Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Playing for Keeps

Lu Xiu’s smile deepened. "Seeing as you are so loyal, I can grant you one request. But you’d better think it over carefully. After all, you only get one chance!"

He was indeed smiling, but it was the kind of smile that promised victory was already in his grasp, like a fisherman about to draw in his net.

Liang Wan raised her hands to her brow and bowed her head in a respectful salute. "I ask that you help me enter the palace, my lord!"

She spoke cleanly and without a moment’s hesitation.

Lu Xiu’s smile vanished. His gaze sharpened, fixing on the bowing woman. "Haven’t we already discussed this? Are you sure you don’t want to use such a fine opportunity to save someone?"

Liang Wan slowly raised her head, confused. "Save who?"

Lu Xiu’s eyes circled her face, but he simply smiled without speaking.

Liang Wan lowered her hands and spoke frankly. "At Yunyan Pool, you did not agree to help me enter the palace, my lord. I know it was because I wasn’t capable enough. But since you’re asking me now, I truly hope you can help me become worthy."

This was no empty platitude, nor was it flattery.

Others might not know it, but the reason the tyrant trusted and relied on Lu Xiu was not just because of the Lu Family, but because of the man himself.

Because his relationship with the Empress Dowager was not good...

Lu Xiu just watched her.

Liang Wan let him scrutinize her. "I’ve said it before. In my eyes, there is nothing but you, my lord, and my revenge. The lives and deaths of others have long since ceased to concern me."

"Wang Su will be executed in a few days. What vengeance do you have left?"

"The Liang Family."

"Is that so? And what about after the Liang Family is eliminated?"

"..."

"At that point, I suppose you won’t tell me there’s still some list of names, like the Zhous, the Wus, the Zhengs, and the Wangs?"

A cold sneer touched his slightly narrowed eyes. "This so-called revenge of yours is just a pretext, isn’t it? Your real goal is to enter the palace and win the emperor’s favor. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the end, even I am on your list of... enemies... to be eliminated!"

Liang Wan’s heart trembled, and she hurriedly prostrated herself on the floor. "My desire for revenge is real, and so is my loyalty to you, my lord! I swear here and now that in this life, I will serve no one but you. Liang Wan offers you her body and soul!"

With that, her forehead touched the back of her hands on the floor.

His footsteps drew near, and Liang Wan’s heart pounded wildly.

’He doesn’t believe me!’

’Someone with such a strong agenda will always make others wary.’

A warmth touched her shoulder as a large hand pulled her up from the floor. Looking up, she saw Lu Xiu watching her with a faint smile.

"Body and soul, you say?"

The room fell deathly silent for a moment.

Liang Wan suddenly spoke. "Of course. As long as you would not be disgusted by it, my lord, staying by your side is far better than entering the palace!

With your support, I won’t have to worry about finding an opportunity to deal with my uncle. To outsiders, it will look like I’ve successfully climbed the social ladder, and I might even restore some of my reputation. This both proves my loyalty and brings me tangible benefits. No matter how you look at it, it’s a good thing!"

On her palm-sized face, her bright, dark eyes shone, and a hint of calculation peeked through her feigned composure.

Suddenly, her wrist was gripped tightly. He curled his lip slightly. "It’s just a pity you’ll have to be a kept woman."

"It’s no pity at all. To have earned your favor, my lord, is a blessing of three lifetimes for Liang Wan!"

Lu Xiu looked into those brilliant eyes and gave a radiant smile.

But Liang Wan could clearly see the chilling indifference in the depths of his eyes.

Just then, with a loud RATTLE, the partition screen to the side was forcefully pulled open. Liang Wan whipped her head around to see Wang Tingyue bound to a torture rack. His prison uniform was covered in cuts and bloodstains, fresh wounds layered over old ones. He had been tortured until he was barely recognizable.

Liang Wan’s heart clenched. Her legs went weak, and she almost fell to her knees to plead for him, but in the end, she straightened her spine and stood perfectly still.

Lu Xiu gave her a faint glance. "Truly no lingering feelings for an old flame?"

Hearing the noise, Wang Tingyue lifted his head. His eyes were red as he looked over. Without a doubt, he had heard everything that had happened in this room from beginning to end.

’Lu Xiu really was scheming against her!’

’Is this what he calls ’interesting’?’

Liang Wan suddenly let out a laugh. The soft, shallow sound was jarring in the dark, cold prison.

Lu Xiu raised an eyebrow at her, but she only smiled more gently.

"What are you talking about, my lord? Liang Wan’s body and soul belong only to you!"

He did not like that smile on her lips. He even found it an eyesore.

He narrowed his eyes and intimately stroked her temple. As expected, the laughter died.

Before Liang Wan could recover from her surprise, he had taken her hand. She heard him sigh by her ear, "You’re right. To live like this is just suffering. It would be better to die and be free from this torment. You know how to use a hairpin, don’t you? Go and help him."

Liang Wan lowered her gaze, staring at the hairpin he had pressed into her hand. Her hand trembled uncontrollably, and her throat was too tight to make a sound.

Lu Xiu looked at her slightly trembling form and patted her hand, his tone exceptionally gentle. "Of course, if you want me to let him go, I will grant that as well."

’Let him go?’

Liang Wan raised her head to meet those bottomless eyes.

’How ridiculous!’

’Perhaps because he had been patiently playing along with her these past few times, she had nearly forgotten what the gloomy, ruthless, and manipulative Master Lu was truly like!’

Liang Wan pulled her hand from his palm, clutched the hairpin tightly, and turned to walk toward the torture rack.

It was a short distance, but it felt like crossing thousands of mountains and rivers. She summoned all her strength, each step a monumental effort. But even the longest journey has an end, and she finally stood before Wang Tingyue.

In her last life, he had died to save her. In this life, he was to die by her hand.

Liang Wan quietly looked at the bloody, mangled man before her. It felt as if a great gash had been cut across her heart, blood pouring out, the pain so intense that tears streamed down her face.

The overlapping wounds on his body made it impossible to tell which were from the dungeon and which were from being tortured after his capture. But she knew that to have endured until now required more than human willpower.

"Don’t cry. I don’t blame you."

The man on the rack managed a smile for her, his weak voice a little hoarse. After speaking, he looked at her no more, simply closing his eyes to await death.

Liang Wan’s eyes were red. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Yes, Wang Su deserved his fate, but how was Wang Tingyue not innocent?

Wang Tingyue shouldn’t be the sacrifice for Lu Xiu’s test.

’So choosing revenge means she has to sever the pitifully few genuine connections she has in this world?’

Liang Wan shook her head and let out a low laugh, a sound of utter desolation.

’So be it.’

"Brother... I’m sorry."

Liang Wan took a deep breath, raised her hand high, and plunged it toward Wang Tingyue’s neck.

The instant the hairpin pierced his skin, her hand froze—

"That’s enough."

Lu Xiu yanked her back, snatched the hairpin, and tossed it to the ground, his voice cold.

"Take him away."

Liang Wan felt the dam in her heart burst. She hung her head, her vision blurring, and slowly sank to the floor.

Wang Tingyue was untied from the torture rack by the prison guards and dragged out the door.

Liang Wan’s eyes were vacant, her voice hoarse. "Did you find that interesting, my lord?"

"Were you planning to die with him?"

Liang Wan’s tears stopped short.

Lu Xiu crouched down. His handsome face was expressionless, but he raised a hand to wipe away her tears.

"If I hadn’t stopped you, would that hairpin have pierced his neck, or your own heart?"

His voice was deep and cold, just as it had been that night on the street when he had called out to her.

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