Chapter 72 "You've really gotten to know things."...

Leng Cuizhu took the pipa handed to her by a servant and sat down in front of the screen.

What song would you like to hear?

“Just play it,” Si Qing raised an eyebrow, “the one you played specifically for Yin Yuan at the opera troupe that day.”

Her hand trembled as she plucked the string, producing a vibrato.

The melodious sound of the zither echoed in the room, mingling and mixing with the sounds of recitation.

"Did you start targeting me around that time?"

"No, we recognized each other at that time."

“A true friend is hard to find, and I hope you will recognize me,” Si Qing sighed. “But sister, you never even glance at me. What good would it do if I dressed up as a peacock and wore a bracelet in front of you?”

Ever since she happened to pass by the opera troupe that day and recognized the sound of the zither, Si Qing has been going to support them every day.

At that time, he only intended to sit in the audience and listen; he never thought about acknowledging her.

Until one day he noticed that there was another man just like him who always arrived at the opera troupe early and sat quietly in the front row waiting for the play to begin.

He didn't know the man's identity, but his gaze fell on the man's profile and the valuable jade ring on his hand, and his mind was in turmoil.

Why would a man comparable to him appear in a theater troupe that consists mostly of old men and women? He was terrified that the man would get involved with Sister Xiaozhu, afraid that Sister Xiaozhu would really be seduced by him.

Later, he sat in the shadows and witnessed the man putting a ring on her finger.

So they were husband and wife all along.

So, the one who seduced her became himself.

"I remember, that piece of music, it's called... 'Qinhuai Scenery,' right?"

"That night, you played the same piece because you told me that you had only been learning the pipa for a short time and that this was the only piece you could play. That night, I actually believed you and traded my trust in you for a lifetime of obsession."

“However, since we’re deceiving each other, there’s no need to argue about who’s right and who’s wrong.” He lowered his eyes and stroked the rim of his teacup.

She gazed at the man's gaunt profile for a long time, then silently began to play the pipa.

Why aren't you singing?

"I don't want to sing," she said softly. "I feel like crying whenever I see your face."

Every time she approached him, she carried the weight of too many expectations from others.

His brothers expected her to exploit his body, while Chen Xun and his group expected her to profit from him.

Each time, she was pushed into his arms.

But what about her? And what about them?

Each time, their suffering was laid out for others to observe. Those who observed treated her and him like a live sex show, tacitly aware of their relationship, repeatedly tormenting her fear and confusion.

Indeed, as Si Qing said, in this farce, she could only feel happy when she was in bed with him.

Not just this one time, but her entire barren life could only be nourished by love.

He was the same.

In the end, the music ended and the audience dispersed.

"I've always had designs on you." She pursed her lips, tears welling in her eyes, on the verge of sobbing.

Si Qing murmured, "Sister, I've always known."

“The first time, I was unaware, but ever since then, I’ve been prepared. I was afraid you had no ulterior motives towards me.” He moved closer to her and tilted his head back to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"The land I gave you has my will on it." The man closed his eyes and hugged her. "After I die, remember to go and get it."

"I'm sorry, I've done so many wrong things, lied to you so much, and told you so many lies. But... it's all just a pretense that's become real."

He rested his head on her shoulder, murmuring and weeping.

“I thought I was in control of everything, able to stay out of it and observe your every move.”

"How stupid."

"No way."

He suddenly picked up the teacup on the table, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

Then, exhausted, he collapsed onto her shoulder.

The teacup fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and then fell silent.

"Si Qing!"

The female Taoist priest reciting the poem chuckled softly.

"Mother, isn't this ending... exactly what you expected?"

Leng Zhen removed her headscarf, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

She touched the pale face of the man in her arms, her eyes widened, and she almost couldn't breathe: "Leng Zhen? How is it you?"

"You poisoned him? You poisoned his teacup?!"

“It was you,” Leng Zhen stood up and took out a bloodstained dagger from her sleeve. “Even when he gets to the underworld, he will think that you were the one who poisoned him.”

"This is the price for exposing me! Fine, we'll die together!"

"You think you'll get away with this? Huh?" Leng Zhen slowly walked towards her. "Mother, how could you be so stupid? You've driven me to this state, and I'll repay you tenfold."

"You're the one who insisted on breaking ties with me. Wouldn't it be better to just pretend you're deaf and dumb?"

"Are you crazy!" she screamed at him. "He's...he's..."

“But what?” Leng Zhen raised her sleeve to wipe the bloodstains from the blade. “Even if he is the emperor and he blocks my way, I will still kill him without hesitation.”

Leng Cuizhu was horrified and speechless.

"Get out of the way," Leng Zhen glanced at the cold corpse in her arms, "I'm going to skin him and make a shroud for Nuomi."

She hurriedly hugged Si Qing's body, shouting angrily, "You're a madwoman! How could you be so cold-blooded..."

"I'm cold-blooded?"

Leng Zhen turned her head and sneered, "And what about you? The murderer who killed Nuomi, aren't you cold-blooded?"

“Mother, what are you pretending to be so innocent for?” he said with a pout. “You’ve killed people before, and I even learned how to kill from you.”

“Unlike you, I don’t kill everyone, not even those who show you the slightest disrespect. I only kill those who stand in my way. So, in terms of cold-bloodedness, aren’t you the one who’s more cold-blooded?”

Leng Cuizhu shuddered.

Leng Zhen shook her head: "Aren't you afraid I'll expose you?"

She trembled all over: "You..."

"Put him down." Leng Zhen said firmly, "Get off the ship now. I've killed everyone outside. No one will stop you."

"How I deal with him is none of your business; this is a personal matter."

What grudge or grievance does he have against you?

"You all conspired to kill Nuomi!" Leng Zhen shouted at her. "You repeatedly pressured her!"

“You adults will never think you’ve done anything wrong! You’ll only blame her for not being to your liking and for ruining your dirty deal.”

"She could have lived a good life..."

Leng Cuizhu finally understood that the "she" Leng Zhen was referring to was the county princess.

She has always been the Princess of Anning County.

"What are you acting here for?" She looked up at the ceiling. "Is she watching from above? No, she isn't."

"Stop acting, okay? You're a criminal who illegally imprisoned others, a lawless outlaw, what are you pretending to be so affectionate for? Just because I don't buy it doesn't mean that the county princess is young and will."

Leng Zhen suddenly suppressed her anger and became unusually calm: "Put the body down and then go out."

"I won't let go!"

"Give me the body!"

Leng Zhen reached out to grab it, but she kicked him squarely in the knee, sending him sprawling to his knees.

Leng Zhen was still unwilling to give up. She covered her knee with one hand and reached for the hem of the man's clothes in her arms with the other.

She couldn't hold on, and the man in her arms was pulled to the ground. She hurriedly tried to snatch him away, but Leng Zhen was quick-witted and swift, raising a dagger and stabbing it into the corpse's chest.

Blood splattered all over her face.

"Pfft—"

He raised his knife again and stabbed it in.

"Let him go!"

Ignoring the bright red blood before her eyes, she grabbed the pipa from the stool and smashed it against Leng Zhen.

In an instant, the strings of the zither snapped, and blood splattered everywhere.

Leng Zhen covered the back of her head, which was bleeding profusely, glared at her fiercely, and then collapsed to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

The dagger was still stuck in the man's chest.

She threw down the broken pipa in her hand and rushed to the man's side.

"Si Qing..." she sobbed, pulling the dagger from the man's body. Seeing the half-warm blood oozing from the wound, she hurriedly reached out to stop it, but seeing that she couldn't stop it, she frantically picked up the cassock on the table and wrapped it around the man's entire body.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She wiped the bloodstains from his face, but her own hot tears fell onto his face, leaving several more glaring tear streaks.

The man closed his eyes gently, his face showing no sign of pain, and a smile still lingered on his lips.

Tears and bloodstains mingled on his face, forming pools of salty spring water that flowed from the tear troughs to the tips of his lips before dripping away, drop by drop.

She finally covered his face with a cassock and wrapped his body tightly, like a shroud.

Like fallen leaves returning to their roots, what he took off, he returned to him.

"...Eun, what if Eun has a way! What if Eun can save you, save us!"

She abandoned the corpse, dragging her leaden body, and stumbled away.

However, she looked around and called out for a long time, but did not see any sign of Eun.

It was as if it had evaporated into thin air.

The situation she feared most happened precisely at this moment.

She collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

Even if something were to happen, Heaven wouldn't give her any chance to ask for anything.

Afterwards, choking smoke wafted from the inner hall, and she cried herself to exhaustion and fainted after only a few inhalations.

Upon waking, I found myself at the Yin residence.

Yin Yuan stayed by the bedside, his eyes closed as he dozed off.

Her head was throbbing, and she pursed her dry lips. She glanced at the kettle by the bed and reached for it.

The man opened his eyes: "Want some water?"

Confused, she timidly replied, "...Um."

Yin Yuan glanced at her sideways, poured tea, and handed it to her.

Can you hold onto it?

"It seems... won't work."

The man brought the teacup to her lips.

She opened her lips, and he tilted the teacup and slowly fed her the water.

Yin Yuan: "Si Qing is dead."

She choked on the water and coughed incessantly, clutching her chest.

"You were there when he died," Yin Yuan said calmly. "And there was a fairy maiden, right?"

It seemed Yin Yuan already knew the general idea, so she saw no need to deny it anymore: "Hmm..."

"Did you know that the fairy maiden was also burned to death in the fire?"

"Dead?"

Leng Zhen is dead?

"Are you very familiar with her?"

She lowered her head: "N-I don't know you..."

"How did that fairy maiden die in the fire?"

Yin Yuan withdrew his gaze: "I'm not dead. I was just kidding."

“She’s missing, and we’re looking for her. Si Qing has injuries, it wasn’t suicide, she’s highly suspicious.” He paused, “Ling Niang, the same goes for you.”

"Just a stab wound?" she asked anxiously. "Has the coroner examined the body?"

"The tests showed no toxins in his body, and there were no signs of poisoning."

"What? You're so concerned about a dead person?"

She suppressed her surprise: "It's nothing..."

Not poisoned?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Si Qing was clearly poisoned by that cup of osmanthus dew; she witnessed it with her own eyes.

They were clearly poisoned to death.

Yin Yuan pondered for a moment: "This afternoon, come with me to the Supervisory Office. The constables need your statement to investigate the case."

"I didn't kill him..."

"I know." Yin Yuan held her hands and said softly, "Ling Niang, I believe you. You are not the murderer."

"Don't worry, with me here, they can't do anything to you."

Leng Cuizhu suddenly looked up.

Yin Yuan trusts her so much? He even disregards the law?

Wouldn't that mean... if she really made a mistake she shouldn't have made, would he still protect her like this? Or is it that the knife isn't in his own flesh, so he doesn't feel the pain and is therefore able to forgive her? She couldn't figure it out.

It seems she should refrain from telling him the truth for now.

Supervisor.

"Lord Yin, this way please." Chen Xun greeted Yin Yuan with a beaming smile and invited him to sit down in the armchair, then had someone serve him tea.

“Lady Leng, please come with me. Lord Yin is sitting right here waiting for you. It’s very close.”

"No need."

"Huh?" Chen Xun turned his head.

Yin Yuan leaned back in his chair, one hand on the armrest, his fingertips casually tracing the cracks on the armrest, and raised his eyes: "Summon the judge."

"Ask right here."

"Ah... okay!" Chen Xun nodded, leaving Leng Cuizhu behind and running out of the hall.

Leng Cuizhu stood still and turned to stare at him.

She twisted the silk handkerchief in her hand: "Doing this isn't right..."

"When you went to meet Si Qing behind my back, didn't you ever think about the consequences?"

"You said you didn't want to see him again, and I thought you had finally seen the truth. I was overjoyed by your words and went to great lengths to get him out of our lives." Yin Yuan frowned, a rare look of sorrow on his face. "And what happened?"

Is it genuine reluctance, or just a passing whim?

"I……"

The man gave her no room to explain: "You're just joking with me?"

Yin Yuan knew he had no right to ask, nor dared to ask, Leng Cuizhu's inner thoughts. Being too sincere would only hurt her.

So he could only try to stop it by losing control of himself and constantly questioning her. Only in this way could he find some solace in her guilt.

"You've gotten yourself involved in a murder case for a shameless scoundrel," Yin Yuan said in a deep voice. "You've really got some nerve."