mischief

Zhu Qinghe's face was cold, and she held a dagger in her hand. She flipped her wrist and plunged the dagger into the wooden table. The internal mechanism made a slight sound, and the entire blade retracted into the hilt, from which red liquid slowly flowed.

She wiped it off and smelled it.

Brown sugar syrup.

It turned out to be a switchblade, with a blood pack made of brown sugar syrup hidden inside.

She and Shen Wumei were actually fooled to death by this kind of thing!

Zhu Qinghe stood up abruptly. Shen Wumei's white clothes were stained with red syrup, and she looked embarrassed: "Um..."

She pointed at him and said, "Shut up, I'll settle the score with you later."

Shen Wumei shut her mouth in deep sorrow: It's over.

She rushed to the door and slapped Han Ke across the face. He Xiao, who was about to walk over, immediately stopped in his tracks.

If he turns around and leaves now, wouldn't that be a bit unfair?

Han Ke turned his head, revealing a clearly visible five-finger mark on his fair face. He stared at Zhu Qinghe in disbelief: "You hit me?!"

Zhu Qinghe: "I'll hit you, I'll beat you to death."

"I'm going to teach you a lesson on behalf of your sister today."

"You're not allowed to mention my sister!" Han Ke shouted, grabbing her hair.

Zhu Qinghe unleashed a series of thunderous palm strikes on him, shouting, "Let go of my hair!"

You hit me first!

"You're a psychopath! What are you trying to achieve by conducting this kind of experiment? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment by causing others pain?" Zhu Qinghe grabbed his ear and wouldn't let go.

Han Ke stumbled as she pulled him, feeling both ashamed and angry: "I didn't kill them, it was just a test. They were selfish and hypocritical, how can you blame me?"

Hey, this brat, still won't learn his lesson, huh?

"What about lovers' intoxication?" Zhu Qinghe asked.

Han Ke said reluctantly, "Those are pills that bring about death, allowing one to experience the feeling of being near death. Although it's very painful."

He suddenly raised his voice: "But it's harmless to the body."

Zhu Qinghe didn't believe it: "Then why am I having a nosebleed?"

Han Ke: "How would I know? You're blaming me for eating too much and getting a sore throat."

cough.

Zhu Qinghe continued to berate him forcefully: "What are you trying to do with this? Take revenge on society?"

"Do you know how immoral you are!"

Han Ke resentfully said, "What's wrong with me helping you see the true colors of your beloved?"

Zhu Qinghe: "Then I should thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," Han Ke said coldly. "You're lucky. Out of so many test subjects, he's the only one who's willing to sacrifice for the one he loves."

"I know how good my man is; I don't need you to test him for me," Zhu Qinghe said, her tone still sharp.

"You're lucky. You know what people did to survive before. They were suspicious and calculating, couldn't bear the physical pain, and couldn't even endure two hours before they made their move."

"In the face of life and death, all sweet words and pretense will vanish. You will see how ugly people can be. I am helping those women so that they are not easily deceived, lest they die without even knowing how they died."

"Does your sister know what you've done?" Zhu Qinghe suddenly asked.

Han Ke was taken aback and remained silent for a long time.

"I guess she doesn't know that someone who is respectfully called a medical sage must have a gentle and kind heart, unlike you who are so extreme and wicked."

“Your fallacies aren’t entirely without merit,” Zhu Qinghe said, looking into his glassy eyes. He seemed like a mischievous child, trapped in his own logic and unable to escape.

"But what right do you have to decide for them? In life, most people will not encounter the kind of life-or-death situation you described. They should have continued to live ordinary lives with their lovers. Perhaps they don't love them that much, or perhaps other trivial things will happen in the future to wear down their current love. Then they can choose to continue or separate when the time comes."

"This world is already difficult for women. It's already hard enough for them to find someone they can say they like. You insist on piercing through the beautiful facade and letting them see the unbearable things behind it. Your reason is to let them see the other person's true colors. But have you ever thought that they don't want to see the truth at all?"

Han Ke looked at Zhu Qinghe. Her bright eyes sparkled with a clear light. She looked and had a completely different personality from her sister, but for some reason, he could always see his sister's shadow in her.

"You're just fooling yourselves," Han Ke finally said, turning his head away.

“Self-deception.” Zhu Qinghe smiled. “If there were no such thing as self-deception in this world, how would we survive?”

"Is there anything you can't get even if you try your best?" she suddenly asked.

"I'm a genius. If I want it, there's nothing in this world I can't get," Han Ke said proudly.

Zhu Qinghe nodded: "Okay, you're a genius, so naturally you don't have this kind of trouble."

“Do ordinary people really want to till the land, work, carry manure, and keep watch as night watchmen?” Zhu Qinghe said. “Don’t they want to live in spacious houses and be waited on like the rich people?”

"Does that mean they have to die? Just because they're not geniuses, they don't have talent, and they can't earn a lot of money, does that mean they don't deserve to live?"

"They can only deceive themselves by telling themselves that as long as they work hard, they will definitely be able to live a good life. Even if they can never be as rich as those people, they will still be better off than they are now."

"You're too arrogant." Zhu Qinghe looked at him and calmly made her judgment. "You're not God, you have no right to control other people's fates."

"You put them in a desperate situation, made them suffer the betrayal of their loved ones, and made them clearly understand that they can never receive unconditional love from others. This in itself is a huge hurt to them."

"You're not helping them at all; you're just trying to satisfy your own selfish desire to control others."

After those resounding words, Han Ke's face turned grim.

He had never been insulted like this before, with no room for rebuttal.

Feeling wronged, angry, and other complex emotions welled up inside him. With red eyes, he shouted, "What do you know? What do you know?"

"Have you ever witnessed your mother die in front of you? I have!"

"Do you know who killed her? It was my father!"

"Do you know why? It's because my mother saved King Xuan, who failed to seize the throne back then. The king held her accountable, and fearing it would affect him, he personally killed my mother and surrendered to the king."

"You know nothing, what right do you have to speak so arrogantly here!"

After shouting these words, he was like a child who had lost his most beloved toy, squatting down on the ground and crying loudly without regard for his image.

A moment of silence fell, broken only by the clear sound of Han Ke crying.

He Xiao walked over and said to Zhu Qinghe, "I was also involved in this matter. If you have any complaints, come at me."

As the brother-in-law, he still had to protect his brother-in-law.

Zhu Qinghe looked at him. Although he was different from the portrait without his beard, he had deep-set eyes, a high nose, and a robust build, and his overall appearance was similar to the portrait.

"You're He Xiao?"

He Xiao: "It's me. What do you want with me?"

Zhu Qinghe: "We are from the Great Li Dynasty, what would we need from you?"

"But before that, let's soothe your child first." She pointed to Han Ke, who was squatting on the ground crying.

Han Ke stopped crying abruptly, raised her tear-streaked face, and glared angrily: "Who's the child? I'm seventeen!"

Zhu Qinghe scoffed: "He's still just a younger brother."

"you!"

Shen Wumei walked out of the house behind her: "Now that we've had enough of arguing, let's get down to business."

"Wait, there's one last thing I haven't said," Zhu Qinghe said.

Shen Wumei cooperated and retreated behind her.

"About making you cry just now," Zhu Qinghe cleared her throat, "I apologize to you. I was just assuming things because I didn't know the details."

Han Ke turned his face away and snorted.

“However,” Zhu Qinghe continued, “you were also at fault in this matter. You hurt Xiaoshuang and the others. They still think their lovers betrayed them, and they probably won’t trust anyone in the future. You and I will go apologize to them later, explain the situation, and then it’s up to them whether they stay or leave.”

Han Ke: "Tch."

Did you hear that?

"Okay, okay, you're so long-winded."

The door creaked open, and Xiao Shuang stood behind it. She smiled slightly at Zhu Qinghe and said, "You're still alive."

Zhu Qinghe nodded.

"Your sect leader has something to say to you," Zhu Qinghe glanced at Han Ke and whispered, "If you get beaten up later, remember to try your best to crawl out. I'll be cheering you on at the door."

Han Ke glared at her.

That wretched woman! She won't help, and all she does is make sarcastic remarks.

Xiao Shuang was somewhat surprised and quickly stepped aside; "Please come in, Hall Master."

Han Ke touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly and went inside.

Zhu Qinghe turned around with satisfaction and stretched.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure dart behind a pillar.

I almost forgot about you.

I didn't even come to settle scores with you, yet you came to my door on your own.

Zhu Qinghe walked over angrily, leaned against a red pillar and said, "Count to three, and if you don't come out, I'll never talk to you again."

"three."

As soon as Zhu Qinghe turned around, she was grabbed back by a hand.

Shen Wumei smiled helplessly: "How can you count like that?"

Zhu Qinghe grabbed his ear: "You still have the nerve to come see me? Do you want me to beat you up too?"

Shen Wumei forced a smile and said, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I'm sorry, please forgive me this time."

Zhu Qinghe persisted, "What did you do wrong?"

"I was wrong about everything."

"Um?"

"My mistake was... my mistake was being too chauvinistic, not considering your feelings, and only thinking about playing the hero. It was really wrong of me." Shen Wumei shook her head, full of remorse.

Zhu Qinghe nodded in satisfaction at his sincere attitude: "Then I'll let you off this time, but there can't be a next time."

Shen Wumei nodded vigorously.

“Actually,” Zhu Qinghe said softly, “there aren’t that many loves that last until death.”

Even if everyone is brave enough to sacrifice themselves for each other, will the survivors be happy?

"If loving me would kill you, then I'd rather you had never met me."

Looking at her sorrowful expression, Shen Wumei remained silent for a long while before embracing her: "Next time, I will not give up on myself so easily. Even if the hope is slim, I will persevere with you until the very end."

Zhu Qinghe wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes in his arms and smiled, "That's more like it."