Killer Queen: Tyrant, prepare to die!

Chapter 85 Golden Thread Strangulation! A warning in blood on the mirror: Night Phoenix was here.

The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The last night of the year.

Firecrackers crackled sporadically throughout Hangzhou, but the atmosphere inside Wanghu Tower was colder than ice.

Liu Chengming sat in his messy study.

The ground was littered with broken porcelain, torn calligraphy and paintings, and smashed antiques.

Three days.

In just three days.

He received three "big gifts".

---

The first gift: an urgent letter from Ryu Seung-jong.

The letter contained only one line of red ink annotation:

"The situation in Jiangnan has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and the upright officials in the court are taking the opportunity to attack us. We must cut our losses and save ourselves, and stop entangled with Ye Huang."

Tail docking?

Liu Chengming looked at the list of businesses he had managed in Jiangnan over the past six months—

The illegal salt trade network was completely dismantled, resulting in a loss of 500,000 taels of silver.

Jinxiufang has taken away nearly half of the market share in the weaving business.

The relationship with the canal gang was damaged due to the salt smuggling case, and Li Heihu's attitude was ambiguous after his detention.

The alliance of the eight major cloth shops has begun to crack, and some have started to secretly curry favor with Jinxiufang.

This "tail" has long been almost completely cut off by Night Phoenix!

---

The second gift: news from the martial arts world.

After the "Northern Desert Twin Wolves" were crippled, no one in Jiangnan dared to take orders from the Liu family anymore.

Several small gangs even switched sides to join Ye Huang—because they heard that she offered a lot of money and wouldn't let her subordinates die.

"The rules of the martial world?" an old bodyguard scoffed in the teahouse. "Young Master Liu broke the rules first, using martial arts figures to settle personal scores. Who's to blame for the lost men?"

These words reached Liu Chengming's ears.

He smashed another tea set.

---

The third gift: the most lethal.

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), Mo Shisan personally came to the door.

It was not a visit.

It's a message.

"My master asked me to pass on a message to Young Master Liu."

Mo Shisan stood in the lobby of Wanghulou Restaurant. His voice wasn't loud, but it made all the diners prick up their ears.

The landlord said: "Jiangnan is not the Jiangnan of the Liu family."

He paused for a moment.

Word by word:

"If you reach out again, I'll chop off your hand."

Done.

拱手。

He turned and left.

The room was completely silent.

Liu Chengming stood behind the second-floor railing.

His face was ashen.

The veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

---

"Night Phoenix... Night Phoenix!"

In the study, Liu Chengming kicked over the rosewood desk.

"A widow! A lowly woman who should have died in the cold palace! Why?!"

He frantically tore apart the confidential files about Shen Qingci.

Paper scraps flew everywhere.

"I have dirt on you! I know who you are! I know who your son is!"

He was breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot.

"I'm going to destroy you... I'm going to expose you in front of Nangong Ye! I'm going to make you and your bastard child die again!"

Outside.

Zhao Ying, the deputy commander of Anxiang, stood with his hands at his sides.

Listen to the roaring inside.

Expressionless.

He was a trained assassin by the Liu family.

It only recognizes commands.

Ignore emotions.

Until the sounds inside gradually subsided.

He then pushed the door open and went inside.

"Young master."

Liu Chengming slumped in the chair, his hair disheveled.

"explain."

"News has come from the capital that His Majesty will impeach you... but will not issue it."

Keep it in the middle and don't send it out.

No comment.

No action will be taken.

This is the most dangerous signal for an emperor.

"What about Father?" Liu Chengming asked in a hoarse voice.

"The Prime Minister said... you should temporarily avoid the limelight. He will transfer you back to the capital after the New Year."

Back to Beijing?

Liu Chengming smiled.

"What's the point of going back? To go back like a defeated dog and become a laughingstock?"

He stood up.

I walked to the window.

Looking towards the direction of Qihuang Garden.

His eyes gradually became crazed.

"No……"

"I'm not going back."

"I need to go back before..."

"Kill her first."

Zhao Ying frowned: "Young Master, Ye Huang is surrounded by numerous experts, even Li Dequan is by her side. A head-on confrontation..."

"Then let's do it covertly." Liu Chengming turned around, his eyes flashing with a venomous light. "Use poison. Use Gu poison. Use what she cares about most—her son."

He lowered his voice.

"Go to Xiling. Find the 'Witch Doctor.' I want to make her son... wish he were dead."

Zhao Ying felt a chill run down his spine.

The witch doctor.

That was the most wicked Gu master in Xiling.

Using children to raise poisonous insects is a cruel method.

"Young master, that child is, after all..."

"What is it, after all?" Liu Chengming sneered, "Nangong Ye's child? Even better. I want Nangong Ye to watch his own son become a vessel for Gu worms!"

Zhao Ying remained silent for a moment.

Bow down.

"Your subordinate... will arrange it immediately."

"Wait," Liu Chengming called out to him, "You go yourself. This matter must not be known to a third party."

"Yes."

Zhao Ying withdrew.

Liu Chengming sat back down in his chair.

The room was a complete mess.

Suddenly, she chuckled softly.

"Shen Qingci..."

"This time, I want you to beg me on your knees."

---

child time.

It was late at night.

On the top floor of Wanghu Tower, Zhao Ying's bedroom light was still on.

He is packing his bags.

We'll be setting off for Xiling early tomorrow morning.

This trip is dangerous.

But he was a suicide squad member.

no choice.

The candlelight flickered suddenly.

Zhao Ying paused.

He placed his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"Who?"

no respond.

The only sound was the wind seeping in through the cracks in the window.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe I was just too nervous.

Continue tidying up.

But the next second—

A dark figure floated down from the beam!

Light as a falling leaf!

Zhao Ying drew his sword in horror!

But it was too late.

A very thin gold thread had been wrapped around his neck.

It's cold.

Flexibility.

Then tighten suddenly!

"Well--!"

Zhao Ying's eyes widened as he struggled desperately.

But the gold thread, of unknown material, tightened even more the more she struggled.

He saw the person's face clearly.

Dressed in black.

Masked.

Only his eyes were visible.

Icy.

calm.

Like looking at a dead person.

"Night..." he managed to squeeze out broken syllables from his throat.

The man in black—Night Phoenix—increased his grip.

The gold thread was deeply embedded in the flesh.

Zhao Ying's face turned purplish-red, and his eyeballs bulged out.

"Liu Chengming wants to harm my son." Ye Huang whispered in his ear, her voice as soft as a sigh, "So, you must die."

"Crack—"

A soft cracking sound as if the neck bone is breaking.

Zhao Ying's body went limp.

It stopped moving.

The night phoenix loosened its golden threads.

He took out a white handkerchief from his bosom and wiped the bloodstains off the gold thread.

Then I walked to the dressing mirror.

He dipped his finger in the still-wet blood from Zhao Ying's neck.

Write five words on the mirror:

Night Phoenix was here

Her handwriting is beautiful.

Yet it exuded a chilling murderous aura.

Finished.

She glanced back at Zhao Ying's corpse.

Turn around.

Open the window.

He jumped down.

They disappeared into the night.

---

The next morning.

The third quarter of the hour of Mao (5:45 AM).

A maid brought hot water.

Push the door open.

scream.

When Liu Chengming arrived at the scene, Zhao Ying's body was already stiff.

A deep mark on his neck.

Purplish-black.

shocking.

And those five blood-red characters on the mirror—

Night Phoenix was here

Like a slap in the face.

He slapped Liu Chengming hard across the face.

He stood still.

Not moving at all.

a long time.

"Get out." His voice was hoarse.

The maidservant scrambled away.

Liu Chengming walked to the mirror.

Look at that line of text.

Suddenly he laughed.

He laughed so hard he was shaking.

"Well... well done, Night Phoenix..."

"What a remarkable Shen Qingci..."

He stretched out his hand.

Smear away a word written in blood.

Fingertips stained red.

"You think this... will scare me?"

He turned around.

Looking into Zhao Ying's unseeing eyes.

Say it softly:

You're wrong.

"This will only make me want to..."

"I'll ruin you."

That being said.

But when he walked out of the room...

My hands are shaking.

His back was trembling.

That was fear.

An uncontrollable fear.

---

At the same time.

Qihuang Garden.

The morning light is dim.

Ye Huang sat by the window.

He was holding the jewel-encrusted dagger in his hand.

Wipe it gently.

The blade was bathed in the morning sun.

It gleamed with a cold light.

Bao'er rubbed her eyes and walked over.

"Good morning, Mother."

"Good morning." Ye Huang sheathed her dagger, picked up her son, and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Okay." Bao'er nodded, then suddenly asked, "Mother, will the bad guys come again?"

Ye Huang looked towards the direction of Wanghu Tower.

Smile.

"meeting."

"But they will be more careful."

"because……"

She lowered her head and kissed Bao'er's forehead.

"A scared rabbit will reveal more of its weaknesses."

Bao'er seemed to understand, but not quite.

But he knew his mother was there.

I'm not afraid.

outside the window.

The first rays of sunlight of the new year shone in.

warm.

But this situation in Jiangnan...

It's far from warm yet.