Qiu Xin knelt before the mourning hall, the chill of the blue bricks seeping into her bones through her thin mourning clothes.
They dug their fingernails deep into the cracks in the floor and were completely unaware when splinters pierced their flesh.
The three incense sticks in the incense burner had long since burned out, and the grayish-white ash fell on the back of her hand, much like her sister's ashen face at the moment of her death.
As the candlelight flickered, she vaguely saw Qiuyue's last smile again—blood still clung to the corner of her mouth, yet she tried her best to give her a comforting look.
"Qiuyue took 'Hui Nan Chun'," Wang Xiuxiu's voice came from behind, the rustling sound of her skirt sweeping the ground growing louder as she approached. "It's an antidote, but it severely depletes one's vital energy. Its initial effects are obvious, giving a feeling of being brought back to life, but with prolonged use, one's internal energy is slowly and completely depleted."
Qiu Xin suddenly burst into laughter, a laugh that sounded even worse than crying.
She finally understood why Qiuyue's spirits would suddenly improve after each dose of medication, but she would cough terribly in the middle of the night.
"Your Majesty, why..." As she turned, her forehead slammed heavily against the blue bricks, blood trickling down her nose. "I almost killed you all..."
Wang Xiuxiu squatted down and pressed a plain white silk handkerchief to her bleeding forehead.
"Because I know that you didn't make this choice willingly; it was a choice made under duress, with the lives of your loved ones at stake, and you can't be blamed for it."
The handkerchief carried a faint scent of benzoin, reminding Qiu Xin of how her mother used to bandage her scraped knees when she was little.
——-
Qiu Xin looked at the new household registration in front of her, and the three words "Liu Rumei" stung her eyes.
"Your Majesty, this humble woman is unworthy..."
Wang Xiuxiu pushed the bundle back, saying, "The deceased is gone, but you must live on. Take these things with you, wherever you go, and take good care of yourself."
Qiu Xin was in a daze when Wang Xiuxiu's carriage took her outside the city.
Outside the post station, the bundle in her arms was frighteningly heavy.
"The deceased is gone..." Wang Xiuxiu's voice echoed in her ears, but Qiu Xin only saw her sister's last hand reaching out to her—the fingertips were blue, and it was still in a grasping posture.
The night wind fluttered the post station flags, making them rustle loudly.
In the distance came the hoarse sound of the watchman's clapper; it was the third watch of the night.
Qiu Xin suddenly clutched the bundle tightly to her chest, where a small porcelain bottle was hidden.
The porcelain bottle pressed against my heart, as cold as the last rays of the autumn moon.
——-
In the study of the Zhou family mansion, Qiu Xin gripped the silver hairpin that was inscribed with the phrase "deadly upon seeing blood."
The tip of the hairpin gleamed with a faint blue light under the moonlight. Hearing footsteps approaching, Qiu Xin tucked the hairpin into her sleeve.
She watched Zhou Yun'an emerge from the shadows, struggling to suppress the overwhelming hatred in her heart.
"I didn't expect you'd dare come." Zhou Yun'an's voice carried a lazy laugh, his slender fingers toying with a white jade chess piece. "What? Here to seek justice for your sister?"
Qiu Xin clenched her molars tightly until she tasted blood.
She looked at the man she had once looked up to; now his pale face looked exceptionally ugly and terrifying in the candlelight.
"You ruined my sister!" Her voice was hoarse and unlike her own.
"Didn't you personally feed her that medicine?" He leaned closer, the scent of agarwood mixed with the stench of blood hitting their noses. "It's always you, begging me for medicine to save her."
Qiu Xin suddenly laughed, "That's right, you're right, I killed my sister, I should have known... I should have known..."
Qiu Xin suddenly stood up, raising the silver hairpin in her hand as if to stab, but suddenly felt a pain in her wrist, and the silver hairpin fell to the ground.
Amidst the excruciating pain, she heard a cracking sound as if her bones were dislocating, yet a strange smile appeared on her face.
Qiu Xin grabbed Zhou Yun'an's wrist with her other hand and bit down with all her might.
As the taste of blood spread in my mouth, I could faintly hear the sound of a bowstring vibrating in the distance.
Zhou Yun'an retreated hastily, clutching his bleeding wrist, only to see Qiu Xin burst into laughter.
There was still Zhou Yun'an's blood at the corner of her mouth. As she smiled, the blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, black and shiny.
"Hahaha! Hahaha! So what if you're extremely cautious? I took poison before I came, and now that the poison is in your body, you won't survive!"
"You..." Zhou Yun'an's pupils suddenly contracted.
A sharp sound suddenly pierced the night sky, and all four windows of the study shattered at the same time!
As the Jingwang Mansion's secret guards surged in, Zhou Yun'an suddenly coughed violently, vomiting black blood that splattered onto the forged secret letter, blurring the words "Jingwang" into obscurity.
Qiu Xin collapsed to the ground, watching the guards break through the window and enter.
She could finally close her eyes, and in her dazed state, she saw Qiuyue standing in the sunlight, reaching out her hand to her: "Sister, let's go home..."
——-
Rain dripped down the umbrella ribs as Wang Xiuxiu and Lu Jingze stood in the courtyard, watching the guards carry the body out of the study.
Qiu Xin lay quietly on the door panel, a relieved smile on her lips.
After examining the body, the coroner reported to Lu Jingze, "Your Highness, this young lady first ingested a deadly poison. The poison, through the wound and into the blood, killed the man. The man was in poor health and had little tolerance to poison, which is why the two died around the same time."
Wang Xiuxiu reached out and wiped the blood from Qiu Xin's mouth.
As the rain subsided, the guards of Prince Jing's residence lifted the two bodies onto a carriage, preparing to send them to the mortuary.
Wang Xiuxiu stood under the eaves, raindrops dripping down the corners of the eaves and wetting her skirt.
At this moment, she was staring intently at another corpse—Zhou Yun'an.
"He died too easily," Wang Xiuxiu suddenly said. "With his methods, he shouldn't have fallen for the trap so easily."
Lu Jingze was silent for a moment, then said, "Qiu Xin risked her life for his; no matter how cautious he was, he never imagined she would take poison."
After a long pause, Wang Xiuxiu nodded.
"Send Qiu Xin back to her hometown." Her voice was so soft it was almost drowned out by the rain. "Bury her next to her parents and sister."
"Alright, once the yamen has finished filing the documents, I will personally send someone to take her home."
The two watched the carriage disappear into the distance, unaware that a man in black had been quietly following the procession from the shadows of a distant rooftop.
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