On the night of the broken engagement, the paranoid prince came to me crying and asking for my statu

His voice trembled slightly because of excitement.

"This was sent by the Marquis of Changping, saying it was something from the adopted daughter of the Marquis's mansion. He also said that it was for the sake of your reputation, and asked you not to think about other things and to prepare for the wedding..."

Hearing about the wedding, Gu Xiuyan inexplicably thought of the emperor's marriage decree and the love-crazy girl who had been following him around in the second room of the Marquis of Changping's mansion...

The excitement on his face faded and he returned to his usual composure.

However, his trembling hand as he picked up the half of the jade pendant that Cong Ming placed in front of him betrayed his excitement at the moment.

The broken end of the half jade pendant was not neat and its width was only the size of his two fingers. It was obviously worn by a teenager. The carving was not exquisite and could be said to be rough, but the jade was indeed top-grade warm jade, and its texture and patterns were exactly the same as the half jade pendant he was wearing now.

The warm jade felt warm to the touch, and he seemed to feel the warmth that had been in his heart nine years ago when he was in a trance, as well as the little girl's murmurs of comfort: "Don't be afraid, big brother, my dad is very powerful and will find us soon..."

To this day, he still remembers the feeling of that soft little hand with gravel rubbing against his face...

His bony hands slowly tightened to wrap the jade pendant in his hand, and Gu Xiuyan used his other hand to pick up the two pearl flowers whose workmanship was not as exquisite as the ones made in Luojing. He concealed the expression in his eyes and said to Congming in a calm voice, "Please invite the Marquis of Changping to come to the Zhenxiu Pavilion at 5 pm tomorrow for a chat."

...

In the distance, the sound of roosters crowing could be heard, and bits of dawn light shone through the hollow window panels.

Ji Lanshuang hugged Su Sui'an and cried for most of the night.

"My son... has suffered..."

"Mother, our suffering cannot be in vain."

Worried that his mother could not bear the blow of reality, Su Sui'an tampered with the events of the previous life and let Ji Lanshuang know that the second wife's family was destroyed by the first wife, but the family was still together in the end.

at least...

Let's reunite in the underworld together, right?

Ji Lanshuang wiped her tears silently, believing in her daughter's words without a doubt.

"Everything your father does now is to serve the Marquis' Mansion. What on earth are they dissatisfied with?"

Because of excitement, she coughed a few more times. Seeing Su Sui'an's eyes full of hatred, her heart skipped a beat and she held Su Sui'an's hand with her backhand.

"An'er, leave the rest to father and mother, ahem..."

"Your life was ruined in your previous life. You shouldn't rot here in this life..."

"Mother," Su Sui'an pressed Ji Lanshuang's hand before she finished speaking, "Some things are not our turn to think about. The eldest wife wants to get rid of us as soon as possible. We are not so lucky every time..."

Thinking back to what his daughter had just said about how hard it was in her previous life to overturn the verdict for her father and brother, Ji Lanshuang's words of persuasion turned into a sigh.

After coughing heavily a few times, she took off the sandalwood bracelet in her hand with a pale face and stuffed it into Su Sui'an's hand.

"Changlong Pawnshop is your grandfather's property. Take my bracelet and go find Shopkeeper Fu. In order to be able to contact your grandfather in time, your grandfather hired several messengers here to deliver messages. Shopkeeper Fu knows where the messengers are kept."

Su Sui'an thought that it would take some time to convince Ji Lanshuang to join her, but she didn't expect Ji Lanshuang to not even hesitate...

A wave of warmth welled up in his eyes, and Su Sui'an nodded with red eyes, "Okay."

"Child, do you still remember your childhood dream?"

A low murmur, as gentle as the wind, can be heard without paying attention.

Su Sui'an stopped and tried to listen carefully. He could hear even and weak breathing sounds coming from the bed.

As soon as I walked out of the room, Nanny Deng came to greet me.

"Miss."

"Mammy, we can no longer use Mother's doctor. Send someone you trust to the clinic near the city gate today and ask the old doctor there to come and take Mother's pulse again."

Su Sui'an gave these instructions.

Even though she was trying hard to suppress the hatred in her heart, the coldness in her tone still made Nanny Deng realize that something was wrong.

"Miss, is there something wrong with Madam's medicine?"

Su Sui'an nodded and did not hide anything from Nanny Deng.

"After giving birth to my younger brother, my mother's body became weaker and weaker. The doctor has always said that my mother suffered from a cold constitution due to postpartum hemorrhage. But over the years, my mother has taken tonic medicine after tonic. Have you seen any signs of improvement?"

Nanny Deng opened her mouth slightly and wanted to speak, but found that she had no way to refute Su Sui'an's words.

Because, it is.

Over the years, the lady's illness has been taken care of by the palace physician or the clinic on this street. The doctors all say the same thing. In addition, except for the occasional mischief by the stepmother of Shoukang Hall, the Changping Marquis's Mansion is relatively peaceful, so they don't have the heart to speculate on other people's thoughts.

But after Su Sui'an reminded her today, she thought about it and it seemed to be true...

"I will do it now."

"and many more."

Having already passed Su Sui'an, Nanny Deng looked back in confusion, "Miss, do you have any other instructions?"

Su Sui'an glanced at the sky and put the bracelet Ji Lanshuang had given her back into Madam Deng's hands. "Madam, please go to Changlong Pawnshop in the north of the city and find Shopkeeper Fu. Tell him that Miss Ji wants to see him for something. Ask him to wait for me at the wonton stand in the back alley of Xinglongzhai at the beginning of the morning hour tomorrow, holding a willow branch as a letter."

Seeing Su Sui'an's serious face, Nanny Deng's expression also became serious.

"Old slave understands."

Liu'er stepped forward and looked at the dark circles under Su Sui'an's eyes with heartache, then reached out her hand to support Su Sui'an.

"Miss, you didn't sleep last night..."

"Liu'er, go out quietly and spread rumors. Just say that the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changping came back home in disarray and crying yesterday. Speak half-heartedly and let the listeners guess the rest."

"Miss..." Liu'er looked at Su Sui'an worriedly.

"This is an urgent matter. It will be too late if we delay any longer. Hurry."

Finally, at Su Sui'an's urging, Liu'er quickly left the Changping Marquis Mansion through a dog hole at the foot of Ruoliyuan's wall.

Su Sui'an walked towards Tingyu Cottage alone, thinking about the fate of his few loyal servants in this mansion.

In the previous life, Nanny Deng and Suguo were the only two people loyal to them, besides Liu'er, Mei'er and the coachman Datou.

It was several years later that Su Sui'an met Datou, whose legs and tongue had been cut off. Through the abstract lines and gestures Datou had painstakingly drawn, she learned that when she was abducted to the bandit's lair, her father and brother were in trouble, the first wife turned against her and severed all ties with the second wife, and wanted to hand her mother over to the Ministry of Justice. It was Nanny Deng and Suguo who desperately protected her mother and cursed Su Qishun for being a beast. In the end, both of them had their tongues cut off and were beaten to death...

The accumulation of all these things, the hatred is too much and too strong. Su Sui'an's emotions no longer need to be restrained like she did yesterday. The hatred is to the extreme, and all she thinks about with every breath is how to get revenge.

Hatred alone is useless, she wants those beasts to die!

Death without a burial place!

...