Gu Jiangli took a deep breath and suppressed her anger.

If you get angry, you'll fall into Gu Jiangru's trap.

She knew that Gu Jiangru's prejudice against her mother was irreversible.

She also remembered what happened back then.

That's not Mother's fault. Mother and Father did their best. If anyone is to blame, it's the rules of the Crown Prince's residence.

Gu Jiangru's hatred had seeped into her bones and had not dissipated for many years. Even if she were told the truth, she would not believe it.

But there was something else Gu Jiangli wanted to know more about.

She asked, "Where did you learn about witchcraft?"

She and Gu Jiangru grew up together. Gu Jiangru was from a respectable family, and ordinary people would never know how such forbidden and evil arts worked.

If someone hadn't taught her, Gu Jiangru would never have known this method of cursing people.

Needless to say, Aunt Zhang was not the mastermind; she was not the one who orchestrated it at all.

Therefore, there must be other accomplices of Gu Jiangru in the palace, or rather...

It was the person who told her about the methods of witchcraft.

Gu Jiangru smiled smugly: "What's it to you? No matter where I learned this method, it still succeeded."

Seeing that she wouldn't budge, Gu Jiangli took something out of his long sleeve and placed it in front of Gu Jiangru.

As she unwrapped the black cloth, revealing the contents, Gu Jiangru's smug expression instantly cracked.

"Does it look familiar? When Aunt Zhang first came to see you after entering the palace, she should have been wearing this gold hairpin, right?" Gu Jiangli said casually.

This was given to Aunt Zhang when she first entered the palace.

At that time, Aunt Zhang was still wearing this gold hairpin when she met Gu Jiangru. The two had not seen each other for many years, and when they suddenly met, Gu Jiangru must have remembered Aunt Zhang's attire.

Gu Jiangru must remember this hairpin.

If it were just a gold hairpin, it probably wouldn't have been enough to make Gu Jiangru's expression change so drastically.

More importantly, the hairpin was covered in blood and dirt, and its filthy appearance made it easy to tell under what circumstances it had been taken off.

"I overheard outside just now that Her Majesty the Empress said that after you confess your guilt, she will give Concubine Zhang a proper burial, is that right?"

Gu Jiangru's face turned pale, and she stared wide-eyed at Gu Jiangli.

"What do you mean?" Her voice had lost its previous confidence and was trembling slightly.

Gu Jiangli smiled calmly and continued:

"The Empress is lying to you."

"You should know that the palace servants who were executed by order of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager could only have their bodies transported to the mass grave in the north of the city before they were given permission to be buried."

"You may not have been to a mass grave and don't know what it's like, but I can tell you."

"Aside from countless hyenas, wolverines, and vultures, the mass graves are also infested with insects that feed on human flesh."

“A perfectly healthy corpse left there will, within three days, end up with rotten flesh and missing limbs.”

"You should do the math. How many days has it been since Aunt Zhang was beaten to death? It's been at least ten days. The Empress's claim that she will give her a proper burial is utter nonsense."

"Because, I'm afraid your aunt won't even have a whole piece of flesh left."

Gu Jiangli stood up, once again blocking the sunlight from Gu Jiangru's head, and said looking down at her:

"This hairpin? I spent a lot of money to have someone pull it off Zhang Yiniang's body the day after she was beaten to death."

"The person who brought this back told me that Aunt Zhang's body had been gnawed beyond recognition, and this was only the second day after it was sent to the mass grave..."

"No...no way...how could Her Majesty the Empress lie to me?" Gu Jiangru murmured in disbelief.

Oh, right!

Gu Jiangli's eyes flashed, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and he said with a smile:

"You are now a ninth-rank concubine, of low status, and will certainly not be buried in the imperial mausoleum after your death."

"Given that you are still a criminal under investigation, you probably won't be able to enter the concubine's quarters near the imperial mausoleum."

"The Gu family has no right to collect your corpse, you concubine. Hiss... So where will you go after you die?"

In the dead of winter, Gu Jiangru's forehead was covered in a dense layer of cold sweat.

She trembled violently, not from the cold, but from fear.

"No...I don't want to go to the mass grave..."

Gu Jiangli sneered: "Put away your smug look. I can plead with His Majesty to let the Gu family take your body back for a proper burial. If you're more obedient, I can even have a cenotaph built for your aunt."

She knew all too well that for these people, the inability to be buried after death was their greatest fear.

"To die without a burial place" is more than just a curse.

No one would willingly let their body be devoured by hyenas and wolverines; that would mean they wouldn't find peace even in death.

Gu Jiangru was terrified; her previous smugness had vanished completely.

"No...you can't send me to a mass grave! I'm your sister!"

"When you were hurting people before, you never thought I was your sister."

Gu Jiangli gave her a cold look. "Still don't want to talk? Then I'm leaving. The Empress said that with your health, you probably only have two or three days left to live. Once you breathe your last, go and reunite with your aunt."

Gu Jiangli turned around, as if to leave.

"Wait!!" Gu Jiangru shouted hoarsely behind her.

Gu Jiangli stopped, turned his head slightly, and waited for Gu Jiangru to speak.

"It was the Empress! It was the Empress who said it..."

Gu Jiangli narrowed his eyes and listened quietly.

"When the Empress was ill, I went to give her gifts in an attempt to curry favor with her."

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