In the old lady's room.

She lay listlessly in bed. These days, Cui Yihuan had only given her one steamed bun and a bowl of water a day.

The old lady had lived a life of luxury for many years, constantly consuming bird's nest and ginseng. She had never experienced such hardship before, and after only two days, she began to feel dizzy and weak in her legs.

She shouted that she wanted to go out, but everyone in the courtyard had already been dismissed, and only Cui Yihuan and two trusted confidants were left to guard the place.

No one can help!

I can only try to lie down to reduce energy expenditure, but that's not the hard part. The hard part is the night.

Her house is haunted.

It was her daughter-in-law Lou Tinglan, who had died young, who would appear at her bedside every night.

She was covered in blood, her hair was disheveled, blood was flowing from her eyes, and she stuck out her long tongue, asking the old lady why she had been suffocated to death.

The old lady was so frightened that she didn't dare to sleep for several nights, but she didn't dare to scream.

Because Lou Tinglan was indeed suffocated to death by her own hands.

She returned home early and, taking advantage of the woman's weakness after childbirth, secretly pressed a pillow against her face.

After Lou Tinglan breathed her last, she entered the mansion through the main gate and arrived at the delivery room in time. She only let people know that Lou Tinglan had died, but did not let them see the details of her death.

Therefore, everyone assumed that Lou Tinglan died in childbirth.

This is a secret that the old lady has kept hidden for many years.

She felt guilty, afraid that if she called other people over and let them see Lou Tinglan's spirit, they would learn the inside story of what happened back then.

If Xie Bang and his son found out, she probably wouldn't survive.

No, Xie Tingzhou will definitely not let her go.

That's a shameless little beast; he'll definitely use the pretext of avenging his mother's death to take her life.

She discovered that Lou Tinglan, that dead ghost, seemed to have no effect on her other than scaring her.

Hungry and frightened, the old lady made a decision with her last remaining rationality.

But after not sleeping for many days, she couldn't stay awake any longer, so she only dared to take a nap during the day.

That day, she was half asleep when someone woke her up.

"Madam, Madam, please wake up."

"Barbarian slave?"

The old lady was pleasantly surprised when she saw who it was. "Xie Tingzhou let you go?"

Man Nu shook his head, "No, it was Master Fu's men who rescued me when Xie Tingzhou left the capital."

Her voice was different from usual, more hoarse, but the old lady saw the injuries on her face and assumed that she had been tortured by Xie Tingzhou.

"So it was Jiang'er who saved you."

The old lady knew that Fu Jiang had some men under his command, so it was normal for him to be able to rescue the barbarian slaves. Therefore, she didn't think much of it and only said, "Quickly, take me out of here. Ye Zhen and the others want to kill me."

What she wants most right now is to leave this awful place.

The barbarian slave arrived, and she was saved. Her spirits returned considerably, and she reached out to pull the barbarian slave up, hoping to use her strength to get up.

The other party took a step back.

"Madam, I cannot take you away."

Why?

The old lady was shocked, thinking she had misheard. "Is it Fu Jiang who's back, or Xie Bang?"

No one's locking me up anymore, so I don't have to leave, right?

She asked several questions in a row, never doubting the loyalty of the barbarian slave.

But then he heard the barbarian say, "Master Fu said that he has endured humiliation and hardship for many years and has come a long way. He cannot afford to make any more mistakes."

"You know too much. Many people in the Marquis's residence are now infected with smallpox. You've stayed here for so long; you might have been infected too. There's no point in you going out."

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's not smallpox at all."

The servant was very serious. "No, what Master Fu sent was smallpox. Many people in the Marquis's mansion have already been infected, and the news has spread outside."

The imperial court will send someone over soon, and they will certainly ask you where those handkerchiefs came from.

Ye Zhen and his men dare not interrogate you, but the imperial court can. Master Fu is worried you won't withstand the torture, and he can't bear to see you suffer those severe punishments.

The old lady couldn't believe it. "How could Jiang'er have dyed my smallpox handkerchief? Wasn't he worried that I would get infected too?"

"I am his biological mother! You barbarian, have you been bribed by Xie Tingzhou or Ye Zhen? You're deliberately trying to deceive me, aren't you?"

Despite this, Cui Yihuan repeatedly told her outside the door about the smallpox infection situation in the household.

She had overheard Cui Yihuan and her servant discussing this matter, but she always felt that they were deliberately telling it to her.

Although Fu Jiang had concealed some things from her, he had been very filial to her over the years. They were mother and son, and Fu Jiang would never harm her.

"You are not a barbarian slave. Who are you? Why are you pretending to be a barbarian slave to deceive me?"

But the barbarian did not answer.

She untied the wine flask from her waist and splashed it onto the old lady's bed curtains.

The old lady was shocked. "What do you want to do?"

She then noticed that the barbarian was carrying several wine jugs on his back.

"Master Fu ordered me to burn you to death."

The barbarian uttered cold words, then took a wine pot from his waist and splashed it on the old lady.

The old lady was terrified and quickly rolled towards the bedside, trying to escape.

But her legs were too weak to escape.

She was lightly lifted by the barbarian slave and tossed back onto the bed.

The force was considerable; the old lady heard the sound of her bones breaking.

“Barbarian slave, I have treated you well in the past, you must not act recklessly. Or perhaps you have misunderstood him. I am his mother, he would never kill me.”

The barbarian seemed not to hear, and took off another wine pot, pouring the wine over his head.

She said, "Don't be afraid, Madam. Man Nu will stay with you. When the fire starts, the thick smoke will choke you and you will lose consciousness soon. It won't hurt."

The old lady was now completely convinced that Fu Jiang wanted to kill her.

Because the barbarian slave was originally sent to her by Fu Jiang, he only listens to Fu Jiang and no one else.

Only Fu Jiang could make the barbarian slaves burn themselves.

She cried out in despair, "Help! Someone, help me..."

The barbarian then poured wine on himself again, and then, like an emotionless animal, blew on a tinderbox.

"Madam, please save your energy and don't shout. They're all getting vaccinated in the front yard, they can't hear you."

Because of the alcohol, the fire spread very quickly, and the old lady was choked and coughed repeatedly, unable to open her eyes.

All that could be heard was the barbarian slave saying, "I'll be guarding you here, don't be afraid."

Amidst the thick smoke and flames, the old lady could vaguely see the barbarian servant sitting cross-legged on the ground, seemingly meditating.

She wanted to leave, but the burning bed curtains, like a curtain of fire, blocked her way and her view.

The old lady didn't see it, but the back window was opened, and a person soaked to the bone and unable to move was brought in and thrown into the fire.

The barbarian slave who had previously threatened to self-immolate jumped out of the window and ripped off his mask.

It was Xing Ze. He threw the mask out the window into the fire, and also took off the barbarian's outer garment and threw it into the fire as well.

Then he closed the window.

Is something the matter?

Fu Guang asked with concern.

Xing Ze smiled and shook his head.

He had just poured water on himself, not alcohol, and he got out in time, so how could anything have happened?

The two people inside are in trouble, especially the barbarian slave. She was acupunctured beforehand, and the time for the acupuncture points to be released is fast approaching. She will be unable to survive in the fire.