Her eyes were filled with blood, Gu Qinghan couldn't stop vomiting. She looked at the man who had been with her for ten years. Yesterday, he still used sweet words to comfort his parents who were far away on the battlefield, writing them a letter assuring them of their safety. Today, he stabbed himself in the chest with a sword.

"Xiao Yinghuai, you're so ruthless…" Gu Qinghan could no longer muster the strength to speak a complete sentence. Pain, a searing pain, spread throughout her body, causing her to tremble uncontrollably. Before she could utter another word, the most trusted person emerged from behind the screen—her cousin, Gu Xu.

Gu Qinghan couldn't help but reach out to Gu Xu and plead, "Sister, save me, save me..." Unexpectedly, Gu Xu kicked her hand away and took hold of Xiao Yinghuai instead.

"Young Master, how come it's still not done~"? Gu Xu and Xiao Yinghuai's intimate actions by the side let Liang Ming understand. It turned out that the two had already plotted against him, secretly colluding and betraying him together.

At this moment, Gu Qinghan felt utterly defeated. All her strength seemed to have been drained away. Though she was usually the one who cried easily, she couldn't bring herself to shed a tear now.

The crimson wedding robe, a gift from the youngest sister of the Third House. Seeing it brought back memories; she had given it to me with hands covered in wounds, but she blindly believed Gu Xu's lie: that the Third House was merely trying to marry her off and then seize her family's property, completely disregarding the value of this wedding robe.

Her hand clutched her wedding dress as she took her last breath. But her soul remained, watching the man laugh boisterously with another woman. Xiao Yinghuai searched frantically for land and properties while Gu Xu found all her jewelry and adorned herself piece by piece.

"Gu Qinghan, everything you have now belongs to me hahahahaha..."

Gu Xu's face twisted, hatred burning for Gu Qinghan. They were born from the same mother, yet Gu Qinghan was showered with love and favor, always ranking first in the capital in both appearance and talent, a dream girl for every young man in the city. In contrast, Gu Xu felt utterly dull and insignificant.

Why, after eighteen years of enduring Gu Qinghan, did he hide in the shadows while pretending to care for her? He attended lavish banquets and deliberately seduced Xiao Yinghuai, all while secretly draining Gu Qinghan's fortune.

When the simple sister giggled as she looked at Xiao Yinghuai, a bellyband belonging to Gu Xu was tucked away in his pocket.

Thinking of this, Gu Xu could no longer hold back her laughter. As she laughed, she poured out all the secret things she had been doing over the years.

Gu Qinghan's face was expressionless, her heart feeling as if it were being sliced away piece by piece.

When the already bribed guards brought in several unconscious people, Gu Qinghan could no longer control herself and looked at them in surprise. There were maidservants and little guards who had grown up with her, as well as her younger sister from the third house...

Every face was covered in filth, their white clothes stained red. They were splashed awake with a basin of cold water and struggled to open their eyes: "Miss!" "Miss..." "Sister"

Seeing Gu Qinghan's pitiful state, they widened their eyes and shouted in unison.

We can't imagine, Gu Qinghan, who was the most afraid of pain in our daily life, would cry from a slight scratch, how painful it would be to be stabbed by a sword.

Xiao Yinghuai and Gu Xu did not give them much time to grieve, and they described in detail how Gu Qinghan looked when she discovered the truth. Seeing their painful expressions, they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Gu Qinghan's maid, Chun Tao, stared at them fiercely, and snarled:

"You dogs! Even as a ghost, I won't let you get away with this! You may have seized the property, but you're nothing but worthless pickled scraps. Ten lifetimes of yours couldn't compare to Miss's single strand of hair!"

This sentence enraged the two who had just been laughing boisterously. They both attacked, and with three swords they sent them sprawling before Gu Qinghan.

Gu Qinghan wanted to catch them, but her arms went straight through them. She tried again and again, and finally couldn't help but burst into tears. Everything that happened tonight was too much for her to bear.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the door, with the sounds of fighting and screams. Swords clashed in the air.

Slowly raising his head, he saw the most unexpected person—Crown Prince Ye Muyan.

Ye Muyan's usually cold face was no longer the same. It was abnormally ferocious, his eyes as dark and deep as ink. He ordered his subordinates to bind the man, then strode straight towards Gu Qinghan.

He took out a handkerchief from his bosom and gently wiped the stain off his face.

"Qingqing is the prettiest, isn't she?" He said, slowly picking up Gu Qinghan and holding her horizontally.

Gu Qinghan couldn't believe it. She usually had no dealings with the prince, and because she'd heard rumors about his cruelty, even when she saw him at palace banquets, she trembled with fear, making her fear quite obvious.

Ye Muyan strode away, carrying Gu Qinghan in his arms.

Approaching the door and facing away from the house, he ordered, “Hang these two things on the city wall to be exposed to the sun every day. Every day, write a hundred pages of repentance and blessings for Gu Qinghan. If you don’t finish writing, carve off a piece. For those who have been harmed, give them an honorable burial.”

The house owners seemed to be choked, intimidated by the prince's presence. The prince's attendants knelt and bid farewell to the prince, then, according to the prince's orders, they led the two dumbfounded individuals away.

Gu Qinghan saw Ye Muyan's eyelashes tremble slightly, his eyes red.

Ye Muyan carried her back to the Huangdong Palace like this. The palace maids knew better than to stay and gave them space.

Gu Qinghan watched the prince, who was once her greatest fear, bury his face in her neck now, tears streaming down her cheek and onto her shoulder.

His tears fell for a long while. After a long silence, Ye Muyan gently placed him on his bed.

Gu Qinghan didn't know how, her breath even stopped for a moment because of him.

"Qingqing, if I had known earlier…" Ye Muyan ruffled his hair, took out a delicate and intricately carved box, and slowly opened it.

Gu Qinghan saw a golden hairpin in the box. It was shaped like a phoenix, with an apricot-red gemstone embedded in the center. Each feather of the phoenix was adorned with a pearl, and the entire hairpin shimmered in the firelight.

He gently took the golden hairpin and placed it in her hair, saying softly, "It should have been given to you when you came of age. But I was worried that Qingqing would be afraid of me, so I waited two years."

Gu Qinghan hadn't recovered from the shock when she was carried into the innermost chamber of this palace.

The heavy door was gently pushed open by Ye Muyan, as if afraid of startling something. The room behind the door was filled with all the same style of clothes that had been worn before, and even one wall was dedicated to displaying jewelry of the same design.

Gu Qinghan looked again and found that not only were there more of the same style she had worn, but also many new pieces of jewelry.

Ye Muyan seemed to know the doubt and slowly said: "I just want to have a part of Qingqing, so I asked someone to make an exact replica."

Seeing these jewelry pieces outside, I couldn't help but imagine how beautiful they would look on me, so I bought them all.

"If Qingqing knew this, she would definitely never see me again..."

At this point, Ye Muyan's eyes became even deeper, and his whole person was falling into madness. He forced himself to wake up.

"Qingqing, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have given you away, causing you to end up like this."

"Qingqing, does it hurt? Your skin gets red and swollen even with slightly rough fabric."

"Qingqing..."

Ye Muyan couldn't help but kiss her forehead, inch by inch, slowly downwards, about to kiss Gu Qinghan's plump and round... Gu Qinghan couldn't help but hold her breath. The place where she was kissed by the prince was also numb.

Yet Ye Muyan stopped at this moment, he tightened his grip on Gu Qinghan's pearl pendant, the madness in his eyes surged again.

"My Qingqing, she belongs to me only!"

After that, he bowed his head and gazed at the place where he used to ponder day and night. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Between his teeth, Ye Muyan growled fiercely, "If I could do it all over again, I would have protected Qingqing."

Hearing this, Gu Qinghan didn't have time to react before she felt her soul being dragged by a force, and she completely fainted.