In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

"My older brother... my older brother is still missing!"

"He came to Dawu just to find that heartless merchant named Qian Wanli! It's all your fault, you people of Dawu! You're all bad people!"

"Qian Wanli?"

Bai Lu frowned slightly.

Just then, a bailiff rushed in from outside, looking flustered and stumbling, carrying a freshly copied roster in his hand.

"My...my lord! Lady White Snake! We've...we've found out!"

The constable ran up, panting, and handed over the roster, his voice trembling.

"Among those trafficked individuals rescued from Lan Yue Lou, there is a detailed list..."

He swallowed hard, glancing at Aslan and his daughter with a look of terror in his eyes.

"Among them...there was one named Ruzhen..."

"Really?!"

Aslan and Rubao were struck as if by lightning, and they both cried out in surprise!

That was their long-lost eldest son, Ru Bao's older brother! Aslan's most composed son!

The prefect of Qingzhou felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately took the list, quickly flipped to the page containing information about the rescued people, and soon found the name.

The roster was written clearly in tiny characters:

"Ru Zhen, male, twenty years old, from the Western Regions. According to his intermittent confession, he came here seeking trade, but was deceived by the silk merchant Qian Wanli, drugged, and sold to this place..."

The following text contained some appalling details, which no one could bear to read any further.

A pampered young master from a wealthy family was sold into a filthy brothel like a commodity...

No one dares to imagine the hellish torment and humiliation that Ruzhen endured during this time...

"Brother..."

Ru Bao's body swayed violently, and her vision went black for a moment.

"Rubao!"

Aslan quickly grabbed her and supported her, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

His handsome face was now deathly pale, devoid of any color.

Ru Bao's mind went blank; the enormous blow and shock almost robbed her of her ability to think.

All her reason was replaced by overwhelming grief and hatred!

She suddenly broke free from her father's support and rushed to Bailu's side again.

"It's all your fault!"

She screamed, her voice shrill and filled with desperate accusations.

"all because of you!"

"If it weren't for you! How could my brother have ended up like this! You're the one who ruined him!"

"It's you! You're a jinx that ruined our whole family!"

This time, she unreasonably blamed all the crimes on Bailu.

Aslan did not stop her.

He just stood there, staring blankly at his daughter who seemed to have gone mad, his heart filled with utter desolation.

They didn't even care about those priceless silks.

With the rescued but now insane and delirious Ruzhen and the distraught Ruzhu, they embarked on their journey back to the Western Regions in a sorry state.

......

Western Regions.

When Zhao Bingyu saw her eldest son's appearance at the gate of the mansion, she froze.

The once spirited son now has a dull, unfocused gaze and keeps muttering to himself.

"don't want......"

"Don't come any closer..."

Zhao Bingyu touched his face and burst into tears, crying, "I'm your mother... I'm your mother..."

"..."

If there really is no movement at all.

He showed no reaction to anything in the outside world, as if his soul had been ripped out, leaving only an empty shell.

Although he had changed into clean clothes.

But when he saw Zhao Bingyu touching his face, he dodged.

"What...what exactly is going on?"

Her voice was trembling.

Ru Bao knelt down with a "plop," sobbing uncontrollably, and recounted everything that had happened in Da Wu.

"Mother! It's all her fault! It's all because of Bailu!"

Ru Bao lay on the ground, clutching her mother's skirt tightly, crying out in a hoarse voice.

"If it weren't for her, how could my brother have ended up like this! It's all her fault!"

"She's the one who ruined my brother!"

Zhao Bingyu listened quietly, her face expressionless.

After listening, she walked to Ruzhen's side, reached out her slightly trembling hand, and gently stroked her son's cheek.

"Ah......"

Zhao Bingyu couldn't help but burst into tears, her heart aching as if it were being torn apart.

She hates Bailu.

Yes, she attributed all of this to Bai Lu.

If Bai Lu hadn't aroused such intense jealousy in Ru Bao, she wouldn't have been so eager for quick success, and wouldn't have made such a foolish and wrong decision...

This would have prevented the subsequent series of irreparable disasters.

But she hated more than just Bai Lu!

She turned around abruptly and looked at Ru Bao.

That look was more piercing than the coldest wind on a winter night in the Western Regions!

"You still have the nerve to say it?"

Her voice made Ru Bao's sobs catch in her throat, and her whole body stiffened.

"I hate you guys so much!"

Zhao Bingyu looked at Ru Bao, her tone filled with utter disappointment and disgust!

"She's cold-blooded and ruthless, and you're stupid and incompetent!"

"Incompetent bungler!"

She suddenly pointed at Ru Bao, and her long-suppressed anger erupted at that moment!

"If it weren't for your stupidity and damned jealousy, would so much trouble have happened? Would your older brother have become like this?!"

"You dare say you bear no responsibility?!"

"What are you still pretending for?!"

Zhao Bingyu pointed at Ru Bao's nose and gave her a severe scolding.

Finally, she was exhausted from yelling, and her whole being exuded a deep weariness.

She waved her hand, her voice hoarse.

"Get out!!"

She didn't even glance at Ru Bao again, and immediately summoned the best doctor in the manor, ordering him in a commanding tone, "Save every effort to cure him!"

The doctor accepted the order with trepidation and left.

Zhao Bingyu stood alone in the empty hall, looking at her mentally challenged eldest son... her heart filled with exhaustion.

She was really wrong.

I shouldn't have been so love-struck when I came into this world, and I shouldn't have married those two men and had eight children.

None of these eight children are easy to manage!

......

The night was dark.

Lights were lit everywhere inside the mansion.

Inside the bedroom, the heavy smell of medicine was almost tangible, making it hard to breathe.

Ru Zhen lay quietly in bed.

His eyes were open, but his pupils were unfocused; he was staring straight at the canopy above him.

Zhao Bingyu sat on the embroidered stool by the bed, having lost count of how many sleepless nights she had endured.

She stared motionlessly at her eldest son, whose once handsome and composed face was now nothing but sickly pale.

The tear tracks on her face had long since dried.

A slight commotion came from outside the door, and the butler led a thin, elderly man with a goatee into the room quickly.

This was the first renowned physician Zhao Bingyu had invited from a city-state thousands of miles away at great expense. He was said to be skilled in treating various forms of "soul-loss syndrome," and had even restored the sanity of a nobleman who had been insane for ten years.

A faint glimmer of hope ignited in Zhao Bingyu's eyes. She stood up and nodded slightly to the old man.

"Thank you for your trouble, sir." Her voice was terribly hoarse.

The doctor with the goatee didn't say much. He went straight to the bedside, stretched out two withered fingers, and placed them on Ruzhen's wrist pulse.

He closed his eyes.

The bedroom was eerily quiet; everyone held their breath.

After a long while, the doctor finally withdrew his hand.

He opened Ruzhen's eyelids again to take a look, and finally tentatively pricked Ruzhen's fingertip with a silver needle.

If there is no reaction at all, it is as if the needle has pierced a piece of rotten wood.

The doctor with the goatee's expression turned serious.

He stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhao Bingyu, and looked somewhat embarrassed.

"lady."

He carefully considered his words.

"Your son's pulse is weak and scattered, sometimes intermittent, sometimes continuous, like a candle flickering in the wind."

"This...this is not an illness, it's excessive fright that caused the three souls and seven spirits to leave the body and dissipate."

Zhao Bingyu's heart sank.

She didn't understand these mysterious sayings, but asked eagerly, "Then... is there a cure?"

The doctor with the goatee stroked his beard, looking troubled.

"I can prescribe a calming and soothing medicine to help you regain your composure. But it will be very difficult to restore you to your original state."

Although he phrased it tactfully, his meaning was quite clear.

He can't cure it.

Zhao Bingyu waved her hand, signaling the butler to see the guest out.

The steward understood and handed over a thick money bag. The doctor with the goatee declined at first, but eventually accepted it, left a prescription, and shook his head before leaving.

The next day, the steward brought in a second doctor.

This doctor was a burly man with a loud voice; he was a renowned military doctor in the Western Regions army.

As soon as he entered the room, he carefully examined Ruzhen's body, even taking off his outer clothes to check for any hidden wounds.

"Madam, the young master has no external injuries."

After he finished his inspection, he spoke to Zhao Bingyu with great certainty.

"Based on my years of experience, he was driven to madness by extreme fear. Like a soldier who has been scared out of his wits, he will be afraid of the battlefield from now on. To cure him, you can't rely on medicine, you have to stimulate him."

A glimmer of light returned to Zhao Bingyu's eyes.

How to stimulate?

The military doctor said in a deep voice, "We need to use the person or thing he is most familiar with and closest to, and keep calling his name in his ear...maybe that can awaken his deep-seated memories and consciousness."

He paused, then added, "This method is dangerous; it might restore him, or it might... drive him completely insane."

"Madam, you should think it over carefully."

"Let's use this method!" Zhao Bingyu said without the slightest hesitation.

She's willing to try anything, as long as there's a glimmer of hope.

Over the next two days, the entire Zhao household was mobilized.

Zhao Bingyu personally stayed by the bedside, recounting Ruzhen's interesting stories from childhood to adulthood over and over again.

Ru Bao and Ru Zhu were also called over, crying and calling out "Big Brother," as they placed his favorite bow and arrow and his favorite books in front of him, one by one.

However, no matter how desperately they called out or how hard they tried, Ruzhen could never be restored.

He didn't react at all.

By the evening of the third day, this stimulation therapy not only failed to work, but had the opposite effect.

Ru Zhen began to become agitated and restless, waving his arms and tearing at the bedding on his body.

"Get out of here! All of you, get out of here!"

This was the clearest thing he had said in the past few days.

Seeing her son's frantic state, Zhao Bingyu felt heartbroken and quickly told him to stop.

The second doctor's method also failed.

When the housekeeper led the third doctor in, Zhao Bingyu was almost in despair.

This doctor, with his white hair and beard and refined demeanor, was the most respected elder in the Western Regions. He was not famous for his medical skills, but for his extensive wisdom and knowledge.

The old man did not rush to take Ruzhen's pulse, but quietly observed him by the bedside for a long time.

He watched Ruzhen's body occasionally twitch, listened to his unconscious babbling, and finally, his gaze fell on Ruzhen's empty eyes.

"Ugh......"

He let out a long sigh.

He turned around and looked at Zhao Bingyu, his eyes gentle yet heavy.

"Madam, please forgive my bluntness."

Zhao Bingyu had already prepared for the worst. She nodded, signaling the other person to continue.

"The root of your son's illness lies neither in his body nor in his soul."

The old man said slowly.

"But in his heart. His heart is dead."

Zhao Bingyu's body swayed violently, and she managed to stand up by grabbing the corner of the table.

"My heart is dead?" she murmured, repeating the three words, feeling a sudden dizziness.

The old man nodded and continued, "What keeps a person alive is their breath and their spirit. When a person experiences pain and humiliation beyond their limits, their heart will be like a shattered mirror, never to be pieced back together."

Medicine can heal the body, but it cannot heal the mind.

"The medical skills of the Western Regions mostly specialize in external injuries and detoxification. They are indeed powerless to treat mental illnesses like this."

Three renowned doctors in a row reached the same conclusion.

The last shred of hope in Zhao Bingyu's heart was completely crushed.

She waved her hand, signaling the butler to see the guest out.

The bedroom door was closed again.

Zhao Bingyu stood alone in the middle of the room, feeling utterly helpless.

"system."

She called out with all her might in her heart, her voice filled with pleading.

"System, come out!"

The surroundings were deathly silent, with only her own heavy and suppressed breathing.

"Come out!"

"My son needs you! Please come out and heal him! I'll do anything to heal him!"

No response.

The system that was once omnipotent and always appeared when she needed it most now seemed to have completely abandoned her...

Unwilling to give up, she struggled to open the system store again.

The store's interface remained coldly displayed.

Those dazzling array of elixirs and miraculous medicines, each item was marked with an astronomical figure that was beyond her reach.

She's different from Bai Lu. Bai Lu can buy items directly with money from the exchange system shop, but Zhao Bingyu needs points.

Her points had long been exhausted through past extravagance and redemption.

Zhao Bingyu stared at the gray, unclickable "redeem" buttons, her vision blurred, and she collapsed onto the cold floor, unable to support herself any longer.

She was truly at her wit's end.

Just then, the butler, who had just returned from seeing off guests, hesitated for a long time at the door before finally bracing himself and walking in.

“Madam…” he began cautiously.

Zhao Bingyu ignored him.

The steward had no choice but to continue, "The old gentleman asked me to pass on a message to you before he left."

Zhao Bingyu slowly raised her head.

"He said that if the methods of the Western Regions didn't work, perhaps we could try the methods of the Central Plains. He also said... there was a goddess physician in Dawu whose medical skills were divine, and she was especially good at treating all kinds of strange diseases."

"Perhaps...perhaps she has a way."

Zhao Bingyu's heart clenched suddenly.

Of course she knew who the housekeeper was talking about.

Although the first two doctors did not say it explicitly, they had more or less hinted at it.

"The person you're talking about, is it Bailu?"