Han Ling heard the sound, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Huo Jin was tapping his throbbing head when he suddenly had a bad feeling. Was he too nervous?

"What time is it?"

"It's only just past Chenshi (7-9 AM)."

In winter, dawn breaks late; the sky only begins to lighten at around 7 AM.

Huo Jin thought to herself that she had to go see Chu Yuan and her daughter today, no matter what!

I miss them so much...

She rolled out of bed and found Han Ling standing there blankly, her brows furrowed, her movements hesitant: "Is something wrong?"

Han Ling blinked. "Did the Grand Eunuch forget? The Emperor summoned you to the palace early this morning."

That's why he came in to help him get dressed.

"I'm not going!" Huo Jin's demeanor was unusually cold.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than the announcement of "Imperial edict has arrived!" came from the front yard.

The one announcing the imperial decree was no longer Little Carp, but another unfamiliar eunuch.

Huo Jin glanced at it, "Where's Little Carp?"

"Reporting to the Grand Eunuch, he is currently with the Emperor and is unable to attend to this matter. I was able to come here temporarily because I had some free time."

That's a perfectly normal answer.

The key point is that the imperial edict is genuine, and it is extremely urgent that Huo Jin must enter the palace immediately.

Huo Jin pinched the bridge of his nose to suppress his irritation. It was not a good time to quarrel with the emperor. After dressing properly, he entered the palace to pay his respects.

...

Here at Iris Cottage.

Chu Yuan shouted for help several times before she finally summoned the two midwives and two maids.

The midwife was quite experienced and could tell at a glance that she was about to give birth, so she quickly started making arrangements.

But when Chu Yuan saw that there were so few of them, a sense of suspicion arose in her heart. "Where are the four maids? The tall, strong ones who look very strong?"

Huo Jin said that these people were skilled, so there was no need to care about their looks.

The two midwives and two maids looked at each other, then shook their heads. "We don't know, didn't they go out on business?"

Chu Yuan keenly sensed something was wrong, but then, a sharp, intense pain struck. She clutched her stomach, too wracked with pain to think of anything else...

My instinct is to lie down; having a baby is the priority.

Anyway, she spent a lot of money to buy Iron Shirt armor to protect herself, so even if something happens, it won't hurt her or her child.

...

Lakeside Villa.

While the young actress was delivering something, Huowu reached her thin hand through the crack in the door and grabbed it. Her wrist, covered in bruises, was frail and pitiful. "Young actress, please, just open the door and let me see the night, okay? Please..."

Because of Huo Jin's orders, Huo Wu was sent to Lakeside Villa and no longer received the treatment she used to. Although she was in shackles, she was still relatively free.

Instead, she was locked in the same room day after day, with the doors and windows sealed shut. At most, a young actor would bring her food and say a few words to her each day.

How is this any different from a prisoner in jail?

Huo Wu didn't cry or make a fuss for nine months, like a dead person. She barely moved when the young actress brought her food, which caused her body to become abnormally thin and frail, and her skin to become bluish-purple and mottled, like a withered old woman who was about to die.

This made the young actress very distressed.

However, he dared not disobey Huo Jin's orders and agree to anything Huo Wu asked.

He learned from his mistake; the last incident had reduced him from the governor's most trusted confidant to a dispensable subordinate.

If this happens again...

Just as he was thinking this, the hand slowly climbed up his arm and finally landed on his Adam's apple, gently tracing its shape. "Little actor, don't you like me?"

"How cruel of you to watch me go crazy! All I asked was for you to open the door so I could get some fresh air, is that not even allowed?"

"I..." The young actor swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, landing right on Huo Wu's fingertips, giving him a burning and infatuated feeling.

The next moment, that hand playfully reached towards his chest, slowly slipping deeper until it loosened his belt...

The young actress trembled, finally unable to hold back, her voice low and hoarse, "I...I'll let you out, you can't run away..."

Huo Wu seemed to chuckle. "Yeah, I won't run away."

The young actor's eyes flickered. He wasn't entirely without conflict, but...

Many things are not governed by reason.

Even knowing that Huo Wu was likely up to something and that what had happened was very likely to happen again, he still agreed with a sliver of hope.

As a result, as soon as Huo Wu stepped out of the room, she rushed into the little actor's arms and gave him a white knife that went in and a red knife that came out.

The young actor, "..."

He opened his lips, clutching his stomach, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but then felt there was nothing to say.

This isn't Huo Wu's fault; it was his own choice. He knew the chances of her reforming were so slim, yet...

Huo Wu, looking mad, drew a sharp dagger. The dagger failed to kill Huo Jin, but it still drew blood.

She watched the young actor fall, and after a while, she knelt down and closed his still-open eyes.

A cruel, bloodthirsty smile curled at the corner of his lips. "It's your own fault for being stupid, don't blame me."

Everyone makes mistakes, and so did she. Since she made her choice, she had to accept whatever the outcome might be.

Fire Dance mounted her horse, wielding a sharp blade, and swiftly streaked across the night like a streak of red cloud.

She was going to kill that woman. Huo Jin didn't belong to her; his body, his heart, and his soul should all be surnamed Huo.

Heaven and hell cannot do without him!

On the narrow path, four other horses were galloping at high speed, heading in four different directions, with fireworks of different colors exploding one after another in the sky.

Huo Xi suddenly yanked the reins, his usually composed brows furrowing deeply. "Oh no, we've fallen for their trap!"

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