Your death date
Once Xie Zhuo left, the crowd on the pleasure boat, who had been peering around curiously, finally dared to whisper among themselves.
Being laughed at at this point was nothing; what truly upset Fu Yan'er was the way Xie Zhuo looked at Fu Zhi Qiao earlier—it was clearly the look one has when looking at a lover.
"Fu Zhi Qiao, Fu Zhi Qiao..." Fu Yan'er murmured her name.
So, I had already lost all along?
Losing to Fu Zhi Qiao was worse than killing her.
Fu Yan'er covered her face and returned to the Fu family home, looking utterly dejected. Zhao Xialan immediately greeted her and asked, "How did it go? Did you fail?"
Fu Yan'er shook her head and then nodded.
"It's over, it's all over now." Zhao Xialan felt utterly hopeless. If Fu Mingjie couldn't be rescued, then she needed to make some preparations as soon as possible. She couldn't let the second branch of the family follow the same path as the first branch.
Fu Wenyang had the same thought. After learning that Fu Yan'er's seduction attempt had failed, he cursed her inwardly as a useless thing. Once Fu Mingjie's crime was confirmed, the Fu family's business would definitely suffer a severe blow.
Fu Wenyang slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, making up his mind. Since the path of currying favor with the prince was blocked, he needed to find a new way out for himself.
However, he never expected that his act of having Fu Yan'er attach herself to Xie Zhuo would actually provoke the deepest inner demon in her heart.
Fu Zhiqiao, if I'm not having a good time, you won't have one either.
"Miss, the second young lady has sent word that she wants to see you."
"Fu Yan'er wants to see me?"
Yinxing nodded: "This servant has a feeling that the Second Miss has ill intentions. Maybe we shouldn't go see her."
The second young lady has always been a person who is gentle on the outside but sharp on the inside. During the period after the master's death, the second young lady often instructed other maids to bully her. Yinxing always harbored some fear of Fu Yan'er.
Fu Zhi Qiao didn't think so. With the Fu family in such a state, Fu Yan'er was still focusing her attention on her, which showed that she hadn't made any progress in the past two or three years.
*
On the banks of the Li River, in a four-cornered pavilion.
"Sister, it's been a long time!" Fu Yan'er greeted first.
Fu Zhiqiao smiled but didn't say anything.
Ever since Fu Zhi Qiao entered the pavilion, Fu Yan'er had been observing her closely. Gone was the delicate frailty of her childhood; Fu Zhi Qiao now looked even more radiant and captivating.
"I have some private things I want to say to my sister, but I don't know..." Fu Yan'er tried to get Yin Xing away.
“Say what you have to say here.” Fu Zhi Qiao wouldn’t do as she wished.
"How is Auntie's health? My sister and auntie have been recuperating in the countryside for so long, and my mother and I have been very worried about them. We've been sending people to inquire about your whereabouts." Fu Yan'er lifted her eyelids, not caring about Fu Zhi Qiao's cold attitude, and said affectionately, "Since you've returned to Yuzhou, why don't you go home to visit?"
"I'm fine. It's all thanks to your family that I was able to take my mother to the countryside to recuperate, and that's why I recovered so quickly."
Anyone can talk about tea and its associated sayings.
"Is that so?" Fu Yan'er clenched the embroidered handkerchief in her hand, lowered her eyes, and casually asked, "How did you meet the young master, sister? I think you two are quite familiar with each other."
"You invited me here today, I'm afraid it's not just for catching up."
"Where did you first meet the young master, sister...?"
Fu Zhi Qiao interrupted her, "Don't you know the Crown Prince too? I saw him yesterday."
When she said the word "know", Fu Zhiqiao emphasized it.
Why bring up something you shouldn't talk about? Fu Yan'er unconsciously clenched her fists and forced a smile: "Hehe, sister, you must have misunderstood. My relationship with the young master is innocent."
"Did I say you two weren't innocent? What does it matter to me whether you and the Crown Prince are innocent or not?"
"That's not what I meant." Fu Yan'er suddenly put on a pitiful look, covering her eyes with a handkerchief. "I was just thinking that if you, sister, are acquainted with the young master, could you help plead with him to release my father?"
“I can’t do that. Your father deserved what he got.”
Fu Yan'er wrung her handkerchief tightly, barely suppressing her anger: "I know my sister harbors resentment towards our second branch of the family for inheriting the family business..."
"There's no one else here." Fu Zhi Qiao curled her lips and said lightly, "Your pretentious act really makes me want to vomit."
Fu Yan'er suddenly looked up, wishing she could stare holes through her.
“Fu Mingjie changed the medicine on his own, which delayed the treatment of the epidemic and caused the deaths of many innocent people. You don’t think he can still live, do you?”
Upon hearing that Fu Mingjie might die, Fu Yan'er turned pale: "Fu Zhi Qiao, you are also a member of the Fu family. If something really happens to our Fu family, you cannot escape unscathed!"
Why can't I just stay out of trouble?
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao's nonchalant expression, Fu Yan'er questioned, "If the Fu family falls, what benefit will you gain?"
“Fu Yan’er, how can you be so naive? Do you think I’ve been living off the Fu family’s money all these years? The Fu family’s business has been declining ever since your father took over, you must know that, right? So what if your second branch of the family tried so hard to seize the family property, but in the end you still couldn’t hold onto it.”
Fu Zhi Qiao looked directly at Fu Yan Er and said, "If you want to blame someone, blame your father. It's all because he's too incompetent and useless that things have turned out this way."
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Oh, by the way, you're right about one thing: I do have a good relationship with the young master. I will suggest to him that Fu Mingjie be allowed to pass away soon."
Fu Yan'er glared angrily, pursed her lips and remained silent, her lips growing paler and paler.
Fu Zhiqiao leaned closer and patted her shoulder, saying slowly, "But what about you, Fu Yan'er? What are you going to do? From now on, you will never live a life of luxury again. You will have to serve in the harsh and cold borderlands for the rest of your life to atone for your sins. How pitiful!"
"You're despicable!" Fu Yan'er could no longer contain her emotions, and her expression instantly turned ferocious and terrifying.
“Me, despicable? Don’t you know how your father got the position of head of the Fu family, and how your mother forced me out of the Fu family? I’m just giving them a taste of their own medicine.”
Speaking of Fu Changyue's murder, Fu Zhiqiao's gaze turned cold and her eyes were icy. "I won't take your life. I will only let you live a lowly and pitiful life."
Fu Yan'er's lips trembled violently.
From childhood to adulthood, from status to appearance, Fu Zhi Qiao has always been superior to her. She is the eldest daughter of the main wife, and all the glory is bestowed upon her, while she can only hide in the background as an unimportant second daughter.
The seeds of resentment had long been sown in my heart.
"Fu Zhi Qiao, don't think you've won."
Fu Zhi Qiao paused for a moment: "Haven't you seen clearly whether I won or not?"
Watching Fu Zhi Qiao's departing figure, Fu Yan'er's eyes flashed with an unprecedented hatred. She wiped away her tears, wishing Fu Zhi Qiao were dead. If only she were dead, all the things that belonged to her could be returned.
"Since that's the case, then you might as well die!"
Fu Yan'er pulled a dagger from her sleeve and quickly stabbed at Fu Zhi Qiao.
Fu Zhi Qiao became alert and turned around to see that Fu Yan Er suddenly had a dagger in her hand. The dagger's blade gleamed coldly as it stabbed towards her at an extremely fast speed.
"Girl!" Yinxing was standing two steps away from Fu Zhiqiao. When she saw Fu Yan'er stabbing at Fu Zhiqiao with a dagger, she rushed out to stop her without thinking.
Unexpectedly, Fu Yan'er's expression turned crazed, and she shoved Ginkgo, who was blocking Fu Zhi Qiao's way, away. Ginkgo hit her head on a pillar and passed out.
"Ginkgo!" Fu Zhi Qiao saw Ginkgo collapse to the ground and instinctively wanted to check on her injuries.
Seeing this, Fu Yan'er seized the opportunity and stabbed at Fu Zhi Qiao's heart. She had prepared the dagger beforehand, knowing that Fu Zhi Qiao was weak and no match for her.
However, what Fu Yan'er didn't know was that Fu Zhi Qiao's body had already recovered. She used all her strength to grip Fu Yan'er's wrist, trying to push the dagger away.
Fu Yan'er sneered. Fu Zhi Qiao had been a sickly child since he was a child, unable to lift a finger or carry anything heavy. There was no way he could escape today! The determination to kill Fu Zhi Qiao ignited the violent tendencies within Fu Yan'er. She mustered all her strength, pressed down hard with both hands, and the tip of the knife plunged into the flesh.
Stimulated by the pain, Fu Zhi Qiao suddenly mustered her strength and pushed Fu Yan Er away, taking two steps back: "Even if you kill me, you won't escape."
"At worst, we'll die together, Fu Zhi Qiao, today is your death day!" Fu Yan'er had gone mad, she waved the dagger, trying to stab her a second time.
Fu Zhi Qiao pulled out the hairpin from her head as a precaution, and in the ensuing struggle, she cut Fu Yan'er's face.
"Fu Zhi Qiao, you actually want to ruin my face?" Fu Yan'er was provoked by the wound on her face and became even more frenzied. She grabbed a dagger and stabbed at Fu Zhi Qiao without any regard for the consequences.
The hairpin in her hand was no match for the dagger, and Fu Zhi Qiao was forced back step by step by Fu Yan Er to the railing by the river.
“Fu Zhiqiao, isn’t it a coincidence? I remember my uncle died in this Lishui River.” Fu Yan’er couldn’t help but curl a sinister smile at the corner of her mouth.
Fu Zhi Qiao was frail from childhood, and her family forbade her from coming into contact with anything dangerous. Fu Yan Er knew that she couldn't swim, so she thought of pushing her into the river.
It's over, it's all over!
Even though Fu Zhi Qiao resisted with all her might, she couldn't withstand Fu Yan Er's powerful push. She lost her balance and fell backward into the river.
I was careless!
The moment the icy river water swept over her head, Fu Zhi Qiao realized that Fu Yan Er was waving a dagger and cornering her, not to stab her to death, but to drown her.
However, Fu Yan'er miscalculated one thing: the original owner of this body couldn't swim, but she could. Fu Zhi Qiao tried her best to stick her head out of the water.
Standing on the shore, Fu Yan'er saw Fu Zhi Qiao struggling in the water and laughed heartily, "Fu Zhi Qiao, today is the day you and your father will reunite in the underworld!"
The Li River was deep and full of weeds. When Fu Zhiqiao swam back, she found that her feet were tangled in the weeds. She tried desperately to keep herself from sinking, but the wound on her shoulder prevented her from making a complete swimming motion.
No! She can't die like this. Yinxing was knocked unconscious, and there was no one around. She had to save herself.
Fu Zhiqiao calmed down, surfaced to take a deep breath, and quickly dived back to the bottom, trying to untangle the seaweed that was tangled around her feet.
However, the underwater resistance was great, and her vision was greatly affected. She couldn't tell which seaweed she was entangled in. The more she struggled, the tighter the seaweed entangled her. She had no choice but to float to the surface again to breathe.
The water plants kept getting tangled around her feet, preventing her from fully surfacing. After choking on several mouthfuls of water, she had difficulty breathing. Fu Zhi Qiao struggled desperately, wondering if she was really going to die here.
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao struggling miserably in the water, Fu Yan'er revealed a strange smile.
You were already kicked out of the Fu family, so why did you come back? Fu Zhi Qiao, you forced me to this, you only have yourself to blame!
Just die already! It would be better if you were dead!
As her body grew heavier, Fu Zhi Qiao's strength gradually gave out. As she sank, she saw Fu Yan'er standing on the shore, smiling at her with an indescribable malice and treachery.
She desperately wanted to surface, but her body sank uncontrollably to the bottom...
Before she completely lost consciousness, she seemed to hear someone calling her name.
Who is it?
She tried to open her eyes to see who it was, but her eyelids were too heavy, and she couldn't hold on any longer.
With my eyes closed, the whole world plunged into darkness.
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