Xiao Jin sat in the carriage, her heart not filled with relief after narrowly escaping danger. Instead, she furrowed her brow, sinking into greater doubts.
If she hadn’t read the secret revealed by Prince Shen, she might have thought that the last few words Emperor Qi spoke were mere nonsense. But when she combined that secret with everything else, Xiao Jin found it highly intriguing.
“If I were to say that if you had truly killed me just now, would these black-clothed men will deliver the decree of inheriting the crown prince to you?”
Considering how much Emperor Qi detested Fengxuan, it was unlikely that the original owner would become the crown prince. However, it wasn’t entirely impossible. If Emperor Qi knew that the Crown Prince wasn’t his biological son, and with the Fifth Prince disabled and the Fourth Prince confined to the ancestral residence… with these thoughts, he might only have the option to hand over the throne to the original owner.
However, Xiao Jin still felt that something was amiss. If Emperor Qi initially didn’t want the Crown Prince to become the emperor, why give him so much power, even to the extent of concealing the Crown Prince’s shadow behind the Blood Rain Pavilion?
Lost in thought, Xiao Jin couldn’t figure it out and decided to open a mental window and ask the system, “You have a god’s perspective, so you must know, right?”
System: “Host, I observe the world through your eyes. How could I possibly know more than you?”
Xiao Jin sneered, “You’re pretending. Keep pretending. Do you dare say that you don’t know that Chu Shao has lived more than once?”
The system remained silent.
Silence was the best answer.
Xiao Jin knew long ago that the system was deeply flawed and had hidden countless things from her. She wasn’t surprised at this point. “You already know that something is wrong with Chu Shao, but can’t you see what’s wrong with Emperor Qi?”
System: “Host, I am just a system. I cannot interfere too much in this world. Otherwise, the space-time would fall into chaos, resulting in unbearable consequences.”
“For example?”
“Such as my potential disappearance.” The mechanical voice sounded serious.
Xiao Jin nearly burst into laughter, thinking, “What does it have to do with me if you disappear? I’d actually welcome your disappearance.”
The system apparently heard Xiao Jin’s thoughts, but it still wanted to ask, “Host, why do you believe that Chu Shao has lived more than once?”
Xiao Jin smiled, “I may have a disability in my legs, but my eyesight is still intact.”
“Firstly, on the night when Chu Shao and I drank the ceremony wine together, I didn’t tell her where my room was. Yet, she could accurately find my room and push me back inside. Isn’t that suspicious?”
“Secondly, in the fragments of your so-called memories, when Su Tan was treating Chu Shao’s injuries, Chu Shao, under the backlash of the Gu poison, once attempted to snatch the knife from Su Tan’s hand.”
The system asked, “What’s wrong with that?”
Xiao Jin: “There’s nothing wrong, except that a weak person shouldn’t have such great strength.”
“It’s also possible that it’s due to the outbreak of the Gu poison, causing a disruption in bodily functions and triggering a reaction beyond the body’s limits,” the system explained.
Xiao Jin calmly said, “Is that so? But I saw it very clearly at that time. Chu Shao’s hand was clearly grasping Su Tan’s wrist, which means she could have easily turned Su Tan’s hand and taken the knife from her.”
“But Chu Shao didn’t do that. Instead, she withdrew her hand halfway, appearing to be weak and powerless. Then the palace maids held her hands and feet.”
“Why?” the system couldn’t help but ask.
Xiao Jin had gained some understanding of Chu Shao and answered, “It’s obvious she was teasing Su Tan and finding pleasure in it.”
The fact that Xiao Jin could observe so carefully in that situation surprised the system to some extent.
While surprised, the system still had to say, “Your speculation sounds reasonable, but it cannot be considered as strong evidence.”
Xiao Jin asked, “Then do you think a young girl in her teens, even if she has been taught swordsmanship by Nan Jin for a few months, could draw her sword so quickly when it comes to killing? Moreover, her moves were too skilled. It doesn’t look like the actions of a novice.”
Recalling the strike where Chu Shao sliced open the eunuch’s eye, even though Xiao Jin was currently sitting in the carriage, she could feel the chill carried between the sword’s edge.
It was too fast and too decisive.
How could a young girl in her teens kill someone without the slightest hesitation?
Thinking of this, Xiao Jin felt a sense of reluctance in her heart.
After a moment, she mentioned the final piece of evidence.
“I saw that girl lying on the quilt with the wound on her back pressed against the bed board. The pain was beyond my imagination, it must have been excruciating. But she laughed and said to Su Tan…”
“I remembered it. I didn’t bury that goldfish in the garden.”
“But why would she use the phrase ‘I remembered’ to describe something that happened just a few days ago? It’s as if, for her, a long time has passed, or rather, the concept of time has become blurred, unable to distinguish its boundaries.”
Upon hearing this, the mechanical voice of the system displayed a strange fluctuation, as if it had glitched, its volume fluctuating up and down. It even gave Xiao Jin a sense that this inhumane system… was laughing?
After the system returned to normal, it said to Xiao Jin, “Host, I completely agree with your speculation, but as for the actual situation, I currently cannot disclose it to you.”
Xiao Jin wasn’t surprised and didn’t bother to respond.
System: “But now, don’t you already know?”
Xiao Jin was puzzled, “Know what?”
The system’s mechanical voice stated a fact, “Host, you already know who is the one standing from the perspective of God. If you want to know the truth, you can simply ask Chu Shao herself.”
Xiao Jin remained silent for a long time.
The system asked, “Do you think Chu Shao won’t tell you?”
“It’s not that she won’t, but rather, she hasn’t given me a reason to,” Xiao Jin paused and said, “Besides, it’s her past. At the very least, one shouldn’t… probe into someone else’s pain.”
….Â
Chu Shao encountered a bright sunny day.
The sunlight was excellent, and after dealing with those spies, her mood became quite good. Even when she accidentally got her neck cut by the sword during the confrontation, she paid no attention to it.
Because she knew that Nan Jin had actually deceived her.
Nan Jin always said that no one would like ugly and dirty things, and people liked children because they were innocent, adorable, and had a beautiful smile.
But she had shown many unpleasant sides to Xiao Jin, and she didn’t often smile, yet Xiao Jin didn’t feel repulsed by her.
Chu Shao reached out and covered the wound on her skin. The blood on her fingertips was warm, just like soft lips.
The sunlight was so good that she looked up and seemed to see a clear blue sky.
Chu Shao was very happy, completely submerged in warmth. She lowered her head and saw a pile of corpses scattered at her feet, lying haphazardly together like a pile of dismantled puppets.
This ominous scene affected her good mood.
Chu Shao furrowed her brows slightly and, as if throwing stones, she tossed them one by one into the river.
Watching the spreading crimson gradually drift away, Chu Shao’s mood improved again. She began to consider which type of fresh flowers to buy and bring back to the palace, to cover up the scent of blood on her body.
Orchids, jasmine, or tuberoses.
Which one did Her Highness prefer?
Chu Shao’s steps were brisk, as if she would soon reach the flower market, but she paused at a fork in the road.
Because right in front of her, a group of bandits was attacking a couple on a carriage.
The man and woman were already dead, and the boxes inside the carriage had fallen out, scattering gold, silver, and precious jewels all over the ground.
One of the bandits grabbed a trembling girl hiding in the corner of the carriage and said to the man behind him, “Boss, there’s another one here, but she’s just a little yellow-haired girl. Probably not very useful. Should we…”
“Of course, we should eliminate her completely,” the bandit leader wiped the blood off his blade with his sleeve, without even sparing a glance at the huddled girl.
“Don’t kill me, please… I beg you…”
The girl’s cries were heart-wrenching.
The bandits looked at the trembling girl, their faces showing hesitation.
After a moment, cursing under his breath, one of them started searching around, saying, “Where’s my knife? Where the hell is my knife?”
Chu Shao stopped and glanced at the scene before taking a detour.
She had no interest in saving people; she only cared about what flowers to buy later.
But as Chu Shao was about to pass through the woods, she suddenly remembered Qin Xueyi lying in a pool of blood.
At that time, the woman in ink clothes sat in a wheelchair, gazing down at the girl lying under the moonlight, her small body covered by a plain cloak.
It was as if she was observing frost on the ground, her gaze clean and gentle.
When Xiao Jin gently reached out her hand to close Qin Xueyi’s eyes, Chu Shao couldn’t help feeling a hint of jealousy.
Jealousy that a deceased person could receive infinite love from the living.
But just as Xiao Jin raised her head, Chu Shao felt that she didn’t want to see that expression on Xiao Jin’s face a second time.
She didn’t know where this emotion came from. All she knew was that if someone made Xiao Jin sad and shed tears, she would definitely kill that person in the cruelest way.
So when Chu Shao snapped back to her senses, she found the bandit with his mouth wide open, clutching his throat as he knelt on the ground.
Actually, she wasn’t surprised.
Chu Shao looked gently at the bandit’s contorted and sinister face, thinking that the ugly appearance a person reveals in their final moments is truly shocking and grotesque.
With the long knife in her hand, her voice still gentle, she said, “I’m sorry, I was in a good mood today, but your luck isn’t.”
The bandits had long been scared silly. They couldn’t even see where this woman had suddenly appeared from, and their companion had already become a corpse.
Even the stupidest person should have realized by now that Chu Shao’s martial arts far surpassed theirs.
The bandit leader was a pragmatic leader. He immediately pulled his companion back and apologized to Chu Shao, “Hero, spare us, spare us. You can have everything here. Consider it our humble offering… Let’s, let’s go.”
The long knife was still dripping with blood.
Chu Shao watched the bandits flee with oil on the soles of their feet, showing no interest in chasing or intercepting them.
It wasn’t until the sound of the wind returned to silence that the girl who had collapsed on the ground finally regained her senses and hugged her parents’ bodies, wailing loudly.
Chu Shao had no interest in watching this scene unfold.Â
She was about to throw down the knife she had taken from the bandit’s waist when she heard an angry and trembling question.
“They were the criminals who killed my parents. With such extraordinary martial arts skills as yours, why did you let them go? Why didn’t you kill them all?”
The girl looked at the faint smile on Chu Shao’s lips. Though she felt fear in her heart, she still screamed out, “Yes! I will kill you! A person like you, who possesses abilities but does nothing, deserves to die even more than those villains!”
—Clang—
Chu Shao threw the blade she held onto the ground in front of the girl and said with a smile, “I’ll give you the chance now. Pick up the knife and kill me.”
The girl hesitated for a moment as she looked at the blood and mud stained on the blade, then resolutely picked up the long knife and gripped it in her hand. She raised her head, her eyes filled with a blood-like hatred. Without any regard for consequences, she swung the blade towards Chu Shao.
Chu Shao, as if playing a game of hide-and-seek, calmly sidestepped, evading the girl’s attack. Seeing the girl fall to the ground because of her excessive force, she paid no mind and simply smiled, saying, “Come again.”
Consumed by hatred and anger, the girl’s mind was clouded, forgetting that Chu Shao was the one who had saved her. She staggered to her feet and once again raised the knife to strike at Chu Shao.
But again, she struck nothing and fell to the ground.
With her face pressed against the ground, the girl struggled to get up, stumbling towards Chu Shao, repeating like a dazed person, “I’ll kill you, I will kill you…”
As the expression on the girl’s face gradually merged with that of the bandits, Chu Shao suddenly lost interest in playing hide-and-seek.
Unfortunately, the girl remained oblivious, relying on the belief that Chu Shao wouldn’t kill her and attempted to get up from the ground once more.
In the next moment, she stared in shock at the red blade piercing through her chest.
Chu Shao withdrew the dagger, causing a splatter of blood.
She watched as blood spilled from the girl’s lips, and the emotions in her eyes transformed from confusion to resentment.
Chu Shao spoke softly, “I told you earlier, I don’t like children.”
“Now, the game is over.”
Perhaps, even at the moment of her impending death, the girl couldn’t understand why the person who extended a helping hand could be so ruthless as to kill a child who couldn’t even handle a knife.
But even as the girl was on the verge of dying, she learned to curse Chu Shao with a resentful gaze.
Her lips moved, forming the words:
“You will go to hell.”
Chu Shao glanced at her for only a moment before withdrawing her gaze.
She regretfully brushed off the bloodstains on her clothes, pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and wiped the blood off her fingers and dagger. Only then did she step over the girl’s corpse and continue walking forward.
Unfortunately, there were particularly many unfortunate incidents today.
Chu Shao looked at the man standing at the end of the mountain path, wearing a jade crown on his head and a python robe. The annoyance in her heart was reaching its limit.
She just wanted to buy a bouquet of flowers for Xiao Jin. Why were there so many annoying people blocking her way?
However, the person opposite her was unaware of the situation.
The Crown Prince was surrounded by a group of masked black-clothed men, wearing a smile on his face as he said to Chu Shao, “Third Sister-in-law, you killed someone without permission. Shouldn’t you give me an explanation?”
Chu Shao had already forgotten who she had actually killed.
A gentle breeze lifted her blood-stained clothes as she furrowed her brow and asked, “Were your people bandits, or was it a girl?”
“Neither,” the Crown Prince shook his head.
Then he pointed below at the flowing river and said with a smile, “It was a person thrown in by Third sister-in-law.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Sigh 😔.
TO BE CONTINUE…Â
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