Rong Tan froze at her words, his body suddenly stiffening.
He instinctively raised his head, wanting to look at Wu Ciyun, but Wu Ciyun reached out and blocked his eyes.
Darkness abruptly fell before his eyes; he couldn’t see Wu Ciyun’s expression, but he knew his own face probably didn’t look good right now.
“Ah Yun, why are you suddenly asking about this again…”
Rong Tan forced himself to remain calm.
“Haven’t you already figured out my identity and background?”
He mustered his courage and pulled Wu Ciyun’s hand down, carefully tracing every inch of her skin with his fingertips.
Wu Ciyun’s fingers were slender and distinct-jointed, carrying the thin calluses left by years of holding a brush, just like those scholarly clans outside.
Rong Tan tentatively intertwined his fingers with hers, and Wu Ciyun did not refuse, only gazing at him with a hint of a smile.
She leaned back lazily on a soft pillow, her black hair smooth and trailing over her shoulders.
The candlelight dissolved the coldness from her face seen in the daylight, making her seem as delicate as a white peony under the moon.
Rong Tan leaned in, wanting to kiss her, but Wu Ciyun gently turned her face away, dodging him.
She pinched Rong Tan’s chin, her fingertips tracing his skin ambiguously.
With a faint smile, she asked, “Rong Tan, how much did you pay to buy off Liu Zhi?”
“…What?”
Rong Tan stared dazedly at Wu Ciyun for a long moment. He forced a smile, pretending to be nonchalant.
“Ah Yun, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“If you don’t understand, then I’ll make it clearer. Xiao Boming—how exactly did he die?”
“Xiao Boming was poisoned to death. He’s buried now at the back of Lingxiu Mountain.”
Rong Tan still refused to change his story.
He insisted, “If you don’t believe me, Ah Yun, you can open the coffin and examine the body.”
“Open the coffin and examine the body?”
Wu Ciyun seemed to have heard a joke and chuckled.
“Word came from outside that Xiao Boming’s grave was dug up by the commoners he once abused. Now, I’m afraid there’s not even a complete corpse left.”
Rong Tan fell silent. Wu Ciyun continued unhurriedly, “Liu Zhi always tried to squeeze a little profit out of the dead before, but lately he doesn’t care for those trifling bribes in the prison anymore. He must’ve struck it rich somehow.”
The two of them were so close now that they could feel each other’s breath, yet Rong Tan’s heart harbored not a trace of desire.
Wu Ciyun’s fingers were icy; her breath and tone were just as cold. Her cool fingertips brushed across Rong Tan’s cheek.
She let out a soft sigh and said slowly, “Of course, I can’t convict you just based on this. But there’s one thing I’m really curious about. Since you say Xiao Boming died of poisoning…”
“Rong Tan, can Qingshui really kill someone with poison?”
Rong Tan instinctively looked up and met her calm eyes.
His mind buzzed like thunder.
Wu Ciyun’s words were like sharp arrows, completely tearing open every doubt he harbored.
“Qingshui…”
All color drained from Rong Tan’s face. He murmured, “So you put Qingshui in the bottle…”
No wonder Wu Ciyun kept confirming Xiao Boming’s cause of death.
No wonder she suddenly started investigating Liu Zhi.
In that instant, Rong Tan felt himself more ridiculous than ever. He wanted to force a self-mocking smile, but the tears rolled down first.
His voice was dry and hoarse, every word squeezed out from his throat, almost resentful as he sought a clear answer.
“Did you test me on purpose, or did you never want Xiao Boming dead at all?”
The System was stunned by the scene before it. Even if Wu Ciyun didn’t answer, it already knew the answer.
Xiao Boming’s life meant nothing to Wu Ciyun.
What she truly wanted to test was not Rong Tan, but the System itself.
The moment it lied to Wu Ciyun to protect Rong Tan, it had already fallen into her trap.
“Rong Tan, are you questioning me?”
Wu Ciyun’s expression was cold. She raised her hand and grasped Rong Tan’s neck, her grip tightening, her tone icy.
“You were unfaithful to me first, yet you still have the nerve to shout at me here.”
Rong Tan’s breath caught.
He stared at Wu Ciyun for a long time, then, as if resigned to fate, slowly closed his eyes.
Wu Ciyun was delicate and frail.
If he wanted to break free, he could do so easily. But he didn’t want that. Rather than ending up as bitter enemies, he’d rather die by Wu Ciyun’s hand today.
People say if you kill an innocent, their ghost will haunt you day and night.
If he became a ghost, he’d stay by Wu Ciyun’s side forever, never letting her go…
Rong Tan felt his breath grow thinner and thinner, yet a strange excitement rose in his heart.
He thought of spending every day and night with Wu Ciyun from now on, and his body trembled uncontrollably with anticipation.
But at the brink of life and death, Wu Ciyun suddenly let go of him and said coldly, “Get out!”
Leaning on the edge of the bed, Rong Tan caught his breath in disappointment.
His neck burned with pain, as if scorched.
Maybe his throat was injured, for he couldn’t make a sound for the moment.
Hearing Wu Ciyun’s words, he obediently got off the bed.
He looked back at her silhouette for a long time before finally moving his feet.
Outside, snow had started falling again at some unknown hour.
The bitter wind howled past.
The tear stains on Rong Tan’s face, not yet dry, felt like knife cuts in the cold wind.
He didn’t leave as Wu Ciyun told him to.
Instead, braving the swirling snow, he knelt down in the snow without hesitation.
The Night Watchman outside was startled by the sight and hurried over to help, asking with concern, “Housekeeper Rong, what are you…”
Rong Tan’s expression was taut.
He stared fixedly at Wu Ciyun’s door and said calmly, “Leave me alone.”
The System pleaded bitterly with Wu Ciyun, begging for mercy and compensation.
After much effort, it finally got her to spare Rong Tan, only to look back and see that the man who had just escaped death was now kneeling in the snow like an ice sculpture.
The System’s vision went black; its database nearly crashed.
Its current state of despair was no less than when it played Peashooter blasting away at zombies, finally about to clear the level, when the Sunflower hiding behind it suddenly chomped off Dave’s brain.
Tch! Freeze to death, then!
[Host, if there’s anything, we can talk it out. Don’t do things like this. It’s so frightening…]
[Say one more useless word, and I’ll have someone chop Rong Tan’s head off.]
Wu Ciyun couldn’t be bothered to argue with the System. She asked directly, [What exactly is your relationship with Rong Tan?]
The System said this world she was in was a fictional story, and she was the most heinous villain minister, the number one antagonist in the plot.
She’d read plenty of those messy storybooks herself. In reality, villains often lived smooth, successful lives, but in books, evil-doers always got their comeuppance, usually dying at the hands of the protagonist.
Given how much the System protected Rong Tan, Wu Ciyun now reasonably suspected that Rong Tan was the so-called “protagonist.”
[We really have no special relationship. It’s just that he’s an important character in the plot. If he dies, I’ll get punished too.]
Fearing Wu Ciyun wouldn’t believe it, the System quickly added, [Rong Tan isn’t the protagonist, but the protagonist will one day become Emperor of the Liang Dynasty with Rong Tan’s help.]
[Liang Dynasty?]
Wu Ciyun keenly picked up on the System’s keyword and pressed further, [What exactly is Rong Tan’s background?]
The System once again fell silent.
Wu Ciyun let out a cold laugh, but she wasn’t in a hurry.
She got up, threw on a robe, and called the Night Watchman inside.
“Where did Rong Tan go?”
The servant dared not look up, only answering respectfully, “Reporting to Master, Housekeeper Rong is still kneeling outside.”
“He’s obedient, at least.”
Wu Ciyun tossed the Plaque in her hand to the servant and said coldly, “Take my Hand Token and drag Rong Tan out. Have the Order of the Guards outside chop off his head!”
The servant was so frightened he dropped to his knees.
He didn’t understand why Wu Ciyun was so furious all of a sudden, but still tried to plead for Rong Tan, “M-Master, Housekeeper Rong, he…”
Wu Ciyun leaned back on the soft couch, her tone indifferent.
“If you say another word, I’ll have you chopped as well.”
The servant immediately shut up, his hands shaking as he gripped the token, forcing himself to get up and deliver the order.
Wu Ciyun reclined on the couch, eyes closed, as if completely unconcerned about the consequences.
In the end, it was the System that surrendered first.
Just as the servant was about to step out the door, it let out a sharp screech, [Wait! I’ll tell you!]
Given how ruthless Wu Ciyun was, the System truly believed she might actually kill Rong Tan.
“Wait. Come back.”
Wu Ciyun spoke lazily, calling the servant back.
She didn’t take back the Plaque, but told him to stand there and wait.
If the System tried any more tricks, she’d order Rong Tan’s execution on the spot.
The System could only endure her near-threatening behavior and spoke, [All I can tell you is that Rong Tan is of the Liang Imperial Clan’s bloodline. I can’t reveal any more.]
[The reason I won’t let you kill him isn’t just to keep the plot from collapsing.
If Rong Tan dies, you’ll have a lot of unnecessary trouble when you go to the Liang Dynasty in the future.]
If that was the case, it did explain why Rong Tan refused to tell her the truth no matter what.
Wu Ciyun seemed thoughtful at these words.
She made a mental note of the System’s explanation but didn’t fully trust it, planning to have someone investigate Rong Tan’s background more thoroughly another day.
The servant waited a long time without hearing Wu Ciyun speak.
He glanced at her carefully, and seeing her expression had eased, he mustered his courage and spoke again, “…Master, are you going to take back your order?”
Wu Ciyun looked up at him, surprised.
“You’re not afraid of death? Still trying to plead for him at a time like this.”
“Please forgive me, Master.”
The servant dropped to his knees with a thud, pleading earnestly, “Housekeeper Rong is kind-hearted. He always looks after us and cares for the young masters. I don’t know what mistake he made, but I beg you, for the sake of his past kindness, to show some mercy…”
Rong Tan was always gentle and fair, never using his power to oppress others.
Whenever someone was in trouble, he would help generously without hesitation.
The servants in the residence had all benefited from him one way or another.
That was why the servant dared risk beheading today to plead for Rong Tan—because of the favors he had received.
Wu Ciyun’s face remained calm at these words.
She stepped past the kneeling servant and pushed open the door.
Rong Tan, dressed thinly, was kneeling in the snow, a thin layer of frost gathering on his shoulders, but his back was still straight, like a white crane with broken wings in the snow.
Wu Ciyun took the umbrella handed to her by a waiting attendant under the eaves and walked slowly to Rong Tan, lowering her gaze to study him.
Rong Tan’s eyes were slightly red. He hadn’t expected Wu Ciyun to appear. Summoning his courage, he reached out and gently tugged her sleeve.
“Why are your hands so cold?”
Wu Ciyun took his hand. She looked down at Rong Tan before her, as if assessing a sharp blade about to be grasped, weighing whether he was worth her compromise.
After a long while, a smile finally appeared on her face. She said softly, “Alright, come back with me.”