Chapter 3: Rebirth

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Yi Xiang’s residence was not far away. When she arrived here with several maids, she was utterly shocked by the scene before her. She hurriedly called for a doctor while shouting for two elder women to restrain Xie Yun and hold her down.

“Beat her! Give it to her hard!”

Several women, accustomed to heavy labor, used brute force to tightly restrain Xie Yun, rendering her immobile. Yet, her eyes remained fixed unwaveringly on Xie Yuming not far away.

The look in her eyes startled Xie Yuming. She immediately said, “There’s no need to spare her life anymore. After all, she’s just a concubine now. Let her die!”

At her command, the women swung their sticks with increased vigor, striking her repeatedly like pounding pork, their expressions fierce and merciless. Xie Yun, already afflicted with a cold, soon ceased to breathe.

The north wind blew, swirling snowflakes in the air, as a thin mist descended, making everything hazy and unclear.

Yet, amidst this white blur, Xie Yuming clearly saw Xie Yun’s eyes still half-open on the ground. She shivered instinctively, waved her hand weakly, and whispered faintly, “Quick, carry her away. Don’t let her stain my sight here.”

The two women nodded, their heads bowed, a flash of pity momentarily flickering across their faces.

...

Xie Yun’s mind drifted in a daze for a long while, floating and unaware of where she was, but fully conscious that she was already dead.

At this realization, a wave of sorrow surged in her heart.

Resentment.

She had failed to unveil Xie Yuming’s true nature, failed to save her grandmother, and couldn’t even save herself. The grief overwhelmed her.

She cared not for the position of the mistress, nor the title of the future marquis’s wife that Cheng Shaoqian was to receive. She had believed Xie Yuming when she said she could save her grandmother, relinquishing the mistress’s place without hesitation, for she held no affection for Cheng Shaoqian anyway.

Her grandmother was the only person in the world who truly loved her, her last line of defense.

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But now, everything was gone.

Perhaps out of divine pity for her fate, even in death, her soul lingered above the Pingjing Marquis’s estate as a wisp of spirit.

She saw her own body, a mass of mangled flesh and blood. She saw Xie Yuming’s pale face, the doctor coming and going, and... her trusted aide Bao Zhu leading a group rushing into the manor.

Right, she had seen Bao Zhu before she died.

When Xie Yuming held her down, unable to move, Bao Zhu had covered her mouth outside the side gate. Xie Yun had frantically signaled for her to leave.

Now, was this a rescue force arriving?

But it was already too late.

Beneath the Qinghui Hall, Bao Zhu stared at the bloodstains on the snow, still uncovered, and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Master, we’re too late.”

Pei Shiqin stood with a group beneath the hall. His sharp phoenix-like eyes deepened with shadow upon seeing the heavy bloodstains, unfathomable and bleak.

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