Zi Wu exclaimed, "Master!"
Su Ruanruan reached out with difficulty, grabbed the white handkerchief beside her, and wiped the sweat that kept seeping from her forehead.
"I'm alright, it's just that this aphrodisiac incense is really unbearable..." Her voice was weak and trembling.
"What should we do about you in this condition..." Ziwu asked anxiously.
Su Ruanruan was helped over and collapsed weakly onto the soft couch. "It's New Year's Eve today, you should go and have fun with them."
"But seeing you like this really breaks my heart," Ziwu said with heartache.
"It's okay, don't worry about me anymore." Su Ruanruan closed her eyes tightly, but her fingernails dug deeply into her palms, as if only in this way could she slightly alleviate the pain in her heart.
One by one, the people she loved, the people who loved her, her family and friends, left her. No one could truly understand the immense pain she endured, nor did anyone know how intense her longing for solace was...
Brilliant fireworks lit up the night sky, and people were immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the New Year.
However, at this moment, Su Ruanruan had a gag in her mouth and was quietly staring at the drops of blood falling on the ground, her thoughts already drifting far away.
Just then, a pair of black boots came into her field of vision, and she slowly raised her head.
She threw the gag in her mouth to the ground, raised her delicate, jade-like feet, and gently hooked them around the man's jade belt.
Her voice was hoarse with emotion, "I thought you weren't coming..."
The man's words were like a cold sword, piercing straight to the heart. He lifted Su Ruanruan's chin, staring at her rosy lips, "Are you sure you want this?"
Su Ruanruan gently closed her eyes, like a delicate flower swaying in the wind. "No one can save me. I just want the ultimate happiness, even if it's just for one night, so I can forget my troubles."
"I'm in so much pain, you'd never understand..."
The man's eyes were dark, like a bottomless lake, seemingly stirring up memories from the past. How could he not understand?
This sense of loneliness, devoid of salvation, followed him like a shadow, weighing him down like a heavy burden, making it hard for him to breathe.
Duke Su's Mansion
Granny Shu gently massaged Princess Jingyi's temples. Today's commotion had given her a terrible headache, as if it were about to split open.
Su Qingyu knelt down, crying out in anguish, "Mother..."
"Was it you who made the jade pendant?"
Su Qingyu lowered her head and wept, her clear tears sliding down her cheeks like broken pearls.
Princess Jingyi sighed deeply, "You were raised by my own hands, and your behavior is tantamount to admitting it... I never imagined that you would do such a despicable thing."
"You must remember that you are not only a princess of the Duke of Su's mansion, but also the future Princess Consort of Rui. One day, you may even ascend to the supreme position of Empress."
Princess Jingyi gestured for Granny Shu to stop, stood up from the armchair, moved to Su Qingyu's side, and helped her up.
She gently straightened Su Qingyu's slightly disheveled hair and said earnestly, "Over the years, you have worked hard to practice your piano skills and dance, enduring so much hardship, not for the present, but for the future."
"Don't get entangled with her anymore. From now on, just stay in the courtyard and embroider your wedding dress, and wait for your glorious marriage to Prince Rui."
Su Qingyu's eyes were blurry with tears, like pearls welling up in them. "Mother, I know I was wrong. But Father and the others..."
Jingyi said softly, "They don't know that you were behind the jade pendant incident. They just think you had a fight over something else. As for the jade pendant, I suspect that Su Ruanruan didn't have any solid evidence either, otherwise, given her personality, she probably would have made a scene at the palace banquet long ago."
Jingyi pondered for a moment, then turned to the nanny Shu beside her and ordered, "Su Ruanruan is a county princess. Qingyu's personal maid offending Su Ruanruan is truly an act of insubordination."
"Give her twenty lashes, then throw her out of the mansion and sell her off." After obeying the order, Granny Shu couldn't help but sigh inwardly that the princess had gone to such lengths to silence a witness for the sake of the county princess.
Meanwhile, in the ancestral hall on the other side
Su Ruowu knelt upright on the ground. Su Zhen, holding the family rod, struck his hard back hard, cursing angrily, "You...you unfilial son, you actually drew your knife against your own sister! Do you even respect your father?"
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