After being jilted by the saintess at the beginning, why is she crying?

Wen Rushuang turned around and leaned against the window again. Sunlight streamed in, making her even more breathtakingly beautiful. Beneath the light gauze, her exquisite, undulating curves were faintly visible, almost captivating the gaze.

"Your information is outdated," she chuckled, her tone carrying a hint of casual mockery.

"This kid has offended quite a few people. First, there was Marquis Zhou Hanshan of Zhenyuan, then there was Zhao Yuanlong, the newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator of the Lieyang Sect... Naturally, he has to keep his tail between his legs and hide under the Empress's skirt."

"However—"

She abruptly changed the subject, her gaze sharpening, a sudden glint of sharpness appearing in her otherwise languid demeanor.

"Men, especially those who consider themselves charming, always have their favorites and their weaknesses. I've heard that he's recently become extremely fond of a little girl named Yu Chan'er, treating her like a precious gem."

She paused, then her red lips curved into a meaningful smile, a smile that was stunningly beautiful yet carried an indescribable danger.

"Coincidentally, this girl's family is based in Qingyang City, which is hundreds of miles away from the imperial city."

She raised her hand and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, the movement elegant and casual. Sunlight illuminated half of her profile, making her breathtakingly beautiful, yet sending a chill down the spine of the Xuanming Guard commander.

Wen Rushuang added softly, her voice gentle, as if she were talking about something utterly ordinary:

"If something happens in Qingyang City, how long do you think he can stay hidden in the palace?"

The commander's heart skipped a beat; he understood what she meant.

The Yu family of Qingyang City was merely a minor local cultivation clan; under normal circumstances, the Xuanming Guard could crush them with a single finger.

But that happened to be the family of Lin Fengmian's favorite concubine.

If the Yu family were to suffer misfortune, Yu Chan'er would surely be extremely anxious. If Lin Fengmian truly doted on her as the rumors suggested, he would never stand idly by.

The moment he steps out of the palace, the game is over.

"Does Madam intend to... take action against the Yu family?" the commander asked in a low voice.

Wen Rushuang didn't answer, she just smiled. The smile was faint, like ripples on spring water, yet unfathomable.

"Make a move?" she said slowly.

"That's too rude. I dislike fighting and killing the most."

All it takes is to create a little chaos in Qingyang City, and then let the news slip into the palace at just the right moment, reaching that girl's ears... The rest is up to the man's chivalry and his self-proclaimed heroic rescue.

After she finished speaking, she stopped looking at the commander, sat back down in front of the bronze mirror, picked up the jade comb, and continued to slowly comb her long black hair.

The commander remained standing outside the door, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He suddenly realized that compared to Lin Fengmian, who even the sect leader feared in the palace, the smiling Madam Rushuang in front of him was perhaps the truly unfathomable and dangerous one.

"Madam's plan... is truly brilliant." The commander suppressed the chill in his heart and forced a fawning smile onto his face.

"If we can control that little girl and cause some kind of accident to her family, do you think that young master Lin, her protector, will still be able to sit comfortably in the harem drinking tea and slacking off?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Rushuang tilted her head.

Her stunningly beautiful face was reflected in the bronze mirror. Her lips were slightly upturned, and her smile was as pure and lovely as that of a young girl. Her eyebrows were curved, and she had a touch of innocent playfulness.

But the words she spoke were as cold as a venomous snake:

"Your sect leader, Li Tianjue, spent such a great deal to invite me out of seclusion. We should at least let him see whether the money was well spent."

She put down the jade comb and gently tapped the mirror with her fingertips, producing a crisp sound.

"Go. Remember to do it neatly and don't give anything away. What I want is for him to obediently leave the palace, not to alert him."

The commander's eyes lit up, and a sinister smile instantly spread across his face: "Madam, this is a brilliant move! I'll arrange it immediately!"

He bowed and stepped back, the door closing gently with a very soft "click".

Silence returned to the room.

The wicked smile on Wen Rushuang's face gradually faded.

She moved gracefully back to the bronze mirror, looking at the stunningly beautiful face reflected in it, a fleeting emptiness and weariness flashing in her eyes.

At that moment, a vulnerability and softness, completely different from her usual self, suddenly appeared on her.

It was like a thin, translucent ice shell that cracked open at the slightest touch.

Suddenly, the beautiful face in the mirror blurred for a moment, as if it had transformed into the pale, haggard face of a girl covered in tears.

His face was filled with terror and despair, tears streaming down his face, his lips trembling as if he wanted to shout something, but no sound came out.

Wen Rushuang knew that the face belonged to none other than hers when she was sixteen.

That year, her family was destroyed overnight.

When their enemies came knocking, the entire family was slaughtered, their blood flowing like a river. Her father, mother, brother, younger sister… none of them escaped.

Even her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, with whom she had just been engaged, died suddenly in front of the funeral hall, black blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, his death a tragic sight.

That day, she wore a plain white mourning dress and knelt among the corpses scattered on the ground, kneeling from dawn to dusk, and then from dusk to dawn.

No one came to save her, no one came to ask her anything.

She was like an object forgotten in the ruins, drenched by rain, sniffed by wild dogs, glanced at casually by passing monks, and then discarded because she was considered unlucky.

She remembered the hands that searched her body, the lewd laughter, and how she curled up on the cold ground, too weak to even resist.

Later... she didn't know how she survived.

All that is known is that when she reappeared before the world, she was already as gentle as frost, with a captivating charm and a radiant smile, as if the past had never happened.

But only for a moment—

Wen Rushuang suddenly closed her eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, all that remained was a cold gaze.

She reached out and tightened the slightly open collar and cuffs of her dress, her movements calm and elegant, as if the moment of loss of control had never existed.

The face in the mirror became stunningly beautiful and flawless once again, and her peach blossom eyes were filled with just the right amount of charm and aloofness.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her red lips parted slightly, and her voice was soft, as if she were talking to herself, or as if she were talking to the sixteen-year-old girl in the mirror.

"Pure Yang Sacred Body... Lin Fengmian."

"You mustn't disappoint me too much."

At this moment, Lin Fengmian was extremely busy in the harem.

He calmed himself and refined pills batch after batch. The pills he refined were exactly what Xiao Ling'er, Qin Lan, and Yu Chan'er needed right now.

They are all top-quality items that can increase cultivation and solidify one's foundation; they are substantial and of the highest quality.

The flames in the alchemy furnace flickered erratically.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he was completely unaware of them, focusing solely on controlling the heat.