My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 63

With just a few words, the couple arranged the future of several businessmen who had objections to their work-for-relief plan. However, it must be said that those mischievous kids had indeed begun to cause trouble for Yang Hao's plans.

Around noon today, a group of uninvited guests arrived at the Duke's administration office. These people seemed to be nobles on the list of troublemakers. They came over in a boisterous manner and complained to the unfriendly-looking Mr. Joseph, the "Iron Father," about the suffering they had endured under the "work relief" program.

The complaints—that the servants have all run away, that the workers refuse to work, that the imperial rubles they hold are less powerful than ducal coins—at first glance, seem like normal lamentations, but upon closer examination, there's a real story behind them!

The servants all ran away because those desperate servants could only barely make ends meet with three meals a day at the nobles' mansions. Now that there were better jobs, and they could earn a living by working at the duke's mansion, who would want your thick soup mixed with sawdust? So naturally, the servants who could run away all ran away.

[The workers are unwilling to work], these nobles who took advantage of the bad impression of the economic crisis to sign devilish exploitative contracts with unemployed workers cannot bear to see the economy improve: if the economy improves, how can they sign more nobles, how can they force them to leave something behind when they are desperate—for example, a kidney.

Moreover, their contracts were problematic to begin with, and they were afraid that the Duke's people would find those contracts—naturally, they also began to fear the economic improvement, wishing that Lord Kosiché would cancel the work relief program now so that they could live a more comfortable life.

As for the point that "the Imperial Ruble is inferior to the Duke's Coin"? Hahahaha.

Aside from the three nobles, including Mr. Anton, which of the other 30-odd nobles in the Duchy of Kosice didn't take advantage of the economic crisis to exploit the citizens? They were living comfortably off that money before, so naturally they hope the Imperial ruble will maintain its original purchasing power—otherwise, they might even have trouble buying bread. Ha, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

...Mr. Joseph, Mr. Yang Hao who was drinking beer at the time, and Mr. Paul standing behind Yang Hao all knew the details of their crimes. So after exchanging glances, the three of them directly let the Gauls supervising outside come in and drag the nobles out.

"If it weren't for the fact that massacring those nobles now would lead to rebellion and a massive drop in stability, and also attract that empire you mentioned, my wife—"

“The Imperial Council, the Emperor of Ursus, and the Imperial Guard.”

"Yes, if the Imperial Council, the Emperor of Ursus, and those Imperial Guards were paying attention, I would have sent the Gauls in and slaughtered them long ago! And look, the little pony even got a lot of information that the Serpent Scales didn't get—those perverts are actually getting together from time to time to play... parties! Now I finally understand why condom sales in the Duchy of Koschche were so good before the work relief program."

Yang Hao angrily denounced those nobles who were paid to defecate, wishing he could abolish them all right now and replace them with political commissars or even more "Comrades Joseph." However, the Ursus Emperor's inner guards, who had already infiltrated the city, were someone he couldn't afford to provoke for the time being.

After all, the Kosichean Duchy is still in its developmental stage and is not yet capable of fighting the Ursus Emperor. Let alone fighting the Ursus Emperor, even defeating and annexing the neighboring Nikolai Duchy within two years would be considered an advanced development—so for the time being, under the watchful eyes of the Imperial Guard, Yang Hao cannot make a move against those nobles.

Sigh. That's it then. Let them live a few more months—once those imperial guards are gone, I'll hang you all on the streetlights.

Yang Hao was furious at this moment. Knowing Yang Hao's current state, Koschke didn't force him to keep everything bottled up. After letting him vent, this woman who had lived for over a thousand years, with a smile, offered her still-immature husband some good advice:

“My husband, wouldn’t you feel much better when you consider that they won’t live that long, and you have plenty of time to deal with their families?”

"...But I'm also destined for a short life, you know?" Yang Hao rubbed his nose, giving a slightly embarrassed smile. "So, sorry... I can't quite imagine that kind of thought right now..."

"It's okay, we'll work together. So, when do you plan to start your plan?"

"Let's wait until the work-for-relief program ends. We need to gather materials little by little..."

"I'll help you gather some. I think the Blood of God is relatively easy to obtain."

"Ugh?"

"You have an avatar of Ursus right next to you, don't you think?"

"Oh..."

But Koschke, you're using someone else's body right now, aren't you? The blood flowing from your body is someone else's blood, isn't it?

Yang Hao blinked and asked a question that put Kosiché in an awkward position.

....... .......

That evening, Margarita did not go to the cemetery to practice her faith. Her master, Mr. Northam, had told her that a messenger wanted to see her.

“It’s a messenger from Ursus, and he specifically mentioned your name when he contacted me,” Mr. Northron said, leading a delighted Margarita toward the messenger’s temporary lodging. “He requests that you personally receive the letter—so grant me the day off, Margarita.”

"Yes! Thank you, teacher..."

"Sigh. Take it easy."

Mr. Northumbers led Margarita to the messenger's location, where the messenger was already prepared for the handover.

The capable messenger took the items he was to deliver from his backpack as he spoke:

"This is a personal letter from Lord Yang Hao to you."

"—Thank you!" The genuine joy on Margarita's face was not feigned. Mr. Norsen, who was smoking a cigar beside her, was also seeing her smile so happily for the first time—it must be that Lord Yang Hao truly occupies an extremely important place in her heart.

"This is bottled blood prepared for you by Lord Yang Hao—it's his own, and it contains freezing and anticoagulants, so you can drink it now without any problem."

"Oh? Won't this make him uncomfortable?" Margarita's smile was tinged with worry. She was concerned that Yang Hao might feel unwell or malnourished after donating blood. What if that happened? "How has he been lately, Mr. Messenger?"

"Lord Yang Hao is in very good health and lives a happy and peaceful life... Also, this is a communicator that Duke Kosche asked me to give you—this specially made communicator can be used to make short calls to Ursus when using Originium Arts... You may have to wait until Lord Kosche contacts you to find out how to contact Ursus."

"...well?"

What does that monster want from me?

Margarita, who was initially delighted and troubled by Yang Hao's gift, blinked, somewhat confused and at a loss.

Meanwhile, Mr. Northon, standing to the side, twitched his lips and clutched his forehead: he roughly understood what the immortals from Ursus next door were up to...

The messenger added that "Lord Koschche will contact you when he wishes to do so," indicating that he would remain there for some time, and that Margarita could contact him if she wanted to reply.

Chapter 140

...

Late that night, Margarita didn't sleep a wink. She carefully sipped Yang Hao's blood, as if it were a precious treasure she couldn't bear to part with, while reading the handwritten letter Yang Hao had written to her.

"My dear Margarita, how have you been lately?"

As Margarita happily murmured the contents of the letter, she was completely unaware of the sweaty expression on Mr. Northon's face, who had already read the contents before her.

Margarita was overjoyed! Like a naive young girl who had been working hard away from home and suddenly received a gift and greetings from her beloved, she was filled with thoughts of Yang Hao's life in Ursus, happy that he hadn't forgotten her. In her excitement, she even felt that every drop of blood she tasted was precious, and she had the urge to carefully hide it away, even if it rotted and stinked...

Subsequently.

"I'm doing quite well here. You don't need to worry about my life here, except after we get married..."

...

It's a direct and devastating blow.

Although Margarita had already made ample mental preparations for what would happen after Yang Hao went to Ursus, as the saying goes, can a child who hasn't been weaned yet be adequately prepared to cope with a blow from society that exceeds her capacity?

Obviously, this was impossible—fortunately, she had grown up over time and was no longer the child who would only cry, feel wronged, and be self-righteous. Although Margarita suffered a heavy blow from Yang Hao's handwritten letter, no matter what—she could still hold on!

"Ugh..." Margarita let out a listless moan, like a small animal. She lay on the table, angrily drinking Yang Hao's blood in one gulp. Immersed in the delicious taste of the blood of the person she missed, she began to read the text below.

Mr. Northumberon stood behind Margarita, watching over her. She probably knew exactly what kind of crazy scheme that Ursus black snake was up to—and to be honest, although the contents of the letter didn't seem strange, it was best to be careful on her side, lest this still-weaned child suddenly give up on herself.

'Hiss...you rock crab, can't you even look at your master properly?' She took a puff of her cigar, turned around, and looked at Sanae, who was hiding timidly outside the door for some reason, not daring to come in. Mr. Norsen felt like he had a headache.

...

To her surprise, although Margarita uttered complaints several times during the reading, she didn't lose her temper at all in the end. She simply folded the letter she had finished reading carefully, put it back in the envelope, and placed it in her safest place before letting out a sigh.

"Margarita?"

"Hmm? Oh—no, it's alright, teacher. I'm not the same child I used to be..." Margarita gave a bittersweet smile. "I'm no longer that self-righteous bad child... Although I felt angry after reading the letter... and dissatisfied with myself, I'm mostly happy for Yang Hao's life..."

"what?"

"I thought that Ursus monster would treat him like a beast of burden, using him until the very end and then discarding him... but judging from the letter, it seems that's not the case?" Margarita muttered with relief. "In that case, my biggest worry is gone... As for what's making me angry... what makes me angry is that that wicked woman actually managed to win his heart completely..."

"...Don't you hate it?" Mr. Northumber took another puff of his cigar and exhaled the pungent smoke. She was pleased with Margarita's composure, but on the other hand, it would be a disaster if Margarita chose to bury all her resentment deep inside.

“…I hate it…but teacher, I hate my past self for being so arrogant and oblivious. I don’t hate him, nor do I hate that wicked woman—though I dislike her, I don’t hate her.” Margarita was silent for a moment, then looked down at the two empty bottles and the communicator beside them, before shaking her head. “And…I don’t want to keep my promise and meet him again…to make him feel like I’m the person I used to be. When that day comes, I don’t want him to wait any longer…I don’t want to wait any longer either…”

Although Margarita's growth was only temporary in terms of her mindset, she learned many valuable lessons.

One of the reasons is that she can hate others, even herself—but before that, she must figure out who caused the mistake in the first place.

Moreover, Margarita was well aware that almost all the mistakes at the time were her own. So the only person she could hate was herself—but this didn't have too many negative effects on her. On the contrary, it helped this child, who previously had nothing left to hate, find her first path in life, gain more experience in growing up, and also helped her determine the direction she would take as she grew up.

She wanted to become a mature Blood Demon, one who would no longer resent or regret her past. She admitted she hated Duke Koschei—but after realizing that Duke Koschei wasn't actually a bad woman, she couldn't bring herself to hate her anymore.

After all, compared to that monster, I am indeed far inferior... but I am not without advantages, after all...

"Margarita—first I need to make sure you're really normal right now?"

Just as Margarita was thinking, "I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze in then," Mr. Northam suddenly sighed and tapped Margarita's head with his fist.

"Ouch...! Teacher, I'm perfectly normal!"

"In that case, let's continue our cultivation today. Sigh, I gave you the day off because I thought you might get excited after reading the letter, right? That's perfectly normal, it's not good to waste time. Let's go, let's go cultivate."

"well??!"

"What are you 'sighing' about?! Do you want to be unable to even interfere in other people's happy families? Get out of here right now! Come back tomorrow morning to write a reply!"

"Yes..."

Looking at Margarita, who had been kicked out and was now dejected and on the verge of tears because her vacation was gone, Mr. Northon took his third puff of his cigar and turned to look at the communicator on the table.

She needed to figure out if the black snake really intended to do that kind of thing; until then, it would be better to get Margarita away.

Chapter 141

On the evening of April 4th, when Mr. Anton rushed home from a public relief event to have a late dinner, his wife, accompanied by a maid, bombarded him with the following news in the dining room:

“My dear, your friend has invited you to form a public council.” Nia said this as she took an invitation from a maid and handed it to Anton, who was sweating profusely and taking off his coat with the help of a servant. “It seems to be… a council opposing His Majesty the Duke’s ‘work relief’ program. What do you plan to do?”

"What? Have those guys lost their minds?" Anton was utterly bewildered, because in his eyes, this "work relief" program was undoubtedly a good thing!

Instead of simply providing bread to the unemployed, or merely paying lip service, the Duke and her husband, along with the Duke's household which had already completed initial reforms, made this "relief" seem perfectly reasonable through concrete actions and by providing numerous job opportunities for the unemployed.

Furthermore, taking advantage of this opportunity and action, the four cities of the Duchy of Kosiché could even demolish some useless, unfinished buildings and replace them with new ones. This is an excellent thing for both the people and the territory, so why would anyone oppose it?

What puzzled Anton greatly was this: even if his friends were ordinary acquaintances he casually made for social reasons after becoming a nobleman, surely his friends wouldn't be that stupid? They were nobles, after all!

But just thinking about it was pointless. Anton, completely bewildered, took the invitation from his wife, then grabbed a letter opener from a servant, tore open the envelope, carefully read its contents, and finally, in a fit of rage, tore the entire invitation to pieces, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it a few times.

Seeing her husband so angry, Nia was also stunned: she hadn't read the contents, so naturally she didn't know how much Anton's friends indulged in debauchery and how utterly despicable they were!

"Honey?"

"I—we'll go inside and talk. I'm hungry."

Anton was so angry that he couldn't utter a single fluent word, but at least he remained rational and knew that it would be better to say what he was holding back at home in a private place.

...

After returning home.

Anton and his wife sat in the living room. While eating the late-night snack prepared by the maid, Anton angrily explained to Nia the outrageous ideas of his drinking buddies.

"They actually intend to rebel against this great government measure that benefits the people and the city just because they think it will prevent them from controlling workers through exploitative contracts!"

Anton was so angry he almost choked on the bread in his mouth. Fortunately, after he managed to swallow the food safely, he took a breath and calmed down a bit, but he was still angry.

"And Nia, do you know how ridiculous their reasons are? They're actually dissatisfied because the purchasing power of [Duke's Coins] is stronger than that of the Imperial Ruble here! But the problem is, those coins are meant to help the unemployed and the poor survive. They're jealous that the poor can buy consumer goods that have been stockpiled in warehouses for who knows how long, and they're actually planning to join forces with the big merchants next door to prevent the normal issuance and use of Duke's Coins! They're a bunch of scum!"

“…”

“…”

Anton poured his heart out to Nia. He truly couldn't understand what his colleagues were thinking—aristocrats, aristocrats. No matter how powerful or wealthy you are, you should still be a human being, not a beast worse than a dog.

“In that case…Anton, I think you need to distance yourself from them.”

After listening to Anton's outburst of anger, Niya pondered for a while before solemnly explaining to her husband, "If we don't sever ties with them, our family might get dragged into it when His Majesty the Duke purges those two-faced bastards."

“I’ll go to the Duke’s mansion tomorrow morning and report their crimes. I’ll distance myself from them, I promise.” Anton nodded, then, as if remembering something, he turned back and told Jason to go to the door and retrieve the torn invitation. “Jason—my good lad, go out and collect those fragments of the invitation, then put them back together. I need it as evidence tomorrow.”

"Sir, we can make another copy by hand. After all, that invitation is really too dirty now."

“Then let’s do it that way. Anyway, I’ll be ready before I leave the house tomorrow morning.”

"Yes."

...

The Anton family was prepared to sever ties with their former friends.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yang Hao had just finished his daily "labor duty" and was enjoying a relaxing bath with his wife when he noticed a newly popped-up event interface:

[Event: Drawing a clear line]

Although Mr. Anton of the Dukedom of Kosichä is a lower-ranking nobleman, he can be said to be the nobleman of the best character in the duchy. Born a commoner, he loves commoners and all classes forced into poverty. He is an extremely rare exception among noblemen even in the whole of Ursus.

Today, he decided to sever ties with his superficial, socially-minded friends. He discovered that they were preparing to form an alliance with wealthy merchants against the ducal currency and the work-for-relief program. Moreover, there was evidence that they possessed a degree of armed force and controlled a portion of the trade routes for essential goods in the Duchy of Kosiché.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. The two kings of the Duchy of Kosicé cut off their livelihood, and this time, they might as well kill their whole family to save themselves some trouble.

Tomorrow, that evidence will be placed in the administrative office. Considering Mr. Anton's integrity, it would be best to ensure the safety of his family.

'I've been looking for a suitable excuse!' (Overjoyed)

Wuhu! take off!

I just happen to lack a suitable excuse to clean up those merchants and the nobles on the mischievous list right under the nose of the Emperor's inner guard!