On summer nights, cool breezes stirred, rolling willow branches dancing wildly under the pitch-black sky. The back courtyard of the marquis residence was empty and desolate, with only a few lanterns under the eaves still glowing faintly. A servant stumbled out drunkenly from a side room. Tonight he had been gambling and carousing with several colleagues locked in the room. His luck must have been particularly good today—he had won over ten rounds in a row, so he was encouraged to buy wine and host the revelry all night long.

It was now the fourth watch. He groggily got up to use the latrine, but after walking a few steps became dizzy and lost his way. Unable to hold it any longer and seeing no one around, he prepared to sneak to a small grove to relieve himself.

The servant hid behind a large tree and had just untied his belt when suddenly a gust of wind rushed out from the grove, making him shiver. He hunched his shoulders. Already too drunk to see clearly, the branches and leaves before his eyes seemed to overlap, appearing dark and fuzzy, swaying gently in the wind like a bobbing human head. He couldn’t help but shudder, deciding not to scare himself further and wanting to finish quickly and return to his room.

Just as he was pulling up his trousers, he suddenly heard rustling sounds from the grove, as if something was hiding in the dark depths of the forest, struggling to break free. His heart pounded as he shouted loudly, “Who’s there!”

There was no response in the darkness, but the sounds became more distinct, mixed with what seemed like gnawing noises. The servant swallowed hard and after long hesitation decided to look behind the tree. Just as he peeked around, he came face to face with a pair of terrifying eyes—eyes with only whites but no pupils, now fixed on him like a venomous snake spotting prey.

“Ah!” The servant screamed in terror, running back in panic but carelessly tripping over a tree root behind him, tumbling to the ground. Supporting himself with his hands, he nervously looked back. What he saw made his legs weak and hands shake—he couldn’t even find the strength to stand!

A blue ghostly face slowly floated out from behind the tree, glowing eerily in the pitch-black night sky. The ghost face had no body or feet below it, just suspended in air, drifting closer and closer until it seemed about to press against his face.

The servant was so frightened that snot and tears flowed together. He even had space in his mind to feel grateful he had already relieved himself earlier, or he would surely have wet his pants now. Suddenly something seemed to wrap around his feet, then a force violently dragged him backward. Extreme terror made him ignore the pain in his feet as he scrambled several yards using both hands and feet, not daring to look back the entire way, afraid that turning around would drag him into irredeemable hell.

After that day, the servant fell seriously ill, and rumors of ghosts began circulating in the marquis residence. The servants spread the story with vivid details—some said the ghost face had blood flowing from seven orifices and loved absorbing men’s vital energy; others said it had a blue face with fangs that could bite off half a person’s face in one mouthful. These rumors spread more and more wildly until one day they reached the old marquis’s ears. He flew into a rage, scolding the servant for drunken nonsense, punishing him by docking half a year’s wages, and establishing a rule that anyone spreading ghost stories would face collective punishment. Only then were the rumors firmly suppressed. But the matter didn’t end there—more and more people claimed to see the ghost face. Many timid servant women began going to temples to request protective talismans, and no servants dared wander the residence after nightfall.

“Madam, do you think there are really ghosts in this marquis residence?” Nanny Li finished recounting the entire incident with vivid detail before asking with curiosity.

Yuanxi had just recovered from a serious illness and was still somewhat listless. Today she had just been released from confinement, and early in the morning, Nanny Li and An’he had dragged her to the lakeside garden to admire flowers and refresh her spirits. She knew Nanny Li was deliberately telling these stories to entertain her, so she casually touched a rose blooming brilliantly before her, saying, “How could there be ghosts in this world? Even if there were ghosts, they wouldn’t be frightening.” She had never feared ghosts or corpses—what she feared were people, people who could lie and harm others, and… people who could break hearts.

She suddenly lost focus for a moment, and her finger slipped, getting severely pricked by a thorn on the stem. An’he cried out in alarm, quickly grabbing her hand and asking, “Does it hurt?” Yuanxi gently shook her head, withdrew her finger, casually wrapped it with a handkerchief, and smiled at her, “See, it’s fine.”

Nanny Li looked at her pale yet forcibly strong profile and suddenly felt her nose tingle. At her age, how could she not understand the principle of flowers blooming and withering? But Miss was still so young—must she really live her entire life this way? She turned away and secretly shed a few tears.

Yuanxi knew Nanny Li was worried about her, which made her feel even more distressed. Just as she was about to speak some comforting words, she suddenly saw a charming figure in goose yellow walking toward them from afar. Yuanxi recognized it as Xiao Zhixuan and finally felt some genuine joy. She quickly put on a smile and greeted her, but Xiao Zhixuan only perfunctorily bowed in their direction, softly calling “Elder sister-in-law,” then without daring to look at her directly, hurried past as if afraid to linger even half a moment.

Yuanxi’s smile froze on her face, her heart feeling as if something had gently pricked it. Since her confinement, there had been quite a few servants in the residence who looked down on the fallen and fawned on the powerful, but she didn’t feel sad about it. They were just cold looks—she had seen plenty since childhood and was used to them. It was simply changing locations.

But she had genuinely liked this sister-in-law who always warmly took her hand calling her “elder sister-in-law” and was so innocent and simple. Having no close sisters since childhood, during these days in the marquis residence, she had long considered her a true sister. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but smile self-mockingly—she really couldn’t understand people’s hearts and deserved to end up in such a situation.

At this moment, An’he beside her was extremely indignant, unable to help muttering quietly, “Who would have thought? Usually pretending to be affectionate, but when trouble comes, she avoids it completely. At such a young age, she already has two faces—truly a fine young lady raised by the marquis residence.”

Yuanxi was startled and quickly scolded quietly, “Don’t talk nonsense!” But An’he felt even more indignant for her, continuing to complain, “It’s true! The day before Madam’s confinement, she came looking for you, saying she had embroidered a pouch for you. When she saw you weren’t there, she waited in your room for quite a while before leaving. Now she’s forgotten all about it.”

Yuanxi frowned upon hearing this and quickly interrupted to ask, “You’re saying the day before my confinement, she came looking for me?” Something flashed through her mind, and just as she was about to grasp it, she suddenly heard someone shouting from outside the courtyard, “Terrible! Someone drowned!”

Yuanxi was shocked and immediately couldn’t care about anything else, hurrying with Nanny Li and An’he toward the source of the shouting. She saw that the covered bridge over an artificial lake was already crowded with maids and matrons. Many people had taken just one look into the lake before covering their mouths, faces pale as they dared not look again. Yuanxi arrived breathlessly, and when she saw clearly who was floating in the lake, she felt dizzy and nearly fell into the water herself.

A mournful cry came from beside her—Nanny Li was weeping. But Yuanxi only felt buzzing in her head, unable to hear anything clearly. She had never felt a corpse looked so terrifying as at this moment.

Just a few days ago, she had been alive, kneeling before her begging her to save her. Those eyes that had once looked at her hopefully would never hold expectation again. That pitifully beautiful little face had been swollen beyond recognition by the lake water. Yet her hands still desperately protected her belly—even in her final moment, she wanted to protect her unborn child from being taken away…

Yuanxi stared wide-eyed, continuously stepping backward. Seeing her face white as paper with vacant eyes, Nanny Li was frightened and quickly grabbed her arm, calling, “Madam?” But Yuanxi shook off her hand and only said softly, “I want to be alone for a while.” Nanny Li and An’he became even more worried and tried to follow, but Yuanxi turned around and said sternly, “Don’t follow me!”

The two were startled, not knowing how to react. But Yuanxi lifted her skirts and ran off. She just wanted to quickly escape from here, leave all of this, and hide somewhere no one could see her. She ran aimlessly for a while before realizing she had come to the gardenia trees where she often stayed. Smelling the familiar gardenia fragrance, she finally felt safe and hugged her knees, crying loudly.

I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you! I’m sorry—I’m actually so useless!

She cried unrestrained for a long time, seeming to want to cry out all the grievances, bitterness, and frustration of these days. She cried until her eyes ached and her head felt heavy, then leaned against the tree trunk in a daze. Just then, she heard a familiar voice from afar, which startled her completely awake. Looking up, she saw Xiao Du in the distance discussing something with Zhou Jingyuan while walking in her direction.

Yuanxi felt panicked and anxious, absolutely unwilling to let him see her in such a disheveled state. She quickly hid behind the gardenia tree, praying in her heart that they wouldn’t come over.

But how could Xiao Du not see her? He had already felt suspicious seeing her sitting under the tree from afar, then seeing her frantically hide behind the tree made him feel even more uncomfortable, so he deliberately said to Zhou Jingyuan, “Uncle Zhou, let’s not go to the study today. How about we talk under the shade of those trees over there?”

Zhou Jingyuan found this somewhat strange but still cooperatively followed him toward the trees. Yuanxi groaned inwardly—if they came closer, she couldn’t hide no matter what. She steeled herself, casually broke off a small branch to cover her head, and crouched low as she slowly moved outward, hoping to use the grove’s cover to sneak away.

So Zhou Jingyuan witnessed this incredible scene: their madam had a small branch on her head, half-crouching as she jogged through the grove, seeming to act as if they didn’t exist at all. He looked in amazement at Xiao Du beside him, whose face was iron-blue, and finally couldn’t help but tentatively call out, “Madam?”

Yuanxi was startled by his call, her heart pounding wildly. She simply threw away the branch and ran frantically outward lifting her skirts, but after just a few steps, she twisted her ankle and fell to the ground. Xiao Du was truly infuriated by her behavior. He strode to her side, crouched down, and shouted, “What are you running for!”

Yuanxi felt piercing pain from her ankle, feeling both aggrieved and humiliated, so she pouted and cried, “You said it yourself—you said you didn’t want to see me again!”

Xiao Du was stunned and looked up to glare fiercely at Zhou Jingyuan, who was standing aside watching with great interest. Zhou Jingyuan finally snapped back to attention and fled like the wind, even forgetting to bow.

He moved his gaze to Yuanxi, who sat on the ground both angry and wiping tears, finally sighed, and scooped her up to carry her toward the room.