Zhu Hanshuang rushed over and grabbed the hands of the Duchess of Anguo, crying heart-wrenchingly: “Mother, what’s wrong? Say something—”

The Duchess of Anguo’s eyes were wide open, her head pillowed in a sea of red without a trace of breath.

That delicate, fair face was stained with blood, beautiful in a shockingly tragic way.

The Duchess of Anguo, whose fragrant soul had already departed, never knew until death that excessive beauty could sometimes become a kind of sin.

Zhu Hanshuang couldn’t wake the Duchess of Anguo, but felt something slippery and uncomfortable in her hands.

She lowered her eyes and saw the fresh blood on her hands. Looking down further, she saw her powder-blue skirt hem soaked in the blood.

That blood seemed boundless in her eyes, as if it were hell itself.

Zhu Hanshuang suddenly stood up and screamed uncontrollably.

“Blood, blood, it’s all blood, Mother’s blood—” She rushed to the door, pushed it open, and ran out like a madwoman.

The Duke of Anguo couldn’t be bothered to chase after Zhu Hanshuang. He shuffled step by step toward the Duchess of Anguo.

He slowly crouched down, his trembling hand reaching out to check the Duchess of Anguo’s breath.

At the doorway, the shrieks of maids and matrons rang out.

The Duke of Anguo knelt half on the ground, completely unresponsive.

One matron gathered her courage to step inside and asked in a trembling voice: “Your Grace, should we fetch a physician for Her Ladyship—”

The Duke of Anguo suddenly turned his head to stare at the matron.

The matron was so frightened she retreated several steps, her body shaking like chaff in a sieve.

His Grace… His Grace looked too terrifying. Would he silence them all?

Thinking this, the matron didn’t dare run.

The maids were the same.

They stared at the blood in the room with pale faces and terror, but their feet seemed rooted to the ground—there was nowhere to escape.

Where could they flee to? They were servants of the Duke’s manor. Those who could serve in Her Ladyship’s courtyard were either hereditary servants or Her Ladyship’s dowry attendants.

The Duke of Anguo didn’t speak, and the servants dared even less to say anything. The atmosphere froze for a moment, just like the blood gradually congealing on the floor.

Time seemed infinitely stretched, each instant drawn out so long it was suffocating.

After enduring this torment for who knows how long, the Duke of Anguo finally pointed at the matron and spoke: “You take people to find Second Miss and escort her back to her chambers. Keep a close watch on her.”

“Yes.” The matron responded with trembling.

The Duke of Anguo gave further orders to the others: “Summon the Heir Apparent and Second Young Master.”

The Duke and Duchess of Anguo were considered a loving couple in others’ eyes, having borne two sons and two daughters together.

The eldest son had been enfeoffed as Heir Apparent, and the eldest daughter had already married out.

All the servants withdrew, leaving only the Duke of Anguo in the room.

It was nearly the beginning of winter. Though it wasn’t yet time to use braziers, the windows were shut tight.

Because of this, the smell of blood in the room grew even more intense.

The Duke of Anguo remained by the Duchess of Anguo’s side, his expression wooden.

Even now, he still couldn’t believe his wife had died just like this. His memory of that instant was even completely blurred.

“Ah Wei—” The Duke of Anguo suddenly called out the Duchess of Anguo’s given name.

The woman he called “Ah Wei” naturally could no longer respond.

A tear silently slid down from the corner of the Duke of Anguo’s eye.

The Duke of Anguo was completely oblivious, talking to himself: “The year Hanshuang was born, it happened to be on the Frost Descent day. We discussed giving her a name, and you said ‘withered grass and frost flowers white, cold window and new moon shadows’—only on clear moonlit nights in autumn does dew condense into frost, so our little daughter should be called Hanshuang… “

Another tear slid from the corner of the Duke of Anguo’s eye, as if he had fallen into reminiscence: “You also said ‘a thousand trees swept into one sweep of yellow, only the hibiscus blooms alone in its fragrance.’ Hibiscus is also called the frost-defying flower, so naming our daughter Furong would also be good. I still remember you hesitated for a long time, but in the end you settled on the name ‘Hanshuang’ for our little daughter. Thinking about it now, Furong would have been better. For a girl, her appearance is only secondary—having the character of the frost-defying flower is what’s truly important…”

As if thinking of what Zhu Hanshuang had done, and then of how the Duchess of Anguo had saved and arranged for a man to enter the manor to serve, the warmth on the Duke of Anguo’s face was instantly replaced by coldness. He said in a low voice: “And what about you? Have you wronged me?”

But these questions would ultimately never receive an answer.

The Duke of Anguo struck the ground forcefully with his fist, his expression extremely pained.

Hurried footsteps sounded. The first to enter was the Heir Apparent of Anguo.

The instant he saw the scene in the room, the Heir Apparent’s eyes nearly split with rage: “Mother—”

He stumbled forward, his boot soles quickly soaked with blood.

“Father, what happened?” The Heir Apparent knelt beside the Duchess of Anguo, clenching his fists as he asked.

“I accidentally killed your mother.” The Duke of Anguo’s gaze didn’t fall on the Heir Apparent, staring at the bloodstained floor as he murmured.

The Heir Apparent’s entire body trembled: “Why?”

“Because of your second sister…” Facing the eldest son who had been cultivated as his heir, the Duke of Anguo didn’t conceal anything, pouring out the entire truth.

Or rather, the accident of accidentally killing his wife was too difficult for him to bear—only by confiding it could the suffocation in his chest find some relief.

The Duke of Anguo finished speaking, and the Heir Apparent finished listening.

Learning the truth, the Heir Apparent had no immediate reaction.

Blame Father?

Anyone hearing that their daughter had done such a thing, possibly bringing disaster upon the entire family, would be furious.

The Anguo Duke’s manor had over a hundred years of foundation. The clan members who depended on this great tree for survival were countless. If it fell because of Second Sister, they would have no face to meet their ancestors a hundred years hence.

And that would still be if they merely fell—the fear was losing the lives of the entire clan.

In Father’s rage, he had pushed Mother away, and Mother had fallen and been pierced in the throat by shards from a vase on the floor…

Heavens, if this was punishment, wasn’t such punishment too cruel?

The Heir Apparent bit his lip hard. Only after a long while did he manage to ask one question: “What does Father plan to do?”

By this time, the Duke of Anguo had also recovered several parts of his reason. He said woodenly: “Control the servants’ mouths. Say your mother contracted an acute illness and passed. Report the mourning to the various manors.”

“Acute illness?” The Heir Apparent laughed miserably. “Father, people aren’t fools. Mother is only just forty years old and was perfectly fine—how could she have suddenly contracted an acute illness and died? Those people will speculate endlessly about our Duke’s manor during their leisure gossip.”

The Duke of Anguo certainly understood these principles, but such a turn of events was truly beyond expectation. The sudden death of the lady of the house in such a major matter—how could it not invite gossip?

His gaze wandered aimlessly and landed on the dining table.

On the table was a plate of crab dumplings, long since gone cold.

He remembered that both his wife and second daughter loved to eat these.

The Duke of Anguo paused, then murmured: “Say that your mother was eating crab dumplings too hastily and accidentally choked.”

The Heir Apparent’s expression changed repeatedly, finally nodding with difficulty.

People were just like this—if word spread that the Duchess of Anguo had died of acute illness, they would probably imagine all sorts of unseemly matters and would never believe she had truly died of illness. But if given a specific cause of death, even something as bizarre as choking to death on dumplings, the speculation would actually be less.

At most, people would sigh behind their backs that the Duchess of Anguo’s death wasn’t worth it.

And in fact, Mother’s death truly wasn’t worth it.

The Heir Apparent’s eyes filled with tears. He asked through clenched teeth: “What does Father plan to do with Second Sister?”