He did not die; he thought of every possible way to survive, all for the purpose of one day living the life of a man above men.

A kingfisher perched on a tree branch, hearing the sound of the door opening and seeing people walking out and in, quickly flapped its wings and flew away.

Inside the Risheng Courtyard, after Eunuch Chen entered the room, he heard a command from his Prince telling him to fetch a new set of clothes. By the time he retrieved a new outfit from the luggage they brought, Yan Huai had already gone outside. The Prince’s clothes had been removed and placed over the screen. Wearing only his undergarments, he stood tall behind the screen, washing his hands with the clear water in the basin.

Eunuch Chen knew his Prince feared the cold. Seeing the Prince wipe his hands dry with a towel, he quickly stepped forward to serve his Prince and help him change clothes.

Chu Yu lowered his eyelids. The gentleness he had shown when facing Ji Linxi just now disappeared completely, and his face held an entirely indifferent expression. He extended both hands, allowing Eunuch Chen to put the new clothes on him.

At this moment, Eunuch Chen was still thinking of persuading him.

“Prince, that girl’s family is indeed pitiful, but the dead cannot come back to life. Even if the Wang family is punished, she will not come back alive. This old servant knows Your Highness has a soft heart, but to develop a rift with Prime Minister Wang because of this is truly not worth it.”

“Wang He must die.” Calm words spit out from those soft lips.

“Prince…”

Chu Yu turned his head, casting a sidelong glance at him from the corner of his eye, and let out a light laugh: “Chen Deshun, if you wish to return to Imperial Mother’s side right this moment, this Prince will fulfill your wish.”

Eunuch Chen’s face turned pale, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness. He was a person sent to the Prince’s side by the Empress and had taken care of the Prince since childhood. If the Prince banished him, the Empress would only think he was incompetent in his duties. Although she would spare him from punishment out of consideration for his past affection in caring for the Prince, he would no longer have a future.

He was already a castrated man; if he did not climb upward, what other hope did he have?

In the evening, Ji Linxi went to collect Young Master Wang’s blood and the sacrificial roasted duck and roasted suckling pig. The Junzi Pavilion was “haunted,” and ordinary people dared not enter, so this heavy burden could only fall upon him.

Young Master Wang had bled six bowls of blood in just a few days, and his face was incredibly white, just like a dead person. He felt his body was abnormally cold; while he could barely stand and walk yesterday, today he could no longer leave the bed.

Ji Linxi watched with cold eyes as the doctor bled him. By the time Young Master Wang tremblingly raised his eyes to look at him, his face changed back to a frown of deep worry.

“It is done,” the doctor said.

Ji Linxi picked up the bowl of blood.

“Daoist Master Chu…” Young Master Wang called him weakly and said crying, “Is there truly no other way to keep me from bleeding tomorrow and the day after?”

Ji Linxi put on an expression of serious thinking. After a long pause, he said hesitantly, “There is a way, actually…”

Young Master Wang’s eyes brightened instantly: “Quick… speak quickly, I can give you… another thousand taels of silver.”

Ji Linxi said, “Previously, I discovered that the resentment in this entire mansion was too heavy. Even if only one girl died, it would not reach this level. Young Master Wang, has your family done other things that anger both heaven and men?”

No one knew better than Young Master Wang himself what he had done.

His face immediately turned even whiter.

“I…”

Ji Linxi added, “If Young Master Wang does not speak, I will not ask either. It is just that this blood will still have to be drawn as usual.”

If it kept being drawn, he would truly die!

As soon as he heard this, Young Master Wang’s heart tightened. He could not care about so much anymore and chased the doctor and servants out. Looking at Ji Linxi’s expression, he spoke out the deeds his family had committed.

For example, his mother forced two of his father’s beautiful concubines to death, or how many women he himself had kidnapped, and how a few of these women were “accidentally” killed by him, or when punishing servants, beating them too heavily and killing a few.

After listening, Ji Linxi asked, “Where did Young Master Wang bury these people?”

“What does Daoist Master Chu mean by this?” Young Master Wang was not truly stupid to an incurable point after all, and he instantly became alert.

Speaking with words was just speaking, and those were all things without physical proof. But if he knew where they were buried, that would be real, ironclad evidence.

The young Daoist before him saw his alertness, shifted his gaze, and looked elsewhere: “Since this is the case, I will take my leave first. I will come to take Young Master Wang’s blood again tomorrow. Young Master Wang should rest his body well; your body is too weak right now.”

Saying this, he prepared to leave holding the blood, without the slightest intention of lingering to pry for more.

Seeing that he was about to step out of the room door, Young Master Wang bit his teeth: “Wait.”

A cunning smile appeared on Ji Linxi’s face. When he turned around, he had that look of having no desires or demands again.

He had fought wits with countless people since childhood just to survive. Could a pampered waste whose brain was filled only with lust outsmart him?

“Young Master Wang does not need to force himself. I do not particularly need to know either. It is just that after drawing two more days of blood, I will be able to deal with that fierce ghost.”

“I can tell you… but you must first tell me, why do you want to know those places?” Young Master Wang, who finished this sentence, was already extremely exhausted, and his mind was near collapse.

He had never been this wretched before, like a domestic animal being raised. He lay on the bed the entire day and could go nowhere; only when the time arrived, someone would come to take his blood.

“To appease resentment,” Ji Linxi pulled out this excuse that never failed. “Just like that girl, knowing the place where she died allows me to use a formation to dissolve some of the resentment. Using Young Master Wang’s blood is also to appease resentment. If you want to avoid bleeding, we must deal with it through other methods.”

Young Master Wang’s brain right now really could not support him to think about anything. He only felt it made a lot of sense listening to it, so with a thread-like breath, he told Ji Linxi all those places, including the courtyard where the women he snatched were locked up, inside whose well two had also died.

After Ji Linxi finished listening, he noted it down in his heart. “I will not come over to take Young Master Wang’s blood tomorrow.”

Tomorrow would be the time to take Young Master Wang’s life.

Leaving the courtyard where Young Master Wang currently stayed, Ji Linxi was in an extremely good mood. As long as he went to those places Wang He spoke of and discovered that there were indeed bones, then the witness evidence, verbal evidence, and physical evidence would all be in hand, and the Wang family would be dead without a burial place.

Truly stupid.

He shook his head.

Such a foolish group of people actually enjoyed such massive wealth and glory. This showed how important it was to have someone backing you. But if the person himself is foolish, it is of no use. Just like right now, isn’t this wealthy Wang family about to collapse immediately?

It can be seen that when a person’s intelligence and talent do not match the things he possesses, those things will leave him one day, and he will have to pay them back double.

This whole night, Ji Linxi did not sleep.

The winter night was too cold, and he was busy going to look at the places Young Master Wang spoke of. He wandered the streets when he was a child, and to survive, he developed a skill for sneaking around and stealing. His hands and feet were unusually agile. Of course, he had also been discovered before. When discovered, those with a kinder heart saw him as pitiful, bought him something, and left; those with a cold heart would give him a beating and then chase him out of the city.

He did not die; he thought of every possible way to survive, all for the purpose of one day living the life of a man above men—just like a master he saw when begging in his childhood, who wore gold and silver, had several servants around him who were entirely respectful to him, and that master also held a beauty in his arms, looking extremely joyful.

At that time, he thought to himself:

In the future, I too want wealth, glory, and a beauty in my arms.