Chapter 14: Rooftop Night Talk

Cui Wangshu opened her eyes again, and as expected, she found herself tied up in a woodshed. She struggled lightly but couldn’t break free, so she pursed her lips and began to survey her surroundings.

Her ankles and wrists were bound, but it wasn’t entirely hopeless—and there was Jiang Chenbi to consider.

Cui Wangshu gritted her teeth. The emotions in her pitch-black pupils were indescribable as she stared darkly at the ground, her thoughts subtly shifting.

“Creak—” The woodshed door opened, and Cui Wangshu looked over to see a man’s silhouette.

Even in the dim light where she couldn’t make out his face clearly, Cui Wangshu could sense the familiar sleazy aura emanating from him.

“Yo, you’re awake, little beauty.” Zhang Sanshui rubbed his chin, his filthy gaze lingering over Cui Wangshu’s body.

Cui Wangshu narrowed her eyes, pondering the chances of knocking Zhang Sanshui out later.

As Zhang Sanshui drew near, she noticed he was wrapped up tightly, only his eyes exposed. Recalling what Jiang Chenbi had said about the mother gu of the Human-Face Gu not being able to see moonlight, Cui Wangshu had another idea.

Her expression changed, and she pleaded pitifully, “Please spare me. It was I who offended you this afternoon. From now on, I won’t do it again.”

Zhang Sanshui chuckled shamelessly. “Heh heh, beauty, weren’t you pretty arrogant this afternoon? How come you’re so obedient now?”

“This, this has killed my mood a bit, but for the sake of your looks, big brother will still pamper you.”

With that, Zhang Sanshui reached out to grab Cui Wangshu. She gritted her back teeth and hurriedly said, “Wait a moment!”

Zhang Sanshui lost his patience and cursed, “What trick are you trying to pull now!”

Cui Wangshu gave a miserable smile. “What trick could I have? I was just thinking if we could go to a room instead. This woodshed is really uncomfortable.”

Zhang Sanshui eyed her suspiciously. “You’re not trying to trick me, are you?”

Cui Wangshu sighed. “The reason I fell off the cliff and ended up here is because my father wanted to marry me off to a sixty-year-old man in exchange for his official career. Thinking about it now, it’s better to follow you than that old man.”

Zhang Sanshui sneered and patted Cui Wangshu’s face. “Didn’t expect you to be such a slut. But do you think I’m an idiot? You little girl know some half-assed kung fu. Others might not recognize that Onyx Iron Fan, but I do. You think you can fool me?”

“Too bad, I don’t know where your Onyx Iron Fan went. It was a real treasure.” After saying that, Zhang Sanshui spat on Cui Wangshu’s face.

Cui Wangshu gritted her teeth, suppressing the urge to chop him down right then and there. Hearing that he hadn’t gotten the Onyx Iron Fan, understanding flashed in her eyes, and the tension in her heart eased slightly. Another plan began to form in her mind.

Just as Zhang Sanshui lunged at her and Cui Wangshu prepared to knee him, she heard the sharp sound of a silver needle slicing through the air.

The next second, Zhang Sanshui collapsed stiffly.

Cui Wangshu let out a long breath and turned her gaze to the doorway, where Jiang Chenbi had somehow leaned against the frame.

A meaningful smile played on her lips, and complex emotions Cui Wangshu couldn’t decipher swirled in her eyes—like a midnight ghost, dangerous and deadly.

Cui Wangshu’s gaze darkened slightly, lingering on Jiang Chenbi’s face for a long time.

Jiang Chenbi approached, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Cui Wangshu. She stood before her, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped Cui Wangshu’s face. Cui Wangshu instinctively tried to dodge, but Jiang Chenbi suddenly gripped her chin firmly, immobilizing her.

Cui Wangshu lowered her lashes, hiding her emotions, and said hoarsely, “You were there when I was knocked out.”

From Jiang Chenbi’s angle, Cui Wangshu with her downcast eyes looked somewhat frail, inexplicably stirring a desire to protect her.

Jiang Chenbi curved her lips. “Yeah, seeing Little Minister Cui so vulnerable from the rooftop was truly delightful.”

Cui Wangshu bit her lip and said nothing, merely tugging at the corner of her mouth in a reluctant expression.

Jiang Chenbi considerately took out another clean, dampened handkerchief and carefully wiped Cui Wangshu’s face again, asking, “So your ‘other plans’ meant throwing yourself into the trap?”

Cui Wangshu lowered her eyes, tacitly admitting it.

Little Minister Cui in this state… Jiang Chenbi’s gaze lingered on Cui Wangshu’s lips. She wiped a bit harder, making them rub red and glossy, but the nameless fire in her heart burned even fiercer.

Jiang Chenbi narrowed her eyes. “Little Minister Cui trusts me so much? You believed I’d come save you just like that?”

A meaningful smile tugged at Cui Wangshu’s lips as she said indifferently, “Trouble you to untie me.”

Jiang Chenbi’s fingers moved nimbly and swiftly, quickly untying the ropes.

Borrowing the moonlight streaming in from the doorway, Jiang Chenbi saw Cui Wangshu rub her wrists and step closer to her.

She bent slightly at the waist, staring intently into Jiang Chenbi’s eyes at eye level. Her gaze swept over the woman’s red lips as she chuckled lowly, “Miss Jiang… won’t allow others to touch me, will you?”

Jiang Chenbi looked at the enlarged face before her. Her heart clenched, memories flashing through her mind, her breathing hitching slightly. The next second, she curved her lips. “Naturally. I find it dirty.”

Cui Wangshu stared into her eyes, then suddenly looked away, saying coolly, “Thanks for tonight.”

Looking at Zhang Sanshui lying on the ground, disgust overflowed from her eyes as she said, “You check him first.”

Jiang Chenbi pursed her lips and hesitated. “When I went to the main hall to investigate, his father discovered me, so I knocked him out and dissected him. The mother gu was indeed in their bodies.”

Cui Wangshu frowned, shocked by Jiang Chenbi’s decisiveness and efficiency. “Dissected? He’s dead?”

Jiang Chenbi touched her nose. “Mm.”

Cui Wangshu asked again, “Then Xiao Yi’s condition is cured?”

Jiang Chenbi shook her head. “The one in Zhang Yong’s body was just an ordinary mother gu. He probably hasn’t had anyone parasitized by the Human-Face Gu yet, so when I dissected it, the mother gu was still a larva. But the one on Zhang Sanshui is an adult, at least an imago. Dissecting it directly might cause a mutual destruction.”

Cui Wangshu pondered for a moment. “In that case, we have to wait for your people to bring the items. Will the drug you gave him hold out until then?”

Jiang Chenbi smiled. “I fed him plenty—enough to subdue a raging donkey.”

Cui Wangshu also smiled faintly, a rare spark of amusement in her eyes.

Seeing her smile eased Jiang Chenbi’s worries a bit. She bound Zhang Sanshui and dragged him into the courtyard under the moonlight, then pointed at the rooftop. “Want to go up and enjoy the moon for a bit?”

Cui Wangshu glanced at the large, round moon in the sky, remembering it was the night when Liu Xuan was at his weakest, and nodded.

The two sat on the ridge of the roof, hands braced behind them, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

Cui Wangshu lowered her lashes, her emotions unreadable, and deliberately lightened her tone as she asked, “In your eyes, what kind of person am I?”

Hearing her pitiful tone, Jiang Chenbi knew the night’s events had impacted her greatly. Otherwise, the usually spirited Minister Cui, with her tail held high, wouldn’t be so subdued now.

Gazing at the moon, Jiang Chenbi said, “Little Minister Cui is young yet holds the rank of Minister of Rites, a second-rank official. Her contributions to diplomacy with foreign vassals are well-known. She is truly one of Great Zhao’s pillars.”

Cui Wangshu lowered her head. “But today, I still fell for a scheme. I thought I was cautious enough.”

Jiang Chenbi was surprised that Cui Wangshu cared about this, but then it made sense. Given Cui Wangshu’s previous confident demeanor, she probably hadn’t faced many setbacks in her career or life.

Yet what made her was also what broke her.

Her status as the Cui Family’s legitimate daughter had indeed provided her with superior resources, but it had also blinded her to some extent.

In governing the country, Minister Cui was well-versed in classics, proficient in ancient and modern knowledge, with her unique insights—otherwise, the Emperor wouldn’t favor her solely due to the Cui Family’s influence.

But in the eyes of those old foxes, Cui Wangshu was indeed inexperienced—not in political tactics, where she was quite seasoned, but outside the court, in matters of the jianghu, as she herself had said.

Jiang Chenbi considered her words carefully. “How many in the court have jianghu experience? They merely issue orders for subordinates to carry out, considering eternal interests, while those below think in terms of every fleeting moment of life.”

She sighed and continued, “Countless people sacrifice themselves one after another to achieve your goals, blocking assassinations and schemes along the way. You only need the final result, so naturally, you don’t understand the hardships of survival in the jianghu.”

Cui Wangshu fell silent for a long time before saying, “I know that, but don’t you think… I was too arrogant? Naively believing everything was under control.”

She gave a bitter smile. “Two years ago, before I took the position of Minister of Rites, I calculated that my predecessor, Zhang Wenshuo, would meet his end when the next Emperor ascended. Later, during the sacrificial rites to heaven and earth, a bolt of lightning struck Zhang Wenshuo dead, and I became the next Minister of Rites.”

“After becoming Minister of Rites, I calculated every step for my father, and each one succeeded flawlessly, as if aided by heaven. Father said I allowed the Cui Family to sit firmly like a fisherman at his pole.”

“Not long ago, when we descended into the Imperial Mausoleum and emerged from the ice chamber, you and I proceeded step by step. I calculated the right path, and though I didn’t calculate the heavenly stairs, I bet correctly. I thought I was truly that heaven-blessed lucky one.”

“But today, I thought I was prepared, yet I still fell for it.”

Jiang Chenbi had thought Cui Wangshu was just upset about her mistake, not realizing it had struck her so deeply.

She fell silent for a long time, swallowing the words, “Actually, I could have taken you away then.”

At the time, thinking Cui Wangshu had chosen this herself, she decided not to interfere and let the scheme serve as a lesson.

Now, seeing her so dejected, Jiang Chenbi felt some guilt and self-reproach.

Perhaps voicing it lightened her heart, as Cui Wangshu curved her lips. “Consider it a grindstone. Perhaps I should be grateful it happened to me, rather than in the plans I have ahead.”

Cui Wangshu comforted herself this way, appearing to have let it go.

Jiang Chenbi pursed her lips and gently placed her hand over the back of Cui Wangshu’s. Cui Wangshu turned and met Jiang Chenbi’s gaze, her own darkening slightly.

Her eyes slid from the woman’s brows to her lips. Cui Wangshu looked away, down at the moon’s reflection in the courtyard water jar, then lifted her gaze back to Jiang Chenbi.

Cui Wangshu reached out, tucking the stray lock of hair behind Jiang Chenbi’s ear, and chuckled softly, “Full of bad ideas.”