Asesino sin nombre

Capítulo 65

“I don’t live for the dead.” Saint Xiang smiled radiantly, almost flawlessly.

Shang Xuan remained silent for a while, then said, "I don't know what the future holds. Rebellion... heh... it's just a ridiculous dream of the past two years. The one who really wants to be emperor is not me."

"I knew you were such a naive and easily fooled fool. Without my protection, you'd definitely suffer." Shengxiang glared, then slammed her folding fan down on Shangxuan's head with a "snap," only to have it snap in two with a "plop"—the gold-rimmed fan had been shaken by Shangxuan's "Rolling Snow" technique and broke instantly. Shengxiang screamed in pain, repeatedly hitting Shangxuan's head with the broken fan. "What kind of kung fu is this? You can't fight, all you do is shake up rivers, collapse caves, and break my fan! Quickly pay me back for the fan! I have plenty of silver, but I don't want it! Make me a new one! No way! I don't care if you can make one or not, you broke it, so you have to make me a new one..."

Shengxiang was incredibly skilled in light-footed martial arts. Shangxuan dodged and weaved several times, almost getting knocked down by him. After circling the room a few times, the young master finally sat down, satisfied, and began to ramble on about many trivial matters that Shangxuan had been unaware of over the years...

"Let me tell you, I really admire Yu Mutou's wife, you know? She actually thought of erecting a chastity arch for him because he's too embarrassed to consummate the marriage with her, hahaha...it's hilarious..."

Shengxiang's laughter continued in Shangxuan's room. At first, Shangxuan just listened without saying anything, but eventually he unconsciously spoke up: "And you? In all these years, haven't you gotten married?"

"How could a great man like me, so intelligent, kind, mighty, handsome, and universally loved, just casually marry someone..."

The commotion subsided in the afternoon. After Shengxiang and Shangxuan finished recounting their joys and sorrows over the past few years, he returned to his own room.

He opened the door, took a deep breath, and closed it behind him.

His fingers trembled slightly as he closed the door. Leaning against the door, he took a few quick breaths, then closed the window. His sleeve brushed across the table, revealing a piece of twig. Shengxiang peeled off the bark, poured tea to wash it clean, and after much hesitation, forced himself to chew and swallow the piece of bark.

This branch was a branch of the Albizia julibrissin tree that Shengxiang broke off along with the foxtail grass. Albizia bark can calm the nerves, relieve depression, and promote blood circulation; it is often used to nourish the heart and replenish qi. Shengxiang was already feeling very unwell when he sat on the roof looking at the garden. His medicine had sunk with the boat when he crossed the Han River, and Qiyang was a hundred and eight thousand miles away. At this moment, he had no one to rely on but himself.

Surrounded by danger, with Li Lingyan and Yu Cuiwei's intentions unpredictable and Liu Ji harboring ill intentions, what else could he do but swallow this tree bark? If he could avoid eating it, he would rather be killed than eat it, but now there was no opportunity to make him sick, and no one to plead or refuse on his behalf.

After swallowing the mouthful of bitter, green tree bark, Shengxiang stood up, opened the window, and gazed at the garden full of flowers, remaining motionless for a long time.

The twentieth day of rebirth will not teach anyone, Ke Meng'an

When Shengxiang fell ill, Li Lingyan also sensed something was wrong. That morning, he suddenly couldn't breathe. Shortly after drinking the pot of tea he had that morning, his limbs went numb, the numbness spreading from his wrists to his shoulders and then to his chest. Within moments, he struggled to breathe and collapsed in his guest room. Although on the verge of suffocation, Li Lingyan had a clear understanding: Liu Ji must have put something in their food, something that even Yu Cuiwei and he hadn't recognized—it couldn't be an ordinary poison; it must be some kind of extraordinary poison.

Just as he was unusually lucid, yet about to suffocate, he suddenly saw the door open, and a woman in green robes flashed in. It was none other than the elegant and refined courtesan Liu. She appeared calm, seemingly unsurprised by Li Lingyan's collapse, but her next action puzzled Li Lingyan, who was not particularly concerned with death—she lifted him from the ground, then put her arms around his neck and blew air into his mouth. He couldn't breathe; Liu was helping him breathe, providing him with life.

Why?

But something even stranger and more disturbing happened in this room—after that, Liu, the prostitute, undressed him, fed him aphrodisiacs, and climbed into his bed. She inexplicably and forcibly gave Li Lingyan her virginity.

Two hours later, when the effects of the drug wore off and Li Lingyan was able to speak and move again, Liu Ji was still by his side. Her eyes were open, still gazing at the carvings on the ceiling with her noble and elegant eyes. Her skin was as soft as spring water, her clothes trailed on the ground, but her expression was very calm.

"Why?" Li Lingyan slowly pulled the brocade quilt over her gently. He and she had only met once and hadn't even spoken a word. Why did she suddenly poison him and then give him aphrodisiacs, and then spend the day in bed with him? He didn't change color much, nor did he feel like he had taken advantage of her. His voice was as gentle and careful as it had been yesterday.

"Do you know? You were poisoned by Pu Fa. If I wanted to kill you just now, I could have taken a hundred lives." Liu Ji didn't look at Li Lingyan; her gaze remained fixed on the roof, and her voice was as untouched by worldly concerns as ever. "You're the Li Lingyan of the martial world, the one who kills without blinking an eye, the one who wipes out entire families, aren't you?"

Li Lingyan smiled and said, "You flatter me, Princess."

Liu Ji blinked slowly. "You also know I'm a princess?"

Li Lingyan's innocent and slightly childish eyes were particularly beautiful. "The princess is located in the far south, has more than a hundred soldiers under her command, and is surnamed Liu. She loves to listen to 'Midnight Song.' If I didn't know she was a princess, how could I be considered Li Lingyan?" He smiled at Liu Ji, showing no sign of unease whatsoever.

Liu slowly turned her head and gazed into his eyes. "You're really smart." She paused, then said, "You're so smart, yet you ask me why... There aren't that many whys in the world..."

"Because—I'm a person who's about to die, right?" Li Lingyan cautiously looked at Liu Ji's eyes. He thought that the single eyelash that was slightly upturned at the corner of her eye was particularly beautiful.

Liu Ji stared at him for a long time, then slowly reached out to touch his long, loose hair. "That...can be considered a reason."

"Your Excellency Pu and Granny Su don't know what happened today, do they?" Li Lingyan's voice became even more cautious. "Are you in a bad mood today?" He didn't mind Liu Ji lying on his bed. This woman was beautiful, but more importantly, beneath her noble appearance, she had a bewitching aura.

He liked this elegant and graceful demonic aura, which contained a hint of wicked evil, like his kind.

Liu Ji touched Li Lingyan's nose with her finger. "You really don't feel anything?" she asked.

Li Lingyan smiled and shook his head. "No."

She sighed softly, her fingers tracing a slow line across Li Lingyan's face, before suddenly speaking of a crucial matter: "Do you know why Jiang Chenming went south? Besides the fact that he couldn't stay in Hedong, his greatest desire was to join forces with me—Liu Jichang surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Kuangyin took him in. Although Jiang Chenming had a remnant army, he lacked a legitimate cause. He wanted my surname 'Liu,' or Zhao Dezhao's surname 'Zhao,' as a banner, whether to restore the Great Han Dynasty or to usurp the throne, he was ambitious… unwilling to remain in Hedong, unwilling to be subservient to others… I am a relative of Liu Jichang, we both share the surname Liu, we both have the blood of the Great Han Liu clan, we are relatives of the former dynasty… Jiang Chenming has wanted to marry me for several years, to unite the remnants of my Southern Han and Northern Han armies, to raise the national flag and seek the throne." She spoke earnestly, without any particular contempt.

Li Lingyan listened attentively, seemingly calculating on her behalf, "So, the Han army has already marched south, and you're going to marry Jiang Chenming?"

Liu Ji nodded and asked in return, "Can I not marry him?"

Li Lingyan smiled and shook his head, "No."

Liu Ji smiled too. "Jiang Chenming cannot allow me to live in seclusion here. If I don't marry him, this place, like your green bamboo and red walls, will be razed to the ground. Besides, since it's for the sake of restoring the kingdom, how can I not marry him..." She murmured, "But I don't want to lose everything..."

Li Lingyan leaned down and gently kissed her. "So you came?"

Liu Ji appeared very docile, but smiled and said, "I came here not because I have taken a liking to you."

Li Lingyan hummed in agreement. "Maybe it's because you don't think much of me..."

Liu Ji smiled, her clear, bright eyes looking at Li Lingyan. "Since I can't marry the person I've chosen, I'll give my body to someone I don't dislike but who won't hurt me." She spoke sweetly and affectionately, but she had other plans in mind.

Li Lingyan smiled. "Oh?"

Liu Ji glanced at him and said, "You're only good at being hurt, not at hurting others."

Her tone was calm and confident. Li Lingyan smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but asked, "Who is the person you have your eye on?"

Liu Ji did not answer, her gaze extremely complex, neither revealing whether it was sorrow or joy, admission or denial.

"Sacred incense?" Li Lingyan asked softly, his tone elusive.

She sighed softly, sat up in bed, smoothed her long hair, and said quietly, "You're really not stupid. That aphrodisiac wasn't originally intended for you. Shengxiang was also drugged with phrodisiacs like you... I thought I would find a chance to get Shengxiang to leave me a child... but he spent an hour and a half gossiping in someone else's room. He was clearly already sick, and I can't understand how he could act like usual..." Her face was gloomy, and her tone was low, "Even if you gave a man like that an aphrodisiac, it might not be effective."

“But you like him.” Li Lingyan smiled.

"I—" Liu Ji exhaled the softest breath from her heart and said softly, "What I love is his eyes when he's not smiling...like glass...he's so strong, so strong that it makes you want to make him cry."

She wanted to see what he looked like when his heart was broken… She frowned, deep in thought, and slowly said, “I really love him, so much so that I want to hurt him…”

Li Lingyan sighed and smiled, saying, "If you kill certain people, their hearts will break."