Chapter 15: Good girl, keep stabbing!

He Jianzhong shook his head frantically: "I don't know! I really don't know! I have never heard of anyone else behind them! The Du family has never disclosed a single shred of information regarding the source of their wealth, but I know that before the incident occurred, they already had extra assets on hand!"

Yuetang gazed at him indifferently for a moment before sliding her knife down toward his throat. "If my Princess Seal is in Du Minghuan's hands, where do you think it is most likely to be kept?"

A fresh surge of terror flashed in He Jianzhong's eyes, and he quickly replied, "The study! It must be the study!"

"How are the sentries distributed in the study?"

His teeth chattered. "They are all hidden sentries, arranged in a formation based on the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams. I... I don't quite understand the specifics. However, during the sentry rotation last year, Zhang Shaode participated in the formation. He definitely knows!"

"Zhang Shaode?" Yuetang twirled the hilt of her knife. "Is there a secret room in the study?"

He Jianzhong swallowed hard, not daring to move. "I only saw him treating a peony painting hanging in the study as a precious treasure; he wouldn't allow anyone near it. If there is a secret room, it can only be behind that painting."

The corners of Yuetang's mouth twitched. "Anything else to confess?"

"No more!" He shook his head violently. "I swear, there is nothing else!"

"That's good," she said. "Then you can go die!"

With those words, she grabbed Madam He's hand and abruptly drove the knife into his chest!

As the words fell, she guided the tip of the knife held in Madam He's hand with a sickening *thud* straight into his chest cavity!

—How precise the strike was.

How powerful!

With just a single thrust, the blade had pierced through the center of his heart and emerged from his back!

He Jianzhong instinctively reached for his sword, but a second strike had already arrived.

Then came the third, and the fourth.

Each strike drove the disbelief in his eyes deeper into his pupils!

Yuetang held Madam He's hand, driving it down repeatedly amidst the woman's screams!

She continued until he convulsed a few times and could no longer move.

Yuetang patted the back of Madam He's hand. "Be good, continue. Keep stabbing, and Princess Yongjia won't come looking for you anymore. She will forgive you."

She released Madam He, who was curled into a ball, clutching her head.

Madam He stared blankly at the knife, then at the corpse, and then she truly began to stab.

Blood sprayed all over Yuetang. She brushed it off casually and then checked Madam He's pulse.

Yuetang curled her lips and stood up. "Useless thing. So greedy back then, not even afraid to instigate murder, and now that the knife has been handed to her, she's truly gone mad."

Having said that, she walked to the mirror, inspected her face from both sides, and wiped away the two drops of blood.

Xiao Huo glared fiercely at Madam He on the ground before bowing and walking behind Yuetang. "My Lady, should we leave the rest of the He family alive?"

The He father and sons had several concubines, as well as the children of He Xu's brothers, and Madam He, who was still right there.

"Leave them." Yuetang pulled a silk cloth from the table and wiped her bloody fingers. "If we kill them all, it will be too obvious. It would make the subsequent act harder to perform."

Xiao Huo hummed in agreement, though he added resentfully, "We really should leave none of them!"

"Go out first. Tell Hua Lin to wait for me outside the door."

Yuetang set the cloth down, pulled out a token from the Imperial City Bureau, and pressed it into He Jianzhong's palm. She then stood up and added, "Once the message is delivered, immediately let Zhang Shaode know that He Jianzhong is dead. Find a way to get him here as fast as possible!

"Be quick. If we're too slow, the Du family might get there first."

With a *whoosh*, Huo Yun vanished through the back window.

After he left, Yuetang stood straight and walked over to open the door.

The courtyard was still empty.

Thick smoke was billowing from the direction of the warehouse—the place where the He family stored their wealth.

Everyone had gone to fight the fire.

Even if one or two were still on duty in the main house, their entire focus was on the blaze.

Yuetang walked out of the courtyard, covered in blood and filth, and screamed, "Help! The Madam has killed the Master! Someone, help!"

Several servants turned around simultaneously. Seeing her appearance, they were terrified and bolted toward the courtyard!

Inside the room, Madam He was also covered in blood. No—because she had shielded Yuetang with her body during every strike, there was far more blood on her than on Yuetang.

The maids saw her gripping a bloody knife with both hands, stabbing He Jianzhong over and over again.

She was still muttering to herself, "I'll be good, I'll be good. If I kill you, if I kill you, the Princess will surely forgive me, she surely will..."

He Jianzhong lay on his side facing her, his eyes wide open, filled with the same disbelief and horror as He Xu and Lady Zhang.

"A ghost!"

Someone screamed, and then cries erupted one after another: "A ghost! There's definitely a ghost!"

The superstitions and ghost stories that Mother Li had suppressed yesterday suddenly resurfaced!

No, compared to yesterday's paranoia, this gruesome scene was far more terrifying and convincing!

Some of the people arriving fainted.

Some tripped over the threshold and fell to the ground.

Some instinctively rushed forward but stopped halfway, paralyzed by fear.

Madam He turned her head and grinned at them.

The crowd ran out, wailing and crying.

Yuetang stepped out from the crowd. "So many people of the He family have died one after another; I wonder what kind of crimes they committed to have vengeful spirits come knocking like this. Are you not afraid? Why aren't you running? Are you waiting to become the next ghosts under the knife?"

Everyone began to shiver.

Yuetang stood outside the threshold. "Tell the He family that there is no need to pay my consultation fee. Farewell!"

She stepped past the screen wall and strode toward the side gate.

A yellow dog tied beneath the side wall heard her footsteps and began barking at her.

She glanced at it, turned twice, and stomped hard on its food bowl!

The large ceramic bowl shattered into pieces. The yellow dog was startled at first, then let out a thunderous, angry howl from behind.

Yuetang grinned at it, then lifted her skirt and ran to the gate, kicking the door open as she stepped out into the setting sun.

Outside the side gate, Hua Lin was already waiting by the carriage, with Lan Qin's face visible through the window.

Lan Qin quickly got out of the carriage, shook out a cloak, wrapped it around Yuetang, and helped her inside. "Are you injured?"

"No. Don't worry."

The carriage immediately sped toward the North City.

Yuetang used a mirror to wipe her face, then carefully peeled off a thin, cicada-wing-like film covering her eyebrows and eyes, revealing a pair of willow-leaf brows and almond eyes that were entirely different from before.

She let out a sigh and looked out the window. Outside, the streets were bustling with traffic and prosperity, looking no different from the capital three years ago.

The Princess Yongjia, who was publicly claimed to have been driven to death by bandits at the bottom of a cliff, had become outdated gossip.

The Duan Prince's Manor, once the premier noble residence in the capital, had also withered; only the widow of the late Prince Duan remained to guard the family name.

The current citizens of the capital were focused on the new wave of imperial power and wealth, and the clans that had grown powerful by clinging to that power.

Lan Qin took out a clean outer robe for her to change into.

Yuetang tore off her bloodstained clothes. "Once you return, prepare the food exactly as I told you. When Xiao Huo returns, he must deliver it to the prison immediately.

"He Jianzhong is dead.

"The next one is Zhang Shaode.

"Zhang Shaode is more cunning than He Jianzhong.

"We must allow him a certain amount of time, but we must not give him any more time to react.

"At the latest, let him live for one more day and night."

Lan Qin looked at her. "Xiao Huo just said that regarding Zhang Shaode, you might still have questions to ask?"

"Yes," Yuetang's lips curled. "I want both his life and his words!"