Qiao Mu, being so bright and intelligent, couldn’t resist sucking in a breath after some ruminating. “The illness curse you got affected by last time? Was also something that you requested on your own? You applied the illness curse to yourself on purpose!”


  Li Xiu’e shook her head. “That illness curse last time was something I purchased by chance in a talisman shop. At that time, I bought it for fun out of curiosity. I didn’t imagine that I would be able to put it to good use.”


  “Since the crown prince consort can dispel that illness curse, then you are naturally an expert in this field! This humble girl beseeches the crown prince consort to bestow an illness curse! This humble girl begs of you, Crown Prince Consort.” Li Xiu’e suddenly lowered her head and heavily gave Qiao Mu a sound kowtow.

  The three children turned their heads around from the window. When they saw Li Xiu’e acting like this, they couldn’t help but find it a bit strange.

  However, very soon, their attention was once again attracted by the entertaining show on stage.

  At the moment, a young male performer had led out a ferocious striped tiger onto the stage, drawing waves of gasps from the audience.

  After studying Li Xiu’e for a moment, it was only then that Qiao Mu said with certainty, “During yesterday’s banquet, I heard Her Highness Consort Cheng mention that you have already been betrothed to her son, the eldest prince Mo Jiao. You think that they will give up on you after you use the illness curse?”


  “Her Highness Consort Cheng won’t let her son marry a dying person.” Li Xiu’e’s eyes were crystal clear. “She won’t be able to accept that rotten luck!”


  Qiao Mu nodded in agreement. Marrying a concubine should originally be a happy occasion, so no one would be willing to marry a half-dead concubine in case they also got tainted with bad luck.

  “Other people all want to get married to a prince. Why aren’t you willing?”


  Li Xiu’e spat in disgust, not concealing her distaste toward Mo Jiao in the least. “He already has so many concubines, so his body must be filthy and stinky. He simply doesn’t meet my standards!”


  Qiao Mu curved her small mouth. She felt Miss Li had said some very amusing things, which quite suited her taste.

  “But normally, when young misses are forced to marry, don’t they make a terrible scene by weeping, then fussing, before threatening to hang themselves?”


  “What use would that do?” Li Xiu’e raised her head and looked back at Qiao Mu with determination. “I don’t want to do that kind of stupid thing for this kind of stinky man! If I get so ill that I can’t even get out of bed, I believe that Consort Cheng won’t welcome a dying person carrying bad luck into the Eldest Prince’s Estate.”


  Qiao Mu nodded again, starting to admire this Miss Li who spoke so straightforwardly. “You are only a normal person, but to be able to have this courage and insight, you are much more courageous than most of the people in the world. Alright! I will help you, but you have to promise me one thing.”


  “Please speak, Crown Prince Consort! This humble girl isn’t afraid of scaling a mountain of swords nor plunging into a frying pot!” Li Xiu’e declared as she gazed at Qiao Mu with shining eyes.

  “I don’t need you to scale a mountain of swords, nor do I require you to plunge into a frying pot. I only need you to maintain secrecy. You cannot tell anyone that I am a curse practitioner.” Qiao Mu didn’t want to attract trouble to herself. Ever since curse practitioners had been labeled as evil creatures, they had always been suppressed by various forces. If people with ulterior motives found out that she was able to produce illness curses, and was hence a curse practitioner to the letter, that would certainly attract plenty of trouble.

  Although she didn’t have anything to fear, she just found it annoying.

  “I, Li Xiu’e, swear to Heaven that if I dare leak the crown prince consort’s secret, I will definitely meet with Heavenly Law’s condemnation and die a miserable death!”


  Qiao Mu nodded, and it was only then that she took out an illness curse from her inner world and held it in her hand, sternly telling Li Xiu’e, “My illness curse is much more intense than the one you used before.”