"Stop wasting your energy. With your abilities, you can't kick that wooden door down." Su Yuting's eerie voice echoed throughout the room, causing the young ladies to tremble with fear and huddle together tightly.
"Su Yuting, you'd better behave yourself, or I won't be so polite with this whip!" In the dim light, Shen Lixue stood quietly beside Su Yuting, her eyelids slightly lowered, her fair little hand gently stroking a sturdy long whip.
"Shen Lixue, it's all because of you!" Su Yuting roared, stretching out her long, demonic claws and viciously lunging at Shen Lixue. If Shen Lixue hadn't disfigured her, how could she have been jealous of the other young ladies' beautiful appearances? If Shen Lixue hadn't whipped her, how could she have been caught red-handed? It was Shen Lixue who ruined her; all her misfortunes were caused by Shen Lixue.
"Snap!" Shen Lixue flipped her wrist, and the long whip, like a startled rainbow, drew a beautiful arc in mid-air before fiercely striking Su Yuting.
Knowing the whip's power, Su Yuting didn't try to block it head-on. Instead, she dodged it with a leap, but the whip struck her calf, tearing her beautiful skirt and staining the edges of the tattered fabric with blood.
"Shen Lixue!" Su Yuting roared again, her heart filled with boundless hatred, and her sharp sword pointed straight at Shen Lixue's throat.
Shen Lixue lashed out with her whip again, but instead of hitting Su Yuting's wrist, it wrapped around the sharp longsword. Facing Su Yuting's cold smile, she said, "After suffering a loss once, do you think I'm still completely unguarded? Foolish!"
Su Yuting swung her sword backhand, breaking free from Shen Lixue's long whip, and the tip of her sword swiftly pierced towards Shen Lixue's chest.
"I only used it once, and Miss Su found the solution. You're really clever. However, what you experienced the night before last was only one of the tricks. There's another one I haven't shown you yet. Today, I'll let you see it again!" Shen Lixue smiled mysteriously, opened her longsword, and her whip techniques changed.
"Miss, Miss..." All the young ladies brought their maids. Although Su Yuting's boudoir was large, it couldn't accommodate too many people, so the maids stayed outside. After a series of screams, the door suddenly closed. Now, the sounds of fighting came from outside. The maids knew something was wrong and stood outside the door shouting.
"Go to the front hall and the flower hall and call for people. Tell them that Miss Su is insane and wants to kill someone..." Shen Lixue wrapped her long whip around Su Yuting's long sword and winked at her.
Enraged, Su Yuting unleashed another fierce sword strike at Shen Lixue.
"Yes, yes, Miss Su has gone mad! She's trying to disfigure someone and kill them! Go and call for help!" The young ladies suddenly realized what was happening and shouted to the maids outside the door, "Go and call the guards to break down the door!"
The room was filled with masters. Upon hearing the order, the maids all rushed out. Su Yuting tried to stop them, but was tightly entangled by Shen Lixue, leaving her no time to spare. Her eyes burned with even more hatred, and the sharpness of her longsword intensified.
Shen Lixue and Su Yuting were locked in a fierce battle, their whips and swords flashing in a dazzling display. To avoid injury, all the young ladies retreated to the outer room. The maids had already gone to find help, and the young ladies were relieved. They gradually relaxed and watched the two fight with great interest.
"Who do you think will win?" a young lady asked, concerned about the battle.
The young ladies' gazes deepened: "We hope the princess wins. Only if she wins can we be saved. If Su Yuting wins, we'll all be dead!"
"Su Yuting's swordplay is fierce, while the princess's whip can be both hard and soft, which is just right to counter Su Yuting..."
Amidst the murmurs, a young lady suddenly frowned deeply, clutched her forehead, and said weakly, "I feel so dizzy..." She staggered a few times and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"I feel so tight in my chest..." Another young lady frowned deeply, clutched her chest, and fainted.
"I can't breathe..." Another young lady, her hands gripping her neck, collapsed to the ground.
Thump, thump, thump!
One after another, the young ladies collapsed to the ground, unconscious, their once luscious lips now tinged with a purplish-black hue.
Shen Lixue pushed Su Yuting aside and landed to the side. In her cold eyes, a hidden anger surged. She gritted her teeth and said, "You poisoned me!"
“That’s right!” Su Yuting sneered triumphantly, her face contorted with whip marks, making her look particularly ferocious. “The poison is colorless and odorless. It enters the body through respiration, and the faster the blood flows, the faster the poison takes effect!”
"You fought me because you wanted me to die from the poison as soon as possible!" Shen Lixue looked coldly at Su Yuting. She had once again underestimated Su Yuting's despicable and shameless nature.
"Congratulations, you guessed right. Anyone who has seen me in this miserable state will not survive!" Su Yuting said each word with a sinister and terrifying grit, her teeth clenched. "They have all been poisoned and will die within half an hour at most!"
Su Yuting's resentful gaze was like a sharp sword, shooting fiercely at Shen Lixue: "Especially you, you fought with me for so long, in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it will be your death day, hahaha, die, all of you die!"
Su Yuting's arrogant laughter was like the howling of ghosts and wolves. Shen Lixue frowned and looked at the noble ladies who had collapsed and were unconscious. They had all been poisoned at the same time, so why were they all down, but she was fine? Moreover, she could not feel any symptoms of poisoning.
Su Yuting's loud laughter stopped abruptly at that moment, and she glared coldly at Shen Lixue: "How come you're still sober?"
"I don't know either!" Shen Lixue shook her head.
Su Yuting frowned, her eyes darting around quickly: both the inner and outer rooms were poisoned, especially the inner room, where the poison was four or five times stronger than in the outer room. She wasn't poisoned because she had taken the antidote beforehand, but Shen Lixue wasn't poisoned at all...
Suddenly, a white light caught her eye. Su Yuting quickly looked over and saw that Shen Lixue was wearing a crystal swallow around her neck. She usually kept the crystal swallow between her inner and outer garments. During the intense fight, the crystal swallow was exposed, reflecting against the water-green silk gauze, making her look so noble that it was impossible to look away.
"The Holy King's Palace Poison-Avoiding Jade!" Su Yuting exclaimed, her gaze towards Shen Lixue like sharp swords, as if she wanted to tear her to pieces: "Dongfang Heng actually gave it to you!" It was not just a poison-avoiding jade, but also a symbol of the Holy King's Palace's mistress. Heh, she hadn't even gotten married yet, and she already had the status of Princess Consort of Anjun. Dongfang Heng really spoiled her rotten.
"Shen Lixue, prepare to die!" Su Yuting howled, and plunged her long sword fiercely into Shen Lixue's neck.
If Dongfang Heng can't see her in his eyes or in his heart, then she will kill the person he loves most. Whenever he thinks of Shen Lixue, he will remember her. Heh, so what if he hates her? At least she has a place in his heart, and he can remember her forever.
The shrill screams of the maids at the Duke of Wen's mansion startled all the guests in the living room and flower hall. Everyone rushed to Yuting Garden to see what was going on. The Duke of Wen walked quickly with a gloomy face. Ruan was extremely anxious. What was wrong with Yuting? She actually killed someone in front of all the guests at the Duke of Wen's mansion. Was she provoked?
Nangong Xiao quickly scanned the crowd, frowning as he muttered to himself, "The guards from the War Prince's Mansion said that Shen Lixue came to the Duke of Wen's Mansion, but she's not in the crowd. Could she be at Yuting Garden?"
Beside him, Ye Qianlong's body suddenly stiffened, and his slender black figure shot towards Yuting Garden like an arrow, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Nangong Xiao lightly touched the ground with both feet and quickly chased after him. The scenery in front of him rushed past, and Ye Qianlong's figure remained a small black dot. He frowned slightly: Ye Qianlong's martial arts were indeed unfathomable.
In Yuting Garden, whips and swords clashed fiercely once again. Shen Lixue and Su Yuting fought neck and neck, neither giving an inch, and it was difficult to break their bond.
A series of hurried footsteps approached, and Su Yuting's expression instantly changed. The maids had brought reinforcements, and she was about to be exposed for what she truly was. No, no, no, she was unwilling to accept this, unwilling to be captured like this.
With a cold glint in her eyes, Su Yuting thrust her long sword at the unconscious young ladies. Shen Lixue flicked her whip, deflecting the sword and standing protectively in front of them: "Trying to kill them to silence them? Not so easy."
The guests arrived at Yuting Garden soon. There were ten noble ladies among them, and with Shen Lixue's obstruction, Su Yuting had no chance of killing them.
"Then I'll just kill you to silence you!" Su Yuting said viciously, thrusting her longsword at Shen Lixue again. Shen Lixue raised her whip to counter, but Su Yuting didn't continue to attack. Instead, she blocked the whip and retreated quickly to a corner. When she could retreat no further, she dodged, a strange smile on her lips, and swung her sword to smash an antique vase in the corner.
The smooth ground cracked instantly, and Shen Lixue was caught off guard and fell into the cave.
"Li Xue!" The door was suddenly kicked open, and Ye Qianlong's tall, black figure instantly appeared at the edge of the cave, tightly grabbing Shen Li Xue's wrist and trying to pull her out.
Su Yuting's eyes turned cold, and she plunged her sharp sword into Ye Qianlong's back, gritting her teeth, "Let's die together!"
Shen Lixue looked up and saw Su Yuting's actions clearly. She smiled coldly, lashed out with her long whip, tightly wrapped it around Su Yuting's waist, and dragged her into the cave.
As Su Yuting fell, she smiled coldly, grabbed Ye Qianlong's arm tightly, and pulled him down with her. Even if she died, she would take two others down with her.