"Ah!" she heard herself scream in despair.

The cicadas' chirping suddenly stopped, and the entire garden fell into a deathly silence.

Uncle Li froze in mid-air, his gold-rimmed glasses hanging askew on his nose, his pupils behind the lenses contracting violently in terror.

Madam Cheng murmured in a daze, her jade arms still unconsciously wrapped around his neck, her hair disheveled like clouds swept by a raging wind.

Xu Zhuohua staggered backward.

"Zhuohua?" Uncle Li's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against rust, as he hurriedly straightened his crooked collar. "Madam isn't feeling well, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Madam Cheng suddenly uttered a soft, dreamlike murmur, her hot breath brushing against his stubble-covered chin.

Xu Zhuohua looked at the blush that hadn't faded from the man's ears and suddenly remembered the complicated look in Uncle Li's eyes when Madam Cheng held Cheng Yuguang's hand and said, "Qirui will take care of everything at home," three days ago before Cheng Yuguang left.

The silvery moonlight pierced through the wisteria trellis, cutting out patterns of light and shadow on Uncle Li's distorted face.

Xu Zhuohua watched his Adam's apple bob up and down, but his eyes behind his glasses were like those of a venomous snake. His earlier astonishment had long since turned into a thick killing intent.

Madam Cheng was still muttering under the thin blanket, her fingertips unconsciously grasping at the air. This scene made Xu Zhuohua's stomach churn.

"You've mistaken me for someone else." Uncle Li's voice carried a chilling calmness, and the sound of his leather shoes crunching over gravel was exceptionally clear in the silent courtyard.

"Shut up!" Xu Zhuohua's index finger was tightly gripping the trigger, but the gun made a slight clicking sound due to the trembling.

Uncle Li suddenly stood up, his withered hand flashing as he grabbed her wrist holding the gun.

Xu Zhuohua rolled to her side, her lower back slamming heavily against the stone bench, the pain making her see stars.

Xu Zhuohua watched as Li Qirui knelt heavily on the ground, the dull thud of his knees hitting the bluestone slab startling the gray sparrows under the eaves into fluttering flight.

His graying temples were sticky with cold sweat, his gold-rimmed glasses were crookedly hanging on the bridge of his nose, and his eyes behind the lenses were bloodshot. He was nothing like the composed butler he usually was.

"It's all my fault..." Li Qirui's voice trembled with sobs, his hands clutching Xu Zhuohua's skirt. "Madam...she's just having a relapse of her old ailment, I was giving her acupuncture..."

Before the words were finished, Madam Cheng's intermittent groans came from the recliner. Her flushed cheeks were resting on the velvet cushions, and her fingertips unconsciously tugged at her loose clothes. Anyone who saw her would know that this had nothing to do with "acupuncture".

The night breeze lifted the bamboo curtain under the eaves, carrying Madam Cheng's hazy murmurs into her ears. Mixed with the strong ambergris on Li Qirui's body, it made her stomach churn.

"Commander Cheng won't be back in Xinhai City for another three days." Li Qirui suddenly lowered his voice, a sinister glint in his eyes. "If you tell anyone, the Madam's reputation, the Cheng family's honor..."

He kowtowed sharply, his forehead hitting the stone slab with a dull thud. "Zhuohua, for the sake of our past relationship, just pretend you didn't see anything!"

Xu Zhuohua's nails dug deeply into her palm.

The moonlight fell on Madam Cheng's half-open dress, and the dark red hickeys on her collarbone made her eyes burn.

Li Qirui had made thorough preparations long ago, otherwise the servants would not have been suspicious yet, but he never expected that Xu Zhuohua and Cheng Muyun would return ahead of schedule.

If Madam Cheng finds out about this scandalous affair, all her rest and recuperation these past few days will probably be for nothing.

Therefore, Xu Zhuohua cannot say it.

Now that Li Qirui is kneeling on the ground begging her, she can't tell anyone.

However, if she is let go, Li Qirui will still kill her to silence her if he is not at ease.

Xu Zhuohua dared not agree, nor dared she refuse.

She was like someone who had been driven into a dead end, with no way out and no way to retreat.

The bluestone slab beneath the man's knees was soaked with night dew, reflecting her distorted profile—a ruthlessness even she herself was unfamiliar with.

“Zhuohua…” Li Qirui’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily, his cloudy pupils reflecting the dark muzzle of a gun. “Think about Madam Cheng… what if she finds out…”

Before the words were finished, the crisp sound of the trigger being pulled abruptly shattered the silence.

Upon hearing the sound of the trigger being pulled, Li Qirui's eyes widened immediately. In the moonlight, Xu Zhuohua's eyes were filled with murderous intent, revealing his determination to fire.

Xu Zhuohua's voice trembled, "If I don't kill you, you will definitely come back to kill me later, so I'm sorry, Uncle Li."

Just as the trigger was about to be pulled, Li Qirui's gaunt face suddenly twisted into a horrifying grin.

He sprang up like a dying beast, the moonlight casting intertwined shadows on their entangled figures. Xu Zhuohua's wrist bones ached from his fingernails, the metal edges of the gun digging into his palm, drawing out fine beads of blood.

“Little brat…” Li Qirui panted as he slammed her against the stone wall. When the back of her neck hit the iron frame entwined with vines, rust flakes fell into Xu Zhuohua’s hair.

"You think you can rest easy after killing me? The Cheng family's dirty deeds..." His words were cut off by the sound of metal scraping against metal. The two rolled to the ground in the struggle, and Xu Zhuohua's back hit the edge of the stone steps hard, and a burst of stars exploded in front of his eyes.

The moment the pistol slipped into the crack between the blue bricks, Madam Cheng suddenly let out a piercing scream.

Taking advantage of the moment when Li Qirui was distracted, Xu Zhuohua scratched his face hard with her nails.

As the man released her grip in pain, she rolled over to reach for the gun, but Li Qirui grabbed her hair and pulled her back.

Amidst a tearing pain in her scalp, she touched the gun and, almost instinctively, pulled the trigger—

The bullet missed and hit the flower stand, which instantly collapsed.

Smoke mingled with the earthy stench of gunpowder permeated the night. The broken wisteria trellis collapsed with a crash, and rotting wooden beams, along with blooming flowers, crushed Xu Zhuohua beneath them.

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