Jiang Lin nodded. "I don't think Qinghe Junwangfei could have come up with such a scheme on her own. Someone must have instructed her. I want to find out who was behind this."
"Have you already suspected someone?"
"Jiang Jinyue," Jiang Lin uttered coldly. For now, she was his prime suspect. "I'll get to the bottom of it. If it's her, I'll deal with her before returning. Keep watch at the residence." With that, Jiang Lin stepped into his space and vanished.
His first stop was Anyang Bofu. Since Jiang Jinyue had appeared alongside Jiang Zhen, she must have returned there. However, she was nowhere to be found. Jiang Lin then headed to Qinghe Junwangfu. As soon as he entered, he noticed an eerie silence, as if the entire place were deserted.
After some searching, he found two people lying motionless on the ground. Checking their breath, he confirmed they were already dead. Scattered throughout the estate were more servants, some half dead and others were half unconscious. Finally, Jiang Lin heard voices coming from the mourning hall set up for Jiang Rou.
Concealing himself, he saw Jiang Jinyue and Jiang Zhen inside. Jiang Jinyue stood inside the coffin, while Jiang Zhen looked deathly pale, as if witnessing something horrifying. "Enough, sister. She's already dead. Why torment her further?"
Instead of stopping, Jiang Jinyue burst into laughter before spitting out two icy words: "She deserved it."
Moving closer, Jiang Lin saw what she was doing, she was slashing Jiang Rou's face with a knife. The face was already a mangled mess, unrecognizable, yet Jiang Jinyue didn’t stop. She stripped Jiang Rou’s clothes and continued cutting into her body, stroke after stroke, as if determined to turn the entire corpse into a bloody pulp.
Jiang Zhen could no longer bear it and turned away. Jiang Jinyue’s voice rang out again, slow and deliberate: "She stole… what was mine. She deserved… to die. Karma."
As she rolled up her sleeves, her arms were revealed, bearing a latticework of scars - some long, whip-thin welts, others puckered burn marks - much like her face.
"Everyone… who steals from me… deserves to die." She seemed to be speaking to Jiang Zhen, yet also muttering to herself. After a few more cuts, Jiang Zhen urged her to leave, fearing they’d be discovered. Reluctantly, Jiang Jinyue climbed out of the coffin.
Jiang Lin followed them out of Qinghe Junwangfu. While Jiang Zhen headed home, Jiang Jinyue went in a different direction. Trailing her, Jiang Lin saw her enter a small courtyard where a man stood waiting.
The moment she spotted him, she rushed into his arms. Moving to see the man’s face, Jiang Lin was stunned, it was the Crown Prince. To his surprise, the Crown Prince’s expression briefly twisted with disgust when Jiang Jinyue embraced him, though he masked it quickly.
The Crown Prince asked about her progress. Speaking in broken phrases, Jiang Jinyue explained she had given poison to Qinghe Junwangfei, who was determined to kill Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao. She also revealed how she had manipulated Junwangfei into killing Qinghe Junwang, reasoning that a mere Junwangfei's death wasn’t enough, only Junwang's death would justify exterminating the Wei family.
Pleased, the Crown Prince embraced her, praising her lavishly. "Yue’er, you’ve been indispensable to me. Once I ascend the throne, I’ll make you Empress and summon the finest physicians to heal your scars. You’ll be as beautiful as before."
Touched, Jiang Jinyue clung to him, whispering declarations of love. The Crown Prince endured her slow speech before steering the conversation elsewhere. "Yue’er, do you have any more of that poison?" Jiang Jinyue looked up, startled, and asked why.
Frowning, the Crown Prince feigned distress. "The Sixth Prince opposes me at every turn. To secure the throne sooner, I must eliminate him, but he’s no easy target. That poison of yours is lethal and fast-acting. I thought it might work."
"Yue’er, only once I’m Emperor can I marry you and restore your status. You—" The temptation was too great. Jiang Jinyue immediately handed him a small packet. "Last… bit. No more."
The Crown Prince vowed to use it wisely. "I won’t fail you, Yue’er." Eager to leave, he tried to disentangle himself, but Jiang Jinyue clung to him, forcing more conversation.
From their exchange, Jiang Lin pieced together how they had reconnected: the Crown Prince had stumbled upon Jiang Jinyue while gathering information on Yue Heng. He had secretly arranged for a physician to treat her muteness, leaving her with a stutter. Later, he enlisted her help in plotting against Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao.
Just yesterday, Jiang Lin had been pondering how to justify removing the Crown Prince. Now, the man had handed him the perfect excuse. As for the poison, Jiang Lin deduced it was the system’s gift to Jiang Rou, meant for him and Wei Yunzhao. Knowing she’d fail, Jiang Rou had left Jiang Jinyue a letter explaining the system and the poison, begging her to avenge her.
Likely, the system had guided Jiang Rou to Jiang Jinyue, only for Jiang Jinyue to mistake it as Jiang Rou stealing the system. Consumed by hatred, she had manipulated Qinghe Junwangfei and desecrated Jiang Rou’s corpse. If Jiang Rou’s spirit lingered, she’d probably haunt the afterlife just to settle the score.
When Jiang Jinyue finally released him, the Crown Prince fled as if his life depended on it. Touching her scarred face, Jiang Jinyue slumped in dejection. Jiang Lin emerged from his space.
"Jiang Jinyue, it’s time to settle our accounts."
Startled, Jiang Jinyue whirled around, then backed away in fear. "Wh-what… do you… want?"
Jiang Lin smirked. "Aren’t you going to ask why I’m alive? Or how I got here?" As she opened her mouth, he cut her off. "Not that I’d answer."
"I know everything, how you used Qinghe Junwangfei to poison us, how you tricked her into killing Junwang to frame us, how you mutilated Jiang Rou’s corpse. All of it."
With each word, Jiang Jinyue retreated further, her disfigured face twisting in disbelief.
"You’ll never outmatch me. Never."
"Your precious system died with Jiang Rou. And soon, you’ll join her...alongside your beloved Crown Prince."
She turned to flee.
Jiang Lin vanished into his space, reappearing only to summon a dagger that sliced thorough the air, slitting her throat.
As she collapsed, he delivered his final words: "When you get there, apologize properly to your ‘dear sister’ Jiang Rou."
Jiang Jinyue’s eyes widened...then stilled, unblinking.
Jiang Lin placed a few insects on her corpse before leaving undetected. He intercepted the Crown Prince, stole the poison meant for the Sixth Prince, and delivered it to Yue Heng instead. "Your brother intended this for you. Handle it as you see fit."
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