Back in Lanling, Guangshan and the special relatives from Gusu spent another early afternoon talking about their careful plan for the execution of Lan Yunlin; an escaped tiger that had killed Jin Guangmeng, the older brother of Guangshan and possibly others. Guangshan, Qingheng, Qiren, Huan and Zhan were only lucky they were able to sneak into the palace of Lanling Jin yesterday morning without being noticed by Yunlin. They, or Little Zhan in particular, were even more fortunate that no one died last night.
Little Zhan was sitting in his seat in Lanling Jin's private meeting room with the elders and Huan sitting next to him. He did not bother to touch the cup of white peony tea in front of him and only kept his resting hands on his lap. In everyone's opinion, Little Zhan did not seem pleased at the moment.
"Xiao...Lan er gong zi (Second Little...young master Lan), are you not thirsty?" Guangshan had asked.
He did not bother to answer the Jin leader's question, which may have seemed rude, but the leader himself understood that any little boy (who took pride as being a little man) who was dressed in girl's clothes and hairstyled like a young maiden would certainly feel as if they had lost their dignity as a little manly boy.
"Zhan er, are you still mad that you were made to dress like a girl in place of your cousin?" Qiren asked with a straight face.
"...Mm," Little Zhan quietly mumbled, knowing that even he could not disrespect his blood related uncle.
"Son, you know we had no choice," Qingheng started after sipping his tea on the table. "Your elder brother was alittle tall for your cousin..."
"...Your son understands father," Little Zhan quietly mumbled to himself.
"I am glad that you understand," Qingheng replied.
Huan turned his head to look at his sulking younger brother and gently chuckled just a tad bit to lighten up the mood in the private meeting room.
"Zhan, don't be too sad. It was only for our cousin's own good that we did that." Huan encouraged.
"...If only she returned home yesterday night, I would not have had to dress up and sleep in her room." Little Zhan openly said to his brother.
"Well surprisingly, my wife and children probably had too much fun to want to stay over in Yunmeng. I hope they return today." Guangshan said as an imaginary sweat rolled down the side of his head.
"Home is definitely where the heart should return to. But I find it difficult for the young child to return home where she knows that death awaits her every corner." Qingheng sadly reflected and sipped his warm cup of peony tea.
"Oh Shan di, if I do not sound too rude to ask. Other than the physical attempts, have Yunlin tried anything else?" Qiren asked, hoping not to sound too impolite.
Guangshan would only know that 'anything else' meant if Yunlin had tried anything but physically killing Little Zhuqin in broad daylight or at night when the day was the most silent. Of course, the father knew of the many poisoning attempts Yunlin tried and...perhaps that was all he knew.
"I heard she tried to poison my daughter's food several times...that seems to be about it." Guangshan said. "...Perhaps because of my position as the clan leader, I cannot be with my daughter too often to know everything. It makes my heart ache."
"Poisoning? That is...that is going too far." Qingheng clicked his tongue and shook his head side to side.
"Uncle, does it also make your heart ache to know that you have mentally imprisoned our aunt?" Little Zhan asked.
"That..." Guangshan said to himself.
During the three years of isolating Yunlin away from him, did Guangshan ever feel anything? The idea was suggestd by Qingheng himself, the elder brother of Yunlin. It was only right that Guangshan did not feel shame or hurt to know that HE was not the one that came up with the 'barbaric' idea.
Barbaric idea?
So, Guangshan DID feel ache in his heart to know that his wife was imprisoned in her own mentality...but even Guangshan had an elder brother who loved him dearly. Guangmeng, his elder brother was willing to give everything up for Guangshan's own happiness. However his elder brother was only brutally murdered in the end by the hands of his own beloved.
Should Guangshan even go back and ask himself...if he ever felt hurt to know that he had been emotionally abusive to Yunlin, his own wife...or mistress?
However, there had been a certain point in his life where Guangshan fell madly in love with her...and perhaps that time alone would remain frozen forever; their first encounter in Caiyi Town, Gusu.
"Zhan er," Qingheng started with a low tone voice. "Learn how to read your fellow elders, son."
Not meaning to be the little comedic boy in the room, Little Zhan went silent for a bit then concentrated on Guangshan with his icy and blank canvas stare. Feeling as if there was some static connections stabbing him, Guangshan looked at Little Zhan and found the boy staring hard into the Jin leader's imaginary soul. Noticing the somewhat impolite gesture, Huan waved one of his hand in front of Little Zhan and immediately the young boy blinked in and out, turning his head away from Guangshan.
"Zhan, what were you doing?" Huan asked with a nervous smile while an imaginary sweat scrolled down his face.
"Brother, I was trying to read him." Little Zhan simply replied, sending a whole ton of quiet laughter into the room.
"Anyways," Qingheng began and cleared his throat, trying to turn the comedic atmosphere around. "...Is there a way we can take another tour around this wide palace of yours?"
"What?" Guangshan asked.
Qiren, the younger Lan siblings and Guangshan immediately looked at the Lan leader, knowing that if the Gusu Lan sect guests made an open tour in the Jin sect's palace again, trouble would arise with Yunlin. Although he knew they had to be quiet as Gusu Lan guests...Qingheng simply just wanted to walk around the buildings of gold designs and remind himself of how lucky Yunlin was to be able to marry such a prestigious clan...in terms of weath.
"Uhm...Qing nei-xiong (Elder brother in law Qing), did we not all agree that we cannot be doing that in case we rise the suspicion of Yunlin?" Guangshan asked again, trying to make sure that they were all going to go according to what they had planned just yesterday.
Now that Qiren had thought about it, even though they were there as secret guests from Gusu, it was important to be reminded of the layout for the Lanling Jin palace since Qingheng and Qiren was there to specifically...execute their younger sister. It was only common sense that the long time preys should know where the predator would run to if the predator wanted to escape back into the wild.
"My brother is right," Qiren began. "Shan di, if we want to be successful in the plan to properly put our little sister in her place, then we should at least have another look around the palace in case she tries to escape. The last time we had a tour of the palace was exactly three years ago."
"...We weren't even here." Little Zhan quietly mumbled to himself, perhaps implying that even he wanted to have a tour around the Jin palace.
Huan was thinking about the situation and had thought that as Gusu Lan guests, they indeed needed to continue concealing their true identity in case aunty Yunlin noticed that something was out of place. HOWEVER...if Little Zhan was able to sleep soundlessly as Little Zhuqin last night...perhaps even Huan, Qiren, Qingheng and Little Zhan again, can pull another perfect act in broad daylight.
"Uncle," Huan began with a confident smile and gestured his hands towards his elders. "If uncles does not mind, may we borrow some clothes from your respective sect and wear them for the afternoon?" He suggested.
"...Our clan garments?" Guangshan asked and looked at Qingheng.
"Great idea son!" Qingheng said and lightly patted Huan on the shoulder.
For Little Zhan...he just sat there with no comment in mind.
"But your father is the respective leader of your Gusu Lan clan. It...will this be ok? To have your father wear something simple as a fellow disciple of our Lanling Jin sect..." Guangshan inquired again, afraid that dressing in a plain yellow Jin disciple garment would tarnish the name of a great Gusu Lan leader.
"Guangshan, status does not matter in times of crisis does it?" Qingheng laughed and sipped his now cold to the touch peony tea.
The Jin leader just scratched the side of his head and smiled nervously at the Lan leader.
"Well status should probably matter in the public world but since this is our family affairs...perhaps status should not matter." Qiren added.
"Will it work though?" Guangshan asked, still feeling a little bit unsure.
"Uncle, I am confident that if we go around the Jin palace as temporary Jin disciples, aunty Yunlin would not have suspicion as to who we really are." Huan reassured.
The elder Lan brother then looked at Little Zhan who for a moment, returned Huan's gaze.
"Even my younger brother was able to sleep without trouble in our cousin's room last night." Huan mildly laughed, sending some memorable pictures into everyone's mind.
Last night, Little Zhan was definitely dressed in Little Zhuqin's garment and even had to place his hair just like hers in case Yunlin decided to proceed with her wicked plan. When Qiren, Qingheng and Huan saw their little buddy dressed up in girls clothes...the family trio had thought they found a long lost sibling of Little Zhan and Huan. While Guangshan on the other hand...was comparing the beauty standards between him and Little Zhuqin. He had claimed that although his daughter was more beautiful, Little Zhan would have still passed for a potential wife for Zixuan in the future (lol).
Remembering that his dignitiy was lost for one night, Little Zhan kept a poker face on and quickly drunk all his cold peony tea in one sip then slightly choked as Huan helped comfort his little choking brother.
Guangshan did not know if the plan was going to work out fine, but it did not hurt to at least try. What else is better than having related guests from other sects make a tour in your palace IN your clan garments? Guangshan had thought. Besides, even Little Zhan was never noticed for his stunning cross-dressing beauty by Yunlin last night. What could go wrong?
"Ok then," Guangshan began.
Immediately, Little Zhan's face perked up. Yesterday when they arrived, he had wanted to have a short tour of the Jin palace but because the circumstances did not allow it, the little boy was secretly bummed out. Now that they were going to dress as Jin disciples for a tour around the palace, Little Zhan was simply as secretly excited just as any children would be when they go to another place for the first time. Of course, if anything, he refused to be dressed as a young female disciple (lol).
Guangshan opened the private meeting room door and quietly ordered the attendant outside to bring two adult and two children sized Jin disciple clothings to them. A few minutes later, the attendant came back with the requested clothes and miracously (as anything would be), the Jin disciple garments fitted onto the Gusu Lan relatives perfectly, adult wise. There was just a minor problem...Little Zhan's garment was a tad bit long.
"It is ok. I am a man, I can do this." Little Zhan thought with confidence and fixed his brown belt, making sure the belt was tight enough so the clothes did not slip off while he walked.
"Zhan er, at this point, you are better off wearing young lady's clothings." Qingheng joked with his son while he, Qiren and Huan finished putting their Jin disiciple garments on.
Little Zhan stopped fixing his clothes then looked at his father for a moment, mentally asking why his father needed to remind him of what he even had to wear last night for their cousin. They all quietly laughed together in the room and after finalizing their garments, they all walked out, leaving their clothes to be tended by Guangshan's trusted attendants. As they were walking along the stoned paths to the many side pavilions surrounded by tons of tall grey rocks, several pink peony bushes gave way for Little Zhan's curiousity. Without his elders properly paying attention to the interested youngster, he wandered off alone and slowly placed his nose on a few pink peonies, taking in the sweet fragrance the flowers had to give off to a beautiful young lad.
Different from the strong white peony tea he had, the smell of the pink peony was more pleasing and calmer.
After realizing that he may had lost his elders in the tour, Little Zhan had only thought that he needed to simply retrace the steps.
"One, two, three, four, five..." Little Zhan quietly said to himself while he walked back the way he came from.
He was able to see the path where his elders possibly went and from the far end on the right side of the path, Little Zhan heard as if a crazed demon dropped itself onto earth...if not, into the Lanling Jin sect. Was it possibly his strange aunt he had been hearing about and not seen for a couple years now? How...bad could it really be?
Instead of following the path his elders possibly walked off to, Little Zhan decided to follow the bizarre laugh and came upon a wall with an open entrance to it.
"Jin...xing...Tang (Golden Stars Hall)?" The young boy read.
Zhan had unknowingly stumbled upon his aunt Lan Yunlin's own hall. He was about to step back and retrace his steps again to possibly catch up with his elders...but another uneasy voice caught his attention from inside the hall. With a bit of worriness and curiousness altogether, Little Zhan quietly paced his way to the doors of the room to possibly eavesdrop...or maybe see how wicked aunty Yunlin was.
"Why do you seem so nervous?" Yunlin asked as she sat on her hed.
"Because...Lan furen...I am just wondering if you are really planning to...have another attempt at xiao jie (Young lady)."
Wen Nu, Lan Yunlin's personal maid who was an original slave in the Qishan Wen Sect. In the Lanling Jin sect, Nu did not have a specific name but was addressed simply as 'Nu,' which can mean 'slave' or 'girl.' She was given the main objective to gain Guangshan's entire favor and when she did, Nu eventually became pregnant with Guangshan's child. Lan Yunlin found out that Nu was the female attendant who made Guangshan somewhat abandon her and Nu later became Yunlin's personal attendant after Yunlin showed much authority over her. Nu agreed to collaborate with Yunlin in killing Jin Zhuqin because the maid also was jealous over the fact that she was favored and had a position in the Jin sect.
"Do you not support it anymore?" Yunlin inquired, sounding as if the young female attendant had been a part of the past schemes.
"Do I not support it anymore? Lan furen, you make it seem as if I am your accomplice." Nu nervously said.
"Are...you not?" Yunlin scoffed.
Nu's face looked as if she had seen a dead ghost who had just risen back. Her eyes quickly wandered from left to right and as she felt her breath quicken, she quickly dropped down to her knees, bowing the lowest before Yunlin.
"Lan furen, Lan Furen! Can't you just let me off?" Nu asked.
At this point, it was obvious that there was also someone else who worked in collaboration with Yunlin to help kill Little Zhuqin for the last three years. Nu however, had a reasonable cause to work with Yunlin...and Yunlin herself had only taken upon the chance to use the female attendant to her advantage.
"You are asking me if I can just let you off?" Yunlin ridiculed again with a mocking smile and stood from her bed then walked to the young female attendant.
With an elegant pose, she looked down at the Nu with scorching eyes and began to slowly circle around her, scanning the attendant's features. After, she stopped directly in front of Nu.
"You even dare to ask me that?!" Yunlin irritatingly questioned.
"I...I beg you Lan furen. Please just let me off. You don't know how many times I have been scared for my life when you attempt to kill Zhuqin xiao jie. I am always scared...always scared," The young attendant stuttered.
"Always scared of what? That I would put the blame on you for killing my daughter and live off your pathetic sacrifice?" The Lan mistress predicted and then scoffed again at the ridiculously right guess she made as the young attendant nervously nodded in honesty.
Yunlin clicked her tongue five times at Nu and shook her head side to side as if mentally telling the attendant, 'What a bad girl you are.'
"Ni a (You)," The Lan mistress began and elegantly squatted down.
She placed her right hand under Nu's chin and with a forced squeeze, Yunlin made the attendant look into her fearful eyes.
"You only have yourself to blame!" The Lan mistress irritatingly said and swung her wrist away, making Nu fall onto her side.
Nu seemed to had been painfully thrown down but she quickly got back up to her knees again and kneeled in the lowest position to hopefully gain Yunlin's sympathy.
"Lan furen, I beg you. You are...are free to go on with the plan to kill Zhuqin xiao jie tonight, but please, just please let me leave this palace." Nu frantically requested.
"Tonight...?" Little Zhan's head was slightly peeked into the small cracks of the entrance doors and while he was squatted down in a sitting position, Huan came around the main entrance to the hall then also sneakingly walked his way to squat next to his younger brother.
"What are you doing here?" Huan quietly whispered.
Realizing that his elder brother suddenly appeared next to him, Little Zhan gave a small jump and covered Huan's mouth with his palm.
"I think I found our crazy aunt." Little Zhan quietly whispered back.
From the outside, the two young Lan siblings continued to observe the situation between Yunlin and the female attendant, Wen Nu.
"I am free? I am free to go on with the plan to kill tonight?" Yunlin began with quite the irriated tone of voice and immediately stepped onto the attendants back. "You don't say...are you the mistress here or am I the mistress here?"
Struggling to speak for a bit, the female attendant coughed a few times before Yunlin released the pressure on Nu's back.
"Shuo (Speak)!" Demanded Yunlin.
"Yes...yes. You are the mistress here Lan furen, you are." The young attendant chokingly replied back.
"If you knew that I am the mistress here then why...did you do what you did three years ago?" asked Yunlin, who began to walk her way towards the back of her room.
One could tell that Wen Nu was beginning to feel as if her life was being threatened, but the attendant obediently followed Yunlin to the back garden. As they did so, Little Zhan and Huan quietly sneaked from behind, hiding behind any big objects they could find (lol).
Wen Nu was hesitant in properly answering Yunlin's question.
Why did the female attendant do what she did three years ago?
What did she do?
"Shuo (Speak), what did you do that made you deserve such treatments from me?" Yunlin demanded with her back turned against the attendant.
Nu's eyes again wandered left to right rapidly, afraid that if she spoke of what she did three years ago, her head would fly off any second.
"Your head is not even worth a small piece of gold," Yunlin spoke and turned to face Wen Nu who again, kneeled onto the grass. "Now speak, what did you do three years ago my good friend?"
Wen Nu swallowed her own saliva and again, bowed in the lowest position to grant Yunlin's up-most respect. Then she shakingly raised her self back up in a proper kneeling position.
"I..." She began. "I...three years ago...I..."
"Don't play stupid. If my accomplice was able to put powered poison in my child's food for the last three years, then even my accomplice would not have such difficult time in explaining what she did to gain her position as my fellow friend...am I right?" Yunlin explained with quite the demonic grin.
"Ah? So aunt Yunlin had another person helping her?" Huan thought to himself.
"Thr....three years ago...I...and Jin zong zhu," The female attendant began with the same stutter.
"...Do you want me to skin you alive?" Yunlin pressured.
"No! Please no!" Wen Nu begged.
"Then speak."
"Three years ago...Jin zong zhu and I had an affair." The attendant finally spoke and lowered her head in absolute shame.
The Lan mistress looked down at the attendant and scoffed a grin.
"Feeling shameful now are we?" She asked.
"Y-y-yes...yes Lan furen," Wen Nu honestly replied.
"Continue...please continue telling me your disgusting story."
"But I," "I said continue," Yunlin immediately interrupted.
"Three years ago, immediately after Zhuqin xiao jie was born, Jin zong zhu and I began to have an illegal affair without you knowing. I...I used the excuse that I could give him a son to be with him and from that, he began to neglect you everday. I became pregnant with Jin zong zhu's child but I..." Wen Nu hesitated to shamefully continue her story and began to have watery eyes as Yunlin turned her attention to the maid again.
"But you did what?"
"But I...I became pregnant with Jin Zong zhu's child but I killed it by secretly mixing dried purslane (a type of dried herbal medicine) leaves into my foods. I killed my unborn child because I knew that even if they were born, they would not have a position in the direct linage of the Lanling Jin sect."
"Then what did you do?"
"I said...I said it was you who killed my unborn child and," "And you would think I did not know that it was you who made my husband and I drift apart from eachother? You think I did not know the affairs you had with my husband?" Yunlin interrupted and immediately slapped the living life out of the female attendant.
As the maid held onto her cheek with a streak of blood flowing down the side of her mouth, she quickly got up on her knees again and slowly kneeled again in front of Yunlin.
"La...Lan fu...furen...wo zhi dao...shi wo de cuo le (La...lan Fu...furen...I know...it was my fault). If only I did not have anything to do with Jin zong zhu, then none of this would have happened." The female attendant feebly said.
Of course, perhaps the female attendant had a small part in Guangshan isolating Yunlin from his life three years ago. But Yunlin herself had not been aware that Guangshan had known who killed his elder brother all these years.
"You know it was and it is your fault, so now you want to run away and become a clean person?" Yunlin conceitedly asked.
"...Please..." The female attendant pleaded again. "Just let me leave this palace,"
"Heh," Yunlin sneered. "Do you think...your pathetic Qishan Wen Sect would want you back after you failed in a planned marriage with my husband?"
"Qishan Wen sect?!" Wen Nu surprisingly asked and raised her face to look up at Yunlin.
"You think I wouldn't know?" Yunlin asked.
"But I," "You have the look of a disgusting Wen dog. Even the people of Lanling Jin do not have such ugliness." The Lan mistress interrupted.
With that being said now, Wen Nu's sudden identity as a Qishan Wen spy was revealed.
The poor poor slave...
She was sent into the Lanling Jin sect to break off any relationships Guangshan had with his wives and possibly marry the Jin leader. The plan was also to give birth to a child to only return back to the Qishan Wen clan to create an official alliance between Qishan and Lanling. However the entire plan fell out of place and....
...Just that poor...poor...thing.
Wen Nu's breath began to quicken again, knowing that even if she tried to hide her identity as a Qishan Wen person, she knew Yunlin was not going to believe any of her ugly excuses anymore. At this point, it was official that Lan mistress was not going to let her leave the palace for Qishan. The maid began to nervously scoot backwards.
"Zenma le (What is wrong)?" Yunlin asked while she glared down at the maid.
With the Lan mistresses icy cold voice, Wen Nu could not properly answer right away and tried to catch her breath while she was being physically as well as mentally surveillanced.
"Uh...since...since...I already told you e-e-everything fu-f-f-furen...may I...may I please...leave?" Wen Nu asked, her voice shaking more than ever.
"...Why is your voice shaking?" Questioned Yunlin.
"B...because," The maid stuttered.
"Zhan, we should leave and go tell father," Huan whispered and began to quietly walk backwards while pulling onto his younger brother's white sleeve.
"Mm," Little Zhan nodded and slowly backed up with his elder brother.
"...Perhaps, are you afraid that I will do something to you and you would like to leave?" Asked Yunlin.
"N-no..." Wen Nu nervously replied.
"Then why does it seem like you are in such a hurry to leave?" Yunlin questioned.
The maid once again bowed her entire body into the lowest position she could again, and even placed her forehead onto the grass to show her most shameful position as a maid or even a failed Qishan Wen spy in front of the crazed Lan mistress.
"You do not need to be in such a hurry to leave here. Even if you leave...who would be willing to take you back?" The Lan mistress mocked.
Wen Nu could not utter a single word to Yunlin's right prediction that as a failed spy from Qishan and as a useless slave, she would now end up dead then be given the chance to do another 'loyal' deed to the Qishan Wen sect.
"Then...then I will not return back to Qishan," The maid quietly began. "I...I could just start clean and..."
"You think you can just start a new life simply by leaving Lanling Jin?"
Wen Nu kept her forehead on the grass and as water began to swell up in her eyes again, she tried hard to not make it obvious that she was about to cry. But even some sniffling gave such an obvious idea that the pathetic girl was wanting to cry, begging for some kind of forgiveness.
"By simply leaving Lanling Jin, do you think you're a good person?" Yunlin asked.
"I...I..." The maid sniffed.
"Ku shenma ku a (Why are you crying)? Hurry and answer me properly!"
Wen Nu rose from her position and rubbed her forehead.
"Lan furen...I don't want to die yet." The maid begged. "Please...just let me leave this place. I will not return back to Qishan since I know that I will not have a second chance at living now that I have failed as a mere slave."
The maid then clung onto Yunlin's legs. Again, she tried to beg for mercy...but even the Lan mistress knew that the female attendants head was now going just as mental as she supposedly deserved.
"You did not answer my question. Do you think you are a good person simply by leaving Lanling Jin to start a new life?" Yunlin insisted.
"I...of course, I am a good person. I am a good person...I have always been a good person. If I leave here, I can be a good person....I am a good person," The maid crazily replied.
"You think a Qishan Wen spy like you who tried to poison my daughter's food be considered a good person?" Yunlin irritatingly argued back.
"...I was just a slave...who tried to show my loyalty for my clan." Wen Nu quietly mumbled back.
As they exited the main entrance to Jinxing Hall, Huan and Little Zhan began to search for their elders in the Jin palace.
For Yunlin, she had felt disgusted that the Wen spy was clinging onto her legs and forcefully shook Wen Nu off.
"You were a slave who tried to show your loyalty? The only time a clan will send a useless slave as a spy to another sect is when that slave had done something wrong to be sent elsewhere. Did you not do anything wrong to get sent to our Lanling Jin?" The Lan mistress continued to interrogate.
"I..." Wen Nu stuttered.
She began to have small flashbacks of the exact moment where she was caught endlessly trying to seduce Wen Ruohan to gain a higher position from being a mere slave.
As if Wen Nu was being spiritually possessed by Yunlin's demonic way of mentally exhausting the maid, Wen Nu simply gave in and answered the Lan mistress honestly.
"I...had an affair with Wen gong zi (Young master Wen). I just wanted good food, good clothes..." Wen Nu began. "When I was caught trying to seduce Wen Ruohan, I was sentenced to die the next morning but I begged and told them all that I was a loyal member to Qishan Wen. I was sent here to have a child with Jin zong zhu and eliminate any women who possibly stood in my way. But when I knew that Zhuqin xiao jie was the most beloved jade to Jin zong zhu, even I knew that I would not have a chance. In reality...if I had my child, Jin zong zhu would be forced into marrying me and make a marriage alliance between Qishan Wen sect and Lanling Jin. I was promised a high position after I succeeded...but when I failed, all was lost. And now here I am...still a slave."
Wen Nu's story seemed to have touched the heart of Yunlin who quietly stood and listened. But as depressing as the story was, the Lan mistress did not bother to feel anything at all. She kept a stern face and only scoffed again at the attendant herself.
"You should have understood your own position as a mere slave. For power, you forced yourself onto a direct member of the Qishan Wen sect and then was sent here as a spy to create a pathetic marriage alliance. Then you killed your own unborn child because of your own stupidity and after I found you guilty, you even openly pledged to kill my daughter with me." The Lan mistress thoroughly explained. "Now tell me...are you still a good person?"
Wen Nu again had no words to express how shameful she had felt at the moment and only slouched down in a kneeling position onto the grass. She had exhausted all her energy into trying to get herself out of Yunlin's schemes but to no avail. If Wen Nu was honest herself, if she had possessed even a single grain of the Qishan Wen sect's cultivation skills, the attendant would already put the crazed Yunlin in her own place already.
"...You dare to bite your owner?" Yunlin asked, reading into the mind of the selfish Qishan Wen spy.
"What?" Wen Nu questioned and looked up at Yunlin, who had read her mind the second time.
"...Ba la (Forget it)," Yunlin ignorantly began. "Ni shuo (You don't say)...I have been keeping you alive for three years...you have been working for me for three years...actually, what good is it to keep having you around anyways?"
Upon hearing the intention that Wen Nu was going to possibly die any time soon, she begged endlessly for the Lan mistress to not kill her and again, the Qishan Wen spy aggressively placed her head onto the green grass.
"Furen, please have sympathy on me. I was born as a slave in the Qishan Wen sect and because of my lust for power, I did so many wrong things. Just let me leave this place. I promise I will never return back here again to disturb the peace in Lanling Jin." Wen Nu pleaded.
Yunlin glared down at the slave who was again, begging for her life that was hanging at the edge of the cliff.
"How do I know that you will never return back here again? For all I know, you can return back to your Qishan Wen sect and bring an entire army to destroy us all in one night." The Lan mistress firmly stated.
Wen Nu's eyes widened in fear and looked up at Yunlin then swore that she was never thinking of leaving Lanling Jin to return back to the golden palace with an entire army of Qishan Wen disciples. She was thinking of leaving Lanling Jin to become a female monk to atone for her own sins...but since Qishan was her own home...even Wen Nu wanted to return back. But would Qishan even welcome a useless spy back home? What if Wen Nu promised something even bigger in the future in exchange for a high position in the Qishan Wen Sect? ...What if Wen Nu promised to leak any valuable information on the entire Lanling Jin sect in exchange for power?
Out of nowhere, Yunlin angrily slapped Wen Nu and sent her flying into her concrete palace wall. As the Qishan Wen spy feebly coughed out small puddles of blood, the Lan mistress slowly approached her with a black mist forming in her right palm.
"L...agh...La...agh, Lan F..argh...fure...harg...furen..." Wen Nu choked and weakingly tried to sit up right.
Just as Yunlin advanced closer to the Qishan Wen spy, she placed her left hand ontop of Wen Nu's head and pulled her fingers together, grabbing onto Wen Nu's hair altogether. With the attendant now too weak and too exhausted to stand on her own, Yunlin pulled Wen Nu up by her hair then slammed her into the concrete wall again. As expected, Wen Nu gave a loud choking gurgle and coughed up another small puddle of blood onto Yunlin's shoulder.
Without a care in the world, even the Lan mistress did not mind the blood of a potential victim being on her.
In 23 years of her life as a supposed righteous disciple of the Gusu Lan sect, Yunlin was going to kill her fourth victim...Jin Guangmeng being the first...and two others...being the second and third.
"Didn't you just promise that you will never come back and disturb the peace in Lanling Jin...Wen Nu?" The Lan mistress irritatingly questioned and pressed Wen Nu's head against the hard concrete wall.
"How...how did she know that I was...planning to share their information....to Qishan Wen?" Wen Nu thought.
"Yes....Yes I did...L..La..Lan fur...furen." She feebly spoke out, coughing in between her speech.
"Na hao ba (Then all right). Although you have failed me for three years, I shall grant you your wish to leave Lanling Jin and I shall make sure..." Yunlin began with quite the cold smile and pressed the Qishan Wen spy's head harder into the concrete wall.
"I shall make sure that you never...ever return back home to Qishan Wen...nor will you ever return back here to Lanling Jin..."
The Lan mistresses right palm was covered in a fully black mist and with a quick jab, she plunged the mist into Wen Nu's chest, grabbing hold onto her heart. As Wen Nu choked on her own blood and struggled, Yunlin leaned into the spy's ear to make sure the pathetic girl heard what the Lan mistress needed to say.
"You cannot blame me for this Wen Nu. You only have yourself to blame. From start to beginning, if you did not dedicate yourself into gaining power, you would still be alive today as a fellow loyal slave of the Qishan Wen sect. But because of your lust for power, you have sinned against the cultivation world. Even if you continue to live, you will not have a purpose in life."
"Arrgk..." Wen Nu coughed and this time without showing any sort of humble respect towards the mistress, she spat blood on Yunlin's face.
As she panted and gasped for life, Wen Nu had a few things to say to the second mistress of the Lanling Jin sect.
"Lan....Lan..Lan furen...You are right...I...I have no one else to blame but myself for this fate of mine. However....however, haven't you also sinned? For the last three years....you have practiced the dark arts...you have been trying to kill...you have been trying to kill Zhuqin xiao jie...your own cute, and innocent little daughter Lan furen..."
Yunlin's eyes began to widen at the thought that she was coming back to her senses as a heartless mother who would kill their own child in favor of her husband. However Little Zhuqin just had to go...she just had to disappear from that world...she just had to. Therefore, what right did Wen Nu have to even say anything when Little Zhuqin was not Wen Nu's own child...right?
"Lan furen...you make it seem as if...as if you are not guilty. Have you...already forgotten...that I, Wen Nu, killed my own...unborn child? You...Lan furen...are trying...to do...and have...been trying to kill...Zhuqin xiao jie...for the last three years...although I may have been helping you...and although...I have sinned...aren't we both the same? We are both...and have...harmed our own...children..."
"Ni hushuo ba dao (You are speaking nonsense)!! How are we the same?!" Yunlin shouted. "Unlike you, I was not risking other clans in exchange for my own thirst for power! You killed your unborn child out of jealousy and placed the blame on me that I killed your child through dark magic! As a mere slave, do not be putting words into my mouth!" The Lan mistress shouted and squeezed onto Wen Nu's pacing heart.
Wen Nu could not utter another word and endlessly struggled for her life as her heart began to decrease in size rapidly.
"I do not need you to be teaching me proper etiquettes when a mere slave like you know nothing!!" The Lan mistress continued to yell and as Wen Nu struggled for a few more breaths, Yunlin let go of her hair.
The mistress hastily pulled out one of her thick hairpin and jabbed the sharp end into Wen Nu's throat, disabling the spy's vocal chord.
As blood gushed out of Wen Nu's throat, Yunlin's face began to get splattered in blood but even though she was being covered in her victim's blood, the Lan mistress once again leaned into Wen Nu's ear for the last time.
"I will make sure that you never....EVER return back here to Lanling Jin. I will also make sure that you NEVER return back home to your pathetic clan of the Qishan Wen's. Also...without a full body and without a proper soul...how...will they ever know that it is you, their loyal...loyal...slave?"
With that last word having been said, Yunlin squeezed the remaining blood from Wen Nu's heart and the heart itself was beginning to dry out, almost as if it was sucked dry from a bloodthirsty vampire. When her heart completely dried from within the body, Yunlin clutched her right fist together and with just one word, Wen Nu's body completely vanished into thin air leaving no visible trace that she ever existed. The maid's blood was turned into plain water and was simply dried up by the afternoon sun.
The look on the Lan mistresses face showed the pure demonic heart she had as a fellow practitioner of the evil arts in the cultivation world. She did not hesitate to kill and even though she did not enjoy killing, Yunlin simply did it to eliminate whatever stood in her path; Little Zhuqin was unfortunately still an obstacle. That being said, Yunlin satisfyingly wiped her forehead and placed her hairpin back into her hair then fixed her clothes as if she had just finished dressing after a nap. As if she was an innocent mistress, she wiped the blood-turned-into-water off her face and she was confident herself that even a mere slave like Wen Nu was not ever going to be remembered...nor was she ever going to have another purpose to be resummoned as a potential walking corpse.
Who would want to remember such a power thirsty slave who was willing to stupidly force herself onto a direct member of a powerful clan and expect to gain power through acting as a useless spy in a prosperous clan? If anything, Wen Nu should have just stayed as an innocent and compassionate slave, versus forcing her way into the cultivation world to only meet her end in such a...stupid way.
Of course...Lan Yunlin did not forget about her plan to kill Little Zhuqin that night and as she looked up into the sun that was beginning to get covered by passing clouds, the mistress began to quietly laugh to herself.