Lanshan stopped in her tracks and asked, “What? Why?”
“I’m happy to do this if stabbing me can liberate you from all that hate.” The visitor smiled.
Lanshan slowly pulled the blade before turning away from the figure and saying, “No, you’re already dead. There’s nothing you can do to fix this.”
She turned and left the room resolutely without another word.
A woman in a lilac dress entered the room after Lanshan exited. She addressed the visitor, asking, “Why even do this?”
“Zisha, did I really do something wrong?”
“Moran, let’s leave Xiliu.”
Moran gave a bitter smile before passing out from the blood loss.
“Why pretend to be all cold and heartless when you obviously still care?” Zisha waited for a shadow at the door to come into the light, revealing Lanshan holding a bottle of jinchuan powder[1] in her hands.
“This is for him. Take him away and don’t ever come back. No one can stop me.”
“We’re not young anymore. There’s no need to care about things like honour and power at this point.” Zisha spoke softly as she carried Moran out on her back.
Zisha’s words rang in Lanshan’s mind as she watched the two of them leave, but she could only give a bitter smile. Even if I wanted to turn back, I’m afraid the only way out for me is death.
A man dressed in black from head to toe then stumbled into the room, holding onto a bloody arm.
“Master, we’ve been ambushed. There are no survivors.”
“En. Do what you must since you’ve failed the mission.”
The man in black swallowed the poisonous pill hidden in his teeth and took his own life in the next instant. Lanshan watched him die before taking out a powder used to dispose of corpses from her purse. Pouring it over the man, the corpse soon disappeared, as if nobody had ever been there.
“Capture Prime Minister Wen’s son. You’re not allowed to fail.”
There was a sound of acknowledgement before the room fell back into silence.
At this point, an individual who saw everything happen from outside the room left quickly.
Lanshan saw the figure leave and mumbled to herself, “There are too many eyeballs around. How about we just gouge all of them out? There’s no point in keeping extras, is there?”
She then continued chanting with her prayer beads.
~~~
In a private room.
Yun Ruofeng and Yunling were playing a game of chess.
“Prince Yun, there was an attempt to assassinate Hua Zirong when he visited the Prime Minister at his residence. There was only one survivor among the assassins.”
“It’s just a show he put on for us.” Yun Ruofeng said.
Yunling looked confused. “What do you mean, Prince Yun?”
“Prime Minister Wen was undecided on which side he wanted to be on, so Hua Zirong was testing the strength of his partnership with Lanshan.” Yun Ruofeng smiled as he explained the situation.
Yun Ling nodded and placed a black chess piece on the board.
“Yun Ling, it may seem as if attacking first is the best way forward, but it would make you vulnerable to ambushes.”
Yun Ruofeng then placed a white chess piece on the board, ending the game.
“This subordinate admires Prince Yun’s intelligence.”
Yun Ruofeng smiled and started putting away the pieces. “You may go.”
Yun Ling nodded and disappeared into the darkness.
Yun Ruofeng continued sitting where he was, as if nothing that was happening concerned him.
Though everything seemed peaceful here, fresh blood stained the walls in another compound.
1. A type of medicine of superior quality that is used for treating wounds. It is commonly featured in guzhuang Chinese dramas as top-grade injury medicine.
