Chapter 113 You killed Li Yanei, not me.
Wan Miaoniang glared at Lu Zhaoruo, her voice trembling: "You... what nonsense are you talking about!"
Lu Zhaoruo glanced calmly at Li Yanei's corpse, her tone icy: "I personally delivered your sister's coming-of-age dress, and out of consideration for her admiration, she came to the banquet without any suspicion. And what was the result? You conspired with Li Yanei to lure me into this Shuyu Courtyard, intending for him to defile me and force me to become his mistress..."
Her gaze suddenly pierced Wan Miaoniang: "Then, I can take your place, trapped in this Sweetwater Lane and Shuyu Courtyard day and night. You want me to experience the humiliation you suffered, don't you?"
These words directly exposed Wan Miaoniang's deepest thoughts, and she immediately turned pale and lowered her head in shame.
Lu Zhaoruo glanced at the bruises on her arm and the faint ulcers on her neck, and said softly, "Since you have already contracted this venomous disease, even if you take medicine all day long, you will only be prolonging your life. So you have already prepared to die by aiding and abetting evil, haven't you?"
Wan Miaoniang trembled all over.
She knew about the venereal disease, and even knew that she had decided to die.
"But do you really think that if you hand me over to Young Master Li, he will give you a thousand taels of silver?"
Lu Zhaoruo sneered, "Don't you know what kind of person he is? I'm afraid that after he defiles me, the next one will be your sister who is about to come of age!"
"As for you?"
Her voice grew harsher, "You can no longer serve him, nor can you entertain guests. If you dare to plead for your sister or show even a hint of resentment, given his ruthless nature, he might just beat you to death!"
"In the end, not only will you have ruined me and failed to save your sister, but you will also die an unjust death..."
Her words, each one sharp as an ice pick, pierced my heart: "You can't protect your sister at all!"
Gui'er, already in tears, tugged at Wan Miaoniang's sleeve and cried, "Madam... Madam Lu is right... How could Young Master Li really give us money..."
Wan Miaoniang stood there stunned for a long time, then suddenly staggered to her feet, keeping a safe distance from Li Yanei's corpse, and murmured, "He died well, he died well... but..."
"But you've lost your thousand taels, and now you can't settle your sister's affairs, is that right?"
Lu Zhaoruo calmly replied.
Wan Miaoniang remained silent.
Lu Zhaoruo picked up the wine pot from the table and walked to Li Yanei's corpse. She showed no fear in the face of his horrific death.
She slowly squatted down and poured all the wine into his mouth, saying, "Who in the Li family doesn't know that Li Yanei has a villa in Sweetwater Lane? Who in Yong'an County doesn't know that you, Wan Miaoniang, are his mistress? Not to mention that you are already terminally ill and can no longer earn a penny for your sister, now that Li Yanei is dead here, do you think the people of the Li family will let you go?"
“Even if you accuse me of killing Li Yanei, I can accuse you of conspiring with him to lure me here.”
"Do you think you can escape responsibility?"
Wan Miaoniang's face immediately turned pale with fear, and she said in a panic, "Then... what should we do..."
Lu Zhaoruo smashed the wine bottle, stood up and looked at her: "So, it was you who killed Li Yanei, not me."
Wan Miaoniang probably understood what Lu Zhaoruo meant.
Lu Zhaoruo bent down and picked up the blood-stained silver hairpin, handing it to Wan Miaoniang: "I was born into a respectable family. My father was a dyer in the western city. Because of poverty, I voluntarily entered Shuyuxuan as a musician, selling my art but not my body. But Li Yanei disregarded etiquette and acted violently, defiling me. Helplessly, I could only become his mistress and was imprisoned in this Shuyuyuan by him."
“At first, I was treated to a life of luxury, but he gradually grew tired of me and would whip me at the slightest provocation. He even forced me to entertain guests until I was diagnosed with this terrible venereal disease.”
"But he then turned his evil clutches on my younger sister, who was just coming of age that year! He forced me to offer my sister to him... When I refused, he punched and kicked me."
"Although I am afflicted with a terrible disease, I hate him to the core! Taking advantage of his drunken stupor and unsteady gait, I fought with him and kicked him in the abdomen..."
Her gaze fell on the silver hairpin in her hand: "Use this hairpin he once gave me to stab his neck! Thinking of the humiliation and pain I have suffered over the years, I hate him to the bone, and I stab him again and again with all my might... until he breathes his last!"
She glanced at the severed hand on the ground and chuckled softly: "Then I remembered how he forced me into prostitution and made me contract this filthy disease, and how little I had left to live... I couldn't get rid of the hatred, so I cut off his hand. It was this hand that forced me from a respectable family into prostitution!"
Wan Miaoniang knew that Lu Zhaoruo was implying that she had prepared the words to kill him.
Lu Zhaoruo brought the silver hairpin closer, her voice seductive and bewitching: "And I, Lu Zhaoruo, have never set foot in this place tonight."
She asked, "Do you understand?"
Wan Miaoniang naturally understood. Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head in despair: "You want me to take the blame for this capital offense... but if I die, what about my sister...?"
Lu Zhaoruo interrupted her: "The thousand taels that Young Master Li owes you..."
"I'll give it to you."
"I will take good care of your sister and make sure she doesn't suffer any injustice."
Wan Miaoniang's fingertips trembled violently as her gaze shifted back and forth between the blood-stained silver hairpin and Lu Zhaoruo's unfathomable eyes.
Lu Zhaoruo suddenly put away her hairpin, turned around, and looked at the night outside the window: "It's almost dawn... It will be daylight in a few hours. I'll give you a quarter of an hour to think it over."
Gui'er, crying, tugged at Wan Miaoniang's sleeve and said, "My lady, why don't you do as Madam Lu said? I believe she will treat you well..."
Wan Miaoniang was in tears, staring at the corpse on the ground, and thinking of her younger sister's coming-of-age ceremony in seven days...
Time slips away bit by bit.
Lu Zhaoruo loosened her grip, and the blood-stained silver hairpin fell to the ground with a crisp, jarring sound.
She turned away resolutely, her clothes brushing across the threshold, leaving only a cold instruction: "I trouble you, my benefactor, to take care of this place for me."
A man's reply came from beneath the veil: "Okay."
Wan Miaoniang seemed to be awakened by the crisp sound, and rushed forward, grabbing the cold murder weapon.
She stared at the dark red bloodstains that had congealed on the hairpin, her eyes flashing with despair, fear, and a final, resolute determination. She gritted her teeth and stabbed fiercely at Li Yanei's corpse!
"I killed Li Yanei—I, Wan Miaoniang, killed him!"
She screamed.
At the threshold, Lu Zhaoruo paused slightly, a smile playing on her lips.
She turned slightly to the side, glancing back at Gui'er who was trembling like a leaf, her voice calm yet undeniable: "And you are the witness."
Gui'er kowtowed heavily, her forehead touching the cold ground, and replied in a trembling voice, "Yes... this servant saw it with her own eyes... Lady Wan killed Young Master Li!"
Lu Zhaoruo continued, "As for those attendants outside the door, just now when Young Master Li tried to use the 'numbing powder' on me, you used that drug to sneakily mix it into their drinks..."
Gui'er quickly interjected, her tone urgent: "Yes, yes... We happen to have some numbing powder in our room... I'll go prepare some wine now and pour it into their mouths."
Wan Miaoniang remained bewildered, asking in a trembling voice, "But... but what if they wake up tomorrow... and tell the truth..."
"wake up?"
Lu Zhaoruo's lips curled into a slight smile as she gently pressed her fingertips against her still aching heart, her gaze chillingly calm: "I never intended... for them to wake up."
She paused slightly before continuing, "Because of your pent-up resentment, you set fire to the courtyard."
"And this fire is enough to burn away all traces and cover up all the truth."
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