Chapter 5

Li Jinmu left with a dark expression.

I knew he was angry in his heart, and also regretted why he hadn’t investigated and understood more back then.

And why I had rejected his marriage proposal.

But it was too late.

I didn’t want to bring him harm again.

Sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder: am I an ominous person? Or was it wrong for me to be kind and save lives? Is that why heaven punished me to suffer all this unfairness?

But where did I go wrong?

As a doctor, I was charitable and giving. Regardless of high or low status, I treated everyone with care.

As a daughter, I was obedient, sensible, and filial to my parents.

As a wife, I paid my respects morning and evening, and was friendly to my sisters-in-law…

Perhaps my fault was not being wicked enough.

Not being ruthless enough.

I could cure illnesses and save lives, but I couldn’t see through the human heart.

Lin Shenyi didn’t leave, but my blind mother and biased father came.

They cried and begged at the door.

I sat beneath the eaves, watching the continuous drizzle.

“Ruiyi, for the sake of the many years your mother raised you, open the door and see me just once.”

“Invite Madam Ren inside.”

When Madam Ren was brought in, she was still adorned with jeweled hairpins and dressed in luxurious clothes.

Still that Countess, acting high and mighty.

The look in her eyes as she looked at me carried a bit of disdain and resentment.

She probably felt that Ren Ruian was her true biological daughter.

“Ruiyi…”

“Please sit.”

My voice was faint. I was no longer willing to even call her Mother.

If not for her tacit approval, how would Lin Shenyi have dared to strike so viciously?

She had met Ren Ruian long ago and decided she was her real daughter. However, because Ren Ruian had ended up in a brothel and her status was unpresentable, she still wanted to secure the prestigious marriage to the Duke’s estate for her.

So she sacrificed me, silently approving of Lin Shenyi harming me.

I looked at her coldly as she babbled about her years of rearing me, hoping I would show mercy.

Seeing how deeply she had been deceived, I suddenly found it utterly ridiculous.

“Madam Ren, have you ever considered that I am actually your biological daughter? That Ren Ruian is nothing but the bastard spawn born from your husband’s affair with your sister.”

“…”

Madam Ren’s eyes suddenly flew wide open.

The rest of her persuasion was stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down.

She suddenly started coughing.

Her eyes filled with absolute disbelief, “What… what… what did you say?”

“Go investigate. Check when your husband and your ‘good sister’ got together. After Ren Ruian was born, they bribed human traffickers to kidnap me. Then, a year or so later, they brought Ren Ruian back to replace me. Thankfully, heaven has eyes, justice prevails, and retribution never misses. Ren Ruian got lost and ended up in a brothel.”

“And I was picked up by my master, learning a master’s medical skills.”

“Your parents know about this. Your brothers and sisters know about this. You were the only one kept in the dark.”

I completely didn’t mind broadcasting this filth for everyone to know.

By this time, let alone the capital, even citizens of other prefectures knew about it.

All that was missing was the final spark to burn all this filth to ashes.

Madam Ren stumbled away, her soul seemingly lost.

I waited for her for three days. She didn’t return, and I knew she had utterly and completely abandoned me.

For the sake of her other children, she thoroughly discarded me.

I felt a pang of sadness for a fleeting moment, but I quickly let it go.

This way, I didn’t need to agonize over whether to show mercy to the Ren family.

Whether to have even the slightest bit of soft-heartedness.

“Place all the evidence onto the Emperor’s desk.”

Seven days later, the capital was in an uproar.

The Xuanping Count was found guilty of smuggling salt and maintaining close correspondence with the Prime Minister of an enemy nation.

For treason and colluding with the enemy, the Xuanping Count was stripped of his noble title, and the entire Ren family was thrown into prison.

While everyone was still denouncing the Ren family, another earth-shattering scandal surfaced.

The Crown Prince, born to Empress Lin, was not of the Emperor’s bloodline at all.

A blood paternity test proved that the Crown Prince’s blood did not blend with the current Emperor’s.

No matter how hoarsely the Empress cried her innocence, swearing to the heavens that the Crown Prince was the Emperor’s blood, and no matter how the entire Duke’s family knelt at the palace gates, they failed to convince the Emperor.

The Empress was banished to the Cold Palace, the Crown Prince was reduced to a commoner, and the Duke’s estate fell overnight.

Everyone involved was thrown into the Heavenly Prison, awaiting their sentence.

I listened to the news coming from outside.

I went to a restaurant where a man in purple clothes had been waiting for a long time.

“Congratulations to the Second Prince for achieving your desires.”

“It is this Prince who should thank you for your guidance, Miss. As for your next steps…”

I walked to the window, looking at the endless drizzle.

“I said, they must pay blood for blood.”

The Second Prince fell silent for a moment. “This Prince understands. Miss, just await the good news.”

Looking at the Second Prince, I suddenly started coughing. When I looked up again, my mouth was full of blood.

I gently collapsed to my knees, prostrating on the ground.

“…”

The Second Prince watched me for a moment. “Rest assured, Miss. Within half a month, there will absolutely be results.”

I smiled softly.

Half a month. I think I can still wait that long.

Madam Ren sent a message, saying she wanted to see me.

I went to see her.

In the Heavenly Prison, their whole family was crammed together, dirty and foul-smelling.

She looked extremely haggard, begging me to take her two nephews out of the prison.

To raise them so they could provide for me in my old age…

I didn’t give a damn.

“Did you ask me to come just to say this?” I spoke faintly with a cold expression.

“I gave birth to you and raised you. It was my blindness and foolish heart that harmed you. I am sorry to you. But these two children, you used to dote on them so much…”

She kept bringing up the past, bringing up history.

Not a single sentence of it was what I wanted to hear.

“Ren Ruiyi is already dead. She died under your conspiracy.”

Even at this point, she still didn’t regret it.

She didn’t even say a simple ‘I’m sorry.’

Forget it.

What was I hoping for?

I stood up and walked outward.

From inside the cell, she hurled curses at me. She cursed me for being cold-blooded, an ungrateful wretch, ruthless and vicious.

I smiled softly, coughing until tears streamed down my face.

She only knew how to curse me, without even thinking about who turned me into the ghost I am today.