The dagger pressed against Xu Huan was making him increasingly uncomfortable, and whether it was real or just in his head, he kept feeling like the cut Qi Yuan had made on his neck was still bleeding.
That terrified him.
Everyone has a weakness.
Reputation and fear of death were Xu Huan’s.
He quickly said, “I can help you! I can help clear your family’s name—as long as you cooperate, I can push the blame onto someone else!”
Qi Yuan’s face remained expressionless, but the coldness in her eyes deepened.
She shifted the dagger against his skin, and in the blink of an eye, added another shallow cut.
Then she asked with a sharper tone, “Push the blame onto who? Onto the generals still fighting on the frontlines, risking their lives for the country? Or onto those sons of military households who went to war at twelve or thirteen, who haven’t even had the chance to grow up before dying as part of your schemes?”
Xu Huan cried out from the pain.
But he quickly realized in horror—
There was no sound.
No movement at all from outside.
He couldn’t help but turn his head—despite the risk—to look at Qi Yuan, eyes wide with fear.
Qi Yuan just smiled. “Don’t look at me like that, like I’m some cold-blooded killer or something. There aren’t many people serving in this house anyway. The ones in the inner residence went off to pray at the temple, and as for the few in the front courtyard, knocking them out didn’t even take any effort.”
Xu Huan closed his eyes.
That was as good as saying he could forget about being rescued.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Then what did you come here for?!”
He couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that!
Was she here just to humiliate him?!
Qi Yuan gave him a surprised look. “Lord Xu, I literally just praised you for being clever—how did you get so stupid all of a sudden? Of course I’m here to ask what you’ve got for me.”
Xu Huan snapped, “What do you want?!”
“The secret letters between you and the Oirat people. The names of the intermediaries. Where all your silver has gone. Which men in the Jizhou army are still yours. You’d best tell me all of it, Lord Xu.”
Qi Yuan smiled sweetly as she drew another cut across his neck with her blade, softly adding, “Otherwise, I have far more creative ways to deal with people than just leaving a few scratches.”
“Oh,” she added lightly, “I never told you how Xu Xinqiao died, did I? Before he was burned alive, I stabbed him once in the chest—and then clean through both shoulder blades. I told him he had one chance, one opportunity to tell me the truth. But it was a shame… he wasted it.”
Xu Huan felt like he was dealing with a lunatic.
A complete lunatic.
He’d always thought that perverted eunuch Pu Wuyong was already twisted enough—but never imagined that this filthy little wench Qi Yuan could be even more deranged than him!
Before he could even speak, he saw Qi Yuan pull out her hairpin, casually saying, “I also told Xu Xinqiao that if he didn’t behave, I’d use this hairpin to stab it straight into the artery in his neck—the one that pulses the hardest. It’d burst just like firecrackers. Lord Xu, want to give it a try?”
Try it, his *ss!
Xu Huan desperately wanted to call the authorities!
Could someone please come arrest this madwoman?!
And he believed she’d really do it—because she had already started pressing the hairpin into the artery on his neck.
All it would take was one flick of her hand—and the hairpin would be buried in his throat…
Cold sweat poured down Xu Huan’s back. When he heard Qi Yuan begin to count, “One… two… three,” he finally couldn’t hold out any longer and shouted, “I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it to you! The secret letters—they’re in a hidden compartment behind the bookshelf in my study!”
Qi Yuan let out an “oh,” then calmly put away her gold hairpin and dagger. With one hand, she grabbed the back of his collar, yanked him up, and pushed him toward the bookshelf, saying sternly,
“Open it.”
Xu Huan hesitated a little.
Qi Yuan immediately kicked him hard behind the knee. “Open it!”
Trembling, Xu Huan fumbled for a jade pendant at his waist and fit it into a recessed spot on the bookshelf. With a twist, the shelf slowly began to shift open.
But in that very instant, Xu Huan suddenly broke away from Qi Yuan and tried to escape.
He knew that the moment someone gets what they desperately want is the easiest moment to let down their guard.
He had been waiting for this exact moment!
Unfortunately, just as he rolled to the ground, he saw Qi Yuan—expression unchanged—bat away the several arrows that shot out of the hidden compartment.
…
This woman!
Qi Yuan turned back and raised her brows with a half-smile. “What’s the matter, Lord Xu? Trying to run?”
Xu Huan had never felt so humiliated in his life!
He watched helplessly as Qi Yuan took the secret letters from the hidden space. When she began walking toward him, he instinctively tried to dodge.
Even though the evidence was already in her hands, Xu Huan still didn’t want to die like this.
As long as he stayed alive, there was still a chance to turn things around!
He didn’t believe Pu Wuyong would just sit by and let him die!
But Qi Yuan walked right up to him and didn’t even spare him a glance. She just stepped on him—crushing his stomach as she walked over him.
…
The pain made him arch his back like a shrimp with its vein yanked out.
Absolutely outrageous.
Absurd!
Meanwhile, back at the Qi residence, a break-in had occurred in the middle of the night, and even Qi Yuan’s Mingyue Pavilion was set on fire. If the household hadn’t discovered it in time, who knows how many would’ve died.
Fortunately, Liuzhong and the guards were alert and spotted the intruders. They reported it right away, and the local patrol and military officers arrived quickly, catching several of the culprits on the spot.
Liuzhong let out a breath of relief. The young miss had told him to stay on guard today—so there really had been something planned!
Still, with half of Mingyue Pavilion burned down, he couldn’t help but wonder: would the young miss be angry when she returned?
Qi Yuan, for now, had no time to be angry. She handed the secret letters she had obtained to Xiao Yunting and said, “Together with the evidence His Highness uncovered, this should be enough to prove my grandfather and father’s innocence, right?”
Xiao Yunting was in a good mood.
Probably because Qi Yuan hadn’t stayed at Mingyue Pavilion as bait, but instead had taken a different route and snuck off to the Xu residence to retrieve the letters.
He chuckled and asked jokingly, “So, did Xu Huan die?”
“No,” Qi Yuan smiled matter-of-factly. “If you want to please someone, the simplest method is to give them what they desire. But if you want to ruin someone, just do the opposite.”
“There are people in this world who seek fame—if you make them fall into disgrace and eternal infamy, even handing them the imperial throne as compensation wouldn’t make life worth living. And there are people who seek profit—if you strip them of their fortune, power, and status, then even giving them a saint’s reputation would be utterly useless.”
“To take someone down, you must take what they value most. Otherwise, it’s either counterproductive, or laughable.”
“So why would I kill him? I hope he lives a long, long life.”
So he can live to see the eunuch dog’s downfall.
