With a loud thud, Zhang Xiaojing's body flew through the air like a rag doll. He crashed into a chair and shattered it before landing against the wall. Before he could even hit the ground, Lu Xuan was already in front of him, his right hand gripping Zhang Xiaojing's throat, lifting him into the air and slamming him against the wall.
"Don't tell me you only found out about this today." As he said this, Lu Xuan felt a pang of self-reproach. He always felt that the servants and women who had been harmed by Prince Yong bore some responsibility for this.
"My lord... I... I'm already gathering evidence... Ah..." Lu Xuan exerted force with his right hand, and Zhang Xiaojing felt as if his throat was about to be twisted off.
"Evidence? Can evidence bring back the dead?"
"My lord... I just don't want you to be distracted, after all, you are currently..."
Hearing this, Lu Xuan became even angrier. With a flick of his right hand, he threw Zhang Xiaojing four or five meters away.
“Those people died because of our retaliation. Do you think I would be indifferent to that?”
"No, quite the opposite. I know you must feel guilty about this, which is why I waited until today to tell you all this. They died because of us, so we must take full responsibility. My lord, I make you a promise. Prince Yong will die tonight..."
------------
Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Death of Prince Yong
At Prince Yong's residence, Prince Yong was in a good mood today. Someone had just gifted him a fine horse, a Rouge Horse. Although he could no longer ride a real horse, that didn't stop him from compensating himself in some ways. For example, riding the Rouge Horse, or beating a Rouge Horse to death.
Yes, Prince Yong, who once loved horses more than anything, has now become completely deranged. Since he became unable to ride a horse, no one in the entire Prince Yong's mansion has been allowed to ride. He ordered all the horses to be put to death.
He now felt he could only derive a sliver of pleasure from the screams of those women. As a cripple, he felt he had been incredibly merciful. After all, they were just lowly people; their lives were a waste, so he might as well use their lives to please himself.
That pony tonight was incredibly charming and graceful. Even the battle-hardened Prince Yong felt he might be able to keep her for another night.
Most importantly, this red horse not only did not resist his whip, but even enjoyed it. The expression of enjoyment and intoxication made Prince Yong very excited.
"Your Highness, would you like another cup?"
With slender, delicate hands, she held a wine cup and gently brought it to Prince Yong's lips. She even took a small sip herself first. Prince Yong didn't really care about such things. All the food and wine delivered to this room had undergone rigorous inspection. Although Prince Yong was mad, he wasn't stupid. He knew he had many enemies and was always careful to protect himself.
But seeing how sensible the young beauty was, he mercifully decided to let her stay for three nights.
Taking the cup of wine, Prince Yong drank it all in one gulp, then pounced on the beauty. But at that moment, the usually submissive beauty subtly dodged, avoiding Prince Yong's body. This made Prince Yong feel a great sense of humiliation. "If it weren't for my legs... you could have dodged so easily." A violent glint flashed across his face, and he pounced on her again.
To his surprise, the woman gently avoided him once again. The alluring charm on her face had vanished, replaced by an unprecedented coldness.
Prince Yong sensed something was wrong. He wanted to shout, but suddenly remembered something. He had recently developed a habit of not allowing anyone in the courtyard when he was having his fun. Shouting wouldn't get him anywhere. Every woman brought in had undergone rigorous screening and was absolutely not allowed to carry any weapons. Although Prince Yong was lame, he could still easily violate a woman. More importantly, the women in front of him hadn't dared to resist at first. By the time they wanted to fight back, they had already lost their chance.
But this time was different. The woman before him was rational, calm, and indifferent. There was even a hint of mockery in her eyes, like a cat toying with a mouse. This look enraged and terrified Prince Yong. He turned and ran towards the door, to call for help, and then to tear this bitch to pieces. Then, let's see if she'll still be laughing.
But as soon as he turned around, he felt his legs go weak and he fell to the ground. Even worse, he felt a dull, throbbing pain in his chest.
Poisoned… that was his first thought. He panicked. He didn't know how the poison had gotten into the room. But if he couldn't find anyone soon, he feared he wouldn't be able to leave tonight.
He mustered all his strength to stand up, using the table for support. He limped toward the door, but as soon as he moved, the pain in his chest suddenly flared up again.
"It hurts a lot, doesn't it? It feels like your internal organs are being squeezed into a ball by a hand, and then sliced into pieces by a knife, right?" The woman behind me spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly. She seemed to be suppressing something.
To Prince Yong's surprise, the woman's description perfectly matched his symptoms of poisoning.
"It's you, you vile woman! You're the one who poisoned me! Do you even know who I am? I am the dignified Prince Yong, the son of a sage! How dare you poison me... Ah..." As soon as Prince Yong opened his mouth to speak, he felt the pain in his chest intensify, almost to the point of being unbearable.
"Can't take it anymore? Your abdomen is starting to cramp now, isn't it? It feels like someone is pulling your intestines out little by little."
This completely shocked Prince Yong.
"Why, you......"
"Why am I describing this so clearly? It's simple, because I feel the same way you do right now." The woman slowly rose from the bed. Her body trembled slightly. Beads of sweat covered her forehead. But she still stood up steadily and walked to Prince Yong's side.
"You...this is impossible...you couldn't have brought the poison in, even if...you could have hidden it in your mouth...it's still impossible." Prince Yong's face was filled with horror, and the excruciating pain in his body made it impossible for him to speak coherently.
"That's impossible. Before entering this room, even my mouth was thoroughly checked. This means you were very aware that someone might have poison hidden in my mouth to take you down with them. So, I swallowed the poison before the check. That was about an hour ago. In that hour, the poison had spread throughout my body, including my saliva."
This medicine won't kill you in the short term. It will only cause severe chest and abdominal cramps, and the pain will intensify until you die from the agony. The whole process will last about three hours. Right now, I'm in more pain than you. But I can endure it because just seeing you suffer, even if my whole body feels like it's being torn apart, I'll still be happy..."
The woman spoke slowly and deliberately, but what she said horrified Prince Yong.
"This is impossible. You have the antidote, don't you? You're not in any pain at all. Give me the antidote, and I'll make you a queen. Give me the antidote, and you can have anything you want. I beg you, give me the antidote..."
"Has Your Highness forgotten? There is no antidote. Because in this room, I can't bring anything in except myself..."
...............
Lu Xuan's room.
"So, you sent a woman seeking revenge to perish together with Prince Yong?"
"I didn't send her; she asked for it herself. Actually, she originally wanted to infiltrate Prince Yong's residence to assassinate him, but I discovered it. After that, I helped her devise this plan. I tried to dissuade her, but looking into her eyes, I knew it was completely ineffective."
You can't imagine how much she sacrificed for revenge. She sought out dancers to learn song and dance, and courtesans to learn how to serve men. She even learned from guards how to kill. She had long since turned herself into a ghost for revenge…
Hearing this, Lu Xuan fell silent. After a long while, he spoke again.
What's her name?
"I don't know? She won't tell me, and she won't let me check. She said she was born nameless, and she will die nameless."
"An unknown person..."
------------
Chapter Seventy: A Warning
The death of Prince Yong caused a great uproar in Chang'an. Well, actually, it didn't have that much of an impact. After all, Prince Yong's reputation was mediocre, and the emperor had more than one son. Most importantly, the death of a prince had absolutely nothing to do with the old man selling sesame cakes and mutton soup on the street, the courtesans in the brothel, or the vendors in the East Market.
There was no connection, because the case was far too obvious. The murderer died along with Prince Yong. And the murderer had no relatives left in the world. This infuriated many people; the death of a prince, such a momentous event, was given absolutely no reason to exploit. Prince Yong's death was deemed utterly worthless; some even wished they could drag him out of his coffin and make him die again...