Shen Qingyao looked at Nanny Zhang’s face, then at her neck. It was covered in wrinkles.
She shook her head. The skin of an old woman was really different from that of a young woman.
Since they were different, she had to find another solution.
She absolutely couldn’t let anyone discover that the dead person was Nanny Zhang instead of herself.
If she wanted no one to recognize the body, the only way was to pour sulfuric acid over Nanny Zhang’s entire corpse and make absolutely sure nothing could be identified.
Holding the bottle of sulfuric acid, she moved from Nanny Zhang’s neck down over the rest of her body.
The acid splashed across her entire body. The sizzling sound as it touched flesh and clothing was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.
Nanny Zhang’s face and body were corroded beyond recognition. No one could possibly identify who the corpse had once been.
The air was filled with a harsh, unpleasant smell, and Shen Qingyao covered her nose and mouth.
Yet her eyes were full of satisfaction as she admired her handiwork.
She put the bottle of sulfuric acid back into her space and looked at the mangled body before her.
Shen Qingyao nodded with satisfaction.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to suffer a little. Who told your skin to be so wrinkled and dry? It’s nothing like my fair, smooth skin,” Shen Qingyao said coolly, looking completely smug.
Before Nanny Zhang drew her last breath, she vaguely heard those words. She was so furious that she couldn’t catch another breath and died on the spot.
After dealing with Nanny Zhang, Shen Qingyao put on the hooded hat that Nanny Zhang had been wearing when she arrived.
She swaggered out of the Cold Palace without the slightest fear of being recognized.
After all, Nanny Zhang had worn the hood when she came, and the two guards outside had never seen her face.
As she walked past the guards at the entrance, she showed no sign of guilt. She stood straight with an air of authority.
Imitating Nanny Zhang’s tone and accent, she said,
“You two, clean up the inside.”
The two guards immediately bowed respectfully.
“Yes, Nanny Zhang.”
Neither of them dared to raise his head. After answering respectfully, they remained where they were and watched what they believed was Nanny Zhang leave.
Only then did they head into the Cold Palace and enter the rundown room where the deposed Third Prince’s Consort had been imprisoned.
As soon as they stepped inside, the pungent smell made them frown.
Before either of them could complain, the scene inside shocked them.
A huge pool of blood covered the floor.
The victim’s wrists and ankles had been cut, and every inch of skin had been destroyed.
Not a single patch of intact skin remained.
“My goodness! This is way too brutal! Nanny Zhang is really ruthless,” one of the guards sighed, shaking his head.
He even felt a little sorry for the woman.
She had once been the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s household. Even if she wasn’t favored, dying such a miserable death was still pitiful.
At the same time, he silently warned himself never to offend the current Empress.
This was the Empress’s own full-blooded elder sister, yet she could treat her so mercilessly.
If someone else offended the Empress, they would probably end up in an even worse state.
Although the Empress hadn’t done it personally, the woman who had just left was Nanny Zhang, the Empress’s wet nurse.
Without the Empress’s orders, how could Nanny Zhang possibly have dared to do something like this?
“Enough. Watch your mouth. Trouble comes from careless words. That’s not someone we can gossip about. Stop talking and clean this up,” the other guard warned.
This fellow was good at everything except keeping his mouth shut. He would say anything.
That was the Empress. Lowly guards like them had no right to criticize her.
Even he thought the Empress was truly vicious. She wouldn’t even leave her sister with an intact corpse after death.
After all, they were sisters born of the same mother.
The two men covered their noses, wrapped Nanny Zhang’s body carelessly in a straw mat, and carried it to the most remote part of the Cold Palace.
Working together, they dug a deep pit, threw the body inside, buried it, and left the Cold Palace together.
Meanwhile, after making sure no one was around, Shen Qingyao couldn’t wait to flash into her space and change into a neat set of black night clothes.
Nanny Zhang’s clothes could be discarded now.
As long as everyone believed Nanny Zhang had already left the Cold Palace, then even if someone later discovered she was missing, no one would suspect the Cold Palace.
After all, Nanny Zhang had walked out of the Cold Palace right in front of the two guards.
She flashed into the burger shop once again.
Liang Xinxin, who had been tied up like a rice dumpling, lay motionless on the floor with a hopeless expression.
When she saw Shen Qingyao appear, her eyes locked onto her. They were filled with fear.
The uncertainty of what was about to happen made her heart sink lower and lower.
Shen Qingyao looked down at Liang Xinxin, and the corners of her lips slowly curved upward.
A dagger flashing with cold light appeared in her hand, sending chills down anyone’s spine.
The moment Liang Xinxin saw the dagger, her eyes flickered. She instinctively shrank back, her hands clenching tightly into fists.
“What are you going to do?” she asked in terror, her eyes wide.
She wasn’t planning to kill her, was she?
She didn’t want to die yet.
“What could I possibly do?” Shen Qingyao said casually. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. I just want to remove one little part from your body.”
“Huh?”
“What part?”
Liang Xinxin froze for a moment before instinctively asking.
“Oh, don’t be so impatient.” Shen Qingyao smiled. “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t kill you. I just want to cut out your tongue.”
How could that be possible?
Without a tongue, how could she ever speak again?
Wouldn’t she become mute?
No.
Absolutely not.
Liang Xinxin’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
Liang Xinxin’s eyes widened in terror as she struggled desperately, trying to get away from the woman in front of her.
This woman was a devil!
She actually wanted to cut out her tongue. Killing someone was one thing, but did she really have to be this cruel?
How had she ever believed this woman was kind and easy to fool?
She wasn’t a fool at all.
She was clearly a devil wearing the skin of a fairy.
“Big Sister Shen, I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Please spare me! Please! I don’t want to become mute!” Liang Xinxin cried, tears and snot streaming down her face as she desperately wriggled backward, trying to escape from this devil.
Run…
Run!
But no matter how hard she struggled, she was practically going nowhere. All she could do was watch helplessly as the dagger, gleaming with a cold light, slowly drew closer.
“Be good. It’ll all be over with one cut. It won’t hurt much,” Shen Qingyao said with a smile, as though cutting out someone’s tongue was as simple as cutting a handful of grass.
“No! Don’t come any closer! I don’t want my tongue cut out! I don’t want to become mute! I was wrong! Big Sister Shen, please forgive me! I really know I was wrong!” Liang Xinxin begged over and over while desperately trying to get away.
Heavens!
Someone, please save her!
If she had known this would happen, she would rather have died in a zombie’s jaws back then. At least she wouldn’t have to suffer like this.
But her pleading and struggling were completely useless. If anything, they only made Shen Qingyao want to cut out her tongue even more.
After all, this was the person who had murdered her. There was no way she would show mercy. She wasn’t some saint.
“Be good, Xinxin. It really won’t hurt much. Don’t worry. I won’t let you die.” Shen Qingyao smiled, but her eyes were filled with naked cruelty.
She grabbed Liang Xinxin’s chin, then deliberately waved the shining dagger in front of her eyes.
Liang Xinxin’s eyes were filled with terror. She kept shaking her head, trying to break free from Shen Qingyao’s grip.
“Mmm… ugh…”
Broken, muffled sounds came from her mouth. Anyone could tell she was begging for mercy.
But no matter how hard she struggled, Shen Qingyao’s grip on her chin remained firm.
It was so strong that it felt as though her jaw might be crushed.
Perhaps because of fear, saliva kept filling her mouth.
As more and more gathered, it finally overflowed from the corners of her lips and dripped onto Shen Qingyao’s hand.
Ugh…
How disgusting.
Shen Qingyao looked at the saliva on her hand with obvious disgust, and her stomach churned.
But she didn’t let go.
Instead, she squeezed Liang Xinxin’s chin even harder.
Not wanting to waste any more words, Shen Qingyao simply dislocated Liang Xinxin’s jaw. She reached into her mouth, pinched her tongue between two fingers, and yanked it out as far as she could.
At the same time, the saliva pooled inside her mouth spilled out, running down her chin and neck.
Shen Qingyao curled her lip in disgust. Holding the dagger in her other hand, she slowly slid it into Liang Xinxin’s mouth and leisurely began cutting through her tongue.
The dagger was incredibly sharp. With only a little force, it sliced through one-third of her tongue.
The metallic taste of blood instantly filled Liang Xinxin’s mouth.
Her eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
It hurt so much!
The pain made her roll her eyes. In the end, she couldn’t bear it any longer and fainted.
Seeing Liang Xinxin pass out, Shen Qingyao looked thoroughly disappointed.
“How useless.”
She spoke those three words with complete disdain.
Even though Liang Xinxin had fainted, that wasn’t enough to stop Shen Qingyao from cutting out her tongue.
She simply wasn’t interested in taking her time anymore. The fun was gone now that the girl had passed out.
She quickly finished cutting off the tongue.
She couldn’t let the girl die.
She stuffed a wad of sterile cotton into Liang Xinxin’s mouth.
The blood quickly soaked through it, so Shen Qingyao stuffed in another wad.
Then another.
She kept packing cotton into her mouth until it was completely full and no more blood seeped out.
Only then did Shen Qingyao stop.
Looking at the unconscious Liang Xinxin, she curled her lip and wiped the blood from the dagger with a tissue.
She left Liang Xinxin lying on the floor of the burger shop.
She wouldn’t die, so she could stay there for now.
Shen Qingyao took a nap inside the Space.
When she looked outside again, it was already completely dark.
Palace guards were patrolling the grounds, though they soon moved on.
On the wedding night of the Emperor and Empress, they would usually spend their bridal night in the East Warm Chamber of Kunning Palace.
Shen Qingyao flashed out of the Space and headed straight for the East Warm Chamber of the Empress’s palace.
Inside, the newlyweds were just about to retire for the night.
Outside the room, eunuchs and palace maids stood with their heads lowered, waiting to serve His Majesty and the Empress at any moment.
Shen Qingyao had no intention of disturbing the cheating scumbag and the vicious woman on their wedding night just yet.
Instead, she headed for the Empress’s private treasury.
That was where the Empress kept her dowry.
From the original owner’s memories, Shen Qingyao clearly remembered that the Prime Minister had given more than half of the family’s wealth to the Empress as her dowry.
Heh…
The Prime Minister and his wife truly adored their younger daughter.
A mocking look flashed through Shen Qingyao’s eyes, followed by a cold smile.
She flashed into the treasury.
The room was packed from floor to ceiling with the Empress’s dowry.
Gold, silver, jewelry, fine silks, precious zithers, paintings, calligraphy…
Everything imaginable was there.
“The Prime Minister really is generous. The difference in how he treated his two daughters couldn’t be greater. But from now on, all of this belongs to me. I won’t leave a single coin for Shuyan.”
Shen Qingyao sneered.
With a wave of her hand, everything inside the treasury disappeared into her Space.
Even the shelves holding the silk, antiques, and treasures were taken away.
She didn’t leave so much as a single hair behind.
Everything she collected was stored in the basement of her villa.
Using her consciousness to check, she found that the Empress’s dowry alone occupied nearly one-quarter of the basement.
The basement was over 200 square meters.
One-quarter of that meant roughly 50 square meters.
After emptying the private treasury, Shen Qingyao flashed toward the national treasury.
As for the cheating scumbag and the vicious woman who were spending their wedding night together…
She could deal with them later.
Sooner or later, she’d make them pay.