The heavy courtyard gate creaked shut, shutting out the damp world outside and the suffocating imperial pressure.

However, the gold lock and jade bracelet, like red-hot branding irons, were left on the octagonal table in the center of the main room. In the dim light, they exuded a silent yet extremely heavy sense of oppression, mocking their brief peace.

The air inside seemed to freeze, with only An'an's soft, uneasy sobs in Chun Tao's arms and the pattering rain outside the window.

“Madam…” Chun Tao held An’an, her voice trembling with sobs, her face ashen. “It was His Highness the Crown Prince… How could he… He clearly promised…”

"Shut up!" Shen Yuewei abruptly interrupted her, her voice shrill and piercing. She turned around, her back to the glaring gift, her chest heaving violently. The shock, anger, disappointment, and chilling betrayal she had just suppressed erupted like volcanic lava, scorching her reason. She walked to the desk, pulled open a drawer, and took out a small bamboo whistle—a token left to her by Xiao Chengjing to summon his most secretive power, "Shadow," in emergencies.

The whistle was urgent and sharp, piercing through the rain, carrying a resolute determination as if everything would perish.

Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, a dark figure appeared silently in the shadows of the window frame, kneeling on one knee. The newcomer was completely shrouded in night clothes, revealing only a pair of emotionless, deep-sea-like eyes. He was one of the Crown Prince's elusive "Shadows."

Shen Yuewei grabbed the paper and pen that had been prepared on the table beforehand, and her pen flew across the paper, the ink almost soaking through the thin paper. Her handwriting had never been so sharp, angry, and filled with a desperate, ruthless resolve:

—Xiao Chengjing:

---The Empress's decree has arrived! A golden lock and jade bracelet—a generous reward—are bestowed upon her, her longing for her grandson overflowing, and her desire to return to the capital with her daughter to "share the joys of family life!"

--- This small courtyard in Jiangnan has become a plaything in the hands of you and your son? Who else but you knows the whereabouts of my daughter and me?!

--- The promises of the past still ring in my ears! Since you were determined to push An'an into that den of wolves and tigers, treating my daughter and me as pawns to be manipulated, why didn't you end it all back then, so as not to be hypocritical and incur hatred today!

---What do you intend to do?!

---Shen Yuewei's words were written in tears

After writing, before the ink was even completely dry, she folded the letter tightly, stuffed it into a waterproof leather pouch, and threw it at the shadowy figure under the window. Her voice was as cold as ice in the dead of winter: "Immediately! Hand this letter to Xiao Chengjing personally! I want his answer in person!"

The shadowy figure caught the leather pouch, his fingers touching the handwriting on the paper, which seemed to carry the burning anger of its owner. A subtle flicker of emotion seemed to cross his eyes. Without any further movement or words, he simply nodded heavily, and with a swift movement, vanished without a trace, like an ink droplet merging into rainwater.

Shen Yuewei slumped into a chair, trembling slightly. She stared at the dazzling gold and jade on the table, at the endless cold rain outside the window, and felt a chill creep from her heart to every limb. She reached out and gently stroked An'an's soft hair. The child looked at her with innocent eyes, filled with pure naivety and dependence.

"An'an... Mother won't... will never let anyone take you away..." Her voice was soft as a murmur, tinged with broken sobs, yet incredibly firm, as if she were making a vow to heaven and earth, "Never!"