The events that Yue Sheng remembered, and which shaped her life, occurred fifteen years ago. Back then, Qinghe County wasn't even called Qinghe County. There were no Princess's Mansion or the General's Mansion on Chang Street. She and Yan Shaoqing were just two carefree children.
In the small county town of that time, there lived a family with the surname Ouyang. While not aristocratic, the Ouyangs were a prestigious and distinguished family in the city. Many of their members served in the imperial court. While none held high positions, they were at least considered a prominent family in the region. This was their ancestral home. An ancestor of the Ouyang family had once received assistance from a nobleman, gifted with a black pearl. That nobleman helped the impoverished Ouyang ancestor settle down on the banks of the Ming River. As time passed, the saying that the Ouyang family of Mingjiang reigned supreme became popular.
Over time, the black pearl became a treasured heirloom in the family. However, rumors spread that the black pearl held a great secret, and whoever could unlock it would receive the most precious treasure in the world.
What was originally just a bunch of nonsense spread among the people took on a new meaning when it came to Yan Chongmao, Yan Shaoqing's father. Technically speaking, Yan Chongmao was also a disciple of the Ouyang family. At that time, Yan Chongmao's relationship with the Ouyang family was extremely close. Ouyang Yuesheng, the eldest daughter of the family, had met Yan Shaoqing several times as a child. If it weren't for what happened later, they might have already been living together for family reasons.
This story, in short, is simply this: a student from another family, driven by greed, slaughtered the entire master's family. But during that so-called robbery, Yue Sheng watched her parents, brothers, and family members, one by one, fall in a pool of blood, their eyes wide open. If it weren't for the help of Hua Ping's mother and the other servants, she might have remained trapped in that nightmare forever...
After listening to Yue Sheng's expressionless narration, Yan Shaoqing slowly stood up from the ground in disbelief: "...You have been lying to me from the beginning?"
Yue Sheng sneered, "That's right. In order to deceive you and gain your trust, I even voluntarily took the poison for you. So, is it a surprise? In order to get close to you, I even hired someone to investigate you for a whole year. When I appeared, I appeared as the most perfect woman you had imagined in your mind. Surprise?"
Yan Shaoqing raised a bitter smile. Even at this point, why was he still concerned about her? "That poison, was it fake too?"
Upon hearing this, Yue Sheng was stunned for a moment, then turned around and said with her back to him, "...That's right, it's fake, all fake. It was all a setup by me to get close to you and gain your trust."
"I didn't even notice..."
Yue Sheng raised his head and laughed loudly: "In fact, you already knew it, didn't you? I'm also very curious, why did you not react at all when the evidence was handed to you."
Yan Shaoqing knew all the evidence Yue Sheng had claimed, and he even knew Yue Sheng had deliberately let him know. Because of that "evidence," his father, under suspicion from Emperor Gan Zhao, was transferred to the frontier, a promotion he'd claimed was a demotion. Many other things were also linked to her. But he refused to believe it. The Yue Sheng he knew, though aloof and reserved, was kindhearted and certainly not one to kill innocent people.
"...where is my grandmother now?"
"I just said it, she will never come back."
After Yan Shaoqing carefully placed his mother's memorial tablet in a suitable location, he sighed deeply. His mother had been accidentally killed by Yan Chongmao after a quarrel with his father over matters concerning the Ouyang family.
Although his father and grandmother had always told him that his mother died of illness, as he grew older, some things that he didn't understand as a child gradually became clear. Yue Sheng's actions were understandable. His Yan family owed her Ouyang family, and they simply had to repay it. However, implicating those innocent people in his family was really...
"What are you going to do with me?"
Yue Sheng turned her head to look at him and said without emotion, "From the day you met me, I said I would not harm you. The deaths of 113 people in my Ouyang family have nothing to do with you. After I have avenged myself, I will return this life to you, and also to those innocent people in your family who died."
After saying that, Yue Sheng left without looking back. Hua Ping stood outside the house, listening to Yan Shaoqing's cries and wails, and suddenly a feeling of pity rose in her heart.
Seeing that she looked a little embarrassed, Yue Sheng reminded her, "...Hua Ping, you know what to do."
"……yes."
Before Yue Sheng could leave the courtyard where the abandoned ancestral hall stood, a sweet and fishy feeling rose in his throat, which he could no longer suppress. Smears of bright red slowly flowed from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
"Miss!"
Upon seeing this, Huaping hurriedly took out the heart-protecting pill that Chen Xin had given her from her sleeve. Just as she was about to give it to Yue Sheng, she was pushed away by her.
"No, no need. We're almost at the end, hurry up."
After Huaping carefully put the medicine away, she gently wiped the blood off Yue Sheng with red eyes: "Miss, is it worth it?"
Yue Sheng looked at the sunset in the sky and suddenly laughed. The tears in the corners of her eyes, mixed with the blood that had just flowed, slid down her cheeks, flowed past that beautiful smile, and dripped into the soil.
"It's been a long time since it was worth discussing. When I chose this path, it was already doomed. There's no turning back. I'm still dragging this broken body around to live, just to destroy the General's Mansion, nothing more. My hands are already stained with blood, and death is the only way to wash them away..."
"Why don't you tell him the truth?"
"His entire family died at my hands. What's the point of telling him the truth? For us now, those truths that won't affect the outcome are no longer important." The grudges of the previous generation were settled with her. She had already paid for what she owed Yan Shaoqing with her life.
She didn't regret meeting him, getting to know him, or not being able to tell him about their love. When it was all over, time would slowly heal the scars in his heart. She knew he would pull himself together, gradually forget her, and find happiness again. That was enough.
Although their relationship was destined to be a tragedy from the beginning, she was grateful to God for giving her this fragile dream. To have such an ending, to be able to die for him, she was already content.
Even though she knew from the beginning that Yan Shaoqing's fate would have nothing to do with her, why did her heart still ache like this? Haha, it's ridiculous, ridiculous! Oh God, don't you think this is ridiculous!
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