Ink Burns

Chapter 91 The Test of Obedience
There were hurried footsteps from outside the door coming from the Zhenjiang Prefecture's reception team.

The man pointed to the window of the charity cemetery with one hand and said, "There is a black horse one mile away."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lansing didn't have time to think about it. He raised his head and swallowed the pill, then flew out through the window.

The man's eyes swept over the pale body of Gu in the coffin: It is not enough to teach a technical job like killing only once - since they had to fabricate the murder plan in which Gu died because he discovered Lan Xin's escape, then how could poisoning him to make him bleed from all his orifices stand up to scrutiny?
He simply added a blow to clean up the mess, to avoid Zhu's further scrutiny.

The man looked through the crack in the door and saw that the people standing and waiting outside the Yizhuang Gate were all wearing standard official uniforms and were all minor officials in the yamen.

The man's eyes turned cold: Are these petty officials from the imperial court, or are they just dogs raised by the officials?

Someone came to open the wooden door.

The man glanced back to his senses and tapped his toes. By the time the wooden door was completely opened, he had disappeared.

The road outside the charity cemetery leads straight to the mountain. The man descended from the sky, turned around and sat on a tall horse. He turned his head and looked back at the Dantu Mountains. He clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly and ordered the attendant who followed him in a deep voice: "Let's go to Jinling Mansion to meet Lord Qiu."

The attendant's name was Luo Ting, and he was as taciturn as his master. He said, "Yes." After a pause, he continued, "Early this morning, Zhu entered the fortress. Sir, do you think we should leave someone to keep an eye on them?"

Xue Xiao casually put his hand on the reins and let the horse's hooves trample everywhere, but his eyes were fixed on the direction of the fortress hidden in the deep mountains and jungles. After a long time, he shook his head and said, "No need, she can handle it."

With her abilities, even if she is not selected, she will not lose her life.

If she really doesn't have the ability to be selected, then letting her go home would be a great kindness.

The kind and weak Doctor Cheng is actually a good choice - since he does not have the ability to reach the sky, he should return to dust and return to an ordinary life.

Xue Xiao squeezed his legs hard against the horse's belly, and rode away first, raising a cloud of dust. After walking less than a mile, Xue Xiao pulled the reins to stop the horse, his face expression motionless, and he glanced at the side and whispered, "--You stay and watch, don't let Zhu get too arrogant and cause a murder."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Xiao set off.

Luo Ting: No, it was unnecessary for him to run half a mile!
The last day in the fortress.

Unexpected calm.

Only Shanyue and Wen were left.

The two rooms were adjacent to each other, but the fortress was by no means as solid as that of the Cheng family. When the doors and windows were closed, there was a quiet space, and everything outside was isolated on the other side of the window lattice - outside the two doors, there were two old women guarding them, smiling but with a tough attitude.

"Miss Liu, the lady hasn't summoned you yet, so you can just wait in the room." The old woman bowed and said with a smile. After persuading Qiutou, who opened the door to inquire about the news, to leave, she slammed the door shut with a "bang".

Qiu Tao became increasingly uneasy.

The door was only opened twice, once when the maid brought the lunch box.

Qiutou opened the lid, and inside was a bloody dagger and a completely chopped chicken head placed on a plate.

The dagger's blade was sharp, the chicken's head was tilted, and the bird's eyes were cold and dull, fixed ahead.

"Ah——" Qiu Tao's hands trembled, and she flicked the lid of the lunch box to the ground. She was so scared that she fell on her butt and cried out on the spot: "What! What is this!"

Shan Yue lowered her eyelids, raised her eyes to take a look, pursed her lips and whispered: "Just to scare us."

When two armies are fighting, if one side has a majority of new recruits, the enemy will lay out thousands of horrific corpses on the battlefield overnight in an attempt to break through the defense line of new recruits who have never seen blood - once the defense line is broken, the outcome of the war will be obvious.

The second time the door was opened, it was the maid at the door who opened it a moment later. She bowed humbly and apologized: "The kitchen was careless. The cook casually put the bloody stuff in the girl's lunch box—" The maid replaced the lunch box: "This is your lunch. Enjoy it, enjoy it."

This meal cannot be eaten. A timid person cannot eat at this time.

Shanyue pushed the food box away, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed her eyes to rest. The soundproofing of the room was too good, so she could not hear Wen's movements, nor could she judge whether this trick was played on Wen: most likely, it was, the meaningless and anxious waiting, the chopped off chicken head, the bloody machete, these steps were pressing, it was impossible that they were just testing her.

A single test is meaningless.

The sky gradually darkened, and the fifth day, which had been agreed upon, was about to pass in a flash.

Finally there was a knock on the door.

Qiutou opened the door in panic.

The old woman bowed and said, "Miss Liu, please move to the main hall."

Shan Yue lowered her eyes, lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand, and stepped over the threshold.

Qiu Tao seemed to sense something, and she grabbed Shan Yue's clothes and cried, "Please come back soon."

The old woman said with a smile: "Look at what Miss Tao said, you should go too, the master and servant should go to the main hall together."

Shan Yue frowned immediately, and in an instant, he retracted his gaze before the old woman's eyes turned back, and said in a low voice: "Let's go, Qiu Tao."

When we arrived at the main hall, Wen had already arrived. Perhaps she was frightened by the bloody chicken head, so she hunched her back and sat down at the lower left. In the middle of the hall sat a beautiful woman with a pointed jaw, fair face, and a pair of curved willow-leaf eyebrows. She wore a red jacket with gold thread and a horse-faced skirt with green embroidered satin. She had a peony bun on her head, and her hair was tied up in a single bun. She also had a pair of gold filigree and gemstone-studded erotic hollow phoenix-bird peony hairpins covering her temples. The room was full of flowers and magnificent, but she looked dignified and elegant.

Shan Yue lowered his eyes and saluted.

Madam Zhu smiled and said, "You two are lucky. Last night, the girl Lan sent from Jinling Prefecture attacked and killed an innocent passerby named Gu. Today, Miss Gu was sent down the mountain in a coffin. The coffin was stained with blood. She died unjustly. Now, there are only two of the four most proud girls in each prefecture, which makes people sigh for no reason."

Shanyue:?
Killed by a sword?

Shanyue thought he had heard it wrong.

She was sure that Gu was poisoned by a silver needle, so how did it turn out to be killed by a sword?

The doubts were put aside because Mrs. Zhu spoke again.

"Since the number of candidates has dropped dramatically, we don't need to say anything more about the official statement."

Mrs. Zhu put her hands to her ears and clapped them twice. Then someone presented her with two red lacquer trays covered with red cloth.

"The last hurdle, those who pass it will go home and wait for marriage. They will choose an auspicious day next year to marry into my Xue family. Although my disappointing stepson has a bad fate, he has become famous in the past two years because of his ruthlessness. Even the young princess of the Prince of Kangning's mansion has praised him many times. Marrying him can be regarded as a step to heaven and a worry-free life."

Mrs. Zhu, with a faint smile on her lips, clapped her hands twice.

The red cloth was pulled open by He Wuma.

It just happened to reveal the dagger that was mistakenly sent today!

"I'm not looking for an enemy when I'm looking for a wife, so why am I looking for Qing Feng? It's also true that I can't find a girl from a high-class family who will listen to me. Being a member of the Xue family, you have to be obedient and submissive first."

Madam Zhu smiled and said, "Use this dagger to kill the little girl who has served you for five days - let me see whether you are truly obedient and gentle."

(End of this chapter)