Ye Qingxue looked up and saw a pair of pitch-black eyes under Yun Zhuo's silver mask. The pupils were as black as ink, without any light or emotion.

She suddenly thought of another person, someone with the same eyes and the same expression.

Before Ye Qingxue could continue thinking, Granny Dai had already looked over at them.

The strong smell of blood on Yun Zhuo's body had probably been noticed by Granny Dai, who frowned slightly.

In a short moment, Ye Qingxue's thoughts went through several turns before she stepped forward and stood in front of Yun Zhuo.

She teased, "You always say it's easy for you to protect me, but today I asked you to go to the village to catch a sheep so we could roast a whole sheep tonight, and you ended up covered in sheep's blood."

"She's not even as good as the girl I brought back from the estate. I'll personally teach her how to catch and slaughter sheep another day. Go back and wash up; you smell like sheep's blood all over you, it's awful!"

“…Yes.” Yun Zhuo replied and walked past Ye Qingxue. He noticed that the nanny’s gaze was on his back, but it was quickly blocked.

Ye Qingxue walked forward, blocking Dai Mama's view. "I'm sorry to have made Dai Mama laugh. That man used to be my father's subordinate. When he learned that I had returned to the Marquis's mansion, he insisted on becoming my guard."

“I told him that becoming my bodyguard wouldn’t be so easy. I grew up on the estate, and he would have to learn how to catch and slaughter sheep. As a result, he ended up in such a sorry state.”

"I see." Granny Dai nodded slightly. At this moment, she suddenly understood why Prince Ding didn't like the eldest daughter of the Ye family.

A perfectly respectable young lady from a noble family has to have such an unseemly hobby. If she were to become the Princess Consort of Ding, wouldn't that just make her a laughingstock?

However, the figure of that person was very familiar. Granny Dai leaned her upper body and looked in the direction where Yun Zhuo left, only to see that Yun Zhuo was walking with one foot higher than the other, and was actually a limp.

The old woman chuckled, "Look at how young he is, why is he wearing a mask?"

Ye Qingxue said, "He's not young at all. After all, he went to the battlefield with my father. He's in his thirties or forties."

“Back then, he escaped death from the flames of war, but his cheek was burned with a large scar. He had nowhere to go, and I felt very sorry for him, so I had to let him stay by my side. But I was afraid that he would frighten others when he walked around the mansion, so I asked him to wear a mask.”

The old nanny said, "Miss Ye is truly kind-hearted."

Ye Qingxue said, "It's not about being kind-hearted; it's what our Marquis's mansion should do. He risked his life alongside my father, and he shouldn't be left without support in his old age."

Ye Qingxue invited Granny Dai into the main hall for tea and asked her what brought her to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence today.

Then, Granny Dai took out the Empress's invitation and handed it to Ye Qingxue: "Tomorrow, Her Majesty the Empress will be holding a flower-viewing banquet, and she has specially sent this old servant to invite you, Miss, to attend tomorrow."

"After Her Majesty the Empress learned of what His Highness Prince Ding did last time, she reprimanded him and wanted to apologize to the eldest young lady in person. If the young lady does not keep the appointment, Her Majesty the Empress may think that the eldest young lady will not forgive her."

The old nanny spoke very politely.

But Ye Qingxue discerned five key words in her polite words: "You absolutely must go!"

Ye Qingxue truly did not expect that, with only a few days left to live, she would still have to go to the palace.

Upon closer reflection, although the Empress Dowager did not kill her personally in her previous life, her death was facilitated by the Empress Dowager's immense power.

The Prince of Ding was cruel. He wanted Min Yingying to replace his fiancée, so they forced her to drink the deadly poison "Shattered Moon Orchid".

Min Yingying and Ye Yabing had discussed this matter that day, and she later learned of it as well.

It is precisely because the Empress Dowager and Prince Ding are backing them that Min Yingying and Ye Yabing are so lawless.

In her previous life, she had never personally seen what the Empress was like. Now that she had the chance in this life, she decided to go and meet her.

Ye Qingxue carefully put away the invitation: "Don't worry, Granny Dai, I will definitely go on time tomorrow morning."

After seeing off Granny Dai, Ye Qingxue strolled leisurely along the paths of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence. A breeze blew in her face, carrying a faint fragrance of flowers. The pear blossoms had already turned white, a scent of spring.

In her memory, for the first three days after she returned home, she was very concerned about what her relatives thought of her. Although she was curious about everything, she restrained herself and was very careful in her behavior.

I want to be a qualified daughter of a noble family in the eyes of my elders.

On the fourth day after returning home, she was given a deadly poison, and she was reborn back to that point in time, filled with nothing but surging hatred.

I have never really looked at a single blade of grass or tree in the Marquis of Zhongyong’s mansion. Before yesterday, this place was shrouded in gloom, and invisible blood was splattered everywhere.

With every breath she took under this sky, she felt only oppression, sorrow, and anger!

But now, she gazed greedily at every inch of sky and every white cloud above the Marquis's residence, feeling the rustling of the branches in the wind.

After today, there is not much time left.

She deliberately slowed her pace and finally returned to Lixue Residence as the lanterns in various parts of the Marquis's mansion were lit one after another.

The food from the main kitchen was brought over one by one, with no effort put into it; everyone was waiting for her to have dinner.

She asked, "Where is Young Master Ling?"

Qiu Shen replied, "He was washing and changing his clothes. He said that if Miss comes back, she should eat first and not wait for him."

Ye Qingxue sneered and strode towards his small dark room in the backyard. Through the door, he could hear rustling sounds coming from inside.

Ye Qingxue's voice was extremely cold, and contained restrained anger: "Young Master Ling!"

Yun Zhuo's voice came from inside: "I'm washing and changing. Please wait a moment, young lady."

Ye Qingxue didn't believe him, thinking he was stalling for time and didn't dare to see her, so she kicked the door open forcefully.

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