Volume 1: This Heart's Inclination Chapter 5: A Killer in the Night

  That face!

  Goose egg face, straight nose and thin lips, narrow and long eyes.

  Tai Shi Lan was shocked to discover that this kitchen crazy woman who had scattered the bed, actually had a face similar to hers!

  Although the face had thinner eyebrows, whiter skin, and a sharper chin, due to the spring emotions, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were dazed. Upon closer inspection, her temperament and aura were completely different, but Ta Shi Lan still recognized his own outline at a glance!

  She immediately stood up from the wall.

  She hadn't seen this face before, and she wasn't interested in how many guests the other person had for one night, but now seeing a face similar to her own, making a nauseatingly flirtatious expression, she suddenly felt as if she had swallowed ten thousand flies at once, pickled ones.

  Tai Shi Lan didn't think about why there would be someone with a similar appearance to her in this place, and she also didn't know that at this moment, in the distant Great Yan, her sworn sister Jun Ke had also started a new journey because of a similar face. The affairs of the world are predetermined by heaven, and it was precisely because of the existence of a similar magnetic field on this continent that this landing was made possible.

  Tai Shi Lan was just about to jump down when he suddenly stopped again.

  Several people came in a hurry under the cover of night.

  They all looked like women, but the sky was wearing a wind hat, covering more than half of their face, and their whole body exuded an air of "what I'm doing can't be seen by people".

  They were rushing towards this kitchen, Ta Shi Lan narrowed his eyes and slowly sat down again.

  She suddenly thought of some questions.

  For example, this magnificent mansion is absolutely impossible to be a brothel. In such a big household, from the master to the servants, they must all be dignified and stern, how could there be such a shameless woman?

  Is this woman a kitchen maid? Do kitchen maids have painted fingernails?

  For example, big households all have guards, and they patrol at night. Although this place is secluded, it's not a completely blind spot. She had been standing on the wall for an hour or two, but hadn't seen anyone appear. Is there such a laxly guarded big household?

  Those women came in a hurry and opened the door of the outer kitchen. The first one, a tall woman, stood at the door, as if listening to the movements inside.

  The moonlight was cold, from Taishi Lan's angle, he could see her side face hidden under the cloak, her complexion was snowy white, the curved eyebrows were beautiful, and the sharp arc was drawn out, with a few points of coldness and a few points of evil spirit.

  She listened to the intimate and affectionate voices inside the door, her face turned pale and greenish, with dark shadows flashing at the corners of her eyes.

  Behind her, several women had gloomy faces, some were indignant, and others looked timid.

  A loud thud, the men and women inside who were having a great time didn't stop their intense battle due to the collapse of the bed, instead they started fighting on the spot. This time it was unclear who had knocked over whom, triggering a burst of stifled laughter.

  This loud noise was like the last thunderclap, dispersing the last hesitation of the women outside the house and marking the shocking beginning of this night.

  The tall and slender woman suddenly raised her head, her eyes flashing with a fierce light, then without hesitation, she waved her hand and led several women to push open the door.

  The two people who were entwined on the floor inside looked up in alarm, and the man's face changed greatly as he exclaimed: "Shi Zhu, how did you get here...!" He hastily scrambled to his feet. The woman below was still giggling and pulling at his waist, but he kicked her away with one foot.

  The tall and slender woman with the surname Shi's face turned iron-green, but she didn't respond to his words. She raised her hand, and a black cloak flew off her arm and landed on the man's body. Immediately after, she coldly said: "Still not leaving quickly? Go back and settle accounts with you again!"

  The man was stunned, and when he looked up to see the fierce and intimidating wife, he knew things were not going well. He didn't dare say another word, hastily wrapped his cloak around him, and quickly walked away.

  As soon as he left, two women immediately went up to lock the door tightly and stood guard on both sides. The remaining three women then walked slowly towards the woman on the ground.

  These people were ultimately nervous, closing the door tightly, but forgetting the window, which was half open towards the courtyard wall, and everything was under Taishi's eyes.

  The woman on the ground supported her elbows wearily, lazily propping up half of her body from the ground, looking up at the tall and slender woman in front, smiling and saying, "So it's Shi Zhu's sister, what brings you to see your sister at this late hour, is there something urgent?"

  Her indifferent attitude infuriated the others, a round-faced woman stepped forward and slapped her in the face, shouting: "Tài Shìlán! You shameless woman, how dare you still be the abandoned imperial concubine! The strict rules of the palace couldn't even teach you three obediences and four virtues! After the late emperor's death, he allowed you to return home and become a nun, but instead you dared to defy his will, seduce Shìzhū's husband, and...and..." She was so angry that her chest heaved up and down, her finger pointing at Tài Shìlán trembling with rage.

  That slap hit Yun Shilan's head sideways, and a bright red palm print immediately floated on her face, it can be seen that the hand was not light, but she was unmoved, those women also didn't bat an eyelid, apparently such physical altercations were already a common occurrence.

  "What's wrong?" Tai Shi Lan touched her face, retreated a bit, and used a bed board to block herself before saying in a low voice, "Speak up, why don't you finish what you were saying?" She suddenly burst out laughing and pointed at several women with pale faces across from her, "You don't want to say it, I'll say it for you. Not only did I steal Shi Zhu's husband, but also Eldest Sister's husband, Second Sister's husband, and yours...and yours..." Each time she pointed at someone, that person's face turned even more furious.

  She withdrew her hand, feigning shock and widening her eyes, raising her hand to clutch at her chest. "Oh my, there's so much of it! I didn't even notice!" She said, "I say, my sisters, you've been ganging up on me since we were young, and now that we're grown, choosing husbands is no exception -" She threw back her head and laughed loudly, "One hook and they're on, one climb and they're soft, their lust is as vast as the sky, but their courage is smaller than a mouse!"

  "You!"

  The round-faced woman was furious and took a step forward, but Wei Shi-zhu stretched out his hand to block her.

  "Xie Shi Lan." She looked down at her sister, her eyes filled with hatred, and said slowly, "You're right, we've indeed encountered bad luck. But compared to you, that person is still a living being, he'll accompany me for the rest of my life. I believe that after this incident, he'll be loyal to me for the rest of his life, forever under my skirt. And you, my sister, what do you have now?"

  "That's also thanks to you." Yi Shilan looked up, her eyes welling up with tears, "In the imperial selection of consorts back then, it should have been you who went!"

  "At first, I gave you the opportunity, but you were always so weak and didn't dare to fight for your life, so I stayed behind and you went to the imperial palace. However, I made you the emperor's woman, enjoying wealth and glory forever, what's wrong with that?" Yu Shi Zhu smiled, "Look at you now, although you don't have a title, you'll spend the rest of your life guarding your chastity in the nunnery, but after all, you were once the emperor's woman, this lifetime, no one dares to marry you again, no one dares to get close to you, isn't that good?"

  "Doesn't anyone dare approach me?" Cui Shilan looked down, "Then those men of yours just now, where did they come from?"

  She bit off the words "your men" heavily.

  A moment of silence in the room.

  After a while, a faint, strange laughter broke through this suffocating silence.

  "Don't worry," said Tui Shizhu with a smile, softly and melodiously, "it won't happen again."

  "What right do you have..." Yu Shilan raised her head, seemingly wanting to refute, but suddenly her face changed, and she hastily scrambled up and retreated backward, her eyes filled with terror.

  At the same time, Yu Shi Zhu suddenly took a step forward, his hand shook, and a black silk scarf appeared in his hand. He grabbed Yu Shi Lan's hair with one hand and pulled it back violently, pulling her head back and making her neck form an eerie arc. Without hesitation, Yu Shi Zhu knelt on Yu Shi Lan's back, wrapped the black silk scarf around her neck, grasped both ends of the scarf tightly with his hands, and pulled with all his might!

  Yi Shilan's neck bone emitted a low, muffled sound, which was eerie to hear in the quiet night. She desperately stretched out her hand to pull off the silk scarf tightly wrapped around her neck, but could only scratch at its edge. With great effort, she turned her head to look at Yi Shizhu, her eyes filled with incredulity. As her neck bone turned, there was another eerie low sound.

  A black silk scarf was wrapped around a snow-white neck, and under the dim yellow light, it looked strikingly beautiful and breathtaking. The atmosphere in the room seemed to be frozen, as if even breathing had stopped. Outside the window, the branches of the trees on the wall remained still, maintaining their pose as if grasping for something.

  This scene of sister killing each other, strangling on a quiet night, is straightforward, ruthless, sudden, and irreversible.

  I thought it was just a sisterly quarrel, but she guessed the process, yet didn't guess the outcome.

  Wei Shilan seemed to know that she had reached a critical juncture, and struggled even more violently. Wei Shuzhu was gradually unable to support her, and suddenly shouted, "What are you standing there for? Come and help!"

  Several pale-faced women all trembled slightly.

  "We can't let her live!" Tui Shizhu gritted his teeth, "The poison she took, you all had a share in it at first!"

  This sentence was like a needle, poking several women's faces changing color, and then silently moving forward, the round-faced woman sat on Yu Shilan's leg, and the other two women held down Yu Shilan's hands and feet.

  Wei Lan's eyes were filled with despair, and suddenly her body violently struggled, her back hitting the bedboard with a faint creaking sound. Something rolled out from under the bedboard.

  It was a pale green, thorn-like object with a texture similar to jade but not actually jade. Under the moonlight, it emitted a faint blue glow and had three edges with flat corners. It looked like a weapon, but this sharp-edged weapon made of jade was as useless as a chicken rib, having no practical use at all.

  "Qian Shi Zhu seemed to be stunned for a moment, then sneered, 'You still have this thing, haha, the family heirloom your father gave you, no one knows how to use it, and you still expect it to save you?'"

  The three-edged awl rolled under Yu Shilan's palm, and she struggled to move her fingers, trying to grasp it. A woman wanted to stop her, but Yu Shizhu sneered and nodded slightly, and the woman stopped.

  Until Tui Shilan grasped the three-edged dagger in his palm, Tui Zhuzhu suddenly stretched out his foot.

  She stepped on Yu Shilan's hand, pinning her hand and the jade three-edged awl under her foot. Then, she rotated her sole, slowly grinding it down.

  Shi Lan's hand was instantly bloody and mangled, with blood staining the three-pronged spear.

  The triangular thorn emitted a faint cracking sound, and its brittle texture finally could not withstand this force, shattering into three pieces.

  Yi Shizhu let out a short, cold laugh and kicked his foot, causing the three-edged bone to roll into the corner of the wall.

  The moonlight shines on the blood-stained and shattered trident, with a faint silver mist slowly seeping out.

  But nobody in the room noticed, everyone was immersed in the tense atmosphere of murder, and no one paid attention to this small episode, and Taiselang's seemingly useless struggle.

  Moonlight shines through the west wall, the room is half bright and half dark. At the intersection of white light and darkness, a struggling human body, silently taut silk rope, silently clenched teeth, pale face bursting with blue veins, weaving a desolate picture in the mortal world.

  Lan's struggles gradually weakened.

  Tai Shi suddenly fell off the wall head.