freenovelworld Chapter 181 If you cry again, I'll make you pay with your life.
Chapter 181 If you cry again, I'll make you pay with your life.
"Huh? Let's hear it."
Ning Zhi looked at her with great interest.
Jiang Wan analyzed with a serious expression: "First of all, the person who knows Miss Guo's habits and the location of the stables, and can arrange everything in the training ground in a short time... Lord Guo is the most suspicious."
"Secondly, the masked man we encountered at the drill ground wasn't carrying any weapons, so it would be strange if he intended to kill someone."
"So is it possible that the purpose of all this was not murder, but to divert attention and delay the investigation by creating trouble?"
"The only one capable of scheming and willing to delay the investigation is Lord Guo! What does Your Highness think?"
Ning Zhi listened quietly the whole time.
Seeing Jiang Mian's focused gaze, her lips slightly pursed, and the way she was sorting out the clues one by one, it was really quite cute. A gentle smile gradually appeared in her eyes.
He spoke slowly and gently: "It's already quite remarkable that you could think of this. However, even he doesn't have any evidence right now."
Jiang Wan pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Does finding out where he hid his silver mean we can close the case and convict him?"
She thought that in her previous life, Ning Zhi was eventually found to have embezzled funds by Guo Huaiming.
Now that she has helped resolve this case quickly, the Emperor will also praise the Crown Prince for his meritorious service.
She was hesitating about how to tell him.
Ning Zhi said, "Once the stolen silver is found and the officials in charge are punished, the case can be closed. But Guo Huaiming alone cannot swallow such a huge hole, nor does he have the guts to set up such a scheme. This time, the Emperor sent me here, and what he wants is definitely not just a few boxes of silver or a Guo Huaiming."
He looked at Jiang Mian and patiently explained, "If this case is found to be no different from the previous one, then I am incompetent. If it stops at Guo Huaiming, then I have failed to meet Your Majesty's expectations. I suspect Guo Huaiming, but I suspect that he is the one who wants to hide the person behind the scenes, and that is why he deliberately designed everything to point the evidence at himself. Otherwise, all of this would be too obvious."
"I am certain that Guo Huaiming is merely a pawn."
Jiang Mian was taken aback, and swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Ning Zhi turned her head and said gently, "You were frightened today, go back and rest early, don't overexert yourself."
Jiang Wan nodded, stood up, and took her leave.
Back in her room, she quickly washed up and lay down.
Ning Zhi's words just now were not without reason.
Guo Huaiming was just a prefectural magistrate, yet he dared to embezzle so much government silver; he must have had someone backing him up.
Perhaps the person backing them held a high-ranking position, so even if the Ministry of Justice and the Supervisory Commission found something, they dared not make it public.
The emperor sent the crown prince to investigate personally, hoping to find out who this person was.
But the strange thing is that in her previous life, Ning Zhi only found out about Guo Huaiming.
He's probably overthinking things now.
Or is there really someone behind the scenes orchestrating this?
Or perhaps, in his previous life, Ning Zhi also found out who was behind it all, but even he didn't dare to make it public?
As she pondered these thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a wave of heat surged up.
It felt like being pressed against a piece of scorching coal, the heat relentlessly searing her back.
Jiang Mian struggled to open her heavy eyelids.
In the dim light, a pale, handsome face, exuding a chilling aura, was close at hand.
Upon recognizing who it was, her pupils constricted sharply.
"Xiao..."
"..."
She opened her mouth to call out, but no sound came out of her throat.
"Surprised?" Xiao Hengzhi gently raised his chin. "What, you're unhappy that I didn't die?"
"You...how could you..."
How am I still alive?
Xiao Hengzhi leaned close to her ear like a ghost: "Do you think I'll die so easily?"
He pulled out the dagger: "If your blade had been just a fraction off, I might really have died. What a pity..."
Jiang Wan forced out the words through gritted teeth: "What...what are you going to do...?"
"doing what?"
"...Of course...I'll kill you."
He smirked, watching her terrified expression.
After a moment, he added, "Don't worry, it will take a few days before I kill you. On the fifteenth, I will have a good time with you."
"Fifteen..." Jiang Mian exclaimed in surprise, "The Spring Bitterness Powder has been neutralized, don't even think about it!"
Xiao Hengzhi chuckled softly: "You're still so naive. You think the Spring Bitterness Powder... can be cured with heart's blood?"
He leaned closer, their noses almost touching, their breaths mingling: "That stuff, there's no cure. If you don't believe me, wait until the fifteenth and you'll come back begging me... just like before."
"Don't even think about it!" Jiang Wan suddenly turned her face away and shouted, "Someone! Someone come quick!"
She shouted loudly, but there was no response.
what's the situation? !
"Save your energy," Xiao Hengzhi said casually. "You don't actually think Ning Zhi will come to save you, do you?"
"You...you are not...?"
"Yes." Xiao Hengzhi toyed with the dagger in his hand. "Just like in my previous life, I'll cut you open. Do you want me to take you to see?"
Jiang Wan's hands trembled violently, and her eyes suddenly reddened: "You killed him? Why? Why!"
Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes, and she struggled to run away.
Xiao Hengzhi grabbed her and pulled her over: "Cry? If I see you shed another tear for him, believe me, I'll gouge out your eyes and throw you to be buried with him!"
As he spoke, he placed his thumb on her eye socket and applied gentle pressure.
The throbbing pain in her eyes terrified her.
Jiang Mian bit her lower lip tightly and remained silent.
She was afraid of him, afraid to the core.
He was so afraid that he told her not to cry, and she didn't dare to shed a single tear.
Xiao Hengzhi released her, stared at her for a long time, and suddenly smiled again, a smile that was both eerie and satisfied.
"You've stopped crying, that's good." His cold fingers slid down her arm. "Since you're unwilling to die for him..."
"Then come and keep me company."
"The road to the underworld is cold, and it would be too lonely for me to walk it alone."
He picked up the dagger, his face filled with ruthlessness.
The next instant, excruciating pain exploded in her heart.
"Do not--!"
Jiang Mian screamed and sat up abruptly in bed, drenched in cold sweat, her nightgown clinging to her body.
The room was silent except for her heavy breathing.
It's a dream.
She pressed her hand to her chest, which was still aching slightly, though there was no wound there.
But the cold touch and the near-death sting in the dream were so clear that they made me shudder.
She opened the window, panting.
It was already bright outside.
Perhaps the underfloor heating in the house was burning too brightly, which is why I had that dream.
She sat on the edge of the bed, unable to calm down for a long time.
Is Xiao Hengzhi really dead?
Did that obsessive man really just... disappear like that?
Suddenly the door was pushed open.
Ning Zhi rushed in, her face full of anxiety: "Miss Jiang, what's wrong?!"