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墨書 Inktalez
“Chen Laotou, do you mean this woman is Qing Xi?” Liu Zimu stared in disbelief, his eyes widening as he looked up and down at the ordinary-looking woman before him. He couldn't reconcile her with the enchanting Oiran he had seen just days ago, and he scratched his head in confusion.
“Although her appearance has changed, her eyes are still the same!” Chen Wensi paused, frowning slightly as he spoke in a low voice. “A girl with such an ordinary face possesses such beautiful eyes; it actually draws more attention. That’s why you often keep your head down, isn’t it?” As he spoke, he fixed his gaze intently on Qing Xi’s eyes, as if trying to see through all her secrets.
Upon hearing this, Qing Xi smiled gently. The smile transformed her expression, making it more vibrant and lively due to the joy reflected in her eyes. The facade she had worn seemed to peel away a layer. “So, you did notice me after all! If that’s how you figured me out, I wouldn’t be angry,” she said, tilting her head slightly with a hint of pride in her gaze.
“You're mistaken!” Chen Wensi interrupted her sharply, furrowing his brows. “I first suspected Shishu and then realized Shishu is you!” He crossed his arms, his expression stern, effectively stifling the smile that had just blossomed on her lips.
“Though the girl has fallen into the world of vice, she is by no means a wanton woman. That loosened button on your garment puzzles me. You encountered Xinruan after leaving and returned to Qixiang Pavilion. However, any self-respecting girl wouldn’t leave home in disarray. Therefore, that button could not have been undone by Qing Xi herself before her death. Regardless of whether Xinruan killed you or not, she had no reason to undress you,” Chen Wensi analyzed methodically as he paced back and forth, his conviction growing more apparent.
“No wonder you were so agitated when you saw that mole; you suspect she intentionally let you see it?” Liu Zimu suddenly realized, slapping his thigh excitedly as he looked at Chen Wensi with admiration in his eyes.
“Exactly!” Chen Wensi nodded slightly, a glimmer of certainty in his gaze. “When we first met at Qiutang Lake, you were disheveled and we had a brief encounter. You can’t be sure if I noticed that mole or remembered it under those circumstances. But you wouldn’t dare take any risks because if I remembered that mole and it wasn’t found during the autopsy, I would definitely know the body wasn’t the real Qing Xi. Thus, you had to create that mole. Even though you disguised yourself as Shishu and swapped identities with her, deep down you knew that with my keen eye, I could easily uncover the truth. So if I were convinced that the dead person was indeed Qing Xi because of that mole, it would indirectly ensure that Shishu's identity wouldn’t be questioned.” As he spoke, he continued to stare into Qing Xi’s eyes with piercing intensity.
Qing Xi was visibly taken aback, a look of astonishment crossing her face. After a moment, she let out a soft laugh: “I pondered for a long time before deciding to use a toad’s vermilion clay to paint an identical mole. I didn’t expect it would backfire and become superfluous!” She shook her head slightly, a hint of self-mockery in her eyes as she unconsciously clenched her hands together.
“What is your connection to the Shape-shifting Silver Wolf?” Chen Wensi's expression darkened as he became serious, his voice turning cold and hard. “Did you kill Wang Wu?”
“Indeed!” Despite losing everything, Qing Xi remained calm and composed as she walked over to the dressing table and slowly sat down. She gazed steadily at her reflection in the mirror. “I didn’t even need to do it myself; however, that man Bai was too timid and hesitated for too long to act. Besides, he was too greedy—having gold yet still unsatisfied—so he has no one but himself to blame.” Her voice was steady and calm as if recounting an event unrelated to herself.
Chen Wensi couldn’t help but curl his lips into a cold smile: “So Wang Wu was silenced?” Wang Wu was merely a night watchman who slept at home during the day; it seemed likely he stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have seen at night and met with misfortune. With his hands clasped behind him, Chen Wensi frowned slightly as thoughts swirled in his mind.
“And what if I did?” Qing Xi raised an eyebrow slightly; moonlight streamed through the window and reflected off the mirror into a hazy glow. “We wouldn’t have crossed paths so soon if it weren’t for Feng'er ruining my plans and drawing your attention to me so quickly. I wouldn’t have wasted time putting on this act to hide my identity. But who would have thought that fate would play its hand against us? In the end, it all turned out to be for nothing!”
She spoke with a self-deprecating smile at the corner of her mouth, "What a pity for that girl, Attendant Scribe. She was overjoyed when she heard I could make her as beautiful as I am. She sat there watching me transform her into my likeness, and before she could laugh a few more times, I strangled her to death." A flicker of barely perceptible guilt crossed Qing Xi's eyes, but it quickly faded back into indifference.
The room was enveloped in silence for a long time. Liu Zimu leaned against the doorframe and let out a cold laugh that echoed harshly in the stillness of the room. "If she has any spirit left in the afterlife, she certainly wouldn't care for your pity. Instead of wasting your breath on that, you might want to consider this: you, with your flower-like beauty, will soon find yourself in a different state, and who will mourn for you then?" Liu Zimu crossed his arms, a hint of mockery on his face as he looked down at Qing Xi with disdain.
"Oh?" Qing Xi smiled slightly, unfazed. "Is the prince so certain that I can't escape?" She lifted her chin slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of stubbornness and defiance.
"You aren't unable to escape; it's just that you don't have the opportunity to do so today!" Chen Wensi's eyes sparkled with thinly veiled anger, yet his lips curled into a smug smile. "Since the incident yesterday, there have been officials inside and outside Qixiang Pavilion. You have no chance to send a message to Shape-shifting Silver Wolf. If he doesn't know you're in trouble, naturally he won't be able to save you." His tone was slow and steady, his piercing gaze fixed on her bewildered eyes as he suddenly clapped his hands forcefully.
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