Chapter 61: Maybe She Needs a Little More Stimulation
"There’s nothing but innocence between him and me! How could you disfigure him out of jealousy? How could you be so vicious? You obviously love him too, so how could you bear to hurt him like this..."
Walk the night roads too often, and you’re bound to see a ghost.
And if Xiao Li went out too often, she was bound to run into a lunatic.
How many days had it even been since she started going out? She had been keeping a low profile, not even bringing attendants. No one else could recognize who she was, yet she just had to run into Liu Xueyin.
The condemning gaze, the grief-stricken tone—all a vain attempt to make her feel guilty, to repent for her sins.
"So, you’ve already seen him. Where?"
’So the gates of the Princess Mansion couldn’t even stop this pair of star-crossed lovers, so cruelly torn apart by fate?’
Hearing the tone in Xiao Li’s voice, Liu Xueyin thought she was about to make a scene and looked a bit guilty. "I... I just went to the Lu family residence to visit Grandma Lu."
Tomorrow was Old Madam Lu’s birthday. In the past, the Lu family would always hold a small celebration, but since something had gone wrong at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet this year, the Lu family was skipping it. Liu Xueyin had long prepared a birthday gift and, thinking it would be inconvenient to visit on the day, decided to deliver it a day early. She never expected to run into Lu Yanzhi.
Lu Yanzhi was wearing a thin gauze mask to cover his face. The moment she heard he’d been injured, she insisted on seeing it. Even now, the memory of the wounds she saw with her own eyes made her heart ache as if it were being wrung out.
The hideous, terrifying wound covered half his face. It was a ghastly sight.
"You’re too cruel! By hurting his face, you’ve ruined his entire life!"
Her heartache overwhelmed her guilt. She harbored a deep resentment for this woman who had her beloved but didn’t cherish him.
Xiao Li was mentally exhausted.
To her, someone like Liu Xueyin didn’t even qualify as an opponent. Her world revolved solely around romance.
She had no real offensive power of her own; even when dealing with a love rival, she relied on men to do the work.
And all she had to do was say a few meaningless, kind-sounding words behind the scenes, and the men would all sigh over how kind and wonderful she was.
In that so-called "plot," she never killed a single person. It was always the villains who bullied her, only to be seen by the male lead or a supporting male character, and ultimately bring about their own destruction.
Even after the original Princess Xuanyang had tried to kill her time and again, when the "bastard child" the original owner gave birth to grew up, she told them, "Your mother was a very beautiful and kind person."
Who wouldn’t see that and sigh at how she was as wonderful as a fairy goddess?
From an outsider’s perspective, what a kind and gentle woman! But from the perspective of those involved, it was like stepping in shit—not lethal, just utterly nauseating.
Just look at what the original owner went through.
The original owner had been raped and became pregnant. That child was a bastard by definition. Whether she decided to give birth or have an abortion, it was her right, and not a decision for an outsider like Liu Xueyin to make.
And Lu Yanzhi was even bigger scum. He let someone in to rape his own wife, killed the rapist, and then, because his lover had a "soft heart," forced his wife to give birth to the rapist’s child.
All for the sake of so-called "kindness" and so-called "life." It was laughable.
Honestly, if they had truly despised the original owner’s existence so much that they conspired to kill her outright, Xiao Li might have even respected them a little more.
Even if the original owner had died, it would have been a clean death, without so much suffering. And Xiao Li wouldn’t have been forced to feel so much of her pain.
There are countless ways to deal with a person, yet they chose the most disgusting one.
Readers would see this and praise the female lead’s kindness and beauty, praise the second male lead’s deep and unwavering love, and praise that bastard child as a "genius baby" who knew to be grateful to the female lead.
How absurd.
"So, what is it you’re trying to say?"
"Are you just trying to lecture me? Or do you want to rescue him from my clutches? Or perhaps you want me to grant you your happily ever after?"
Xiao Li watched her. Perhaps realizing she couldn’t kill the person before her right now, the surging hatred within her gradually subsided. Looking at Liu Xueyin again was no different from watching a monkey jumping around.
Liu Xueyin wasn’t worth her hatred. She just needed to bide her time, build a sturdy cage, and then quietly await her death.
Liu Xueyin hadn’t expected Xiao Li to be so blunt. Her eyes darted away, not daring to meet Xiao Li’s gaze, but her clumsy attempt at hiding her feelings only revealed her true emotions.
There was a flash of pleasant surprise, but she knew her hopes wouldn’t be realized, so her expression turned somber, tinged with a faint sense of regret and injustice.
Perhaps in the eyes of a reader, this would be called "acceptance."
"You don’t have to test me like this. He and I are just childhood friends; I’ve never had any improper thoughts. I just hope you two can live in harmony as husband and wife and not hurt each other over misunderstandings."
Hearing this, Xiao Li’s face was filled with undisguised mockery. "So that wasn’t you two crying in each other’s arms in the West Garden? And it wasn’t you who said you wanted to kill me?"
’So hypocritical.’
Liu Xueyin’s face paled instantly. She had apparently forgotten that Xiao Li and Chen Pingting had been eavesdropping.
"I... Those were just words said in anger..." She faltered, her guilt showing.
"So, you have to hold each other to say things in anger?"
"I... I... I didn’t..." She was flustered.
She couldn’t explain.
Xiao Li reached out, grabbed the back of her head, and forced her to look up.
"The first one I killed was Gu Ling, but that’s just the beginning. Lu Yanzhi, Xiao Jingyu, the Lu family, the Liu Family, and any man who appears in the future and treats you well—I will kill every single one of them."
"Before I kill you, I will make you watch them die, one by one, right before your eyes."
"Just like Lu Yanzhi’s face—it was ruined because of you. From now on, for every person close to you who dies, it will be by my hand. I will make you watch them die, one by one, so you will live every day and every night in agony and nightmares. A life worse than death."
Xiao Li’s voice was soft and gentle, and she wore a smile, but it was an icy smile, as if laced with poison. It sent a chill down to the bones, making one’s body tremble involuntarily.
In that moment, it was impossible to doubt the truth of her words. It seemed she really was capable of such malice.
Liu Xueyin’s pupils dilated erratically. She was shocked and terrified, unable to imagine such a future.
Seeing that Liu Xueyin was merely frightened, Xiao Li sighed. ’What a ’kind’ female lead. She still won’t snap after all this. How boring.’
’Perhaps she needs a little more... stimulation.’
Xiao Li raised her eyes to the handmaiden standing behind Liu Xueyin. The girl had been staring at her with hatred from the very beginning, thinking she was being subtle when in reality she couldn’t hide it at all.
Xiao Li hadn’t recognized her at first, but the combination of hating her while also not defending Liu Xueyin, who was being tormented, was a very distinctive trait. This had to be one of the more significant supporting female characters from the plot: Su Jin.
A woman who adored Prince Chen.
Su Jin was the daughter of Prince Chen’s wet nurse. Her father was the Prince Mansion’s steward, and her mother had died in the palace because of Prince Chen. This gave her a special status in the Prince Mansion, higher than even a head handmaiden. Though she wasn’t a mistress, Prince Chen clearly treated her differently.
She had been assigned by Prince Chen to be Liu Xueyin’s head handmaiden—to serve her in name, but in reality, to control her and act as his spy.
Prince Chen always doted on Liu Xueyin, and out of jealousy, Su Jin often bullied Liu Xueyin and stirred up trouble between the two, causing Liu Xueyin to suffer a great deal of unprovoked harm.
But later, during the male lead’s "chasing-wife-through-the-crematorium" arc, when he was about to settle the score with Su Jin, Liu Xueyin chose to forgive her. Su Jin was then won over by Liu Xueyin’s kindness and became her sharpest weapon in the palace for dealing with the other concubines. Her loyalty to the female lead eventually even surpassed her loyalty to the male lead.
Loyal to the male lead in the early stages, loyal to the female lead in the later stages. Right now, she probably hated Xiao Li because Prince Chen had been injured.
Xiao Li couldn’t be bothered to waste energy on a minor character like this, one who just jumped back and forth between the male and female leads.
She turned to leave, but an arm blocked her path.
"The Princess injured the Prince. Don’t you have anything to say?"
Xiao Li brushed her arm aside. "It’s not your place to question me."
Su Jin grabbed Xiao Li’s wrist in a backhanded grip and said angrily, "The Prince’s injuries haven’t even healed, yet you haven’t offered a single word of apology! No matter what, the Prince is still the Princess’s older brother. Don’t you think you’ve gone too far?"
Her hatred was so intense that she unconsciously tightened her grip, her nails digging deep into Xiao Li’s wrist.
Xiao Li glanced down. More than anything, she hated it when others hurt her.
A dark glint flashed in her eyes. "So what is it you want?"
Su Jin, feeling perfectly justified, declared, "Go apologize to the Prince."
Xiao Li calmly asked back, "Should I kneel and kowtow, then?"
Su Jin said, "Of course you have to kneel when you apologize."
"Truly... arrogant."
No one saw when Xiao Li drew the dagger. They only saw her raise her hand in a swift, clean motion, slicing it across Su Jin’s throat.
Su Jin’s shocked expression froze on her face before she collapsed stiffly to the ground.
Fresh blood sprayed across the ground, spattering in front of Liu Xueyin’s eyes.
She stared in disbelief at the fallen handmaiden, then her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and she fainted.
Xiao Li: "..."
’For a female lead, she sure is fragile.’
She hadn’t planned on killing anyone, but Su Jin had insisted on courting death. Naturally, Xiao Li had to grant her wish. She would serve as a sacrificial offering to kick things off.
Killing her would serve to provoke the female lead and draw some of the male lead’s hatred. Let’s see how they react.
The chessboard was set. It wouldn’t be any fun without an opponent.