The already narrow corridor instantly became crowded. Li Zheng stood at the end of the corridor, watching Hua Cai who was about to be overwhelmed by the guards, and sneered, a hint of pleasure in his eyes.
Even after drinking the blood-dissolving powder, you didn't die. You escaped and dared to appear before me again. This time, I'll make sure you can't escape.
A series of daggers, gleaming with a ghostly blue light, slashed towards Hua Cai's neck without hesitation; they were clearly coated with deadly poison.
Hua Cai's eyes hardened: "Since you were raised with my Jin family's money, you might as well just give your life back to me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Hua Cai stomped her toes on the ground and quickly retreated, barely dodging the first slash of the blade.
"Hmph." With a cold snort, Hua Cai slightly curled her fingertips into claws, her gaze instantly turning ruthless. Seeing that the guards were still attacking relentlessly, she crossed her hands in front of her chest and suddenly slashed them to the sides.
A series of clanging metal sounds rang out, and there were even faint flashes of fire in the arena.
With a single claw strike, the two guards at the forefront were instantly sent flying, crashing into the lobby on the first floor, causing a commotion.
Hua Cai glanced mockingly at Li Zheng, whose eyes were filled with shock, and slowly and deliberately attacked him.
Li Zheng, who thought victory was in his grasp, felt an unprecedented sense of crisis and retreated repeatedly. When only two or three of the dozen or so guards remained, he suddenly realized what was happening and hastily retreated, trying to escape, only to find that he was left with only the wall.
Originally, Li Zheng and more than ten others were standing at the entrance of "Ziyun Pavilion". Now, after being driven back by Hua Cai, they were getting further and further away from the room door. There was a wall behind them, and at this point, the only way out was to jump directly to the lobby on the first floor from the other side.
Li Zheng had a sudden thought. He peeked at the two guards who were still lying motionless on the ground floor. His heart pounded, and he immediately abandoned the dangerous idea.
Although Li Zheng knew some martial arts, it was only for physical fitness. He was always protected by secret guards and usually had no opportunity to use his martial arts skills, so he had no consideration for his own strength.
If even these two are beyond saving, then if I were to jump down, I would certainly die as well.
Little did Li Zheng know that at that height, with a bit of lightness skill and a little care, one wouldn't be killed on the spot from the fall. Those two were completely killed by Hua Cai's palm strike.
Since there was no way out on three sides, the only option was to try to break through from the direction of the most dangerous flower.
Looking at Hua Cai's ambiguous smile, Li Zheng straightened his hair, still determined to take the risk.
Although he didn't know why this woman suddenly possessed martial arts skills, and were so skilled at them, old habits die hard. No one in the world knew better than him how stupid this woman was.
Soon, the last guard was also taken care of by Hua Cai. Apart from Hua Cai herself, the only survivors in the entire corridor were Li Zheng and De Fu, who was lying paralyzed to one side.
Although he had already made up his mind, Li Zheng couldn't help but feel timid as he watched Hua Cai approach step by step with a menacing aura.
"Your Majesty, how do you wish to die?" Hua Cai walked lightly towards Li Zheng, a gentle smile on her face. In a daze, Li Zheng seemed to see the innocent-looking little girl by the stream under the willow ten years ago, smiling sweetly at him: "Whatever Brother Zheng wants, Baozhu will definitely help Brother Zheng get it."
"Baozhu." In the blink of an eye, the woman who had killed more than a dozen people without blinking was only three steps away from him. Li Zheng came to his senses in time and called out to her in an instant: "So you're not dead. You're really not dead. That's great."
Hua Cai stopped in her tracks, looking speechlessly at Li Zheng, who was forcibly starting to stir up emotions.
"When the Empress died suddenly, I was devastated and misunderstood my beloved consort. I regretted it deeply afterwards." Li Zheng swallowed hard, looking at Defu who was lying on the ground with hatred in his eyes. He tried to squeeze out some tears but failed. "I never intended to kill you. It was this dog servant who actually dared to make you drink the blood-dissolving powder. I will definitely kill him to avenge my beloved consort."
Before he finished speaking, he reached for the dagger that the bodyguard had dropped on the ground after his death, intending to stab Defu.
Li Zheng genuinely wanted to kill De Fu. Firstly, in his view, De Fu, who had been sent ahead to gather intelligence, had been inactive, which was tantamount to betraying him. Secondly, by killing him, all the previous mistakes could be pinned on him.
The dead cannot defend themselves.
Cen —
The sickening metallic scraping sound rang out again. Li Zheng deliberately didn't give Hua Cai a chance to speak, and his decisive thrust of the dagger was still blocked by Hua Cai's claw.
Hua Cai was truly impressed by this person; her ability to lie through her teeth was something she couldn't catch up to even after five hundred years of cultivation.
“Li Zheng, you are truly a very lucky person.” Holding the dagger in Li Zheng’s palm, Hua Cai stared at Li Zheng’s slightly annoyed eyes with a half-smile: “You are very lucky to have met me, a fool who was willing to go bankrupt for you, during your lowest point in life. Do you really think your younger brother was born to be someone who doesn’t fight with the world?”
Hua Caixiao said, "Some people are indifferent to worldly affairs simply because they have nothing to fight for. With the Jin family around, even if Li Yuan wanted to fight, what result could he possibly achieve?"
“I’ve always felt that without the Jin family, you, Li Zheng, are nothing. But just now I suddenly realized that I might have been wrong.” Hua Cai’s gaze remained calm, making it impossible to tell whether she was telling the truth or not. But Li Zheng inexplicably knew that her words were definitely not a compliment to him.
really.
“I only remember that meeting the incredibly stupid me back then was your luck, but I overlooked other aspects, such as—” Hua Cai kicked the corpses on the ground: “Even if you were so stupid that you even brought such conspicuous guards with you, and even walked into such a simple trap without thinking, you were able to grow up safely and even sit so firmly on the throne. Isn’t that the greatest luck?”
Li Zheng's face turned green.
He considered himself a wise ruler, one in a thousand years. In just a few years after taking the throne, the country was transformed from the weakest of the four kingdoms to the strongest.
What should have been a historical event was described as pure luck by Hua Cai.
"However, it's clear that your luck has come to an end." Hua Cai raised her hand and released her grip on the dagger: "The Jin family left Li Kingdom and became an ally of the enemy country. At the same time, the woman you love most has also fallen into someone else's arms. That person just happens to be your younger brother."
Hua Cai, ever the sore spot, narrowed her eyes with ill intent: "Now that you've lost the Jin family, your woman has become your brother's woman, and all the scales are tipping in his favor. If you were in his shoes, after enduring ten years of subservience, what would you do?"
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