Chapter 15: I’ll Teach You

Jiang Chenbi hooked her lip and asked again, “Lord Cui Xiao, we’ve shared life-and-death trials, haven’t we? How much credibility do I have in your eyes?”

Cui Wangshu stared at Jiang Chenbi for a moment before letting out a light laugh. “Your credibility? I’m afraid it’s not even enough to borrow a string of copper coins.”

Jiang Chenbi: ……

Cui Wangshu glanced at Zhang Sanshui on the ground and said, “Out with it, then. What do you want?”

Jiang Chenbi pursed her lips. “This time back in the capital, I’m not returning to the palace. I want to stay at your residence.”

The words landed lightly, yet they struck like thunder from a clear sky.

Cui Wangshu turned back to meet Jiang Chenbi’s eyes, searching her gaze for any hint of a joke, but there was none.

Cui Wangshu frowned. “What about the one in the Cold Palace?”

Jiang Chenbi hooked her lip again. “That’s… a secret for now. I just need one promise from you, Lord Cui the Minister. Will you help me?”

Cui Wangshu wouldn’t agree to something so uncertain and risky. She frowned, about to refuse, when a familiar pain stabbed at her heart.

She knew it was that damned Love Gu. Lifting her eyes, she saw Jiang Chenbi wearing an expression that said, “What are you going to do about it?”

Cui Wangshu was speechless. She sighed. “You have to tell me in advance so I can make full preparations.”

Jiang Chenbi smiled and agreed. “Alright.”

The two sat on the ridgeline and talked for a long time. Since leaving the Imperial Mausoleum, Cui Wangshu had only known that Jiang Chenbi’s extreme and mad style ran through her entire personality.

But she hadn’t expected that beneath those crazy actions lay a logic that was rational and restrained.

This “strange” woman before her gained yet another layer of contradiction.

As dawn approached, an old eagle circled endlessly in the sky. Jiang Chenbi spotted it and blew a whistle. The eagle dove down and perched on her arm.

Jiang Chenbi removed the note from the eagle’s claw, glanced at it, and laughed. “The person’s here. Lord Cui the Minister, lend a hand.”

Cui Wangshu and Jiang Chenbi dragged Zhang Sanshui to an abandoned Earth God Temple outside the village. A veiled woman emerged from behind the stone statue of the Earth God.

The woman handed over two vials and said in a low voice, “Miss, what you wanted. We’ve started preparing for that matter.”

Jiang Chenbi took the vials and nodded. As the woman turned to leave, Jiang Chenbi called out, “Do you have any money on you?”

The woman paused, then handed over the money pouch from her bosom. Jiang Chenbi weighed it in her hand, quite satisfied, and laughed. “Thanks. Tell Old Qian to reimburse you when you get back.”

The woman nodded and left.

Cui Wangshu glanced at the departing woman and said, “I hope our handling of my disappearance is perfectly in sync.”

Jiang Chenbi hooked her lip. “Like, say, being kidnapped?”

Cui Wangshu raised a brow. “Looks like Miss Jiang and I are two peas in a pod.”

Jiang Chenbi shot her a disgusted look. “You can stink on your own. I’m perfectly fragrant, thank you very much.” With that, she walked toward Zhang Sanshui lying on the ground.

Cui Wangshu: ……So petty.

Jiang Chenbi pulled a bamboo tube from her sleeve and placed it under Zhang Sanshui’s nose. When she opened it, a faint fishy smell wafted out. Cui Wangshu asked, “What’s that?”

Jiang Chenbi explained, “Chicken meat.”

Probably from a chicken she’d killed along with Zhang Yong. Cui Wangshu didn’t press further and focused on watching what Jiang Chenbi was doing.

After about two minutes, Jiang Chenbi took medicine from one of the vials and stuffed it into Zhang Sanshui’s mouth, then placed the bamboo tube under his nose again.

Zhang Sanshui began twitching unnaturally, but he showed no signs of waking. After twitching for a few minutes like this…

His eyes and mouth suddenly flew open, his expression eerie, and a sound like a flock of birds flapping their wings emanated from his throat.

Cui Wangshu jumped in fright but quickly stepped forward to pin him down, preventing his struggles.

Jiang Chenbi hurriedly opened the other vial and held it above Zhang Sanshui’s mouth.

A bright red insect topped with a skeletal white face slowly crawled out of Zhang Sanshui’s mouth, emitting a sound like an infant’s cry.

Cui Wangshu hadn’t felt nauseous amid all the corpses she’d seen lately, but the sight of that massive worm wriggling its plump, fleshy body and crawling out all slimy made her retch involuntarily twice.

The insect had only a pair of tiny wings, its body far too large to fly before fully exiting the mouth. As it crawled out halfway, Jiang Chenbi poured the liquid from the vial onto it.

Zhang Sanshui suddenly thrashed violently, growling low in his throat like the mutated Corpse Demons in the Imperial Mausoleum. Jiang Chenbi urgently said, “Hold him down!”

Cui Wangshu pinned Zhang Sanshui firmly, ignoring her unhealed shoulder wound. Jiang Chenbi clamped the barely alive insect into the bamboo tube.

She capped it quickly, then drew a small knife from her thigh and plunged it straight into Zhang Sanshui’s heart.

The motion was so swift that Cui Wangshu barely registered it. Once Zhang Sanshui stopped struggling, Jiang Chenbi immediately began dissecting the body.

Cui Wangshu blinked, inwardly marveling as she made room for Jiang Chenbi.

Fortunately, Jiang Chenbi only removed the heart. Before proceeding further, she glanced at Cui Wangshu. “Step back a bit.”

Cui Wangshu complied. Jiang Chenbi placed the heart on the ground and dissolved it with Corpse-Dissolving Water. The next second, countless tiny insects poured out of Zhang Sanshui’s corpse, devouring it.

Cui Wangshu broke out in goosebumps.

The insects left not even bones behind. Once finished, they slowly died, crumbling to ash that a gust of wind scattered without a trace.

Cui Wangshu’s eyes widened. This method of killing was so convenient—no body to dispose of.

After finishing, a sheen of sweat beaded on Jiang Chenbi’s forehead. Though it hadn’t seemed like much to Cui Wangshu, dealing with the Human-Face Gu required precise timing at every step.

Jiang Chenbi raised a brow. “Now we can go treat Xiao Yi. Have your people arrived?”

Cui Wangshu nodded. “By my calculations, yes. They should be at Aunt Liu’s place by now.”

The two simply cleaned up the corpse water on the ground and left.

Back at Aunt Liu’s, Cui Wangshu’s subordinates had indeed arrived. Jiang Chenbi ignored whatever Cui Wangshu was saying, grabbed Xiao Yi, and entered a room. Cui Wangshu caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye and pursed her lips.

With the Mother Gu dead, the gu worms in Xiao Yi’s body began dying off too, but it was a slow process. The time it took varied based on how long the gu had been inside.

Cui Wangshu had just finished briefing her subordinates when urgent shouts came from inside: “Cui Wangshu, hurry and bring a basin of water!”

Cui Wangshu didn’t delay. Entering the room, she saw Xiao Yi lying prone on the bed, face contorted in pain. Her clothes had been fully removed, covered only by a thin quilt over her lower body.

Silver needles protruded from her back. To restrain Xiao Yi’s hands, Jiang Chenbi was pressed close against her, the two looking intimately entwined.

Jiang Chenbi said, “Set it down and go. Don’t let Aunt Liu in.”

Cui Wangshu’s gaze darkened slightly. Her eyes lingered on the pair for a moment, but she said nothing. Before closing the door, she heard Jiang Chenbi’s gentle murmur: “Be good. It’ll be fine.”

She couldn’t quite name the feeling, but that scene was glaring, the words grating.

After two hours, the commotion inside finally ceased. When Jiang Chenbi opened the door, she looked utterly exhausted and too tired to speak. She only told Aunt Liu, “She just needs rest and daily medicine applications.”

Aunt Liu could see Jiang Chenbi’s fatigue and said gratefully, “Thank you, Miss Jiang. Your kindness to our mother and daughter is something we’ll never forget.”

Jiang Chenbi hooked her lip. “Go see her. Don’t disturb her rest.”

Before Aunt Liu could react, Jiang Chenbi nearly collapsed to her knees. Fortunately, Cui Wangshu, leaning against a pillar, caught her swiftly.

Cui Wangshu said, “Aunt Liu, you go ahead. I’ll help her rest.”

Under Cui Wangshu’s reassurance, Aunt Liu’s worries eased, and she went in to check on her daughter.

Once she was gone, Cui Wangshu scooped Jiang Chenbi up in a princess carry and took her to rest.

Even Jiang Chenbi’s laugh was feeble now. “I didn’t even say anything. Why do you look so sour?”

The image of that scene upon entering the room kept flashing in Cui Wangshu’s mind. She wanted to say something but felt it inappropriate, finally muttering dryly, “It’s nothing.”

Jiang Chenbi was truly exhausted now, too tired to guess at Cui Wangshu’s thoughts. She fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

Cui Wangshu stood by the bedside watching for a long time before leaving the room.

She pursed her lips. They couldn’t delay any longer. They had to return to the capital by tomorrow morning at the latest. She’d arranged everything. Cui Daoyuan might not buy her excuse, but at least it would give the Emperor an explanation.

……

That night,

When Jiang Chenbi woke, she saw Cui Wangshu sitting nearby. The dim candlelight illuminated her face, revealing how much weight Cui Wangshu had lost these past few days. Her aloof aura had grown even more pronounced.

Jiang Chenbi’s gaze fell on Cui Wangshu’s slightly pursed lips, her own eyes darkening. They said a full stomach led to lustful thoughts, but even hungry as she was, impudent ideas stirred.

Sensing the burning gaze, Cui Wangshu looked up and found Jiang Chenbi had been staring for a while, her eyes holding an indescribable emotion.

They’d shared that ambiguous, near-entwined intimacy in the ice chamber before. Cui Wangshu knew exactly what Jiang Chenbi was thinking now.

But…

Jiang Chenbi rose and poured herself a cup of tea to quench her thirst. Her gaze lingered ambiguously on Cui Wangshu’s lips as she spoke in a low, husky voice. “Lord Cui Xiao, do you remember what you promised me before?”

Cui Wangshu pursed her lips. Of course she did. In a moment of impulse back then, she’d promised Jiang Chenbi that if they escaped the Imperial Mausoleum, they’d share a night of passion.

At the time, Cui Wangshu hadn’t truly believed they’d survive, so her agreement had indulged a hidden whim. She hadn’t expected they’d actually make it out alive.

Jiang Chenbi saw the conflict and hesitation on Cui Wangshu’s face, but she was never one to wrong herself. She’d made it clear from the start that she wanted Cui Wangshu’s face and body—and she intended to have them.

Jiang Chenbi plucked the book from Cui Wangshu’s hands and settled into her lap. Her lotus-root arms draped bonelessly around Cui Wangshu’s neck, her eyes and tone like hooks: “Could it be… that Lord Cui Xiao doesn’t know how?”

Boom—

Cui Wangshu’s ear tips flushed crimson, the red spreading down her neck toward her collarbone.

Seeing this, Jiang Chenbi hooked her lip in satisfaction, her breath warm and orchid-sweet: “I’ll teach you~ Lord Cui—Xiao.”