ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 137

Before today, Li Zhizhi had never expected to hear such words from Xiao Yan. After a moment of stunned silence, she instinctively looked away. Fortunately, the dim light in the carriage concealed her slightly flushed earlobes.

Pretending not to have heard clearly, Li Zhizhi feigned calm and asked, “What did Xu Tingfeng find out?”

Xiao Yan replied, “Something happened at Liu Man’s residence in the middle of the night yesterday. Xu Tingfeng followed the trail and discovered someone.”

Li Zhizhi curiously turned back, “Who?”

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, teasing, “Take a guess.”

Li Zhizhi thought for a long while. Seeing her furrowed brow and serious expression, Xiao Yan found her quite endearing. Only when she shook her head did he finally reveal, “It was Li Suwan.”

Li Zhizhi’s eyes widened in shock, “She’s still alive?”

It was indeed a stroke of luck that they discovered Li Suwan’s whereabouts. In the middle of the night, someone from the Liu residence had carried a body out. Xu Tingfeng naturally followed and found that the deceased was the manager of the Xinfeng Wine Shop. Initially, he thought the Liu family intended to bury the body, but to his surprise, they handed it over to another person who took it on a donkey cart, winding his way toward the northern district.

The northern district was almost an hour’s journey from there, and Xu Tingfeng, out of curiosity, continued to follow. He eventually saw the donkey cart enter the backyard of a bun shop.

Xu Tingfeng nearly vomited on the spot. Unable to tolerate it any longer, he knocked the person out and found someone alive in one of the rooms—it was the long-missing Li Suwan.

It turned out that Liu Man had sent someone to silence her, but the bun shop owner, tempted by Li Suwan’s beauty, spared her life and kept her until now.

However, Xiao Yan kept all these details from Li Zhizhi, merely stating that they had found her and moved her to a different location.

Thus, Li Zhizhi believed that Liu Man had a sudden change of heart and spared Li Suwan’s life. But when she finally saw Li Suwan, she realized she had overestimated Liu Man’s kindness. Although Li Suwan was alive, her mind seemed somewhat unstable.

The moment Li Suwan saw Li Zhizhi, she became extremely agitated, rushing toward her while crying out repeatedly, “Mother! Mother, save me!”

Li Zhizhi knew she bore some resemblance to Madam Li, but she hadn’t expected it to be enough to cause such a mistake. Frowning, she glanced at Xiao Yan and hesitantly asked, “Is she mad?”

Xiao Yan shook his head slightly and gave Xu Tingfeng a signal. Xu Tingfeng swiftly struck Li Suwan on the back of her neck with a hand chop, causing her eyes to roll back as she fainted. When she woke again, she seemed much more composed and no longer screamed or caused a scene, though her expression remained anxious and full of fear.

“It was Xiao Man who wanted to harm you,” Li Suwan finally softened toward Li Zhizhi, crying as she pleaded, “It wasn’t me, it was Xiao Man who gave me the drug. I didn’t know it was poisoned. Please spare me, I beg of you…”

She wept bitterly, kneeling before Li Zhizhi and desperately begging for mercy. But Li Zhizhi only looked at her coldly, as if gazing at her past self, also kneeling before so many people, desperately explaining, trying to prove her innocence.

Li Zhizhi whispered, “Spare you?”

Why had no one been willing to spare her in her past life?

“It was my fault for being blind to the truth. I will never dare oppose you again, never! Your Highness, I beg you, please…”

It really wasn’t me. I didn’t do that.

“Please believe me, it truly wasn’t my intention to harm you. It was all Xiao Man’s idea. Everything was her doing…”

Why won’t anyone believe me? I truly didn’t push Li Suwan. She fell on her own.

…

Li Zhizhi could almost smell that icy, damp air again, and the suffocating feeling of near-death overwhelmed her, leaving her dizzy and cold all over.

Just then, someone gently took her hand. She snapped back to her senses and quickly turned her head, meeting a familiar pair of phoenix-shaped eyes. Xiao Yan was frowning slightly, his eyes filled with concern. He spoke softly, “What’s wrong? Your hands are so cold, are you feeling too cold?”

Only then did Li Zhizhi notice her hand was trembling uncontrollably. It was held in Xiao Yan’s warm grasp, gently wrapped. His long fingers fit perfectly around her hand, the warmth from his touch slowly returning sensation to her stiff fingertips.

It’s so warm.

Li Zhizhi gazed absentmindedly at those long, elegant hands. Without thinking, she offered her other cold hand. Xiao Yan glanced at her but said nothing. Silently, he took that hand and warmed it too, saying, “Once we return to the manor, I’ll have someone bring you a hand warmer.”

Almost involuntarily, Li Zhizhi blurted out, “Is the hand warmer warmer than this?”

Xiao Yan’s hands paused, and his grip tightened slightly, squeezing her fingers just enough to cause a faint ache. He slowly responded, “Of course, it’s no match for this.”

After saying that, he suddenly smiled, and his ears turned a light shade of red.

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Li Zhizhi felt a bit annoyed with herself. She awkwardly turned her head away, noticing Li Suwan still kneeling on the ground, sobbing and pleading, looking rather pitiful. After watching her for a while, Li Zhizhi finally spoke, “I could let you go.”

Li Suwan’s eyes lit up with joy, but before she could smile, Li Zhizhi frowned regretfully and added, “But it wouldn’t do any good if I let you go, Sister Wan’er. Others won’t let you off.”

“You probably don’t know yet?” Li Zhizhi patiently explained to her, “The poison you used killed Song Lingyun. Not only that, Xiao Man told the Grand Princess that it was you who gave Song Lingyun the poison, intending to harm me. The Grand Princess was furious and reported it to the authorities, demanding your capture. You’re now a wanted criminal, with notices posted all over the kingdom, and a reward of a thousand gold coins on your head.”

Shaking her head slightly, she continued, “Under heaven, all lands belong to the Emperor. Even if I let you go, how could you escape?”

Li Suwan was dumbfounded. She hurriedly tried to explain, “It wasn’t me! It was Xiao Man! It was all her idea, it has nothing to do with me!”

Li Zhizhi asked again, “Do you have any evidence?”

“Evidence…” Li Suwan’s mind went blank. Suddenly, she realized—what evidence did she have? All her conversations with Xiao Man had been in secret. Xiao Man’s manipulation, her schemes—they had all been carefully planned, just like at the spring banquet. And once again, she had foolishly walked into the trap…

Li Suwan froze on the spot, how could she believe that woman’s words?!

Li Zhizhi spoke with pity, “Without evidence, I’m afraid the authorities won’t listen to your explanation. Lady Song is now searching everywhere for you, demanding you pay with your life for her son’s death.”

Li Suwan, speechless and defenseless, slumped to the ground, her expression filled with despair and helplessness. She kept murmuring, “What should I do… It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me… It was Xiao Man who framed me… She harmed me!”

Over and over, her expression grew more agitated. She screamed hoa.r.s.ely, “That wretch! She clearly promised to help me, yet she secretly sent someone to kill me! Wretch! Despicable wh.o.r.e! She’ll die a miserable death, she will die miserably!”

Her eyes were filled with venom, her hands constantly clawing at the ground, as if overcome with hatred. She scratched so hard that her ten fingers bled, but Li Suwan seemed unaware of the pain, looking utterly deranged, her whole body trembling slightly, which made her appearance quite terrifying.

She was beginning to lose her mind again.

Li Zhizhi suddenly leaned down, whispering softly into her ear, “Sister Wan, do you want revenge?”

“Revenge…?”

“Yes,” Li Zhizhi smiled faintly, her bright eyes gleaming like stars, though they carried a cold chill. She coaxed gently, “Xiao Man has already been stripped of her n.o.ble name; she’s no longer a county lady. She’s now Liu Man, just an ordinary commoner like you. But she’s still living well, while you’ve been ruined like this. Don’t you hate her?”

Of course Li Suwan hated her, how could she not?

Her downfall was all Xiao Man’s doing, little by little! Li Suwan wanted to tear her apart, to gnaw at her flesh, to flay her skin – only then would her hatred be satisfied!

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