Chapter 110: How About You Kneel For Me to See?
Xiao Jingzhao hadn’t brought many people with him, but whenever Xiao Li went out these days, she was protected not only by a few visible guards but also by forty or fifty men in the shadows.
No matter how skilled they were in martial arts, how many of them could possibly be better than Rong Qing?
Besides, the people with Xiao Li, other than Rong Qing, were by no means weak.
A severed head was kicked in front of Jia Ruo. It was only then that she realized she was drenched in blood. "AH... Damn it! Kill her! Brother, kill her!"
The next moment, a sword was pressed against Jia Ruo’s neck. "If Prince Yanping doesn’t stand down, then your little sister is done for."
Jia Ruo felt the blade slice into her neck and screamed in terror, "Brother! Brother..."
The frenzied Xiao Jingzhao was forced to stop. Seeing Jia Ruo held hostage once more, his face turned grim and vicious, suppressing a terrifying storm of rage.
His chilling gaze was fixed on Xiao Xuanyang, as if he wanted to tear her limb from limb right then and there. "It’s been years, and you’ve certainly given me quite a surprise."
Xiao Li returned a look brimming with killing intent. "It’s been years, and the two of you are still just as vile and disgusting as ever."
Even with a sword to her throat, Jia Ruo refused to be quiet. Her hatred for Xiao Li had already overcome her fear. "What are you so smug about? Have you forgotten how you used to kneel on the ground, begging me for mercy like a dog?"
Xiao Jingzhao said, "Let Jia Ruo go, or you won’t like the consequences."
Xiao Li sneered. "And what more could you possibly do to me?"
As she finished speaking, she raised her hand. A sleeve arrow shot out, instantly embedding itself in Jia Ruo’s thigh.
"AH... You..."
Jia Ruo shrieked in agony. She tried to bend over and clutch her leg but forgot about the sword at her throat. Her neck scraped against the blade, and a fresh wave of pain made sweat bead on her forehead.
It was mostly from fear. Any deeper, and the wound would have been fatal.
"Xiao Xuanyang, don’t go too far!"
Xiao Jingzhao’s knuckles whitened as he gripped his sword. This was the first time he had ever seen his sister in such a wretched state, hurt right before his very eyes.
"If you kill Jia Ruo, I swear I’ll cut you into a thousand pieces!"
Xiao Jingzhao kept spouting threats, but Xiao Li found it almost laughable.
’See? This is how you wear down a person’s bottom line, one step at a time.’
’At first, he just demanded I let Jia Ruo go. Then it became a plea not to hurt her. Now that she’s injured, his bottom line has retreated again, becoming a demand not to kill her.’
"Oh, what a terrifying threat. Should I be on my knees begging for mercy right now?"
Xiao Li raised her hand, another sleeve arrow ready. Her eyes were chillingly cold, but her smile was twisted and malevolent. "I’ve never seen Prince Yanping kneel before. How about you give it a try for me?"
Xiao Jingzhao snapped his head up, his gaze even more ferocious than before. "Xiao Xuanyang, don’t be so outrageously arrogant!"
The sleeve arrow flew from Xiao Li’s hand. This time, it struck Jia Ruo’s other leg.
"AH! Brother, it hurts so much..."
Jia Ruo collapsed to her knees. Fortunately, Yang Jun had moved the sword away just as she fell, otherwise she would have died instantly.
Xiao Jingzhao’s eyes were stormy, brimming with appalling ferocity. "Xiao Xuanyang! You’re attacking your own kin! The Emperor and the Imperial Family will never forgive you!"
Xiao Li remained perfectly composed. "That will all happen after you’re dead. Don’t you worry about it. You won’t be around to see it anyway."
Jia Ruo was slumped on the floor, staring at the short arrows lodged in her legs. She wanted to pull them out but didn’t dare. The pain had her drenched in sweat and on the verge of passing out.
"Brother, save me! It hurts so much... Save me..."
At a look from Xiao Li, Yang Jun hauled Jia Ruo up and forced her to kneel upright.
"AHHHH!" Her crazed shrieks of pain pierced through the entire building.
The sound of heavy, approaching footsteps echoed from outside. Clearly, the patrol guards had arrived.
Xiao Li watched Xiao Jingzhao with unhurried calm. ’He’s waiting for reinforcements, I’m sure.’ But even if he managed to summon the Jade Emperor himself today, the prince would still be leaving on his knees.
"Since Prince Yanping doesn’t want to kneel, I won’t force you."
She took a saber from a nearby guard and walked slowly toward Jia Ruo. "You bullied me for so many years. The fact that I didn’t come looking for revenge should have been your cue to stay hidden in Yanping State like the rats you are."
"What gave you the delusion that after all these years, I would still let you trample all over me?"
She raised the saber, looking as if she were about to cut Jia Ruo down in a single blow.
Xiao Jingzhao stared at her, unblinking. Then, without warning, he lunged, aiming to kill Xiao Li.
However, Rong Qing was already prepared for him. He batted the prince’s sword aside with his own blade and simultaneously swept out with the hilt.
THUD!
Xiao Jingzhao fell hard, landing squarely on his knees before Xiao Li.
At the same moment, Xiao Li’s saber came down. It didn’t kill Jia Ruo, but it sheared off all her hair.
Jia Ruo stared at the locks of hair on the floor. Though she was on the verge of fainting from the pain, the shock of this moment made her horrifyingly lucid.
’My hair... that’s my hair...’ A surge of rage and humiliation rose in her chest, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. Ironically, her constitution was so robust that she couldn’t even faint if she wanted to.
It was a fate truly worse than death.
Xiao Li looked at her new ’hairstyle’ with satisfaction. "You once cut a patch of my hair off. Now, I’m simply returning the favor."
"Don’t worry. I was just scaring you. I won’t actually kill you. I’m going to return every single thing you ever did to me... one... by... one."
At this, she turned to look at Xiao Jingzhao. "Come to think of it, Prince Yanping, I imagine you taught Jia Ruo most of her little tricks for bullying me, didn’t you? But don’t you worry. I’m very fair. She will pay for her deeds, and you will pay for yours. I won’t miss a single one."
By now, Xiao Jingzhao was so enraged his eyes were bloodshot. He could no longer process her words; there was only endless humiliation and murderous intent. ’I will kill Xiao Xuanyang. I absolutely will kill her.’
’I’ll tear her to pieces, grind her bones to dust!’
Xiao Li had her men throw the siblings out. ’Teaching them a lesson is enough for now. Killing them in front of so many witnesses would be too much trouble to clean up.’
Xiao Jingyi was utterly floored.
’You call that "teaching them a lesson"? You nearly killed them! What kind of trouble could possibly be worse than this?’
Xiao Jingyi knew his Imperial Sister was ruthless, even a little unhinged. The incidents with the Lu family and the Gao Family were the best proof of that, to say nothing of the fact that she had killed Lu Yanzhi with her own hands.
’When I think about it, the things she’s done are so shocking they’re beyond what any normal person could even conceive.’
But he never expected that in a single confrontation, the sibling pair of Prince Yanping would be left in such a wretched state.
’She’d attacked Jia Ruo without a second thought, injured her just as casually, and even forced Prince Yanping to his knees...’
If his Imperial Sister had been Jia Ruo’s primary target for bullying, then Xiao Jingyi’s own life under Xiao Jingzhao hadn’t been much better.
’Those two siblings are cut from the same malicious cloth. Many of Jia Ruo’s tactics were even taught to her by Xiao Jingzhao. Of course, I wasn’t his only target, but I was certainly one of his victims.’
’Xiao Jingzhao was the absolute nightmare of my childhood.’
’I’ve been avoiding him as much as possible these past few days, only meeting him when I absolutely couldn’t get out of it.’
’Thankfully, Xiao Jingzhao doesn’t resort to his childhood tricks anymore, so I’ve been spared his cruelty.’
’Who would have thought that in the short time it took for him to show his face in front of Imperial Sister, he’d be so completely and utterly crushed?’
Seeing him fly into a powerless rage, seeing him forced to his knees—in that moment, Xiao Jingyi felt a brilliant sunbeam pierce through the gloomy haze of his childhood. A feeling of pure, unadulterated joy washed over him.
’Imperial Sister injures people without a thought for the consequences. These two siblings aren’t just anybody; this matter won’t be resolved peacefully. The Emperor can’t possibly let this slide, either.’
’But so what? If they dared to cause a scene over this, he would dare to take the fall.’
’I killed them. I beat them. I was the one who cut her hair. If they have the guts, they can come after me. They won’t lay a finger on my Imperial Sister.’