Upon seeing this, Li Junru immediately retreated.
"Xie Lingqin, you bitch, you went back on your word, you'll get what's coming to you..."
Before the curses of "fight to the death" could even be uttered, Ming Lan kicked Li Junru, causing him to wince in pain.
Xie Lingqin stared at Li Junru expressionlessly. "This secret is bad, a bad review, so it doesn't count."
After Xie Lingqin finished speaking, she gestured to Tinghai and Minglan, and the two of them took Li Junru and Xie Lingyu away.
In the grove, Xie Lingqin was left standing alone in an instant.
The night suddenly became as dark as ink, and a cool mist gently gathered from afar.
for a long time.
for a long time.
The wind stirred, my body moved, and I heard footsteps approaching from behind.
A person walked slowly towards them.
This is the very place where the commotion just occurred.
“Lingqin”.
A soft call.
Xie Lingqin turned around and looked at Zongzheng Xu, who was dressed in a blue robe under the moonlight. She saw that his brows were full of worry and gloom.
"Cousin, do you think I'm very cruel?"
Zong Zhengxu shook his head. "If any woman were like you just now, I would think she was cruel, and I might even feel sorry for Li Junru and Xie Lingyu without knowing why. But it's you, Lingqin. I not only don't think so, I just feel heartbroken."
Heartache?
"You can treat them like this, and you can treat Xie Lingyu like this. You can imagine what she has done to you over the years to force you to this point. So, I will support you no matter what you do."
Xie Lingqin's heart stirred. She had summoned Zong Zhengxu here earlier that night, not only to show him her changes but also to show him her methods. This way, she could act without restraint in the future. However, she never expected that this cousin, instead of blaming her for being ruthless, would feel sorry for her.
"Then, what if I were to assassinate the Emperor?"
Xie Lingqin suddenly smiled, a smile that was strangely poignant in the dim light.
Zong Zhengxu was only taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, his brows gentle, like a clear breeze and bright moon, "Then, your cousin will accompany you, even if it means sacrificing the entire Zong government, what does it matter?"
Xie Lingqin was not unmoved. "I'm content with what you said, cousin. The reason I called you here tonight was to let you know that if I hadn't done what I did, we would have been the ones in trouble."
"I see."
“This capital city seems prosperous and bustling, with everyone smiling and welcoming us. But what kind of conspiracies are unfolding behind the scenes? We will never know. From the moment the Emperor issued the decree, he pushed me into the eye of the storm. So…” Xie Lingqin closed her eyes, “we are just trying to survive.”
Zong Zhengxu patted Xie Lingqin's shoulder with heartache and sighed.
"But have you heard what Li Junru just said, cousin?"
Zong Zhengxu shook his head, "I have never heard of it."
Xie Lingqin frowned. "However, I do know that there is a Flower Falling Palace in the inner palace. I heard that it was where a woman whom the emperor once liked lived, and that her death was related to my mother. I just don't know if it is the same person that Li Junru mentioned."
“It’s only natural for the Emperor to like a woman, so why bother to hide it? If there really is something going on, then there must be some problems.” Zongzheng Xu thought for a moment and said, “Right now, the Emperor must be very concerned about everything you do. I will investigate this matter.”
"good."
As the moon and stars shifted, Xie Lingqin chatted with Zongzheng Zhao for a long time before finally parting ways with him.
Xie Lingqin went to the brothel first.
Zihe and Tridacna were relieved to see Xie Lingqin and pointed to the scene inside the house below, gesturing for Xie Lingqin to look.
Xie Lingqin looked down with great interest, then slightly lifted her eyelids, seemingly unsurprised.
Inside the room, under a green gauze curtain, all the beautiful women, whether slender or plump, were nowhere to be seen. Only Xie Danling sat there, looking sullen.
Xie Lingqin instructed Zihe beside her, "Leave some silver and bring him out."
"yes."
...
On the way back to the General's Mansion.
Xie Danling looked at Xie Lingqin as if she were an enemy.
Unbeknownst to Xie Lingqin, she remained calm and composed, her expression serene and unperturbed.
"Xie Lingqin, you wicked woman, this is revenge! I'm going to tell Father."
Finally, Xie Danling erupted.
Xie Lingqin remained unmoved, her gaze fixed straight ahead, her tone calm, "Tell Father what? Should I tell him that I abducted you to a brothel and you were surrounded by more than a dozen women, or should I tell him that you were molested by women and almost lost your virginity?" Xie Lingqin's gaze slowly fell on Xie Danling, "Hmm, should I tell him those things?"
"you?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Danling became even angrier, his fair face turning bright red as he pointed a finger at Xie Lingqin, "You, you, you..."
Xie Lingqin raised her hand and swatted away Xie Danling's fingers. "You are the eldest son of the General's Mansion. You can't become a stutterer. I'm just trying to help you."
"help me?"
"If three or five classmates' children invite you to the arena, you'll go out of curiosity. But what if they invite you to visit brothels someday? Will you follow suit out of curiosity? Or what if they ask you to kill someone, just to provoke you? As the legitimate son of a general's family, you don't even dare to kill. What will you do then? Will you raise your sword to show your courage, or will you weep in cowardice?"
Xie Lingqin spoke each word softly, yet each syllable resonated deeply.
Xie Danling's expression changed drastically, her bright eyes shifting as if she were torn between two conflicting emotions.
This was the first time in his thirteen years of life that he had heard such words. They were clearly unreasonable, yet he couldn't find a single word to refute them.
"Rather than let others lead you into the abyss with these novelties, I'd rather let you see what the abyss is like sooner rather than later, so that you won't be so foolish as to hold me back and cause trouble."
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