Xinyuan Pavilion.
The master bedroom was adorned with a potted Muyao flower, its blossoms swaying gently, their faint fragrance permeating the entire room.
Deep in the night, Xinyuan Pavilion was eerily silent, devoid even of the chirping of insects or the calls of birds.
Bai Zhi slept in the outer room. The scent drifting from the inner chamber, mingled with a subtle aroma of tea seeping in from under the door, filled the air. Bai Zhi’s eyelids felt heavy, her gaze drooping. A flicker of confusion crossed her mind, but the thought of the person sleeping inside the room immediately dispelled any lingering unease, and she closed her eyes without a second thought.
After all, it wasn't their own mistress.
Inside the room, 'Nan Shiying' suddenly opened her eyes. The flowery scent that filled the room, now mixed with the intermittent aroma of tea, entered her nostrils. Her heart gave a sudden, heavy leap, and a surge of warmth spread from her chest to her entire body. Alarmed, she sat up abruptly.
Her body felt weak and unresponsive. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move an inch.
With a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside. 'Nan Shiying' struggled to call out, "Bai Zhi, is that you, Bai Zhi?"
Her only response was boundless silence. Footsteps drew nearer, and a figure appeared at the edge of the doorway. The newcomer struck a flint, igniting a candle, and the room was instantly illuminated. The flickering candlelight dispelled the darkness, falling upon the person's face and etching a smile onto her features.
"Nan Shiying, long time no see."
Qin Yurou smiled as she looked at 'Nan Shiying' lying on the bed. A gentle, soft smile graced her alluring face, but the gaze fixed upon 'Nan Shiying' seemed to stir the deepest malice. Even through the veil of night, it was clearly reflected in 'Nan Shiying's' eyes.
Qin Yurou?
A look of confusion flickered in 'Nan Shiying's' eyes. She couldn't fathom why Qin Yurou was here or why she harbored such malice towards Nan Shiying.
However, one thing was certain: her sudden loss of strength was undoubtedly Qin Yurou's doing.
She couldn't help but demand, "Qin Yurou, what do you want?"
Qin Yurou merely smiled. She lifted the hem of her skirt and calmly sat down on a chair, leisurely observing 'Nan Shiying's' panicked and uneasy expression. She lowered her head, idly playing with her fingernails, which were stained with a branding dye, and spoke in a slow, drawn-out voice, "What, you want to call out to the servants of Xinyuan Pavilion by shouting? I suggest you give up that idea. Your loyal head maids are already fast asleep, and as for the other servants, how many of them do you truly believe are loyal to you?"
"'Qin Yurou, what are you talking about? What do you want?"
Loyal head maids? In this entire Xinyuan Pavilion, were there any maids truly loyal to Nan Shiying?
Though 'Nan Shiying' didn't fully understand, the feeling of being fish on a chopping block, prey to a knife, filled her with a profound sense of fear. Qin Yurou's emanating malice also made it clear that her visit today was not merely to utter harsh words.
"What do I want?"
Qin Yurou suddenly stood up. Though she was smiling, the sparks of hatred in her eyes blazed intensely, as if intending to burn everything within sight to ashes.
She strode quickly to 'Nan Shiying's' side, pointing to her own hand, then her face. Her features twisted into a near-ferocious grimace. Her voice, though tinged with amusement, carried an eerie and chilling strangeness. "Nan Shiying, it's only been a month, surely you haven't forgotten what you did to me."
"My face, my hands… I still remember the sensation of you stabbing this hairpin into my face to this very day."
As Qin Yurou spoke, she pulled the hairpin from her hair and fiercely thrust it towards 'Nan Shiying's' face.
'Nan Shiying' felt a sharp pain, and hot blood streamed down her cheek. She couldn't help but cry out.
Hearing Nan Shiying's scream, Qin Yurou burst into peals of laughter.
Her laughter was utterly wild.
"Qin Yurou, you..."
"Don't rush, don't rush, it's not over yet!"
Qin Yurou placed a finger to her lips, gesturing for silence. Then, she roughly grabbed 'Nan Shiying's' hair and dragged her to the ground as if she were a dead dog.
She then released her grip, and 'Nan Shiying's' head slammed heavily onto the floor.
'Nan Shiying's' vision swam. She looked dazedly at Qin Yurou, who slowly raised her right foot and then brought it down with force.
"Ah~"
A piercing pain shot through her, from her hand to her brain, then back through her nerves. 'Nan Shiying' could even hear the crisp snap of bone breaking.
The more agonizingly 'Nan Shiying' screamed, the more gleefully Qin Yurou laughed.
Watching Nan Shiying writhe in pain, the intense hatred accumulated in Qin Yurou's heart finally found an outlet. But it wasn't enough, still not enough.
She pressed down hard on Nan Shiying's hand, her gaze falling upon the candle holder.
She lifted her foot and walked to the table, picking up the candle holder.
"Wait, I'm not Nan Shiying, I'm not!"
'Nan Shiying' cried out loudly.
Qin Yurou let out a hearty laugh. She crouched down, grabbed 'Nan Shiying's' face, and said fiercely, "Do you think I'll let you go just because you say these things?"
'Nan Shiying' was truly terrified. She didn't fear death, but she feared a fate worse than death. She could see that Qin Yurou was mad, truly mad. If she didn't reveal the truth soon, she would truly be tortured to death.
She struggled to lift her head and said to Qin Yurou, "I'm not lying to you, I'm really not Nan Shiying. If you don't believe me, place your hand behind my ear. You'll feel something protruding, like a piece of skin. If you pull it hard, you'll tear off the human skin mask on my face. Really, I'm not Nan Shiying."
Fearing Qin Yurou wouldn't believe her, she tried to explain earnestly.
Qin Yurou sneered but reached behind her ear. When her fingertips indeed felt a protruding object, like a piece of skin, she couldn't help but pause slightly. Instinctively, she gave a hard tug, and a complete human skin mask was ripped off. She lowered her head, looking at the ordinary face revealed beneath the mask of the 'Nan Shiying' below her.
Qin Yurou was instantly stunned. The fury in her heart instantly turned into bewilderment and suspicion.
"Who are you!"
"I am, I am a maid from the Nan household."
Qin Yurou's bewilderment in her eyes transformed into hatred in the next moment. She tossed the human skin mask aside, and with a swift motion, grasped the candle holder. The flickering flame was only a few centimeters from 'Nan Shiying's' eyes, and the molten wax was about to drip down. A look of terror appeared in 'Nan Shiying's' eyes, and she couldn't help but shout, "Qin Yurou, it wasn't me, it wasn't me who did this to your face and hands. I avenged you, I truly avenged you, I killed Nan Shiying."