Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 8.1

Chapter 8.1
If You Want To Be Liu Xiniang, You Have To Bear The Price of Becoming Liu Xiniang

When they brought Luo Wanqing to the medical department for a simple dressing, she asked for some herbs from the medical officer before returning to the dungeon. She and her mother have a reputation in the medical circle in Yangzhou. The medical officer was very sympathetic to her. When she asked for herbs, the medical officer secretly gave her more portions and asked the medicine boy to grind it into powder and put it in a bottle, lest it get damp in the dungeon.

The jailers throw Luo Wanqing into the dungeon with the medicine. Once she entered the water, Liu Xiniang fished her out and worriedly asked: “How is it? Did you see Xie Heng? What did you say?”

Luo Wanqing closed her eyes and relaxed.

Liu Xiniang saw her appearance and gazed down. When she saw whip marks on her back, she understood the result. She spoke intentionally: “That’s fine if the Inspection Department does not care. Well, the days are still long. There are always other ways. Even if you’re banished, you’re still alive,” Liu Xiniang clumsily consoled, “Exile to Lingnan. After several years, you can restore your status as a good citizen. In Lingnan, you and your family can continue to live well. People can always look forward in life.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t say anything. She leaned against the wall and seemed to be thinking about something.

Liu Xiniang scratched her head. She tried to change the topic and said, “Did you see Xie Heng just now? I just looked from a distance, but he seemed to be a handsome man. Your eyes might not be that good if you don’t practice martial arts, but I saw it ……”

“Xiniang,” Luo Wanqing suddenly opened her mouth. Liu Xiniang hurriedly stopped, listening to Luo Wanqing solemnly speak while closing her eyes, “Do you want to leave the Feng Yu Pavilion?”

Liu Xiniang froze, then sighed, “Is that for me to decide? You should have heard about our Feng Yu Pavilion. After entering the pavilion, it’s either death or death. Whoever wants to leave is a traitor. They will chase you to the end of the earth. I’m doing quite well in the pavilion. So I won’t provoke them.”

“If someone takes over your identity so that the Feng Yu Pavilion doesn’t notice your departure, can you leave?”

When Luo Wanqing asked this, Liu Xiniang immediately noticed something was wrong. She frowned and raised her eyes to examine Luo Wanqing, “What do you mean?”

“If I’m willing to replace you as Liu Xiniang,” Luo Wanqing looked at her and said solemnly, “Are you willing to leave?”

Liu Xiniang froze as she smiled mockingly, “How is that possible?”

“The burn scars on your face, I can use medicine to delay its healing.” Luo Wanqing quickly spoke of the scheme she had thought of. “Soon, our family’s exile sentence will come down. Before we leave, I will burn my face and create the same scars as yours so that no one will be able to recognize our appearance. Then we’ll meet at the Medical Department and take the opportunity to change our clothes and identities. You’ll go into exile, and I’ll stay in prison in your place.”

“As long as you walk out of Yangzhou, even if the jailers find out I’m not you, they won’t make a sound.”

“Impossible.” Liu Xiniang shook her head, “I have a task you can’t do. If things get delayed, once the Feng Yu Pavilion comes looking for you for accountability, they’ll soon realize that you’re not me, and when that happens, you won’t survive, and neither will I.”

“I can help you keep working on this mission.”

“No way,” Liu Xiniang waved her hand, “Do you know what my mission is? Not even I have a clue in my mind ……”

“I know.” Luo Wanqing interrupted her, and under Liu Xiniang’s surprised eyes, she calmly spoke, “You’re going into the Inspection Department to kill Xie Heng.”

Liu Xiniang’s movements paused. After a moment, she slowly stored her smile and began to weigh the person in front of her. The woman before her had a pretty face, fragile and beautiful as porcelain. But under her pressing gaze, she did not back down a bit.

Liu Xiniang thought for a moment, did not understand, only asked: “How did you know?”

“I thought about it back to the dungeon.” Luo Wanqing calmly looked back at her, analyzing her actions, “You’re an assassin, and I threatened you. But not only did you not think of killing me, you stayed with me and helped me all the way. I was initially grateful, thinking you were trying to help me and that you’re a good person. But when I thought about it more carefully, I realized you were too concerned about Xie Heng. Even just now, after I returned, you immediately asked whether I had seen Xie Heng.”

“Just because of this?” Liu Xiniang laughed lightly, “That’s why you think I’m going to kill Xie Heng?”

“That night when I stopped you, you said you would assassinate Qin Jue. Qin Jue’s assassination didn’t work out, yet you didn’t intend to seek another opportunity to assassinate him. So it’s clear that the target of your mission wasn’t Qin Jue. You didn’t intend to leave the prison since we’ve become together. So, staying in the prison is part of your mission. You only needed to instruct me a bit, and I was able to kill someone, so it’s evident that you have extraordinary abilities and no ordinary assassin.”

“And then?” Liu Xiniang laughed softly.

“You’re in prison for privately trading salt, and if I guessed correctly, the amount of salt you sold should be a capital offense. You said that your mission was different and that you tried not to contact the people in the pavilion because you wanted to ensure the cleanliness of this identity. An assassin at the top level, trying to be a death row prisoner to ensure a clean identity, and paying extra attention to Xie Heng. So, I’m guessing,” Luo Wanqing concluded, “You want to take the Inspection Department exams and then assassinate Xie Heng, right?”

“How can I say it,” Liu Xiniang didn’t hide it and nodded her head, “That’s true, so you did understand,” Liu Xiniang looked at Luo Wanqing, seriously advised, “That we can’t change our identities. What I’m going to do is enough for you to die ten thousand times. Even if the prison can’t recognize you and me, the moment you move, the Feng Yu Pavilion will know that you aren’t me.”

“Why would I do it?” Luo Wanqing interrupted her.

Liu Xiniang froze. Luo Wanqing stared at her and pursued, “Liu Xiniang is an ordinary salt peddler. Should an ordinary salt peddler have the stature of a killer? You said you and the Feng Yu Pavilion won’t casually contact each other. Therefore, as long as I can enter the Inspection Department, the Feng Yu Pavilion won’t take the initiative to approach me. After I enter the Inspection Department, I will seize the opportunity to break away from the Feng Yu Pavilion.”

“Then what if you fail the exam?” Liu Xiniang frowned, “If you fail the exam, the Feng Yu Pavilion will immediately look for your accountability. You won’t be able to hide it for long.”

“Before the Feng Yu Pavilion seeks accountability, I will set myself on fire, leaving only a charred corpse for them.” Luo Wanqing answered without hesitation, looking at Liu Xiniang seriously, “I was born as Liu Xiniang, then I will die as Liu Xiniang, and I will never implicate you.”

These words made Liu Xiniang freeze. After a moment, she hurriedly waved her hand, “No, no, no. I can’t let you send yourself to death. You don’t have to help me so much.”

“I’m not helping you,” Luo Wanqing lowered her eyes, looking at her tired-looking self reflected in the sewage, “I’m helping myself. I only have one request. With your skill, it shouldn’t be hard to leave the exile team, take my family with you when you leave, and help me resettle them.”

Liu Xiniang didn’t say anything, and after a long time, she whispered, “If I help you resettle your family and don’t need you to do anything, do you still want to switch identities with me?”

“Yes.” Luo Wanqing answered with certainty.

Liu Xiniang understood her meaning, “To seek revenge on Jiang Shaoyan?”

“Yes.”

“What about waiting a little longer?” Liu Xiniang raised her eyes with some expectation, “Perhaps the cycle of karma in this world ……”

“Then I am his karma.” Luo Wanqing interrupted her and looked up at Liu Xiniang. Her every word was calm and carried a sense of power, “If there really is a cycle of karma in this world and God and Buddha’s mercy, then my Luo family has been doing good deeds for a lifetime, so how could I have come to this day? Therefore, I don’t look forward to the next life but only ask for this life. I don’t count on God and Buddha. I only count on myself. If I don’t kill him, who will seek justice for me, for the Luo family? If you are willing to help me, I’ll thank you. But I still want to go to the Inspection Department.”

Looking at Liu Xiniang’s complicated expression, Luo Wanqing seriously said, “This is the only way for me to live. If I don’t take this path, if I don’t kill Jiang Shaoyan, I can’t live my life in peace.”