At this time, in the Zhongfu Garden.

Jiang Muxue was tied to a cross-shaped rack with her hands and feet bound, while Mr. Zhong was sitting on a chair not far away, with Zhong Lei and Yu standing beside him.

Jiang Muxue was awakened by a basin of cold water poured over her head. She slowly opened her eyes, and before she had time to feel the pain in her body, she saw the scene in front of her.

The three people opposite her looked at her with scrutiny.

"Awake?" Mr. Zhong spoke, his voice cold and solemn.

Jiang Muxue struggled for a while, only to find that she was tied up tightly. She panicked: "What are you doing? Are you lynching me? What you are doing is not in compliance with the laws of the Heavenly Emperor!"

Yu snorted coldly and said, "What? Do you still want to sue us at the government office? That depends on whether you have the ability to walk out of this government office!"

"You...if you kill me, the Marquis' Mansion will not let you go if they investigate!"

Master Zhong said, "How dare the Marquis's Mansion pursue this matter? You are a married woman but you do not observe chastity, you seduce a man outside your family, and you poison the princess. Even if you report this to the Emperor, you will be punished for this crime. Then, it will not only be the reputation of the Zhong Mansion that will be lost."

Jiang Muxue's already pale face turned even paler. She was panicked and could only pin her hopes on Zhong Lei, "Husband, save me. I know I was wrong... Husband..."

Zhong Lei looked a little haggard. He looked at her and shook his head. "I can forgive you for everything else, except this one... I told you after we got married that I can forget about the past. As long as you focus on being my wife after we get married, you are wrong for deceiving me, hiding the truth from me... and humiliating me."

"I didn't, really, please believe me..." Jiang Muxue's tears flowed down the corners of her eyes, her face full of sorrow.

Zhong Lei turned his face away and didn't look at her.

Mr. Zhong immediately ordered: "Torturing!"

The servant beside her dipped the whip in a basin of salt water beside him, then raised the whip and hit the ground twice, raising a cloud of dust.

Jiang Muxue was filled with despair and begged desperately, but he could only watch helplessly as the whip hit his body.

"ah--"

She screamed out in pain. Every time the whip hit her skin, it felt like a burning sting, followed by a numbing pain.

She was beaten with the lash seventeen times, her skin was torn and her body was covered in blood. At the end, even her breathing became weak, with more outgoing air than incoming air.

When Jiang Muxue was lifted onto the bed, she could no longer utter a word. The pain all over her body was so severe that she couldn't even faint. She just stared with her eyes wide open, gasping for breath.

When the doctor came in and saw the blood all over the bed, he couldn't help but gasp and shook his head.

Her clothes were torn, and the cloth strips were mixed with blood and stuck to her skin. When the doctor cleaned the wound, he had to undress her clothes, so he had to pull the wound open and even clean the scraps of cloth bit by bit.

She gritted her teeth in pain and managed to get through it, her entire body almost wrapped in gauze.

She was in so much pain that she couldn't even sleep that night. She just stared at the spider web above the bed, enduring the pain and hatred all over her body, and endured it until dawn.

The courtyard where Jiang Muxue lives now is no longer the same courtyard as before. They threw her into the most dilapidated courtyard in the Zhong Mansion.

Rather than calling it a yard, it was more like two dilapidated houses. Even the outer wall was broken. The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the only sight was an old tree that was about to die.

The furnishings in the house were old, the tables, chairs and benches were not complete, a corner of the window frame was broken, and the white water bottle next to the bed was covered in dust. Only the bed was still stable.

Here, only Green Orange comes to deliver three meals a day.

Although she was a concubine in the past, Zhong Lei doted on her, gave her a good courtyard to live in, and provided her with the same food, clothing, and other necessities as the wife. Now she couldn't even get enough food for three meals a day, and the food that was often delivered to her was rotten and sour.

Jiang Muxue stared at the things on the table in front of her: a bowl of porridge so clear that you could hardly see the rice grains, a white flour steamed bun, a few unrecognizable vegetable leaves, and stir-fried pork skin and meat.

The hatred in her eyes burst out. If it were in the past, she would have flipped the table. But she endured it again and again, and finally picked up the steamed bun and stuffed it into her mouth.

The steamed bun was cold and hard, but she chewed it slowly bit by bit and swallowed it down with the porridge.

Seeing her like this, Luju couldn't help but said, "Madam Jiang, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I really have no choice. I'm just a servant, and the young master is the master. I'm doing all this according to his instructions..."

"I know." Jiang Muxue swallowed the last bite of steamed bread, interrupted her and said coldly: "I don't need you to pity me, just deliver the food and leave."

Luju glanced at her cold expression, cleaned up the dishes and prepared to leave.

Jiang Muxue suddenly called her, "I just heard some noise outside, is there something going on in the mansion recently?"

Luju hesitated for a moment, but finally told the truth: "Madam has chosen a wife for you. She was asked to come to your house yesterday to check your horoscope, and she will be married soon."

Jiang Muxue's heart skipped a beat and she was completely stunned. She murmured, "He's going to get married. He really doesn't want me anymore..."

Seeing that she seemed to be a little crazy, Luju said soothingly: "Auntie, please take care of yourself."

Luju finished speaking and was about to leave, but Jiang Muxue suddenly came over and grabbed her hand.

Luju was startled and subconsciously tried to shake her off, but suddenly found a jade bracelet on her hand.

Jiang Muxue looked at her and said pleadingly, "This is the most valuable thing I have. I'll give it to you. Please help me pass a message to the young master and ask him to come and see me."

"This……"

"Luju, I beg you, if I can go back, I will definitely work like a slave to repay you in the future."

Green Orange finally nodded.

"Thank you, thank you." Jiang Muxue said gratefully.

That day, Jiang Muxue sat under the dead tree in the yard and waited until dark, before finally seeing the tall figure appear at the door.

She stood up quickly, her face full of joy, and called "husband" in a tender voice.

Zhong Lei walked over slowly, stopped in front of her, then without saying a word, pinched her chin, lifted it up, and leaned over to kiss her.

Jiang Muxue's tongue tip was numb from his kiss and her lips were bitten so hard that it hurt, but she didn't dare to resist. She looked shy, her eyes were shining softly, and she called "husband" softly again.

Zhong Lei lowered his eyes and stared at the face in front of him. She had lost some weight in recent days and looked a little haggard, which made her look even more broken. However, this face was still as beautiful as when he first saw it.

He slowly curled his lips, moved closer, and softly uttered two words: "Bitch."

The color on Jiang Muxue's face instantly disappeared.