Half an hour later, the night was as dark as ink, with flickering candlelight.
Zhao Zhi, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, stood in front of Li Liang. She suddenly raised her leg and kicked Li Liang in the back of the knee with perfect accuracy. Her movements were swift and ruthless, without the slightest hesitation.
Caught off guard, Li Liang fell backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground with a muffled groan, his face contorted in pain.
Zhao Zhi didn't give Li Liang a chance to catch his breath; she flashed to his side.
She crouched down, gripping Li Liang's chin tightly with one hand, forcing him to open his mouth. With her other hand, she took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve, containing "Hidden Shadow" poison pills that she had carefully collected from Yun Luo.
She fed each of the jet-black poison pills into Li Liang's mouth, her eyes growing colder with each one, until the bottle was empty. Only then did she release her grip with satisfaction.
Li Liang stuck his fingers into his throat, lay on the ground, and coughed violently, trying to vomit out the poison that Zhao Zhi had just fed him.
"Yin...you, you actually fed me..." Li Liang stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief. Sweat and tears mingled, soaking his face and making him look extremely disheveled.
Zhao Zhi sneered, "As expected, you are very familiar with this poison pill. The moment it entered my mouth, I knew it was made by you. How ironic." Her words were like icy blades, piercing straight into Li Liang's heart.
"You colluded with the traitor Yun Shu, using this Hidden Poison to harm countless loyal officials! You shouldn't have, you absolutely shouldn't have, laid your hands on my imperial brother! You—deserve—to die—"
Zhao Zhi spoke the last three words with almost all her might.
"You, you are the Empress!" Li Liang stared at Zhao Zhi in disbelief, shaking his head in resentment. "No, no, you couldn't possibly have found my secret!" he muttered to himself.
"What's impossible?" A cool yet slightly sinister voice came from the doorway. Shen Hanshan, who had been standing silently beside Zhao Zhi, unconsciously looked towards the doorway upon hearing this voice.
The man was tall and slender, his back to the moonlight, his face hidden in the darkness. However, even without seeing his face, the aura he exuded was impossible to ignore.
Shen Hanshan felt a chill run down his spine. Even without revealing its true face, the sudden appearance of this figure was enough for him to feel the powerful aura and undeniable presence emanating from it.
What truly alarmed him was the man's chilling aura.
He subtly tightened his grip on the sword hilt, his gaze shifting warily between the figure and Zhao Zhi. Seemingly sensing Shen Hanshan's tension, Zhao Zhi patted his shoulder, signaling him to relax.
At that moment, the figure slowly entered the room. As he approached, the moonlight gradually illuminated his face, revealing a handsome yet cold countenance.
His eyes were as deep as the night, revealing a sense of indifference and alienation.
"Yunzhang...you, you actually..." Li Liang's voice rang out again, but this time it was even weaker and more powerless.
He tried his best to get up, but to no avail. He could only collapse limply onto the cold, hard ground, clutching his collar tightly with both hands, as if only in this way could he slightly alleviate the surging pain within his body.
"How dare you betray me... Ah..." With a heart-wrenching scream, Li Liang's body began to twist involuntarily, every movement filled with pain and despair.
"Old Li, do you know what this is called?" Yun Zhang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a sly smile. He slowly walked up to him, bent down, and stared intently at Li Liang's disheveled appearance.
After a moment, Yun Zhang whispered something in Li Liang's ear, and Li Liang's emotions instantly became extremely agitated. He tried his best to get up from the ground, swinging his fists and lunging at Yun Zhang. However, just as he was about to succeed, Yun Zhang raised his foot without hesitation and stomped heavily on Li Liang's hand, mercilessly crushing it.
Zhao Zhi clearly heard the sound of bones breaking, crisp and piercing. Yun Zhang gasped in pain, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Does it hurt?" Yun Zhang asked with a grin. "When I was eight years old, you treated me the same way, remember?" His voice carried a hint of mockery and the pleasure of revenge.
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