Otherwise, heading toward the underworld with lingering karmic ties to these people, only to become entangled with them again in the next life—she found the very thought repulsive and unsettling!
Xue Ning turned and left the courtyard without looking back, her departure resolute.
Xue Yulang’s brow remained tightly furrowed for a long while, unable to speak, his chest tight with discomfort. To this moment, he could hardly believe that Xue Ning truly no longer cared about him!
Xue Ning had taken the Linglong Jiu Zhen, making it impossible for Xue Yulang to deceive himself any longer. This time, Xue Ning’s anger was entirely different from before.
Lost in thought, Xue Yulang even forgot about the injured Xue Mingzhu.
Xue Mingzhu immediately felt a surge of crisis!
No! She could not allow Xue Ning even the slightest chance to change the family’s perception of her!
Deliberately wearing conspicuous bandages and with eyes swollen from crying, Xue Mingzhu went to her mother Madam Wen’s courtyard…
Xue Ning returned to her own Xiyan Yuan and eagerly opened the Qidu Yilu, scanning each character on its pages.
Her gaze eventually settled on the entry for “Qingsigu.” Her expression grew solemn and serious as she began reading intently.
Qingsigu, as the name implied, would strip away the afflicted person’s threads of emotion, turning them cold and indifferent, incapable of ever loving anyone again.
Each time the person experienced intense stimulation, despair, or heartache, it would trigger a flare-up of the gu poison.
With each flare-up, the person would suffer splitting headaches, and upon waking, would lose one of the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, or desire.
After a year, once all emotions and desires were lost, the person would wither like dead wood and march toward death.
……
Xue Ning’s fingers clutched the medical book tightly, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.
So, she had already experienced her first flare-up yesterday! If only they had believed her just once and saved her in time, she might still have had a chance to survive!
Xue Ning did not know which of the seven emotions she had lost, her mind filled only with the panic and despair of her impending death.
She could no longer afford to be hurt or distressed by stimulation, or else she would trigger another flare-up.
Xue Ning took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her emotions.
If she had only a year left to live, there was still much she needed to do: honor her deceased third brother by being filial to their parents, to atone for her sins and settle her karmic debts.
She also needed to arrange for Rendong and the nanny, bid farewell to those she cared about, choose a favorable burial site, and prepare her final affairs…
As dusk deepened and the evening meal approached, Xue Ning, as usual, made her way to her mother’s Fanghua Yuan.
Xue Ning saw Madam Wen standing in Lancui Ting, dressed in an exquisite dark green robe with wide sleeves, holding Xue Mingzhu’s hand. The smile in her eyes was filled with maternal affection and tenderness, the intimacy between mother and daughter palpable.
Xue Ning could not hear what Xue Mingzhu was saying, but she saw her mother nod indulgently, agreeing without hesitation.
“Yes, yes, yes, whatever my darling wishes…”
Xue Ning clenched her fingers. In that moment, to say she felt no envy would be a lie. Although Xue Mingzhu was adopted, there was not the slightest rift between her and their mother—their bond surpassed that of biological kin, something Xue Ning had yearned for in vain over the past decade.
Hearing the commotion, Xue Mingzhu caught sight of Xue Ning from the corner of her eye. A slight curve lifted the corner of her lips as she threw herself into Madam Wen’s arms, glancing at Xue Ning with a hint of showing off before speaking warmly.
“Mother, Ningning is here. Let’s invite her in quickly.”
The smile on Madam Wen’s face remained unchanged, but her eyes conveyed a sense of distance that Xue Ning could keenly feel.
Madam Wen spoke in a gentle tone, “Since you’re here, come in first. We’ll wait for your father and brothers to arrive before dining together.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Xue Ning never defied her, obediently stepping inside.
Madam Wen and Xue Mingzhu sat together, with a gold-threaded nanmu wood carved Ruyi kang table between them, leaving no place for Xue Ning.
Xue Ning sat opposite them, as Nanny Liu, her mother’s most trusted servant, personally served tea.
The teacup before Xue Ning was the standard underglaze color used for ordinary visitors. Her gaze followed Nanny Liu’s movements and settled on the kang table.
She saw Xue Mingzhu pick up her exclusive Liujin Feihua Zhan, smiling brightly as she looked at her.
“Ningning, try this. It’s peony flower tea I specially offered to Mother. She likes it very much.”
Xue Ning felt a pang of irony. From her mother’s smile to the teacup, everything made her feel somewhat awkward, like an outsider.
Xue Ning remained silent and resistant, not taking a single sip.
It was Xue Mingzhu who liked peonies, while she detested them the most. Once, for accidentally breaking one of Xue Mingzhu’s peonies, she had been punished to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days.
“Mother, Ningning isn’t drinking. Is she still angry with me over what happened in Second Brother’s courtyard?”
Xue Mingzhu wore an innocent expression, her injured hand wrapped in gauze clutching an embroidered handkerchief as she looked at Madam Wen with grievance.
Madam Wen patted her affectionately, then turned to Xue Ning. Xue Ning pursed her lips, about to explain to her mother, only to see her mother shake her head helplessly and say gently,
“Your sister might not be accustomed to flower tea. Nanny Liu, change it for her.”
“Yes, Madam.”
A warmth spread in Xue Ning’s heart. Her mother hadn’t blamed or shown favoritism. Did this mean her mother still cared for her? Even if not as much as for Xue Mingzhu, she still valued her as a daughter!
Before long, her father Xue Youdao returned with her two elder brothers.
Xue Ning quickly stood up, looking at her father Xue Youdao with reverence and admiration.
Xue Youdao walked with composed steps, exuding the dignified bearing of a refined scholar-official. Though middle-aged, he remained dignified and handsome, with an added touch of scholarly elegance.
Madam Wen smiled faintly, “Husband, why are you back so late today?”
But Xue Youdao frowned, his stern gaze sweeping toward Xue Ning as he reprimanded in a deep voice,
“It’s all because of the ‘good deeds’ Xue Ning has done these past two days, as her brothers just informed me! I pride myself on being an upright gentleman with strict family discipline. How could I have raised a daughter with such low character!”
Xue Ning’s face paled, her fingers tightening. She began to explain, “Father must have misunderstood me. You cannot rely solely on others’ one-sided accounts. I am not at fault. It was clearly they—”
Before Xue Ning could finish, Xue Youdao slammed his hand heavily on the table, instantly tensing the atmosphere of the evening meal.
“Lying has become your habit! Yesterday’s incident was witnessed by those young nobles. Clearly, you offended Princess Huayang and nearly tarnished our Xue family’s reputation. It was your fault, yet you deliberately caused your cousin to suffer. And afterward, you showed no remorse!”
Xue Youdao spoke coldly, “Had you just drunk that cup of wine, it would have been over. But instead, you feigned poisoning, deceiving your brother into feeling guilty and pity for you!
Your second brother is a renowned physician, now serving in the Taiyiyuan. Could he possibly misdiagnose your pulse? They didn’t hold you accountable, yet you threw a tantrum, snatched your second brother’s Linglong Jiu Zhen, and pushed your cousin, injuring her!”
Xue Youdao looked at Xue Ning with disappointment. “You are so despicable. If you still refuse to admit your mistake, you will continue kneeling in the ancestral hall as punishment until you realize your fault, apologize to your cousin, and return the acupuncture needles to your second brother!”