He Shi slowly stopped crying.

She looked at her two children, her expression filled with grief as she said, “I don’t know how Weige’er is doing…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll arrange for someone to look after Weige’er,” Xie Shi’an said. “It’s getting late. Drink it.”

He Shi took the porcelain bottle. She smelled the rich fragrance and believed what the children had told her—that this poison wouldn’t cause suffering. Just sleep, and everything would be over.

But she was so unwilling to accept this.

The He family had not yet been restored.

The children had not yet reached adulthood.

She hadn’t even seen Yulang one last time.

He Shi closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and drank all the sweet poison from the porcelain bottle.

The moment the poison entered her stomach, the woodshed door was pushed open.

It was Yun Chu who walked in.

She spoke with a complex expression, “Ange’er, Pingjiejie, leave the matters here to me. You two are tired—go back and rest.”

Xie Ping had watched her own mother drink the poison with her own eyes. She completely broke down, her body trembling constantly. Hearing Yun Chu say this, she didn’t dare look at He Shi again. Clutching her maid’s hand, she quickly retreated.

Xie Shi’an was merely forcing himself to hold on. The things he needed to do were done—he couldn’t bear to watch He Shi draw her last breath with his eyes wide open.

He stood up, staggered without standing steady, propped himself against the wall to straighten his body, and walked out.

Tingshuang and Tingfeng stood guard at the door and closed the woodshed door.

Although He Shi had drunk the poison and truly didn’t feel much pain, her eyes fell on Yun Chu, and she suddenly laughed miserably, “The Old Madam made the decision, the Master gave the poison, Ange’er and Pingjiejie fed me the poison—Madam has kept herself so clean in all this.”

“Am I not here to collect your corpse?” Yun Chu looked down at her from above. “They say when a person is about to die, their words are kind. He Lingying, I’ll ask you a few questions. Answer me properly.”

Hearing her maiden name, He Shi felt another wave of disorientation.

She laughed coldly, “I’ve fallen to this state, and Madam has had a hand in it too, hasn’t she? Do you think I’ll answer your questions?”

“That you can guess I had a hand in it means you’re not too stupid.” Yun Chu curled her lips. “I might as well tell you—the matter of Xie Shiwei angering Marquis Xuanwu also had my subtle manipulation behind it. How about that? Surprised?”

“You!”

He Shi truly hadn’t thought this matter was also related to Yun Chu.

She wished she could strangle the person before her.

Yun Chu looked at her and slowly said, “If you don’t answer my questions properly, Xie Shi’an and Xie Ping—their fates will be exactly the same as Xie Shiwei’s.”

He Shi gritted her teeth, “When exactly did you find out they were my children?”

Very early on, she had felt that Madam was deliberately targeting the children, but no one believed her.

No wonder Madam seemed to have suddenly become a different person. Every member of the Xie household had been dealt with by Madam. So it turned out, Madam had known all along that the Xie family had deceived her.

Yun Chu didn’t answer her confusion and spoke instead, “Four years ago, the pair of children I gave birth to—where exactly did they go?”

He Shi’s heart jolted. She lowered her head, “Weren’t Madam’s children reburied next to your Yun family’s ancestral shrine? Why are you asking me?”

After saying this, she felt her legs grow somewhat weak, as if they couldn’t support her body anymore. The sensation of life slipping away came so clearly…

“The price for being stubborn once is Pingjiejie’s dowry,” Yun Chu said lightly. “I’ll give you one more chance.”

He Shi bit her lip tightly.

“Still won’t speak?” Yun Chu smiled. “If you won’t cherish this last chance either, then don’t blame me. Ange’er and Pingjiejie…”

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” He Shi collapsed limply onto the straw mat, her voice no longer having its former vigor. “Madam’s pair of children were handed over to the Master by the midwife. The Master personally carried the children out of the Xie residence. Apart from the Master, no one else knows where the children were abandoned.”

Yun Chu closed her eyes, “At that time, the children were still alive, weren’t they?”

He Shi laughed self-mockingly.

So Madam knew everything. Yulang had thrown away living children—how could Madam ever forgive Yulang?

But even before her death, Yulang hadn’t come to see her once. Why was she still worrying about that heartless, ungrateful man!

“Yes, the children were still alive.” He Shi felt even breathing was becoming difficult. “Madam, I’ve answered everything you asked. Promise me, even if you can’t treat Ange’er and Pingjiejie well, please, please don’t ruin their futures. I beg you, Madam…”

She used her last bit of strength to grasp Yun Chu’s ankle.

Yun Chu lightly lifted her foot, and He Shi rolled onto the straw mat like a falling leaf.

She lay on the straw mat, breathing heavily with great difficulty. Suddenly she coughed violently, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, her eyes opened to their widest, and just like that, she lost her breath.

Yun Chu sighed.

Xie Shi’an and Xie Ping had joined forces to pressure He Shi to death, yet before she died, what she cared about most were still those two children.

She looked at He Shi’s eyes that wouldn’t close in death, shook her head, and walked out of the woodshed.

Walking out, she raised her eyes and saw Xie Jingyu standing at the courtyard gate.

“Husband has come,” Yun Chu said. “Concubine He kept saying she wanted to see husband one last time. She couldn’t fulfill this wish even before dying, and so she died with her eyes open.”

Xie Jingyu’s eyes reddened.

He and He Shi had known each other since youth and had walked together for so many years. How could he bear to watch her transform from a living person into a corpse?

He had wronged He Shi, and he had wronged Yun Chu. He didn’t know how to face any of this.

He turned and walked away.

Yun Chu said coolly, “Is husband certain he won’t go in for one look?”

Xie Jingyu’s footsteps paused. Without turning back, he walked away directly.

Yun Chu’s eyes were ice-cold.

Why had she married such a selfish and cowardly man?

She instructed the servants in the courtyard, “Prepare a simple coffin and bury her.”

The servants didn’t dare breathe loudly and hurried to carry out the orders.

Xie Jingyu returned to his study and sat for over an hour before the heart-palpitating feeling finally slowly dissipated.

He rose and went to the woodshed again, only to find it already empty. Upon asking, he learned that He Shi’s corpse had already been dragged outside the city…

That night, Xie Jingyu barely slept, because every time he closed his eyes, before him were He Shi’s bloody eyes, looking at him with tragic desolation.

He regretted not going to see He Shi one last time, regretted not letting her close her eyes in peace…

Rising in the morning, his head throbbed with pain. He couldn’t even attend morning court and quickly sent a servant to request leave.

After lying on the bed for a while, a servant came to report, “Master, Madam has come.”

Xie Jingyu was somewhat afraid to face Yun Chu.

He had deceived her that Ange’er and the other children’s mother had died, which had made Yun Chu pour her heart out to the children. Just because He Shi was now dead didn’t mean he didn’t need to explain this matter.

There had been no marital affection to begin with, and with this, there was even less than nothing left.

He was afraid—afraid that Yun Chu would seek a divorce.

If she truly proposed divorce, should he agree or not agree?

Did he even have room to refuse?

At that moment, the door to the room had already been pushed open. Yun Chu walked in, “I heard from the servant that husband is ill and even requested leave from court. Why haven’t you called for a physician?”