Chapter 88
Jiang Jinyue’s target wasn’t just Jiang Lin. After hurling vicious words at him, she turned her gaze to Wei Yunzhao.
“Wei Yunzhao, you were supposed to be mine!”
Her fierce glare, mixed with a sense of inevitability, made the scars on her face appear even more hideous.
Jiang Jinyue struggled to speak, and after those two sentences, Jiang Zhen pulled her behind him. Jiang Zhen glared hatefully at Jiang Lin. “Jiang Lin, the things you stole from me and my sister, we will make you pay for them one day. I’ll make you kneel and beg for mercy! I’ll make you wish you were dead!”
“Oh,” Jiang Lin replied indifferently.
He had heard such threats countless times before and was thoroughly bored by them. “No need to wait for ‘one day.’ Let’s settle the score today.”
Pushing Wei Yunzhao’s wheelchair out of the crowd, Jiang Lin motioned for the siblings to follow.
But despite their bold taunts, neither dared to confront Jiang Lin directly. Both of them had suffered at Jiang Lin's hands before, especially Jiang Jinyue.
Instead of following, Jiang Zhen yanked Jiang Jinyue away, leaving only a final threat: “Just you wait!”
“Heh.” Jiang Lin smirked disdainfully. He had no idea where they got the confidence to speak like that.
If he were truly ruthless, he could have ended their lives on the spot. Yet they still dared to provoke him. Jiang Lin thought that Jiang Jinyue's heart didn't die until reaching the Yellow River, she remained as brainless as ever.
[不到黄河心不死 (Bù dào Huáng Hé xīn bù sǐ): lit. "The heart doesn’t die until reaching the Yellow River"; fig. Refusing to give up until all hope is lost.]
Watching the two retreat, Wei Yunzhao analyzed, “This wasn’t a random provocation. And Jiang Jinyue can speak again.”
“You think someone’s backing her?”
“Unclear. We should investigate.” Wei Yunzhao summoned Xun Qi and gave him instructions.
Jiang Lin figured that if Jiang Jinyue had a backer, it could only be one of their enemies. In a way, that was better, easier to eliminate them all at once.
Before any news about Jiang Jinyue surfaced, Chang’an brought word that Jiang Rou had died. When Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao returned home, they found a crowd in white mourning robes gathered outside the Wei mansion - led by the Qinghe Junwangfei (Princess Consort).
Jiang Lin ordered Chang’an, “Fetch Qinghe Junwang, tell him to take his wife home before she embarrasses herself further.”
No sooner had he spoken than Junwangfei spotted them. With a look that could devour them whole, she stormed over and, without warning, yanked a hairpin from her bun and lunged at Jiang Lin.
“Jiang Lin, I’ll kill you to avenge my daughter!”
Her maids rushed to restrain her. “Madam, calm down! Don’t act rashly!”
Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao stood unmoving, their indifference only fueling Junwangfei's rage. “You bastard! I’ll kill you! You murdered my Rou’er, I’ll send you to the grave to keep her company!”
“Oh,” Jiang Lin responded flatly.
This only enraged her further. She thrashed wildly, screaming curses and wishing death upon him.
Jiang Lin mused that she and Jiang Jinyue’s family were clearly cut from the same cloth, their threats were identical.
After exhausting herself, Junwangfei finally fell silent, though her murderous glare never wavered.
“Done? Then move aside. We’re going in.”
Jiang Lin had no interest in engaging. As he pushed Wei Yunzhao toward the gate, Junwangfei erupted again. Breaking free, she charged with the hairpin. “Die, you wretch! Avenge my Rou’er!”
Jiang Lin swiftly pulled Wei Yunzhao’s wheelchair back, causing her to faceplant onto the pavement, her chin cracking against the stone.
Her maids rushed to help, but she refused to rise, sobbing incoherently about Jiang Rou’s suffering and her own desire to join her in death. She even pressed the hairpin to her throat.
The maids panicked, scrambling to disarm her, but she shrieked at them to back off.
Finally, Junwangfei stood, coldly addressing Jiang Lin. “What if I died right here on your doorstep?”
Jiang Lin shrugged. “No idea. Want to try and find out?”
“Madam, no!” a maid cried.
Ignoring them, Junwangfei advanced, raised her hairpin. “The Emperor despises you. If I die here, he’ll execute you both for murdering a noblewoman, maybe even exterminate your whole clan. None of you will escape.”
Jiang Lin looked at her with undisguised contempt.
Misinterpreting his silence, she smirked. “Scared? Don’t worry, I’m not that cruel. I’ll give you a chance: fight each other. Whoever dies settles my Rou’er’s debt. I’ll spare the survivor.”
Jiang Lin massaged his temples. “How did Qinghe Junwang ever marry someone as deranged as you?”
He glanced toward the alley. “Chang’an’s taking forever. Rabid dogs should be leashed, not let loose to bite people. Their owners will be held accountable.”
“Jiang Lin!” she shrieked, pressing the hairpin deeper, drawing blood. She turned to Wei Yunzhao. “Kill him! Now! Or I’ll kill myself here and drag your entire family to hell with me!”
Wei Yunzhao, never one to humor hysterics, especially from a woman demanding he murder his own wife. He gestured indifferently. “Be my guest.”
“Pfft—” Jiang Lin burst out laughing.
Stunned, Junwangfei trembled with fury. “Fine! Fine! You’ll regret this, Wei Yunzhao! I’ll see your whole family in the afterlife!”
With that, she aimed the hairpin at her own chest.
“Stop her!” A shout came from the alley.
The maids wrestled the hairpin away as Chang’an arrived with Qinghe Junwang, who was panting from sprinting.
Qinghe Junwang marched to his wife. “Had enough? If not, keep going. I’ll watch you make a fool of yourself.”
Junwangfei laughed bitterly. “A fool? Yes, to you, I’m always hysterical! When Rou’er was sent to the nunnery, you said I was overreacting. Now she’s dead, and you still call it a tantrum! Do you even care she was your daughter? Was she even yours?”
She seized his arm, forcing him to face Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao. “See? They killed her! You don’t care, but I do! I will avenge her!”
Tears streaming, she released Junwang then suddenly drew a dagger from her sleeve and stabbed at Wei Yunzhao.
Simultaneously, her other hand flung a cloud of powder. “I came here ready to die! You’re all coming with me!”
The dagger missed, but the powder was lethal. Jiang Lin, inhaling a trace, immediately felt its effects.
Junwangfei cackled wildly. “Hahaha! Wei Yunzhao, Jiang Lin, you’re doomed! I’ll be waiting for you in hell!”
Even as she spoke, blood trickled from her lips. Maids who’d inhaled the powder collapsed, writhing in agony.
Jiang Lin coughed. “Holding up?”
Wei Yunzhao nodded weakly.
Junwangfei choked out, “That poison… is unstoppable… You’re finished—” She collapsed, vomiting blood.
Chaos erupted. Junwang bellowed for physicians while cradling his wife. “Hold on! Help’s coming!”
Grinning through bloody lips, she touched his face. “Husband… I avenged… Rou’er… Now… join us…”
“Junwang, move!” Jiang Lin yelled.
Too late. With her last strength, she plunged the dagger into Junwang’s abdomen, then died laughing.
Chaos erupted.
Jiang Lin, ignoring the chaos, carried Wei Yunzhao to a secluded spot and fed him spiritual spring water. They vomited black blood, their limbs still weak.
Jiang Lin grimaced. “We underestimated her. Who would expect that lunatic to actually plan a suicide attack? All that nonsense was just a distraction.”
He recalled calling her an idiot earlier, now he felt like the fool.
Wei Yunzhao, aided by his inner strength, helped Jiang Lin up. “Let the physicians check us.”
The Wei family, initially treating this as another routine squabble, was now in turmoil. The housekeeper ordered guards to protect them while frantically summoning Chu Ba for antidotes.
The spiritual water worked. Chu Ba confirmed they’d recover with rest.
However, Junwang's condition was critical, stabbed with lethal intent. His survival was uncertain.
The housekeeper reported the incident to the authorities. Yin Ji arrived, surveying the unconscious Junwang with exasperation. “Pray he lives, or you’ll never clear your names.”
Even if they could, someone would ensure they didn’t.
“How many enemies do you have?” Yin Ji muttered.
Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao exchanged innocent glances. “We don’t make enemies.”
Yin Ji rolled his eyes, as if saying, yeah, right.
Jiang Lin sighed. “This is tricky.” The culprit was a mystery.
Yin Ji left with Junwangfei’s corpse for an autopsy, urging them to guard Junwang closely.
Jiang Lin handed Wei Yunzhao more spiritual water. “Feed this to him. Yin Ji is right, he can’t die.”
Wei Yunzhao took it. “You’re leaving?”
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