The wine had been drugged, and Xue Zhan was now lying unconscious on the ground.

Shen Muyu looked down at him, nudged him with her toe, and after confirming that he wouldn't wake up, she imitated a bird's chirping, which summoned the guards who would cooperate with her.

"Zhao Chenggong is yours, I'll handle Xue Zhan myself."

The guard, having received Xue Shen's instructions, tossed her a roll of rope and a dagger: "Don't linger too long, I'll go set up the scene first."

Zhao Cheng was the leader of the rebel army, and Xue Zhan was the king of the rebels. The two colluded, but a conflict arose due to the unequal distribution of benefits. In the end, they became enemies. In a fit of rage, Xue Zhan killed Zhao Cheng, but he was captured by the rebel army, killed, and his body was thrown into the river.

This is the ending that Shen Muyu arranged for Xue Zhan.

Xue Shen only cared about the person dying, regardless of the process in between. Shen Muyu then acted according to her own whims.

She first tied Xue Zhan up tightly with a rope.

Speaking of which, Xue Zhan personally taught her how to tie people up. Ever since he lost his ability to do so, Xue Zhan has become very fond of abusing people. He has tied up Shen Muyu with thin ropes and hung her in a room with the doors and windows wide open more than once, just to add a bit of fun for himself.

At that time, if Shen Muyu wanted to gain his trust, she had to throw away all pride and self-respect and completely obey him.

But she specifically asked Xue Zhan to teach her how to tie people up, and now it's coming in handy.

This type of knot can bind a person tightly, and because the knots at several key points are slipknots, the more the person struggles, the tighter the rope will become. In the end, the rope will dig itself tightly into the flesh, and if the struggle is too intense, it can be no less than torture.

Xue Zhan used to use thin ropes, which Shen Muyu found unbearable. Now, she deliberately used thick ropes to tie him up tightly before dragging him to the lakeside of the lakeside pavilion and pushing him in.

In his dazed state, Xue Zhan felt himself sinking into icy water. The feeling of his ears, nose, and mouth being submerged in water, making it difficult to breathe, made him instinctively struggle and finally regain some consciousness.

After regaining consciousness, he realized that he was not dreaming, but had actually been submerged in the water.

His limbs were bound, and he was only suspended by a rope behind his neck, which prevented him from sinking completely.

Xue Zhan's first reaction was that he had been ambushed by Zhao Cheng. He mustered his strength and tried to stick his head out of the water. Just as he was struggling, the rope around his neck was suddenly pulled up, and a familiar female voice rang in his ear: "You're awake?"

When Xue Zhan opened his eyes, he saw Shen Muyu leaning against the railing, looking down at him with a smile.

Xue Zhan vaguely understood something, and cursed with a ferocious expression: "You wretch, you conspired with Zhao Cheng to harm me?! All my efforts, even arranging a way out for you, have been in vain."

Shen Muyu played with the dagger and retorted with a smile, "You're wrong about that. I'm not conspiring with Zhao Cheng, but with the King of Qin."

Upon hearing the name of the King of Qin, Xue Zhan's already ugly face became even more distorted.

Shen Muyu advised, "Don't glare at me like that. You're already ugly with half your face ruined, and with that distorted expression, you're even more unsightly." She even kindly pointed to the water's surface, "Look at the person in the water. Does it look like a human or a ghost?"

Xue Zhan glanced at the water's surface subconsciously and saw that the person reflected in the water was soaking wet and looked miserable. The half of his face, which was already burned, was distorted by the water and looked even uglier.

Even Xue Zhan himself didn't want to look at it anymore.

He turned his head and stared intently at Shen Muyu: "What benefits did the King of Qin give you?"

"Ten thousand taels of gold, a mansion, and a new identity." Shen Muyu liked his angry, hateful yet powerless gaze. This reversal of status made her vaguely forget the shame and humiliation of the past and rediscover the feeling of being human.

“But that’s not the most touching reason for me.” Shen Muyu smiled and squatted down, looking directly at his half-undamaged face, which still vaguely showed traces of his former handsomeness, and said softly, “The real reason for me being moved is that I killed you with my own hands.”

Her expression hardened, and without warning, she plunged the dagger she had been playing with into Xue Zhan's right shoulder.

Xue Zhan let out a scream of extreme pain and hurled insults at her with words that were too offensive to bear.

Shen Muyu remained expressionless, pulled out the dagger, and slowly made another cut on his intact face.

"If you swear again, I'll stab you back." She smiled, her lips curving upwards. "Go ahead and swear."

Bright red blood spread through the water, and Xue Zhan felt his body rapidly growing cold. His already weak body became even more difficult to sustain. He closed his eyes briefly, unwilling to die like this, and changed his strategy, softening his tone: "Yu'er, I was a scoundrel before, I wronged you so much. But later, I truly loved you. If you hate me, you can keep me by your side. Treat me the way I treated you before, until I atone for my past sins, and then we can be together properly, okay?"

Shen Muyu's expression wavered, and she said with a sorrowful look, "How have you always treated me?"

Seeing her wavering eyes, Xue Zhan knew he still had a chance, so he quickly brought up all the terrible things he had done in the past and gave her a good scolding.

Shen Muyu listened with great interest, and finally nodded, saying, "So you do know you're worse than an animal?"

Under Xue Zhan's stunned gaze, she reached out to cut Xue Zhan's rope, and said with a smile, "My first half of life was ruined by you. How could I possibly ruin my second half of life, which I finally managed to have cleanly?"

The rope was completely cut, and Xue Zhan's body, bound like a rice dumpling, suddenly sank into the water.

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, and the last thing he saw was Shen Muyu in her red dress standing on the water's surface, smiling as she watched him struggle and die...

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!