Chapter 14: Thirteen Enters the Trap

  The bathroom was filled with mist, Xia Zhi's whole body was soaked in water, his head resting on the edge of the bathtub, a towel covering his face. He looked very relaxed. His breathing was slow and long, his two robust chest muscles, like iron castings, only slightly rising and falling occasionally, as if he had fallen asleep.

  Suddenly, the door creaked open with a loud bang, and Zhang Thirteen stood in front of him with a stern face. His thin lips were tightly pursed, his eyes fixed on Xia Bian's, flashing with furious flames, he was about to go mad.

  Yesterday he told Xia Jiu not to get up early this morning, after breakfast, he would take Xia Jiu to familiarize himself with the people and things in the mansion again. In the afternoon, accompany him to walk around the shops operated by the Yang family, unexpectedly Xia Jiu took the initiative again, going to find some gifts for Prince Qi early in the morning, and even asked Xiao Ding to accompany him out, without knowing anything about it himself. What is this kid trying to do?

  "He's just a puppet, nothing but a puppet! To be blunt, even Yang Wenhuan is a puppet, someone who can be sacrificed at the critical moment. But at least on the surface, he has to show respect to Yang Wenhuan. What about Xia Liu? A lowly thing like an ant, yet he repeatedly tests my patience! Yesterday I let him off once, and this ignorant kid actually dares to ask for more!"

  Anger made Zhang thirteen unable to hold himself back, he had been holding in his temper waiting for Xiaohui to return home, he decided that this time no matter what he would thoroughly teach him a lesson.

  Xia Liu slowly pulled down the towel on his face, and as soon as he saw him, he immediately revealed a delighted smile: "Thirteen Lang."

  "Where did you go this afternoon?" Zhang Shisan asked with a gloomy face.

  "Ah, I just arrived and I'm a bit excited, couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. Woke up early and suddenly remembered that we need to go to the Qi Wang Fu for the birthday celebration soon. So I casually asked Xiao Qi a few questions, and she said that there are several famous antique shops in Qingzhou. I thought... Thirteen Lang has been working hard these days too, so it's not convenient to bother you early in the morning. I let her take him out for a stroll on the streets, but I didn't make any purchases without consulting you..."

  "Who allowed you to go out on your own?" Zhang Shisan said angrily. "Why didn't you get my permission first!"

  Xia Yu was taken aback, seeing his furious face, and couldn't help but say timidly: "Because... because Shisan Lang taught me..., if you want to pretend to be someone, you have to really think of yourself as the master of this place. Only then can you pretend perfectly, so I...I ordered Xiao Qi to take me..."

  "You dare to argue with me?! You're in my mansion, and you should report everything to me first. If I don't agree, how dare you take matters into your own hands?! Xiaoxiao, don't get arrogant just because you've been Yang Wenyuan for two days! Remember your status! You're just a lowly commoner, and I can bring you down just as easily as I raised you up. If I want to deal with you, I have plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead!"

  Xia Yu anxiously said: "Thirteen Lang don't be angry, I...I..."

  "Get out!" Zhang Shisan said furiously.

  Xia Jiang hastily got up from the pool and took a step forward.

  "Get dressed!"

  Xia Huang hastily ran towards the dresser, opened it, and took out a large bath towel. Zhang Shisan followed him in a rage, his face cold as ice, saying: "From now on, unless I'm not around, you're not allowed to act on your own. As long as I'm here, no matter how big or small the matter is, you must ask for my permission first. If you dare to take matters into your own hands again, I'll...

  Just as he said that, Xia Jian's broad shoulders sank slightly, and he suddenly turned around, his right hand reaching out, a snow-bright cold light stabbing straight at his throat.

  Zhang Shisan was shocked, he never thought that Xia Jiu would actually take action against him, dare to take action against him, and even have the ability to take action against him!

  Under the sudden attack, Zhang Shisan immediately fell back and arched his body, with his feet as solid as cast iron, his body straight like a board, and his legs slanting upwards like a bridge. He narrowly avoided the swift and unmatched thrust with a perfectly executed "Iron Board Bridge" stance. Originally, the "Iron Board Bridge" was an extremely clever technique for evading hidden weapons and swords, spears, and halberds. When there was no time to jump up or dodge to the left or right, this was a lifesaving posture.

  This move was not yet exhausted, and there was still a follow-up. When the enemy retreated with their weapons, he could kick his legs away, retreat a few feet, and counterattack. However, this move "Iron Plate Bridge" avoided it perfectly, but Xia Jiu didn't even have the action of retreating his weapon. As he saw his arm stabbing forward was exhausted, the white blade in his hand had already passed by Zhang Shisan's nose tip, but he took advantage of the momentum to slightly raise his arm upwards, flipped his wrist, and slashed downwards.

  "Pffft!"

  Zhang Shisan's legs sprang into action, his body just leaving the ground, when Xia Yu's arm, which had been raised in a carefree manner, suddenly sank down. With a "pu" sound, a sharp blade pierced through his chest and abdomen. It turned out that the weapon Xia Yu was holding was not a sword or a knife, but a strange double-edged instrument with blades on both ends. His hand was grasping not the hilt of a sword, but the middle part of this instrument, which allowed him to change from thrusting to stabbing in an instant with just a flick of his wrist.

  In just that instant, victory and defeat were decided.

  Zhang Thirteen let out a low growl, his body falling towards the ground. In shock, he was about to open his mouth and shout loudly when Xia Liu suddenly pounced on him.

  To create this moment of opportunity, to make this hit a must-win, Xia Yu had already made countless plans and was ready for anything. This strike was clean and precise, one hit wonder, and Zhang Shisan's possible reactions were also within his expectations, each with its own countermeasure plan. This tackle sent both men crashing to the ground, Zhang Shisan's cry of surprise stuck in his throat, he only felt that the sharp object that had entered his body during the fall was now exposed, broken into several pieces, scattering everywhere with a clanging sound.

  He was now being tightly held by Xia Yu with a very clever grappling technique, not only could he not move his body, but even his throat was tightly gripped by Xia Yu's elbow, making it difficult to breathe, let alone shout. What that strange weapon was, until now, he still had no idea.

  Xia Liu's face was also somewhat pale, his breathing extremely heavy, his bare chest tightly pressed against Zhang Thirteen's chest, and Zhang Thirteen could hear the rapid and powerful heartbeat coming from his thoracic cavity.

  Xia Jun was very nervous, it was his first time killing someone, no matter how bold a person is, they can't help but feel nervous. But precisely because of this nervousness, he, who originally had an extremely strong physique, now seemed even more powerful, Zhang Thirteen, with all his martial arts skills, had been injured in the chest and was being pressed firmly to the ground by Xia Jun, unable to shout or move, completely at his mercy in just one move.

  Zhang Thirteen's eyes widened in shock, he couldn't understand why Xia Xun wanted to kill him? How dare Xia Xun kill him?

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  Two people, one leaning and the other lying down. After a moment, Xia Yu's pale face returned to its normal rosy complexion after bathing, and his breathing also became smooth. Zhang Thirteen's face, which was originally red with anger and surprise, had begun to turn white...

  Xia Jiang's expression quickly calmed down, he looked at Zhang Thirteen's eyes that were rubbing with pain, surprise, horror and disbelief, slowly raised one hand, which was tightly holding the murder weapon, pressed against Zhang Thirteen's wound.

  His hand was still shaking slightly, but it quickly became extremely stable. There was a pool of blood on his palm, which was light black in color and slowly dripping down along the edge of his palm. Xiaoxiao looked at the blood and suddenly smiled...

  Zhang Thirteen had never seen him reveal such a smile, that kind of relaxed and calm smile, with everything under control confidence, piercing insight, and the subtle radiance of wisdom. Faintly, he felt like he had seen this smile before, on the face of the official scribe as well.

  "Thirteen Lang, your blood is black, that means your liver has been pierced. Even if you lie still and press the wound to stop the bleeding, you can only live for half a stick of incense time at most. Not even gods can save you now. If you want to struggle, you'll die even faster."

  Zhang Shisan's eyes dimmed, he knew Xia Jiu was telling the truth. At thirteen, he had been a prison guard in the Jin Yiwei, and he had used many strange methods to torture prisoners until he became disillusioned with it all and started using simpler methods. There wasn't anyone else in this world who understood the internal and external structure of the human body better than him; he knew Xia Jiu wasn't lying, he knew he was really finished - even if he found every single great doctor in the world, he would still be finished.

  But he refused to die like this, why? What's the reason? There is no reason! Killing me won't help his situation at all, and there are still Director Feng and others around. Does he still want to get rid of the Imperial Guard? Moreover, what's wrong with a rural villager having the powerful Imperial Guard as a backer? What's the reason that made him take a desperate risk and insist on sending himself to death?

  Zhang Shisan's body had begun to feel a creeping chill, the emotions in his eyes, whether anger, fear or surprise, were all slowly dissipating, leaving only doubt, a doubt that refused to let him rest, growing thicker and more intense.

  "You're weird, why would I want to kill you, right?"

  Xia Liu smiled and asked, Zhang Thirteen's gaze changed immediately, becoming a kind of almost pleading longing. Yes, he wanted to know why Xia Liu wanted to kill him, he couldn't think of any reason, if he died with this doubt, he would really die without closing his eyes.

  He had no reason to kill him, think about it, he was just an illiterate countryman, without the support of the Brocade Guard, how could he pretend to be Yang Wenxuan and continue to pretend safely? Moreover, even if he killed himself, how could he escape the control of the Brocade Guard? Would a commoner dare to confront the Brocade Guard? Furthermore, the Brocade Guard still held his personally signed confession, obeying them was his only possible way out!

  "I originally had no reason to kill you, because I couldn't pretend to be Yang Wenxuan with your help; because you have something in your hands that can make me lose my head at any time; because you are the imperial envoy who came to Qingzhou to handle the case, with the power of life and death, even if I were the real Yang Wenxuan, I wouldn't be able to escape from you; so, my only way out is to rely on you, to please you, and to receive your rewards. Is that your idea?"

  Yes, this is exactly what Zhang thirteen hundred couldn't figure out.

  Murder requires motive, what is Xia's motive? Get rid of all the people who know the truth and completely impersonate Yang Wenxuan? Is he crazy? How much risk is there in this, how could Xia have the guts to take this risk? They came with the emperor's edict, they are the official law enforcement agency, once the case is investigated and the rewards are given, it would be easy for them to give Xia an identity. Who wouldn't believe the promise of a court official? Isn't this what a normal person would think? Why did he take action and kill people?

  Moreover, his clean and neat way of killing, his ability to judge the location of injuries based on the color of blood, and his calm expression after assassinating the Jin Yiwei officer - none of these resemble that naive, simple-minded, timid and cowardly country bumpkin. Who is he, really? What is this all for?

  Xia Liu calmly said: "The reason is simple, I don't believe your nonsense, from the beginning I didn't believe it. You lied to me a lot and hid great evil intentions from me. From the start, I knew you had no good intentions towards me. Listening to you and following you, my final outcome would be as miserable as that of Xiang girl. Why wouldn't I resist? In that small shop by Nan Yang River, when I agreed to work for you and signed my name, I made up my mind to kill all of you!"

  "No, I believe you are the real Brocade Guards."

  Xia Liu looked at Zhang Thirteen's puzzled eyes, as if he understood mind-reading skills, and gave him an explanation.

  "I would never suspect that Liu Zhuang's official uniform and waist card are fake. In this world, there can be robbers and swindlers, but it is impossible for any group of robbers or swindlers to be so reckless as to impersonate the Jin Yiwei, who are already hated by everyone. And you have officials and merchants, with power and money, yet you are willing to take such a huge risk, using this unmentionable identity to plot against a vassal king?"

  "What I don't believe is: I don't believe you're here on official business, I don't believe you're here to investigate the White Lotus Society or the officials of the palace who are plotting against the emperor. I don't believe that after you've succeeded, you'll spare my life and even recruit me into the Embroidered Uniform Guard... Your lies are numerous, your flaws are also numerous. These lies may have deceived others, but they won't deceive me, Xia Fu!"

  "Feng Xihui said that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not abolished, I believe! After listening to his explanation, I realized that it was indeed us common people who did not understand the affairs of the imperial court and mistakenly took the reduction of power as abolition. However, Feng Xihui said that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had not been deprived of the right to arrest and imprison, but only changed from being open to being covert, I don't believe!"

  "This flaw can be said to be the exposure of Mr. Feng's self-proclaimed cleverness, and the second flaw is also exposed because of your own self-proclaimed cleverness. And the third flaw... is exposed because of both of your self-proclaimed cleverness together, do you want to know why?"

  Of course, Zhang Thirteen had thought about it so much that he was almost driven mad.

  Xia Liu smiled wickedly: "But you're going to die soon, and my story is long. I have the patience to tell it, but you don't have the time to listen."

  Zhang Thirteen's chest heaved violently again, and he was about to be driven mad.