Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 338

When the incense is burning brightly, it's because one deity's birthday is today, and another's is tomorrow. In other places, temple fairs are only held during major festivals or even the Lunar New Year, but in Foshan, they're held every month. There's no other reason than that they have money.

The entire street was filled with vendors selling cloth, oil, daily necessities, various handicrafts, and food. Various stages were set up for performances, creating a lively atmosphere. Although the street wasn't narrow, it was still quite crowded. Looking up, one could see a surging crowd, and Ronan and Ambrina were right there in the middle of it all.

It appears as if Ronan is leading Ambrina, but in reality, it's Ambrina leading Ronan around.

"Mrs. Anne." Suddenly a woman's voice called out to Ambrina.

Ambrina stopped and turned around, seeing a woman leading a young boy. The woman was Zhou Chongren's second wife, who was in charge of finances and provisions at the coastal defense prefecture, and the boy she was leading was Zhou Chongren's youngest son, who was now five years old.

After Ronan had smoothed things over with the Foshan officials, Ambrina, who had nothing better to do these past two months, infiltrated the circle of Foshan's ladies.

In front of these women, Ambrina was very polite, easy-going, gentle and quiet. She would give them gifts at every small gathering and occasionally say a few silly things in a Western style, which amused the ladies and made her very popular in the ladies' circle.

“Hello, Mrs. Zhou.” Ambrina paused to respond.

"Mrs. An, you look absolutely stunning today," Mrs. Zhou said.

Ronan saw the woman chatting about trivial matters and simply walked away.

Ambrina, dressed in a brocade and silk robe with her hair styled in a Seres updo, wore a pleased smile. "It took me almost half an hour to get ready, and he urged me more than ten times."

Mrs. Zhou smiled along with him, and Ronan, who happened to be far away, couldn't help but sigh, "Ah, that's just how men are."

“Your little boy is so cute.” With that, Ambrina took out ten taels of silver and handed it to the little boy. “Take this and buy some candy.”

Giving money directly in Seris would be extremely impolite in today's society, but since Ambrina was a foreigner who didn't know any manners, Madam Zhou not only didn't mind, but also found Ambrina's honesty and cuteness endearing.

Madam Zhou snatched the silver from her son's hand and made him thank her.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Madam Zhou added, "Madam An should have a child soon."

Ambrina couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, my good-for-nothing son is about the same age as you, Mrs. Zhou."

"Madam An, you really are joking with me again." Madam Zhou laughed. She had cultivation, but had not yet attained a proper position. She knew that Ambrina had quite a bit of cultivation. Although she looked very young, only in her early twenties, she was actually quite old. Madam Zhou estimated that she was only in her thirties. She never imagined that Ambrina was already over forty. Her eldest son, Little Lucien, was indeed about the same age as Madam Zhou.

After their conversation, Ambrina and Ronan reunited and continued shopping.

They hadn't gone far when a vendor called out, "Madam An, freshly roasted pigeon."

Ambrina stepped forward and said, "Wrap two for me."

"Give me the money, take it," Ambrina said, and started eating right there in the street. It was very unladylike, but what could she do when she was a foreigner?

Along the way, people called out to her, inviting her to buy things, some even offering to sell or give them away for free.

"Mrs. Anne, here, these are worthless things." A middle-aged woman insisted on giving Ambrina three or five pears.

"Then take one, there's no room for more." Ambrina took one.

After saying that, Ambrina dragged Ronan away.

It must be said that Ambrina was extremely popular on this street. Firstly, unlike many foreign women who had the monstrous, mean-spirited look that the Seres found strange, she was quite adorable. Secondly, her personality was genuinely likable; as the wife of Master Luo, she had no airs whatsoever and loved to joke around.

"Hmm?" Ronan suddenly stopped and made an unusual sound.

"What's wrong?" Ambrina asked, seemingly unfazed as she ate her braised goose wings.

"It's nothing. There was a sudden fluctuation of magical energy in the distance, and then it disappeared just as quickly," Ronan replied. "It was probably just a minor conflict."

Ronan was unaware that what he sensed was the moment when "Poison Sword" Cassell and Chen Zuolin were chasing Yang Huaien.

"Oh." Ambrina didn't think anything of it and took Ronan's hand. "Come on, let's go do something fun."

A few minutes later, Ronan learned what Ambrina meant by "fun": something called a "puma doll."

"Pumai" refers to gambling. "Pumai dolls" refers to a bunch of wooden carved and painted dolls that are sold. The more beautiful and rarer ones are very expensive, while the less beautiful ones are much cheaper in large quantities. However, you can buy them through blind boxes. Blind boxes are more likely to give you cheap dolls, but there is a small chance of getting expensive ones.

According to what Ambrina heard, this game originated in the previous dynasty of Seris, and in Ronan's original timeline, something similar existed in the Song Dynasty.

Blind boxes cannot be picked up and chosen by the user; they can only be designated from a distance. This is to prevent people with superhuman abilities from cheating.

Half an hour later, Ambrina happily left with a doll that cost one tael of silver. The other dolls, which she had spent nearly ten taels of silver to buy and which were piled up like a small mountain, were given to the other children.

"It's really quite beautiful," Ronan praised. The lines were natural and smooth, unlike the stiff, machine-carved dolls of later generations. Of course, the most impressive thing was the doll's clothes, which were cut and sewn to be extremely beautiful.

"Hehe." Ambrina chuckled, "I'll only play this once, I won't play it again."

“Go ahead and play if you want,” Ronan said.

“No, that’s gambling,” Ambrina said. “Spending ten taels of silver is fine, but more is not good. All of this money is earned by you, Ronan, through hard work.”

“Anli, I can’t make money without you,” Ronan said.

“That’s right,” Ambrina said with a hint of pride.

The two strolled around for a while, then found a small restaurant for dinner, watched a play, and finally set off for home.

On the way, Ambrina said she was tired and asked Ronan to carry her. Ronan naturally agreed and carried Ambrina slowly back to their lodgings.

The two chatted quietly every now and then, when suddenly Ronan noticed that Ambrina wasn't responding. "Anri?"

Ambrina closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted, and uttered unintelligible sounds as if in a dream.

"My God, how can he fall asleep like this?" Ronan shook his head helplessly and continued walking back.

As darkness fell completely, with his house right in front of him, Ronan suddenly saw a large, dark figure rushing towards him from a distance. As it drew closer, he realized it was a petite, slender girl carrying a woman who was considerably taller than her, charging towards them.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the girl was carrying Yang Huaien on her back; his face was as white as paper, and he was completely lifeless.

Bang! The girl kicked down Ronan's door and burst inside.

Chapter 783 Dead, Will and Testament, Why Should I Help You

"Somebody come!"

"Where are the people?"

"Help! Someone's dying!"

A petite girl was carrying Yang Huaien, who was several sizes larger than her, and was shouting in Luo Nan's front yard.

The three members of the technical team were not at home; they were trying to find some patterns by using the data accumulated from these talent transplant surgeries. After all, the ultimate goal of the research was to enable everyone to have talents, rather than to ensure that the offspring of extraordinary individuals would consistently become extraordinary individuals.

The three members of the security team weren't there; they went to receive and arrange for the people from the Ship Country, who would later become the main technical force for large-scale production. As for the other Western engineers and technicians recruited from various parts of South Asia, their main role was to act as translators. These people, who had traveled thousands of miles from their homeland to the East, were certainly bold, but their skills were somewhat lacking, and they weren't qualified to be Luo's tools.

Zhao Yingqi and Alice were not there either; they had gone to visit Mrs. Zhao.

Astrid went out for a walk to clear her head. She had been extremely angry these past few days because she wanted to learn Seris's cultivation method, but neither the academy nor the martial arts school would accept her, a foreigner.

There's only a three-person card-playing group at home, and a makeshift bridge group made up by Kate, who's as lazy as a salted fish.

At that moment, Ronan and the awakened Ambrina walked in through the kicked-down door.

The girl noticed Ronan and Ambrina, her eyes filled with a fierce yet fearful look, and asked, "Who are you?"

“That’s what I should be asking you. This is my home,” Ronan said, his voice low, his gaze fixed on Yang Huaien.

The girl didn't reply, but carefully put Yang Huaien down, then suddenly knelt down in front of Ronan and Ambrina, pleading, "Please save her."

Ronan was speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say.

At this moment, Dinia and the others arrived at the front yard.

Dinia and Elena tried it, but it didn't work at all.

Her combined treatment method with Elena could indeed bring the dead back to life and restore them to a healthy state, but only if the person had recently died.

Yang Huaien is already dead, and has been dead for quite some time. His demonic body has shattered and dissipated, and there is no way to bring him back.

“She’s dead. She’s been dead for a while now,” Dinia said.

“There’s no hope,” Elena added.

The girl looked up at the two of them, stunned for a moment, "Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!" the girl shouted, unwilling to believe it.

In the courtyard, no one argued with her; they just watched quietly.

"She was so strong, so strong, how could she die, how could she possibly die!" The girl knelt down, shouting and pounding the ground as if questioning the earth.

The girl made a scene for a while, questioning, cursing, and accusing, before her voice finally subsided. Her breathing became rapid, and she soon began to sob, her chest heaving. But just as she was about to cry out, she covered her mouth and eyes, stubbornly holding back her tears.

Taking a few deep breaths, the girl managed to calm down a little, stood up, took a piece of paper from her inner pocket, and handed it to Ronan.

Ronan took the letter; it was written with a brush.

The handwriting was messy, of varying sizes, and the pressure applied to the paper was inconsistent. In some places, the paper was torn and there were smears. You had to look closely to see what was written.

"I overheard Chen Yangren conspiring to transplant cultivation techniques to find Master Luo in the second drawer."

It is clear that this is a suicide note written by Yang Huaien in a moment of panic and when his consciousness was beginning to become confused, addressed to this girl.

The complete story should be: I overheard Chen Zuolin colluding with foreigners, which is related to cultivation transplantation. Go find Master Luo; the map is on the second drawer.

Ronan told the others what the letter said.

In an instant, Dinia, Elena, and Agustina all thought of the same people and events as Ronan.

The foreigner that Chen Zuolin colluded with was, without a doubt, Heath.

The origin of the cultivation transplant technique lies with Ursel. Later, Ursel's son-in-law developed the talent transplant technique, but this man, though not particularly strong in magic, was undeniably talented; he only got started before he died. Both of these techniques were acquired by Ursel's other son, Heath. Heath conspired with Ambrina's uncle, Lori, to assassinate Ambrina and then use these two techniques as leverage to gain support and stage a coup.

His methods were incredibly naive, and unsurprisingly, they failed. Heath then began his life on the run.

“Another old friend of ours was also involved,” Dinia suddenly said. “Remember the one in purple who used poison back in the New World? She died because of this.”

Ronan still remembers, "Was that guy really that powerful?"

“People can improve,” Dinia said.

At that moment, the girl suddenly realized that Ronan and this white-haired woman knew who the murderer was who killed Yang Huai'en, whom she regarded as her mother.

More than two months ago, after Yang Huaien completed that job, he disbanded the gang. Only she remained with them. Not long after, Yang Huaien started leaving early and returning late every few days, clearly investigating something. However, she didn't ask who he was investigating because Yang Huaien told her that after some time, he would take her to seek refuge with someone so they could live a peaceful life.

She believed that her eldest sister, Yang Huaien, whom she regarded as her mother, would never fail.

With a thud, the girl knelt down again. "Please help me get revenge." She knew that the person who could kill her eldest sister, Yang Huaien, was someone she, with only second-tier strength, could not handle. She could only rely on Ronan and the others to help her.

Before Ronan could speak, Elena stepped forward and said, "Don't think we have a deep relationship with her since she's dead. We don't even know her name, understand? And it's not like we asked her to follow and investigate that guy surnamed Chen."

“I know,” the girl replied.

She wouldn't say anything as annoyingly stupid as Yang Huaien taking the risk to seek refuge with you.

"But please help me avenge her," the girl pleaded again.

"So, on what grounds?" Agustina questioned, not out of refusal or deliberate obstruction, but to gauge the little girl's character through a few questions.

The girl took out a few silver ingots and a few silver notes that she had taken with her when she left the safe house, and put them on the ground.

“Do we lack this little bit of money? Or do you think your enemy is only worth this much?” Asgutina asked again.

The girl gritted her teeth, "If I can avenge you, I'll serve you like a slave for the rest of my life."

Agustina scoffed, "Is your strength really that useful?"

The girl suddenly fell silent. She slowly stood up, took a deep breath, and then, facing Ronan and in front of everyone, suddenly took off her shirt. Money? Not enough. Strength? No. This was all she had. Taking off her shirt wasn't enough; she had to continue.

Dinia raised her hand, and a paralyzing mushroom sprouted, which she forcefully shoved into the girl's mouth, quickly rendering her unconscious. Then, she glanced at Elena and Agustina with a hint of reproach, without saying a word.

Ronan looked at Elena and Agustina and instructed, "Take the child to the guest room first, and leave the body in the lobby for now."

After saying that, Ronan couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Chapter 784 Calm, Single-minded, Only One Dead Cat

The next morning, Yang Nian suddenly woke up with a start, sitting up like a spring. Looking left and right, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Then, all the memories of yesterday exploded in her mind, and for a moment she couldn't tell if it was reality or a nightmare.

In the afternoon, the eldest sister, Yang Huaien, suddenly returned, wearing different clothes and shoes than before she left. Her hair was a little wet, and she was in very good spirits, even a little too good. She said that she hadn't eaten and asked me to go out and buy her a serving of sticky rice chicken.

They lived in an abandoned house surrounded by many "vagrants," and it was quite a distance from the market where they could buy things.

When she returned with the sticky rice chicken, her older sister was already lying unconscious on the ground, and there was a letter on the table with the ink still wet.

With a headache-inducing memory, Yang Nian slipped on her shoes and quickly left the room. After a few steps, she arrived at the central courtyard and saw the corpse lying on a straw mat in the main hall.

His legs went weak, as if his bones had been removed, and he staggered and fell to the ground.

Yang Nian sat on the ground, silent and motionless, as if she were about to become a dead person, yet her eyes remained bright, her bright eyes staring at the corpse.

After a long while, a voice broke the silence.

“You’re much calmer than we expected,” Ambrina said from behind her.

Yang Nian didn't get up or turn around, still staring at the corpse in the main hall. "Those who do this kind of work don't live long, that's what she said."

Ambrina plopped down next to Yang Nian with a familiar air and asked, "What's your name? How old are you?"

"Yang Nian, fourteen." Yang Nian replied in a lukewarm tone.