Chapter 127
Chapter 127: What Kind of Person Invites Someone to Watch a Headshot Execution?
Jiang Zong Shen and Mu Mei Xi had been sentenced to lifelong exile.
Jiang Yi Zhu and Jiang Yi Cheng would be executed tomorrow.
Somewhere deep inside Jiang Tea Tea’s body, the fake heiress’s leftover consciousness practically danced with delight.
Jiang Tea Tea clapped—loud, sharp, delightedly cruel.
“Cheng Lin Yue, Sui Xuan Chu—let’s applaud the empire’s laws for being fair and just.”
Cheng Lin Yue and Sui Xuan Chu didn’t even hesitate. They clapped like maniacs, slapping their palms together so hard it sounded like gunfire.
Jiang Yi Bao was only a teenage girl. She crumpled under it, crying even harder.
“Jiang Tea Tea!” she sobbed. “We raised you for over ten years. How can you do this to me?”
Jiang Tea Tea stopped clapping and smiled sweetly. “Little girl, I’m just applauding the law for being fair and just.”
“And you can’t even handle that?” She tilted her head. “You’re so fragile.”
Jiang Yi Bao’s face twisted. “You… you’re heartless!”
Jiang Tea Tea arched her brows. “So what you mean is… I should save your dad and mom from exile, and save your sister and big brother from the firing squad?”
Jiang Yi Bao bit her lip. “It’s not impossible.”
“You’re a mutant 3S-rank plant-type healer. The only one in the entire empire—maybe the whole galaxy. People said someone as rare as you has privileges.”
“Sister… can you use those privileges to beg Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming? Let him spare Dad and Mom, spare Brother and Sister. Don’t exile them. Don’t execute them. Please?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s jaw dropped.
The audacity.
A family’s crimes so spectacular they could be written into history—and she wanted them waved away?
Jiang Tea Tea smiled and said, “Sure.”
Jiang Yi Bao’s face lit up. “Really?”
“Really,” Jiang Tea Tea said solemnly.
Jiang Yi Bao hesitated, suddenly suspicious. “You’re not joking with me, Sister?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s smile widened. “Weren’t you the one who started joking first?”
“This is hilarious.” She glanced sideways. “Sui Xuan Chu. Cheng Lin Yue. Not funny?”
They played along immediately.
“So funny,” Sui Xuan Chu said loudly. “Absolutely hilarious.”
Cheng Lin Yue laughed too, awkward but obedient. “So funny, ha ha ha…”
Jiang Yi Bao turned red with anger. “You—you—you!”
“You what?” Jiang Tea Tea cut in lazily. “If you’re sick, go get treated. If you’re broke, go work. You’re A-rank water-element. You won’t starve.”
The fake heiress had been her age with no ability at all and still survived—still excelled, still made it into Royal Military Academy on her own merits.
Jiang Yi Bao had an ability. If she used it properly—didn’t act entitled, didn’t chase fantasies—she’d have an easier time finding work than the fake heiress ever had.
And besides, she still had grandparents, maternal grandparents. She wasn’t alone. The empire didn’t practice collective punishment.
Jiang Yi Bao screamed, “I won’t starve, but I won’t have Dad and Mom and Brother and Sister anymore!”
“Jiang Tea Tea—our family raised you for ten years! How can you be such an ungrateful white-eyed wolf, hurting them?”
Jiang Tea Tea clicked her tongue. “You’re fourteen, not four.”
“If you don’t understand the law, go to any police bureau and ask staff to explain it.”
“Your dad, mom, brother, and sister committed crimes. I’m not some all-powerful monster who ‘hurt’ them. That’s the consequences of their actions.”
“You want me to carry guilt? You want me to take the blame?” Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes went cold. “Wrong target.”
“Even if you dropped dead in front of me, I wouldn’t feel guilty. This is your family’s retribution. Deserved.”
She turned and started walking toward the school gate with Cheng Lin Yue and Sui Xuan Chu.
Jiang Yi Bao panicked, sprinted to block her path. “You can’t go!”
Jiang Tea Tea paused and looked at her with amused contempt. “Little girl, in the last three months I’ve memorized Zhen Lin Empire law until I could recite it in my sleep.”
“What you’re doing right now—blocking me—is already dancing along the edge of illegality.”
“You wouldn’t happen to think being a minor means no one can punish you, would you?”
Jiang Yi Bao’s lips trembled.
Jiang Tea Tea’s tone stayed light, almost conversational. “Let me explain it in simple terms.”
“In this empire, if a minor commits a crime and the charge is confirmed, the Ministry of Justice and the Police Department can imprison them until they come of age.”
“Then the sentence is carried out.”
“So if you murder someone at fourteen, don’t worry—you can live until eighteen.”
“Then they tie your hands and feet, point a gun at your head, and fire.”
“Boom. Your head bursts. You’ll piss and shit yourself.”
“And if the shot misses, they fire again.”
Jiang Yi Bao’s face went paper-white. She began to shake violently, sobbing, “Stop—stop talking—please stop!”
Jiang Tea Tea shoved her aside without a shred of pity and walked into Royal Military Academy.
Cheng Lin Yue hurried after her, eyes shining like she’d just witnessed a hero. Sui Xuan Chu lagged behind—quietly turning on his Lightbrain screen recording and sending the clip to his uncle.
—
Cheng Lin Yue escorted Jiang Tea Tea all the way to her dorm room. Once inside, she couldn’t resist praising her again.
“Sister Tea, you’re so cool. You’re my second idol—tied with my number one.”
Jiang Tea Tea looked at her. “I have a question.”
“Ask!” Cheng Lin Yue’s eyes sparkled.
“You idolize Chong Ming. You want to marry him. Why did you choose to help me without hesitation?”
Cheng Lin Yue blinked, then answered with sincere, almost childish clarity.
“Yes, he’s my idol. He’s the man I most want to marry.”
“But it’s just fantasy. Running my mouth. Everyone does it.” She shrugged. “There are billions of people across the empire and the galaxy who fantasize like that. It’s normal.”
“And I’m not stupid. Look at how high he stands, and how low I stand. I’m young, but I know the gap between us is a wall I couldn’t cross in ten lifetimes.”
“If not for the way you led us in the 30-School Military Academy Championship, I’d never have gotten that close to him. Never spoken to him. Never been praised by him.”
Cheng Lin Yue’s voice softened. “I trust him. I respect him. He’s a good leader.”
“But you don’t trust him. You don’t want to be with him. You don’t want to give him your cubs.”
“And you’re my classmate. My teammate. My friend.”
“You’ve taken care of me ever since we met—during the championship and after.”
“And you beat Director Li Ao for my uncle.”
“So of course I help you.” She smiled through her fear. “I won’t let you end up like my uncle—alone and helpless.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth curved. “Thank you, Little Bunny.”
Cheng Lin Yue grinned, teeth showing. “No need. You’re strong and brilliant. I want you to be okay. I want you to climb higher.”
“And I want to learn from you. I want to become a truly excellent healer—a soothing therapist who’s useful to the country.”
“You will,” Jiang Tea Tea said firmly. “I believe you.”
Cheng Lin Yue left after that, promising to answer any call.
When Jiang Tea Tea closed the door and turned, she found Sui Xuan Chu leaning against the living-room window, staring at her belly like it was a mystery box.
She yawned as she walked closer. “Roommate, what’s your problem? Do I have a mole on my face?”
Sui Xuan Chu flipped his expression into cheerful innocence. “No mole. You’re gorgeous.”
“But I have a small request.”
Jiang Tea Tea reached her door. “Ugly no.”
Sui Xuan Chu exploded. “I haven’t even said it yet! Where’s our bond?”
“We live in the same dorm, different rooms,” Jiang Tea Tea corrected without looking back. “There is no bond. Stop trying to get close.”
Sui Xuan Chu stared at her door like he’d been stabbed.
A woman’s heart was a needle at the bottom of the sea.
One second she was tolerable. The next she was impossible.
And what could he do? His uncle had told him to watch her, keep an eye on her, soothe her.
As the only weak, pitiful dragon left in the golden dragon family besides his uncle, he could only obey.
Sui Xuan Chu hurried to salvage it. “I’m not asking anything. I’m giving you good news.”
Jiang Tea Tea paused and glanced back. “What good news?”
Sui Xuan Chu delivered it like he was announcing a medal. “Your foster big brother Jiang Yi Cheng—who punched your belly—has a new charge: attempted murder of a Golden Dragon Imperial Clan cub.”
“He already had charges for treason and colluding with the insect clan to kidnap and murder me. With this new charge, the process is simplified.”
“Tomorrow at noon, he’ll be executed by firing squad. Two bullets. Nationwide broadcast.”
“And my uncle asked me to ask you—do you want to watch in person? He can reserve you a spot so you can see both bullets blow Jiang Yi Cheng’s head apart up close.”