Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
“Enough talk!”
“My lady said to slash her face and stab her twice more. The general must never recognize her!”
I gritted my teeth and seized a broken bone.
I couldn’t make a sound.
And I couldn’t die.
Shen Zhiwan had deceived Linyuan for ten years. Even now, with me close to death, she wouldn’t let me go.
Footsteps circled where I lay.
Someone nudged the body beside me with a foot.
“Xia Lian, it’s full of corpses here, and pitch-black. How are we supposed to find her?”
“Let’s go back and say it’s done. She lost so much blood—she can’t possibly survive. We dumped her anywhere. We won’t find her quickly.”
Xia Lian was silent for a moment.
“All right. The general’s still at the inn. If we stay out too long, he’ll grow suspicious.”
Their footsteps faded.
At last, my rigid back relaxed.
Blood was still seeping out.
Feeling my way, I crawled in the opposite direction.
Every movement tore at the wound.
I bit my tongue hard to keep myself conscious.
I had survived the rebels’ blades ten years ago.
I would survive today, too.
I had to live.
In the finest room at the inn, candlelight flickered.
Zhiwan clung to Linyuan, crying.
“Do you blame me?”
“If it hadn’t been to save our baby, I would never have agreed to the physician’s method.”
“She looks so much like A-Yue. It hurt me terribly, too.”
He looked at her.
That voice had sounded so familiar.
Ten years ago, A-Yue had followed behind him and called him exactly that.
He stood and patted Zhiwan’s shoulder.
“Don’t dwell on it. Take care of yourself and the baby.”
Alarmed, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Where are you going?”
He didn’t turn back.
“To see whether the medicine is ready.”
He opened the door and left, his heart in turmoil.
He wanted to go to the side hall and see for himself.
But he stopped abruptly in the rear courtyard.
There stood the physician and Qiuju, the maid who had attended Zhiwan.
She handed him a purse.
“My lady’s reward.”
He weighed it in his hand, smiling until his wrinkles bunched together.
“Thank my lady for her generosity. But the medicine to protect her pregnancy…”
Qiuju cut him off in a low voice.
“Why are you so stubborn, old man?”
“She isn’t pregnant. What does she need that medicine for?”
“Give her a few ordinary tonics for her blood and vitality. Brew them and bring them in for show. Nothing too strong that might hurt her!”
The physician nodded repeatedly.
“Of course. I understand.”
“I poured all that blind woman’s heart blood into the drain long ago. I won’t let the general discover anything.”
Qiuju laughed coldly.
“Good. You know your place.”
“That blind woman was just unlucky. Why did she have to resemble the Xie family’s dead young lady?”
“My lady’s scheme was brilliant—pretend to miscarry, then demand her blood. A woman killed without anyone noticing, and the general still thinks my lady is the victim.”
Linyuan burst out and kicked over the brazier.
The physician and Qiuju fell to the ground in terror.
He seized them by their throats.
“What did you say?”
“Say it again!”
The veins on his hands bulged.
“Spare us, General! It was my lady! She ordered everything!”
“She isn’t pregnant! The miscarriage was a lie, and so was the need for heart blood!”
“She couldn’t bear that blind woman looking like your sister!”
Thunder seemed to explode in his ears.
How could that be?
Wan’er was always remembering to pray for A-Yue.
How could she resent it?
Panicked, he turned and rushed toward the side hall.
It was empty.
“Where is she?”
“G-General… My lady thought she brought bad luck. She ordered Xia Lian to throw her out at the burial ground…”
His suspicions deepened.
As he ran from the courtyard, he met Zhiwan coming toward him.
She frowned slightly and reached for his arm.
“What’s wrong? Are the servants neglecting the medicine? My stomach still hurts…”
“You aren’t pregnant!”
Her face went white.
“Listen, let me explain…”
He flung her hand away and left without looking back.
She screamed after him.
“You’re treating me this way over a blind woman? I’m your lawful wife! You married me properly!”
At the burial ground, the night wind cut to the bone.
Dragging my ruined body, I kept crawling.
Ahead lay a broken stone marker.