Before Lin Chengyou could respond, a squad of Imperial Guards emerged from the end of the alley, weapons drawn, clearly having laid in wait.

The guard from the Rong’an Marquis Manor swallowed hard, raising his blade defensively before his chest. “Young Master!”

The lead Imperial Guard recognized the chief culprit as Song Jian and seemed greatly surprised, but after only a moment’s hesitation, he signaled his men to move forward and seize the criminal. However, just as their blades trembled into motion, Lin Chengyou blocked their advance.

“There’s no need. He won’t run.”

The mere act of leading men to steal the Moon Phase Mirror was evidence enough. Now, with both culprit and stolen goods in hand, whether he fled or resisted arrest would only bring catastrophe upon the Rong’an Marquis Manor. Song Jian was a clever man; he would understand this.

Song Jian’s face was ashen as he sighed deeply. “So be it.”

With a metallic clang, he threw his weapon at his feet.

The two guards behind him, seeing the situation was hopeless, had no choice but to surrender as well.

The Moon Phase Mirror hidden in Song Jian’s robes continued to spontaneously leak foul blood, soaking through his front garments in mere moments. Yet he seemed beyond caring about such things now. After a moment of silent contemplation, he raised his eyes to Lin Chengyou: “By all logic, I never revealed any flaws. When did you start suspecting me?”

Lin Chengyou glanced at the dome overhead. There would likely be movement from the Great Seclusion Temple soon. The true culprit was busy plotting to obtain the Moon Phase Child Lord and would certainly not be able to assist Song Jian. It was crucial to obtain several key clues from Song Jian while they had the chance.

He said calmly, “Brother Song told me himself.”

Song Jian looked puzzled. “I did?”

Lin Chengyou: “That night when I went to the Rong’an Marquis Manor to inquire if there had been anything unusual about Young Lady Jiang before the incident, the grief on Brother Song’s face was almost perfectly convincing. However, when mentioning your first wife, Lady Jiang the Elder, your eyes inadvertently revealed the truth.”

Song Jian froze.

Lin Chengyou gazed at Song Jian: “Brother Song has been missing your late wife deeply all these years, hasn’t he? That night, merely mentioning the name ‘Zhenniang’ brought such profound sorrow to your eyes. This was entirely different from your concern when speaking of Young Lady Jiang. Perhaps Brother Song himself wasn’t even aware of this.”

After a long silence, Song Jian forced a slight smile: “But based on this alone, how could you be certain I was involved in harming Jiang Yueniang?”

Lin Chengyou smiled slightly: “True, this alone wouldn’t prove anything. But when I continued investigating Young Lady Jiang’s life, I discovered too many contradictions.

“In public, you showed endless indulgence toward Young Lady Jiang, letting her have whatever treasures and jewelry she desired. In just these two months, Young Lady Jiang spent tens of thousands on clothes and accessories at various shops. This led everyone to believe you deeply cherished this newly wedded wife. Yet whether in the streets or within your Rong’an Marquis Manor, the rumors about Young Lady Jiang never ceased. While you might not have been able to control public gossip, you couldn’t have been completely unaware of these sordid rumors circulating within the manor for so long. I heard the Marquis has been ill this past year and more, and you, Brother Song, have been managing the household affairs. The Rong’an Manor is known for its strict discipline, yet you never punished a single servant for slandering the lady of the house. This could only mean that despite your outward pretense, in your heart, you never intended to protect Young Lady Jiang.”

“To show such deep affection on the surface while allowing rumors to harm your wife – isn’t this contradictory?” Lin Chengyou continued, “When I visited several shops in both the East and West Markets these past days, multiple shopkeepers recalled how you used to accompany Lady Jiang the Elder when she was alive. Not only did you accompany her while making clothes and selecting jewelry, but also to several Hu restaurants she loved. The owner of that restaurant specializing in camel hump roast still remembers you and Lady Jiang the Elder, saying you were as close as glue and lacquer, one of Chang’an’s most loving couples. Sadly, this loving marriage didn’t last – Lady Jiang the Elder passed away after only four years of marriage.”

Song Jian’s expression remained unchanged, but his Adam’s apple bobbed twice with emotion.

“Meanwhile, I also inquired about which shops Young Lady Jiang frequented while alive, such as the spice shop in the West Market, the Nianzilou in Fu’an Lane, and Jinyunpu in the East Market. Strangely, all the proprietors said they never saw you there, not even once during that period right after your marriage last year. The stark difference in how you treated your two wives makes it clear which feelings were genuine and which were false, doesn’t it? You could give money, but accompanying her in public would require displaying various affectionate gestures. Even knowing such behavior would arouse less suspicion, you never once did it. Because you couldn’t bring yourself to do it, could you, Brother Song?”

Song Jian still didn’t respond, but hatred began to surge in his eyes.

“That night at the Rong’an Marquis Manor, I encountered Brother Song’s eldest son and daughter. Though it was already quite late, the children were still waiting for their father to put them to bed. Both Master Yan and I found this strange. Young Lady Jiang was the children’s aunt by blood; after marrying into the family for over a year, the children should have grown accustomed to her care. Even after what happened to Young Lady Jiang, there were still wet nurses to look after them. Later, I had Master Yan inquire with the children’s wet nurses. They all said that since Lady Jiang the Elder’s death, you put the children to bed every night. Even after marrying Young Lady Jiang, you never wavered from this routine. Sometimes when it got too late, you would simply rest in the children’s chambers. Only when you had to serve night duty with the Imperial Guards would you let the wet nurses comfort them to sleep? Only on such occasions could Young Lady Jiang come to care for them. That’s why the children always sought their father at night and weren’t particularly close to their aunt by blood.

“This revealed two suspicious points: First, you and Young Lady Jiang weren’t as loving as you appeared on the surface, otherwise you wouldn’t forget to return to the main chamber because of putting the children to sleep. Second, you loved the children so much, so why weren’t you more attentive to Young Lady Jiang during her pregnancy?

“The deeper I investigated, the more suspicious points emerged.

“That day, a servant from your manor, worried about being targeted by the uncaught murderer, secretly came to deliver a message to me. They said after Young Lady Jiang became pregnant, she suddenly grew paranoid, requiring multiple attendants even during daytime rest. To ease her mind during the pregnancy, you had to find someone to perform rituals. When I heard this, a thought suddenly struck me. I had always assumed Young Lady Jiang was nervous about ghosts because she had done something to trouble her conscience, but thinking about it now, could it be that she suspected her actions had been discovered and feared your revenge? After all, between husband and wife, while others might be fooled, she would know best whether your affection was genuine.

“That’s why she was so happy that day when you said you would pick her up from the spice shop. She thought you had finally warmed to her, that perhaps you wouldn’t be so cold to her anymore. Little did she know she was walking into a death trap.”

At this point, Lin Chengyou gave Song Jian a penetrating look: “To be honest, although I’ve been setting up this trap these past few days, I wasn’t very confident about luring you in. The true culprit behind everything always disguised themselves when killing and taking the fetuses, so even if the victims’ souls recovered their memories, this person needn’t worry about being exposed. That’s why when framing Shu Wenliang, to make the setup more convincing, that person even placed the Moon Phase Mirror in Shu Wenliang’s corpse’s clothing. But you were different.

“You lived with Young Lady Jiang day and night. Her fear during pregnancy showed she had grown suspicious even before the incident. Add to that how long she waited at the spice shop that day because of you – no matter how confused she might have been, in her final moments she must have guessed some of the truth. Once I understood this point, I became certain you would take the bait. Sure enough, when you heard I had returned from Tongzhou and would perform a ritual to help the wronged soul in the mirror return to its original state, fearing Young Lady Jiang’s ghost would reveal the truth to me after recovering her memories, you finally decided to take this desperate risk. Especially when Master Yan had to go to Tongzhou instead because of the criminal’s escape – for you, this was an opportunity too good to miss. At this point, the only thing I can’t understand is, since you were so worried about being discovered, why did you-“

Lin Chengyou paused. “Brother Song, was it worth it?”

Song Jian’s face grew increasingly pale, but a smile of satisfaction gradually appeared on his lips: “You only guessed half of it right. Jiang Yueniang wasn’t afraid of Zhenniang’s ghost, because Zhenniang’s soul had already scattered four years ago. I didn’t steal the mirror just because I was afraid you would trace things back to me, but because I didn’t want that worthless Jiang Yueniang to recover her soul fragments and reincarnate.”

Lin Chengyou was stunned.

“When Zhenniang was pregnant for the last time, Jiang Yueniang said she wanted to personally care for her sister and voluntarily came to stay at the manor. Perhaps seeing how deeply in love Zhenniang and I were, and how Zhenniang had the finest of everything, that worthless woman grew envious. She would repeatedly sigh before her sister, lamenting how humble the Jiang family’s status was, how their father still hadn’t achieved an official position at court, and how she didn’t know what kind of destitute scholar she would end up marrying. She would burn incense and pray to Buddha daily over this matter.”

Song Jian gave a bitter smile. “Young Master has probably heard that the Jiang family was of humble status. Back then, my parents initially opposed my marriage to Zhenniang, but I insisted on marrying her.”

That year, Song Jian had gone hunting in the western suburbs with several friends. When they galloped to the front of a temple, they accidentally collided with the Jiang father and daughter who were just leaving. Scholar Jiang couldn’t dodge in time, and the basket of fragrant pears in his hands was trampled to pieces by the horse’s hooves.

Song Jian, young and arrogant then, wouldn’t have given a basket of pears a second thought and was about to ride away, but Jiang Zhenniang blocked his horse’s path, neither servile nor overbearing, forcing him to dismount and apologize.

He had thought this young lady was just putting on airs and deliberately teased her a few times from atop his horse. Later he learned that this was just how Jiang Zhenniang was – humble and upright, with knowledge rivaling any scholar. All the neighbors liked her. Though the Jiang family was poor, Zhenniang’s father was well-read and proud. He had personally taught Zhenniang her calligraphy and books, and her temperament was identical to her father’s.

After several encounters, Song Jian, who had initially intended only to tease her, ended up falling head over heels himself. He hopelessly fell in love with this stubborn and lovable Jiang Zhenniang and found ways to marry her.

It was then that Song Jian learned that Zhenniang’s sister Yueniang was her uncle’s child, taken in by the Jiang family after her parents died early. Perhaps because of this, Jiang Yueniang’s temperament was entirely different from Jiang Zhenniang’s.

Jiang Yueniang stayed at the manor for five or six months, remaining by Zhenniang’s side until the day she went into labor. She was quite well-behaved normally, knowing how to comfort her sister with conversation, and showed great patience with the Song family’s eldest son and daughter. Song Jian had even told his wife that this competitive sister of hers had improved her temperament considerably after spending time by her sister’s side. One night when Song Jian returned from palace guard duty past midnight, passing through the garden, he saw someone sitting under a tree who he thought was Zhenniang. Worried about his wife’s health, he hurried forward, only to discover it was Jiang Yueniang, wearing powder and rouge, dressed in her sister’s clothes. She told him she had felt stifled and came to the garden for a walk, then quickly left. Song Jian didn’t think much of it at the time but later realized Jiang Yueniang had long harbored improper thoughts. She coveted wealth and status, and having lived in the manor for so long, had more than once envied her sister. Knowing she could never marry into a noble family like her sister had, yet too proud to marry a commoner, she devised her poisonous scheme. Everyone said she looked increasingly like Zhenniang, and perhaps Jiang Yueniang thought that if she could replace her sister, Song Jian would treat her the same way he treated her sister. Even if Song Jian didn’t marry her, at least she wouldn’t have to be tortured day and night by jealousy over her sister’s wealth and status.

“Before Zhenniang’s delivery, the midwives all said nothing would go wrong. They had delivered our eldest son and daughter, both quite smoothly. Their words put everyone in the manor at ease. But I never imagined Zhenniang’s labor would be so difficult. She cried out in pain for two days, and I agonized outside for two days. Each of her cries felt like a sharp knife cutting into my heart. During this time, the midwives came out several times to tell me that Zhenniang’s contractions were somewhat weak but insisted she would still be able to deliver, repeatedly telling me not to worry. Finally, when they realized something was wrong, they hurriedly came out to tell me to fetch an Imperial Physician. I went to get one in the middle of the night, but too much time had been wasted. After examining her, the Imperial Physician said nothing could be done. I refused to believe it and rushed into the room to see Zhenniang. I saw, I saw Zhenniang-“

Song Jian’s voice broke off abruptly, hot air and tears choking his throat, forcing back the rest of his words.

He had seen his wife’s face whiter than paper, the bed covered in bright red blood. One group of midwives worked to stop the bleeding, while others simply brought basins to catch it, but the blood seemed endless, trickling like a crimson river. Zhenniang’s eyes were wide open, gasping for breath as she searched vaguely for something. Hearing her husband’s voice, she weakly lifted her chin.

Song Jian’s heart felt as if struck by a heavy hammer. He knelt beside the bed and took his wife into his arms, frantically pressing his cheek to her forehead, only to find her body temperature colder than ice. His insides burning with anguish, he quickly wrapped his arms tightly around his wife to warm her with his body heat, while his eyes searched the room for the Imperial Physician as he loudly asked what he could do. But no matter how he asked, he was met only with the physician’s head-shaking and sighs.

Song Jian’s spirit shattered as he watched his wife’s life slip away bit by bit, with only endless despair awaiting him. Zhenniang seemed to realize she wouldn’t make it and spoke to him brokenly: “I can’t bear to leave you and the children… These four years married to Lord Jian, every day has brought me joy. I only regret my meager fortune in this life, not deserving such happiness. I pray in my next life, I can again with you…”

Song Jian’s tears poured down. It was then he learned that when a person reaches the depths of sorrow, even their spine will bend with pain. He held his wife’s cold body, weeping bitterly, his heart nearly breaking with grief.

Afterward, the midwives, fearing blame, kept insisting they had repeatedly checked Zhenniang’s fetal position and birth canal, saying there should have been no problems by all logic. They couldn’t understand why she simply couldn’t deliver. Because of this, Song Jian became suspicious about the cause of Zhenniang’s death. But no matter how the two Imperial Physicians investigated, they found no issues with Zhenniang’s food and drink. Moreover, Zhenniang had never been at odds with anyone, so it was impossible to think of who might want to harm her. In the end, even Song Jian gave up.

Within a month, the Rong’an Marchioness also passed away, her illness worsened by her daughter-in-law’s death. A month after the funeral, Song Jian, driven mad with longing for his wife, went to a nearby Taoist temple, saying he wanted to see Zhenniang one last time, begging the Taoist master to perform a ritual to summon Zhenniang’s soul. The master sighed and agreed to help Song Jian set up an altar and perform the ceremony. However, after much effort, they couldn’t summon Zhenniang’s soul. The Taoist master then said that since Zhenniang had no unfinished business when she died, she had already reincarnated. With her soul no longer in this world, it naturally couldn’t be summoned.

Song Jian refused to believe this. Zhenniang had cared most deeply about him and their two children – even with the divide between the living and dead, surely she would have returned to see them once. Later, he invited Taoist masters from several other temples to look into it, but received the same answer. No matter how unwilling, Song Jian had to accept it with a heavy heart.

“During this time, that worthless woman came to stay at the manor several times from Huazhou, claiming to visit her nephew and niece. At first, she still showed some restraint and propriety, but later she would dress up carefully and repeatedly arrange to ‘accidentally’ encounter me in the manor. Though I noticed her intentions, I never imagined Zhenniang’s death would be connected to her. After all, Zhenniang was her sister who had treated her so well in life.”

Song Jian shook his head and gave a few cold laughs, his laughter full of mockery and bone-deep hatred. “I later learned that some people’s malice is like an abyss, more evil than you could imagine. A year and more ago, one day as I was returning home, someone suddenly stopped me on the way, saying that a few days prior, they had overheard a young woman saying some terrible things while drawing divination lots at a certain Taoist temple. They suspected something was wrong with my wife’s death and came specifically to tell me.”

“Was this person…” Lin Chengyou mentioned a name.

A flash of surprise crossed Song Jian’s face before he understood: “Of course, since you could trace things back to me, you must have known about that person already. That person had ulterior motives, and I was desperate for answers. Hearing this was like being struck by lightning. To verify this, I immediately went to Huazhou and secretly searched my father-in-law’s house. In Jiang Yueniang’s room, I found a complete set of tools for witchcraft and black magic. That worthless woman was desperate for a good marriage. She had always frequented various temples to burn incense, and who knows where she learned these dark arts, which gave her the idea to harm others. To kill Zhenniang, she summoned several vengeful spirits on the day of delivery. These spirits sat on the bed, gradually draining Zhenniang’s soul until it was exhausted. After the spirits absorbed the essence of both mother and child, they departed as intended. How laughable that we searched through all of Zhenniang’s food and medicine, never imagining she was killed by such an extremely vicious method.

“After I returned from Huazhou, that person found me again, asking me to show them the ritual tools hidden in Jiang Yueniang’s room. Upon seeing them, they couldn’t help but sigh, explaining that the reason I couldn’t summon Zhenniang’s soul three years ago was because the spirit that killed her was called a Chang ghost, a type most adept at devouring souls. Since Zhenniang was killed by a Chang ghost, her soul fragments could likely never be pieced back together. They said that worthless woman either did this deliberately to prevent Zhenniang’s soul from returning, or she didn’t understand that using such spirit-summoning techniques to harm others would bring disaster upon herself.”

“After saying this, knowing I didn’t fully believe them, they told me I need only see for myself to know whether it was true or not. A few days later, I witnessed Jiang Yueniang burning incense and making wishes and heard her quietly voice only two desires: to marry Song Jian soon, and for her sister to quickly find her scattered soul fragments and reincarnate. After speaking these wishes, she took out all the silver she had on her person to use for averting disaster.”

When this scene fell before Song Jian’s eyes, it felt as if his heart had been shredded by a sharp blade. Because of Zhenniang’s final words, he had always maintained a glimmer of hope that she would wait for him in the netherworld. Though their marriage in this life had ended, at least they could pray for a future life together. But he never imagined that not only had Zhenniang lost her life this way, but after death her soul had scattered to the winds.

After that day, Song Jian schemed day and night about how to make this worthless woman die a thousand times more painfully than Zhenniang, how to make her soul scatter as well – nothing less could quench the hatred in his heart. That person, seeing Song Jian’s thoughts, seized the opportunity to say they had a good idea that would not only make Jiang Yueniang pay a terrible price but also ensure the authorities would never trace it back to Song Jian.

Song Jian naturally knew this person harbored ulterior motives and didn’t immediately agree. But when he returned to the manor, every time he closed his eyes he saw his wife’s face in her final moments. He couldn’t understand why Zhenniang, who had been so good in life, met such an end. Just thinking about how she couldn’t even reincarnate twisted his heart into knots. After being tormented by these demons for many days, he couldn’t bear it anymore and went to find that person, saying he agreed to this deal on the condition that Jiang Yueniang must die horribly and her soul finds no rest.

That person then said, since Jiang Yueniang committed such evil just to marry you, Song Jian, why not marry her into the manor right away? Let her think she’s gotten her wish, when in fact she’s stepping into the gates of hell.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yueniang suddenly stopped coming to Chang’an. Song Jian had people secretly follow her in Huazhou for over ten days before learning that after waiting three years without the chance to marry into the Rong’an Marquis Manor, she decided she couldn’t wait forever. She had begun flirting with the son of a wealthy family in Huazhou, and after several months, she was already secretly with a child. Jiang Yueniang thought that with a brother-in-law who was a marquis, the wealthy family’s son would propose marriage out of respect for the Rong’an Marquis Manor. But when the young master showed no intention of proposing, Jiang Yueniang, in her anger, secretly bought several doses of abortifacient medicine, apparently preparing to terminate the pregnancy.

Hearing this, Song Jian feared complications would arise and wrote a letter to Jiang Yueniang, saying his children missed their aunt and hoped she would come to stay in Chang’an.

“That worthless woman indeed abandoned that wealthy young master and came to Chang’an. Perhaps knowing she couldn’t wait any longer, and since I had taken the initiative to write to her this time, she didn’t show restraint as before. As soon as she arrived, she arranged to ‘accidentally’ encounter me in the corridor. Thinking of Zhenniang’s tragic end, I wanted to cut this worthless woman into a thousand pieces. That night I pretended to be drunk and went to her room. Sure enough, Jiang Yueniang hadn’t bolted her door. I pretended to be heavily intoxicated and collapsed on the floor as soon as I entered, sleeping there all night. That worthless woman was truly laughable – she simply mussed up the bedding and put blood on the bed. The next day when I ‘sobered up,’ she shyly told me what I had supposedly done to her, saying she had lost her virtue and asking what I intended to do about it.

“I went along with it and said I would marry her, promising to propose immediately. But this worthless woman, probably fearing I would grow suspicious after marriage, secretly took abortifacient medicine before I could marry her. Her terminating the pregnancy meant we had to delay taking action. According to that person, the pregnant woman we needed had to have committed evil deeds herself. Women as utterly devoid of conscience as Jiang Yueniang were hard to find, so waiting a few more months was worth it. But now there was a problem – after marriage, I never touched that worthless woman, so how could she become pregnant again? More laughably, that worthless woman thought my coldness toward her was because I couldn’t forget Zhenniang, so she tried every way to remove all the people and things connected to Zhenniang from the main chamber. My hatred grew overwhelming; I could hardly wait another moment. But to kill Jiang Yueniang according to the plan, she first had to be pregnant.

“That person said if I found dealing with Jiang Yueniang disgusting, they could handle it. Because I wouldn’t touch her, Jiang Yueniang was always worried I had another woman outside, so she resorted to her old tricks, going to draw lots and seek divination. Each time she would spend an afternoon out, then return to the manor and slip drugs into my tea cup. I knew what she was doing and, when she wasn’t looking, poured the drug into her cup. After she fell asleep, I would go to our eldest son and daughter’s rooms. Soon enough, that worthless woman became pregnant. Perhaps feeling her position was secure, she began flaunting herself in public daily. That person saw the time was ripe and formally planned the murder with me. On the day it happened-“

Song Jian suddenly laughed, tears glinting in his eyes: “I went to the spice shop in the West Market to personally confirm Jiang Yueniang’s corpse. That was the most satisfying day I’d had in these four years. Though I knew Zhenniang’s soul had long since scattered, I still went to burn three incense sticks before her memorial tablet.”

At this point, his brow smoothed, and his laughter grew increasingly uncontrollable. Yet as he laughed, the sound became inexplicably bitter: “Sometimes when our eldest son and daughter tell me they miss their mother, I tell them to go speak to her memorial tablet, that their mother will hear everything. They believe it completely, running to Zhenniang’s tablet where the siblings chatter away for half an hour. Every time this happens, my heart feels like it’s being carved up, because I know their mother can no longer hear any of these words.”

He lifted his face to the night sky, looking somewhat lost: “I finally got what I wanted, but what does it matter? I don’t even know how to tell Zhenniang about any of this. She doesn’t know when I’m sad, she doesn’t know when I’m happy, she doesn’t know when the children grow taller, she doesn’t know when they fall. For all eternity, I’ll never have the chance to meet her again. Tell me-“

Bone-deep hatred flashed in his eyes as he turned his gaze back to Lin Chengyou: “Tell me how I could let you release Jiang Yueniang’s remnant soul from the Moon Phase Mirror? Even this worthless woman can recover her soul fragments and reincarnate, but what about my Zhenniang? Who will return Zhenniang’s scattered soul to her?!”

His voice was shrill, shaking everyone’s souls. Lin Chengyou’s tongue felt thick; he didn’t know how to respond.

Song Jian remained dazed for a moment, then suddenly came to himself and took out the Moon Phase Mirror from his robes. He gave a few cold laughs and said: “I’ve said everything I wanted to say. You asked earlier if I regret it. I can answer you now – even if I had to do it all over ten thousand times, I would do the same!”

As he spoke, his gaze turned fierce, and his hands instantly filled with internal energy as he prepared to snap the mirror in two.

But before he could exert his strength, an arrow suddenly shot through the night sky, its tip aimed directly at Song Jian’s chest. Lin Chengyou reacted faster than anyone else, immediately throwing out his silver chain, but he was still a step too late. Though Song Jian’s internal energy was considerable, he was thrown backward by the powerful force imbued in the arrow.

Lin Chengyou’s heart sank heavily. He pursued in the direction the dark arrow had come from, shouting: “Save him!”

The true culprit had gone to the Great Seclusion Temple and logically couldn’t have jumped the wall to ambush Song Jian, so this arrow couldn’t have been shot by them. This showed the true culprit had others working with them, attacking Song Jian perhaps out of fear he would reveal something.

After pursuing for a while, the attacker was indeed nowhere to be found. Worried the arrow might have been poisoned, he hurried back. The Imperial Guards had already cut the arrow shaft short and were carrying Song Jian away at full speed. Lin Chengyou gathered his qi to catch up, and in his haste caught a glimpse of Song Jian’s face, as yellow as gold paper. His heart sank, and he quickly took out a Clear Mind Pill from his robes to feed to Song Jian, then moved Song Jian onto his own back and began sprinting with all his might.

“I’ll take you to the Imperial Dispensary to find Imperial Physician Yu. He’s most skilled with poisons; he’ll certainly have a way to help.”

Song Jian was gravely wounded and could only cough weakly. After a long while, he managed a forced smile: “It’s no use. I suspect it was the person behind that person who acted. Once their arrow hits, they never leave survivors. Besides, even if I could live, I couldn’t escape the court’s severe punishment. I just… I just can’t bear to leave our eldest son and daughter. They’ve lost their mother, and now their father, being trapped by demons in his heart, has meaninglessly thrown away his life-“

Lin Chengyou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he broke in sharply: “Though you’ve committed serious crimes, the Emperor is merciful. Once the circumstances are clear, your punishment might be reduced. As long as you’re alive, there’s a way to handle everything. But if you die, everything is lost. Brother Song, for the sake of our eldest son and daughter, hang on just a bit longer.”