Li Jiahao obediently moved to the side as he obeyed his beautiful wife's words. Since, his wife told him she can take care of her problems by herself, he would not risk offending her over his desire to interfere. Otherwise, he won't know where he would sleep today.

"Why are you silent? Didn't you want to curse me to hell, Xiao Ying? Cat got your tongue?" Lu Meilin smiled ever so elegantly and if one saw her, they would not be able to take their eyes off of her.

"Lu......Mei.........Li–n." Zhu Xiuying spoke, her voice hoarse and the words were almost like a whisper. Her sapphire eyes darted towards Lu Meilin with zero emotions. Then, she suddenly smiled.

Lu Meilin and even Li Jiahao was taken aback. Li Jiahao hated that smile. That smile and eyes which looked at him like a predator eyeing its prey. Lu Meilin remembered memories almost forgotten. They seemed to see a shadow of Jing's first beauty in Zhu Xiuying again.

But of course,it was all imagination. That Zhu Xiuying who used to wear the best silk and brocade, ate the best food and was raised with gold and jade was no more. She had a slender waist and perfect body, porcelain white skin, ruddy red lips with cute teeth. The most important part was her eyes. Blue in colour – they glowed like precious sapphire stones. The Zhu Xiuying now had no meat left on her body, it was all skin and bones. Her once beautiful body was covered in dirt and countless scars. Her red lips didn't befit her surname¹; it was bloodless. But her eyes,even with their luster lost, still seemed to shine like in the past.

"C...ong.....ratula..tion..s." Zhu Xiuying smiled and for once her body seemed to be flowing with energy.

Lu Meilin unconsciously frowned and Li Jiahao pulled her a few steps back and pointed his sword at the weak Zhu Xiuying. Zhu Xiuying smiled even more at the action. She subconsciously wanted to rise her hands but they didn't have any energy.

'When was the last time she felt so helpless?' Zhu Xiuying reminisced her past. Time seemed to have stopped.

She was 3. Still a little-toothed girl with chubby cheeks. She smiled and ran all the way to her Ah Niang's¹ courtyard. Her mother was sitting in a pavilion in the midst of cherry blossom trees. She stretched her arms and hugged her mother. Her mother lifted her up and made the little Xiuying sit on her lap. Her mother's smile was very beautiful; peach blossoms fell in the background, her blue eyes shone in the sunlight. They watched the blossoms slowly fall giving off a sense of harmony and peace.

But, the little Xiuying didn't know this would be the last time. She would never see her mother so healthy again.

She turned 4. Her mother fell pregnant and gradually her body grew weaker day by day. One day, her mother gave birth to her sickly brother at the cost of her life.

Her father threw her and her brother to the nanny and dotes on his other children. The servants, who leaned where the wind blew² didn't sincerely take care of them. They did it only on the surface. Then, Zhu Xiuying took matters into her own hands.

She practised her skills and came to be known as the first beauty of Jing with impeccable beauty and flawless reputation. Yet, when the prince brought back his lover and broke off their engagement without a feeling, her father cast her away and drove her brother and her out of the family. Her brother, sick and weary died on the way to her mother's province. While she fell off a cliff and died a tragic and gruesome death.

Then she went back to when she was five. Her mother had just died and brother was still a newborn baby. This time, she schemed and convinced her maternal grandfather to come to the capital. The old man who loved his only daughter and grandchildren came along with her uncle,aunt and cousins and they suppressed her father and his concubine.

But,in the end, history repeated itself. The prince broke off their engagement again and this time her father framed her. Her maternal family³ who always supported her were dragged down with her and executed while she was subjected to public whipped.

Zhu Xiuying came back from the daze when a drop of blood dripped on the ground. She looked up to find that unconsciously she had held her hand against the sword which cut her hand.

She looked up to Lu Meilin and the two saw mutual understanding in the other's eyes. Lu Meilin suddenly moved and used took an injection from her sleeve and injected it.

Before taking her last breath,Zhu Xiuying murmured,"Burn....Ash....river." and closed her eyes forever. She only heard the duo slightly whisper,"Rest in peace,Xiao Ying."

So she did.

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¹ Ah Niang(啊娘) is a informal way of referring to one's mother. Ah(啊) is calling out while Niang(娘) means 'mother'.

²The phrase 'lean where the wind blows' is used to when one acts according to the situation.

³ Here, maternal family means Zhu Xiuying's mother's family. When referring to her father's home, it would be referred to as paternal family.

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