“Your Ladyship… please, spare my life!”

Sui’er struggled to speak.

“Spare your life?” Consort Xiao laughed coldly. “You’ve committed such a grave error, and you still want me to spare you?”

“This servant…”

Her head lay limply on the ground, unable to say another word.

Consort Xiao moved her foot from Sui’er’s hand. “You dared to release sky lanterns in my Zhang Zhi Hall and caused a fire in the palace. How can I spare you?”

Uh!

A scapegoat!

Consort Xiao ordered the eunuch beside her, “Hand this maid over to the Office of Palace Affairs.”

The eunuch stepped forward. “Yes.”

And dragged away that bloody body.

Sui’er had been beaten until her consciousness was unclear.

If there was still a sliver of chance for survival now, then if she were taken to the Office of Palace Affairs, she would certainly die.

Jing Xuan could only watch as Sui’er was dragged away from before her eyes.

“No!” She shouted loudly.

Tears streaming down.

Consort Xiao said to her, “I want you to remember forever that you killed her. From today onward, if you don’t obey, I’ll kill one person a day for you to watch.” She immediately ordered someone, “Take the princess away. Watch her without taking your eyes off her for even a moment.”

Several palace maids kneeling on the ground rose and stepped forward to help Jing Xuan up from the floor.

But she flung away their sleeves with a sweep, glaring fiercely at the person before her.

So unfamiliar!

“You’ll receive your retribution.”

Consort Xiao shouted, “Take her away.”

Jing Xuan was dragged away.

Her eyes were filled with hatred!

…

Before long, news came that Sui’er had died.

The several palace maids who shared a room with her remained silent in the room. No one spoke.

After a long while, someone finally opened their mouth.

“How could a person just die like that?”

“It’s truly a pity.”

“Although Sui’er talked a bit much, she was still a good person. Whatever we asked her to do, she did it.”

“Ai, now she’s become a scapegoat. Do you think she’ll come back to find us?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone felt their hair stand on end.

Immediately someone said, “Stop talking nonsense. There are no ghosts in this world.”

Someone refuted, “Who says there aren’t? Back in our hometown, they say that after people die, their souls can return. Do you think Sui’er will come back?”

Everyone looked at each other!

All huddling together!

“Bang bang!”

Suddenly someone knocked on the door.

“Ah!”

The room full of young maids screamed in fright!

“What are you screaming for? It’s me. Open the door.”

It turned out to be Nanny Liu from Zhang Zhi Hall.

One of them quickly opened the door.

“Nanny Liu, what are you here for?”

Nanny Liu was somewhat impatient. “Didn’t Sui’er die? I came in to take her things to burn. You all hurry and gather them up. Quickly, I still have matters to attend to.”

“Oh, wait a moment.”

Everyone began busily gathering Sui’er’s belongings.

What could a palace maid have? Just a tattered quilt and a few sets of clothes, plus a few pairs of shoes.

Everyone gathered things quite efficiently. When they searched through Sui’er’s cabinet, they discovered she still had a package of unfinished tian guo!

The young maid originally gathering things planned to take it all together to give to Nanny Liu, but another young maid stopped her and gave her a meaningful look.

“Keep it for now.”

“Mm.”

So they only handed over the tattered quilt and clothes to Nanny Liu.

“Is there anything else?” Nanny Liu looked inside.

“Replying to Nanny Liu, there’s nothing else. Sui’er just arrived, so she didn’t have many things.”

“Mm, I’m telling you, dead people’s things absolutely cannot be kept. It would be inauspicious.”

“We understand.”

Those palace maids were very obedient.

After Nanny Liu left, several maids gathered together and took out that remaining package of tian guo, saying, “If it weren’t for that fool, Sui’er wouldn’t have died. This is what Sui’er left behind before she died. Let’s take it to that foolish boy to scare him.”

But someone was timid. “Better not. If Her Ladyship finds out, she’ll surely take our lives.”

“Look at you, all you know is fear.”

“But is this really all right?”

“What’s wrong with it?” That person directly stuffed the package of tian guo into the timid maid’s hands. “You go.”

“Me?”

“Go quickly.”

So, just like before when they forcibly pushed Sui’er out the door, they also pushed this timid maid out.

The young maid was called Deng’er, as beautiful as her lamp-like eyes.

She clutched that package and went to the room where Wei Yi was confined. After struggling for a long while, she finally opened the door.

However—

There was no lamp at all in the room.

She shuddered, and borrowing the light refracting in from outside, she felt around for the candlestick on the table and lit the lamp.

The lamplight gradually spread, illuminating the room brightly.

Wei Yi was still sitting in his previous position, his head buried at his knees.

“Fool!”

Deng’er called out.

No response.

Now her palms gripped even tighter, and the package of tian guo nearly fell to the ground.

Thinking this person couldn’t be dead, could he? She quickly stepped forward to check, poking him with her hand.

Wei Yi’s body was ice cold. He slowly raised his head to look at her and asked, “Where’s Sui’er?”

Dead!

Still asking about Sui’er.

Deng’er pursed her lips. “Sui’er is dead.”

Wei Yi wasn’t surprised!

Only a trace of sadness flowed through the depths of his eyes.

Deng’er should have scared him, but seeing those eyes of his, she instantly dismissed that thought.

She handed him the tian guo in her hand and said, “These are Sui’er’s things. We didn’t want to give them to Nanny Liu. Sui’er said before that you gave these to her. Since you gave them to her, we’re returning them to you. After all, she’s no longer here.”

Not following the plan.

They had agreed to come scare him.

She’d be scolded when she went back.

Wei Yi took that package of tian guo. His heart felt a wave of cold, but he didn’t show it.

Deng’er also began to complain. “It’s all because you released that sky lantern that Sui’er died. What you owe her, you can never repay in this lifetime.”

Wei Yi’s eyes flickered slightly!

Yes, he owed her.

Owed her a life!

He gripped the tian guo in his hand tightly, tears welling up in his eyes.

Images of Sui’er flashed through his mind.

Surprised!

Joyful!

Worried!

Although he and Sui’er had never become close, that maid had been very good to him.

“If you leave the palace, will you think of me?” At that time, Sui’er had looked at him full of expectation.

But she would never know that answer.

After a long while, Wei Yi looked at the tian guo in his hand and said, “Yes, I will think of you. Rest in peace. I will help avenge you.”

His voice was very soft.

Deng’er couldn’t hear clearly, so she leaned forward and asked, “What did you say?”

Wei Yi raised his gaze, looking past Deng’er toward the doorway.

As for what exactly he was thinking?

No one could know.

On the other side.

Since marrying into Prince Yi’s manor, Ji Muqing’s days had not been easy at all!

After that wedding night, she had never seen Jing Yi again.

What about the promise of a long future together?

What about the promise of making up for the wedding night ceremony?

Where was he?

No matter how Ji Muqing thought about it, she felt restless. Early in the morning, she took a pair of scissors and was cutting flowers in the courtyard.

Her demeanor was extremely similar to Consort Xiao’s!

Cailan stepped forward and said, “Princess Consort, you should stop cutting. Be careful not to hurt your hand.”

“Go away.”

“Princess Consort…”

She refused to listen and continued cutting.

The flowers and plants in the courtyard that had originally bloomed beautifully were cut by her into scattered pieces all over the ground.

No matter how Cailan tried to stop her, she couldn’t.

Finally—

With one cut of the scissors, her finger was injured.

“Ah!”

The pain made her grimace.

Her face wrinkled up.

The scissors in her hand also fell.