si-mexico Chapter 5 One Move Kills
Chapter 5 One Move Kills
Gu Liang paused, and as he listened, his eyes curved downwards.
"I know, you just want the secret letter about my father's affair with Prince Jing."
"A secret letter bearing the mark of bougainvillea." Her voice was calm, but her clear eyes were quite indifferent.
Gu Liang, on the other hand, was taken aback by her answer and paused for a moment before pressing the dagger closer. "Where's the letter?"
Jiang Zhi glanced at him, pushed the dagger away, leaned forward again, and turned to meet his gaze. "Want to know?"
"Then say yes."
"Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
"you will not."
Jiang Zhi pointed to the blade in his hand, which was pointing at himself, and tilted her head playfully.
She whispered in his ear, "You—have a soft heart."
Gu Liang glanced at the dagger, then looked up. "Are you threatening me?"
"Your Highness is overthinking it. I just want to spend more time with you."
Jiang Zhi looked up and met his gaze again.
Their eyes met, they were very close, their breaths were warm, and for some reason, she felt a sense of aggression and danger.
Jiang Zhi knew that with Gu Liang's methods, she would definitely be able to stir up a storm.
Her father, Marquis Zhenyuan, had been advising Prince Jing for many years. Prince Jing, however, only wanted to use Marquis Zhenyuan's military power to support him. He also used her uncle, General Lu Pingsheng's military power to secure his position as crown prince, and even disregarded the people, wantonly killing them.
In his previous life, King Jing succeeded.
But her father and Lu Pingsheng died without a proper burial, and she also died in a dark prison.
In my previous life, when I accidentally stumbled upon Prince Jing making a deal with my father, I was holding a letter that looked just like this.
If we can bring down Prince Jing, and with that letter, we can make him and the Gu brothers fight like dogs, and also let our father know the consequences and pay the price he deserves. Why not?
Moreover, the Jiang family is already at odds with Gu Liang. If she becomes the Princess Consort of Liang, Liu Shi and Jiang Luan will be furious.
Gu Liang stared at her for a while, then said in a low voice, "What if I say no?"
His words were so blunt that Jiang Zhi's upturned lips froze.
She suddenly understood why people said he was cold-hearted by nature.
Unable to resist asking, "Does Your Highness have someone you love?"
Gu Liang was silent for a moment, her eyes flickering.
Suddenly, footsteps outside began to approach.
"Your Highness," Qinghuai's voice came again.
“Someone came down from the attic; it seems to be a young master from the Guangde Marquis’s household and a maid.”
Upon hearing this, her eyelashes fluttered. "What a coincidence."
Gu Liang raised his thick eyebrows. "Hmm?"
"Understood, you go down first."
"Yes, Your Highness," Qinghuai replied.
After Qinghuai left, footsteps continued to approach the pavilion.
Then came a maid's voice: "Young Master Pei, Miss Jiang is inside."
"She's been poisoned by a love charm and can't get out. Judging from the effects of the drug, she's probably still asleep."
"Although Miss Jiang has just returned from Liangzhou, she is uncouth and stubborn."
"But she is, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family, and her appearance is exceptional. I believe that if Young Master Pei marries her, your father, Marquis Guangde, will definitely look at you, a son born out of wedlock, with new respect."
The maid's voice reached the ears of the two people inside the room.
She didn't speak, pondered for a few moments, her fingertips twitched slightly, and her eyes darkened.
Gu Liang looked up, glanced at her, and smiled, "So you were looking for me."
Her eyebrows curved slightly, her expression indifferent, and a mocking smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her lips. "Your Highness, we can do this later..."
Gu Liang walked to the screen, went around it, and walked into a cabinet. He bent down and squatted down, a shadow appearing in his eyes, and remained silent.
The sounds of conversation outside the door grew closer.
Pei Qiu, the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Guangde, looked at the maid beside him with a beaming smile.
"Please thank your young lady for me. If I marry Jiang Zhi, I will never forget your great kindness."
"That's natural."
Jiang Zhi sat lazily in the chair with her head slightly lowered. Her fair fingers, with their crystal-clear nails, tapped the handle up and down as she listened to the conversation between the two people outside the room.
Shao Xiu smiled faintly, recognizing the identities of the two.
Besides the illegitimate son Pei Qiu, the other maid was Qin Xin, Jiang Luan's personal maid.
In his previous life, the deaths of his mother and Liu's son were all part of a carefully crafted trap set by Prince Jing to use Liu to win over his father.
Her mother's death burdened her with a reputation for being unfilial, forcing her to flee to Liangzhou.
The death of Liu's son burdened her with the stigma of fratricide, forcing her to flee to Liangzhou once again.
In this struggle, Prince Jing was cunning and ruthless.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhi's face gradually turned cold, becoming frighteningly gloomy.
The room was now shrouded in darkness, and a threat was sweeping in.
"Eh-"
Pei Qiu gently pushed open the door, his footsteps light, as if afraid of waking someone.
He tiptoed toward the bed, a smile spreading across his face. As he walked, he began to undress, his fine clothes falling to the floor in disarray.
But they didn't notice at all that a black figure was sitting in the dark corner behind them.
Sitting in the chair, Jiang Zhi's brows furrowed with an overbearing air of authority, along with a hint of barely perceptible hatred. She stared intently at him.
Pei Qiu took several steps toward the bed before noticing the unusual situation in the room, and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His hands, hidden beneath his sleeves, clenched unconsciously. He feigned composure, swallowed hard, and slowly turned his head, suppressing his trembling, toward the direction of the breathing sound. There he saw a pair of dark eyes staring intently at him.
"You...aren't you Jiang..." Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Zhi pressed his hand against his throat.
Pei Qiu knelt on the ground with a thud, his face pale. "I was wrong, please spare me, Miss Jiang, please let me go. I was just following orders."
Jiang Zhi said calmly, "You talk too much nonsense."
She closed her eyes, her expression suddenly changed, and a dagger slashed through the silent night, cutting the carotid artery in his neck.
A scream rang out, and blood splattered everywhere.
The blood-red jade beads slid along the wound, dripping onto the ground and transforming into vibrant blood-red flowers.
Her gaze sharpened, and a wicked smile appeared on her lips.
Gu Liang's gaze paused, seemingly surprised. How did she learn to kill now?
A strong stench of blood filled the room, and Gu Liang's voice came from behind the screen, "Miss Jiang, you have quite the skill."
He slowly stood up, turned his head, and watched as Jiang Zhi coldly pulled the dagger out of the corpse.
Moonlight streamed through the window, dappling her body. He looked at her profile, and she calmed down, but it seemed as if her heart was overflowing with uncontrollable excitement.
Her shadow stretched longer and longer.
Jiang Zhi slightly raised the corners of his eyes, his gaze revealing an unreadable expression, but beneath his eyes lay a deep darkness. "Your Highness is too kind."
She lowered her eyes, casually pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, and gently and calmly wiped the blood from her hands. "Your Highness, can you believe that I was not sent by my father?"
Gu Liang then shifted his gaze from her shadow, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. "That's good then."