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

He Laonian threatened He Sheng, saying that everyone living there was like him, a vicious person who had been to prison. He warned that if people found out she was a woman, her fate would be unimaginable.

At that time, He Sheng couldn't tell whether He Laonian's words were true or false. She only knew that there were no women in this place, only men. A woman, especially a woman of some beauty, would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den if she fell into a place full of men, at the mercy of everyone.

He Sheng listened to He Laonian's words and hid underground all day long. No one knew what he did to her.

He Sheng pulled open his clothes, rolled up his sleeves, and showed everyone that there were bite marks everywhere.

“Is it scary? This is what you can see. He bites even harder in those places where he can’t be seen.” He Sheng’s eyes were filled with tears. “He said I came from that place and that my specialty was how to please men. He made me sing him songs, those little tunes. I didn’t know how, so he tore open my clothes and poured scalding hot wine on me. He made me kneel and serve him, and if I didn’t do something right, he would beat and scold me. Do you know why I’m wearing a hat? Because my hair has become like this.”

He Sheng took off his hat, revealing sparse hair and bald patches.

He Sheng's hair was forcibly pulled out.

Not only his hair, but his ears were also deformed, and there was a scar behind his ears.

Who would believe that He Laonian, who appears to be honest and unassuming on the surface, is actually like this in private?

“When I was sold into the brothel, I wanted to live; when He Laonian took me to my grave, I wanted to die. When I wanted to live, I couldn't; when I wanted to die, I couldn't. What did I do wrong? Tell me, what did I do wrong?” He Sheng hysterically retorted, “Just because my surname is He, just because I am a daughter of the He family, do I have to live this life that is worse than death?”

He Sheng was born to one of Master He's concubines. When the He family was at its peak, her mother hadn't even entered the family, let alone become their daughter. She was born when the He family was declining, never enjoying a day of wealth and privilege, but instead suffering constant bullying within the household. Even her mother was sold off by the mistress of the house due to the He family's downfall. When the He family was confiscated for committing a crime, she was sixteen years old, the only unmarried and unengaged young lady in the He family.

Her sisters were all protected by their husbands' families and spared from disaster, but she was the only one sold to that kind of place.

When reading storybooks, I thought there was genuine affection even in brothels and red-light districts. But once I entered those places, I realized that I had no choice but to obey.

She escaped, met He Laonian, and ended up escaping from the first level of hell to the eighteenth.

When she learned she was pregnant, she considered aborting the child. He Laonian wouldn't allow it, and tied her hands and feet until the child grew in her belly day by day, until she could feel his little hands and feet moving inside her body, until she felt a strange maternal love, only then did he give her some freedom.

After the child was born, she thought about living a good life with him, but He Laonian didn't think so.

During her pregnancy, he was somewhat hesitant, fearing he might harm the baby. But after the baby was born, before she was even out of confinement, he started punching and kicking her again. She endured it, but she simply couldn't take it anymore. Then, she overheard someone saying that they were moving away from this place, and other thoughts began to take hold.

She knew perfectly well that He Laonian wouldn't let her go. In the underworld, she could at least live a life neither fully human nor fully ghostly; once she left, she would truly become a ghost. And then there was her child, growing up day by day; she didn't know how to face him.

She prepared a large table of dishes, intending to kill He Laonian after he had eaten and drunk his fill. Unexpectedly, before she had even finished eating, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“You’re lying. You didn’t just wait until He Laonian had eaten and drunk his fill before killing him; you’ve been planning to kill him for a long time.” Lu Zhiyuan walked up to He Sheng and said, “While your plight is certainly pitiful, and He Laonian certainly deserved to die, it’s also true that you had premeditated this.”

"Yes, I've wanted to kill him for a long time!" He Sheng said, his eyes red. "Didn't he deserve to die? Didn't a wicked ghost like him deserve to die?"

“He deserves to die!” Lu Zhiyuan first affirmed He Sheng’s words, then said, “But who turned him into a demon? He was originally an honest and loyal servant of the He family, who only thought about serving the He family.”

"But what does this have to do with me? I wasn't the one who hurt him."

“It wasn’t you, it was your brother and father.” Lu Zhiyuan sighed. “Your brother framed him because of his loyalty, and your father, knowing he was innocent, still chose to protect his son, sending this loyal servant who was devoted to the He family to a dark and hopeless prison. The humiliations you suffered were also what he endured in prison for three years. His twisted personality was formed little by little during those three years.”

"Do you think he didn't want to take revenge on your brother, on your father? Do you think he didn't want to vent the hatred in his heart? He did, but the He family fell, and his enemies were dead."

He was filled with grievances and resentment, but had nowhere to confide in.

People tend to sympathize with the person who is already dead.

Even if the yamen acquits He Laonian, it still won't quell the speculations outside. They'll say, "He's really innocent, why should he be locked up in jail for three years?"

Unable to prove his innocence and finding no help, he could only wander the streets like a homeless stray dog, scavenging for food. His resentment grew little by little with his tragic fate, until he met Gu An, at which point he began to hide his bitterness.

When he met He Sheng on the street, he genuinely wanted to save her, after all, he was a kind person and couldn't bear to see others suffer the same fate as him.

But her surname was He, she was the daughter of Master He, and the younger sister of the second young master He. All the resentment she had managed to hide poured out. He Sheng became his tool for revenge against the He family.

He Sheng should blame He Laonian, for He Laonian is innocent. And He Laonian? Who should she blame? Should she blame herself for her loyalty to the He family, and blame the He family for their heartlessness and ingratitude towards her?

Ultimately, this whole affair originated with the He family and eventually fell on He Sheng's shoulders.

There is no right or wrong, no one is truly innocent; it can only be said that fate has given way, and no one can escape being toyed with by fate.

He Sheng laughed, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.

Lu Zhiyuan was right. If her second brother hadn't framed He Laonian, and if their father hadn't protected him, He Laonian wouldn't have suffered that fate. Without that experience, He Laonian wouldn't have become psychologically twisted. And without that psychological twistedness, he wouldn't have treated her that way.

The person who caused this has died, and it is she and her child who have suffered an undeserved consequence.

He Sheng coughed up a mouthful of foul blood and reached out to her child.

"I learned to cook from the He family, and it's all shady, underhanded methods. I used to despise them, but I ended up using them to harm people. I took the child with me because I didn't trust anyone to take care of him. With parents like that, even when he grows up, he'll be laughed at."

As He Sheng spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Lu Zhiyuan took her pulse and shook her head: "She has taken poison, there's no saving her."