After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Upon seeing Lu Zhiyuan clearly, Miao Han's first reaction was to cover his head, muttering, "I was only greedy for money, I didn't intend to kill anyone. They were the ones who killed, it has nothing to do with me. Please, let me go!"

Lu Zhiyuan took a step closer.

Miao Han's expression changed drastically when he saw the embroidered shoes on her feet. He turned and ran towards the village, shouting, "I'm willing to pay with my life! I'm willing to pay with my life!"

Liu Ying scratched her head: "I thought Madam had cured his madness."

Lu Zhiyuan: "They've been treated, but whether they're better or not, we'll go and check."

Liu Ying stood on tiptoe: "They've all disappeared, where are we supposed to look?"

Lu Yun: "His house!"

Firefly: ? ? ?

Lu Zhiyuan: "Lu Yun is right, it's his home. When people are sick, they want to stay at home, because only home can give them a sense of security."

Miao Han's house wasn't hard to find; it was the one with the doors and windows closed. Kicking down the front door and the bedroom door, Lu Yun pulled Miao Han out of the closet in one go. By this time, Miao Han had completely shed his madman persona; he was simply filled with fear—the fear he felt when facing Lu Zhiyuan.

Silvery moonlight fell on the dilapidated courtyard, which was filled with a deathly aura. Lu Zhiyuan looked up at the pomegranate tree in the yard. Miao Han was standing behind Lu Zhiyuan, being lifted by the shoulder by Lu Yun. As Lu Zhiyuan slowly turned around, his already unattractive face grew paler and paler. When Lu Zhiyuan had completely turned around, Miao Han's legs went weak, and Lu Yun released him at the right moment, making him kneel on the ground.

He didn't dare look at Lu Zhiyuan's face, which made Lu Zhiyuan very curious.

She was beautiful, and based on people's yearning for beauty, even if they didn't glance at her twice, they wouldn't be afraid to lower their heads. Unless, of course, he knew her, knew her identity, or he had seen the same face before and done something unforgivable to that face.

"Miao Han, do you recognize me? Are the things you've done related to me?"

"No! No, I didn't, I wouldn't have done it!" Miao Han shook his head, trying to shrink himself into a ball.

Lu Zhiyuan: "Admit it, you did it. The curse on Miao Village started because of you!"

Miao Han: "No, it wasn't because of me, it was them...it was their greed that killed you! No, that's not right, it was ghosts, it must be ghosts."

Miao Han's eyes turned red as he lunged at Lu Zhiyuan: "You're a malevolent ghost, I'm going to kill you!"

Lu Yun struck out with a timely palm strike, and Miao Han fell to the ground.

Liu Ying pursed her lips, stepped forward and kicked him twice, muttering, "Is this person even alright? He's talking incoherently, it's impossible to understand him."

"It's alright, there's still plenty of time." Lu Zhiyuan turned around and continued looking at the pomegranate tree. The pomegranate tree was wrapped with a faded red sash, which looked somewhat familiar, like the kind she liked.

Lu Yun saw it and leaped to remove the red sash, but froze the moment he grasped it. The embroidery on the sash was Lu Zhiyuan's work. The lady's patterns were different from those in the palace and among the common people; she had drawn them herself based on real objects, yet they differed from the real thing. She called it two-dimensional or four-dimensional repeating, which was simply a random combination of flowers, leaves, and stems. He couldn't explain it, but the lady's drawing was absolutely unique in the world.

There's also the needlework technique; it's clearly the "firefly" style.

A year ago, they were still in the palace; there was no way the belt would have appeared here.

When Lu Yun handed the belt to Lu Zhiyuan, he said, "It's a bit strange. This belt looks like Madam's."

Liu Ying leaned closer, covered her mouth, and exclaimed loudly, "This...this...this seems to be something I embroidered...but it's not something I embroidered. I've never embroidered a belt like this before."

Lu Zhiyuan examined the belt closely. "You embroidered it, but not now. It was embroidered a few years later, when my child turned one month old. The design is very special; it's only used when a child turns one month old. You're clever enough to have it sewn onto my belt. Also, my child's name is hidden inside."

"A child?" Liu Ying was even more confused, but couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Boy or girl? Is it with His Highness? What's its name? I can't tell."

Yi Meng was a name she adopted when she was sixteen, during a conversation with Ye Bai.

The life of an assassin is monotonous, consisting mainly of training and killing, with the occasional reading of novels. At sixteen, a time when love is in the air, he has never been in a relationship, has never thought about what his crush would look like, but has already decided on the names for his daughter and son.

If a daughter is born, she will be named Yimeng.

If a son is born, he will be named Bufan (meaning "extraordinary").

Ye Bai didn't make fun of her. Instead, he said seriously, "Ye Yimeng, Ye Bufan, they sound like a handsome man and a beautiful woman."

They were indeed a handsome man and a beautiful woman, names typical of those in novels. Strangely, she didn't refute it, probably acknowledging that her child would have the surname Ye. With the past gone and memories faded, she became increasingly certain that the scribe was behind it all.

What exactly does it want to do?

He gripped his belt tightly and said to Lu Yun, "Wake him up."

Finding a joint and gently pinching it, Miao Han woke up covered in cold sweat.

Seeing that Lu Zhiyuan was still terrified, unlike the previous two times, this time Miao Han resigned himself to his fate and said tremblingly, "If Madam wants to torture or kill me, I accept it. It was my greed that led me to harm Madam. I deserve to die. I only beg Madam not to torture me anymore and let me go to the underworld to reunite with my family as soon as possible."

Lu Zhiyuan placed the belt in front of him. "Tell me, what happened a year ago, or even earlier?"

Miao Han clenched his fists nervously and said, "At first, it was just an ordinary first birthday party..."

Miao Village was very poor; farming alone couldn't support the family. A year ago, Miao Han was introduced to work for the Ye family in town. The Ye family, whose occupation was unknown, were incredibly wealthy. Their first birthday banquet alone cost seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver. Besides the food, drinks, and other necessities, there were also numerous gold and silver ornaments prepared for the wife and young lady, each item making everyone who saw them envious.

Seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver is enough for the annual expenses of a high-ranking official's family. For poor people like them, it would take a lifetime to spend it all. He didn't intend to rob or kill; he just wanted to steal a little money to make his and his mother's lives a little more comfortable.

He lied to Madam Ye, saying that according to their local custom, a baby who has reached one month old must go to a temple to "return to its original state." He said there was a Black Goddess Temple in Chunfeng Town, not far from here, and the goddess in the temple was very efficacious. If Master Ye and Madam Ye wanted to go, he could help them find their way, for a fee of one string of cash.

Parents who love their daughter can visit any temple, and besides, the Ye family doesn't lack the money for worship.

Mr. and Mrs. Ye were very generous, giving away five taels of silver in one go.

Miao Han had never seen so much money before. He felt unsafe no matter where he put it, fearing that someone would see it and rob him.

If he had a conscience, he should have told the truth with remorse and stopped there. But he was greedy for money; instead of being grateful for the silver, he thought the Ye family was rich and that he could get more benefits from them.

He had been to Chunfeng Town and knew the origins of the Black Goddess Temple. Master Ye and Madam Ye were unaware that they had suddenly appeared in the town and had come from elsewhere to settle there. He didn't intend to take them to Chunfeng Town; he wanted to take them to the Miao Village to force them to hand over more money.

"Are you stupid?" Liu Ying looked at Miao Han with an indescribable gaze: "Kidnapping and extortion are punishable by imprisonment."