“You are related to Beimin’s Imperial Household?”
Shi Mo paused, but didn’t say anything, his eyes filled with a probing look.
Su Xi-er glanced at him. Looks like I guessed correctly. “You have no grudge against me, yet you’ve tried to kill me multiple times. I’ve heard that half-faced men only go against those who provoke them. Since we don’t even know each other, there must be another reason.”
“Continue.” Shi Mo’s gaze deepened, and his expression became solemn. I’m curious to hear how she’s going to explain.
“You’re clearly normally in the imperial palace, yet you are very familiar with its structure. The only explanation for that is that you’ve hidden around here for a long time; but no matter how well you hide yourself, you still need someone to shelter you. Perhaps you have made a deal with someone, and this person isn’t Commandery Prince Xie. The people in the palace who want to kill me and dare to do so are only limited to a few. Could it be…” Su Xi-er softly chuckled before continuing. “You’re from the Compassionate Peace Palace, am I right?”
A smile gradually emerged in Shi Mo’s eyes. She’s very smart. Even Pei Yaran, after realising my presence in the Compassionate Peace Palace for so long, cannot guess my identity. However, this woman was able to understand everything with merely a glance. There’s only one thing that she got wrong.
“I’m indeed from the Compassionate Peace Palace, but I have nothing to do with Beimin’s Imperial Household. I honestly can’t bear to kill a woman as clever as you.” Shi Mo let out a soft chuckle as he walked closer to Su Xi-er. “I feel like you know a lot about half-faced men. Then, do you know what happens to people who have seen the appearance of a half-faced man?”
Su Xi-er’s expression didn’t change. “You said it just now ー they’re destined to meet with a calamity, and only death awaits.”
“Perhaps death will not come, but you will become my wife.” Shi Mo laughed, his gaze lingering on her lips. “However, before you become my wife, you must become a mute. It’s not too good to be eloquent.”
Shi Mo’s smile deepened, emphasising the sinister and innocent appearance of his left and right side respectively. Needless to say, such an appearance was especially off-putting.
In the blink of an eye, the man in black had disappeared from Su Xi-er’s sight like a gust of wind.
Su Xi-er began to lose herself in her thoughts. He has nothing to do with the Imperial Household, yet he’s been hiding in the Compassionate Peace Palace. What exactly is his goal?
Su Xi-er couldn’t come up with any logical conjectures, but she was certain that he wouldn’t be making any move for the time being.
Before she could try to dig any further into it, footsteps sounded from outside the room. Wu Ling had come, and behind him was Imperial Physician Zhao.
Wu Ling was shocked by the sight that greeted him ー the door was open, and a cook was lying outside the door with the shattered remains of a bowl strewn around his hand. He immediately crouched down to check if the cook was still alive.
To his relief, Wu Ling was still able to feel the cook’s warm breath on his finger. “He’s still alive. Imperial Physician Zhao, you can enter the room first while I handle this.”
As someone who had experienced much of the world, Imperial Physician Zhao was able to suppress his astonishment and nod.
However, his eyes couldn’t help but wide when he walked into the room and saw the mess.
“Imperial Physician Zhao, I’m fine, but I need you to identify the poison added to the water in this pot.”
Imperial Physician Zhao regained his composure and walked to the tableside. He lifted the lid to the pot before holding it up to a candle. The candlelight that shone to the bottom of the pot showed that the water was clear, and there was nothing suspicious about it.
Even after looking at it for a long time, Imperial Physician Zhao couldn’t discern anything. In the end, he suggested, “I have to take it back to the Imperial Physician Institute to run a deeper examination, but I may not get any results.”
Su Xi-er nodded. “Even any tiny bit of useful information would help.” As long as there are some clues, I’ll be able to find out who did it.
