Chapter 25 (Bonus Chapter)

Chapter 25 (Bonus Chapter)

◎ Accept all her terms, even if she had none to begin with. ◎

Upon hearing this, both fell into a silence.

After a moment, Qin Jue regained his composure and looked at Luo Wanqing. "You said you've only met her a few times."

If it was just a few times, how could she know so much about her?

Luo Wanqing pursed her lips. After a long hesitation, she spoke, "Actually, I saw her three months ago as well."

"Where?"

Qin Jue calmed down. As soon as he asked, he recalled that the woman before him was a death row inmate who had accompanied him from Yangzhou. He realized, "In Yangzhou prison?"

Luo Wanqing nodded hesitantly. Qin Jue smiled as he thought it through, "To kill me?"

Luo Wanqing didn't dare to respond. Qin Jue pondered for a moment and then connected the dots, "She was the assassin who escaped, wasn't she?"

"You..." Luo Wanqing pressed her lips. "How did you meet her?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Jue's expression dimmed. After a moment, he said softly, "Three years ago, I was ambushed. She happened to pass by and saved me, taking me home. She took good care of me on the way. I..."

"Did you fall in love with her then?" Luo Wanqing asked.

Qin Jue remained silent. How could he dare speak of such a despicable thing when his family's lives were at stake?

After a pause, he continued, "She left then, but before she did, she told me that she might come back one day for a drink. I believed her. I learned how to brew alcohol, and many other things. I waited every day for two years until she finally came back. She said she wanted a drink, and then she stayed. We got together, and she moved in with me. I introduced her to my family, and we were preparing for our wedding."

Qin Jue spoke briefly, his voice hoarse. "Right before the wedding, someone reported my family for treason. They searched our house and found weapons and documents implicating my father's plans to rebel. The documents had his personal seal, leaving undeniable evidence."

"And then?"

Luo Wanqing was puzzled. Qin Jue whispered, "When they were raiding my house, I was still grateful, thinking it was fortunate she didn't marry me and wasn't implicated. I didn't see her that day. Later, my father was taken to the eastern capital, and my family and I were left in prison. During the trial, the chief examiner revealed that it was my fiancée, Zhang Jiuran, who personally reported and identified my family."

As he spoke, Qin Jue smiled, tears falling. "Afterwards, I heard about the deaths of my family members. My father, my mother, my sister... I felt I deserved to die. But on the night I planned to take my own life, she came."

That day, he had been tortured and was in a miserable state. She stood quietly in the prison, watching him.

"She apologized to me, saying she was sorry. She confessed that she was an assassin from the Pavilion of Storms and that her approach and marriage to me were merely tactics to fulfill her mission. Originally, she planned to leave after completing her task, but now she wishes for me to live well."

Qin Jue lifted his head as he continued, "She told me to cherish my life and wait until she avenges her vendetta, until she kills Xie Heng. Then, she'll come to me so I can kill her. But what's the point of killing her? My family is gone, and I'm all that's left. Even if I were to kill her, what would it change?"

"She came to tell me this, saying she likes me, just to humiliate me. When did she ever truly care for me? She only toyed with me like a fool, again and again. Even now, she's mocking my incapability to kill her!"

Luo Wanqing found it hard to comprehend.

Kill Xie Heng?

Was Xie Heng Liu Xiniang's enemy?

Then, why did Liu Xiniang want to switch identities with her?

According to Qin Jue's account, Liu Xiniang, such a cold-hearted person, who'd harm her beloved's entire family and still speak of revenge before seeking him out, how could she be swayed so easily by Luo Wanqing's mere mention of leaving the Pavilion of Storms, abandoning her plan to kill Xie Heng?

She was infested with parasitic insects; it was impossible for them to exchange identities so effortlessly. If Liu Xiniang left the Pavilion of Storms, she would have only one path - death. Their identity swap wasn't about roles, it was a matter of life and death. Furthermore, before leaving, she even gave Luo Wanqing half of her inner strength...

No.

Recalling the moment in the Eastern Capital when the impostor Qin Jue had said, "If someone tells you that inner strength can be given only half, they're definitely lying to you," Luo Wanqing realized now that the impersonator hadn't been uninformed about the world's methods.

If leaving the Pavilion of Storms equaled death, then Liu Xiniang might have... long since prepared for it. She hadn't given half her inner strength; she had given all of it.

Why?

Why would she choose death?

She had sacrificed so much in her life. According to her, she entered the Pavilion of Storms to avenge a prominent figure. She had killed many and even caused the death of her lover's entire family. Yet, at the final juncture, she gave up. Why?

Luo Wanqing's thoughts were muddled. In a flash, she sensed something amiss.

How did Liu Xiniang identify the murderer?

She had retrieved a broken blade from her father's abdomen. The Pavilion of Storms' leader, Acacia Seed, had told her that her father was slain by a high-ranking official. Now, Qin Jue revealed that the culprit was Xie Heng.

How did Acacia Seed know? Through that broken blade? But how could a broken blade possibly confirm the identity of the killer?

Unless this broken blade held some extraordinary significance.

Luo Wanqing couldn't help but recall the first time Liu Xiniang had seen Jiang Shaoyan presenting her with a dagger.

Her face was filled with astonishment, and she paid extraordinary attention, mentioning that the dagger was custom-made by an influential family, asking where it came from...

"Wan Qing, did you see that broken blade?" Luo Wanqing suddenly spoke up, catching Qin Jue off guard. She turned to look at him. "She pulled it out from her father's abdomen."

"I have," Qin Jue nodded. "She always kept it on her person."

"What did it look like?"

"Very uncommon," Qin Jue frowned. "It had a small reverse curve at the tip, designed to rip flesh along with blood when withdrawn from a body, making it extremely vicious. Its craftsmanship was meticulous, not something an ordinary civilian could create. It was likely tailor-made by an aristocratic family. However, each family's unique weapons are highly secretive, known only to their own loyal assassins. I've had people investigate, but there were no leads."

No leads.

Aconite had told her that the murderer was Xie Heng.

In her lifetime, she had killed many to slay Xie Heng, becoming a top assassin and even causing the death of her beloved's entire family in the process. Her hands were stained with sins and atrocities.

But...

"This dagger belonged to Li Guiyu's master," Luo Wanqing murmured.

Qin Jue didn't quite understand. Luo Wanqing was recalling Liu Xiniang's analysis when she first saw the dagger: "If he is the Third Prince who got lost among the common folk, then his mother would be the current Empress, from one of the Four Noble Clans, the Wang family. This dagger must have been specially crafted by his maternal clan."

Luo Wanqing turned to Qin Jue. "Who ordered the Rain and Wind Pavilion to kill you?"

Qin Jue frowned. "I don't know."

"Could it be the Wang family, the Empress's maternal clan?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Jue was taken aback, then hesitantly replied, "It's highly possible. Back then, we had conflicts with the Wang family, and later retreated to the south of the Yangtze River."

If it was the Wang family, if the true mastermind behind the Wind and Rain Pavilion was the Wang family, and if that broken blade belonged to them, then what was the point of all that Liu Xiniang had done?

She ruined her own life and harmed so many for revenge, only to end up serving her enemy. What was the purpose of her actions then?

Luo Wanqing connected the dots and saw the truth in a sudden realization.

Why did Liu Xiniang go to the Northwest resolutely after attempting to assassinate Qin Jue and being captured by Xie Heng in her previous life? Why did she still choose the Northwest this time around?

Because she was wrong from the very beginning!

The moment she was taken in by Love Seed, her life had taken a misguided path.

One day, she would learn the truth. How would she face her past actions when she knew the reality?

Suddenly, Luo Wanqing understood why Liu Xiniang had said, "Hate fades with time. Don't do things against your heart for the sake of revenge, or someday, you'll regret it."

Because she had already regretted it.

Perhaps it was in the moment she took a life, or when she saw Qin Jue brewing wine for her, or when she witnessed the fall of the Qin family, or maybe when she saw Qin Jue preparing to take his own life...

She was already on the verge of despair, awaiting but a single straw to break her back.

And that straw...

"If I were to take care of your family without asking anything in return, would you still wish to switch identities with me?"

"Switch."

It was her.

Luo Wanqing trembled.

She replayed every detail of her interactions with Liu Xiniang in her mind: every lift of her gaze, every arch of her brow, each smile, every word spoken.

Yes, she did regret it. Yes, she had prepared herself for death. But it was she, Luo Wanqing, who had ultimately sealed Liu Xiniang's resolve to die.

It was her "switch."

Her "I can never find peace unless Jiang Shaoyan is dead."

Liu Xiniang never entertained the idea of swapping identities with her. What she wished for was for Luo Wanqing to avoid her own tragic path, but it was Luo Wanqing who insisted on this course, so she sacrificed her life to fulfill that wish.

To fulfill a stranger!

To fulfill a chance encounter like her!

Claiming to transfer half her inner strength was a lie.

Saying that from now on, the sky was the limit for her was a deception.

Even the promise of mutual benefit and a future meeting was false!

There was no such thing as a future meeting. In this life and the previous one, she had chosen to go to the Northwest alone.

Perhaps in her previous life, upon meeting Xie Heng, she already knew the truth. That's why she escorted Qin Jue into the Inspectorate, betraying the Rain and Wind Pavilion entirely. When Qin Jue became the Inspectorate's envoy, she fled to the Northwest.

Fate never changed, only cycling back in different forms.

The difference this time was that her senses might be completely gone. She might not even make it to the Northwest; she could very well die alone, in the darkness, halfway there.

In the end, she didn't even want Luo Wanqing to know of this debt of gratitude.

What was there to fear? Was it the fear of her feeling guilty?

Luo Wanqing clenched her fists tightly, exerting great effort to control her emotions. She was afraid that Qin Jue, who was beside her, would notice her abnormality, and also feared that these overwhelming feelings would disrupt her rationality.

Suppressing all her emotions, she began analyzing Liu Xiniang's current situation.

Liu Xiniang had given her all her inner strength, but she had promised to save her family and deliver the dagger to a location specified by Luo Wanqing.

She trusted that Liu Xiniang would keep her word.

Now, the last known whereabouts of Liu Xiniang was beneath that ancient tree at the Protect-the-Nation Temple, where they had made their agreement.

With only three months left, time was running out for her; each day could potentially be the day of Liu Xiniang's demise.

She needed to find her, and she must do so immediately.

She had to ensure Liu Xiniang's safety and discover the whereabouts of her family.

Without any internal energy, how could Liu Xiniang escape and save her family?

Moreover, what was the connection between Zhao Yuyan – or Jiu Shuang – and Liu Xiniang?

On the way to the Examination Hall, she had warned Wan Qing not to approach Qin Jue. Perhaps it was because she feared that Wan Qing might uncover the truth about Liu Xiniang's sacrifice for Luo Wanqing too soon, which would weigh heavily on her conscience.

Then why approach Jiu Shuang?

If Jiu Shuang intended to kill Qin Jue, he must be an assassin from the Rain and Wind Pavilion. Didn't Liu Xiniang know this? Or did she know and made some sort of deal with him?

Luo Wanqing closed her eyes and croaked, "How long has it been?"

Hearing this, Qin Jue turned his head to look outside. "It should be soon."

Then, he calmly said, "Their target is me. I'll stay here. You go over there by yourself in a while."

"You said they still have the key?"

Qin Jue was taken aback by these words. He looked at Luo Wanqing, who was reasoning, "I found a key on those two men I killed just now. If they locked the underground palace after entering, they wouldn't have had time to return the key. There should be another key on someone else."

"And so?"

"I'll give you these keys," Luo Wanqing handed Qin Jue the stolen keys with a calm demeanor. "There should be thirty of them. With these, you can become a Shadow Envoy and live at least five more years."

"What about you?" Qin Jue frowned. "Without the keys, even if you pass the second round, you'll only be a Shadow Envoy. We're just strangers... Are you willing to settle for that?"

"Your life matters more."

Lifting her gaze to meet his, Luo Wanqing continued.

Startled, Qin Jue met Luo Wanqing's intense stare as she declared seriously, "I know you don't believe it, but she didn't lie. She likes you and wants you to live, so I'll ensure you do."

"To become Liu Xiniang, one must pay the price of being Liu Xiniang."

Standing up, Luo Wanqing tightened her grip on the knife handle and spoke calmly, "I accept."

Accepting all her terms, even if there were none explicitly stated.

Yet, she would avenge her adversaries.

She would tread her path.

All that Liu Xiniang had shouldered, she would carry on in her stead.

She was Liu Xiniang.