"My beloved concubine, now, can you recognize the handwriting on this letter?"
Xiao Che's voice was cold and calm, like the sharpest scalpel, slowly torturing Su Jinxiu's last psychological defense.
That thin letter, at this moment, felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
It lay there quietly on the desk, every word on it a piece of evidence of her crimes written in her own hand, a shackle she had carefully crafted for herself, one she could not escape.
As Su Jinxiu looked at the letter, her body swayed precariously. In the face of extreme fear and despair, the string of "reason" in her brain snapped completely with a "crack"!
Pretending... is pointless now.
Begging for mercy... is an utter joke.
She slowly, very slowly, raised her head.
That pretty face, which had always worn an expression of pitifulness, gentleness, and virtue, underwent a startling change at this moment.
All her vulnerability, innocence, and grievances vanished from her face like the receding tide.
Instead, a near-mad, vicious resentment twisted from extreme jealousy and unwillingness has emerged!
Her eyes, no longer clear as water, became murky and bloodshot, like a venomous snake that had been lurking for a long time, finally revealing its most vicious fangs before its death!
"Hehe...hehehehe..."
She suddenly laughed.
The laughter was no longer the melodious sound of silver bells as usual, but became sharp and hoarse, like the cry of an owl, full of hysterical madness, making the temperature in the entire tent seem to drop even further.
She stopped kneeling and begging for mercy, and instead, she pushed herself up slowly. Pointing at Lin Wanwan, who had been coldly observing from the sidelines on the soft couch, she screamed wildly in a voice so shrill it almost pierced eardrums:
"That's right! I did it all!"
"I arranged for that runaway horse! I sent that poisoned arrow! I also instigated that idiot Wei Xiao! I did everything!"
It was as if she was about to unleash all the darkness and malice she had suppressed for so long at this moment!
She stared intently at Lin Wanwan, her eyes burning with a fierce fire of jealousy that seemed to burn her to ashes!
"Why?!" she demanded hysterically. "Why is it that a woman of such lowly birth, unworthy even to carry my shoes, can become the Empress of the Great Xiao?! Why is it that someone like you can receive all of His Majesty's favor?!"
"The Empress's throne should have been mine! His Majesty's favor should have been mine too! It was you! You vile woman, who stole everything that should have been mine!"
She vented all her resentment and jealousy. She denounced Lin Wanwan's existence as if every breath Lin Wanwan took was a desecration.
"I, Su Jinxiu, am of noble birth, beautiful and talented. In what way am I inferior to you?! I have painstakingly planned for this day for so many years! I am proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I am well-versed in history and know the ways of becoming an empress! But what about you? What can you do besides that vixen-like face?!"
Her words were extremely vicious, and she seemed to be insane.
"Because of you! Because of your appearance, everything has been disrupted! My aunt... she actually sacrificed her trusted confidante for a wretched woman like you! And His Majesty..."
She turned her head sharply to look at the expressionless man on the throne, her eyes flashing with a complex mix of admiration, jealousy, and resentment.
"And Your Majesty! You are completely bewitched by her! In your eyes, is there anyone else but her?!"
She even began to mock Xiao Che maniacally, her laughter filled with a vengeful pleasure.
"Do you think you're some kind of affectionate emperor? Don't be ridiculous! You're just a sickly man who can't live without women!"
"If it weren't for Lin Wanwan's good fortune, which allowed her to 'bring good luck' for you, you would have long been a puppet that we could manipulate at will! What right do you have to act like an emperor here?! Everything you have is given to you by her! Without her, you are nothing!"
Her words, like the most vicious curse, echoed in the deathly silence of the camp.
She completely tore off all her pretenses, revealing to everyone the true face of jealousy—distorted, ugly, and vicious—that was usually hidden beneath a mask of gentleness and virtue.
Lin Wanwan listened quietly to her accusations, her heart unmoved, and she even felt a little amused.
It turns out that in this privileged young woman's mind, everything was rightfully hers. If she couldn't have it, someone else must have stolen it. This kind of robber's logic is utterly ridiculous.
Xiao Che, sitting on his throne, listened to her frantic accusations and vicious taunts with cold indifference and calmness from beginning to end.
His face showed no anger, no shame, not even the slightest ripple. His deep eyes were as calm as a bottomless pool of cold water, allowing Su Jinxiu, this pebble, to stir wildly within them, yet never stirring the slightest ripple.
Finally, Su Jinxiu was exhausted from cursing and yelling. She was panting heavily, and stared at Xiao Che with her bloodshot eyes, as if expecting his thunderous rage.
However, she did not wait.
Xiao Che listened coldly to all her accusations. Only after he was sure she had said everything she wanted to say did he slowly and calmly ask:
"Are you done talking?"
His voice remained calm.
However, it was this extreme calm, this absolute indifference that ignored all her hysteria, that terrified Su Jinxiu more than any angry roar!
It was a kind of utterly ignored, ant-like despair.
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