Bai Jinghuai left behind a blood-stained letter in prison before following his beloved wife in death. That letter eventually reached the hands of the Commander of the Embroidered Guards and was presented to the Emperor. The Bai family’s two sons and one daughter were spared execution and sentenced to exile instead…

Fu Yi dared not speak of what came after. Even this much had left Bai Qingqing on the verge of collapse. If she were to learn that her younger brother had died on the road to exile, that her elder brother’s hands had been severed, and that her sister had vanished without a trace…

A wave of blood surged in Bai Qingqing’s throat. Darkness swam before her eyes. Pain tore through her chest as though a dagger had been driven into her heart and twisted without mercy. She staggered, catching herself on the edge of a table to keep from falling.

“Qingqing, it’s all in the past now. I swear, I won’t let it happen again. You have to believe me. Back then, I left the manor because…”

“Enough!”

Her voice cut sharp as a blade, halting Fu Yi mid-sentence. Her face was deathly pale, her chest heaving. The red in her eyes, born of anguish, refused to recede.

The shock of discovering that Fu Yi had also returned to life was already fading. What remained in her heart was only desolation. Her gaze toward him was calm and cold, like the still surface of a deep well—so quiet it was terrifying.

“Enough. Let’s end this here. I don’t hate you. It was my own doing. You’re not to blame. But you shouldn’t have come to stir up my life again. Fu Yi, I’ve let you go. Now let me go, too.”

Her voice was cold, as delicate and brittle as porcelain. It shattered the fervent hope rising in Fu Yi’s chest. He felt hollow, as though a piece of his heart had been gouged out, leaving only cold, cramping emptiness.

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He would rather she hated him, resented him. Then he could atone, try to make amends for all the pain and regret of their past life.

But Bai Qingqing had said only this—

Let me go.

For the first time since being reborn, Fu Yi truly panicked. In Bai Qingqing’s eyes, he could no longer find even a shadow of himself. Her coldness toward him wasn’t from indifference, nor from some misunderstanding—she genuinely, thoroughly, wanted to draw a clear line between them.

“Qingqing, I can’t… After finally seeing you again, I just want to do something for you. I want to—”

“Alright.”

To his surprise, Bai Qingqing actually agreed. She even managed a smile, though there wasn’t a trace of emotion in it. Her cool eyes stared straight at him, and the faint curl of her lips seemed almost mocking. “You feel guilty? Want to make it up to me? Fine. I have only one wish—I want the Bai family to be safe.”

There was no ripple of feeling in her dark eyes. “Do you know why I drank poison and died?”

“Mother said… you were grieving for your family. You heard they were sentenced to death and wanted to go with them…”

“Hahaha… The Princess Consort is still as good as ever. And you believed her?”

Fu Yi didn’t speak, but he shook his head. Before her death, Zidai had tried to warn him. His mother had claimed she was sowing discord between them. He’d been overwhelmed by grief then, but not entirely senseless.

Bai Qingqing didn’t care whether he had believed or not in their past life. She went on, “She told me that only with my death would you have a reason to help the Bai family. She gave me the poisoned wine herself, said how considerate she was, promised the poison was swift and certain. She said she was helping me fulfill my filial piety.”

She shut her eyes in pain. Her split lips trembled violently. If she’d known her death would drive her parents to such despair they would die in prison, she would never have drunk that wine!

“That poison was truly cruel—it burned my organs to ash, and I stayed conscious, fully aware of death creeping in. You say you want to make it up to me? I only ask for the Bai family’s safety. You failed in the last life. If you can’t do it in this one, then don’t ever appear before me again.”

How could Fu Yi refuse? At the very least, Qingqing was willing to give him a chance to atone!

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you down again.”