“Don’t…”
Nan Shiying suddenly spoke, wanting to stop Wei Yuan, but the silver needle had already pierced Liu’s acupoint Baihui, with only the tail exposed.
Liu let out a piercing scream that ripped through the sky, echoing throughout the entire Nan Mansion. The tragic sound was like a cold wind, chilling everyone to the bone.
Inside the room, Wei Yuan and Ji Jinmo both looked at Nan Shiying.
Wei Yuan was somewhat bewildered. Among those present, only Nan Shiying and Liu had a mortal enmity. Logically, she should be the one who most wished for Liu’s death. Whoever stopped Wei Yuan would have made sense, but Nan Shiying—he couldn't understand her intentions!
“Ying’er?”
Ji Jinmo’s eyes were like a deep sea, turbulent with surging waves beneath the surface, yet still calm. However, everyone could feel the suspicion and scrutiny hidden within his soft call.
Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze, silently watching Liu, who was twitching uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth, her brain marrow pierced by the silver needle.
Although he didn't understand what Nan Shiying was doing, seeing Ji Jinmo's expression, Wei Yuan knew that these two were once again colluding to trick the unfortunate people of the Nan Mansion.
A hint of panic flashed in Nan Shiying's eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. She looked at Ji Jinmo, meeting his gaze directly, and slowly said, “This concubine merely feels that dying this way is too easy for her!”
Hmm, a reasonable explanation.
Ji Jinmo gazed at Nan Shiying, then smiled after a moment, “Indeed!”
“Thirteen!”
He called out to Thirteen.
Xuan Thirteen leaped to the doorway and quickly entered the room, awaiting orders.
Ji Jinmo gestured to him. Xuan Thirteen understood and strode forward, gathering his inner energy in his palm. With a grab of his fingers, his inner energy swirled around the silver needle in Liu’s head. He waved his hand, and the needle shot out from Liu’s skull, embedding itself into the window frame nearby.
Then, he grabbed Liu by her hair and pulled her up.
Liu was like a broken doll, held by Thirteen, completely devoid of the ability to resist. From the moment the silver needle pierced her Baihui acupoint, she had only half a life left.
“Since the Prime Minister’s Mansion has happy news, I shall not impose further. Farewell!” With that, he walked towards the exit.
He did not pull Nan Shiying along, as if he had forgotten her. Nan Shiying glanced quickly at Nan Chaoyin and then hurried to catch up.
“Your Highness, my wife is, after all, Yuan’er’s birth mother. I implore Your Highness to be merciful and spare her life.” Seeing Xuan Thirteen drag Liu away, Nan Chaoyin pleaded again.
Ji Jinmo turned his head and looked at Nan Chaoyin, “If you say one more word, it won’t be Liu that I take away!”
Nan Chaoyin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he swallowed all his words. Ji Jinmo in Linyuan could not be said to have absolute power, but he was utterly unrestrained. Even if His Majesty controlled an army, he would absolutely not engage in battle with Ji Jinmo unless it was the final moment of a power struggle.
Nan Chaoyin had clearly witnessed the two skirmishes at the Imperial Palace and outside the Ministry of Justice. The engagements between the Xuanjia Army and the Demon Hunt Army were superficial; neither army truly charged into battle. His Majesty’s best effort was the arranged marriage. His Majesty would not truly fall out with Ji Jinmo over his concubine.
Therefore, Liu could not be saved!
“Father, Father, Mother…”
“That’s enough, Yuan’er. You should rest well. Servants, take good care of Miss, at least ensure she can get out of bed to receive the imperial decree before the Ministry of Rites sets a propitious date.”
“Yes!”
The maids were as silent as cicadas. Apart from responding, they dared not say another word.
Outside the Nan Mansion, a senior eunuch saw Ji Jinmo stride out of the Nan Mansion and quickly bowed in greeting, “This servant greets Your Highness. May Your Highness be well!”
Ji Jinmo snorted coldly from his nose. The senior eunuch was not offended, a smile plastered on his face. As if he hadn’t seen Liu being carried by Xuan Thirteen, he smilingly cleared the path. The Xuanjia Army, following the eunuch’s lead, took half a step back, leaving a clear path about a meter wide.
“Salutations to the Princess Consort!”
Seeing Nan Shiying following behind Ji Jinmo, the senior eunuch bowed and greeted her again.
Nan Shiying was much more polite to him than Ji Jinmo. “Eunuch, please rise. The mansion is in some disarray, and I apologize for the discourtesy, I hope the eunuch will not be offended!”
“Your Highness, how can you say that? You are humbling this servant!”
The eunuch was somewhat surprised. It wasn’t that he was surprised by Nan Shiying’s knowledge and politeness. Although there were many rumors about her outside, be it arrogance or wildness, it couldn’t be denied that in terms of respecting the worthy and conducting herself, Her Highness was impeccable. As long as one was not her enemy or provocateur, she treated everyone equally, without the slightest disdain or neglect. Thus, he was surprised that Her Highness would apologize on behalf of the Nan Mansion at this moment. Wasn’t it said that Her Highness was at odds with the Nan Mansion?
He glanced again at the person being held by the guard. If he wasn’t mistaken, wasn’t that the Prime Minister’s concubine and Miss Yuan’er’s birth mother, Liu?
This didn’t seem like an intention to reconcile with the Nan Mansion either!
Could it be that Her Highness was not at odds with the Nan Mansion, but with Liu and her daughter?
Indeed, for many years, the Prime Minister’s legitimate wife, Madam Wang, had been bedridden, and some household affairs were managed by Liu, the concubine. For Her Highness, whose birth mother had died early, whose father did not love her, and who had been branded a bringer of disaster, Liu would certainly not have shown her any favor. At best, she would have been ignored; at worst, she would have been bullied and beaten. He had heard some rumors about how Her Highness had lived in the Prince’s Mansion all these years.
After all, walls have ears.
The eunuch’s assumptions did not bother Nan Shiying. She nodded to the eunuch and quickly caught up to Ji Jinmo, proactively taking his hand.
“We escort Your Highness and Her Highness!”
Nan Shiying and Ji Jinmo got into the carriage. The wheels rumbled, and they headed towards the Prince’s Mansion.
Only after the carriage had driven away and the last soldier of the Demon Hunt Army had disappeared from sight did the eunuch breathe a sigh of relief.
“Eunuch!”
Nan Chaoyin welcomed the eunuch into the mansion.
The eunuch glanced at Nan Yuan’er, knowing that Nan Chaoyin must be filled with grief at this moment. He did not linger, but offered a few comforting words on behalf of His Majesty, then handed the imperial edict to Nan Chaoyin. Nan Chaoyin knelt and received the edict with his hands raised above his head, then escorted the eunuch out.
The Xuanjia Army escorted the eunuch back to the Imperial Palace.
Only after the Xuanjia Army entered the Imperial Palace did the Demon Hunt Army, which had been guarding the Prince’s Mansion, under the leadership of Zhang Heng, leave the capital overnight and return to their barracks.
Before the tea banquet, Nan Shiying had pricked Liu with a needle. Her explanation to Nan Chaoyin was that she had infused Liu’s body with inner energy, but it wasn’t. She had administered poison.
A slow-acting poison, not fatal, and even when it acted up, there were no particularly strong reactions, unless she used another medicine as a catalyst. Once the antidote was administered, Liu’s entire body would feel as if it were being crawled over by worms, itching to the bone. To relieve the itch, she would scratch her face until it bled, claw out her flesh, dig out her internal organs, and finally die from ruptured intestines.
“How is it? Do you like this punishment?”
Nan Shiying sat in a chair, completely unfazed by the foul stench that permeated the prison. Liu was tied to a torture rack. Nan Shiying did not immediately begin the torture; instead, she used acupuncture and medicine to keep Liu alive.
Liu had already woken up. Upon hearing the description of the torture, which Nan Shiying uttered so casually, her eyes widened in terror. She struggled and cursed desperately, but her mouth was stuffed with white cloth and sealed with tape, preventing her from shouting or breaking free.
Nan Shiying calmly watched the terror in her eyes, waiting for Xiao Man to make a choice.
Xiao Man squatted at Liu’s feet, taking out bottle after bottle of poison from her懷. Nan Shiying was too monstrous. Poison Elder found no joy in teaching disciples, and Gouzi was an idiot. Thus, Nan Shiying set her sights on Xiao Man. Nan Shiying also felt that Xiao Man should learn more skills for self-defense, so she didn’t interfere much. Xiao Man had been following Poison Elder these days, and she had clearly reaped considerable rewards.
Xiao Man thought carefully and felt that having her intestines ruptured was still too lenient for Liu. She picked up a small green porcelain bottle, then put it down, and picked up a red one. There were no markings on the bottle, but Nan Shiying could smell a strong fragrance. The lid had not yet been opened, so it was clearly not the smell of the poison itself.
“How about this one?”
“Soft bone powder!”
Nan Shiying raised an eyebrow. “Is this also considered poison?”
“And how will you differentiate them without markings?”
“I fear that if I were captured one day and my poisons were discovered by others, I simply scratched out the names and then arranged the spices according to the potency of the poison. The more fragrant, the more potent,” Xiao Man’s voice still carried a childlike lilt, her words spoken with a childish tone, but the end of each word descended, giving it a resolute feel, like an old soul inhabiting a child’s body.
Nan Shiying had once wanted her to live a normal life, but later, everything Xiao Man did told her that after witnessing her grandmother suffer inhuman torture, Xiao Man could no longer live a normal life.
At least, not until she took her revenge.
“And why use soft bone powder?”
Xiao Man pursed her lips, a dimple appearing at the corners of her mouth, looking shy. “Jia Huan once said that there is a form of torture where soft bone powder is forced into the criminal’s mouth, then the criminal is stripped naked and thrown into a large vat filled with snakes, insects, rats, and ants. The vat contains a special liquid, and the snakes, insects, and rats soaked in it will feel unbearable pain, causing them to seek any opening to escape.”
Nan Shiying: “…”
What had Jia Huan said to this child?
She knew of this torture. The pain might not be as intense as being flayed alive, but what made this torture most devastating was not the physical pain, but the soul.
“As long as you are happy!”
Nan Shiying did not object. This was the meaning of Liu’s continued existence.
“Let me think again!”
Xiao Man felt that this torture was not enough, perhaps there was something better!
Nan Shiying looked down at the pensive Xiao Man and leaned back in her chair. Her final act of stopping Wei Yuan, besides wanting to keep Liu alive, was because she had thought of something.
She needed to consider whether Nan Chaoyin had harbored any intentions of testing her.
Nan Shiying had to consider this carefully. After all, the old fox who immediately devised this strategy upon learning that Nan Yuan’er’s wrist fracture might result in paralysis, when you are on the first floor looking at the second, and can already see the ceiling of the third, perhaps that old bastard was standing on the fifth floor, looking down at you.
Judging by Nan Chaoyin’s reaction afterward, she had indeed guessed correctly.
That old bastard had indeed become suspicious of her, perhaps because she had done too much over the years, or perhaps simply due to his caution and vigilance.
But fortunately, she had managed to deceive him again!
As Nan Shiying was pondering, Xiao Man suddenly clapped her hands. “I know what torture to use!”
Nan Shiying: “…”