The matter of Jiang Susu’s inexplicable disappearance was eventually exposed. The dozen or so guards who had accompanied her didn’t notice anything amiss until dawn the next day. After calling out several times with no response, they discovered that only a dead maid remained in the carriage—there was no trace of the young miss.

When those dozen guards returned to the Minister’s residence in panic to report the situation to Jiang Quan, Jiang Quan became so furious he nearly fainted. However, the guards made it clear that Jiang Susu had killed her personal maid, disguised herself as the maid, and escaped on her own—no one else was to blame. The people Jiang Quan had sent out confirmed this was indeed the case. Apart from cursing his unfilial daughter, Jiang Quan could say nothing more. However, having a proper young lady from a distinguished household escape on her own with unknown whereabouts was certainly not a respectable matter to spread around. Those dozen guards definitely couldn’t be left alive. Jiang Quan ordered them disposed of. Perhaps knowing they were wronged, these guards somehow managed to leak this information before their deaths. Soon the entire capital knew that Jiang Quan had lost his residence’s Second Miss.

During this period, the entire Minister’s residence had been at the center of controversy. Walking through the streets and alleys, everywhere people talked about matters related to the Jiang family. Jiang Quan was driven to fury, but countless mouths were difficult to silence. Moreover, Jiang Ruan had been taken back to Prince Jinying’s residence by Xiao Shao, or went to the palace to accompany Empress Dowager Yide—in any case, she had effectively removed herself from under his control, leaving Jiang Quan helpless. As a result, Jiang Quan vented his doubled frustration on Hong Ying, who had miscarried. Hong Ying’s body was already weak, and with Jiang Quan beating and kicking her daily, clearly intending to torture her to death, Hong Ying knew she had no way to survive and swallowed gold to kill herself one night.

A concubine who had also fallen from favor—when she died, she died. Jiang Quan didn’t even have a coffin prepared for her, directly ordering servants to wrap her in a broken mat and throw her into the mass grave. A generation’s beauty thus met her end, leaving one unsure whether to sigh or feel something else.

Thus, in the vast Jiang residence, apart from the First Concubine who rarely ventured out, there were no more concubines. Jiang Quan was greatly affected by this, often standing in the courtyard lost in thought. The contrast between the past filled with sweet voices of beautiful women and the current cold, desolate silence made it increasingly apparent that the entire Jiang residence was gradually showing signs of collapse.

The people sent to search for Jiang Susu had yet to find her, and more anxious than Jiang Quan was Jiang Chao. Jiang Chao and Jiang Susu were siblings from the same mother, and since Jiang Susu had been beloved since childhood, Jiang Chao naturally cherished her too. Though angry at Jiang Susu’s impulsiveness, he still sought help from Xuan Li, who allocated a group of people to search for Jiang Susu’s whereabouts. Now that he was useful to Xuan Li, and Xuan Li always put on the appearance of a wise ruler who valued capable people, he naturally provided full assistance.

Xuan Li’s people were indeed much more capable than the Jiang residence’s servants. At least while the people Jiang Quan sent out had yet to discover her whereabouts, Xuan Li’s subordinates had already reported to Jiang Chao: “Young Master, we have found Second Miss Jiang’s whereabouts.”

At that time, Jiang Chao was practicing calligraphy in his study, unable to calm his mind no matter what—his characters came out crooked. Upon hearing this, his hand immediately trembled, and a large drop of ink fell onto the snow-white paper, spreading into large ink blots. He raised his head urgently, “Where is she?”

“This…” The guard looked somewhat troubled, hesitating to speak. Jiang Chao’s heart suddenly filled with foreboding. Unable to care about anything else, he grabbed the man’s collar and shouted, “What happened exactly!”

“Young Master,” the guard was startled by Jiang Chao’s appearance and no longer dared conceal anything, “The scouts report that Second Miss was abducted to a bandit’s lair, and now… it’s already been several days.”

With a “crack,” Jiang Chao could no longer hold the brush in his hand. The fine white jade and wolf hair brush fell to the ground with a crisp sound, particularly clear in the silent room. The guard felt the surrounding atmosphere become terrifyingly stagnant, motionlessly lowering his head, not daring to look at Jiang Chao’s expression.

The terrible silence lasted an unknown amount of time before Jiang Chao’s voice came through gritted teeth: “Prepare horses.”

“Young Master?” The guard was stunned, and couldn’t help but pause when meeting Jiang Chao’s gaze. He saw that those already somewhat gloomy eyes were now filled with deep hatred and madness, almost making one believe he would destroy everything the next moment. Such terrifying eyes, yet his expression was extremely calm—calm to a twisted degree. He said, “Someone come, follow me to rescue Second Miss.”

…

The sunlight in the deep mountains seemed to be blocked by dense tree shade, leaving only a few scattered spots of sunlight shining down. The dilapidated village was like an abandoned pearl embedded in the mountains—already worn and blackened, yet stubbornly remaining in place.

The door opened with a “creak.” A woman walked out from inside.

This woman wore a coarse hemp garment altered from men’s clothing. The trouser legs were too long, rolled up halfway, revealing a pair of fair small legs. However, those fair legs were covered with spotted bruises. Her arms and neck were the same—the clothes were too large, and even after alteration, they still didn’t fit properly. Her features were extremely beautiful, quite like a transcendent fairy’s pure loveliness, but due to excessive haggardness, she showed signs of aging. Dark circles had formed under her eyes, greatly diminishing her beautiful appearance. Her skin was fair and her figure graceful—if dressed in beautiful clothes and slightly adorned, she would certainly outshine all others. Unfortunately, this woman now looked merely like a somewhat haggard peasant wife.

She carried a basket in her hand, walked straight out the door to a small stream not far from the village, squatted down, and began taking out clothes reeking of alcohol and stench from the basket, slowly beginning to scrub them. She washed very slowly. Her tender white hands had worn raw from such activities, and her hands appeared red and swollen from being immersed in the cold river water—clearly she wasn’t accustomed to doing such work. Even so, she continued slowly scrubbing. This woman was none other than Jiang Susu.

Around her, many women like herself were washing clothes by the river. Without exception, they wore barely covering garments. Some had beautiful faces, others were rather plain, but every person’s expression was identical—showing a ash-gray numbness, vacant eyes, as if they had grown accustomed to such a life.

The sun rose from the east but brought no warmth. Jiang Susu washed very earnestly. Her eyes no longer held the disdain and mockery of the first few days, showing instead a numb submissiveness.

These past few days, she had lived a hellish existence. The women in this village were all appendages of the men, tools for their venting. They also had to wash clothes, cook, and mend garments for them daily. If anything was done poorly, there would be punching and kicking. Bandits never showed tenderness toward women—whether you were a young lady from a great family or a girl from a small household, if you didn’t satisfy them, there would be violence. Every woman here had been beaten.

This wasn’t the most painful part. The most painful was that once night came, she had to simultaneously serve several men, worse off than brothel women. If a brothel woman was a top courtesan, she could still maintain some dignity, but here, women had no dignity whatsoever. At night, these beasts only cared about venting their animal desires. Women here didn’t live long—no one could endure such prolonged torment.

She had thought of escaping, but the people here had their own methods for women who tried to flee—drag them back for a severe beating, then lock them up and repeat the nighttime nightmare. In just a few days, there wasn’t a single undamaged spot on Jiang Susu’s body. Among this group of women, her appearance was the best, her skin the most delicate, and she was new—almost every man was full of interest in her. Therefore, her days were particularly miserable.

In such a place, those so-called charm arts were completely useless. Charm arts were very useful for dealing with young masters from noble families, but in these desolate mountains, apart from arousing more men’s animal desires, they were worthless. Because these mountain bandits and brigands simply didn’t understand tender care for women—their bones only contained brutality and plunder. Therefore, in a short time, Jiang Susu had become emaciated, almost a different person.

After washing the clothes, she was about to return to the house to gather firewood and cook, but had only walked halfway when she heard a great sound of thundering hoofbeats. The leader reined in his horse before her, dismounted, and called out, “Sister!”

Jiang Susu looked up somewhat slowly, seeming to take a long time to clearly see the person before her. She paused, then called out, “Brother.”

Jiang Chao looked at Jiang Susu with complete disbelief. In his heart, Jiang Susu had always been spotlessly pure and beautiful as a celestial being, never having a speck of dust on her body. Who was this dirty, haggard woman reeking terribly? Was this still his sister who was renowned throughout the capital for her beauty?

Jiang Susu looked at Jiang Chao, blinking her eyes. Suddenly her eyes reddened, two lines of tears rolled down, and she could no longer care about anything else. She tightly embraced Jiang Chao, crying and shouting, “Brother, why did you only come now!”

When Jiang Susu embraced him like this, Jiang Chao’s nose was immediately filled with a nauseating stench. These siblings had always lived luxurious lives of privilege in the Jiang residence, looking down on poor people from the bottom of their hearts, considering themselves superior. When Jiang Chao saw Jiang Susu in such a wretched state, his heart was already alarmed. When she embraced him like this, he instinctively reached out to push Jiang Susu away, but when he extended his hand, he froze, staring fixedly at the red marks on Jiang Susu’s neck.

The scouts had reported that Jiang Susu had been abducted to the bandit’s lair for several days—her body was certainly no longer pure. But thinking about it and seeing it with his own eyes were different things. Seeing the spotted marks on Jiang Susu’s body, the last trace of hope in Jiang Chao’s heart vanished, his mind immediately went blank, and he couldn’t speak.

Jiang Susu was completely unaware. The moment she saw Jiang Chao, she gradually emerged from the numbness, sadness, and resignation of the past few days. Her heart was filled only with endless hatred, and her voice became sharp and twisted: “Brother, you must avenge me, kill all the bandits here! These bandits aren’t human—they beat me… Brother, kill them, kill them all!” Jiang Susu cried and laughed, her voice on the verge of collapse, but the venom in her words was undiminished. Jiang Chao was her brother and would certainly avenge her. These filthy, stinking men would all become corpses soon. Just thinking of this filled Jiang Susu’s heart with satisfaction. She said, “And those women too—they’ve seen me, not one can be left alive!”

She was only focused on venting the pain she had suffered these past days, not noticing Jiang Chao’s expression. Jiang Chao stared fixedly at the red marks on Jiang Susu’s neck, his gaze unfocused, his eyes quite dazed.

Jiang Susu had already become like this—even if brought back, her body was no longer pure. Originally, this sister, beautiful as a fairy, had great potential to pave the way for his career and the Jiang family’s prosperity, perhaps even becoming an empress in her prime years. But now all plans were ruined. Jiang Susu’s reputation was gone, her purity lost—using her beauty to climb into a marriage beneficial to the Jiang residence was impossible. If one day today’s events spread, with Jiang Susu becoming bandits’ plaything, the legitimate daughter of the Minister’s residence having her purity taken by a group of rabble—speaking of it would prevent the Jiang family from ever holding their heads high again. In that case, Jiang Susu’s existence would be a spark that could ignite a great fire at any moment—keeping her would be a hidden danger.

Moreover, Jiang Chao’s eyes darkened further. Now that he followed under Xuan Li and was gradually improving, with Xuan Li beginning to value him, he was already being pointed at by colleagues because of the Xia Yan incident. If Jiang Susu was added to this, future career advancement would be very difficult. Those colleagues who competed with him openly and secretly would definitely not miss this opportunity to kick him while he was down. No, perhaps they had already begun taking action. The news of Jiang Susu’s disappearance had already spread throughout the capital. If he could find Jiang Susu, others certainly could too.

He couldn’t let Jiang Susu’s existence become his stumbling block.

Jiang Chao’s eyes shifted several times, as if he had finally made some decision. He looked at Jiang Susu, who had thrown herself into his arms, reached out to stroke her somewhat dirty hair, and gently comforted, “Alright, I’ll kill them for you. Second Brother will avenge you. These women and bandits—not one will escape. I’ll make them all go see the King of Hell.”

Jiang Susu tightly gripped Jiang Chao’s clothes, “And that bitch Jiang Ruan—if not for her scheming against me, how would I have come to this? Brother, my falling to this state is entirely that bitch’s doing. And Xiao Shao—the two of them joined forces to harm me. If this revenge isn’t taken, I swear I’m not human!”

“Alright,” Jiang Chao’s voice was so gentle it could drip water. He lovingly patted Jiang Susu’s shoulder, truly like a kind brother, comforting, “Jiang Ruan, Jiang Chao, and the General’s residence, Prince Jinying’s residence—not one will be spared. Brother will avenge you. These people hurt you—I want them all to be buried with you!”

Jiang Susu nestled in Jiang Chao’s arms, feeling great satisfaction in her heart, but also overlooking Jiang Chao’s strange gaze. She asked, “Brother, when shall we return to the residence?”

“Return to the residence?” Jiang Chao said apologetically, “Sister, you can’t return to the residence.”

“What?” Before Jiang Susu could understand, she felt a chill in her chest. Looking down, she saw a snow-white sword tip had pierced through her chest. The sword hilt at the other end was gripped in Jiang Chao’s hand. Jiang Chao pulled the sword back, and Jiang Susu spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, her body softly collapsing.

This all happened too quickly. She couldn’t even ask why, only stared with wide eyes full of unwillingness at Jiang Chao. Jiang Susu never imagined that the rescuer she had desperately waited for would ultimately kill her with his own hands—her own brother.

“I’m sorry, Susu,” Jiang Chao averted his eyes, not daring to look at Jiang Susu’s corpse. “I can’t let you block my path. Those who achieve great things don’t concern themselves with small matters. Besides, this also grants you early liberation.” He sighed, “Don’t be afraid—Mother will soon come down to accompany you. You won’t feel lonely. As for what I promised you, the revenge I’ll take for you—I won’t miss a single one.”

…

At night, in a manor several hundred li from the capital, in a dilapidated, pitch-black house, a figure sat quietly. The oil lamp had long since dried up, obviously no one had come to add oil for a long time. The room was filled with a dying, rotten smell.

The woman was already very aged, with white hair at her temples stuck together with grease and grime, messily bunched behind her head. Her body also seemed to have gone uncleaned for a long time, covered all over as if with a layer of armor. Only a pair of large eyes could still vaguely show traces of former elegance, but only former.

Xia Yan didn’t know how long she had been here. Days passed one after another. No one spoke with her. Daily confined to this place, without fresh fruits and vegetables, only spoiled food and dirty bedding, a damp roof. She was sometimes mad, sometimes lucid, mad more often. Now she was lucid. Today, for some unknown reason, she felt somewhat inexplicably uneasy. A nameless restlessness blocked her heart, as if something major was about to happen. She futilely extended her hand with dirt-covered black nails, scratching at the ground.

Then she heard the door open with a “creak.”

Xia Yan suddenly raised her head and saw someone enter holding a fire starter, gently closing the door behind them. Having not seen bright light for a long time, she was momentarily dazzled by this light and couldn’t see the person’s appearance clearly.

The person placed the fire starter aside and sat down. The light gradually settled, and Xia Yan began adapting to this temporary brightness. She heard a familiar voice: “Mother.”

Xia Yan trembled, tears immediately flowing from her eyes. She had been living here day after day, bullied and beaten by people, as if forgotten by everyone. She never expected her son to appear alive before her now. She opened her mouth, but her throat made only dry sounds from not speaking for so long.

Seeing Xia Yan in such a state, Jiang Chao also seemed greatly shocked. Immediately, anger appeared in his eyes: “They actually treated you like this!”

Previously, Xia Yan had harbored resentment toward Jiang Chao for not coming to see her, and Chen Fang’s words about that noble person eventually killing her to silence her had made her feel estranged from Jiang Chao. Now seeing Jiang Chao like this, she felt no anger at all. She thought Jiang Chao was still her son after all—he still sided with her. These were all willful servants acting on their own. Jiang Chao still acknowledged her as his birth mother.

But Xia Yan never considered that if he truly cared about his birth mother, how could he not inquire even once during such a long time? Even if Jiang Chao was usually busy, sending a servant to check on the situation would be good. Just like when Jiang Ruan was sent to the manor and bullied, these people dared to act so recklessly precisely because they saw Jiang Chao’s indifferent attitude toward Xia Yan. Jiang Chao wasn’t that foolish—he naturally knew Xia Yan would likely be bullied when sent to the manor, but he remained unmoved. This person’s inner selfishness had reached extremes. Though Xia Yan was vicious, she was a competent mother. Everything she did was to pave the way for the Jiang Chao siblings, but unfortunately both siblings only cared for themselves and didn’t take their birth mother to heart.

Jiang Chao looked at Xia Yan and suddenly said, “Mother, Sister is dead.”

Xia Yan was stunned, looking at Jiang Chao in shock.

Jiang Chao continued, “She fell into someone else’s trap, angered Father, and Father wanted to send her to a nunnery to become a nun. She refused, escaped during the night, was captured by bandits, violated by them, and committed suicide.”

He spoke each word calmly, but every word stabbed Xia Yan’s heart like a knife. Xia Yan let out a wailing cry from her throat but couldn’t speak anymore. Only two lines of tears kept falling.

“Why… didn’t you protect her well?” she asked with difficulty.

“Me protect her?” Jiang Chao laughed coldly. “How could I protect her? Mother, as mine and Sister’s mother, shouldn’t you protect us? Do you know how Sister fell into someone else’s trap? Sister wanted to seduce Prince Jinying and willingly become his concubine! Mother, do you know why a legitimate daughter would willingly become a concubine? Because Mother’s reputation was ruined, and no one has proposed marriage to Sister even now! That bitch Jiang Ruan already received the Empress Dowager’s marriage grant to Prince Jinying, while Sister has to remain unmarried because of Mother’s moral corruption. Sister’s current death is entirely Mother’s doing!”

Xia Yan’s entire body shook violently, looking at Jiang Chao in disbelief. That incident was clearly a setup against her. Even if others suspected her virtue, Jiang Chao was her biological son—how could he say such things!

She didn’t know that because of her ruined reputation, Jiang Chao couldn’t hold his head up before his colleagues. This matter constantly became a weapon for others to slander him. Today, Jiang Chao blamed Jiang Susu’s death on her, but was actually venting his own resentment! He resented Xia Yan!

“No… it wasn’t me…” Xia Yan said.

Jiang Chao shook his head: “None of this matters, Mother. I just promised Sister I would avenge her. Now Prince Jinying and Jiang Ruan both outrank me. Only if my career advances can I avenge Sister.” He looked at Xia Yan, a strange light flashing in his eyes: “And Mother, as long as you exist for one day, I have reasons to be criticized and can never advance openly and honestly.”

Xia Yan took a long time to understand the meaning of Jiang Chao’s words. She stared at this son of hers as if not recognizing him: “You… want me to die?”

“Since Mother loves us siblings so much, I must fulfill Sister’s wish. Now I truly can’t think of any other way.” Jiang Chao’s voice was low but without a trace of guilt: “Mother is a smart person—surely you wouldn’t want that bitch Jiang Ruan climbing over your son’s head.”

“Unfilial son…” Xia Yan gasped heavily: “Get out!”

Jiang Chao shook his head: “This time, your son came only because blood is thicker than water, wanting to make Mother more comfortable. Since Mother doesn’t appreciate it, your son must give up. Just… some things, the process doesn’t matter—only the result matters, doesn’t it?”

“You want to kill me?” Xia Yan’s eyes widened.

“No, I believe Mother will figure it out, won’t you?” He slowly smiled, revealing white teeth, but no longer had his former bright demeanor. Under the lamplight, he was like a crazed beast. He said, “The beam in this room is high enough. Mother, trading one life for a clean reputation—Mother knows what’s most worthwhile, right?”

He walked straight out the door.