The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

He then took out an identical white jade bottle from his pocket and gently placed it on the table.

"This bottle is more effective."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over Pei Wenzheng's pale face before settling on Pei Yu's stiff body.

"Prime Minister, will you and your son drink it yourselves, or will I...feed you?"

Pei Yu snapped back to his senses and shouted sharply:

"Guards! Protect the Emperor!!"

"Too small." A charming female voice came from outside the door.

Mei Shiliu leaned against the door frame, her eyes crinkling with a smile:

"Young Master Pei has not only narrowed his mind, but his voice has also become soft."

"Help! Help! The entire Prime Minister's residence has been massacred!"

As she shouted, she winked and smiled at Pei Yu, a smile that was both innocent and cruel.

After she finished shouting, her smile deepened:

"I called for you, but it seems... no one is coming."

Cangming raised his hand and lightly tapped the armrest with his fingertips.

He said casually, "I went out tonight because it was cold and I wanted to stretch my muscles. I accidentally slaughtered all three hundred of your hidden guards who were lying in ambush outside the mansion."

Mei Shiliu counted on her fingers: "Sect Master, although it was someone else's dog that died, it's not worth mentioning."

"But I still have to report. Tonight we killed three hundred at the Princess's residence, wiped out two hundred at the training camp in the west of the city, and just now we slaughtered three hundred at the gate of the Prime Minister's residence. A total of eight hundred lives, not a single one was spared."

She tilted her head to look at Pei Yu, "Young Master Pei, you've been raising him for ten years, haven't you? Sigh! Tsk tsk... What a pity."

Pei Yu's vision went black.

Ten years of hard work.

Eight hundred elite warriors, forged from among ten thousand.

Everything was gone overnight.

Pei Wenzheng trembled all over, pointing at Cangming:

"Jinxue Pavilion...aren't you supposed to be detached from worldly affairs and uninvolved in court matters?! You—"

Mei Shiliu chuckled, "Not involved in court affairs? That's because our Pavilion Master just hates trouble."

"As for a transcendent status? Your Excellency, even the most transcendent official still needs to eat."

"Like the eldest princess—we don't like her either, but she gives so much—gold, who doesn't love it?"

Cangming looked up at the window.

The sky was already showing a pale light, the dawn was about to break, and it was the darkest hour.

"It's almost dawn." He stood up, and a short blade slid out from his sleeve. The blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, reflecting the cold half of his mask.

"The guards are dead, the secret guards are dead, only these few are left."

He walked toward Pei Wenzheng with a leisurely gait, as if he were admiring flowers.

"Kill them quickly, bury them, burn them, clean it up—" He paused, then added the last four words:

"Go back to sleep."

"Yes, Pavilion Master." Mei Shiliu bowed.

A flash of blade.

No one even saw how Cangming made his move; all they heard was Pei Wenzheng's extremely shrill scream—not a cry of impending death, but a deeper, more desperate scream.

He collapsed to the ground, and a patch of crimson blood quickly spread beneath him.

Castration.

Pei Yu rushed over and hugged his father, staring intently at Cang Ming, his eyes bloodshot.

"The Master is a smart man—let's talk business."

Cangming remained silent, simply watching him quietly.

"How much did the Princess give? We'll give double!" Pei Yu's voice was hoarse. "Triple! Ten times—!"

Mei Shiliu chuckled softly:

"How would you like to discuss this, Young Master Pei?"

"Save my life." Pei Yu gritted his teeth. "Name your price."

"No, you can do it three times, ten times, according to the rules of Jinxue Pavilion, two hundred thousand taels for one life."

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver?"

"Tsk." Mei Shiliu shook her head with a smile, thinking of Chu Qingyue's bewitching and crazy face, as if looking at a child who didn't know any better.

"My master is allergic to silver and only loves gold."

"Therefore, two hundred thousand taels of gold for a life."

"If you want to keep your official position, add another 100,000."

Pei Yu suddenly looked at Cangming.

He assumed that the "master" Mei Shiliu referred to was this Pavilion Master—

"Why don't you just rob us?!"

"Rob?" Mei Shiliu laughed even harder. "My master said he's a kind-hearted person and would never do such rough work."

She leaned closer to Pei Yu, her breath sweet as orchids:

"Our Jinxue Pavilion only deals in matters of mutual consent."

Pei Yu was trembling all over.

Mei Shiliu stood up straight and sighed regretfully:

"Judging from Young Master Pei's attitude, is there no room for negotiation?"

"Fine, we'll kill you all and move the gold ourselves—it'll just be a bit tiring."

"But it's alright, my master is very considerate of his subordinates and will definitely give them a generous reward."

"Wait—!" Pei Yu closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, only a deathly resolute look remained in them:

"make a deal."

He rattled off the names in one breath:

"Protect my father's life and official position, my mother, myself, my two legitimate sons, my three illegitimate sons, my daughter, and Pei Jiaojiao—a total of ten people."

Pei Wenzheng struggled to lift his head: "Your grandmother... your second and third uncles' family..."

"Father," Pei Yu's voice was cold and hard, "ten people being promoted to official positions already amounts to 2.1 million taels of gold. The Pei family treasury is empty; we can't save that many more."

He looked at Mei Shiliu: "Except for my mother, not a single woman will be spared—that's the bottom line."

Mei Shiliu raised an eyebrow and smiled:

"Young Master Pei is indeed ruthless. Deal. Where's the gold?"

"The gold is in the secret room." Pei Yu propped himself up. "I'll take you there."

The secret room was hidden deep underground, and the candlelight was dim.

Pei Yu pushed open the hidden door and pointed to several iron boxes in front of him: "They're all here."

Seven boxes in total.

Mei Shiliu was in no hurry, her fingertips lightly stroking each box, even tapping the ground and walls.

After a long pause, she smiled and said, "Fourth team, move."

The figures in black surged in like ghosts, hoisted the gold chest, and disappeared into the secret passage.

Pei Yu watched as his savings of ten years were wiped out, his heart bleeding, but he forced himself to remain calm: "I still have one more job—to kill someone."

Mei Shiliu turned around: "Who?"

"Chu Qingyue, how much silver?"

The air went still for a moment.

Mei Shiliu smiled, a smile tinged with a strange excitement:

"She—90 million taels of gold, paid half as a deposit first."

Pei Yu's pupils constricted sharply: "Why such an exorbitant price?!"

"Because we also took on a job to save her life," Mei Shiliu said matter-of-factly. "Kill her and save her—we take both jobs."

"Do you want to hear what you're saying?" Pei Yu thought he had misheard.

"Master said, only a fool would make such a choice." Mei Shiliu tilted her head, her eyes flashing with a mad and bright light.

"She always wants two things, and if given the chance, she'll create a third... she'll want that too."

Pei Yu laughed in exasperation:

"You protected her, yet you killed her—so who do you belong to if you took my money?!"

"Whichever side wins, that side gets the credit." Mei Shiliu blinked.

"We will split into two teams, one to protect her and the other to kill her."

"Whichever side succeeds, the money goes to them—it's fair, isn't it?"

fair?

Pei Yu felt all the blood rushing to his head.

Fifty million taels of gold—to buy a "possibility"?

"Probability is money too," Mei Shiliu said with a grin.

Pei Yu felt a mouthful of blood rise to his throat, but he swallowed it down and pointed to the door: "You... have paid the money, you can leave now."

"That won't do." Mei Shiliu's smile vanished, and her expression suddenly turned cold.

"There's still something we haven't finished."