Chapter 1: The Death of the Body

  In the third month of spring, peach blossoms are in full bloom. The sky above Kyoto is dyed with deep and light red hues, like fire, so resplendent that it's almost unbearable. Meanwhile, the wind gathers slowly from the fiery horizon, ceaselessly passing through the window lattices, enveloping the people inside the house.

  Xie Shu Ning leaned weakly against the window, gazing into the distance, and was blown by the early spring wind to shiver. She suddenly started coughing violently. The cloud-patterned handkerchief covered her mouth, but couldn't cover up the heart-wrenching coughing sound. Each cough almost exhausted her energy.

  "Mother... Mother..."

  Suddenly, the tightly closed door swung open. A little boy wearing a blue silk jacket rushed in, his bright round eyes wide with excitement, using both hands and feet to try and jump into her arms.

  It's Brother Jian!

  Xie Shu Ning coughed while hastily instructing someone to stop her son.

  She was seriously ill and had a heavy odor, so she was afraid of infecting her brother Zheng. Therefore, the two maidservants, Yuebai and Lücong, quickly stepped forward, one on each side, to block his way.

  "Mother, don't you like me anymore? Why haven't you hugged me at all?" The little child pouted, with tears welling up in his eyes, and shouted out in struggle.

  Xie Shu Ning's heart was almost broken, but the itch in her throat didn't subside with each cough, instead it became more and more unbearable. She coughed so hard that she bent over at the waist, tears welling up in her eyes, and struggled to speak.

  She heard Yu Bai say with a sob to Xian Ge: "Young Master, the madam is still ill, please listen to her."

  Ke Zong Ge has not seen her for a long time, how could he listen to Yue Bai's advice.

  "Shh..." She couldn't, and could only struggle to sit up straight, trying her best to suppress the itch in her throat, hoarsely advising, "You be good... wait for mother's illness... to get better, then..."

  As she spoke to this point, her voice came to a halt, and she suddenly couldn't say another word.

  The four-year-old child scrunched up his face, barely holding back the tears in his eyes, and shouted loudly: "Okay, Zhēn is well-behaved, Mommy will get better soon too! Mommy will be good and take her medicine, and when she's recovered, she'll take Zhēn to fly a kite."

  Xie Shu Ning turned her head away, tears streaming down her face, unable to stop them.

  "Your Highness, shall I escort you back?" Qing Cong asked softly, bowing her head.

  Zhēn gē er responded, and with three glances back, he was led out of the door by Lǜ Nóng.

  It wasn't until that small figure disappeared from in front of her that Xie Shu Ning finally relaxed her tightly clenched jaws and burst into loud sobs.

  Apart from her poor son, who in this mansion does not know that she is on the verge of death?

  She hated herself for being useless, and she was fed up with herself. If it weren't for her uselessness, a minor cold would not have developed into what it is today.

  At that time, Shi Yan was in power and had just gained momentum, with his authority overwhelming the imperial court.

  Xie Jia was previously offended by him, and now he can only barely survive. In the eyes of everyone, he has long been like a dying struggle. Lin Yuan Zhi was afraid of being implicated by her, so he personally fed her "medicine" - a bowl of medicine that would take her life!

  But she knew that at this time, who is not afraid of Yan Huan?

  After the death of the previous emperor, Cheng Guogong Yan Huan supported the 15th son, who was only seven years old, to ascend to the throne and changed the era name to Chongxing. He became known as Emperor Jiaming. Since the emperor was young and helpless, Yan Huan took control of the government on his behalf.

  Yan Huai is now only twenty-five years old, but his methods are vicious and ruthless, surpassing those of others. Moreover, he is prone to sudden fits of anger and joy, causing everyone who sees him to retreat in fear.

  At the age of thirteen, his father, Yan Jing, who was seriously ill, returned to Beijing as the heir. Three days later, after his father's death, he put his stepmother under house arrest and sent his younger half-brother to the north. Until he was sixteen years old, his stepmother, Wan Shi, secretly brought back her brother to Beijing, but was discovered by Yan Huai, who ordered his brother to hang himself with a white silk rope. At seventeen, he killed his brother and was promoted to Commander of the Brocade Guard. The next year, he was promoted to Left Military Commissioner of the Central Army Headquarters, in charge of the garrison in the capital. At twenty-two years old, he annexed the East and West Factories with lightning speed.

  After this, for a short period of years, everyone in the court heard the name Yan Hui and their legs would tremble with fear.

  So now, although the world still bears the name of Ji, it has long been a possession in the bag of Yan. Even within the palace walls, he entered as if no one was there, without any restraint or taboo.

  Such a person, the Xie family can't afford to offend, and the Lin family is just a declining small marquis, let alone hide. Moreover, the Lin family now has a Madame Wen...

  Xie Shu Ning closed her eyes, unable to bear thinking about it anymore.

  She knew that Lin Yuan would only make the right choice, and even if she were in his position, she would not hesitate to take action against him. But what about her brother Ah Jie? A wave of nausea rose up in her throat, and the white handkerchief was stained with red spots. She weakly threw away the handkerchief, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly woke up from her dream, covered in cold sweat, and grabbed the brocade quilt that covered her body, shouting loudly: "Lu Cong, where is the young master?"

  Lu Jing was adding incense to the golden censer when she heard the sound and hesitated, saying: "The young master does not want to return to his room, he has taken people to the garden."

  Courtyard?

  Xie Shu Ning's body trembled uncontrollably, barely holding on, her voice sternly saying: "Go find him! Make sure to send the young master back to his room!"

  Lu Jing's hand holding the silver spoon shook slightly.

  "Milady... something's wrong, milady..." Suddenly, the voice of Zhao Gui, the wet nurse of the young master, came from outside.

  Xie Shu Ning was startled in her heart and suddenly remembered the dream she had just had, her mind became chaotic, and she hastily called someone to come in and ask: "What happened?"

  Zhou's face turned pale with fright, and she fell to her knees in front of him with a thud, knocking her head heavily on the ground: "The young master... has drowned..."

  The words of anxiety fell like a thunderclap, and Xie Shuning suddenly threw off the quilt, got up with difficulty, and was about to go out. Yue Bai's heart was also torn apart when he heard this, and he knew that he couldn't stop her at this moment, so he simply took a thick cloak and put it on her. Lu Cong wanted to stop her in a hurry, but Xie Shuning gave him a cold glance, and he loosened his grip with a guilty conscience.

  Zhou crawled up from the ground and followed, crying out: "Your servant deserves ten thousand deaths, madam..."

  "Shut up!" Xie Shu'ning's whole body went limp, her legs and feet weak, where did she still have the strength to entangle with Zhou Shi? She only felt at ease after biting her teeth and scolding her into closing her mouth.

  On the road, she leaned more than half of her body on Yu Bai, being supported by Yu Bai and moving forward with difficulty, silently praying that Zhen Ge couldn't have anything happen to him. But just as they were approaching Zhen Ge's house, she heard a loud wailing sound.

  Her heart skipped a beat, Xie Shuning's face turned pale as she pushed open the door and rushed in, but unexpectedly fell into a cold embrace.

  "Admonition, gone."

  The voice on top of his head was extremely cold, and the hands grasping his shoulders were also extremely cold.

  Xie Shuning let out a loud "wow" and burst into tears, wanting to push Lin Yuan away, but he was held back by him, and could only listen as he said in a pained tone: "Do you know that Xue Luo fell into the water to save him and lost the child?"

  Will Wen Xueluo save Jian'er?

  What a joke!

  After all, it was her fault. She shouldn't have thought that Lin Yuan had a true heart towards her, and she shouldn't have treated Wen Xue as her confidante...

  Xie Shu Ning glared with her eyes raised to look at Lin Yuan Zhi's clear and elegant face, crying and laughing out loud, "A tiger does not eat its own son, Master Hou, you have indeed taken in a good concubine!" After speaking, her gaze gradually turned cold, her pale lips slightly opening without any hint of blood color, "You are afraid that the Xie family's affairs will implicate you, but why aren't you afraid that Wen Xue Luo will also implicate you?"

  When Wen Jia was at the height of his power, Lin Yuanzhi's aunt, Madame Wen, was only two years old and had already been betrothed to Yan Huan, the young son of Cheng Guo Gong. With Yan Huan's temperament now, even if he didn't want something, it would still be discarded, and for Lin Yuanzhi to dare pick it up would be like touching a reverse scale!

  She bit down hard on Lin Yuan's hand for the first time, like a shrew from the streets, and took advantage of his loosening grip to rush into the house.

  In the quiet room, her daughter, thin and small, curled up in a ball on the brocade quilt, like a flower embroidered on the quilt, pale without a hint of color...

  "Zhen'er, your mother is here... why don't you talk to her?" She looked at Zhen'er's pale and slightly greenish face, his long eyelashes still as a butterfly that hadn't moved, when suddenly he spat out a mouthful of blood.

  Lin Yuan rushed into the house and stretched out his hand to pull her over.

  She stared at him with dull eyes and asked expressionlessly: "If you want to kill me, that's fine, but why not spare the child?"

  "Are you out of your mind? Zhen is also my son! Am I not heartbroken?" Lin Yuan's hand, which was grasping her arm, suddenly tightened, and a pained expression appeared on his face.

  Xie Shu Ning weakly lowered his head. Was he heartbroken? If he was heartbroken, why did he only care about the child in Wen Xue Luo's belly and not about her? How could he be so cruel as to ask her if she knew that Wen Xue Luo had lost the child at this time?

  "Aunt Wen, you can't go in!" Suddenly there was a commotion outside the door.

  As soon as the words fell, Wen Xue had already been supported by someone and walked in with a pale face. She knelt down in front of Xie Shu Ning and cried: "Madam, it's all my fault, I couldn't hold onto Young Master..."

  "How can you blame yourself? Get up quickly." Lin Yuan's heart ached for her as she had just lost her child, and he hurriedly went to help her up.

  Wen Xueluo, however, remained stubbornly kneeling there, crying until her face was covered in tears, making one's heart ache. A dark red stain gradually appeared on the hem of her apricot-colored skirt, which made Lin Yuanzhi's heart ache even more. He turned his head and glared at Xie Shuning, "How much longer do you want her to kneel before you'll let up?"

  Xie Shu Ning pretended not to hear, but stuck to the icy and bone-piercing forehead, muttering his name.

  "Xie Shu'ning, don't be too presumptuous!" Lin Yuan Zhi's eyebrows furrowed in anger, his voice cold and stern. "I know you're not feeling well since what happened to Jian'er, but Snowy has just miscarried, why must you treat her this way?"

  Wen Xueluo burst into tears and knelt down, her slender hands grasping at Shao Ning's hem. "Madam, please kill me... it's all my fault... I was wrong..." Her voice was weak and pitiful, but the hand that grasped Shao Ning's was secretly tightening in a hidden corner, the long fingernails digging deep into Shao Ning's flesh. "Madam..."

  "Come on, come and take Madame Wen away!" Lin Yuanzhi scrunched up his eyebrows tightly, turned around and shouted loudly towards the outside of the door.

  At the critical moment, Wen Xue suddenly lifted her tear-stained face, her eyes locked onto hers like a poisonous snake. Her cherry lips parted slightly, and in an extremely low voice, she said: "I knew long ago that the child in my womb was hard to keep, now it's used to exchange for your son's life, it's worth it!"

  Xie Shu Ning was struck by lightning again, and another mouthful of blood spurted out, directly splashing onto Wen Xue Luo's clothes.

  "Is that so?" Xie Shu'ning's mouth was bloody, and she smiled miserably. Then her eyes gleamed with a fierce light, "In that case, why don't you use your life to pay for my son's life?"

  Her frail body suddenly burst out with astonishing strength, she pulled the hairpin from her hair and stabbed it fiercely into Wen Xue's throat. With a "pfft" sound, hot blood splattered all over her face.

  Lin Yuan turned his head back with a loud noise, his eyes wide open in anger, and strode forward to push her to the ground, hugging Wen Xue's body and shouting loudly.

  Xie Shu Ning fell to the cold ground, silently laughing. Her body tightly curled up into a ball, she sobbed: "Zhēn er, wait for mother Zhēn er..."

  ……

  Western Viet Gia Minh Emperor 2 years, spring.

  The son of Marquis Changping, Lin Zhen, whose wife was a lady surnamed Xie, has passed away.