But then there's the constant pressure from Lu Jin and Lin Peirou—they steal her clothes and food, kick her when she's sick, and even deliberately lead her into dangerous situations.

Shen Qingtang took a deep breath, suppressing the chill in her heart.

Given a second chance at life, she would never let tragedy repeat itself.

She planned everything in advance, making those who owed her taste the bitterness of despair first.

She looked down at the jade bracelet in her palm, the icy touch instantly sobering her up.

The space is still there, and that is her greatest reliance.

In this life, she will protect her true family and make her enemies pay for their crimes in blood.

Path of Exile?

She will turn this road into the road to the underworld for Lu Jin and Lin Peirou.

Seeing Lu Jin leave with Lin Peirou and Jiaojiao, the maids' gazes towards Shen Qingtang grew increasingly hostile, and their whispers became bolder:

"Madam is too willful. She made such a fuss over such a trivial matter and angered the Marquis away, didn't she?"

"That's right, the Marquis treated his wife so well. Now that he's been heartbroken, I'm afraid he'll never love her the way he used to..."

“The young lady is so gentle, yet the madam insisted on hitting her. No wonder the Marquis is angry. I would be heartbroken if I were in her shoes.”

These words were like soft knives, each one stabbing at Shen Qingtang's heart, clearly intended to force her to admit her mistake and back down.

Shen Qingtang merely gave a cold laugh.

Love? Pain?

In her past life, she was blinded by these illusory things, which led to her tragic end.

Looking back now, it's laughable. Love had long been the most worthless thing to her.

What she truly cares about is protecting her family.

What's more, these maids had no idea that she wasn't Shen Qingtang from this world at all. In her previous life, she was a top-notch special agent, with exceptional skills and a resilient mind.

However, after being reborn into this body, her memories and emotions were assimilated. She was also deceived by Lu Jin's sweet words and gradually forgot her own foundation.

Only when she was on her deathbed, when all her memories suddenly came back to her, did she realize with horror that a proud modern person, an agent who had once walked on the edge of a knife, had been so thoroughly schemed against by this ancient couple, and was crushed to death like an ant. What a humiliation!

This hatred has long been etched into my bones.

These maids before her were Lin Peirou's spies planted around her. In her past life, during their exile, they had repeatedly taken advantage of her misfortune. The despicable things they had done in the manor were countless:

She deliberately added cold-natured medicinal herbs to the soup she prepared for Lu Jin, causing him to suffer from severe abdominal pain after drinking it. However, she claimed that it was because she was weak, leading Lu Jin to mistakenly believe that she was making a mountain out of a molehill.

She secretly threw the amulet her mother had embroidered into the charcoal brazier and burned it, but afterwards claimed that she had accidentally knocked it over. This made her cry for half the night while looking at the ashes, and she was even scolded by the old lady for being a "spendthrift".

The charcoal prepared for her in winter was always damp, and her bedding often failed to dry, leaving her freezing every night. Yet, they told others that she had "a special constitution, was afraid of the cold, and was difficult to take care of."

The top-quality tonics that her brother sent were secretly replaced with inferior ones, and some of them had even gone bad.

Shen Qingtang glanced at the feigned concern on the faces of the maids, her eyes as cold as ice.

"It seems I've been too lenient with you all, making you forget your place." She spoke slowly, her voice not loud, but carrying a chilling pressure.

She didn't stop, walking straight towards the four maids. Her movements were so fast they were like a blur, giving them no chance to react.

A few light "clicks" followed, crisp and clean.

Before the four maids could even utter a sound, their eyes wide open, their faces still frozen with shock and disdain, they collapsed limply to the ground.

His neck was twisted at an odd angle.

They're all dead!