Jiang Yuanchao was quite familiar with the vital points of the human body. With a single thrust of his dagger, the young woman let out a muffled sound and hung her head, motionless.
Jiang He stood there dumbfounded.
Didn’t the lord favor Miss Li? Why did he kill someone who looked exactly like Miss Li without even blinking an eye?
Jiang Yuanchao tossed the bloodied dagger to his stunned subordinate and coldly instructed: “Clean this up. Disfigure her face and drag her to the mass grave to bury her.”
Jiang He nodded dumbly.
“Jiang He?”
“Yes!”
“If there’s another mishap, you can stay at the mass grave yourself.”
Jiang He’s heart trembled, and he quickly said: “Rest assured, my lord. This subordinate will handle it properly.”
Fine then. It was just someone with the same face as Miss Li. If the lord didn’t feel pity, why should he hesitate?
Jiang Yuanchao, seeing that he had sufficiently intimidated Jiang He, lifted his foot and walked out.
The night was cool as water. A Jinlin Guard approached and said, “My lord, Marquis Guanjun wishes to see you.”
Jiang Yuanchao moved his eyebrows slightly and walked out without a word.
Shao Mingyuan had been waiting anxiously in the prison cell.
“The Marquis seeks me?” Jiang Yuanchao stood outside the iron bars, his voice sounding particularly deep in the dim prison.
Shao Mingyuan turned around abruptly.
Jiang Yuanchao curved his lips in a smile: “My apologies, I was just delayed by some matters. What does the Marquis wish to discuss?”
“Someone just brought me food,” Shao Mingyuan said.
Jiang Yuanchao raised his eyebrows, his expression ambiguous: “The Marquis is trapped in prison yet still has a beauty bringing him meals. What good fortune indeed.”
“Lord Jiang should know about this, shouldn’t he?”
“Ah, yes, they reported it to me, which is why I envy the Marquis for having such a devoted and righteous fiancée.”
Shao Mingyuan studied Jiang Yuanchao’s expression, but unfortunately, couldn’t see clearly in the dim light.
Shao Mingyuan secretly sighed.
What he couldn’t see wasn’t just Jiang Yuanchao’s current expression. This man was like someone wrapped in mist—his words and actions were becoming increasingly inscrutable.
Shao Mingyuan decided to be direct: “She is not my fiancée.”
Jiang Yuanchao chuckled lowly: “What, is the Marquis planning to break off the engagement?”
Shao Mingyuan stared at Jiang Yuanchao for a moment, then suddenly turned and walked back to sit down, saying calmly: “There’s nothing more now. Lord Jiang, please return.”
Jiang Yuanchao was stunned by Shao Mingyuan’s sudden change of behavior. The situation that had been in his initiative moments ago had suddenly become passive.
He hesitated for a moment and asked: “Could it be that the Marquis only sought me out to say these few words?”
Shao Mingyuan leaned against the cold wall, his thoughts crystal clear: “That’s enough.”
Anyone who could sit in the position of Jinlin Guard Commander, yet only engaged in evasive banter after hearing his words, indicated only one thing: Jiang Yuanchao had also discovered something wrong with that woman.
Then he had nothing to worry about. That woman, falling into Jiang Yuanchao’s hands, would only meet one fate.
Jiang Yuanchao stared intently at Shao Mingyuan. Seeing him keep his eyes downcast in silence, he shook his head: “Fine then. I’ve already dealt with the person. There won’t be any future troubles. Li… she’s perfectly safe in the Li residence, nothing has happened.”
In matters of the heart, he was the loser, but even if he wanted to kill Marquis Guanjun, he still had this much grace.
Hearing Jiang Yuanchao say this, Shao Mingyuan finally opened his eyes and smiled lightly: “Thank you.”
“No need.” Jiang Yuanchao stiffly uttered two words, turned, and left.
In the Honglu Guest House, Prince Gong of Xijiang paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, feeling quite uneasy.
Why hadn’t the dancer returned yet?
He had specifically chosen to send her at dusk, thinking that the light in the prison would be dimmer then, making it more secure.
Although the Great Liang Emperor had thrown Marquis Guanjun into the heavenly prison, as long as he didn’t die, things could still change. If they could use the dancer to poison Marquis Guanjun, it would be foolproof. Then they could silence the dancer, and no one would suspect him.
Of course, it wouldn’t matter if the plan failed either. Marquis Guanjun was trapped in the heavenly prison and couldn’t get out. He couldn’t possibly spread word about the dancer bringing poisoned food, as that would implicate his fiancée.
But the dancer’s prolonged absence—what mishap could she have encountered?
Prince Gong of Xijiang waited bitterly until midnight, but still hadn’t seen the dancer return, when suddenly he heard movement at the door.
He put on his clothes, picked up a candlestick, and walked to the door. Opening it, he found a food box placed on the ground outside.
Prince Gong of Xijiang looked outside and saw no one there. With some hesitation, he picked up the food box, brought it inside, and placed it on the table to open it.
A faint smell of blood wafted out. Prince Gong of Xijiang looked into the food box and was immediately scared out of his wits.
His scream awakened the sleeping people, and everyone rushed in.
“Your Highness, what happened?”
Prince Gong of Xijiang’s face was ashen as he pointed at the food box.
Everyone looked in the direction of Prince Gong’s pointing finger and saw that inside the black lacquered food box decorated with carved bird patterns was a tray, and on the tray were two human hands.
Those two hands were a woman’s hands—tender and small, gleaming ghastly pale under the lamplight.
The maidservants screamed in terror.
“Go, go call the Minister of Ceremonies!” Prince Gong of Xijiang said with a deathly pale face, gathering his strength after collecting himself.
The Minister of Ceremonies was roused in the middle of the night and hurried to the Honglu Guest House, already cursing internally.
What now?
Why had there been no peace since those short people from Xijiang arrived? If this continued, he’d lose years off his life!
“Your Highness, what has happened?”
Prince Gong of Xijiang was badly shaken. Under the lamplight, his face was pale as snow, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He weakly pointed at the table: “Minister Zhang, see for yourself.”
The Minister of Ceremonies glanced at the human hands in the food box on the table and was so frightened he nearly stumbled and fell: “This, this—where did this come from?”
“Someone placed this at the door of my room in the middle of the night.” By this point, Prince Gong of Xijiang had already vaguely guessed whose hands these were.
These must be the dancer’s hands!
He wasn’t too surprised that the dancer had been recognized, but Marquis Guanjun was clearly in the great prison—how could he have killed the dancer and sent her hands to the Honglu Guest House in the middle of the night?
You must know that since his sister’s death, the guard at the Honglu Guest House had been greatly strengthened. Even a fly couldn’t get in easily.
Or perhaps, besides Marquis Guanjun, someone else was secretly targeting them, the Xijiang envoys? Maybe his sister had been killed by those people, too!
Thinking of this, Prince Gong of Xijiang shuddered, a chill rising from the bottom of his heart.
The other party could come and go from the Honglu Guest House as if it were uninhabited territory. He absolutely could not continue living here.
“Your Highness, don’t panic. I’ll immediately send someone to inform the officials of the Three Judicial Offices—”
Prince Gong of Xijiang interrupted the Minister of Ceremonies: “Minister Zhang, I don’t care whose hands these are, but this Honglu Guest House is too dangerous. I cannot continue living here.”
“Uh, where would Your Highness like to stay?” The Minister of Ceremonies didn’t think Prince Gong’s request was excessive.
Princess of Xijiang had died here, and now human hands appeared in the middle of the night. Anyone would be unable to continue living here. If something happened to Prince Gong of Xijiang too, that would really be trouble.
“Why don’t I stay at Minister Zhang’s residence instead?”
The Minister of Ceremonies nearly stumbled and fell.
Hey, now that’s going too far!