The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#123 - Sharp-tongued [Happy New Year~]

"What are you looking at?"

The scholars, seeing the gleaming knife, were somewhat intimidated, but they didn't want to be outdone by a young girl, so they put on a brave face and asked.

"Of course, it's this knife."

Although the girl didn't mock them further, the look of disappointment on her face only made the scholars feel more embarrassed.

"Forget it, I'll just ask directly, can you tell if this knife is sharp?"

The three scholars looked at each other for a moment, then said, "Sharp... sharp."

They could at least tell that much, because the knife was gleaming with a cold light that made people's hearts tremble.

"But being sharp doesn't prove anything."

One of the scholars was still unconvinced.

"Of course, just being sharp doesn't prove that these people deserve to die, but being sharp at least shows that the owner of the knife cherishes it quite a bit, and sharpens it diligently on a regular basis, you have no objections, right?"

The scholars nodded blankly.

"Then take a closer look, do you see those small nicks on the blade?"

The scholars nodded again, feeling that the girl was becoming more and more like the old teacher in the private school, enlightening a group of unruly children.

"A knife that's sharpened so diligently, yet has nicks on it, means that these nicks were left recently, and since the owner of this knife cherishes it so much, he obviously wouldn't use it to chop grass, trees, or livestock, so there's only one explanation... these nicks were left after chopping people."

The girl's casual words made the three scholars break out in a cold sweat.

But that wasn't the end of it, the girl continued, "Heh heh, and you have to remember, he's very diligent in sharpening his knife, the nicks on the knife only indicate that he's killed several people recently, as for how many he killed before... well, you can guess for yourselves."

After speaking, the girl ignored the dumbfounded scholars and walked back to her seat.

But after taking a step, she seemed to remember something, and tilted her head and said.

"Oh, right, if you don't believe me, you can also search the bodies, you'll definitely find things that don't belong to their identities, no need to think, they're all stolen goods.

"Also, if you look closely, it shouldn't be hard to find traces of blood on their clothes..."

"Let me be blunt, if it weren't for Young Hero Lu, everyone on this ship today, without exception, whether it's you three idiots, or someone as smart as this young lady, would have died at the hands of these people.

"And it's not a big deal if you die, it's just a matter of a knife, your head falls off and you won't know anything, but we women are really unlucky, who knows what kind of humiliation we'd suffer before we die."

The girl sighed, then continued, "But if Young Hero Lu listened to you and let go of these Jiang bandits who kill without blinking an eye, then we'd be fine.

"But you three scholars are young, how can your eyes and hearts be so blind?"

The girl's words made the scholars want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Finally, the scholar who was called Zong Ju was the first to cup his hands and smile wryly.

"We were indeed wrong this time, thank you for your guidance, otherwise, we three paper-pushing good-for-nothings would still be complacent in helping the wicked, and we also underestimated the heroes of the world.

"On the contrary, you, young lady, although you are young, your observational skills are so outstanding, and your mind is far superior to ours, may I be so bold as to ask, who exactly is your father?"

"I'm far behind my father, my father is..."

"Li Li!"

The girl was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly heard the noblewoman speak again, her face stern, "Have you forgotten how your father instructed you in his letter?"

"Oh."

This time, the girl named Li Li didn't argue back, as if the word 'father' had some kind of magic, making her obediently sit back down beside her mother.

"This girl," the noblewoman shook her head, seemingly quite helpless.

"You never learn anything good all day long, you don't do needlework, and you don't like reading poetry... you just like hanging out with coroners and constables, and you've learned a mouthful of sharp-tongued words from the litigators, never letting anyone off the hook, how will you ever get married if you keep going like this?"

"What's the point of getting married?"

The girl named Li Li muttered softly, "Besides, those scholars are like silly geese, just looking at them makes me feel annoyed, full of empty words and grand principles, eh, I'm not talking about you three."

It would have been better if she hadn't said that last sentence, those three scholars only felt even more embarrassed.

Their faces were already flushed from the previous incident, and now they were even more like sitting on pins and needles.

Finally, they couldn't stay any longer, and they all got up and fled back to their rooms.

"I feel much more comfortable now."

Li Li sighed with satisfaction.

The noblewoman couldn't help but feel amused and annoyed at the sight.

"Since you like to use your mouth so much, then when you meet Young Hero Lu later, you can apologize to him on behalf of the old lady.

"No matter what, he saved us this time, it's one thing if we don't thank him, but we even made him suffer the old lady's scorn for no reason.

"You scolded those scholars just now with such gusto, have you ever thought that what our family is doing is even worse than what they did.

"Alas... the old lady is indeed old, and she's also stubborn, I guess even if she knows she's wrong, she can't bring herself to admit it.

"I can only rely on you to go, it's a pity that we don't have anything on hand to repay Young Hero Lu, when we get to the capital, we'll tell your father about this and see if there's anything we can do to help.

"Saving lives is a great kindness, we can't be ungrateful."

When Li Li heard this, not only did she not feel that the request was difficult, but her eyes lit up again.

She stood up from her seat with a whoosh, and said excitedly, "Then I'll go now."

However, before she could take a step, she was grabbed by the quick-witted noblewoman, "Where are you going?!"

"To apologize to Young Hero Lu," the girl asked in confusion, "Didn't you tell me to go, Mother?"

"Did I tell you to go now?!"

The noblewoman felt that she would be angered to death by this daughter sooner or later.

"You're not young anymore, have I taught you nothing about the proper distance between men and women? Young Hero Lu is in his room right now, wouldn't you be alone with him if you went over?"

"Ah?"

Li Li, who had previously engaged in a battle of wits with the scholars, was more obtuse than anyone else when it came to such matters, and scratched her head upon hearing this, "It's just a few words, it's not that serious, right?"

"You, you, you!"

The noblewoman stomped her feet in anxiety, "You've been spoiled rotten by your father, it's one thing to be wild in the countryside, but no one will hold it against you because of your father's face, but we're going to the foot of the emperor now.

"The capital is where all the powerful and influential people are, every move is being watched, and your father's job is one that offends people, it's one thing if we can't help him, but we can't cause him any more trouble.

"After we get back, I don't want you to go out anymore, you can only leave the house when you've memorized both 'Precepts for Women' and 'Instructions for Women'."

"No way."

Li Li let out a wail, feeling that her whole person was not well.