Chapter 28: Counter-Kill

"I don't want anything," Shen Tubai said, a single sentence that completely cut off any further argument from Cui Xiwen. "I only want to sever ties with the Cui family."

Thinking of her mother’s final instructions before she left, and the grand ambitions of the Cui family, Cui Xiwen’s mind raced. In a fit of desperation, she smashed a teacup on the table and pressed the steaming, jagged porcelain against her own face. "Pick up the medicine on the floor and eat it! Otherwise, if I ruin my face here today, it will be by your hand."

Shen Tubai turned slowly, watching her with a cold, mocking glint in her eyes. Cui Xiwen, misinterpreting the look as a sign that her threat had taken effect, pressed the shard harder, leaving a red mark on her skin.

Footsteps from the guards approached outside. Both women spoke in unison: "Stay back! Do not come in!"

Cui Xiwen tilted her head high. "The Prince and I share a deep bond. Even if I am disfigured, he will not despise me, nor will he suspect that I would destroy my own beauty just to frame you. But if you do something like this, even with the Empress Dowager protecting you, the Prince will not spare you." She barked, "Pick up the medicine and eat it!"

Shen Tubai slowly moved forward, closing the distance between them, and crouched down to retrieve the red pill.

"What are you waiting for?" Cui Xiwen urged excitedly. "Eat it!"

Shen Tubai pretended to blow the dust off the pill in disgust, then, catching her off guard, snatched the jagged porcelain from her hand.

Cui Xiwen’s face twisted in rage, yet she continued her threats. "Do you think it’s over just like this? If I return home today and fall gravely ill, or if I become delirious and accidentally drown, do you think the Prince won't suspect that it was you whispering in my ear?"

"The Prince loves me. Sooner or later, I will marry into the estate as his Princess. Do you think that just because you have your deed of sale back and have buried your past filth, everything is settled?"

"Dream on!" Though these words violated the teachings of her matrons, Cui Xiwen spat them out with venomous delight. "You were a dog of the Cui family for one day, and you will be for a lifetime. You will never be able to escape me."

Shen Tubai stood behind her. Despite a heavy slap landing on her arm, she did not move her hand from Cui Xiwen's shoulder.

"Since you are so eager to seek death, Miss Cui, why wait for the future?" Shen Tubai’s grip tightened. "If you want to use self-mutilation to win the Prince's pity and drive a wedge between us, isn't mere disfigurement a bit shallow?" Sensing the other woman struggling, Shen Tubai brought the shard down until it rested against Cui Xiwen’s throat.

Shen Tubai whispered her threat, "Let me help you, Miss Cui. If you die here, I will truly be unable to clear my name, and the Prince will truly be estranged from me..."

Shen Tubai’s eyes grew increasingly cold, her voice steady and calm. Cui Xiwen began to fear that she might actually kill her. Watching Cui Xiwen tremble with terror, her face flushed red as her breathing became labored, Shen Tubai still heard her posturing, "You dare! If you lowly slave dare to touch a single hair on my head, I will have your whole family buried with me!"

"Fine! Let's put that to the test."

Though Cui Xiwen’s words were fierce, her hands were busy trying to pry Shen Tubai’s hand away from the porcelain.

Shen Tubai let out a cold laugh. "Do you think you are anything to me, Miss Cui? Using your face to threaten me—it’s laughable!"

The raw mockery made Cui Xiwen’s face burn with humiliation; she wished she could disappear into the floor. Unfortunately, her life was still in Shen Tubai’s hands. She clawed and bit at Shen Tubai in a desperate frenzy, but could not shake her off.

Shen Tubai, seeing a bright future ahead, did not actually want to kill her, but this Miss Cui was far too arrogant. Even with her life hanging in the balance, she kept calling her a lowly slave, which made Shen Tubai recall the humiliations she had endured at the Cui estate. Just moments ago, this noble daughter had even tried to repeat a past scheme, forcing her to consort with a monk—it was utterly repulsive.

Just as Shen Tubai was considering how to teach her a lesson, a commotion of footsteps erupted outside. Shen Tubai clamped a hand over Cui Xiwen’s mouth, forced the red pill into her throat, and as the door was kicked open, she screamed, "No!"

Simultaneously, she shoved Cui Xiwen forward while dragging her own right hand across the shards, leaving it covered in blood.

"Wen-niang!" Li Tinghan, who had kicked the door open, caught Cui Xiwen. Seeing her disheveled state, his brows furrowed deeply.

But her next words made his expression darken further. "Tinghan, she tried to kill me! Kill her! Kill this lowly slave!"

Cui Xiwen regretted it the moment the words left her lips. She had been terrified by Shen Tubai, and the phantom sensation of the porcelain shard still felt cold against her throat, causing her to slip up in front of Li Tinghan.

"Ah—" Cui Xiwen clutched her head and collapsed into Li Tinghan’s arms. "No, it’s not her fault. It’s my own doing. Please, don't blame her..." Before she could finish, she fainted.

Li Tinghan’s brow finally relaxed, and he turned to bark at Shen Tubai, "What is going on? What did you do to Wen-niang?"

Shen Tubai didn't rush to answer. She clutched her bleeding right hand with her left, her eyes brimming with tears of pain, yet her gaze toward Cui Xiwen remained full of concern. "I believe Miss Cui is ill."

Li Tinghan glanced at her wound, then looked away. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"After I saw Miss Cui today, she was very happy. She said she was relieved to hear I was carrying the Prince's child, and she held my hands and shared much advice on what a pregnant woman should pay attention to."

"Get to the point." Li Tinghan, looking at the fainted woman in his arms with heartache, interrupted impatiently.

Shen Tubai lowered her head to hide an eye-roll, then looked up with an expression of deep worry for Cui Xiwen. "Later, Miss Cui suddenly became very agitated. She kept saying she had wronged the Prince, and then she smashed the cup and tried to kill herself. Thankfully, the Prince arrived in time, otherwise..."

Shen Tubai lied without hesitation. Because her performance was so full of genuine-seeming concern for Cui Xiwen, Li Tinghan believed her, and his gaze softened.

"Understood. Have the physician bandage your wounds later."

Shen Tubai shook her head, committing to the act until the end. "My minor injuries are nothing. But Miss Cui... although she didn't say it, I can tell she is deeply wounded inside. When the physician arrives, he must examine her properly."

Cui Xiwen, hearing this, could no longer maintain her faint. She had thought her earlier, ambiguous remarks would make Li Tinghan suspect Shen, but she hadn't expected her to be so skilled at sophistry.

Shen had just fed her that pill. If the physician arrived and diagnosed her with a pregnancy, it would perfectly corroborate Shen’s story. Even if she jumped into the Yellow River, she would never be able to wash herself clean.