Peach Blossom.

Tao Ye was stunned for a moment. After flying out of the palace wall, she was only thinking about how to save Qingxiu. Later, when she watched Si De and Qingxiu leave, she fell into infinite envy and had long forgotten about those people in Hualin Garden.

Now hearing the Ghost King ask this, she felt that what happened in Hualin Garden later must not be good.

This time, the Ghost King took the initiative to activate the time recorder and projected the screen onto the white wall in the haunted house, allowing Tao Ye to see with his own eyes the consequences of abusing magic power.

Tao Ye then realized that Shen Hui and her father Shen Meng were able to leave Hualin Garden smoothly because they were let off by a general under Chen Xi.

Afterwards, the father and daughter acted separately. Shen Hui went to the Mansion of the Five Soldiers, and Shen Mengzi returned to the Shen family to gather a group of hired martial arts masters.

Perhaps they had made an appointment in advance, Shen Hui met Chen Chong's wife, Zou, very quickly. The two were like best friends, and had a tacit understanding. They held Chen Chong's troop mobilization token, selected the troops and set out to meet Shen Meng.

They planned together that Chen Xi and Chen Ji would definitely fight countless rounds in Hualin Garden. When both sides had consumed each other's strength and suffered heavy casualties, they would sit back and reap the benefits.

Unexpectedly, not long after, they received a pigeon message from Chen Chong, which said, "The situation is very good, you should come quickly."

So Shen Hui ordered everyone to pretend to be the personal soldiers of Prince Yongchang, rush into Jiankang Palace to rescue the mistress Meng, and capture the evil concubine Zhou and the traitor Chen Xi.

When she entered the palace again, Shen Hui found out that all the Chen family soldiers were tied up with rattan and had no power to fight back. Chen Xi had fallen into a coma due to excessive blood loss due to the deep wound on his back and the long time he had been tied up with rattan and could not be treated.

As a result, winning with fewer troops became an easy task.

Except for the group of Shen's father and daughter who let the water go, all the other soldiers under Chen Xi were beheaded on the spot. Countless people died, and Hualin Garden became a river of blood. In particular, Chen Xi and Zhou's heads were chopped off and hung on the city wall, which was a horrifying sight.

With a "click", the power was cut off, and the cave fell into darkness and silence again.

Tao Ye didn't know what to say. She no longer had the face to plead for herself, especially when she saw so many soldiers in Hualin Garden lying in a pool of blood, all because they were tied up with green vines and had no chance of resisting or escaping.

To save one person, but harm thousands or even tens of thousands of people, is this doing good or doing evil?

"Can they...can they be revived again?" Tao Ye's voice trembled because she was very unconfident.

"Do you think it's possible to bring such a large group of people back to life in broad daylight?"

Tao Ye was silent. She had just gotten rid of her guilt towards Qingxiu, but she didn't expect that she would feel more guilty in return.

While immersed in self-blame, Tao Ye felt the spiritual energy in her body floating and dissipating. She knew that the Ghost King was taking back the supernatural powers he had bestowed upon her.

"I won't see you again until you complete the mission." This was the last words the Ghost King left to Tao Ye.

Tao Ye walked out of the cave and saw a ray of setting sun sliding down to the line between the water and the sky, leaving only the last ray of light.

She bit her finger and bright red blood flowed out, reflecting the sunset, very red. She knew that from this moment on, she was no different from the people of this era. She had become a thoroughly ancient person.

When she reached the river, she had to stop.

She no longer had any magical powers, and could neither fly nor conjure up a boat. How could she get back to the other side of the river? How could she leave this deserted mountain?

If I starve to death or freeze to death here, will anyone know?

If she were lucky enough to return to the other side, she would have killed so many people and naturally made even more enemies. If one day she fell into the hands of the relatives of those dead soldiers, she would probably die a miserable death, right?

At this moment, she remembered what Caiwei had warned her a few days ago: "If a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth."

She also remembered what Wang Jing reminded her: "Whether you are doing this for your lover or for your friends, I hope you remember to consider yourself first every time you do something, leave yourself a way out, and don't blindly help others, okay?"

How stupid was she to offend the Ghost King, lose her magic power, make countless enemies, and then be trapped in this deserted cemetery?

Facing the vast river and the approaching night, she couldn't help but smile bitterly.

She didn't know how long she sat by the river. She just felt cold all over by the cold wind. Faintly, she heard someone calling in the wind: "Tao Ye..."

She looked up and saw a small boat coming over the misty water. There was a man on the boat, and his face gradually became clearer as it approached.

It turned out to be Chen Ji. She saw the two little centipedes at the corners of his eyebrows again, and subconsciously lowered her head and stopped looking at him.

Chen Ji pulled the boat to the shore, jumped off the boat, and put a thick cloak on Tao Ye's shoulders: "It's so cold, come back with me quickly."

"How did you know I was here?" Tao Ye was surprised but not happy.

"With such a serious injury, who else can you ask for help except your master who lives in Ghost Mountain?" Chen Ji grinned and didn't ask any more questions.

He carefully helped Tao Ye onto the boat, then rowed slowly towards the other side of the river.

Tao Ye looked at the Ghost Mountain which was getting smaller and smaller, and remembered that just now, Si De and Qing Xiu were in the same situation, one rowing a boat and the other riding a boat, gradually going farther and farther away.

In such a similar scene, why is the person rowing beside her Chen Ji? Why not Wang Jing?

"The ministers supported Prince Yongchang as the new king. They also said that Yongchang was too far away to arrive in time, so they recommended Prince Sixu as regent to handle government affairs on behalf of Prince Yongchang. Queen Mother Meng also specially set an auspicious day for the coronation ceremony of the new king, and was waiting for Prince Yongchang to arrive." Chen Ji's words brought Tao Ye back to reality from her reverie.

For some reason, Tao Ye wanted to laugh after hearing these words: "Prince Yongchang is really capable, 'sitting at home, the throne will come from heaven'."

"Haven't you heard of it? 'Planning in the tent, winning thousands of miles away', when does the Prince of Yongchang need to do anything in person?" Chen Ji squatted down beside Tao Ye, put his arm around her shoulders, and asked in confusion: "I was robbed of the first credit by the Shen family father and daughter, and I'm not angry, so why are you so angry?"

Tao Ye instinctively pushed Chen Ji's hand away without thinking, then realized that the boat had already docked, and hurriedly went ashore.

Chen Ji also hurried ashore, pulled Tao Ye and said, "Don't go back to Meixiangxie, come with me to see Prince Sixu. You are one of the heroes today, and Prince Yongchang will definitely reward you, so you don't have to be a singer anymore."

"Who cares about his reward?" Tao Ye's mind once again flashed through the bloody scene of thousands of people being slaughtered in Hualin Garden in an instant, and she pushed Chen Ji away.

Chen Ji felt that something was wrong with Tao Ye and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

"I can't tolerate myself for killing so many people. I can't accept myself like this. Do you understand?" Tao Ye suddenly burst into tears.

"You know?" Chen Ji seemed a little confused, but also a little understood. He searched his body for a long time, but couldn't find a handkerchief or anything like that, so he used his sleeve to wipe Tao Ye's tears.

After a while, he slowly comforted Tao Ye: "In fact, I also think that so many people should not be killed. After you left, I persuaded the Chen family soldiers under my brother, "As long as they are willing to surrender, we can accept their surrender." Unexpectedly, the father and daughter of the Shen family suddenly brought people in from outside. Shen Hui said that those who were disloyal could not be used, and those who were loyal to Chen Xi could not be used, so they were all killed, and Chen Chong was angry with her, and my opinions became nonsense... However, they were the ones who killed people, not you and me, so you don't have to..."

"If I hadn't tied them up, they all would have had chances to resist. They could have escaped by their own abilities. How could we have expected that none of them would be left alive? I can't forgive myself. I just can't forgive myself!" Tao Ye Li Hua cried in the rain, and the more she cried, the sadder she became.

Chen Ji didn’t know what else to say. He really wanted to hug Tao Ye and let her cry in his arms, but he felt that she didn’t want his hug, so he could only stand facing each other quietly.

After crying for a while, Tao Ye turned and left, walking towards Meixiangxie.

"I'll give it to you."

"I want to go for a walk alone."

Chen Ji did not force her. He just watched Tao Ye walk away, and then quietly followed her from a distance until he saw her enter Meixiangxie safely, and then he turned around and went back.

The walk was too long. When she stepped into Meixiangxie, it was already late at night. The guests in the hall had long since left. Only some maids and waiters were there tidying up the tables and chairs and sweeping the floor. Shen Hui was sitting at a table looking through the account book.

Fuxuan was standing beside Shen Hui, when she suddenly saw Taoye appear in the door. She gently bumped into Shen Hui's shoulder and coughed.

Shen Hui looked up and saw Tao Ye approaching with a gloomy face, as if he was ready to accuse her.

"You clearly already had a plan in place, so why did you let Qingxiu take the risk? You could have accepted surrender, so why did you kill so many soldiers? Why? Why?" Tao Ye was very emotional. She stared at Shen Hui, and her questioning gradually turned into a roar.

This was the first time Tao Ye spoke to Shen Hui in this manner.

However, Shen Hui just smiled faintly: "I don't know, are you my boss? Or am I your boss? When do I need to report to you when I make a decision?"

At this moment, Tao Ye really wanted to reach down with both hands and strangle Shen Hui to death, but she no longer had the ability to do so.

"Okay, I'm not qualified to ask you, but I won't be your tool anymore. From now on, I will never see another guest!" Tao Ye ran upstairs with a belly full of anger.

As she walked up the stairs, she heard Shen Hui say from behind: "Whatever you want."

Tao Ye ran back to her room, sat in front of the dressing table, looked at the mirror, and deeply felt her own incompetence and humility. Her greatest value to Shen Hui had been used up, so who could she threaten by saying those words?

Suddenly the door opened and Fuxuan came in with a tray. She placed the tray on the table and removed the red silk covering it, revealing the golden ingots underneath.

"This is two hundred taels of gold. One hundred taels is your reward, and the other hundred taels is Qingxiu's. She said in her suicide note that she would give it to you."

After saying that, Fuxuan went out.

Tao Ye looked at the glittering gold, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. When she sent Qingxiu away, she was still thinking about how to lie about Qingxiu's death and where she was buried when she came back. But the result was that no one cared at all.

She stood up, approached the two hundred taels of gold, and stared at the golden light... It was for this gold that she deceived Qingxiu, causing her life to hang by a thread... And to save Qingxiu, she killed thousands, even tens of thousands of soldiers...

With a "bang", Tao Ye swung her sleeves and threw all the gold ingots and the tray to the ground, and the gold ingots rolled everywhere.

Tao Ye slowly squatted down, leaning against the table, hugging her knees, and couldn't help crying loudly. She hated herself, hated her greed, hated her stupidity, and hated that this day could not be repeated...