The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 548: Chapter 548: Am I This Important in Your Heart?

Everyone was stunned.

No one had expected this seemingly elegant and delicate young woman to draw her sword with such crisp, ruthless efficiency!

DRIP.

Crimson blood dripped from the blade’s edge, staining the ground with scarlet specks.

Ye Chutang’s tone was languid and nonchalant.

”Since those hands of yours are useless anyway, I thought I’d lend you one. No need to thank me.”

With that, she took another step forward.

”You use a sword, don’t you?”

The man she was staring at hadn’t taken her seriously at first, but after seeing her strike, his courage instantly shattered.

”N-no... don’t!”

Life or death was one thing, but to be turned into a helpless cripple was the most terrible fate of all!

Ye Chutang lowered her gaze, and her sword rose and fell in a single motion!

SLASH—

”Ah!”

That man’s tendons were severed just as easily.

Ye Chutang looked to the third man.

Having learned from the others’ fates, the man knew she wouldn’t hesitate to act. He scrambled to kowtow and beg for mercy.

”Please! Just give me a quick death! I—I beg you, let me end my own life! Please?!”

Ye Chutang didn’t move, merely watching him with that same indifferent gaze.

The man thought she had softened. Trembling, he raised his sword and pressed it to his own neck.

He took a deep breath and tilted his head back in despair.

But the next moment, he suddenly flipped his wrist, a savage expression on his face as he lunged at Ye Chutang!

”Die—”

With a casual flick of her wrist, Ye Chutang sent the man’s sword flying with a CLANG, where it landed some distance away.

And the fingers of his right hand had been cleanly severed.

His expression contorted rapidly, and he began to tremble in agony.

”Once you’ve been affected by this Mist Spirit Powder, your limbs become weak, and you’re utterly drained. Did you really think you could still kill me?”

Ye Chutang pressed the tip of her sword to his chest.

The man grew even more terrified. Ignoring his wounds, he crawled forward a step. ”I was wrong! I was muddle-headed! I’ll never do it again! Please, please—”

Ye Chutang’s eyes curved into a smile.

”I have no Inner Strength, and my martial skills are nothing compared to yours. In this difficult situation, I can only rely on these little tricks to gain the upper hand. For the sake of my life and the Princely Heir’s, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you all to suffer a little more.”

The man’s eyes widened in terror, but before he could beg again, a cold light flashed before him, and an excruciating pain shot through his wrist!

With that, all noise in the passageway vanished, replaced by a strange, eerie silence.

Everyone looked at the young woman with the longsword, a chill running down their spines.

She was clearly—a goddess of slaughter!

...

Only after Ye Chutang had ”safely dealt with” all nine of them did she finally stop.

The Mist Spirit Powder’s effects were temporary. If she didn’t eliminate any future threats, there would surely be more trouble.

She turned to look at Shen Yanchuan, only to find him already looking at her.

In the dark, narrow passageway, the two of them gazed at each other from a distance.

Ye Chutang gestured to the men on the floor. ”The Princely Heir doesn’t think I’ve gone too far, does he?”

If anyone else were present, they would surely have called her actions ruthless and her methods vicious.

Shen Yanchuan didn’t speak, just watched her quietly, a faint smile surfacing in the depths of his eyes.

’A smile?’

Ye Chutang glanced around.

’There’s... nothing to smile about, is there?’

’Is he just overjoyed to have survived?’

”Why is the Princely Heir smiling?”

The smile spread from the corners of Shen Yanchuan’s eyes to the tips of his brows. His thin lips curved upward without the slightest attempt to conceal his amusement, his gaze burning as it landed on her.

Ye Chutang had a feeling something was off. Meeting his gaze, she felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

’Wait!’

’Guilt?’

’What do I have to feel guilty about?’

’I’m the one who saved his life—’

”I’m smiling because you were willing to risk your life to save me.” Shen Yanchuan’s features relaxed into a look of lazy satisfaction. ”I never knew I was so important to Second Miss Ye.”

Ye Chutang: ”...”

’This man really is no ordinary person.’

’In a scene like this, with blood everywhere and life hanging by a thread, this is the first thing he thinks of?’

”The Princely Heir’s life is priceless, so of course it’s precious.”

Ye Chutang cleanly sheathed her sword and came to stand before him again.

”The fire outside is raging. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

She glanced at the men on the ground.

”As for these few...”

”Someone will be here soon to take them away.” Shen Yanchuan was clearly unconcerned about the matter.

He’d been inside for so long that the Black Cavalry Guard would have certainly been deployed. It wouldn’t be long before they arrived.

But right now, there was something more important.

”Wait a moment.”

As he spoke, he turned back to the stone wall, found the spot from before, and knocked again.

Ye Chutang’s heart skipped a beat. The next moment, the stone wall began to slide open!

”We were delayed by those men just now. We should have been out of here long ago,” Shen Yanchuan said, jutting his chin toward the space within. ”The bodies of those Southern Hu Blade Men should all be in here.”

Ye Chutang came to his side and looked inside, and sure enough, she saw several bodies laid out neatly on the floor.

A thick, nauseating stench wafted out from within.

”They’ve likely been dead for more than two hours,” Ye Chutang said.

Shen Yanchuan nodded. ”Many of the death row inmates from the Ministry of Justice die in here.”

Ye Chutang glanced at him.

’To know even a secret like this... it really makes one wonder what he doesn’t know.’

”Aren’t you afraid I’ll spread the word, now that you’ve been so open about it?”

Shen Yanchuan raised an eyebrow. ”Spread what word? That you found out by accident while saving my life?”

Ye Chutang: ”...”

She was starting to regret coming here.

She had a feeling this man would hold this over her for the rest of her life.

Ye Chutang glanced at the open stone wall and reached out to touch the hidden door it concealed.

”We have to take them out. Their cause of death is unknown, so we can’t just leave it at that.”

This was the very reason Shen Yanchuan had risked coming here today.

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind them.

Ye Chutang guessed who it was and exchanged a look with Shen Yanchuan.

”Sounds like your men.”

It wasn’t a question; clearly, Ye Chutang could identify them by the sound alone.

Shen Yanchuan wasn’t surprised by this.

He had known for a long time that she was no ordinary woman.

In his eyes, nothing she did was surprising.

He nodded, then suddenly reached out his hand.

A warm sensation suddenly brushed against the back of her hand, making Ye Chutang freeze for a moment.

Her eyes widened slightly.

’Shen Yanchuan is...’

”It’s more reasonable for me to hold this,” Shen Yanchuan said as he took the crossbow from her hand, their fingertips brushing for a fleeting moment before parting.

’...Oh.’

Ye Chutang let go, then seemed to remember something and looked at her other hand.

The longsword was gleaming, still stained with crimson blood.

’Hmm... it feels a little out of place for me to be holding this sword, too, doesn’t it?’

”Your Highness!”

The moment Lian Zhou saw the scene before him, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.

Ye Chutang turned back, blinked, and smiled.

”Lord Lian, your timing is perfect.”

Lian Zhou: ”...?”