As Nan Yanxiu’s words fell, a flurry of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the door, mingled with the delicate laughter of women and the crisp clinking of jade pendants.
The door was slammed open with a bang, and a young master in lavish robes stumbled in, nearly falling flat on his face.
“Miss Lin Yan~ I’ve specially brought…”
Su Jianxuan swayed, holding a gilded wine flask in his hand. Lifting his head, he blinked drunkenly, “Huh? Why are there two people here?”
Squinting, he leaned closer to the bed and suddenly slapped his thigh, laughing heartily, “Oh my! Isn’t this the Lingyuan Prince?”
His brocade robes were stained with wine and rouge, and the seven or eight fragrant sachets and jade pendants hanging from his waist jingled noisily.
Seeing Nan Yanxiu still gripping Yue Linyan’s wrist, he grinned cheekily and bowed, “Your Highness is in good spirits! I’ll take my leave now, I’ll take my leave…”
As he spoke, he tilted his head back and took another gulp of wine, the amber liquid trickling down his chin and into his collar.
“Young Master Su!”
Shen Shuangren called out urgently, her voice deliberately tinged with panic.
But Su Jianxuan was already staggering toward the exit. Passing by the bronze mirror, he paused to tidy his disheveled hair, “Don’t be angry, my beauty. Tomorrow, I’ll bring a newly acquired Persian carpet to apologize…”
Before he could finish, he tripped over the threshold, making a loud commotion as he tumbled into the corridor.
Immediately, a chorus of startled exclamations rose from outside, “Is Young Master Su hurt?”
“Quick, help the young master to Hibiscus Pavilion to rest…”
The clamor gradually faded, and faintly, Su Jianxiu’s drunken shouts could be heard, “Everyone, come! Today, I shall emulate the ancients and ‘sleep drunk upon a beauty’s lap’…”
The room fell silent once more.
Nan Yanxiu’s fingers still clasped Shen Shuangren’s wrist, and he could clearly feel her quickening pulse.
“It seems Young Master Su’s interest in beauties,”
he leaned close to her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, “is far more shallow than I imagined.”
Shen Shuangren’s long lashes trembled slightly.
This fool couldn’t even manage to be jealous, wasting the half-month she had spent deliberately pandering to him.
Just as she was feeling frustrated, she suddenly felt her wrist tighten. Nan Yanxiu had already pulled her to the dressing table.
The bronze mirror reflected their figures. From his black sleeve, a red jade earring slipped out, shimmering with a dim glow under the candlelight, “And what about this?”
Shen Shuangren’s pupils contracted slightly. This was exactly the one she had lost at the Zhao residence three days ago.
That night, Zhao Xuande’s strength had been overwhelming. Struggling desperately, the earring had been torn from her ear.
In the heavy rain and darkness, fearing exposure, she had no choice but to leave hastily, and the earring had since been lost without a trace.
But soon, the reflection in the mirror showed a look of confusion. Her lashes fluttered lightly, appearing both innocent and puzzled, “This is the earring I lost three days ago. Where did Your Highness find it?”
Nan Yanxiu chuckled softly. His slender fingers pinched the earring, his thumb slowly rubbing over the hidden patterns on the jade surface. Suddenly, with a soft click, he pressed it onto the sandalwood dressing table.
“Why would Miss Lin Yan’s lost earring appear in Vice Minister Zhao’s residence?” His voice was low, carrying a dangerous undertone.
The candlelight in the room flickered, casting a shadowy, inscrutable gleam in his eyes.
“Oh? Was it found in Vice Minister Zhao’s residence?”
She suddenly turned, her fingertips painted with vermilion lightly tracing his belt. Her red lips curved slightly, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes, “Then perhaps… I accidentally dropped it when I went to visit Vice Minister Zhao…”
Her trailing tone carried a seductive tremor, ambiguous and elusive, impossible to decipher.
Outside the window, Su Jianxuan's unrestrained laughter mingled with the coquettish protests of the singing girls, making the room feel even more silent.
Nan Yanxiu stared at her for a long time, emotions churning in his eyes, finally settling into an unfathomable darkness.
"Forget it." He suddenly released his grip, turned, and left, his black robes cutting a cold arc under the candlelight.
As the door gently closed, the smile on Shen Shuangren's lips slowly faded.
She lowered her head, picked up the red jade earring with her fingertips, and lightly brushed her thumb over the tiny "月" character engraved inside, a flicker of coldness passing through her eyes.
Midnight · Hidden Chamber of Chenghuang Temple
The night was deep and heavy with dew, the bright moon obscured by dark clouds as the entire Shengjing City sank into slumber.
Atop Fuyun Lou, a black shadow swept across the rooftops as lightly as a swallow—Yue Linyan—no, at this moment, she should be called Shen Shuangren—
Her slender figure was tightly wrapped in black night attire, only a pair of cold, star-like eyes visible beneath her veil.
Click
A soft sound as she landed on the crumbling tile eaves of Chenghuang Temple.
This long-abandoned temple appeared especially eerie under the moonlight, its broken window frames creaking in the wind.
Shen Shuangren lightly tapped her toes, drifting down to the dust-covered hall before the Buddha statue.
Familiar with the path, she moved behind the mottled statue of Maitreya and gently pressed a spot on the Buddha's earlobe.
With a click of a mechanism, a hidden door silently slid open behind the shrine.
A chilly wind carrying a faint scent of blood rushed toward her.
The moment Shen Shuangren stepped inside, she said coldly, "Li Chenxi! Get out here!"
Before her words faded, a tall, slender figure emerged from behind a screen.
Li Chenxi wore a dark blue robe, a silver needle still pinched between his fingers, clearly having just been preparing medicine.
With features as elegant as a painting and a lazy smile at the corner of his lips, he looked every bit the idle nobleman. Who would have guessed he was Shigu Ge's top assassin and poison master?
"Well, well, who's upset our Huakui?" he drawled as he sauntered over, his tone teasing. But upon seeing Shen Shuangren's grim expression, his smile faded slightly. "Tsk, truly angry?"
Shen Shuangren yanked off her veil, revealing the face that haunted the dreams of Shengjing's powerful and noble.
Yet now, that face was covered in frost. "Cut the nonsense!"
She slapped a red jade earring onto the table with a sharp thud.
Under the candlelight, the tiny hidden mark of the character "moon" inside the earring flickered faintly.
Only then did Li Chenxi look up.
In the candlelight, his handsome face took on a somewhat eerie quality—
Who would have thought this seemingly frail and elegant young master was the "Jade-Faced Poison Master," a name that struck fear throughout the martial world?
During the plague three years ago, he developed the antidote, saving countless lives. Yet no one knew that the corrupt officials who had died suddenly were all his victims, poisoned under the guise of medical treatment.
All because they had exploited the "plague antidote" to amass wealth.
"Why so angry…" He picked up the earring, twirling it in his fingers, then suddenly chuckled lightly. "It seems our Pavilion Master Shen's beauty trap has hit a snag this time?"
Shen Shuangren narrowed her eyes.
Years ago, while on a mission, she had coincidentally rescued this blood-soaked physician from a mass grave.
At the time, he had only a breath left but still joked about repaying her with poison.
Only later did she learn that this seemingly benevolent miracle-working doctor was secretly a master of poisons and the sole surviving heir of the Li family, former Imperial Medical Academy physicians.
Shen Shuangren kicked a low stool in front of him, the sandalwood stool cutting a sharp arc through the air.
Li Chenxi deftly sidestepped, his sleeves fluttering as the stool crashed against the wall with a loud thud. Splinters flew, stirring up a cloud of fine dust.
"You still dare to say it! It was all because of your wonderful knockout incense!"
She gritted her teeth, her eyes glinting with a cold light like poisoned silver needles. "The effect wore off so quickly it couldn't even last long enough to boil a bowl of noodles. He woke up when I was trying to kill him!"
Li Chenxi raised an eyebrow, idly twirling a silver needle between his fingers as he spread his hands helplessly. "I already told you this 'Floating Life Intoxication' is still in the experimental stage."
He paused, then suddenly leaned close to her ear, lowering his voice innocently as he added, "Besides, who was it that night pounding her chest and saying, 'No problem, this lady can handle it'? Hmm?"
"If I'd known earlier, I wouldn't have used any seduction scheme!"
Shen Shuangren sneered, the soft sword at her waist springing out with a sharp ring, revealing three inches of cold gleam. "It would have been cleaner to just chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"
Seeing the sandalwood ash in the gilded incense burner rustling down, Li Chenxi finally dropped his playful expression.
The silver needle in his fingertips suddenly pierced the table, sinking deep into the wood. "What evidence did you leave behind after all? Who discovered it?"
Shen Shuangren took a deep breath, the hidden plum blossom dart in her sleeve pressing painfully into her palm.
She stared at the swaying bamboo shadows outside the window. "Today, I was just about to seduce Su Jianxuan to see what I could get out of him, but who knew the Lingyuan Prince would show up halfway!"
She suddenly clenched her teacup tightly. "He was actually holding the red jade earring I dropped when I killed Zhao Xuande, and he deliberately toyed with it right in front of me!"
"Nan Yanxiu?"
Li Chenxi's eyes darkened abruptly, the teacup in his hand cracking with a faint sound.
He dipped his finger in the tea and wrote the characters for "Lingyuan" on the table. "The youngest son of the current emperor. At sixteen, he cracked the Ministry of Rites corruption case that shocked the court, and at twenty, he took charge of the Ministry of Justice's covert division."
His fingertip paused, the tea spreading into a shadowy stain. "It's said he's full of clever schemes, skilled at solving cases, and even the emperor relies on him heavily. The court is speculating that this unconventional prince might very well be the next crown prince."
"He was also the one who detoxified me three months ago!"
Shen Shuangren suddenly slammed the table and stood up, causing the candle flame on the table to flicker violently.
Li Chenxi's eyes instantly filled with mischief as he used a silver needle to flick open her jade hairpin with a light ding. "Oh ho ho, so it was Nan Yanxiu who detoxified your 'Spring Breeze Once'!"
As her dark hair cascaded down, he laughed suggestively. "No wonder that night when you came back, I asked you who the detoxifier was, and you absolutely refused to say…"
The golden bells on Shen Shuangren's wrist suddenly chimed as a dagger pressed against his throat. "If you want to end up like Zhao Xuande, keep asking."
"Wrong, wrong!"
Li Chenxi raised both hands and stepped back, still stifling a laugh. "This just means you two are fated. You kill his target, he saves your life, and now…"
"A cursed fate!"
Shen Shuangren scoffed coldly, her fingertips brushing over the malachite inlaid on the dagger.
Suddenly, a flock of night crows startled outside the window, and her gaze sharpened abruptly. "No matter who he is, if he dares to stand in this lady's way—"
The cold gleam of the dagger reflected the chilling smile at the corner of her lips. "I'll send him to meet the King of Hell."
Li Chenxi watched her for a moment, then suddenly chuckled lightly. "Alright then, how do you want to kill him? Poison? Assassination? Or…"
He leisurely drew a small celadon vial from his sleeve. "Let him 'die of illness' silently?"
Shen Shuangren narrowed her eyes, but before she could answer, they suddenly heard extremely light footsteps outside the hidden chamber.
Both instantly grew alert. A cold glint flashed from the silver needle in Li Chenxi's fingertips, while Shen Shuangren silently melted into the shadows.
Outside, a black cat leaped lightly over the roof tiles, making a faint sound.
Shen Shuangren relaxed slightly, but the chill in her eyes remained undiminished. "Since Nan Yanxiu has already grown suspicious, he will surely investigate to the end. We must speed up our actions."
Li Chenxi put away the Silver Needles and leaned lazily against the table. "So, are you still investigating Su Jianxuan's case?"
"I am, of course."
She sneered, "But for now, we must first deal with that meddlesome Lingyuan Prince."
Outside the window, dark clouds veiled the moon, deepening the night.