Great Zhou Kingdom, Prime Minister’s Mansion
“Let go of me! Let me go!”
A slender woman with a pale, cold face knelt on the ground. Her clear, pool-like eyes were filled with terror as she struggled ceaselessly, trying to break free from the grip of two old women.
Another woman, her hair adorned with gold and jade hairpins, had skin fairer than snow.
She wore a trailing outer robe of white, lily-patterned cicada-wing gauze over a pink bustier. Tied at her waist was a spring-green, floral-patterned skirt of soft, smoke-like silk.
Her fair bosom, like polished white jade, rose and fell with each breath.
She was Feng Xue’er, the daughter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s Second Concubine.
Feng Xue’er stared at the kneeling figure, twisting a handkerchief in her hands, her eyes filled with fury.
She gritted her teeth in hatred. “Feng Qianqian, you little slut, you finally know how to resist!
Granny Liu, stab her viciously for me! Stab her to death!”
“Yes!”
Having received permission, Granny Liu’s eyes glinted with malice, her face alight with excitement. “Eldest Miss, this old servant will now attend to you.”
She took out a needle, a full two inches long, from her clothes and began to stab it viciously into Feng Qianqian’s body, again and again…
“Ah… Ah…”
Feng Qianqian let out a series of miserable screams.
Each jab of the needle pierced deep into her body, and beads of blood welled up unceasingly.
In a flash, her back was a sheet of crimson.
Her body trembled violently, and tears streamed from her eyes.
The nearly two-inch-long scar on her left cheek looked particularly ghastly at this moment.
Feng Xue’er was livid, and she began to roar, “You little slut, poisoning you every day hasn’t killed you! I’m tired of poisoning you, why aren’t you dead yet!
If it weren’t for you, I would have long been the rightful legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, able to marry the Third Prince as his official consort. You’re the one blocking my path!”
The more she thought, the angrier she became. Filled with rage, she walked up to Feng Qianqian, raised her hand, and slapped her hard across the face.
Smack!
Feng Qianqian’s cheek instantly swelled up, red as if it had been scalded by boiling water. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
She looked around, but her personal maid, Mingyue, was nowhere to be seen.
Feng Xue’er shot her a sidelong glance, her eyes dripping with sarcasm. “Stop looking. Your maid has been tied up in the woodshed.
She’s already been beaten half to death. Don’t expect her to come and save you.”
Defiance flickered in Feng Qianqian’s eyes. “Feng Xue’er, why must you make things difficult for Mingyue? She is just a servant.”
“Because she’s your person, she deserves to die!”
A murderous glint appeared in Feng Xue’er’s eyes; at this moment, she wished she could tear Feng Qianqian to shreds.
She took out a black porcelain bottle from her sleeve.
Her expression shifted in an instant, a bloodthirsty smile playing on her lips. “My dear older sister, this is a poison specially developed for you by the Five Poisons Saint.
This poison is incomparably potent. After you drink it, you can be reunited with your slut of a mother.”
Her voice was like the whisper of a demon from hell, followed by an eerie laugh.
Feng Qianqian’s eyes widened, the color draining from her face. Her voice was hoarse. “If you… if you kill me, Father… Father will not let you go!”
Feng Xue’er’s face was a mask of contempt. “Father? I’m afraid Father doesn’t even remember he has a daughter like you.
Have you ever seen him visit your courtyard? When has he ever cared about you? Has he ever given you a single gift, even a cheap hairpin?
If he does remember you, it’s only to remember this ugly, unbearable face of yours, which fills him with disgust and revulsion.”
“You’re lying! I still have two older brothers!” Feng Qianqian retorted.
“Brothers!”
Feng Xue’er glanced at her disdainfully, her face full of mockery. “You’re a dead woman walking, so I might as well tell you.
Your eldest brother, Feng Yunlang, has been locked away in a mysterious place and has now become a madman, neither human nor ghost.
Your second brother, Feng Yunyi, is an illiterate degenerate who does nothing but eat, drink, whore, and gamble.
They can’t even fend for themselves, so how could they possibly care about you? Stop dreaming!”
Feng Qianqian shook her head in agony, as if refusing to believe anything she was saying. “Impossible! You’re lying!”
Feng Xue’er snorted coldly. “Who in the Prime Minister’s Mansion doesn’t know about this!”
The other servants nodded in unison.
Feng Qianqian froze, no longer struggling. Tears of despair streamed from her eyes.
Her brow furrowed, and her heart clenched as if a knife had been stabbed into it and twisted several times. She felt a heart-rending pain deep within her soul.
The more Feng Xue’er spoke, the angrier she became. An irrepressible fire blazed in her eyes, and like a crazed lioness, she roared, “I’ll send you on your way right now!”
She forcefully pinched Feng Qianqian’s nose with one hand, forcing her to open her mouth.
She then poured the poison from the porcelain bottle into Feng Qianqian’s mouth.
“Drink it! Drink it for me! Drink!”
All the hatred she had harbored for Feng Qianqian over the years erupted in that single moment.
Feng Qianqian shook her head desperately, struggling in vain.
The entire contents of the black porcelain bottle had been forced down her throat.
Seeing the bottle was empty, Feng Xue’er threw it to the ground and let out several wild laughs. “From now on, I am the Eldest Miss of the Prime Minister’s Mansion!”
Feng Qianqian felt a wave of excruciating pain wash over her, each wave stronger than the last.
It spread from her throat throughout her entire body, as if it would burn her to ashes.
The poison ran rampant inside her, growing more and more intense, devouring her internal organs.
Her face had lost all color, becoming as pale as porcelain.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead, leaving a damp trail.
Her body shivered uncontrollably, and her clear, pool-like eyes filled with tears.
She coughed ceaselessly, trying to spit out the remaining poison in her mouth…
Seeing Feng Qianqian’s agony, Feng Xue’er felt a sense of relief, a thrill of vengeance fulfilled surging through her heart.
A smile hung on her lips as she said arrogantly, “Eldest Sister, enjoy these last moments.”
Feng Qianqian mustered her last ounce of strength to scream, “Feng Xue’er, I offer my body as the medium and my blood as the curse! Even as a vengeful ghost, I will not let you go! You will die a horrible death!”
Feng Xue’er glanced at the figure curled up on the ground, a venomous look in her eyes. “Leave this matter to Liu Wu and Fatty.”
“Yes!” Granny Liu replied with a smile.
With that, Feng Xue’er laughed triumphantly and swept away with Meixiang…
Feng Qianqian pointed at Feng Xue’er’s departing back as her consciousness gradually faded.
She felt as if she were falling into an endless darkness…
A moment later, a carriage drove out from the Prime Minister’s Mansion…