Chapter 15 The Fifteenth Old Grudge
Inside the tent, only a few candles and a charcoal brazier were lit. Whether it was someone's imposing presence or the cold air, Jiang Linzhi shivered and stopped at the door. He knelt down behind the screen and performed a deep bow: "This humble subject pays respects to the Regent, and wishes the Regent a peaceful and healthy new year."
A cold, stern voice, like the north wind, came from behind a screen in the distance: "Standing so far away, are you afraid of me?"
"Your Highness commands respect even without anger. We commoners are not worthy to look directly at Your Majesty's countenance," Jiang Linzhi continued, trying to deceive him with his glib tongue.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind rushed straight to Jiang Linzhi's face. Before Jiang Linzhi could react, a sword sheath was pressed against her chin. The icy sheath transmitted chill and killing intent to Jiang Linzhi. Even though she didn't know martial arts, she knew that if the Regent wanted her dead at midnight, she would never live past dawn.
"You've stirred up trouble all day, how can I possibly be at peace?" A cold voice came from above, and a golden python boot pressed down on her chest, pinning her against a pillar behind her. The sword sheath slowly rose, forcing her to look at the man who could decide her life or death.
Jiang Linzhi remembered that last time she glanced at him, he whipped her. The pain was still lingering on her back. Jiang Linzhi clenched her clothes and lowered her eyes, refusing to look at him.
The air in her chest was squeezed out bit by bit, and her head was almost raised, like a goose stretching its neck to be slaughtered. A sneer came from above her head. The Regent released the shackles on her chin and looked at the exceptionally beautiful woman in the solemn military camp, saying, "You are quite something, using my name to do things for me without authorization."
Jiang Linzhi breathed silently, only then noticing the regent's smell of alcohol. What kind of wine had he been drinking in the middle of the afternoon? She didn't dare to ask, only saying, "Your Highness's gift is too much for this humble subject to accept. Why not give these things to the soldiers to improve their meals? What do you say, Your Highness?"
Without the last sentence, the explanation might have been acceptable, but with the last sentence added, it sounded like a blatant provocation to the Regent.
"Do you want to improve their meals, or do you want to win their hearts?" The regent wiped the scabbard with a handkerchief, as if he had just touched something dirty.
Jiang Linzhi respectfully replied, "The common people have no interest in their hearts."
It sounded more like a provocation; it seemed his good cousin had made her forget her place. The Regent remained unperturbed, simply saying coldly, "Come here and warm me some wine."
Jiang Linzhi cleverly walked behind the screen and heated the wine without looking to the side.
The inner room was slightly warmer, the candlelight casting a soft glow, and the woman before him appeared like a ghostly figure from the mountains, alluring and seductive. The Regent, however, utterly loathed her face; the mere sight of it reminded him of how she had seduced and deceived him years ago.
The flickering candlelight cast the woman's shadow swaying back and forth, causing her unease. Suddenly, the regent threw the bamboo slip in his hand, knocking over the wine in her hand and splashing the hot wine all over her hands and body.
Jiang Linzhi didn't react in time and subconsciously let go. In the instant the wine splashed everywhere, the Regent grabbed Jiang Linzhi by the back of the neck and slammed her onto the desk, coldly saying, "Jiang Linzhi! How many people did you harm back then? You should be aware of it today. Who are you trying to fool with that indifferent look?"
After a long silence, Jiang Linzhi finally abandoned her previous humble demeanor and looked up at the man before her. His eyes were bright as stars, his long eyebrows reaching his temples; he possessed the bearing of a valiant general, more imposing and composed than in his youth. However, his eyes were now filled with disgust and hatred, a stark contrast to his younger self.
"Still not over it?" Jiang Linzhi decided to throw caution to the wind, enduring the pain in his back, he pressed his finger against the Regent's chest and pressed hard. "What's the big deal? He was just tricked and taken advantage of by me when he was a kid, what's there to lose..."
The Zhanlu sword, with a clang, grazed Jiang Linzhi's face and sank into the desk beneath him, its slightly swaying hilt revealing its master's surging killing intent.
Jiang Linzhi felt a stinging pain on her cheek from the sword's edge, which was exposed to the cold air. Finally, she dropped her nonchalant smile and looked at the Regent with righteous indignation. "Jiang Jinyi, without me, you and your soldiers would be slaves of a conquered nation. What right do you have to hate me?"
Even with her body pinned down, her eyes were sharp, as if she could see right through Jiang Jinyi's heart. She continued, "If it happened again, I would kill my sister and your mother just the same way."
When Jiang Jinyi first met Jiang Linzhi, she was just a young girl in her teens. To Jiang Jinyi, Jiang Linzhi was the younger sister of his mother's sworn sister, a complicated relationship with a distant and indifferent affection.
His mother was tied up with military affairs, and his biological father was missing. During the time Jiang Jinyi stayed at the Jiang family mansion, Jiang Linzhi would drag him around to play every day. She would drag him along when he studied, and she would drag him along when he practiced swordsmanship.
This was annoying for Jiang Jinyi, who had been strictly disciplined by her mother since childhood, but it was also a chance to relax.
Later, Jiang Linzhi even stole countless martial arts manuals from his study and took him out for a midnight snack, calling him "Jiang Jinyi" repeatedly and spoiling him. He was happy to indulge her.
This seemingly innocent young girl betrayed her own sister and mother during a mutiny more than a decade ago, and killed them with her own hands, seizing control of the lifeline of the Sui Kingdom all by herself.
After the Jiang family fell from power, Jiang Jinyi was exiled to the northern frontier, starting as a lowly soldier. The secret, budding affections he once harbored were worn down by the years of wind, sand, and bloodshed in the northern frontier, turning into a hatred as coarse as sand and stone.
The bruises on his feet reminded him of the humiliation with every step he took towards the capital. Jiang Jinyi had no doubt that Jiang Linzhi could have killed him back then if she had wanted to.
Why didn't she kill him? Was it pity? Disdain? Or a little bit of affection? The darker this affection, the more Jiang Jinyi felt like he had his belt cut off, his legs clenched tightly, trying to remain calm for fear of being seen through, afraid that he would lose even the dignity to cover his shame. So he grabbed Jiang Linzhi by the collar and lifted her up. He hated her pitying eyes, hated her indecent behavior towards him, hated everything about her!
Jiang Jinyi pressed Jiang Linzhi down next to the sword. "You really are extremely vicious, Jiang Linzhi. If you didn't have the secret to making snuff bottles, you would have died at my hands long ago."
Jiang Linzhi showed no fear and looked earnestly at Jiang Jinyi, "If I give you the secret of the snuff bottle, can you protect the State of Sui?"
Jiang Jinyi hadn't expected her to actually have such a thought. His sinister aura, which had just struck her deep green eyes, shattered into panic.
Jiang Linzhi continued, "The Crimson Flower absolutely cannot be destroyed, that goes without saying. Let's talk about how to hold on now. You've always recruited talented people from all over the world; anyone with ability can work under you. It sounds so much better than the rigidly hierarchical Wu Kingdom, but have you ever considered that most people are just ordinary people? They only want their own little plot of land, enough to eat and wear. They have no ambition or ability to become powerful figures! How many people are starving because of your merit-based promotion system?"
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Linzhi's vision went completely mad. Jiang Jinyi covered her mouth and pressed her down onto the tiger-skin rug, making her see stars. The alcohol fueled the fire.
Jiang Jinyi couldn't understand why she, a mere merchant, would concern herself with matters she couldn't afford to offend. He couldn't understand how she could be so self-righteous after killing her own blood relative, and he couldn't understand why she felt no remorse towards him. He wanted to crawl inside her body to see what she was really thinking.
Her heart was in turmoil. No matter how hard Jiang Jinyi tried, he couldn't get into her heart. He gritted his teeth and warned, "Shut up. These things are none of your business."
His throat was constricted, and the air grew thinner and thinner. Jiang Linzhi felt black and white blurring before his eyes, but inside his body he howled with excitement like a wolf that had just gotten its prey.
Jiang Linzhi gripped Jiang Jinyi's hand tightly, his fingernails digging into the flesh and scraping against the bone, trying to make him let go because of the pain.
But Jiang Jinyi didn't let go. He enjoyed the pained yet pleasurable expression on Jiang Linzhi's face. When both senses reached their peak, Jiang Jinyi let go and bit the woman's fair and slender neck.
The sword wound from last time has completely disappeared. Jiang Jinyi's eyes are like the sea during a storm, and even though the waves are surging, they still suppress the sea monsters that want to cause trouble.
After staring at the unconscious Jiang Linzhi for a long time, Jiang Jinyi finally noticed several torn pieces of flesh on his hands, with scarlet blood gushing from the yellowish, greasy skin. "Still as ruthless as ever," Jiang Jinyi thought to himself.
Feeling drowsy, Jiang Linzhi felt cold and clung closer to the heat source.
The familiar scent of Xun Lingxiang soothed Jiang Linzhi's unease, and she shrank closer to the heat source, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Qi Lingjun looked down at Jiang Linzhi in his arms, his face as dark as charcoal. Why should he compromise himself for that kind of person? Even someone as patient as him felt it wasn't worth it.
Both the emperor and the regent were after the Jiang family, a lucrative prize. The regent harbored old grudges and didn't want to lower himself to win them over, nor could he do so even if he tried. Therefore, he repeatedly used this method to sow discord between the emperor and the Jiang family. Even if the emperor trusted Jiang Linzhi, he wasn't necessarily without reservations.
The regent in the military camp was also as black as charcoal, and he kept drinking bowl after bowl of wine. Even the usually cold and ruthless Cui Jiu dared not approach him to serve him.
Half an hour ago, when Qi Lingjun requested an audience, it was already dark. He saw a person walking through the wind and snow who was even cleaner than the wind and snow itself. No matter how heavy the wind and snow was, he walked calmly and slowly, like a banished immortal who had just descended from the ninth heaven.
Jiang Jinyi looked down on this man who relied on women from the bottom of his heart. He didn't want to see him, but out of a desire to appreciate talent, he stroked the delicate collarbone under his hand and said, "Let him in."
When Qi Lingjun entered, Jiang Jinyi pretended not to know why he had come. He casually threw on an outer garment before finally getting up from his reverie and asked, "Is there something you need?"
"It's getting late, and my young lady hasn't returned home yet, so I've come to look for her."
"I don't know about that."
Jiang Linzhi's footprints were still in the snow, and his bright red cloak lay on the ground beside him, the bloody teeth marks on his neck clearly visible. Jiang Jinyi's words were obviously intended to make things difficult for Qi Lingjun.
That's blatant lying.
This is Jiang Jinyi's territory. If Jiang Jinyi says he's not here, what can Qi Lingjun do to him? Qi Lingjun asked directly, "What does Your Highness want?"
"Same conditions as before. If you come to serve me, I will naturally help you find your former employer. She was so wasteful of your talent, making you come out in the middle of the night to look for someone. It was really... really a waste of her talent." Jiang Jinyi curled his lips, observing his expression.
Qi Lingjun simply cupped his hands and nodded slightly, "Since Miss's whereabouts are currently unknown, I cannot abandon my master and leave. Such an act of disloyalty is beyond my capabilities."
Like a block of wood, he had received countless favors from Jiang Linzhi. Jiang Jinyi was displeased. When he returned from the brink of death, Qi Lingjun had been clinging to Jiang Linzhi's side, and now he still acted like a loyal lackey.
Jiang Jinyi may value talent, but he's not loyal to me; it's best to kill him. He understands this principle well.
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