Chapter 3

Three years later, in the capital.

The most famous opera house staged a new play about a noble heir who was madly in love with a famous brothel courtesan. In the play, he poisons his legitimate wife, throws his legitimate son to death, has the courtesan replace his wife, and seizes her dowry.

This bizarre and twisted drama instantly became a sensation across the capital’s theaters, with packed houses and full seats every time.

Many people discussed whether it was just a play or if it was based on a true story.

Sitting lazily in a private room on the second floor, I coughed softly and said, “Go down and tell the troupe leader that the emotions aren’t intense enough.”

“Yes.”

The servant left, and Li Jinmu pushed the door open and came in.

With eyes full of gentleness, he sat in the chair next to me. “When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday evening.”

Li Jinmu glanced at me. “How is the rehearsal of this play?”

“Pretty good.”

I replied faintly, asking someone to hand the medicine to Li Jinmu.

He didn’t take it.

He just sat quietly on the side.

I didn’t know when he left. As I watched the stage, I started coughing softly again.

Tossing the blood-stained silk handkerchief into the brazier, the firelight illuminated the bloodthirsty hatred in my eyes.

I told the servant, “Do not tell the Lord Heir about me coughing up blood.”

“But…”

I murmured faintly, “No buts.”

Over these past three years, he has already helped me too much.

I cannot drag him any further into this sea of blood and vengeance that belongs to me alone.

When I appeared in front of Lin Shenyi, he was so shocked he spilled his scalding tea, jumping up in pain.

He stared at me with eyes full of alarm and suspicion.

“You…”

He probably wanted to ask if I was a human or a ghost.

I gave him a faint look and gracefully walked away.

For that single glance, I had practiced countless times.

It was to make him doubtful of my indifference, and paranoid because my appearance hadn’t changed at all.

“Lord Heir recognizes her? That is Divine Doctor Ren from the Divine Medicine Valley.”

When Lin Shenyi chased after me, he was stopped by my attendants.

“Ren Ruiyi…” he shouted loudly.

It was full of certainty, yet laced with disbelief.

I looked at him and smiled, as gentle and as composed as the passing clouds and light breeze. “Lord Lin, I trust you’ve been well.”

“You’re not dead?”

“The Lord Lin who poisoned his legitimate wife and wouldn’t even spare a premature infant isn’t dead. I practice medicine and do good deeds, so the King of Hell allowed me to stay in the human realm for a few more years.”

Lin Shenyi scoffed coldly. “Don’t forget this is the capital. Crushing you to death is as easy as flipping my hand.”

I smiled.

The smile didn’t reach my eyes.

But I wasn’t afraid of his threats.

“I have already experienced the Lord’s ruthless cruelty. However, do not forget yourself, Lord Heir. This is the capital, at the feet of the Emperor. Do you truly think you can do whatever you want?”

In this confrontation, neither of us truly won.

Lin Shenyi flicked his sleeves and left in a huff.

Meanwhile, I was drenched in cold sweat, unable to even stand steady.

Leaning back in the chair, it took me quite a while to recover.

Immediately following was another fit of coughing.

Looking at the bloodstains on the handkerchief, I furrowed my brow slightly and gently tossed the bloody cloth into the brazier.

The hatred in my eyes and my resolve for revenge hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

I soon encountered the first wave of assassins.

If Lin Shenyi knew how I spent these past three years, he wouldn’t have sent people to throw their lives away.

These assassins were poisoned to death before they could even get close to the courtyard where I lived.

One by one, they were tossed into the pits I had already dug. A packet of medicinal powder later, I watched them dissolve into a pool of bloody water without even a twitch of my brow, exceptionally calm.

It wasn’t until I walked out of the courtyard that I couldn’t help but cough up blood.

None of the servants stepped forward.

They and I merely had a transaction. They were to protect me while I was in the capital, and once my business was finished, their coming and going would have nothing to do with me.

Three consecutive waves of assassins didn’t even manage to touch my sleeve. Lin Shenyi was getting anxious.

Because his precious legitimate son—who was just over a week old and learning to babble “Daddy”—was poisoned, and the imperial physicians were completely helpless.

I heard he couldn’t sleep night after night, which made me laugh with a hint of madness.

That day, the rain was pouring, and he charged into the courtyard with a sword in hand.

Holding an umbrella, I waved away my guards and slowly stepped forward, using my fingertip to lift his sword and press it against my own chest.

I asked him grimly and coldly, “Lin Shenyi, do you dare to stab?”

He didn’t dare.

He must have discovered that the one poisoned in the Duke’s estate wasn’t just his legitimate son.

His parents were, too.

And his siblings.

Since I wanted revenge, why would I show mercy?

So I gave them all a sterilization poison.

The Lin family’s bloodline was severed.

“What do you want?” Lin Shenyi interrogated me through gritted teeth.

“A tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. You insulted me, bullied me, and lied to me—I could have endured that. But you threw my son to his death and dumped his body in the wilderness. That, I cannot endure. Lin Shenyi, if I had known this day would come, I wouldn’t have saved you at the Jialing River. I would have let you die thoroughly in the gutter, your corpse exposed to the wilderness and gnawed by wild beasts…”

“What did you say?” The hand Lin Shenyi used to grip the sword suddenly began to tremble.

He stared at me with immense shock.

I merely sneered coldly, “Lin Shenyi, you returned my kindness with enmity. As for Ren Ruian, you loved the wrong person. Only an idiot like you would trust and cherish an illegitimate daughter kept outside. To make room for her, you didn’t hesitate to find a beggar to humiliate your legitimate wife, and then personally poisoned her. Why don’t you use your brain? Does she know medicine? That agate bottle back then came from the Divine Medicine Valley. Who in the Valley does she know? Or rather, who in the Divine Medicine Valley has ever acknowledged her?”

My words made Lin Shenyi’s face turn even paler.

Many things, once the veil of modesty is torn away, reveal all their filth to the sunlight.

It’s horrifying and disgusting.

The bloody truth was agonizing enough to make one wish for death.