Sword Slaying the Jianghu : Chapter 16: Exposing the Truth

The three of them took their seats. During the meal, Yang Shao asked Yang Ran, “Ran, what do you think of these dishes?”

When the chefs heard Yang Shao speak this way, they all began to tremble. Their eyes were full of fear, and they stared straight at Yang Ran, as if hoping he would not mention their dishes. After all, who among those who worked in the prince’s residence did not live in constant fear and anxiety? They sought no reward, only to avoid blame.

“These are all quite tasty. This is the first time I’ve eaten such delicious food.”

“Very good. Everyone shall be richly rewarded. Someone come and bestow…” Yang Shao began to call for the guards outside to come and give out rewards.

But before he could finish his sentence, the chefs had just begun to show joy when Yang Ran interrupted, “But this dish is a bit spicy.”

Yang Shao’s cold gaze shot directly at the person standing before that dish. That man was so frightened his legs went soft, and he immediately knelt on the ground begging for mercy. “Your Highness, this humble one truly did not know the young prince does not like spicy food. Next time this humble one will surely remember. I beg Your Highness to spare my life!”

At this moment, the guards who had been preparing to enter and bestow rewards did not wait for the prince to speak. They had already dragged that man out, because they understood that the prince never showed mercy for any reason.

Although Zhong Yueping did not like Yang Shao’s way of killing innocent people, she could understand it. A general on the battlefield, his words were the most sacred orders. He would not give any soldier a chance to explain. Only with such strict military discipline could he cultivate invincible soldiers who obeyed commands.

Yang Ran was young and did not seem to fully understand what had happened. But he knew it must be because he had spoken too much, so he shut his mouth and never spoke again.

“Ugh…” At this moment, Zhong Yueping suddenly began to dry heave, looking extremely unwell.

Yang Shao flew into a rage. Before long, all the chefs had been dragged out. The great hall was filled with cursing and begging, a scene of complete chaos.

“Your Highness, I may have caught a chill and upset my stomach. It really has nothing to do with them. I beg you to spare them!”

“Someone come, take Miss Zhong to rest. Quickly go outside the residence and fetch a doctor.” Yang Shao seemed to ignore Zhong Yueping’s pleas on their behalf. In his eyes, once he had decided to do something, he would never change his mind.

Originally, there had been several imperial physicians in the residence bestowed by the emperor. But because Yang Shao’s demands were even stricter than those of the imperial palace, they had made minor mistakes and were all killed by Yang Shao. So now they had no choice but to fetch a doctor from outside.

The terror of the prince’s residence was known even to doctors outside. So whoever was summoned to treat a patient could only rush there in great haste. If they were even slightly slow, they might not walk out of the residence’s gate alive.

In just the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, a doctor carrying a medicine box ran into Zhong Yueping’s bedroom, sweating profusely. But he went in quickly and came out just as quickly.

“What? The lady is with child? You quack! Someone drag him out and behead him.”

Then several more doctors came one after another. Except for the last one, all the others became wronged souls of the prince’s residence.

Actually, it was not that those people’s medical skills were poor. A person who studied medicine, even if their skills were lacking, could still take a pulse to detect pregnancy. The main problem was that Yang Shao truly could not accept that Su Lianyun still had a bloodline growing in Zhong Yueping’s belly.

And Zhong Yueping had originally planned to quietly hang herself after the meal. But this sudden arrival of a precious child made her abandon the thought of death. Because she felt this was the last gift her husband had left her, and she must cherish it dearly. What’s more, her husband had constantly mentioned before her that if they had a daughter as well, then with both a son and a daughter, they could form the word “good.” Now her husband was dead, but this child had come. Could it be that fate had destined her to fulfill her husband’s dying wish?

As she was thinking this, Yang Shao ordered someone to take Yang Ran to rest. But Yang Ran refused to listen to Yang Shao no matter what. He insisted on staying to talk a while longer with the “little brother or sister” in his mother’s belly.

He had been far too lonely all these years. He, who had always loved to chatter with people, had longed for a “little brother or sister.” Now his wish had truly come true. He could not have been happier or more unwilling to leave. In the end, only when his mother said she needed to rest did he listen to Yang Shao and leave.

Yang Shao then called the doctor outside the door. Zhong Yueping felt something was not quite right. What could Yang Shao have to say that he needed to call the doctor outside the door to speak secretly? So she pressed her ear to the crack in the door to eavesdrop. Vaguely, she heard the three words “abortion medicine.” The intelligent woman immediately understood. Yang Shao was planning to pull a switch, replacing the medicine for calming the fetus with medicine for aborting it.

She was so shocked she could barely stand. Everything flashed through her mind at lightning speed. From saving Yang Shao the first time, to the way Yang Shao looked at her, to Yang Shao’s coincidental rescue of them, to Yang Shao’s lie that her husband’s bones were gone and his whereabouts unknown, and finally to Yang Shao’s plot to harm the precious child in her belly. Connecting the beginning and end of everything, the final words that flashed in her mind were: Yang Shao is the mastermind behind it all.

Actually, the reason Yang Shao had brought back Su Lianyun’s body was to increase the believability of his rescue. If he could save even Zhong Yueping but could not recover a corpse, it would make Zhong Yueping suspicious. However, he had not expected that the body still could not be brought back. The credibility of his heroic rescue of a beauty suddenly plummeted, and thus Zhong Yueping finally saw through his hypocritical face.

As Zhong Yueping was thinking this, she lost focus for a moment. Her footing became unstable and she bumped into the door. Although the sound was very small, it startled her so much that she immediately ran toward the bed. But the more anxious she was, the more her feet would not obey her. She actually fell to the ground. Although she had protected her belly, Yang Shao had discovered her strange behavior.

“You heard everything?”

“I…” Zhong Yueping had originally wanted to lie, but she, who had never told a lie in her life, did not know how to fabricate one. In the end, she could only tear off all pretense and curse, “Yang Shao, you are simply a devil. You repay kindness with evil, you ungrateful and despicable little man. I trusted you so much, you…”

She, who had always been gentle and virtuous, truly found it difficult to say anything harsh. Yang Shao could not help but burst into loud laughter upon hearing this.

“Can any of this be blamed on me? If you had not saved me, would I have been overcome by your beauty, unable to eat or sleep? I do not want to be trapped by love either. I do not want to steal another man’s wife. But I cannot control myself. I cannot control it.”

Yang Shao’s words made her recall the coachman’s earlier warning. Back then, she had not believed that someone with such tenacious vitality could be as cold blooded as a snake. Now it seemed Yang Shao was no different from a snake. In fact, he was even worse than a snake. At least a snake, startled in the farmer’s embrace, had acted out of instinct for self protection when it harmed its savior. But Yang Shao had coveted his savior’s beauty and done such a thing of repaying kindness with evil. Now he even blamed others for saving him wrongly. This was simply worse than a beast.

Seeing that Zhong Yueping was lost in thought, Yang Shao thought his words were having an effect. So following his twisted logic, he continued, “The real culprit is actually you yourself. This is like a city whose location happens to be at the enemy’s throat. Two armies face off, and in the end the city falls and the family is destroyed. Can this be blamed on those who killed? It can only be blamed on the city being too tempting. Even if the two armies used any schemes and tricks, that is all fair in war, and perfectly reasonable.”

“This is simply twisting words and forcing logic. How can matters of the heart be the same as fighting a war?”

“There is no other way. Since childhood, all Yang Shao has read are military texts. All he has seen is killing and scheming, deceitful court struggles. No one ever taught me the ways of love. I only know that if I want something, I must get it at any cost. At any cost.”

“Fine. Fine. Fine. I was truly blind back then. I thought you were some virtuous ruler with both talent and virtue. I never expected you were just a wicked wolf in sheep’s clothing. I do not want to argue with this beast like you. You think I am beautiful, so it is all my fault, right?” As Zhong Yueping spoke, she got up and rushed to smash her face against the corner of the table, wanting to ruin that world stunning beauty beyond recognition. Because she felt it was her beauty that had attracted this demon and caused her husband’s death.

But before her face could hit the table corner, her entire body had already gone limp on the ground. Yang Shao’s hand slowly withdrew. Clearly, he had knocked out the emotionally agitated Zhong Yueping in his haste.

“Someone come, assign more men to keep watch over Miss Zhong. Do not let her do anything foolish. If she loses even a single hair, you know the consequences.”