The Yan family was about to marry off a daughter, and good tidings were on the horizon, filling both the inside and outside of the estate with joy; even the commoners of Xiangcheng were abuzz with lively discussions.
Lady Sun was no slouch either, calling on people to tidy up both inside and out, hanging lanterns and decorations all around.
For the grand marriage, it was required to go to the Capital City, but fortunately, there was still so ti, and everyone would be able to make it back.
While so were happy, others felt resentful.
Huai Xini, from behind her window, listened to the maids under the outer wall discussing how Yan Wanqing and the Crown Prince were soon to be wed.
Then she looked at herself, locked up in this damp and chilly place, tortured to the point where she looked neither human nor ghost-like, and the hatred in her heart grew like vines in the dark night, reaching a point where it was do or die.
She was not content.
Not content at all.
Why should Yan Wanqing, so high and mighty, have everything?
Why should she, Huai Xini, end up with a wretched death, abandoned by all?
Why?
"We have to bring food to that monster again, I really don’t want to," a maid said with extre reluctance.
The second maid sighed, "Miss Six said, this woman is very important, she must not die yet, so just endure the hardship for now, and later you can ask sister Cong Ge for a bigger reward."
ntion of a reward eased the first maid’s mind a bit.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open to enter.
The room was very dark.
But one could vaguely make out, with the help of the sunlight streaming in from the high window on the wall, a woman in the room, her limbs bound in iron chains.
She was disheveled, and her once-white clothes now bore an indiscernible color.
With a complexion pale as a ghost, especially those eyes suddenly looking towards her, the maid nearly dropped the food tray she was carrying.
She trembled as she took the food out from the tray.
"Today... it’s millet congee," she scooped the congee with a spoon, "I added so dried dates specially, try it."
The maid walked towards Huai Xini, holding the congee.
This scene repeated every single day.
Each ti was agony for the first maid.
"Co closer," a hoarse voice rang out, as Huai Xini softly spoke.
Today the madwoman seed to be in a surprisingly good mood.
The maid relaxed a little, scooping a spoonful of congee to her lips, "It’s not hot, perfect for eating now."
She had tested the temperature when she brought it from the kitchen.
After eating half a bowl of congee, Huai Xini felt slightly better.
That gaze, sharp as a serpent’s, shifted over the body of the first maid.
The maid felt pins and needles all over her body, "If you’re done eating, this servant, this servant will leave now."
She put the bowl and spoon back in the food tray and was about to leave.
"I’m thirsty," Huai Xini called out directly, "I want water."
The first maid looked at her cracked lips; although it was almost deep autumn, it was still very hot.
Moved by compassion, she set down the tray and poured a cup of water from the teapot, then went over to Huai Xini, holding the cup, "It’s only herbal tea."
Huai Xini drank the bowl of herbal tea with the help of her hand.
While drinking, Huai Xini kept her eyes fixed on the maid.
She always did this.
The first maid seldom dared to look back.
But today, perhaps because Huai Xini was more subdued, she couldn’t help but look back a few tis.
It had to be said, despite her malicious heart, this woman had a pair of very attractive eyes, clear and distinct, very captivating.
Wait... captivating?
The maid realized sothing was amiss when she no longer had control over her body.
She watched helplessly as she placed a cup on the table, then took out a handkerchief from her pocket, walked over to Huai Xini, and wiped the water stains from her lips before kneeling down before her submissively.
Huai Xini looked at the maid before her,
and a cold smirk hung at the corner of her lips, "All the days spent have not been in vain; I have finally beguiled you."
The Huai Family of the Southern Border also had a secret technique passed down only to won and not n, which the Elders said was an ancient Fox Technique.
Huai Xini had only learned the basics and had never used it in front of anyone.
But she had been tornted to near madness by that little brat Yan Lingzhen recently, and thus the thought had occurred to her.
Yan Lingzhen was naturally suspicious and acted unpredictably, with her mind filled with malicious thoughts, so Huai Xini didn’t want to use it on her.
After much thought, she decided to use it on the maid who brought her als every day.
"What’s your na?" Huai Xini asked.
The maid replied truthfully, "Lu Yin."
At this mont, her eyes were dull, and if one looked closely, one could faintly see a strand of red in the depths of her eyes, but it was fleeting.
This was the aftereffect of falling under the Fox Technique.
"Lu Yin, from now on, you serve ," Huai Xini commanded directly.
Lu Yin imdiately replied, "Yes, Master."
Finally, Huai Xini revealed a trace of genuine delight.
"Master, would you like to release you?"
Huai Xini shook her head, "No need." Now care must be taken not to startle the snake in the grass.
The people she was dealing with each had countless sches up their sleeve.
If she showed the slightest flaw, she might face a doom from which there was no return.
For now, they had left her with her limbs intact; who could say for sure about the future?
Huai Xini planned to take advantage of the ti when Yan Wanqing and Xiao Pingfeng led most of their troops back to the Capital City to find an opportunity to break free.
"You go out first, and be careful not to raise any suspicions," Huai Xini instructed.
Lu Yin walked out with the food box, locking the door behind her.
The next ti she ca, Lu Yin would bring the things Huai Xini wanted, things that only those from the Southern Border knew—poisonous insects.
Currently severely injured and her body depleted, she feared she would quickly be overtaken if she fled.
In extraordinary tis, extraordinary asures must be employed.
Poisonous insects were her only option now.
Of course, Lu Yin didn’t possess such vile creatures, but she, Huai Xini, did.
She had told Lu Yin where she hid her things and instructed her on getting soone to fetch them. In three to five days, or as little as two to three, these items would all be back in her, Huai Xini’s, possession.
"Yan Wanqing, oh Yan Wanqing, when I make my escape, let’s see if you watch your lover co after or continue to marry you!"
The Concentric Gu was a shackle specially designed by the Southern Border for lovers.
Once the Mother Poisonous Insect was apart, the Child Poisonous Insect would be in tornt!
Thinking of this, Huai Xini sneered sinisterly.
The house was silent except for the conspiracy creeping along the mold on the corners of the walls, spreading slowly.
anwhile, in Xiangcheng, the osmanthus flowers blood to perfection, filling the city with their fragrant scent.
Especially in the evening, when the setting sun shone on Xiangcheng’s moat and the golden osmanthus, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful.
Yan Lingzhen stood under the osmanthus tree with her older sister, taking a deep breath.
"It slls so good!" Yan Lingzhen couldn’t resist inhaling deeply again.
Such a fragrance was irresistible.
Cong Ge ca from afar with a small basket, "Now that the sun has set, this is the perfect mont to pick the osmanthus blossoms while they’re in full bloom. Dried to make tea or baked into cakes, they’re incredibly sweet and delicious."
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