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A group of well-trained, fully armed special forces soldiers appeared like ghosts, swiftly surrounding Shang with advanced firearms.
However, despite the tight encirclement and the numerous gun barrels aimed at him, Shang remained expressionless, showing no trace of fear.
It was only when he heard Pei Mingzhu’s agonized scream that his terrifying gaze suddenly flickered.
Lan Si’s sharp eyes caught this detail immediately.
Without hesitation, he swiftly raised his gun, aimed directly at Pei Mingzhu, who was writhing in pain on the ground, and shouted, “If you don’t surrender immediately, I’ll shoot her dead!”
Before he even finished speaking, as if afraid Shang wouldn’t believe him, Lan Si had already pulled the trigger, firing a bullet straight at the area below Pei Mingzhu’s heart.
A gunshot rang out—Bang!
The bullet pierced through Pei Mingzhu’s body in an instant.
“Ahhh—!”
“No—!”
Seeing this, Shang let out a heart-wrenching howl, his voice sharp enough to tear through the eardrums.
At the same time, Pei Mingzhu screamed in unbearable pain as fresh, crimson blood gushed from her wound, splattering onto Shang’s face, leaving streaks of shocking red.
But Lan Si wasn’t finished yet.
He raised his gun again, this time pointing it directly at Pei Mingzhu’s heart.
His finger slowly tightened around the trigger, about to fire the fatal second shot.
“Stop…!”
“Don’t shoot…!”
Finally, the always-composed Shang showed panic for the first time. His voice trembled with urgency and pleading as he shouted, “Don’t shoot!”
“Then surrender immediately!” Lan Si barked, keeping his gun firmly aimed at Pei Mingzhu while staying alert to Shang’s every move.
Then, he exchanged a glance with Yin Hanyu.
Understanding the cue, Yin Hanyu swiftly stepped forward and dragged the injured Pei Mingzhu off the ground.
“Don’t hurt her…” Shang’s eyes filled with worry as his voice quivered. He pleaded again, “Please, don’t hurt her…”
In the end, Shang had no choice but to surrender.
At that moment, everyone finally got a clear look at his face.
His features were grotesquely distorted, his skin rough and covered in hideous scars—he looked like a terrifying monster.
Yet, when he looked at Pei Mingzhu, his eyes held the warmth and tenderness of a lover.
But Pei Mingzhu refused to acknowledge him.
She turned to Ming Yu first. “Ming Yu, you dare betray me? You never poisoned Yin Yixuan, did you?”
“…No.”
However, Yin Yixuan being hospitalized had provided enough evidence to support the claim, so she had gone along with the plan.
“You wretched traitor…!” Pei Mingzhu was so furious she wanted to strangle Ming Yu on the spot. “I treated you so well, why did you betray me?”
“Treated her well?” Yin Yixuan stepped in front of Ming Yu and glared at Pei Mingzhu. “Treated her well? Would someone who treated her well let her grow up in such an environment?”
“If you truly cared about Ming Yu…” Yin Yixuan’s voice was full of pain as he looked at Ming Yu, then turned to Pei Mingzhu with resentment. “Ming Yu should have had the same normal life as your son, Leng Yifeng.”
“But…” Yin Yixuan hesitated for a moment, his heart aching. “But Pei Mingzhu, when you brought us here, you deliberately found an excuse to send Leng Yifeng away. That proves you knew your actions couldn’t see the light of day. It also proves that you knew how to protect the ones you truly cared about.”
“So if what you said is true—that Ming Yu’s parents died saving you and you feel guilty toward her—then you should have protected her as you protected your son, Leng Yifeng.”
“But how did you actually treat her?”
Yin Yixuan turned to Yin Hanyu. “You treated Ming Yu no differently than you treated the son of Bai Ci, the person you hated most.”
“Pei Mingzhu, is this how you repay the daughter of your saviors?”
“I…” Pei Mingzhu was left speechless.
“Don’t get too smug…” she spat at Yin Yixuan with venom in her eyes. “Even if you aren’t poisoned now, I ruined your body from childhood. Do you even know how long you can live?”
“So what?” Yin Yixuan sneered. “Even if I die tomorrow, I’ll make sure you go first and avenge myself before that happens!”
“You…” Pei Mingzhu gritted her teeth before suddenly smirking provocatively. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Despite her pain, Pei Mingzhu turned to Yin Hanyu. “Yin Hanyu, don’t forget—the Gu poison in your body can only be cured by me. Your life is in my hands.”
“Is that so? But my husband was never poisoned to begin with!”
“What do you mean?” Pei Mingzhu’s expression changed drastically.
Lin Qingyou walked up to Pei Mingzhu and, in front of her, stretched out her fair wrist.
She was still wearing the jade-green bracelet.
Just as Pei Mingzhu was about to mock Lin Qingyou for her stupidity—
Lin Qingyou suddenly took off the bracelet and threw it at Pei Mingzhu’s face with force.
The bracelet hit the ground with a smash, shattering into countless shards, scattering everywhere.
Pei Mingzhu instinctively flinched.
Seeing the glass-like fragments, Pei Mingzhu suddenly realized something.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she turned to Lin Qingyou. “You… you switched my bracelet?”
“Lin Qingyou, this isn’t the bracelet I gave you!”
“Of course not.” Lin Qingyou smirked. “Your bracelet was poisoned—I wasn’t about to wear it.”
“Y-you… How did you know?”
“There’s no way you could have known…” Pei Mingzhu mumbled, her expression growing dazed. “You couldn’t have known… You couldn’t have known…”
“Heh…” Lin Qingyou scoffed.
In truth, the bracelet was incredibly deceptive.
It couldn’t be detected or tested for any abnormalities.
Even Ming Yu had it examined for a long time and found nothing.
It was only thanks to her master’s vast knowledge of Gu poison that they figured it out.
But in reality, Pei Mingzhu had miscalculated.
She had already miscalculated in their past life.
**Love Gu poison—**as the name suggests, it requires mutual affection to work.
For the Gu poison to take effect, the lovers must be physically intimate.
But in their past life, Yin Hanyu had believed Lin Qingyou didn’t love him. So even after they married, he had never touched her.
As a result, the poison never worked on him.
This time, having learned the truth in advance, Lin Qingyou had secretly swapped the bracelet for an identical fake long ago.
“How did you find out?” Pei Mingzhu asked anxiously, her eyes fixed on Lin Qingyou.
Lin Qingyou raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Oh? Are you that desperate to know? Well, I’m not telling you.”
Pei Mingzhu: “…”
Looking at Lin Qingyou’s smug expression, Pei Mingzhu was so furious she wanted to bite her.
But Lin Qingyou grabbed her jaw first. “Pei Mingzhu, how can you be so vicious?”
“Vicious?” Pei Mingzhu spat. “Didn’t the Yin family slaughter my entire Pei family first?”