Qi Yuan cast him a cool glance and tugged at the corner of her lips. “Am I wrong, Your Highness? When you saw me kill Cheng Wang, your first reaction was to tell me that you had already come up with a plan.”
After all, they were people who had spent two lifetimes together.
Qi Yuan knew at least a little about Xiao Yunting’s methods.
She tilted her head. “Your Highness’s plan was probably similar to what I had in mind, wasn’t it?”
Otherwise, how could he have reacted so quickly? Second Master Liu had been drinking in the front yard perfectly fine—how could it be such a coincidence that Xiao Yunting just happened to bring him there?
But there wasn’t much point in discussing that now.
She quickly changed the subject. “But there’s another issue. When I killed Cheng Wang, there were still people hiding in the courtyard—people from Qi Wang’s faction and the Liu family.”
Although she didn’t know why that person didn’t intervene or try to stop her.
But the fact that they escaped still left a hidden danger.
Xiao Yunting made a sound of acknowledgement. Seeing how quickly she changed her expression, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Qi Yuan always surprised him—she didn’t even seem to have a hint of curiosity.
She’d just blurt out her speculations, without caring whether they were right or wrong.
He said lightly, “It was likely Qi Wang’s secret guard. No need to worry—they wouldn’t dare speak up.”
The fates of Duke Chu’s household and Qi Wang’s faction were tightly bound together.
And Duke Chu’s household was already in utter disgrace. After the scandal with Second Master Liu, Emperor Yongchang not only issued an edict reprimanding the Duke for failing to manage his family properly but also implicated the once-favored Noble Consort Liu.
When she pleaded for Duke Chu and tried to request an imperial physician for him, she was scolded to her face by Imperial Censor Tie, who called her a “demonic consort” who brought calamity to the nation and bewitched the emperor’s heart.
The moment that accusation spread, Noble Consort Liu conveniently “fell ill”—seriously ill, to the point where she couldn’t even get out of bed.
Everything was already a complete mess.
If Qi Wang really dared to push someone forward to accuse Qi Yuan of murder, never mind whether anyone would believe it—the first thing that would come out would be the exposure of his secret guards.
He wasn’t that stupid.
Qi Yuan glanced at Xiao Yunting. “Your Highness misunderstood. I’m not worried about that person stepping forward to accuse me.”
Just as Xiao Yunting sensed something, Qi Yuan set down her cup.
“I regret that I didn’t eliminate them all. I let a tiger return to the mountain.” Qi Yuan lowered her eyes, concealing the cold glint within.
She could feel it—that person harbored deep killing intent toward her.
What a pity. Enemies who hide in the shadows should have been crushed on the spot.
Leaving them alive was a disaster waiting to happen.
…
Xiao Yunting was speechless. He knew it—he was being sentimental for no reason!
How could he ever see Qi Yuan as a typical woman, thinking she would feel fear or worry?
He took a deep breath and snapped irritably, “Don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities! You are now a thorn in the side of both Qi Wang and Duke Chu. You don’t even need to chase them—they’ll keep throwing themselves at you!”
He’d had enough—Qi Yuan was either killing people or sharpening her knives.
Couldn’t she have something else going on in her life?
Qi Yuan responded with a calm “Oh” and said, “Your Highness is right. Since they didn’t manage to kill me this time, they surely won’t give up easily.”
Not giving up was an understatement.
After leaving the Wang household, Qi Jin slapped herself hard several times, her face quickly swelling and bruising.
When Qi Wang summoned her, the handprints on her face were still clearly visible.
Eunuch Xu glanced at her and fearfully closed the door.
When the news of Cheng Wang’s death first came, he had been worried that His Highness would lose his mind.
But unexpectedly, His Highness had no reaction at all.
Which was even more terrifying!
If someone loses control and goes crazy, at least it shows they’re still thinking clearly.
But now…
As soon as the door was shut, Qi Jin shivered violently and dropped to her knees with a heavy thud, kowtowing repeatedly to Qi Wang. “Your Highness, this subordinate is guilty—guilty!”
Qi Wang was in an absolutely foul mood.
His leg still hadn’t fully healed, and that was already frustrating enough.
He hadn’t expected that even after returning, he would continue to suffer one defeat after another!
Meanwhile, that wretched Qi Yuan had gotten everything she wanted.
She had protected the Xie family, killed Liujinghong, destroyed the secret guards he had worked so hard to build.
Now, she had even killed Cheng Wang and Second Master Liu!
Why?
She was just a woman!
And what are women? They are born to be liabilities, inherently inferior to men. They have no property, no households of their own, and all they own is the meager dowry they bring when they marry. They are meant to stay in the inner quarters, give birth to sons, manage the household, and support their husbands and educate their children!
But Qi Yuan never knew her place.
She had been that way in their past life.
And she was still that way in this life!
What did she want? To become a female emperor?!
Seeing the slap marks on Qi Jin’s face, Qi Wang grabbed her chin fiercely, forcing her to lift her head as he coldly asked, “What happened to your face?”
Qi Jin pressed her lips together, and tears immediately spilled from her eyes as she trembled. “I—I hit myself.”
Qi Wang hadn’t expected that answer—he was momentarily stunned.
When he processed what she’d said, he burst into a furious laugh. “You hit yourself?”
Qi Jin felt utterly humiliated. Qi Wang’s laughter was no different from a slap across her face.
She knew what Qi Wang was laughing at.
She had once vowed confidently that if he gave her the chance, she would definitely kill Qi Yuan.
Qi Wang had given her the chance, but in the end, she had backed down.
She closed her eyes, and what replayed in her mind was the ruthless, decisive way Qi Yuan had killed Cheng Wang.
Qi Yuan hadn’t hesitated for even a moment.
As if that wasn’t a prince—wasn’t even a human being.
There was no psychological burden at all. It was as if killing someone was no different from squashing an ant.
Qi Jin remembered the way Qi Yuan had used her sleeve arrows.
The sleeve arrow in Qi Yuan’s hand was utterly effortless, perfectly controlled.
Finally, Qi Jin broke down in tears. “Your Highness, I was useless!”
“You are useless!” Qi Wang slapped her hard across the face. “Do you finally understand now why you were cast out of the Qi family like a stray dog?!”
Qi Jin clutched her face, on the verge of collapse.
She had always refused to admit she was inferior to Qi Yuan.
But the scene of Qi Yuan killing was seared into her memory.
And now she understood.
Even princes were nothing in Qi Yuan’s eyes—so what was the Qi family to her?
That was why the Qi family treated Qi Yuan as their treasure.
That was why Qi Wang could never forget Qi Yuan.
Qi Wang couldn’t even be bothered to speak further to such a useless person.
He believed that if Qi Yuan had been trained at his secret camp for three months, her achievements would have far surpassed this.
The more he thought about it, the more uncontrollable his anger became. He shoved Qi Jin aside, his face twisted with rage. “Guards! Kill her! Kill her!”
He didn’t want to see this worthless failure for even another second!
Qi Jin panicked, clutching desperately at Qi Wang’s robe. “No, no, Your Highness! I’m still useful—I still have my use!”
Qi Wang sneered coldly, unmoved, and nodded toward the secret guards.
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