little gloomy. When talking about Fukang’an, he inevitably thought of Ma Chunhua. Even if he didn’t care much about that woman, she was his own woman after all. Not to mention that Fukang’an was also a competent general, so when he died, it was like breaking one of Hongli’s arms.

“Fukang’an’s death has nothing to do with me. It was done by people from the Mystic Dragon Cult.” Song Qingshu explained.

“We didn’t expect the Mystic Dragon Cult to have such ability, it seems that We had underestimated them before.” Kangxi seemed to remember something, and ordered, “Speaking of that, you should go to Mystic Dragon Cult in a few days to check.”

“Mystic Dragon Island?” Song Qingshu was taken aback.

Kangxi replied, “Yes, the people of the Mystic Dragon Cult killed Fukang’an, so Hongli will definitely not let it go. We think that he will definitely take revenge. As the Mystic Dragon Cult has secretly colluded with Mongolia, they will naturally not ignore it. The Mystic Dragon Island is surrounded by the sea, so we couldn’t set up spies. We need you to go to Mystic Dragon Island to investigate, so We can decide what to do next. There is no specific task for this mission, and We allow you maximum freedom.”

Although freedom was only a simple word, it had great delegating power. It could be said that as long as Song Qingshu wanted, he could represent Kangxi with full authority on the Mystic Dragon Island. In simple words, whatever he said would become the imperial edict. Of course, it was another matter whether the people of the Mystic Dragon Cult would listen or not.

“What about Western Xia’s Consort Recruitment?” Song Qingshu asked.

“You will have to go, of course, but after you come back from the Mystic Dragon Island.” Kangxi replied, “Western Xia has invited all the kings, grandchildren and nobles from all the countries and some of these countries are very far away. For example, some Mongolian princes live far away in the extreme west. It will take time for them to travel to Western Xia. So, they have set a fairly generous deadline, as long as you arrive in Western Xia before that, there is no need to rush.”

“But Fukang’an is dead, is it really necessary to help Yongyan become the prince consort?” Song Qingshu added, “Wouldn’t it be better to keep him in the capital as a hostage?”

“What’s so good about keeping a hostage?” Kangxi shook his head. “You can escort him to Western Xia then, and We will arrange something ourselves.”

After coming out of the imperial study, Song Qingshu seemed to feel a heavy stone in his heart. He was starting to become more and more uncertain about what Kangxi was thinking. This was a very dangerous sign…

“Boy, it’s been quite a long time since I saw you, and the flowery aura that this old man hates has become even stronger on you.” The Sunflower Ancestor appeared from the shadows again.

“Why do you always act so mysterious?” Song Qingshu said with a dark expression, “And, why did you call me?”

“It’s nothing special. I just wanted to find someone to talk to. It gets a bit boring to stay in the palace all day, and there’s no one I can talk to.” The Sunflower Ancestor replied.

Song Qingshu wondered, “Aren’t there so many guards in the palace? There are also a lot of eunuchs, you should have a lot in common.”

“Dam*n!” Sunflower Ancestor’s face turned red, “Don’t compare this old man with those ordinary eunuchs!”

“You can’t forget your roots, no matter how high your martial arts realm is, you’re still a eunuch, right? I don’t believe that you can grow small dic*ks by practicing the Sunflower Manual.” Song Qingshu muttered.