Chapter 18

Xue Jin'an was a very polite person; before he made his move, he even reminded the other person, "I'm going to take your hand."

His heart was pounding painfully in his chest, and he felt completely powerless. The Fifth Prince felt like a dead fish, pinned to a chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered.

He could clearly feel the knee pressing against his back, the crushing weight pressing him even closer to the stone table. The grip on his wrist loosened slightly, and the hand moved up his forearm to grasp his elbow, as if to twist it.

"Wait, Xue Jin'an!" The Fifth Prince finally couldn't help but speak up.

The voice assistant popped up automatically. Xue Jin'an stopped what he was doing. He maintained the position of prying his hand open and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone: "Go ahead."

The Fifth Prince did not want to lose his arm, let alone in such a humiliating and ridiculous way. He should have racked his brains to find a way to break the curse, but his mind wandered instead, thinking of other things.

His martial arts master was said to have been a top-notch martial arts expert. However, when his enemies came looking for him, his wife and children suffered, and he himself was injured in one eye and one arm. He then retired from the martial arts world and, by a twist of fate, became a guard in the Prince An's mansion. Later, the Duke of Ningguo used his connections to get him from the Prince An and he became his martial arts master.

The first lesson his martial arts master taught him was neither stance training nor anything else, but rather how to discern the murderous intent and malice of others, cultivating his body's reflexes into instinct, ensuring that he could strike at the first moment no matter the situation.

Xue Jin'an was the first person the Fifth Prince encountered who showed absolutely no murderous intent and not even any negative emotions when he made a move.

This was the same approach used on the Fourth Prince last time, and it will be the same approach used on him today.

If he couldn't clearly hear the breathing and heartbeat behind him, and feel the heat emanating from his clothes, he would have really thought that the guy trying to break his arm was just a stone statue.

Having learned from the Fourth Prince's experience, the Fifth Prince dared not gamble on whether Xue Jin'an was truly going to take action against him.

As a result of the Fourth Prince's experience, the Fifth Prince was at a loss as to what reason to use to persuade Xue Jin'an not to take action.

Xue Jin'an counted down the seconds until fifteen, and when the voice assistant, which had not heard any command, automatically shut down, he smiled slightly and, without saying a word, prepared to take action, continuing his previous actions.

A strong sense of crisis made the Fifth Prince's heart tighten and his scalp tingle. He couldn't help but curse in his heart: Even after all this, there's still no killing intent. Xue Jin'an, are you out of your mind?

Just when the Fifth Prince thought he might really lose his hand, a crisp, heavy clattering sound echoed through the Qifeng Courtyard.

"Master, Master?" A trembling voice came from the doorway.

The fifth prince looked up with difficulty and saw two eunuchs standing there with stiff expressions. A porcelain bowl was broken on the ground, and a wooden bucket was overturned next to it, spilling all the water inside.

The Fifth Prince recognized the person holding the handkerchief as someone he had seen before, the easily startled personal eunuch of his Seventh Brother, whose name was... Xiao Lu Zi, yes, Xiao Lu Zi!

“Little Lu, harming a prince is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one’s family. Do you really want to watch your master follow the same path as Consort Zhen?” The Fifth Prince immediately seized on the sore spot.

Fu Lu's face turned pale instantly.

Xue Jin'an frowned, no longer wanting to listen to the Fifth Prince. He directly reached out and covered the Fifth Prince's face, pressing down heavily and ruthlessly, making a soft "thud".

The fifth prince had slapped half his face, but he couldn't help but laugh.

He actually laughed, a laugh that trembled with chest pain, the taste of blood rising in his throat. He glanced sideways at the person towering over him, grinning like a victor, "Xue Jin'an—"

The Fifth Prince had barely begun to speak when his mouth was suddenly stuffed with pastries. The eunuch named Xiao Luzi stood in front of him, his face pale. The plain brocade handkerchief with cloud patterns in his hand had been opened at some point, and he kept stuffing the crystal cakes wrapped inside into the prince's mouth.

At first, her hands trembled a little, but then she became more and more anxious and fierce, until she forcefully stuffed all the pastries into her mouth before she finally stopped as if waking up from a dream.

Another eunuch, whom he didn't recognize, had already closed the door immediately.

Xue Jin'an watched Fu Lu finish his madness silently and commented objectively, "It's a bit of a waste. Next time, you can put stones in it."

For him, every bite he ate was electricity, and a few pieces of pastry that could replace a meal were like ginseng made of electricity. The Fifth Prince was somewhat unworthy of such treatment.

The Fifth Prince, choking and struggling to breathe: "..."

Fu Lu took a deep breath to calm himself down. His face was still pale, but his tone was very firm. "Master, there is no way to turn things around now. Let me do it. Don't dirty your hands. All the blame is on me."

Fu Lu was determined to take the blame upon himself.

“Perhaps it’s not necessary.” After confirming that no one was outside, Shouquan stepped forward and joined the discussion. “It is common knowledge that the Fifth Prince suffers from a heart ailment. No one would expect that the Fifth Prince is skilled in martial arts. Moreover, you, my lord, have never had any relationship with the other princes. The Fifth Prince must have come here secretly. If something really happens, no one will trace it back to you, my lord.”

“My lord, I know there’s an abandoned well in the laundry department. It’s close to the Cold Palace, and no one usually goes there. Why don’t we throw the body there, cover the well opening so the smell won’t waft out, and no one will find out for half a month?” Shouquan added thoughtfully. “Or we could tie a stone to the living person and throw them into the lotus pond in the Imperial Garden under the cover of night. After they drown, I can go into the water and remove the stone, making it look like they accidentally fell in and died.”

Xue Jin'an blinked and refused outright, "I don't need you. Killing him without leaving a trace is very simple."

“The palace guards will randomly change their patrol routes every two hours. Each patrol team has three different patrol routes. Each time, five teams patrol at the same time, resulting in 243 combinations, which is not easy to choose. But when the guards are rotated at midnight, everything is reset. The newly assigned teams will warm up with the first patrol route first. After they adapt, they can switch routes at will. This is an opportunity.”

"...Once it is confirmed that a prince has met with misfortune, the palace will definitely conduct a thorough search. Remote and abandoned corners will be the focus of the search, while the Cold Palace is too far away and there are too many places to pass through, so it is inevitable that traces will be left behind. If he is drowned, his hands and feet will leave evidence. The manner of death of knocking him unconscious and then throwing him into the water will be different from accidentally falling into the water..."

“…We can prepare the body first, use hot water…and slide the knife along the spine to peel it open—” Xue Jin’an gestured lightly in the air with his finger, as if demonstrating.

The Fifth Prince was drenched in cold sweat, feeling a dull ache in his back and a chill running through his bones, and he let out a series of groans.

Fu Lu and Shou Quan's expressions also turned green. They unconsciously huddled together, and seeing that Xue Jin'an was about to describe it in detail, they shook their heads frantically with fear in their eyes, their voices distorted, "That's enough, that's enough, Master really doesn't need to go into so much detail!"

They have absolutely no interest in knowing how to use skillful force to dismember and skin a person! That's terrifying!

“Alright.” Xue Jin’an regretfully skipped over the detailed process of disposing of the body and simply explained the plan, “Then… at dawn, he will be sent out of the palace along with the gold juice.”

The "golden juice" was actually excrement, and the Fifth Prince's face immediately turned green.

"He will return to the earth's embrace, providing nutrients for new life and enriching plant diversity," Xue Jin'an concluded with poetic and hopeful words.

Everyone: "..."

Fu Lu and Shou Quan looked at the Fifth Prince with deep sympathy in their eyes.

Despair ignited in the Fifth Prince's eyes: He would risk everything to avoid dying at Xue Jin'an's hands!

Xue Jin'an took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and then said, "This is the closest thing to a perfect crime, but it's too complicated, and you can't afford to make a single mistake. There's very little room for flexibility. If you don't like it, you can use another, riskier but simpler one—"

"No, no, this is already terrifying enough." Shouquan shook his head frantically.

Fulu hugged herself tightly in fear, then struggled to stand up, her hands and feet trembling as she swallowed hard. With her eyes closed and a resolute expression, she said, "Master, we'll help you. Don't get your hands dirty with these things. Just tell us what to do. Even if you want... even if you want... this servant will do it!"

Xue Jin'an tilted his head, let out an "ah," and slowly said, "I only want his hand, I don't intend to kill him."

"That's it?" Fu Lu and Shou Quan both breathed a sigh of relief.

That's all?! What do you mean by that tone? Is cutting off a hand some trivial matter? Are you all that heartless?! The Fifth Prince was starting to lose his composure.

It's not that I'm overly generous with my fortune, prosperity, and longevity; it's just that compared to before, it's only one hand, which is really nothing.

Moreover, the two believed that since their master could escape unscathed even after killing the Fifth Prince, the Fifth Prince would surely forgive him for losing just an arm.

The two went down happily. Before leaving, Shouquan asked the Fifth Prince with a smile, "What kind of medicine do you usually use for injuries? I'll prepare it for you here to ensure your vital signs are healthy."

Shouquan had a small, round face that looked harmless and quite endearing. However, the Fifth Prince felt like he was having a heart attack, especially after hearing his words. The last sentence about ensuring vital signs was very much in Xue Jin'an's style, clearly something he had learned from him.

After holding the crystal cake in his mouth for a while, it softened into a soft lump from the saliva, and the heavy sweetness spread in his mouth. The Fifth Prince struggled to swallow all the cake in his mouth, and then coughed so hard that his eyes turned red.

Swallowing such a large lump of pastry made his voice hoarse, "White Jade Paste, Rejuvenating Pill."

These two items were exactly what the Fourth Prince had mentioned: the best wound medicine from the Imperial Medical Academy, a secret formula made by Chief Physician Hu, which clearly couldn't be obtained by a mere eunuch.

The Fifth Prince was deliberately making things difficult for him.

Shouquan looked regretful. "Fifth Prince, we don't have any of what you mentioned. We'll have to make do with what you have."

"Unnecessary question." The Fifth Prince rolled his eyes.

Despite facing imminent death, the Fifth Prince remained calm. He chuckled and said, "Since you're going to attack me anyway, why not go straight for the highest difficulty? Come on, try those skinning and dismembering tricks you mentioned earlier. I want to see if you're as good as you make them out to be."

"Okay." Xue Jin'an replied, but then stopped moving and stared blankly for a moment. "I don't have any weapons. I gave the knife from last time to Fourth Brother for safekeeping."

"..." The Fifth Prince never expected that his plan to give up would suddenly take an unexpected turn. He abruptly raised his head and asked, "What should we do then?"

The Fifth Prince, unable to contain his irritating nature, retorted sarcastically, "You're not going to start by forging a knife from scratch, are you? Or do you want me to bring you one tomorrow?"

Xue Jin'an's eyes lit up. She released him and looked at him seriously: "Can you bring me one?"

The Fifth Prince clutched his chest and burst into laughter in anger.

"Don't get excited, your heart is going to break down." Xue Jin'an thought for a moment and said, "If you really can't wait, I can just tear it apart with my bare hands."

The Fifth Prince immediately changed his mind, "Okay, I'll bring you a knife. I'll get you whatever kind you want."

Originally, Xue Jin'an only wanted the hand, but now that he had the knife and the other person's entire body, he nodded in satisfaction and gave him a "good guy" card, "Fifth Brother, you're so generous, you're a good person."