good season

Chapter 169 Killing (Two chapters combined)

The dim light concealed the emotions in the woman's eyes, but the fleeting coldness on her lips made Zhao Shiqing clench her fists involuntarily.

This seemingly lowly woman is actually a ruthless killer who can kill without shedding blood.

Zhao Shiqing closed her eyes. She dared not think about how such a good sister had been driven to her death step by step.

Given my sister's consistent approach, perhaps she still wants to help her escape this predicament and give her a bright future.

Unfortunately, my sister encountered a beast!
I don't ask you to be grateful, I only ask that you don't betray me. No, she wasn't even betraying me. From the very beginning, she approached me with the intention of harming me, just like when she approached Aunt Lan.

Although her sister is still alive in this life, and although she hasn't killed her sister yet, it's because she hasn't had the chance, not because she's soft-hearted. If Zhu Yu hadn't become a eunuch, and her sister had married into the Marquis's mansion, then the one who would have died wouldn't have been Aunt Lan, but her sister.

Thinking of all this, Zhao Shiqing no longer hesitated, and the dagger hidden in her sleeve slipped into her hand.

A cold glint flashed, and Sun Lingzhi suddenly realized that the person in front of her really wanted to kill her. An unprecedented fear spread up from the soles of her feet.

"Don't kill me, no..."

A sudden chill ran through her chest. Sun Lingzhi instinctively looked down and saw that the cold light had already pierced her chest to the root.

"You..." She wanted to ask who you were, but she couldn't say it anymore. Her eyes were wide open, and she couldn't believe until her death that someone would kill her without hesitation.

She was beautiful and charming, gentle and considerate, and cunning and calculating. She shouldn't have died like this...

Zhao Shiqing drew her dagger, intending to wipe the still-dripping blood from the dagger on the sole of her shoe like a true martial arts practitioner. However, when she lifted her foot, the dagger fell to the ground with a clang.

Zhao Shiqing then realized that her hands were trembling.

She bent down to pick up the dagger, but someone was faster and picked it up before her.

"It's already dirty, throw it away."

Xiao Zhen spoke calmly, reaching out to push open the window. The dagger stained with Sun Lingzhi's blood drew a perfect arc in the air before falling into the lake, creating ripples.

Zhao Shiqing's hand froze in mid-air. She paused for a moment, and when she pulled her hand back, she found that her hand was no longer trembling.

“I bought it for five taels of silver, it would be such a waste to throw it away.”

Zhao Shiqing felt embarrassed. Oh no, Xiao Zhen must have seen that her hand was shaking just now. Her image as a female knight-errant was ruined. Xiao Zhen must have realized that this was the first time she had killed someone with her own hands.

"Don't regret it, I'll give you an even better one later." Xiao Zhen closed the window, his gaze towards Zhao Shiqing containing a hint of a smile. "The first time I killed someone, I even vomited bile. I couldn't sleep well for several days in a row. When I closed my eyes, I saw that dead person walking towards me. I even fell seriously ill because of it."

Zhao Shiqing was somewhat surprised: "Really? You're such a coward! Hahaha, even worse than me!"

Looking at that pretty face that was smiling again, Xiao Zhen smiled too: "Yes, she is the bravest girl I have ever met."

He had long forgotten the first person he killed. Back then, he and Xiao Yue were hiding and killing many people, and he himself was covered in wounds. At that time, he didn't care about being afraid, vomiting, insomnia, or getting sick. They didn't dare to stop at all; they only had one word in their minds—escape.

“I’ll handle this body. You and Mudskipper should go back first. By the way, although Zhu Yu is dead, she’s determined to marry the eldest princess to someone in the capital. The Third Prince is keen to arrange a marriage between Yan Xia and the eldest princess. Should you talk to the eldest princess about it?”

Zhao Shiqing was taken aback upon hearing this: "The Third Prince has also gotten involved in this matter?"

Xiao Zhen nodded: "This time, the Fourth Prince framed us, and the Third Prince did not want to sit idly by and wait for his death. Moreover, he and his mother were very dissatisfied with the Emperor's attitude of downplaying the matter, and their desire to expand their power was more urgent than before."

They wanted to win over the Duke of Wei's family. Once the eldest princess married into the Duke of Wei's family, the family would have a weakness. They were confident they could kill the eldest princess and frame the Duke of Wei's family, then step in to help them resolve the matter. This way, they could both bestow favors upon the Duke of Wei's family and hold their weakness in their hands, forcing them to comply.

Zhao Shiqing was stunned, then furious: "They want to kill my sister? To use my sister's death to coerce Yan Xia? To make Yan Xia and the entire Duke of Wei's mansion work for them? What does that mean to my sister? Zhu Yu is dead, but they still won't let my sister go. I've already killed Sun Lingzhi, but there will be Zhang Lingzhi and Wang Lingzhi. What am I going to do if I can't kill them all?"

By the end, the little girl's voice was trembling with tears. She couldn't understand why such a kind older sister would kill her.

A snow-white handkerchief was handed to her, and Xiao Zhen's voice was gentler than ever before: "Your sister will not die. In this life, she will live well, happily, healthily, and blessed with both happiness and longevity."

Zhao Shiqing took the handkerchief, wiped her eyes, rubbed her nose, and then, remembering something, said apologetically, "This handkerchief is dirty. I'll buy you a new one later."

"Okay." Xiao Zhen wanted to say, I don't want a new handkerchief. I would be happier if you gave me an old handkerchief that you had used.

But he only thought about it; he wouldn't dare say it.

“We should discuss the matter of the eldest princess in detail. I will have Dazhuang escort you out, and you can inform the eldest princess of what is happening in the capital.”

Zhao Shiqing nodded. Without Xiao Zhen reminding her, the first thing she did when she got back was to write a letter to her sister.

She ignored the corpses on the ground and left Ruyi Pavilion with Mudfish and Dazhuang.

Watching Zhao Shiqing's departing figure, Xiao Zhen took a long time to look away. He called Jiang Ping over and pointed at Sun Lingzhi's corpse: "Clean it up properly."

……

When Zhao Shiqing returned home, Zhen Wuduo was not there. He had taken Ah Huang and Xiao Ye out for a walk. Aunt Ji's dog, Gangtou, also went with Baba.

Aunt Ji was making tea eggs when she saw Zhao Shiqing and Mudskipper return. She filled two small bowls with peanuts and handed them to them, saying, "These are cooked in the broth from the tea eggs. They're already flavorful. Here, have some."

The two thanked him and left with the peanuts.

Zhao Shiqing also handed her bowl of peanuts to Mudfish: "Here, don't steal any. I've counted them, not a single one can be missing."

Loach: I don't believe you actually counted!
Zhao Shiqing rushed back to her study and urged Lingbo to grind the ink. She wanted to write a letter to her sister, telling her not to come to the capital, because the bad people here wanted to harm her!
But when she actually tried to write, the pen she had picked up hesitated to put down.

The emperor has issued an imperial decree to grant a marriage. Can the elder sister defy the decree and refuse the marriage?
can!
But what about the Liang Prince's Mansion, which has not yet fully recovered from the turmoil?
What about the eldest brother who is still powerless to resist the emperor?
And then there's my second brother, who's being held hostage in the capital. Although I hate him for his lack of ambition, I can't really ignore his life or death.

The elder brother wouldn't hold his sister back; he would find a way to make her fake her death and escape like Xiao Zhen did. However, Xiao Zhen's fake death was in accordance with the emperor's wishes, while his sister's fake death would be intentional.

With my sister's true nature, she would never abandon the Liang Prince's Mansion and my eldest and second brothers and leave. She would still go to the capital, just like in that life in my dream. Even if it was a scoundrel like Zhu Yu, she would still marry him.

Knowing that every step she took was fraught with danger, the older sister still went forward without hesitation.

Didn't your sister realize that she was facing a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire?

She must have thought of it, but she had no other choice.

Tears blurred Zhao Shiqing's vision once again. She suddenly felt that all her efforts in coming to the capital had been in vain. With the help of Yan Xia, she exposed the evil deeds of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion; she castrated Zhu Yu, forcing the Baoqing Marquis's mansion to abandon him; she arrested Xu Lin and his son, and rescued Wan Ruyi; she possessed enough evidence to overthrow the royal family!
Besides this, she also personally killed Sun Lingzhi today to avenge her sister from that life in her dream.

But so what?
She still couldn't stop her sister from going to Beijing.

A cat meowed outside the door, accompanied by the voices of children.

Although most of the people living here are still teenagers, there is only one real child.

Zhang Ye has finished school.

Zhang Ye usually uses this study the most; he's here to do his homework.

Zhao Shiqing wiped away her tears and then heard Zhang Ye knocking on the door. He was a very sensible child.

"Come in," Zhao Shiqing said.

Zhang Ye pushed the door open and came in, followed by the fat man: "Second Miss, will it disturb you if I do my homework here?"

Zhao Shiqing pointed to the small desk opposite her: "Go ahead and write, I won't disturb you."

Zhang Ye bowed respectfully, then sat down at the desk and took out his homework from his bag. Before he could put his homework down, Da Pang jumped onto the desk and chose what he considered the most comfortable spot to lie down.

Its plump body took up more than half of the small desk.

Zhang Ye was already used to it, so he laid out his homework and started writing.

Looking at the person and cat opposite her, Zhao Shiqing suddenly found them quite interesting.

Big Fatty was originally a stray cat, and his future might be that he would freeze to death under the wall on some cold night.

But by a twist of fate, he followed Xiuxiu on a long journey. Although he suffered a lot, he now enjoys a happy cat life with plenty of food and drink and servants (cat slaves).

As for Zhang Ye, this enigmatic little guy, if someone had come to that small restaurant a year ago and told him that his parents would die a violent death and that he would come to the capital to study at a school and have to do homework every day after school, Zhang Ye certainly wouldn't have believed it and would have thought it was nonsense.

But that's the reality. Zhang Ye is now just like many children, writing furiously so he won't get a slap on the hand from his teacher tomorrow.

Zhao Shiqing suddenly realized that despite all she had done, she still couldn't change her sister's future of marrying into the capital. However, life is full of unpredictable events. She couldn't stop her sister from marrying into the capital, but she could protect her. At least, she wouldn't let her sister be murdered like she was in that previous life.

Yan Xia is not Zhu Yu. Just by looking at the incident where the Duke of Wei's mansion caused a scene at the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion, it can be seen that the Yan family and the Zhu family are different.

Moreover, Zhao Shiqing had a very good impression of Yan Xia.

Of all the men she had ever met, only Yan Xia was worthy of being her brother-in-law.

Yes, only a tiny bit. As for the part that's lacking, of course we still need to keep working hard.

The thought of pairing her sister with Yan Xia made Zhao Shiqing's resentment disappear.

She was going to write a letter, not only about the emperor and the third prince's conspiracy, but also about Yan Xia's integrity and chivalry. However, her opinion could only be taken as a reference. As for whether her sister would fall for Yan Xia, that would depend on their fate.

However, Zhao Shiqing had made up her mind that no matter whether her sister would marry Yan Xia or not, and no matter whether Yan Xia would collude with those people in the future, she would protect her sister. No matter who her sister married, whether it was Yan Xia, Li Xia, or Zhang Xia, as long as they dared to plot against her sister, she would kill them!

Besides, my sister is very capable herself.

Zhao Shiqing wrote down whatever came to mind, and ended up writing more than ten pages.

When she realized she had written a lot of words, she discovered that her right hand was sore and painful. Since she had left her master and was no longer punished by writing large characters, she had not written so many words in a long time.

After sealing the thick letter with sealing wax and having Mudfish deliver it to the messenger sent by the Prince of Liang's mansion in the capital, Zhao Shiqing finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

She doesn't yet possess extraordinary abilities; she can neither meet the emperor nor, like Xiao Zhen, infiltrate the princes and stir up trouble. All she can do is meet with Yan Xia and probe his thoughts.

Just do it!

The next day, on her way to the Imperial Academy to draw a red circle, Yanxia ran into Xiaoguai again.

Xiao Guai gave him a haughty look, then flew ahead to lead the way.

Without saying a word, Yan Xia shoved the book into his servant's hand and spurred his horse to catch up.

From then on, Yanxia had another stumbling block on her path to learning.

This time, we didn't go to Su's Tea Shop, but to a teahouse.

The difference between a teahouse and a tea shop is that a tea shop sells tea, while a teahouse is for drinking tea.

Not only can you drink tea here, but you can also listen to audiobooks.

Although Yan Xia was a native of the capital, he was too busy. When he wasn't investigating cases, he had to go to the Imperial Academy to draw red circles, so he had no leisure to drink tea or listen to stories.

At this hour, there weren't many customers in the teahouse, but the storyteller didn't slack off; he was still animated and spittle flew from his lips.

Xiao Guai didn't fly inside; instead, it landed on the roof of the teahouse, looking down at all living beings from its high vantage point.

Yan Xia smiled at him and then stepped into the teahouse.

He spotted Zhao Shiqing immediately; she was sitting at a table by the window with a fat old man beside her.

Yan Xia had seen this fat old man before. This man was Zhao Shiqing's maternal grandfather, the famous Zhen Wuduo from the coastal area.

Right now, Zhen Wuduo is just like an ordinary old man with a little money, skillfully cracking sunflower seeds and occasionally cheering for the storyteller. There is no trace of the aura of a maritime overlord in him.

When Yan Xia saw Zhen Wuduo, he thought of the young master Zhen who had recently been making a name for himself in the capital.

Without hesitation, he walked up to the grandmother and grandson.

He was about to speak when Zhao Shiqing pointed to the table facing outwards: "This table is taken. That table is empty. You can sit there. We don't share tables."

(End of this chapter)