0105 Jade Waist Slave (Part 4)
"Xiao Lian, come here and massage my head."
The young man who spoke was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. A satin dress with gold cloud patterns hung loosely on his body. He slumped in the red silk curtains and hibiscus quilt as if his bones had melted, and uttered the words listlessly.
It was Li Lin, the elder brother of Li Miao and the heir apparent of Prince An.
The beautiful maid who was resting on the ground was his recent favorite concubine. Her willow-leaf eyes were gentle and pitiful, and Li Lin loved her very much. He personally gave her the name "Xiao Lian".
Xiao Lian looked up at the sound, lifted the gauze curtain, and said softly to the person inside, "Your Highness is awake? This servant has brewed some hangover tea to help you relieve your hangover."
Li Lin rubbed his forehead, forcing himself to sit up. He glanced at Xiao Lian and said, "You should go quickly. Liang Zhiyan made me drink a lot of wine as soon as he arrived, and now I have a terrible headache."
It turned out that Li Lin had been frolicking with two or three concubines until late at night. He had just tidied up hastily and was about to go to sleep when Liang Zhiyan came looking for him.
He hesitated all night and finally made up his mind to force Shu Fu to marry him by dirty means. However, he was currently in Li Miao's villa, and everything was inconvenient. He also did not know when Shu Fu would return to Chang'an.
Every day this matter dragged on, he felt more anxious. Fortunately, he remembered Li Lin.
He was able to stay at the villa because of Li Lin, who was Li Miao's elder brother. It is likely that Li Lin could also command some of the maids and attendants at the villa.
He doesn't need much time. As long as he gets things done before the princess finds out, even the princess will probably have to consider Shu Fu's reputation and reluctantly admit to it.
He went over the procedure in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more his chest felt burning. He couldn't even wait until dawn to go to Li Lin's place.
Li Lin was not exactly a decent gentleman to begin with, and after being persuaded by Liang Zhiyan with kind words and fine wine, he immediately became intoxicated and found a trustworthy maid for him. He was just waiting for dawn so that she could lure Shu Fu to the place that Liang Zhiyan had set up.
"This can be considered as me helping someone maintain a marriage, and it can also be considered as doing a good deed." Li Lin leaned against Xiao Lian's lap, letting her feed him hangover tea spoonful by spoonful.
Just then, his attendants called out urgently from outside: "Princess, Princess, what are you doing here in such a hurry? Our young master has not yet woken up, perhaps you could wait a moment... Ah!"
The attendant's voice was abruptly cut off in mid-air, not because Li Miao had done anything to him, but because he saw Li Miao striding towards him, not only with a face full of anger, but also with a long sword in his hand.
Li Miao gave him a cold glance, then ignored him and walked straight inside.
The attendant suddenly came to his senses and scrambled towards the inner room, crying out, "Princess, Princess! What are you doing? Why are you carrying a sword here!"
Seeing that he could not stop him, he had no choice but to kneel in front of the door and shout in a mournful voice, "Young Master, be careful!"
Li Lin was dizzy and confused at first. Hearing the guard's shout, he hurriedly got up from Xiao Lian's gentle embrace. Before he could even cover his chest with his clothes, the door was kicked open, and a large expanse of blinding white light suddenly burst out.
Before he could even see the person's face clearly, he heard a sharp, clear sound of a sword tip scraping the ground, ringing out and piercing his ears, instantly waking him up.
When Xiao Lian, who was beside him, saw the appearance of the long sword, she immediately screamed "Ah!" and her limbs went weak. The cups and saucers crashed onto the screen, shattering and scattering porcelain everywhere.
Xiao Lian turned pale with fright and tumbled off the bed, lying on the ground and begging for mercy: "Princess, spare me! Princess, spare me! I didn't mean to!"
Li Miao stood there with his sword, and upon hearing this, he glanced down at Xiao Lian, his expression unchanged.
"This is none of your business, I won't argue with you, you can leave now." Her voice was icy.
Xiao Lian felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She hurriedly gathered her lotus-colored gauze dress to cover her chest and was about to run outside.
As she approached the door, she remembered that her master was the heir apparent, not the princess. She glanced back at Li Lin and saw that he was already terrified by the long sword in Li Miao's hand. Without thinking, she hurriedly left.
Only the brother and sister remained in the room, each standing on one side, seemingly in a standoff. However, upon closer inspection, it became clear that Li Miao had the upper hand. With a flick of her wrist, the tip of her sword cut a series of clanging sounds on the screen.
Li Lin's heart clenched, and he spoke through pursed lips, "Miaomiao, what do you mean by this? Why did you bring a sword to my room..."
Before he could finish speaking, the metallic clanging sound on the ground suddenly sharpened, followed by a whooshing sound. When he opened his eyes again, the gleaming sword tip was pointing straight at his throat.
The sword was named Qing Shuang. It was over three and a half feet long, almost as tall as a young child. It was made of gold and iron, and its blue color was as clear as frost and snow. Its blade was incomparably sharp.
This is the sword once used by Emperor Chongde. It has actually killed people and seen blood. Even after it came into the hands of Li Miao, it was never allowed to become tarnished. Today, it suddenly appears, and its sharpness is not diminished at all.
Li Lin's gaze was fixed on the cold glint in front of his throat, his breathing was labored and his hands and feet were trembling.
"What do you mean by this? I am your elder brother. How dare you point a sword and arrow at me? This is a complete breach of the proper etiquette between elders and juniors!"
Li Miao's face was cold and aloof, as if covered with a layer of frost: "I ask you, did you bring Liang Zhiyan into my villa and let him stay here?"
As she spoke, she brought the sword close to Li Lin's neck. Seeing him hesitate, she used a little force with her wrist to cut a gash in his jaw, from which blood gushed out.
"explain!"
Li Lin felt a sharp pain on his face. When he reached up to touch it, he found his hand covered in bright red blood. He immediately let out a howl and scrambled to the inside of the bed.
"Li Miao! Have you gone mad? So what if I, Xu Liangzhiyan, move in? I am your own brother, born of the same father and mother! How dare you stab me with a sword?"
"What wouldn't I dare to do? You and Liang Zhiyan, those two beasts, dared to make such a vile plan. Even if I stabbed you both to death today, and then went to your uncle and aunt to beg for forgiveness in the future, I might not be afraid to do it!"
Upon hearing this, Li Lin knew that Li Miao had somehow learned of Liang Zhiyan's plans, which was why he was so enraged and had come to cause trouble for him with his sword.
He panicked for a moment, then felt his pride as the elder brother had been tarnished. He quickly dodged the blade, forcing himself to remain calm, and said, "What sordid matter? How is it sordid? That Second Madam Shu is Liang Zhiyan's fiancée. They've just had a little spat, and I'm merely helping them reconcile. You're not Second Madam Shu; how do you know if she's unwilling? Besides, she's already betrothed to the Liang family; she's already a Liang family woman. It's not like she'd really break off the engagement over such a trivial matter..."
"Li Lin!" Li Miao glared and gritted her teeth, gripping the Frost Sword tightly and pressing it towards his chest: "You still dare to argue? If I hadn't known about your schemes beforehand and intercepted the maid who was delivering the message, an innocent young woman would have been harmed because of your despicable intentions. Don't you feel any remorse?"
Li Lin was terrified by the suddenly approaching sword, his voice trembling, but he still tried to maintain a composed demeanor: "You, you mustn't be impulsive. This isn't the end of the matter, so don't get so worked up..."
"Even if things go smoothly, Liang Zhiyan will marry her, which wouldn't be a bad outcome..."
Moreover, Shufu is the daughter of a foreign official. We are siblings by blood. How can you turn against me because of her?
The second half of his words had only rolled through his mind once before he could utter them when Li Miao kicked him in the chest, causing his back to slam heavily against the nanmu bed frame, and he immediately vomited a mouthful of blood.
"A good home? What a load of rubbish! How can you shameless people in this world say that a treacherous, hypocritical, and despicable man is a good home! If I hadn't known about this beforehand, if that person hadn't been Afu, but another woman with a gentler heart, what you've done is tantamount to murder!"
“Murder… why describe it as so terrifying…” Li Lin’s hairline and forehead were covered in sweat as he carefully used his fingers to deflect the blade.
Unexpectedly, Li Miao was enraged and, with a backhand thrust, plunged the sword into his shoulder.
"Ah—" Li Lin's vision blurred, and he cried out in pain, uttering several "you"s but unable to say anything else.
Li Miao looked down at him, forcefully pulling the sword back and letting blood ooze from his shoulder wound: "If anything goes wrong today, I will prove that my words about killing you and Liang Zhiyan were not a joke."
"Then...where is Liang Zhiyan now?" Li Lin asked in a trembling voice.
He was so shocked by her use of the word "kill" that he felt dizzy and almost fainted. He thought to himself that if he, Li Miao's own brother, was treated like this, he wondered what would become of Liang Zhiyan.
Li Miao stood holding his sword, blood dripping onto the ground in a series of streaks. He glanced at the small pool of blood on the ground screen involuntarily, and was immediately startled to look away, feeling the cut on his shoulder become even more painful.
Li Miao looked at him mockingly: "Liang Zhiyan? Since he has no shame, I'll grant his wish this time."
"What's the meaning?"
"It's nothing compared to stripping him naked and throwing him out; it's nothing compared to the despicable schemes of the two of you in cahoots."
She actually stripped a Hanlin scholar, who valued his reputation above all else, naked? What difference is there between this and taking his life?
Li Lin's mind went blank, and he didn't know how to react.
After saying this, Li Miao turned and walked out. When he reached the door, he turned his head back slightly and said, "This is the last time I respected you as my brother. I didn't expect to strip you of your clothes. Pack your things and get out of here immediately. From now on, you must never set foot in any of my properties again."
Li Lin murmured, still unable to understand why Li Miao was so furious.
"One last thing, brother, your actions have been foolish for over twenty years. How long can such an immoral and incompetent person hold onto the position of heir apparent?"
After Li Miao left, Li Lin sat there blankly for a long time, repeatedly replaying Li Miao's last words in his mind.
What did she mean by that? He was his parents' only son, with no other brothers or sisters besides Li Miao. Who could possibly threaten his position as heir apparent? Did she intend to take his place?
How could a young woman like her dare to do that?
He dared not examine the wound closely, and forcibly covered the injury on his shoulder, calling out loudly, "Xiao Lian, Xiao Lian!"
Xiao Lian hurriedly stepped in from the outer room. Her already pale face turned even paler after seeing the injuries on Li Lin's body.
"Your Highness..."
"Quickly, quickly, fetch me a medic!"
Xiao Lian nodded quickly and was about to leave when he suddenly called her back.
"No, Li Miao is a ruthless and vicious woman. I really can't afford to offend her. You should pack your things and we'll leave immediately!"
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