The Birth Of A Villainess

As they walked inside the corridors, Lin Xiaofei noticed the difference between the usual things she could find in most of the residence in the entire Zheng Empire.

As if she stepped into a new world, Lin Xiaofei found herself surrounded by paintings. The walls on each side were adorned with different paintings hanging in the walls. It varied from sizes to colors and she could even see that there were some wooden frames around the painting.

She's seen paintings from inside the Lin residence but they were never put inside a frame so large that it could be as tall as Kael, the child she was keeping under her care.

Even the residence of Yu Fangzhu didn't have this quantity of paintings.

And just from the look of it, the brushes and colors that were used to paint these paintings were not from the empire. Could it be from the Western kingdoms? Lin Xiaofei couldn't help but think that this was possible.

She noticed how Qu Xing Xu's things in the Hong Pei Lou was different from what she was used to and saw that some were made from materials that could only be found in the Western Kingdoms. Luckily, she was able to get her hands to some in her past life. However, the extensive variety and quality of what Qu Xing Xu has in his possession, Lin Xiaofei were pleased to see new things.

However, she doubted that Qu Xing Xu managed to slip these paintings legally. Even if the royal family and the monarch feared and hesitated to cross Qu Xing Xu, they will surely not allow him to take all these paintings and even confiscate it.

So, how did he get these paintings and hang them in the wall without being punished?

As if he could read her mind, Qu Xing Xu said, "I got these frames from the Western Kingdoms."

"But isn't the trade between the Eastern and Western Kingdoms banned?" Asked Lin Xiaofei.

Even though there are two other Empires who allows the trade with the Western Kingdoms, the Zheng Empire chose to ban it. The monarch feared that the economic growth of the empire wouldn't meet their expectations and lose a lot of money. Thus, once Emperor Yun sat on the throne, he immediately decreed to ban the trade between the empire and the Western Kingdoms and punish those who defy the decree.

Qu Xing Xu nodded his head. He stopped before painting with people drawn inside it, "It is. But these paintings were bought and sent here when my grandfather is still alive. The previous monarch allowed him, I doubt Emperor Yun would mind all these."

If Emperor Yun ended up making a fuss over these paintings, the common people would call him ingrate and disrespectful towards the previous Duke of Xin and the previous ruling monarch.

He suddenly raised his finger to point at the gruesome painting next to the one before them. He then said to her, "Lovely, isn't it?"

When his words landed, several heads couldn't help but stiffen and turn into stones.

The painting he pointed at had a horse running across the desert where a knight was seated on top of it with his spear brandished. One could feel the patriotism that the knight felt upon his victorious actions and felt some pride when looks at it.

However, to some others who saw this painting, the one thing they will notice first was the head of the enemy that was impaled at the end of the spear as well as the headless body that lays on the feet of the black horse.

The elders who were following behind them after they were almost left behind by the couple, had a stiff expression in their faces. Their eyes were bulging at the sight of the painting that they never saw hanging on the wall before.

As they were a frequent visitor in the Qu residence, they all knew what this corridor looked like as if it was the back of their palms as Qu Xing Xu's grandfather would always proudly let them take a look at the paintings he had collected.

However, they had never seen bloody painting being hanged just a couple of days ago.

The Elders took a glance at each other, asking if they noticed this painting in their visits but all of them shook their heads.

On the other hand, the Bai sisters who were forced to also follow as they couldn't allow the two to be alone paled at the sight of the painting. They were all ladies who were treated like a glass; fragile and easy to break. It was quite ironic since the two of them enjoys hearing someone's cruel end. But hearing is different from seeing.

Thus, whenever they see something grisly and horrifying such as the painting before them, they would feel light-headed and wish they could faint. Even the Bai sisters who had been living in the Qu residence wondered when did this painting materialize in the wall.

Meanwhile, the few servants who are waiting behind and making their presence inconspicuous all closed their eyes. Wishing they won't see their young madam collapsing from the sight of the horrid painting.

Inside their minds, they kept mumbling endlessly.

'Master, why did you suddenly want us to hang this painting last night? Surely, you don't want to scare your little bride, right?'

'Is this the new way to court a lady? By scaring them with the painting you personally painted?'

These two servants conveyed their worries inwardly and had the same thoughts as the others.

Unfortunately, one of them thought differently.

"Oh my God! Could it be that master is recruiting the young madam to become evil like him?!'

While the servants continued to think silently and suppress what they were feeling at the time, Elder Gao was frowning.

Glaring at the back of Qu Xing Xu, Elder Gao said, "Girl, there are other paintings over there. That flower painting on the side is beautif--"

Before Elder Gao could finish he heard the sweet voice of Lin Xiaofei whispering softly.

"It is beautiful indeed."