Lin Shu ordered someone to bring paper, brushes, and a small writing desk into the prison cell.

He sat cross-legged across from Ji Yunshu.

Outside the cell, two young jailers stood watch.

Supervising!

Lin Shu gripped his sleeve with one hand and ground the ink stick for a moment with the other before picking up the brush and saying, “Miss Ji, whatever you wish to say, just speak. I’ll write it down for you.”

His attitude was exceedingly good!

Ji Yunshu stared at the white paper before her for a moment, then glanced at the two jailers outside before beginning to twist the straw between her fingertips, thinking seriously.

“Actually… if I truly must speak of final words, there isn’t much to say. After all, I have no family and no colleagues. I don’t know my neighbors either. There are a few embroidering aunties on the street I’m somewhat acquainted with, but they have their own relatives and connections and have no ties to me. The only one with any real connection to me is Prince Rong, but I truly cannot bear to send him a final letter. However… I can’t leave no final words at all, can I?” She pondered as she spoke.

Lin Shu didn’t rush her and continued holding the brush, waiting!

Eventually the ink on the brush tip dried, and he dipped it in the inkstone again.

Ji Yunshu’s eyes finally lit up as she said, “Oh right, there are some things to arrange. However, it might be rather lengthy. I hope Lord Lin doesn’t mind.”

“It’s fine. Go ahead.”

She cleared her throat. “I’ve placed two sandalwood boxes in Zhuxi Garden. One contains painting tools, and the other holds various small knives of different styles. If I die, it would be a pity to leave them there unused. Hmm… I’d like to leave the painting tools to Miss Tang of Yuhua Pavilion. Her temperament is rather impatient, and sometimes she acts impulsively. If I give her these painting implements, I hope they can help settle her temperament. After all, if she and Muruo marry in the future, she can’t spend her whole life fighting and killing, can she? Speaking of which, I have a few words for Muruo as well. From the capital to the Imperial Manor, I was fortunate to have his help along the way. I should have properly thanked him to his face, but now I can only write it in this final letter. Though the written words are cold, my sincerity is still genuine…”

Lin Shu kept his head down, writing throughout.

Ji Yunshu stopped speaking, worried he couldn’t keep up, and asked, “Lord Lin, are my words too numerous?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” He finished the last stroke, put down the brush, and fanned the paper to help the ink dry a bit before passing it to Ji Yunshu, asking, “Take a look. Is there anything you’d like to add?”

She took it and reviewed it line by line. Her brow furrowed slightly several times before she shook her head. “No, this won’t do. Let’s write something else instead.”

Having said that, she tore up the paper covered in dense writing.

So Lin Shu began writing again.

This time, Ji Yunshu only said a few simple things.

After finishing, Lin Shu brought it to her again to review.

This time she was satisfied.

She praised him: “Lord Lin is truly learned and knowledgeable. I spoke so chaotically, yet you organized it so well. Your calligraphy is also very neat.”

“You’re too kind!” Lin Shu began gathering his things, folding the completed final letter and saying, “If Miss Ji has nothing else to arrange, then I’ll take my leave.”

“Thank you, Lord Lin.”

Lin Shu said nothing more. He patted the dust from his sleeves, stood up, and left the cell.

From beginning to end, the two had no substantial exchange, as if they had never met at Mingshan Academy at all.

After Lin Shu left, the jailer closed the cell door.

Inside the dim cell, Ji Yunshu’s expression remained calm. The long piece of straw in her hand bent bit by bit as she manipulated it.

She looked at the torn-up final letter on the messy straw. On those scattered scraps of paper, a few complete characters were still faintly visible.

Tomorrow, midnight hour, prepare, execution ground…

These words hadn’t come from her mouth—Lin Shu had written them himself.

Just to be safe, she picked up those fragments and tore them again.

Now they were truly shredded!

Suddenly, her abdomen cramped violently.

The toad poison was acting up again!

She drew up her knees and pulled out from her sleeve the medicine bottle Muruo had left her. Her hands trembling, she extracted a pill from inside that fell into her palm. But… she stared at that pill for a long while, then gritted her teeth secretly and stuffed the medicine back into the bottle. Her sweating forehead pressed against her knees.

Soon, the painful sensation gradually spread throughout her entire body. Her deathly pale lips bit down hard, her hands clutching her clothes, almost tearing and ripping the fabric on her body.

She wanted to see whether she could endure this!

…

On the other side, Lin Shu delivered the final letter to Jing Yi’s hands.

The letter was densely covered in writing, with arrangements that were inconsequential at best.

A chaotic jumble of things!

Lin Shu asked, “Your Highness, when should this final letter be sent?”

Jing Yi responded with a cold laugh, “When that Miss Ji in the cell loses her head, you personally deliver it to Prince Rong’s manor.”

“Yes.”

“All right, you may leave now.”

“Yes.” Lin Shu was very obedient and quietly withdrew.

At this moment, Dou Quan entered the room.

Jing Yi asked, “Is there movement at Prince Rong’s manor?”

“Very quiet.”

“Very quiet?”

“Prince Rong hasn’t entered the palace or gone to the Ministry of Justice. The people at Prince Rong’s manor haven’t made any covert moves either.” Dou Quan said worriedly, “Your Highness, could this be a trap?”

Jing Yi thought deeply and shook his head. “If it truly were a trap, Prince Rong’s manor couldn’t possibly be so quiet. He cares so much about his Teacher Ji—how could he possibly not save her?”

“Then, Your Highness?”

“In any case, keep a close watch. Report immediately if there’s any movement.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, how are the arrangements at Ji Siyin’s end?” Jing Yi asked again.

“Ji Siyin has secretly mobilized many troops. Together with several generals, he has completely secured control of the capital, both inside and out. He’s only waiting for Your Highness’s command to seal the city gates.”

Jing Yi was satisfied. “Excellent. Now the imperial palace is also under this prince’s control. As long as we keep a close watch on Jing Rong and nothing unexpected happens, in a few days, this imperial throne… will be mine.”

That face suffused with sinister energy radiated overwhelming lust for power!

The throne—he was determined to have it.

But what he couldn’t have imagined was that even on the second day, Prince Rong’s manor remained very quiet.

Before they knew it, the time for Ji Yunshu’s execution had arrived.

Ministry of Justice prison.

Two jailers entered on orders to bring the prisoner out.

Ji Yunshu’s long hair was disheveled. She lay on the foul-smelling straw, her entire face extremely pale, her eyes weakly half-closed, unable to open.

Like a pile of rotten mud!

The jailer announced: “By order of the authorities, we’re taking you to the execution ground.”

Ji Yunshu was too weak to make a sound.

The two jailers stepped forward, lifted her up, and dragged her all the way to the execution ground.

She knelt on the execution platform with her hands bound behind her back and an execution placard thrust between her shoulders, preventing her body from bending. Yet her head hung down powerlessly, her long hair falling forward to cover her somewhat filthy face.

The supervising official for this execution was Lord Li. Looking at Ji Yunshu kneeling on the platform, on the verge of death, his heart clenched with anxiety.

He wondered whether this time there would be another “stay of execution”?