A flash of surprise crossed the black-clad man's eyes. His poison was considered one of the most formidable in the world, yet he had never expected anyone to see through it.
Instead of fear, he revealed a trace of fanaticism. “How did you discover the poison? Could it be that you’re an expert in this field as well?”
“Bah! Who says I’m anything like you? You naturally know nothing about what I can do. Even if I hadn’t noticed your poison, it would have been useless against me. I’m immune to all poisons.”
As she spoke, she pointed at Lu Jinshuang. “Of course, she won’t be poisoned either.”
The black-clad man looked utterly incredulous. “Impossible! My poison is unparalleled in this world. No one could possibly be better than me.”
Just like his father, he had spent his entire life pursuing the pinnacle of poisoncraft. He was convinced that no one could surpass him in this field.
Even Prince Kang had praised him repeatedly. After all, he had created a poison powerful enough to destroy everything.
The black-clad man’s expression twisted ferociously, making the scar on his face look even more horrifying.
Xi Qingyue slapped him across the face, sending him flying to the ground. He spat out a large mouthful of blood.
The black-clad man instantly flew into a rage. “Damn you! How dare you humiliate me like this? I’ll make you wish you were dead!”
Xi Qingyue looked at the enraged man and gave a cold laugh. She waved her hands from side to side, and the black-clad man, lying on the ground, was slapped over and over again until his entire face swelled up like a pig’s head.
Seeing how much fun she was having, Lu Jinshuang smiled and stepped aside. She was already thinking that if Xi Qingyue stayed in the capital for long, all the capital’s spoiled young masters would surely behave themselves.
The black-clad man kept vomiting blood. He was furious, yet his body moved as if it were completely out of his control, being slapped back and forth. The strangest part was that he was still some distance away from Xi Qingyue—the two of them had never even touched.
A trace of excitement and exhilaration rose in his heart. The moment the slapping stopped, he crawled toward Xi Qingyue and shouted, “You know sorcery! You actually know sorcery! As long as you teach me, I’ll work like an ox or a horse for you. I can even be your dog!”
A look of disgust flashed through Xi Qingyue’s eyes. This man really was insane. To achieve his goal, he was willing to do absolutely anything.
She sent out a blade of wind. The black-clad man’s eyes widened, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly lifeless.
Lu Jinshuang smiled. “I thought you were going to keep torturing him for a while.”
Xi Qingyue shook her head. “There’s no need. If he was someone who deserved to die, then we might as well finish him off. Keeping him alive would only create trouble for us.”
With that, she walked toward a garden in the courtyard. It was filled with all kinds of precious medicinal herbs, many of which were extremely rare and difficult to find elsewhere.
With a wave of her hand, she collected everything—the herbs, the soil around them, and every item inside the rooms—into her interspatial realm.
New An County Office.
The Ninth Prince’s corpse was hauled back to the county office on a handcart. The spectacle caused a huge commotion along the way, and countless people saw his body.
However, Mu Jin did not reveal how the Ninth Prince had died. She also had Nightshadow secretly taken back to the county office by another route.
She deliberately brought the Ninth Prince’s body back openly along the main street, while the guards hidden in the shadows carefully observed the crowd for anything unusual, especially anyone skilled in martial arts.
This was Xi Qingyue’s order. Prince Kang would never have sent only one person here. There might very well be others secretly gathering information.
Nightshadow would have to be interrogated sooner or later, but delaying the interrogation for a little while would produce an entirely different result.
Displaying the Ninth Prince’s corpse in public was meant for the spies to see. Once they saw that he was dead, they would certainly return and report to Prince Kang, and they would not meet up with Nightshadow.
Fang He hid among the crowd and watched everyone around him. When he spotted an unremarkable-looking man hurrying toward the city gate with light, nimble steps, he followed him without drawing attention.
Only after confirming that the man had completely left the city did Fang He return to the county office.
By the time Prince Kang learned that the Ninth Prince was dead, he would certainly seize upon the matter and make an issue of it. But his information would always arrive too late.
If Prince Kang raised troops to attack New An under the banner of avenging the Ninth Prince, he would already have lost the moral high ground the moment he began his campaign. By then, even if he wanted to turn back, it would be too late.
Xi Qingyue did not care about her reputation, but she would not allow anyone to smear her with false accusations.
Prince Kang deserved to be nailed firmly to the pillar of treason. He was unworthy of any honorable excuse.
After Mu Jin received word that the informant had left, a pleased smile appeared on her face.
She slowly said, “Since the messenger has gone, it’s time to interrogate Nightshadow. We’ll let the people in the city know who killed the Ninth Prince.”
Nan Yun said uncertainly, “What if he refuses to confess? Won’t the people say we tortured a confession out of him?”
Mu Jin calmly waved her hand. “It’s fine. Before the interrogation, tell him that as long as he has even one breath left, the Commandery Princess can save him. If he still refuses to confess, then she’ll interrogate him personally when she returns. Unless he enjoys the feeling of having his skin peeled off and his bones torn apart.”
Nan Yun’s eyes lit up. “Brilliant! Threatening him with the Commandery Princess will definitely work. He isn’t a death warrior, so he’ll surely give in.”
Mu Jin smiled and shook her head. “You’re thinking too simply. Even a death warrior might not be able to endure the Commandery Princess’s methods.”
Nightshadow appeared fine on the surface, but several parts of his body had already been treated almost as badly as if his skin had been peeled off and his bones torn apart. Anyone who wasn’t stupid would know which choice to make.
Things turned out exactly as they had expected. The moment Nightshadow heard that if he refused to confess, Xi Qingyue would return to interrogate him personally—and that she would revive him as long as he had even one breath left—his face filled with terror.
“I’ll confess! I’ll confess everything! Take me to the interrogation room now. Don’t delay!”
Nightshadow wished he could get it over with as quickly as possible.
Mu Jin, however, shook her head. “That won’t do. If you confess so readily, people will think we found someone to falsely accuse. You’ll have to put up a stronger front and hold out a little longer.”
Nightshadow stared at Mu Jin in disbelief. “Do you want me to confess or not?”
Mu Jin nodded with a smile. “Of course we want you to confess. But you can’t surrender before we’ve even beaten you. We have to at least pretend to punish you with a few strokes of the cane. Otherwise, no one will believe it. They’ll assume you’re someone we hired, and that won’t do.”
Nightshadow ground his teeth in anger. He was already prepared to confess, yet they still wanted to beat him with a cane. This was nothing short of bullying.
But when he thought of Xi Qingyue’s methods, a chill ran through him. The pieces of flesh that had been cut from his body and the pain spreading through him constantly reminded him that the little girl was practically a demon.
If he refused to confess and chose to die instead, there was a very good chance he would be made to wish he were dead.
In the end, he nodded. “Fine. Do as you say.”
Mu Jin smiled in satisfaction. “Excellent. Let’s go. Everyone is waiting to find out who killed the Ninth Prince.”
And so, the public trial at the county office was settled in this absurd fashion.
Next, all they had to do was let the people witness a half-true, half-staged interrogation. As long as the result was genuine, that was all that mattered.
Xi Qingyue had complete confidence in Mu Jin’s ability to handle things, so she and Lu Jinshuang did not hurry back.
She gathered all the corpses together. The earth beneath them suddenly loosened, and in the blink of an eye, all the bodies were buried underground.
After finishing that, her gaze turned toward the peach tree, and her face filled with eager anticipation.
Lu Jinshuang couldn’t help feeling puzzled. “Yue, if you like peaches, you can come pick them when they ripen next year. It’ll be easy for you to come here anyway.”
Xi Qingyue glanced at her and shook her head. “I don’t want to come here next year. Who knows where I’ll be having fun by then? It’d be too much trouble.”
Lu Jinshuang’s eyes lit up at that. “Yue, are you thinking of returning to the capital? There are plenty of peach orchards there too. I’ll take you to one when the time comes. You can eat as many peaches as you like. There are all kinds of orchards—whatever you want to eat, you can have.”
Xi Qingyue gave her a strange look. “Sister Jinshuang, you’re overthinking it. I just feel sorry for these trees being left here. I want to take them with me.”
