Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 24.2

Chapter 24.2
Only when she’s dead, then she’ll ––

Qin Jue was stunned. Luo Wanqing pondered, turned her eyes to look at him, “Perhaps you are not the Qin Jue who came back with me from Yangzhou?”

Qin Jue seemed to hesitate, but Luo Wanqing knew the answer. She turned her head away and said lightly, “I used my blade technique in front of him. At that time, he asked me where I inherited my skills, and I said it was my family’s, and he said my skills were rough. But when you saw my blade technique today, you asked me who Zhang Jiuran was. You have a very different temperament and different abilities. He would never be in such a sorry state. I saw him last night, and I was relieved to see that he was fine, but when I saw you today, I realized that you were heavily injured. Your body has changed too quickly.”

“I’m sorry ……” Qin Jue apologized. “I don’t want to hide it from Miss either. But it’s a matter of life and death ……”

“It’s fine.” Luo Wanqing shook her head, “I also have lied to him about something. He has not harmed me, and I have nothing much to blame him.” Only some sadness, and she felt that person was like standing in the layers of curtains, never seeing his true appearance.

Luo Wanqing turned her eyes to look at him. The youth’s facial features were ordinary, but compared to the average person, he still had a sense of uprightness that was hard to hide. Before, she felt his eyes were too beautiful and didn’t match his facial features. But now, this person before her had facial features that blended perfectly.

“So you’re the real Qin Jue?” Luo Wanqing looked at his brows and spoke understandingly, and Qin Jue nodded.

“What about him? Who is he?”

“He ……” Qin Jue hesitated, slowly saying, “He’s from the Inspection Department.”

“Did he tell you about these things in today’s examination?”

“Yes.”

“Why did he pretend to be you?”

“My family was falsely accused of treason, leaving me the only living person. I have some evidence in my hands, so the people who harmed my family are terrified and are bent on killing me. In Yangzhou prison, they organized an assassination. Master Xie’s main informant got the news and set an ambush to catch the enemy. But, it turns out, there’s a mole in the Inspection Department. That person tipped off the enemy, leaving one running away.” Qin Jue said.

Luo Wanqing paused and pondered whether that was when she intercepted Liu Xiniang. She felt guilty and couldn’t help but say, ” …… not necessarily a mole.”

“Only a few people knew about Master Xie set up an ambush. If it’s not a mole, how could that expert run?” Qin Jue frowned tightly.

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare to look directly at him and changed the topic stiffly: “And then?”

“Master Xie is still collecting evidence for my family’s case. If I continue to stay in Jiangnan, I’m afraid I won’t live long. So, Master Xie wants to transfer me from Yangzhou to the Inspection Department through the examination. Once I enter the Inspection Department, he can protect me. But before that, the Insection Department can’t make too many moves, and he wants to keep a distance from me, the son of a treasonous criminal, to avoid suspicion from the Emperor.”

“So, to protect you, the Inspection Department sent someone to secretly pretend to be you and go to Dongdu from Yangzhou to take the examination?” Luo Wanqing understood, then frowned, “Then why didn’t he help you take the examination? With your injury, even without assassins chasing you, you won’t pass the exam.”

“Do you think only people from the Inspection Department are among the examinees today?” Qin Jue smiled bitterly. “Currently, the Imperial Household Supervisor, Yang Chun, the Imperial Historian, Sun Shu, and the Third Prince, Li Guiyu, were sitting on the tallest building. These are the eyes sent by the Emperor.”

Luo Wanqing’s movements paused. It took great strength to keep herself from losing her temper, not allowing herself to reveal too much concern for that Third Prince. She calmly said, “Because they were watching, there was no way to muddle through, and you could only be allowed to take the test in real life. But the Inspection Department also secretly sent experts to protect you. But the Feng Yu Pavilion’s assassins were tricky and killed all of them?”

“Yes.”

“Which means that after entering Dongdu, it was you that I saw during the day. But it was him who came to me last night to warn me to stay away from you.”

Qin Jue paused. He bowed his head embarrassedly and softly said, “If he did something ……”

“I understand.” Luo Wanqing interrupted him. After hesitating, she finally asked the question she had always wanted but didn’t dare to.

“What about Zhang Jiuran? Who is she?”

Qin Jue’s face turned pale when he heard this name. Luo Wanqing fumbled with her blade and said softly, “I’ve never properly learned martial arts. It’s all up to fate, if someone teaches me, I’ll learn a couple of moves. This blade technique was taught to me by a female warrior I met when I was in Yangzhou. She never told me her name. According to you,” Luo Wanqing turned her head to look at Qin Jue, falsely puzzled, “Was her name Zhang Jiuran?”

“You …… “Qin Jue raised his eyes, straining to suppress his emotions, “Only met her a few times?”

“Yes.” Luo Wanqing said solemnly, “But I treat her as my master.” Also a close friend.

Luo Wanqing didn’t say this out loud.

However, upon hearing this, Qin Jue laughed, unable to restrain the tears welling up in his eyes as he mocked, “Then this master of yours, she’s a person who’s evil to the core.”

“Why do you say that?” Luo Wanqing stared at Qin Jue, who clenched his fists, and in a blink, tears fell from his eyes, “To make false accusations in the name of love, in this world, could there be a more vicious person?”

Luo Wanqing froze. Qin Jue gritted his teeth, “Do you know why my Qin family fell into such a state? It’s because of her.”

“Impossible!” Luo Wanqing subconsciously denied it. She remembered the woman in the prison. She was inconsiderate, but — but —

Actually, she didn’t understand her either. Luo Wanqing’s voice cut off.

Qin Jue laughed: ”You don’t believe it? Yes, who will believe it? Such a bright and clear one, but a liar?”

“She lied to me,” Qin Jue stared at Luo Wanqing, “She lied to the Qin family! My parents regard her as their child, my sister treats her as her elder sister, and my Qin Clan has never treated her half-heartedly! But what about her?”

“Plotting, forging evidence, colluding with other’s families! My father died in the execution ground in Dongdu, and my mother and sister lost their lives in prison ……”

Luo Wanqing stared blankly at the insane-like person before her, listening to the familiar phrases. Sharp pain cut across her chest, and she found it somewhat difficult to breathe. She had experienced this pain.

She had.
So she understood.

The person before her seemed to be Luo Wanqing, who had just learned the truth about Jiang Shaoyan’s betrayal a few months ago. As if he had forgotten what she had said, he rushed forward, grabbed her collar, and said excitedly: ”You tell me, where is she? Where did she go? Where is she?!”

“She lied to me. How could she leave like that?!”

“I’m going to kill her. I’m going to avenge my Qin family! Speak! You tell me where she went! You speak!”

“She ……” Luo Wanqing couldn’t speak. She suppressed her heart’s shock, trying to pull herself out of her emotions, and said with difficulty, “She …… I heard that — she’s gone.”

“Gone?” Qin Jue puzzled, “Go where?”

“I heard — the northwest.” Luo Wanqing did not dare to look at Qin Jue. She was half-lying. “She left the Feng Yu Pavilion, gone.”

“Impossible.” Hearing this, Qin Jue shook his head as he stared at Luo Wanqing. “Someone who belongs to the Feng Yu Pavilion can’t leave unless they die.”

“She thought of a way ……”

“She got rid of the parasites?” Qin Jue spoke out, and Luo Wanqing froze. Her intuition said something was wrong: “What parasites?”

“Why do you think the assassins of the Feng Yu Pavilion are loyal? It’s because they all have a kind of parasite in their bodies. If suppressed with internal force, they can live for a year. Without internal force, in three months at the most, she’ll lose all five senses and then die in darkness. She can not leave the Feng Yu Pavilion and will not go to the northwest. She told me –” Qin Jue seemed to realize something, suddenly letting go of Luo Wanqing, murmuring out, “Before her father died, he said he’d take her to the northwest to see the poplars but failed to keep the promise. So, for many years, she went to the south and north but didn’t go to the northwest because it would remind her of her father.”

“Only when she’s dead.”

Hearing this, Luo Wanqing raised her eyes incredulously. Qin Jue shuddered, “Then, she’ll go to the northwest — to fulfill the appointment.”