Another spy buried by Da Li within Huan Cai Pavilion, besides the woman, was one more.
The gatekeeper of Huan Cai Pavilion, Shi Yi!
As for the others, she knew very little. Of course, whether she knew very little or was intentionally concealing it, one couldn't be sure.
"So, all of this is Yu Chengxuan's conspiracy?"
Nan Yujin never dreamed that he would one day become a pawn, a pawn used to frame Ji Jinmo and cause internal strife in Lin Yuan.
"My servant?"
Nan Yujin suddenly remembered something. Today, he had only his servant with him when he came out. Now his servant had disappeared. Was he dead, or had he run away?
Nan Shiying vaguely remembered that servant. She turned and looked at Ji Jinmo.
"In the Prince's mansion!"
That meant that Nan Yujin's servant was also someone from Da Li's Yu Chengxuan?
This Yu Chengxuan, how many nails had he planted in Lin Yuan? Before he was ordered to come to Lin Yuan, did he not think about ascending the throne and annexing Lin Yuan? If not, why would he have arranged these people in advance?
Having spent vast amounts of financial and material resources, only to be used at uncertain times?
Had he laid such a grand scheme?
Hearing that his servant was in the Prince's mansion, Nan Yujin's expression turned unsightly. He looked at Ji Jinmo and pleaded, "When you interrogate him, can I observe?"
Ji Jinmo looked at Nan Shiying.
Nan Yujin: "..."
Although the current situation was not appropriate, he still wanted to ask: Prince, are you a wife slave? Prince?
This was utterly ridiculous!
"Yes!" As Nan Shiying nodded, the hand holding the woman's jaw slowly slid down, her five fingers tightening to grip the woman's neck. With a snap, she easily broke the woman's cervical vertebra. The fractured bone pierced the carotid artery, and the woman died cleanly, without experiencing too much pain.
Nan Shiying let go, and the woman's body crashed to the ground.
Nan Yujin swallowed with difficulty. Nan Shiying's killing technique was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation or wavering. Killing was like slaughtering a chicken or crushing an insect. This ingrained cruelty and disregard for life were more terrifying than her previous rampages while torturing people.
Nan Shiying leaned closer and looked at Nan Yujin.
"There's one more thing I've wanted to say for many years, but I never dared to mention it for fear of my life. Now... I want to see if the torment you inflicted on me when you hated me back then, you would dare to inflict it on someone else."
"What do you want to say?"
"I want to ask, why did you all think it was me who caused the death of your sister, Nan Yuqing, back then?"
"Even now, you want to quibble about what happened that day?" Nan Yujin's eyes were bloodshot. Every word he spoke, with a tearing voice, sounded like a wild beast furiously tearing into its prey, devouring its flesh and drinking its blood!
For Nan Yujin, Nan Yuqing was not only a knot in his mother's heart but also his own. In his dreams, he often saw Qing'er struggling desperately in the bone-chilling water, begging him for help time and again, while he was bound by an unseen force, unable to do anything but watch as she went from struggle to despair, then sank to the bottom of the lake.
Even in his dreams, he couldn't save her.
"You know, back then, I wouldn't and dared not leave my courtyard," Nan Shiying said, ignoring Nan Yujin's murderous gaze. "It was Nan Yuqing who called me!"
"So, you're trying to say that Qing'er's death was her own fault?" Nan Yujin struggled to break free from his restraints to grab Nan Shiying's collar, wanting to ask her why she was so heartless, and why she was still bringing this up now, still quibbling about the sins she committed in the past.
Nan Shiying looked at Nan Yujin and suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"You hate?"
But in the end, what had the original Nan Shiying done wrong?
"Nan Yujin, you know perfectly well why Nan Yuqing called me to the lake in the backyard after all these years. Don't talk about whether Consort Liu plotted this. Even if it was me who pushed Nan Yuqing into the lake back then, it was still her own fault!"
"Just like you, before Nan Yuqing died, you made me kneel and bark like a dog just for your amusement. I will never forget that day. These harms you inflicted on me are, to you, just an inconsequential or even long-forgotten anecdote. You hate? No one in the Nan mansion has the right to mention the word 'hate' in front of me!"
"Back then..."
Looking at Nan Shiying's face so close to him, Nan Yujin recalled those old memories. But the Nan Shiying of back then was like a stray cat or dog by the roadside to them, at their mercy for bullying and amusement.
Seeing Nan Yujin lost in memories, Nan Shiying grabbed his jaw and forced him to raise his head. "So, don't put on a victim's face in front of me. I'm afraid I might not be able to resist and will torture Consort Wang to death, bit by bit, right in front of you."
"You dare!"
Nan Yujin's tightly clenched teeth bled.
Nan Shiying smiled brilliantly, like golden ripples on a lake surface under the scorching sun. She turned and said to Ji Jinmo with a touch of coquettishness, "Master, he says I dare not?"
"Thirteen, go to the Nan mansion and bring Consort Wang here!"
Thirteen entered through the window and the room. Upon hearing Ji Jinmo's command, he took the order, turned, and was about to leave.
"No, don't!"
Nan Yujin cried out in alarm, trying to stop Thirteen from leaving. His gaze towards Nan Shiying was filled with anger and resentment, yet he dared not utter any threatening words or make any objections. He slowly lowered his head, using all his might to control the boiling emotions in his heart. "Please, don't harm my mother."
"Thirteen, bring the person!"
Ji Jinmo's expression was cold and sinister. If begging could have worked, why didn't they spare his Ying'er back then? Why did they humiliate and bully her?
"Master!"
Nan Shiying gently shook her head at Ji Jinmo.
What was the use of merely retaliating against Nan Yujin and Consort Wang?
If they died now, wouldn't that be a benefit to Consort Liu and Nan Yuan'er? She wanted the people in the Nan mansion to harm each other. She wanted them to fall from heaven to hell just as they were about to achieve their desires. She wanted them to suffer all this humiliation before dying in pain.
Ji Jinmo pursed his lips. He said nothing more. Instead, he walked to Nan Shiying's side, expressionless, grabbed Nan Yujin's hair, lifted him, and dragged him under the bed. He then kicked him behind the knees.
Nan Yujin fell heavily to his knees.
Ji Jinmo, pulling his hair, forced him to raise his head.
"Come, bark like a dog for this Prince!"