Chapter 30 I Can Use My Beauty Trap
"Duan Nian Powder?"
At Jinlin Courtyard, Zhou Linyuan placed a white chess piece on the board and looked up at the opponent.
"Brother Zhou," Shen Minghuai, the Immortal Lord of Yuxiao Sect, asked in confusion, "why did you deliberately erase his memories of Ziyang Immortal Mansion?"
The Severing Thoughts Powder is a secret medicine of the Red Descendant Clan. It can hypnotize and control people in a state of unconsciousness, causing them to forget their memories.
Zhou Linyuan took a sip of tea and said, "He has fallen in love."
Shen Minghuai held the black chess piece and rubbed his fingers back and forth. "Young man, so handsome, why can't you fall in love?"
“He is merely a vessel for the demonic dragon Li Mo to be reborn; he will die sooner or later,” Zhou Linyuan said. “Before he disappears, we still have many things to do; we don’t have time to let him indulge in love.”
Shen Minghuai's eyes darted around as he placed a piece on the chessboard. "Brother Zhou, your words may be harsh, but you still care about him. You dared to steal the Crown Princess for him; are you trying to make up for all the years you've wronged him?"
“That’s true,” Zhou Linyuan said calmly, his eyes fixed on the chessboard. “No, that’s not true either. This child doesn’t trust me either, and he might have other ideas. Someone needs to be there to keep an eye on him.”
Many years ago, Shen Minghuai was ordered by the sect leader to approach Zhou Linyuan to investigate the matter of the Crimson Descendant Demon Gu killing people. Unexpectedly, he became friends with Zhou Linyuan and gained his deep trust. In doing so, he also learned about an even greater danger.
The royal family of Jin possesses the bloodline of a demonic dragon, and Zhou Linyuan intends to use the power of the demonic dragon to establish the Crimson Dynasty. However, awakening the demonic dragon will inevitably unleash a bloody storm, and we must not allow it to succeed.
"Brother Shen? It's your turn to log off."
Shen Minghuai was somewhat distracted. Reminded, he smiled, picked up the black pieces, looked at the board, pondered for a moment, and then focused on playing the game.
Jiang Zhishui was taken back to the Chengyi Marquis's residence in a carriage in the middle of the night. There was no one in the carriage except Jiang Zhishui, who was dressed in her wedding attire.
The thief left no clues, making it impossible to investigate.
Marquis Chengyi and Crown Prince Jingrong both suspected that Zhou Linyuan was involved in the matter, but they had no evidence.
"I don't remember." Jiang Zhishui was interrogated as soon as she woke up, and she could only give a few answers: "I didn't see it, I didn't hear it, I don't know."
After Jing Rong left, Jiang Hanfeng privately asked Jiang Zhishui again, "Tell the truth, was it the Seventh Prince who orchestrated this marriage abduction? Have you seen anyone?"
Inside the study, Jiang Zhishui changed her tune, saying, "It was Zhou Linyuan who acted on his own initiative, trying to turn the Crown Prince and the Seventh Prince against each other, so he planned this operation. My lord, I think you should think carefully. If you choose the wrong person, the Marquis's mansion may face utter destruction in the future."
Jiang Hanfeng's face paled, and he asked doubtfully, "Do you think I should choose the Seventh Prince? The Crown Prince is His Majesty's chosen heir. The Seventh Prince's mother is not from Jin. Even with Zhou Linyuan as his backer, the Seventh Prince is not qualified to inherit the throne."
Jiang Zhishui said, "I didn't say that. It's just that His Majesty is clearly helpless against Zhou Linyuan and the Seventh Prince. Marquis, you're caught in the middle. Can you protect yourself? Look, they just kidnap people whenever they want. You can't do anything about it either."
Jiang Hanfeng's expression was grave. "You're right. In a conflict between two sides, we'll only be caught in the middle and suffer the consequences. But... what do we do now?"
During her stay at the Marquis's residence, Jiang Zhishui received immense love and care from the Marquis's wife. Sometimes, she felt as if she were part of this family.
Jiang Hanfeng was initially quite wary of her, but occasionally, when they spoke, he seemed to forget that the person in front of him was not his daughter.
“We can stand on both sides,” Jiang Zhishui said after a moment’s consideration. “...That is, we can also not stand on either side.”
Jiang Zhishui said calmly, "My lord, I'll leave the Crown Prince's side to you and the Seventh Prince's side to me. We can handle things on both sides, and no matter which one of them ascends the throne in the future, we can always backtrack and smooth things over."
Jiang Hanfeng frowned: "What do you mean by that? How do you explain this?"
“If the Seventh Prince wins…” Jiang Zhishui paused and smiled, “I can say that the Marquis chose the Crown Prince only as a temporary measure, or that he was an inside man. Anyway, we can say whatever we want, and the Seventh Prince has no way to verify it.”
Jiang Hanfeng's eyes widened in astonishment. He was shocked by Jiang Zhishui's unorthodox way of thinking.
"Be opportunistic and play the fence to save your life." Jiang Zhishui said cheerfully, "What are these power struggles and the calamities caused by the demonic dragon? They're none of our business. Let them fight their battles, and we'll fight ours. We'll just try to get out unscathed."
Jiang Zhishui clapped her hands and stood up. "Yes, that's the way to do it. I couldn't figure it out before. I felt constrained in everything I did. In the end, the most important thing is to stay alive."
Seeing her suddenly become excited, Jiang Hanfeng asked curiously, "You are engaged to the Crown Prince, how can the Seventh Prince trust you?"
"The engagement will probably be dissolved soon," Jiang Zhishui said casually. "As for the Seventh Prince, I can use my beauty to my advantage; it shouldn't be too difficult."
Now that they are bound by the Gu shackles, Jiang Zhishui felt that winning over Jing Qianheng would not be difficult with a little more effort.
Upon hearing the phrase "not difficult," Jiang Hanfeng raised an eyebrow slightly, his heart pounding. However, he also understood that Jiang Zhishui's analysis was correct, so he nodded, tacitly approving of Jiang Zhishui's plan.
——
Among the story missions announced by the system, she needs to gain Jing Qianheng's favor.
In the early stages, forget about gaining favor; just avoiding being hated is already a good thing.
Now she needs to complete the tasks of plot three and plot four, and first she needs to lay the groundwork for doing evil.
She has to win over Jing Qianheng while secretly plotting against him. After they get married, she will have to reveal her villainous side and accept Jing Qianheng's revenge in order to overcome her emotional tribulations and achieve enlightenment.
Although the plot and missions are strange, she is merely a catalyst for Jing Qianheng's early descent into darkness. After the missions are completed, she will disappear from Jing Qianheng's world.
Jing Qianheng will then embark on his great journey to dominate the three realms, during which he will encounter three female protagonists and experience several poignant love stories.
He has many more adventures to go through, and those experiences will be far more exciting than hers. In terms of being bizarre and outrageous, hers is nothing compared to that.
So Jiang Zhishui stopped worrying about it. As long as she completed the plot missions step by step, she could get away. She couldn't think too much about what would happen in the future.
The first foreshadowing task is a bit tricky.
She needed to get Jing Qianheng into the Ancient Porcelain Cave. The Crown Prince and Marquis Chengyi had already set up an array there. Once they captured Jing Qianheng, they could try to refine the dragon spirit within him using a spirit-tempering artifact.
Crown Prince Jing Rong, seeing his years of plans fall apart due to Zhou Linyuan's intervention, became increasingly restless. Even without obtaining the Dragon-Guiding Method, he couldn't wait to use other methods to seize the Dragon Spirit from Jing Qianheng.
If he can devour all the dragon spirits, he can inherit the powerful ancient demonic power. At that time, not only will the small Jin Kingdom be subservient to him, but all living beings in the Three Realms will have to grovel at his feet.
After being persuaded by Marquis Chengyi, Jing Rong agreed to let Jiang Zhishui infiltrate Jing Qianheng's side, for which the Crown Prince had no choice but to take the initiative to break off the engagement.
The Queen was already unhappy with the marriage, and because of the major incident on the wedding day, Jiang Zhishui was no longer suitable as a candidate for Crown Princess. After the Crown Prince gave his approval, the Queen immediately began to arrange for the selection of other noble ladies.
The method of extracting dragon spirits using spirit-tempering artifacts was developed by the Imperial Advisor Li Si, who also suggested to the Crown Prince that it be tested on Jing Qianheng.
This task eventually fell to Jiang Zhishui.
The system had previously explained the principles of the protagonist's halo setting. No matter what Jing Qianheng encountered, he could always turn the tide from adversity and thus gain an increase in combat power.
Jiang Zhishui thought that as long as Jing Qianheng could overcome these difficulties, he would be able to reach the top in the future. She thought that although he was pitiful, there would be many benefits waiting for him after he got through it. It was inevitable that he would have to work hard in the early stages.
She tried to convince herself repeatedly, but struggled with her inner turmoil throughout the night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Jiang Zhishui felt she was being too unfair, but she also told herself that all these plot lines served Jing Qianheng; he couldn't escape them, and neither could she.
They could only accept it, complete the storyline, and in the end, the mission was successful, and both of them were able to live peacefully. Although the process was difficult and painful, there was still hope for a happy ending if they worked together.
"Me and you?"
At the Ling Prince's residence, Jing Qianheng stood under the eaves, turned his head to look at the person beside him, and whispered, "Why should I go with you?"
Su You stood to the side with her sword in hand and said, "Your Highness, things are not peaceful outside right now. I heard that there are evil spirits killing people outside the eastern suburbs. Four or five people have already died. For safety's sake, it is safer to stay in the manor for the time being."
Jiang Zhishui turned to Su You and objected, "Su You, His Highness is a prince. When the people are in trouble, how can he hide in his own residence and live a life of ease? His Highness the Crown Prince is out there working hard for the people and winning their hearts. If you tell His Highness to hide, do you want others to say that His Highness is greedy for life and a coward, a tyrant?"
"Tyrant?" Su You was so frightened by the word that she could barely speak. "Miss Jiang, don't talk nonsense!"
Jing Qianheng looked at Jiang Zhishui, while Su You looked at Jing Qianheng and said anxiously, "Your Highness, I am only worried about Your Highness's safety and have no ulterior motives. I hope Your Highness will understand!"
Su You also consumed the "Severing Thoughts Powder," and like Jing Qianheng, she lost some of her memories.
He was often confused and uneasy. After Jing Qianheng and Zhou Linyuan returned to Jin, he never smiled again. Su You often stayed by his side to serve him and always felt that Jing Qianheng seemed much more gloomy than before.
He had no basis or memory of it, but he had a feeling in his heart, a strange sadness.
His master was in a gloomy mood, and so was he. Furthermore, because Zhou Linyuan acted irrationally and unpredictably, and it was unclear whether he was friend or foe, Jing Qianheng, being a man of deep thought, never spoke to him.
With various factions in Kyoto currently in turmoil, Su You, as Jing Qianheng's personal bodyguard, is the easiest target to take down. It's not impossible for someone to bribe him.
So when Su You heard Jiang Zhishui say that, he couldn't help but start to overthink, fearing that Jing Qianheng would misunderstand him as having ulterior motives.
Jiang Zhishui waved her hand and smiled, "I didn't say you had ulterior motives. Your Highness isn't some porcelain doll, you're not that fragile. Going out for a walk won't be dangerous, and I'll be here to protect you."
"Is that so, Your Highness?"
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