Killing in the Moonlight

Assassin Courtesan Liu Yunlan × Scheming Chancellor Zhou Congjun Zhou Congjun was ordered by imperial decree to Jiangnan to suppress bandits. As soon as he entered the city, he was invited to a pleasure house, where he encountered the famous courtesan playing the flute and dancing for her guests. In public, Liu Yunlan was a celebrated courtesan. In secret, she was the head of an assassins’ guild. Her superior ordered her to get close to Zhou Congjun and seduce him, assist him in his work while he suppressed the bandits, and kill him when the time came. Ideally, she would also ruin his reputation. So she arrived in gorgeous clothes, graceful and elegant, and softly called him, “Zhou Lang.” When their eyes met, they seemed as familiar with each other as they had once been. They had been childhood sweethearts, but now they had met again with very different identities. Still, the moment they saw each other, Zhou Congjun was certain that his childhood sweetheart had ulterior motives for approaching him. Even when his colleagues teased him that reuniting with an old friend and having a beauty at his side made for a double blessing, he simply sipped his wine with refined composure. Inwardly, he was already plotting how to turn her scheme to his advantage and use this childhood friend to learn what was happening in Jiangnan. Their plans happened to align. They put on a performance for each other: outwardly, each showed concern and tenderness, while behind the scenes, they kept a close watch on one another’s every move, preparing their next steps. Later, to earn his trust, Liu Yunlan helped him suppress bandits, investigate cases, capture heretics, deal with a calamity of venomous insects, and quell a rebellion. In the end, she was covered in wounds and collapsed in a pool of blood, struggling to tell him, “As long as you’re all right.” And Zhou Congjun, who should have been making decisions from far away, personally led men into a deadly trap because he feared for her safety. When he saw her nearly die, he trembled with fear and hated himself for arriving too late. After that, the two seemed deeply in love. Liu Yunlan thought she had him wrapped around her finger, so when he kept pressing her to give their relationship a name, she dodged the question. To his face, she played dumb, acting as if she had no idea what he meant and begging him not to pressure her. In secret, she was always ready to make her escape. Zhou Congjun, too, realized she was thinking of running away. Knowing that she responded to gentleness, not force, he finally transformed from a refined and dignified powerful chancellor into a gloomy, manipulative green-tea schemer. He gritted his teeth and complained, “Yunlan, you don’t want me!” Seeing Liu Yunlan’s expression change, he added plaintively, “Yunlan, you’ve been playing with my feelings this whole time. Please, have mercy on me, won’t you?” Liu Yunlan: “...” Don’t be ridiculous. I really am here to kill you. Theme: Make your fortune through your own efforts