The Vicious Beauty Faked His Death Three Times [Transmigration] - Chapter 37.1

Chapter 37.1: Intoxication

Inside the Suxuan Pavilion, the sounds of singing and dancing outside were boisterous, and the scent of rouge and powder was frighteningly heavy. Only a room on the second floor was scented with a light fragrance, appearing like a patch of pure land.

Concubine Xu sat before a chessboard, a black piece held between her fair, slender fingers. She lowered her eyes, looking at the game before her as if contemplating where to place her move.

Despite such serious deliberation, the seat opposite her was empty.

The atmosphere in the room was serene; the surrounding maidservants kept their heads low, not daring to glance toward the chessboard.

The door was suddenly thrown open, and a cold wind rushed in, lightly ruffling the hair at Concubine Xu’s temples.

A hidden guard stepped forward quickly and suddenly knelt on one knee: “Reporting to Madam, someone is forcing their way in from outside. Should we…”

Concubine Xu raised her hand slightly, and the guard silenced himself.

“Invite him in.”

“Yes.”

The guard took the order and withdrew. Concubine Xu casually tossed the black piece back into the basket. She lifted her eyes to look at the person approaching, a smile playing on her face.

“Madam! Madam, save me!”

Lin Qinghan threw the hidden guard who had been tailing him onto the floor, ignoring the man’s wails. Instead, he looked up at the woman before him.

As expected, the person who had been by Qi Tonghe’s side previously was indeed Concubine Xu.

Looking at the “-20” value above Concubine Xu’s head, Lin Qinghan felt no particular ripple in his heart.

The guard on the floor continued to cry out and beg.

Concubine Xu raised her hand slightly, and a maidservant immediately moved the incense burner a bit further away.

“Too noisy,” Concubine Xu remarked.

The moment the words fell, the guard who had been wailing was instantly silenced. Blood poured from his mouth, and the scent of iron filled the room. Finally, he collapsed heavily to the floor with a “thud,” a look of blatant terror in his unclosed eyes.

Lin Qinghan looked at Concubine Xu with a normal expression: “For what reason did Madam call me here?”

Concubine Xu looked up at him, a smile on her face, greeting him cordially: “Yanhe was young; you have suffered much following him.”

“Following the Eldest Young Master is my duty; there is no such thing as suffering,” Lin Qinghan replied. “If Madam has business, it is better to speak plainly. I have matters to attend to.”

Hearing this, the smile gradually faded from Concubine Xu’s eyes.

“Bring the item.”

Lin Qinghan watched as an attendant entered the room carrying a wooden tray, upon which sat a jade pendant.

The jade was of excellent quality, warm and lustrous; it must have been made from prime material.

Slender fingers picked up the pendant.

“This is the token you left with me to show your loyalty. Thinking back, it has been thirty years,” Concubine Xu said, lightly stroking the jade. As if recalling something, a faint smile appeared on her face.

“Kill Ling Yanhe, and you can take this back.”

Lin Qinghan looked at Concubine Xu. The woman had finally dropped her hypocritical smile, revealing her ruthlessness.

However, Lin Qinghan’s attention was not on her, but on the jade pendant.

“Why must Madam use a fake to deceive me?” Lin Qinghan said calmly.

As the words fell, the attendant holding the tray suddenly collapsed to the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably. He seemed to want to explain something, but could not make a sound, only able to look at Concubine Xu imploringly.

But Concubine Xu didn’t spare him a single glance, looking straight at Lin Qinghan instead.

Lin Qinghan was not intimidated and looked right back.

“Go down and receive your punishment yourself,” Concubine Xu said in a deep voice.

As expected, the pendant was fake. Lin Qinghan watched the attendant flee in panic, his expression unchanged.

Since this pendant could restrain the original host into serving her for so long, how could Concubine Xu display it so openly to him?

“As long as you kill him, I will give you the jade,” Concubine Xu said.

Lin Qinghan sneered: “Madam still hasn’t grasped the current situation.”

“I am now completely loyal to the Eldest Young Master. How could I do anything to harm his life? Furthermore, a promise is worth a thousand gold pieces, yet Madam mentions this to me repeatedly; it’s become too cheap.” Lin Qinghan spoke slowly, watching Concubine Xu’s face suddenly darken.

“What do you want?” Concubine Xu asked gloomily.

Lin Qinghan’s lips curled slightly. He looked at her: “The jade pendant. I want it now.”

“Impossible,” Concubine Xu replied sternly.

“Then there is nothing to talk about.” Lin Qinghan withdrew his gaze and prepared to leave.

A barrier instantly blocked his path. Lin Qinghan looked at the hidden guards outside the barrier, raised an eyebrow, and then glanced back at the dark-faced Concubine Xu.

“Madam is welcome to try and stop me. I am not afraid to die; I hope Madam isn’t afraid either.”

The clear voice dropped along with the pressure of a God Transformation stage cultivator. Instantly, the maidservants in the room turned deathly pale, and pained groans echoed through the chamber. Concubine Xu’s face was so dark it looked like it might drip ink.

“Not now. On the day you kill him, I will send hidden guards; it will be given to you then,” Concubine Xu said through gritted teeth.

Lin Qinghan swept a glance at her: “Why does Madam make another promise?”

“Thud—”

Half a jade pendant was tossed before Lin Qinghan.

“Your own jade pendant no one knows it better than you,” Concubine Xu snorted.

Almost the instant he saw it, Lin Qinghan knew this one was real.

He could even dredge up images of this pendant from the original host’s mind; this was the first time he had accessed the original host’s memories.

The God Transformation pressure was withdrawn.

Concubine Xu breathed a quiet sigh of relief in her heart and continued: “Within three days, kill him.”

“No,” Lin Qinghan said. Before she could ask, he continued, “The Eldest Miss of the Ye family and the young daughter of the Shen family are still there. Does Madam intend to kill them as well?”

As the words fell, Concubine Xu’s expression became even more unsightly.

Lin Qinghan ignored her and continued: “When the time is ripe, I will naturally inform Madam of the time and place and await your assistance.”

“I hope the hidden guards sent to me will obey my commands completely,” Lin Qinghan said, his lips curling into a smile. the coldness in his eyes made his beautiful face look strikingly startling. “I want to kill Ling Yanhe with my own hands.”

Seeing this, Concubine Xu half-squinted her eyes to size him up. Upon seeing the blatant murderous intent on his face, a trace of a smile actually appeared on hers: “It seems he has not treated you well either.”

Blatant mockery.

Lin Qinghan did not acknowledge her, but the cold aura around him intensified.

Concubine Xu’s brows quirked, and the coldness in her eyes sharpened: “Fine. But how will you make them submit? Or rather, how will you prove you aren’t deceiving me? What if he has already grown suspicious of you?”

Lin Qinghan suddenly rose. the barrier appeared before him again, but this time he did not retreat. He reached out and touched it.

“Crack—”

The barrier shattered completely.

“I can bring him here tonight,” Lin Qinghan said, looking at Concubine Xu. A trace of an imperceptible smirk touched his cold eyes. “But as long as I am there, you won’t be able to touch so much as a corner of his clothes.”

Concubine Xu watched him silently, her narrow eyes filled with intense emotion because of his words.

“Fine. I shall wait and see,” Concubine Xu laughed with indignation.

Just as the door closed, a woman dressed in light gauze walked quickly to Lin Qinghan’s side.

“Young Master, you are truly beautiful,” the woman said plainly, lightly taking Lin Qinghan’s shoulder.

Having stayed in the Suxuan Pavilion for years, Haitang considered herself to have seen all kinds of men in the world and would not be easily astonished, but she still froze for a moment when she saw Lin Qinghan.

She had never seen a man whose looks could be described with the word “beautiful.” This face was simply too exquisite.

“Is that so?”

Those soulful eyes fell on her with a hint of a smile. Slender fingers rose slightly; the woman instinctively closed her eyes, but the fingertips only brushed lightly against the top of her head.

“A petal.”

The smiling voice fell, and Haitang’s heart softened at the sound. She opened her eyes to see his slightly smiling face, and the fingers held before her moved slightly, a petal caught between them. It dazzled her eyes.

It made her heart race.

“Thank you, Young Master,” Haitang lowered her eyes, not daring to look at Lin Qinghan’s face further, whispering, “Would it be alright for the Young Master to stay today?”

“Hm?”

The voice lilted upward, tugging at Haitang’s heart. She hurriedly looked up and grabbed his sleeve: “Does the Young Master not wish to?”

Lin Qinghan looked somewhat conflicted: “There is someone waiting for me outside.”

Seeing that he didn’t refuse directly, Haitang was overjoyed. Her voice softened further: “The Young Master only needs to send word. I can find someone to go for you, how about it?”

Lin Qinghan did not answer.

“The night wind is cold; please stay and have a cup of warm wine, Young Master,” Haitang urged again.

Hearing this, Lin Qinghan seemed to sigh helplessly, glanced at her with a smile, and said softly: “Then I shall trouble you, Miss.”

Haitang’s joy intensified. She hurriedly said it was no trouble and pulled him into the adjacent room.

“He stayed?” Concubine Xu looked gloomily at the hidden guard.

“Yes. He has settled in next door with Miss Haitang of Suxuan Pavilion,” the guard replied respectfully.

“Heh, he is certainly at leisure,” Concubine Xu sneered, hatred flashing in her eyes.

“Clatter—”

A bracelet was tossed before the guard. the jade beads on it were dull and even showed faint cracks.

“Deliver this item to Master Qi,” Concubine Xu sneered, a flash of pleasure in her eyes. “Tell him I have found the person he seeks.”

“Yes.”

After the guard withdrew, Concubine Xu looked down at the chessboard that had been neglected for so long. A mocking smile curled her lips.

“Lin Qinghan, I want to see how much longer you can remain so arrogant.”

In the courtyard, a breeze blew, carrying the bitter scent of herbs to Shen Miaomiao’s face. The bitterness made her whole face scrunch up.

“This medicine is so bitter,” Shen Miaomiao grumbled with disgust.

Ye Zhaoyan glanced at her and shook her head gently.

Shen Miaomiao was oblivious: “Poor A-Han, having to take such bitter medicine.”

Support