The Double
Chapter 134 - 134 82 Attracting Disaster

134: Chapter 82: Attracting Disaster 134: Chapter 82: Attracting Disaster In the tea room, the lights were dim, and the outside was silent.

Jiang Li and Ye Shijie were sitting face to face, and Jiang Li had already retracted her hand that had been holding the curved blade.

Ye Shijie’s gaze, however, lingered on the curved blade on the table for a while, seemingly in disbelief, before he finally looked at Jiang Li and said, “You entered the palace carrying a knife?”

Jiang Li really didn’t have time to explain to him why she had brought a knife into the palace and simply asked him, “How come you’re not drunk?”

The young man snorted and said, “I’ve seen so many people in the Ye Family’s business dealings.

Today, those people came to offer toasts and congratulations; some were here to give their respects, and others clearly wanted to fish in troubled waters.” He continued, “I didn’t drink much, just pretended to be drunk, wanting to see what the other party intended.

I didn’t expect that they did have a follow-up move.

Being brought to this room, I thought they wanted to do something, but I didn’t expect you to be here as well.” In the end, he knitted his brows and asked, “What does this mean?”

Jiang Li was almost amused by Ye Shijie’s anger.

To call him foolish, Ye Shijie was clearly careful, or how would he have seen through the ill intentions of those people and even feigned drunkenness to counter their scheme?

But to call him smart, he couldn’t even see what the current situation was or what the other party’s intentions were.

She spoke calmly, “A lone man and a lone woman can naturally engage in licentious behavior after drinking.”

Ye Shijie nearly fell off his stool, and after he regained his senses, he blushed, stuttering as he pointed at Jiang Li, “How, how can you be so shameless?”

Is this what you call shameless?” Jiang Li answered calmly, “I’m just telling you what the others intend to do.”

“Why would they do this?” Ye Shijie seemed a bit uncomfortable but still forced himself to seriously ask Jiang Li, “Just to ruin your reputation?” In his view, with the Jiang Family’s myriad of vexing issues, Jiang Li’s identity was likely to be a thorn in many people’s sides.

These people, by their actions, were naturally ruining the reputation of a young girl.

Jiang Li coldly said, “Young Master Ye, don’t speak so easily as if I have implicated you.

Think about it, if something scandalous happened between us, would you, the newly appointed Assistant Minister of Revenue, still be able to hold your position?

Can the Ye Family still enter officialdom?”

Ye Shijie fell silent.

As soon as Jiang Li said this, it immediately occurred to him, and he broke out in a cold sweat on his back.

They say the officialdom is perilous, and before, being outside the official circle, he didn’t realize it, but now he understood.

He had just been nominated and had not yet taken office when someone stabbed him in the back.

He didn’t know which deity he had offended.

He felt angry and said, “They want to kill two birds with one stone!”

“Exactly,” Jiang Li said, “Fortunately, neither you nor I fell for it.”

Only then did Ye Shijie take a good look at Jiang Li and suddenly asked, “Did they drug you too?”

Jiang Li nodded, “Indeed, but I didn’t drink it.” Seeing Ye Shijie sigh in relief, Jiang Li suddenly curled her lips, “I gave it to someone else to drink.”

“You?” Ye Shijie exclaimed angrily, “How can you harm someone?”

“I gave it to someone who wanted to drink,” Jiang Li said noncommittally, “After they drink it, they will understand what it means to harm others and end up harming oneself.”

Ye Shijie felt that Jiang Li was somewhat strange tonight; she was usually smiling and unhurried, but tonight she seemed to be provoked by something, becoming sharp.

And she seemed to disdain concealing this sharpness, instead looking forward to something happening.

Ye Shijie swallowed and asked, “If I had really gotten drunk tonight, what would you have done?” He had had a premonition that something was not right, thus preventing a catastrophe, but Ye Shijie was also curious.

If he hadn’t sensed the wrongness tonight and fallen for the trap, how would Jiang Li have handled it?

Since those people had drugged them, one could imagine the effect of the drug; if he couldn’t control himself…

Ye Shijie’s face reddened, wondering how Jiang Li would deal with the situation that would have followed.

“No matter,” Jiang Li said lightly, “Had it come to that, I would have stabbed you with a knife and then left.

After being discovered, people would only think there was an assassin in the palace.

As you would have been stabbed, you would naturally be awakened and understand the situation; you would cooperate with me.

This ‘lone man and lone woman secretly meeting in the palace’ would then turn into ‘the new Assistant Minister attacked in the tea room.'”

She spoke indifferently, with a tone so even, Ye Shijie didn’t know how to react.

Annoyed, he said, “You plan to stab me with a knife; can you really bring yourself to do it?”

“There’s nothing about whether I can or cannot do it,” Jiang Li stood up, “Being injured is certainly not good, but it’s better than a fate worse than death.”

As she spoke, her tone was so cold that Ye Shijie couldn’t help shivering.

He understood that Jiang Li was truly capable of it.