The well area was full of water—clean water and also dirty dishwater that had overflowed. Zheng Mingzhu’s fall produced a huge sound. Everyone looked over, seeing her lying on the ground motionless, face like gold paper.

The large maidservant who bumped her was startled. Seeing everyone watching her, she immediately defended herself. “I didn’t bump her. She lost her balance and fell herself.”

But no one spoke up to believe her, nor did anyone blame her. Everyone looked on indifferently, then hearing the steward’s footsteps, lowered their heads to continue their work, not taking this matter to heart.

People died from time to time in the general’s mansion. With so many deaths, everyone grew accustomed.

Just falling down—what was the big deal?

The procurement steward stepped through the water and approached, reaching to check her breathing, frowning slightly. He said to the hurrying steward, “The person’s dead. Probably worked to death.”

Hearing this, the steward became anxious. “We all work and rest on schedule. How could she be worked to death?”

The procurement steward said, “Then report it as illness. Have the person carried out tonight. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can buy a few to fill the vacancy. With many guests these days, be careful. If the Great General learns someone was worked to death in the mansion, none of us will fare well.”

The steward’s spine went cold as he nodded repeatedly. “I’ll have someone throw her out right away.”

The procurement steward hummed in acknowledgment, waiting for him to call for the corpse collectors. He asked, “Is the list ready?”

“Ready, ready,” the steward produced a list for the procurement steward. “These are the bowls and plates accidentally damaged these past days.”

The procurement steward only glanced once before tucking it in his sleeve. “I’ll check tomorrow when buying people whether I can also replenish these.”

Just then the corpse collection team arrived. The procurement steward looked down at Zheng Mingzhu lying in the wet ground, sighing. “After all, she served the Great General. Bring her mat and roll her up—at least she’ll have something to contain her.”

The steward, having just accepted his favor, was naturally willing to sell him face. He immediately had someone drag over a broken mat.

Zheng Mingzhu’s mat was still good—naturally it would be kept for the next dishwasher. A broken mat would do for her.

The corpse team placed the body on the mat and rolled it up, directly carrying the mat outside.

Because the body contact time wasn’t long, they didn’t discover the person was still alive. Zheng Mingzhu had lain in the water with hands and feet ice-cold, feeling just like a corpse to the touch.

The procurement steward also headed out. The front courtyard’s steward and servants and guards all lived near the side gate, so they went the same way.

Nearing the side gate, the corpse team wanted to dump the person in a corner to throw out after dawn.

The procurement steward saw this and asked, “Someone died up front?”

The corpse team replied, “Two dancing girls at the banquet earlier were disobedient. Just carried them over. They died quite badly.”

The procurement steward frowned. “Send them to the mass grave now then. The smell of corpses and blood isn’t pleasant.”

The corpse team was somewhat unwilling.

The procurement steward pulled out a string of copper coins and tossed it to them. “Hurry up. Since yesterday when that one from Yuzhou came calling, the Great General and Young General’s tempers haven’t been good, especially the Young General—searching the whole mansion for inauspicious things. If he learns you didn’t handle the corpses promptly and it comes out, none of us will fare well.”

The corpse team immediately accepted the copper coins with an ingratiating smile. “Rest assured, steward. We’ll handle it right away.”

They thought the procurement steward was doing this for the laundry courtyard steward. After all, someone died in his courtyard. Even if the Great General didn’t punish, by the rules he should be disciplined.

The corpse team collected the other two bodies as well—actually just tossing the corpses onto a handcart and barely covering them with straw before hauling them out.

There was a corpse dumping ground in the city, formerly a place for cremating bodies, with a huge pit. Since the Emperor moved the capital to Yuncheng, the Great General’s rules were extremely strict with frequent deaths, plus many powerful aristocratic families entering Yuncheng with deaths everywhere, some unclaimed, unburied bodies were all thrown there. They couldn’t even burn them all, so eventually they simply stopped burning and just dumped them there.

So the cremation pit became a mass grave. These past two years, many lush weeds and trees grew there, looking extraordinarily well-nourished.

The corpse team was very familiar with this route, pushing the handcart all the way to the mass grave and casually dumping the three bodies from the cart.

Zheng Mingzhu lay in the broken mat, listening as people pushed the cart away farther and farther until there were no sounds nearby before slowly moving.

She rolled on the ground twice, emerging from the broken mat, then supporting herself with her arms, shakily sat up. One hand touched sharp pebbles, the other something ice-cold and wet.

She turned her head to look. In the moonlight, a half-naked corpse came into view.

Zheng Mingzhu was startled, supporting herself with her arms and backing up two steps.

She looked at the two bodies piled together with trembling lips, then shakily reached out to drag over the mat.

She covered their bodies with the mat before supporting herself on the ground to stand. Looking around, among the wild grass and wilderness, strange bird calls came, along with sounds of flapping wings. Under the moonlight, shadows loomed, and in the darkness, beasts seemed to watch her.

Zheng Mingzhu looked around in a circle, somewhat afraid. But lowering her head to see the two corpses at her feet, the fear dissipated.

Was there any place in this world more terrifying than the human realm?

Hell was probably no worse than this.

Zheng Mingzhu dragged her two exhausted legs outward. She had to leave. Though she didn’t know who saved her or why, she didn’t want to be a chess piece anymore. She wanted to go home, back to Gaoyuan.

Zheng Mingzhu’s information was blocked. She had no idea her parents had moved to Yuncheng, or even that Qingzhou had split, which was why Gou Chun returned from Qingzhou.

She had only walked a dozen or so steps when two people emerged from the deep weeds to block her path. “Lady Zheng? Are you Lady Zheng of Gaoyuan?”

Zheng Mingzhu pursed her lips but still replied, “Yes, I am.”

“What is your childhood name, and when is your birth date?”

Zheng Mingzhu saw the blades in their hands, knowing that if her answers were wrong, she might very well die on the spot. She could only answer honestly.

The answers matched.

The two immediately sheathed their blades and came forward. “Lady Zheng, we were sent by your father to rescue you. Please come with us. Tomorrow at dawn we’ll send you out of the city to catch up with your father.”

Zheng Mingzhu’s eyes widened. “My father hired you?”

One of them chuckled lightly. “Your father couldn’t afford to hire us. We’re Zhao Family Army. Your father is now our governor’s household slave.”

Zheng Mingzhu’s lips trembled, her expression extremely unpleasant. Her father had become someone’s slave—didn’t that mean their Zheng family was…

Half a city away at the Great General’s mansion, Wang Dun’s expression was also extremely unpleasant.

He emerged from the banquet to get some air and transparency in the courtyard. Thinking of the extravagance and absurdity at the banquet, he remained very displeased.

When in Qingzhou he had heard the Great General had become dissolute, but didn’t know he could be dissolute to this degree.