Chapter 26: Burn Down Both the Jiang and Pei Estates

"Will this wake her up?"

"Rest assured, Miss. A single needle to the philtrum, and she will wake up in pain shortly!"

Jiang Nian felt groggy. There were voices in her ears, but she could neither hear nor understand them clearly. It was not until a sharp, stinging pain flared on her lip that her five senses slowly returned to her.

A mere twitch of her body was enough for her to grasp her current predicament: she was blindfolded, with her hands and feet bound.

There was no wind or sound around her; she was certainly no longer in the lakeside pavilion.

Suddenly, a woman’s voice reached her ears: "Awake?"

Although the voice was disguised, she could tell it was not Tang Qingwan. She was not familiar with this tone; the person was deliberately hiding her true voice, leaving Jiang Nian completely baffled.

"Where is Lu La? Where is the young lady who boarded the boat with me?"

"That maidservant of yours? I left her at the lakeside pavilion." The woman gave a cold scoff. "I have no interest in killing a mere ant; I fear dirtying my own hands. But..."

"But what?" Jiang Nian asked, anxious.

"But I cannot guarantee what that old boatman might do to her."

"You!" Jiang Nian desperately wanted to stand, but as she moved, she tumbled from the chair to the ground. The mere thought of Lu La being defiled made her heart ache until she felt she might suffocate. "I will agree to anything you want! I will tell you whatever you want to know! Just send Lu La back to my residence!"

Watching the person on the ground, so humble and disheveled, the woman felt a sense of great satisfaction. "Hah, a low-born wench from a petty household—what right do you have to negotiate with me!"

A piercing pain shot through Jiang Nian’s knees. She struggled to sit up, lifting her head and opening her eyes wide, trying to see her captor through the black cloth.

But she could see nothing.

She took a sharp breath, forcing herself to stay calm. Since this was an enemy, no amount of pleading would make this person save Lu La.

Wait, "petty household"? This familiar tone... was it Xiao Ru? Why would Xiao Ru kidnap her?

"Where is Tang Qingwan? Make her come out!"

Seeing that the person before her did not respond, she continued, "What time is it now? What exactly do you want to do?"

"You hope your husband will realize you are missing and report it to the authorities to rescue you? Rest easy, only two incense sticks of time have passed. No one knows you have vanished."

Jiang Nian wanted to test if it was Xiao Ru, so she steadied her voice and asked, "Did you kidnap me because of Bo Yijin?"

"Insolent! How dare you even mention his name?"

Jiang Nian knew then—it was not Xiao Ru, but Meng Yingying. Once she realized who stood before her, she gradually regained her composure.

"Do you want to kill me?"

"Yes, kill you." Meng Yingying sneered. She would never allow Jiang Nian to linger around Bo Yijin again. Jiang Nian’s face was a liability, but what she could not tolerate most was Jiang Nian’s designs.

Today, just a few words from Jiang Nian had sparked a rift between her and Bo Yijin. It was only after their argument that she realized Jiang Nian had been playing them both for fools.

Realizing this, she had immediately exposed Jiang Nian’s schemes to Bo Yijin, but she had not expected that Bo Yijin would, instead, become even more interested in Jiang Nian.

Compared to that fool Xiao Ru, Jiang Nian was the one who truly needed to disappear from this world!

"This face of yours is nothing special... If I were to carve it up, how would you seduce men in the future?"

Jiang Nian sank into deep thought. After seeing the main characters in person, she knew the characterizations from the original book had collapsed. Yet, she had not expected that the reasonable and understanding Meng Yingying would, in reality, be so narrow-minded and vengeful.

But now that she knew who it was, she had bargaining chips.

"I am already married. I have no intentions toward Young Master Bo, and he only seeks me out regarding matters concerning my cousin."

"And so what?"

Jiang Nian got straight to the point: "Meng Yingying, what is it that you want?"

The woman, whose identity had been exposed, showed no sign of panic. She stopped disguising her voice and laughed. "I told you, I want to kill you."

"General Meng died on the battlefield. He perished protecting the people, but he surely never imagined his own daughter would treat lives as though they were grass, protected by the shade of his reputation."

"Jiang Nian! Shut your mouth! You are not worthy to mention my father!" Meng Yingying was so furious that she gripped Jiang Nian’s throat. Seeing Jiang Nian’s face flush deep red, she abruptly let go. "Are you trying to provoke me into giving you a swift death? I won't let you have your way! I will carve up this face of yours!"

Jiang Nian gasped for air, her heart pounding violently. For a split second, her mind had gone completely blank.

In her previous life, she had died in her sleep—unaware, painless, and numb. This was the first time she had been so close to death.

She had been careless; she should not have underestimated Bo Yijin and Meng Yingying. From the moment she recognized Meng Yingying, she knew the woman was determined to kill her.

But every person has a weakness.

Jiang Nian waited for a long time until she felt the cold touch of metal on her face, and then she spoke: "Meng Yingying, let’s make a deal..."

Meng Yingying tapped Jiang Nian’s face with a dagger. "Stop struggling. Are you still trying to show off your glib tongue when you are on the verge of death?"

"For all these years, you have been searching for the truth of General Meng’s death on the battlefield. Your intuition is correct; he was murdered. Don't you want to know who killed him?" Jiang Nian felt incredibly fortunate that she knew the trajectory of all the major plot points from the original book.

Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, the cold touch vanished from her face.

The next second, the black cloth over her eyes was violently ripped away. Daylight flooded in, stinging her eyes so much she could not keep them open.

"Jiang Nian, how dare you lie to me about this! Aren't you afraid I’ll kill you and then take revenge on the Jiang household!"

Jiang Nian blinked, adjusting to the light.

"Before General Meng died, he sent a letter home to the General’s Mansion. But when it arrived in Bianjing, it was the rainy season, and the letter was soaked through. No one could tell what was written. That was General Meng’s final message. Meng Yingying, whether I am lying or telling the truth, you know it in your heart as clearly as a mirror."

Meng Yingying’s eyes widened, tears welling in the corners. If she hadn't been playing around and had come home on time that year, the messenger wouldn't have been left outside the mansion in the rain. This was the most secret pain in her heart; even her mother did not know about it.

She grabbed Jiang Nian by the collar, her eyes filled with murderous intent. "What else do you know? Who told you! Speak!"

"A deal!"

Meng Yingying reached out and grabbed Jiang Nian’s hair, frantic and enraged. "You think you’re worthy of negotiating with me? If you don't confess immediately, I will order my men to burn both the Jiang and Pei households to the ground!"

Jiang Nian’s scalp felt both painful and numb; she felt as if it were being torn from her skull.

She endured the pain in silence. Meng Yingying was trying to out-cruel her!

"Fine! Then let my kin join me in the afterlife! And while you're at it, burn the Tang household too."

"You! Do you believe I will plunge this dagger into your heart right now!" As she spoke, Meng Yingying let go.

Jiang Nian’s numb scalp was finally free.

But in the next instant, she looked down to see her chest pierced with pain; a bright, fresh red had already soaked through her clothes.