Do You Like Me That Much? Miss Villainess

Dawn was just breaking.

Mu Qinglan pushed open the window and reached out to check, confirming that last night's heavy rain had stopped, leaving only puddles of accumulated water on the ground.

Creak—

Pushing the door into the small courtyard, she began today's morning practice.

Mu Qinglan never liked getting up early, but unfortunately she had matters to attend to today, so she decided to rise early and familiarize herself with the other skills that had recently advanced to level 2.

Small Mastery level Shadow Pierce was no longer limited to spike forms.

It could now transform into knives and swords.

The sharp edges greatly increased its utility, while retaining its previous ability to be launched as projectiles.

As for level 2 Essence Infusion?

It just had slightly higher energy conversion efficiency. Although she had learned this technique, Ah Qi's spiritual power had never shown signs of depletion, so this mana-restoring skill could only be set aside for emergencies.

After practicing for about a quarter hour, Mu Qinglan returned to her room to change clothes.

'Mm, my combat power has increased considerably. Now I should be invincible in direct combat among eighth ranks, but if others want to fight from range, I don't have many options.'

Mu Qinglan frowned in thought, silently calculating in her mind.

With her innate destiny trait [Crystal Wit] and the system's assistance, Mu Qinglan considered her combat ability quite good.

But unfortunately, her physical weakness was genuine.

She was currently a glass cannon with limited striking ability, but she could deploy Ah Qi, who could roam the entire map and was invincible among peers.

'For now I can only rely on Ah Qi. Later I need to find a way to either stand up briefly or completely cure this condition.'

Mu Qinglan shook her head lightly.

She summoned the still somewhat confused big cat.

When first called out, the cat was still groggy, apparently not having slept enough. Only after Mu Qinglan lightly flicked her head and called her a lazy cat did she widen her eyes and stare directly at the white-haired girl.

The cat's expression was serious.

Her tail wasn't wagging either.

Only after a good while did the cat vigorously shake her head, place her paw pads on the girl's legs, and lie down quietly.

Her tail swayed behind her, sometimes patting the girl's left leg, sometimes scratching her right leg.

"How far has Ah Qi progressed in cultivation?"

"Cultivation!"

The cat's eyes widened, seeming not to quite understand.

"I mean your rank."

"Rank is, is eighth rank, meow."

"When does Ah Qi think she can reach seventh rank?"

"When she can reach seventh rank!"

The cat sat up, pondered for a moment, and gave what she thought was a perfect answer.

Mu Qinglan shook her head, feeling this world boss was adorably stupid. No wonder players could lead her around in circles in dungeons:

"Do you vaguely feel like you're about to break through?"

"Seems like it..."

"Then I need to find something to feed you." The girl rubbed the cat's head, and Ah Qi comfortably squinted her eyes.

"Ah Qi can find food herself, no need to trouble mama." Ah Qi jumped down from her knees, ran into the shadows, and after a moment slowly emerged carrying a fish in her mouth.

A fish?

Mu Qinglan was stunned.

"Ah Qi remembers that cats eat fish and mice! Ah Qi couldn't find mice to eat, so could only catch fish!"

"Where did you catch the fish?"

"Caught it in the kitchen!"

Mu Qinglan rubbed her temples. It seemed a recent mystery case in the mansion could be solved. The cook had reported several times that a fish thief had appeared in the mansion, but the culprit had never been caught.

Indeed, even Steward Yuan wouldn't dare claim he could definitely catch a world boss that could move freely through shadows.

"Forget the fish. Even if Ah Qi sees mice in the future, don't catch them."

Mu Qinglan thought of something and warned.

"Why?"

"Sheriff Black Cat only kills mice but doesn't eat them."

"!"

Ah Qi clearly didn't understand what Mu Qinglan was talking about, but still replied groggily:

"Understood. Ah Qi won't eat mice."

Mu Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief: "I want to find things that can make Ah Qi stronger to eat."

In the game, Ah Qi was foolish and ate everything indiscriminately. She probably ate many transcendent creatures to reach that world-covering level in the late game.

But now that she was her own pet.

If possible, Mu Qinglan naturally didn't want Ah Qi to eat people.

Ah Qi took cheerful little steps, running two circles around the wheelchair: "Ah Qi will wait for mama to feed her."

"Good girl."

Mu Qinglan coaxed: "Mama is going out."

Ah Qi nodded, and with a whoosh dove into the girl's shadow, then opened more than ten blood-red eyes on the surface, rolling around. Only after seeing Mu Qinglan staring at her with a complex expression did she hurriedly close her eyes and return to normal.

"A bit sanity-draining..."

Mu Qinglan muttered, called for a maid, draped a blanket over herself, and slowly went out.

○

The light rain had just stopped.

The carriage carrying Great Xia's princess swayed to eastern Heyang City, where the noble girl found a place to get off and had her shadow attendant push her.

She looked no different from an ordinary sickly young lady.

Mu Qinglan casually found a small stall near the east gate, planning to taste Great Xia's breakfast.

The shop owner was a middle-aged man, not tall and somewhat thin, but with a hearty smile. The customers at his stall all seemed to be regulars.

Though the stall was small, it had quite a variety of breakfast items.

However, for today's business, Mu Qinglan didn't choose things she didn't recognize, only ordering traditional steamed buns, soy milk, and tofu pudding—the breakfast trio she often ordered in her previous life.

Only her previous life had an additional fried dough stick.

The producer of "Heavenly Fate" was perhaps like Mu Qinglan, a firm supporter of sweet flavors.

Soy milk with sugar, tofu pudding also with sugar.

Perfect.

After finishing breakfast, there was still time before her appointment. Mu Qinglan had Shadow Two settle the bill and simply lay on the table listening to nearby diners' idle chatter.

"Hey! Do you know something happened outside the city again?"

"Hasn't our place been chaotic for a while? People die every day. What's the point of talking about things happening in the counties outside the city?"

"This is different! This is a major case—dozens of people died in one night!"

"Dozens of people?!"

The diners exclaimed softly.

The eastern district was chaotic, but this chaos had limits. Except for the night before last, only two or three people died each day combined. It was just the high frequency that made it seem very chaotic.

Ordinary people weren't too worried.

Mu Qinglan glanced over there. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

The speaking diner continued earnestly:

"I just came through the east gate this morning. Guess what? A group of Six Bureaus officials were standing outside the city, loading a pile of black-clothed people onto stretchers. I took a look—there were probably dozens of stretchers!"

"So many people died?"

The diners gasped.

"Yes, they had prisoners lined up for hundreds of meters! When I came, they were still walking this way. They should be arriving soon."

Arriving soon?

Mu Qinglan raised an eyebrow and signaled Shadow Two to take a look.

Since Zhu Yan stopped going out, Miss Shadow Two had been freed up to follow her again.

After a cup of tea's time, Shadow Two returned and said quietly:

"They're almost at the city gate. Indeed lined up for nearly two hundred meters. I counted—the number of people is estimated around one hundred, plus they transported forty-three stretchers. It's hard to say about the wounded and dead."

Mu Qinglan nodded and hadn't spoken yet.

A clear, cold voice came from behind her.

"One hundred fourteen detained criminals, twenty-seven dead, six wounded. The remaining ten stretchers were for transporting injured bureau personnel."

"Miss Shen is truly reliable."

Mu Qinglan smiled and sighed.

Having killed quite a few enemies, Shen Yao's black constable coat was stained with some dark blood. Combined with her already cold and hard temperament, she looked like a cold-faced female asura who had just returned from killing.

The diners were quite frightened by this woman with bloodstains on her clothes.

Then they saw clearly that Shen Yao wore a Six Bureaus uniform, so each of them settled their bills and fled as if they'd seen a ghost.

No choice—they had just been gossiping about her.

How did she find them so quickly?

How could they not feel guilty?

The first diner who started gossiping even slipped and ran away the moment he saw Shen Yao, not even settling his bill.

"Thanks to Miss Mu's information," Shen Yao said softly.

"Even with information, this frail body of mine can't accomplish anything," Mu Qinglan swayed left and right in her wheelchair, smiling: "In the end, didn't I still need Miss Shen's help?"

Shen Yao pressed her lips slightly, not discussing this matter, but said:

"We need to select the most important of these people for a three-court trial."

Mu Qinglan narrowed her eyes: "Trying it as a treason case?"

In ancient times, three-court trials couldn't be convened whenever one wished. After all, this required gathering three high-ranking officials from the three judicial departments. If every trivial matter required a three-court trial, how could they govern?

But there were also several types of cases that would definitely receive three-court trials once they occurred.

Treason was one of them.

Shen Yao nodded: "That estate had about a hundred people. If we count those out on missions, there might be more. It's already a very large assassin organization with quite a few transcendents."

"But it's still just an assassin organization."

Mu Qinglan's eyes turned cold as she lightly tapped the table twice.

Shen Yao understood this wasn't suitable to discuss here. After pushing the wheelchair onto the carriage, she continued:

"Yes, I had people search that estate thoroughly but found no physical evidence linking to the Crown Prince."

"You won't find witness testimony either," Mu Qinglan said flatly.

"Haven't interrogated yet, but probably so."

"What about the transcendents?"

"The seventh rank and above transcendent death warriors began fighting desperately when they knew they couldn't escape, then committed suicide by poison after being wounded. We didn't catch a single one."

Shen Yao said grimly:

"We interrogated two eighth rank death warriors on site. They only know to serve their master loyally but don't know who their master is. Eighth rank death warriors haven't even committed two cases."

Mu Qinglan laughed coldly:

"Truly cautious. To become the longest-living Crown Prince, Jiang Ge indeed has some ability. That evidence is useless now and can be discarded."

Shen Yao remained silent. She indeed couldn't yet participate in these scheming confrontations.

She could only serve as Mu Qinglan's blade.

Though she was quite happy serving in that capacity.

Thinking this, Shen Yao suddenly remembered what her master had instructed before leaving:

"By the way, Shifu said that after interrogating these people, they'll send all the worthless transcendents to your mansion, including Sun Zhu. What do you want them for?"

Mu Qinglan smiled mysteriously:

"That's not for Miss Shen to worry about."

"There's also a batch of supplies and medicinal materials that will be sent to the mansion. I'll personally escort them."

"Oh? Looks like I'll see Miss Shen again. How delightful."

The bad woman's face-changing speed was truly admirable.

○

In the suburban estate, the ground was covered in blood. The bloodstains had been washed by heavy rain, dyeing the entire area red with a foul stench.

'All dead!'

Casually pushing aside some rubble.

Looking at the empty space below, which even had sword cuts, Meng Fangyuan didn't need to think—surely not even those in the secret passages could escape.

'Fine, saves trouble. With so many dead, even if two were alive, they'd have to die anyway.

Meng Fangyuan waved his hand in disgust.

'It's just a pity about His Highness's years of planning... falling short at the crucial moment.'

'Fortunately, his identity probably won't be exposed.'

Looking at the ruins, Meng Fangyuan's mouth twitched slightly. He lightly tapped the ground with his toes and in an instant had already crossed a hundred meters, flashing into Heyang City.

"Eunuch Meng! His Highness is conducting business in the study!"

Returning to the Crown Prince's mansion, a servant saw him appear, bowed low, and said respectfully.

"With whom?"

"This servant doesn't know, only that His Highness forbade us from approaching."

"What about me?"

"Eunuch Meng is honored as a protector general. We naturally wouldn't dare obstruct you."

Eunuch Meng nodded with satisfaction, casually dismissed the servant, but couldn't help feeling puzzled.

Who would meet with the Crown Prince at this critical moment?

He knew that upon learning of Skyreach Tower being surrounded by the Six Bureaus, the Crown Prince hadn't slept all night. As soon as he heard the Six Bureaus had returned, he dispatched his trusted third-rank grand eunuch to investigate the situation.

Could it be a distinguished visitor?

Eunuch Meng straightened his sleeves and lightly knocked on the study door:

"Your Highness, this old servant has returned."

"Enter."

Pushing open the door, before he could say anything, he saw a black-robed visitor completely shrouded in black sitting opposite the Crown Prince.

This is...

Eunuch Meng frowned:

'Demon clan?'