A good omen for a good person

  Xian Yi's face turned pale again, and no matter how many movies or TV dramas she had seen in her past life, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a young man with a rosy complexion and a hint of a smile on his lips, skillfully dissecting a corpse right in front of her. She tightly closed her eyes, trying to suppress the nausea rising from her chest and abdomen, but the sound of the knife slicing through flesh was too clear in the quiet night air, accompanied by the dull thud of joints being dislocated. No matter how hard she pressed her eyelids shut or covered her ears with her hands, her nose couldn't help but breathe in the thick smell of blood, which made Xian Yi's head spin and her vision blur, making her feel like she was about to faint.

  "What's wrong? Can't withstand this little bit of blood?"

  Xian Yi opened her eyes to find the young man in front of her with blood on his cheeks, his white clothes already stained and unclear. The bloodstains looked like red plum blossoms, extending and blooming. However, Xian Yi couldn't care less about how disheveled the young man looked at this moment. She covered her abdomen, turned her head and started vomiting, spitting until her face turned pale, her abdomen empty, her face full of tears, yet she continued to retch nonstop.

  "Is that all?" Jin Fenghua stood in front of Xian Yi, unapologetically removing his outer garment to reveal only the undergarment beneath. He showed no signs of feeling cold despite standing in the chilly wind. He tossed the outer garment onto the corpse and walked forward, directly reaching into Xian Yi's sleeve to pull out a fragrant handkerchief, laughing as he said, "However, you truly are beyond my expectations. Most women would have fainted by now."

  Xian Yi really wanted to faint, but she believed that if she really fainted on the spot, Jin Fenghua might not even bother with her. Then, by dawn the next day, the news of her mysteriously collapsing in front of Zi Shan Ting would spread throughout the Jin Manor. At that time, even with her mother's protection, considering the recent mood of the Grand Madam, she would definitely be punished severely, and her reputation would likely be ruined from then on.

  "Tsk, tsk, how pitiful." Jinfeng Hua reached out and pinched Xianyi's chin, forcing her to face him. He then used the handkerchief to wipe the corner of her mouth before continuing, "This is just the beginning, you'll have to get used to it slowly."

  Xian Yi's stomach churned again, but she forced herself not to vomit. Jin Fenghua seemed very satisfied with her performance and, disregarding the sour taste in Xian Yi's mouth, directly kissed her lightly, as if rewarding a neighbor's dog from her past life.

  Jin Fenghua didn't wait for Xiānyī to speak, he simply pulled her hand and slowly walked to the side of the pile of corpses. Xiānyī was shocked several times and pinched herself several times before she didn't kneel down on the spot. Jin Fenghua ignored her, took a shovel from the pavilion, and with an astonishing speed, quickly dug a not-so-big but deep pit. Xiānyī saw him throw those corpses into the pit, then turned around, used his bloody hand to pull up the old eunuch who had not been dissected yet, and said with satisfaction: "Do you know who he is?"

  Xian Yi took one glance at the old eunuch's gruesome corpse and turned her head away, shaking it.

  "By the way, how would a house slave like you know about the Dragon Guards?" Jin Fenghua chuckled self-deprecatingly and explained: "The Dragon Guards are a secret guard controlled by eunuchs, the people closest to the Emperor. Unfortunately, in recent generations, the eunuchs have gained too much power, even the Emperor has some difficulty controlling them. And this one..."

  Xian Yi's eyes scanned the scene before her, and she saw Jin Fenghua holding the old eunuch like a small chicken. The old eunuch's body was suspended in mid-air, swaying back and forth as he stared at Xian Yi with a mixture of fear and pleading.

  "Director Choi, you must have heard from the madam." Jin Fenghua directly pulled open Director Choi's shirt with her hand and began to search up and down in a very familiar manner.

  The originally faded memory, Xianyi slowly recalled in her mind, that day when the old master was promoted, she seemed to have mentioned this person to the madam when she came back, should be a red man beside the emperor.

  "He was the commander of the Dragon Guards, the highest official in the Dragon Guards, and also the one who restrained the Emperor the most. Now that I have killed him, the Emperor should be grateful to me."

  Jin Fenghua searched the corpse and found a sheepskin, several bottles of medicine, and some thin books. After thinking for a moment, he threw the body aside. He sighed and said, "Unfortunately, the sword will still have to see blood." Then, he beheaded the old eunuch on the spot. Except for the head, the rest of the eunuch's body was dismembered and thrown into the pit like before. Jin Fenghua took out a bottle from the medicine and poured it into the pit. Soon, a strong fragrance mixed with the smell of blood rushed over, causing Xian Yi to hurriedly cover his nose and mouth and retreat several steps. However, Jin Fenghua seemed to be accustomed to this smell and even enjoyed it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

  After a while, the smell in the air dissipated, and Jin Fenghua, somewhat regretfully, covered up the pit and turned around to walk back to Xian Yi's side, handing her another bottle: "Go, not a single drop of blood can be left on the ground."

  Xian Yi lifted her arm three times before she finally managed to hold it up, and in the end, she bit her tongue and grasped the bottle. Under Jin Fenghua's gaze, by the faint light of the candle, she slowly wiped away the large and small bloodstains with medicinal water. By the time she had checked everything thoroughly and found no omissions, the sky was already growing light, and her back was drenched in sweat, her clothes clinging tightly to her spine.

  "You're very clever and to my liking, so... I won't treat you unfairly either. You can go back first." Jin Fenghua waved her hand, and Xian Yi of course wouldn't stay, so she could only bow and head back, but in her mind, Jin Fenghua's last words still lingered, and she felt that there was something more hidden beneath them, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't quite guess what it was.

  After a night of tossing and turning, Xianyi was both frightened and exhausted. She had a high fever that lasted less than half a day before she was moved out of the main house to rest at home. Her illness came on suddenly and fiercely, with three consecutive days of high fever, which scared Chen Yini so much that even Madame Wang sent someone to ask about her condition multiple times and invited famous doctors from Beijing to examine her. After the fever finally subsided, the illness lingered like a thread being pulled out, causing Xianyi to spend half a month in bed without getting up. She became gaunt and haggard, losing even the last bit of baby fat she had left, effectively completing her transformation into a young woman ahead of schedule.

  In this half month, not only was the Jin Mansion in an uproar due to Cao's pregnancy, but also the imperial court was thrown into chaos for several days. First, Cui Gonggong from the Dragon Guard disappeared without a trace, and then internal strife broke out within the Dragon Guard over the position of Commander-in-Chief, resulting in countless deaths. In the end, both sides suffered heavy losses, allowing an unknown small eunuch to take the position. Later, this small eunuch was mysteriously killed in the palace, throwing the Dragon Guard and the imperial court into a state of terror once again. Even the bedridden Xian Yi learned about these events from the servant girl who delivered his meals. During this time, groups of armored guards would occasionally appear on the streets outside the palace.

  If she didn't understand Long Xingwei and the so-called Du Du before, then now Xian Yi has a preliminary understanding. Long Xingwei should be similar to the Dong Chang she saw on TV in her previous life, while Du Du is like the role of Dong Chang's factory owner. Although Long Xingwei is not as arrogant as Dong Chang, it's not far off. The emperors of Pei Guo have always used Long Xingwei to secretly do things for themselves, such as monitoring officials, assassinating rebels, and even one emperor's ascension was closely related to Long Xingwei. With such indulgence and empowerment, by this dynasty, the emperor had reached middle age, and the conflict between the emperor and eunuchs was about to become irreconcilable. Unexpectedly, Cui Gonggong, a figure who even the emperor feared, would die at the hands of Jin Fenghua, a teenager in his early teens, and die so unjustly, so silently.

  There are not a few people outside looking for Cui Gonggong, let alone the many passersby in the palace who are rushing to find out about Cui Gonggong's whereabouts. Even some powerful officials outside the palace are eager to find some clues, hoping to take advantage of them in the future. But it is not known what Jin Fenghua did, this half month, the Jin family was as calm as water, without any waves, at least Xianyi didn't see any difficulties with the lady, on the contrary, her temper became worse and worse, and her suspiciousness also became heavier and heavier, Xianyi suspected that she might be entering menopause prematurely.

  Since she recovered from her severe illness, Jin Fenghua never appeared in front of Xian Yi again, nor did he make any demands on her. If it wasn't for her mother helping her bathe, she would have subconsciously tried to cover up the embroidery, only to find that it was gone. She thought Jin Fenghua had forgotten about her. However, as she recovered and returned to serving in the main house, she discovered that Jin Fenghua not only didn't look for her when she was awake but also rarely appeared in Old Lady's courtyard. Nevertheless, she soon noticed that Han Niang's illness had relapsed. Just as she could get out of bed, Han Niang suddenly fainted one day and remained in poor condition. This time, it seemed even more severe than the previous episode during the New Year, and it looked like she wouldn't make it.

  After Xian Yi received the news, she couldn't believe it. Although Madame Han's body wasn't very strong, she hadn't been seriously ill before. Even though she had looked quite serious when she was sick previously, the doctor had said that she hadn't suffered any fundamental damage. So how could her condition have deteriorated to such an extent? Not only did Xian Yi not know, but even Chen Yao and Madame Chen were shocked. Although everyone knew that Madame Chen hated Madame Han and wished she would disappear, after all these years, Jin Fenghua had grown up so big, and Madame Chen had never taken action against her. So it was even more impossible for her to take action now when Old Lady was still alive, when Auntie was visiting, when Master had just been promoted, and when the eldest son's marriage had just been settled. She didn't want her family members to suspect her, nor did she want her son's wedding to be affected by Madame Han's situation. So this time, not only did she severely punish the housekeepers who had bullied the concubines, but she also invited the best doctor in Beijing to treat Madame Han, with the intention of letting Madame Han hold on until next year, even if she couldn't recover.

  Xian Yi also didn't want anything to happen to Han Niang, because she always had a feeling that Han Niang was like the reason he stayed in the Jin Manor, or the suppression of his existence. Once this suppression was gone, what would become of Jin Fenghua's future, she didn't dare think about it.