Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

Du Lingxi trembled in fright.

My grandfather did not want to be exploited by his clansmen, so he was very strict with them and even killed several people who took advantage of his power to do evil.

This caused great dissatisfaction among the people from the ancestral home towards the grandfather, resulting in a very strained relationship between the two sides.

Sending her back to her ancestral home is tantamount to handing her over to her enemies to torment her.

She never dreamed that her father would say something like that to scare her.

No.

Perhaps it wasn't fear.

I won't tell.

Du Lingxi quickly nodded in assurance. She dared not let her father know that she had already found Gui Yao.

Du Shao's expression softened slightly. "You're still a child. There are some things you shouldn't know, and you're easily tricked into revealing information."

He sighed. "I'll tell everyone that you came to my study and broke my treasured collection, so you're being punished with half a month of confinement."

"Is Dad going to lock me up?"

Du Lingxi was a little flustered; she still needed to contact Gui Yao.

"It's not that you're locking yourself up; it's because you're protecting your mother, and it's for your own good."

Du Shao turned his head to the side, and the morning light shone in through the window, making one side of his face pale while the other half remained hidden in the shadows, like a demon of yin and yang.

Du Lingxi shivered inexplicably, then heard his father say, "Lingxi, do you remember what happened with Madam Gu a while ago?"

He turned back to look at Du Lingxi, "If your mother's affair is discovered, she will be trampled on by the world, just like Madam Gu, and forced to ride a donkey naked through the streets."

Because you have a promiscuous mother, you will be ridiculed by the world and find it difficult to marry into a good family. Is that the outcome you want?

Du Lingxi's face turned pale. "No, I don't want this to happen. I won't tell anyone."

She didn't want her mother to die.

But Du Shao nodded to himself, "So, you stay in your room obediently. When you come out, I promise your mother will be cured."

His attitude was resolute, and his face was ashen, unlike anything Du Lingxi had ever seen before. She dared not resist.

She then cautiously asked, "After Mother recovers, will Father still love her the same way as before?"

"certainly."

Du Shao's expression softened. "Your mother has her reasons. I won't hold it against her."

"What about Mother? After she recovers, will she be the same as before?"

Du Shao remained silent.

After a moment, he nodded emphatically, "Yes, I can. Your mother loves me deeply too. Neither of us can let go of the other."

Seemingly afraid that Du Lingxi would ask something else, he summoned his attendant and said, "Take the young lady back. Apart from the wet nurse, no one else is allowed to approach her."

Ah Shan's affair must never be discovered by his parents and elder brother and sister-in-law, otherwise they will definitely not tolerate Ah Shan.

Du Lingxi was scared, but she obediently replied, "Father, I'll wait for you and Mother to come and pick me up."

Du Shao nodded with his back to her.

After his daughter left, he summoned another follower and ordered, "Investigate thoroughly; if there are others who know the truth, kill them!"

After giving his instructions, he paced back and forth in the room. A quarter of an hour later, he took a black robe and left the mansion through a small door.

Du Lingxi also wanted to leave the mansion, but there were Du Shao's men guarding the door. She peered out the back window, imagining the possibility of climbing onto the roof and escaping.

"Miss, be careful not to fall."

The wet nurse, alarmed, helped her up. "It's no use, Miss. No one knows a daughter better than her father. Master has already arranged for people on the roof and at the back door."

Du Lingxi was deflated. "If I can't get out, how am I supposed to contact Gui Yao?"

Today, her father frightened her; she always felt that his talk of treating her mother's illness was not a good thing.

She needs Gui Yao's help.

"Didn't you say that Xuanji Tower was very powerful?"

The wet nurse comforted her, "Since she has been entrusted with this task by you, she will definitely do a good job for you."

If they can't find you, they probably guessed you're busy and came looking for you. Please wait patiently.

Thinking of Gui Yao, Du Lingxi felt a surge of hope, but then she became worried about something else.

"Nanny, please don't let Father know that you were the one who found out about Mother's affair first."

To prevent her mother's affair from being exposed, her father even locked her up. If he knew that her wet nurse was also in the know, she was worried that her wet nurse would be in danger.

The wet nurse patted her head affectionately. "This old servant knows, but this old servant regrets it a little. Perhaps I shouldn't have told Miss about the madam's matter."

"It's a shame that this young lady has to bear so much at such a young age, and now she's even confined to her home."

"It has nothing to do with the wet nurse."

Du Lingxi shook her head. "I forced the wet nurse to say it."

That day, the wet nurse returned with a pale face. She noticed something was wrong, and the wet nurse said she felt unwell.

She summoned the family physician to examine the wet nurse, but the wet nurse remained absent-minded for several days and even prevented her from seeing her mother. Only then did she realize something was wrong and forced the wet nurse to tell the truth.

The wet nurse caught her mother cheating on her.

Upon hearing this, she felt as if the sky had fallen, and her first instinct was to question her mother.

The wet nurse said that her mother was not that kind of person, and there must be something fishy going on. Making a scene would harm her mother.

She calmed down and, after observing from the shadows for so long, finally found Xuanji Tower.

If it weren't for her wet nurse's constant companionship and help, she would have collapsed long ago and been discovered long ago.

The wet nurse must not be harmed.

"This old servant will be fine; this old servant still needs to stay with Miss."

The wet nurse gestured for her to lie down and gently patted her back. "Miss got up in the middle of the night. This old servant will stay with you. Please get some sleep."

Du Lingxi barely slept last night, but after being patted like that a few times, her eyelids started to droop and she fell into a deep sleep.

The wet nurse looked at her sleeping face and slowly smiled. "Miss, the master of Xuanji Tower will definitely come looking for you."

The master of Xuanji Tower, whom she spoke of, was currently sizing up the man in black robes opposite her. "Who are you?"

After leaving the mansion, Du Shao changed his makeup by taking several turns and put on a black robe, revealing only half of his face.

"Someone who wants to do business with the poster."

Gui Yao gave an "oh" and smiled, "Xuanji Tower only welcomes those who are destined to be there."

This person appeared outside the door early in the morning and called out to her into the void, keeping her awake because of the bells on her feet.

"I can give the girl a lot of money."

Du Shao took a desperate gamble: "Or whatever girl wants, and that I can afford."

Gui Yao became interested. "So what do you want?"

"To make someone lose their memory."

Gui Yao's brow twitched slightly. "Whose memory should be erased?"

Du Shao subconsciously concealed his disguised face. "My beloved."

Why?

Gui Yao asked doubtfully, "Did she agree?"

"She went through something, it was very painful."

Du Shao mumbled, "If I don't do this, she will harm herself and won't be able to live. I can't bear to see her suffer, and I can't lose her."

Perhaps it was because he had been suppressing his feelings for a long time, or perhaps he was afraid that Gui Yao would not agree to the deal, so he dared not not return.

Gui Yao's attitude, however, cooled down.

"Do you know that nothing in this world is absolute, and no one can permanently obscure a person's memory?"

"I know."

A hint of pain surfaced in Du Shao's eyes.

"You know?"

Gui Yao had already figured some things out. "You've done this before?"

Du Shao did not deny it.

"Erasing someone's memory without cause is a detrimental act."

Gui Yao's eyes flickered. "Although the conditions you've offered are very tempting, I need to think about it. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Du Shao hadn't expected that after asking so many questions, she would ultimately just consider it.

"One hundred thousand taels of silver."

He raised his stakes, and seeing that Gui Yao just smiled, he added, "Two hundred thousand, luck, lifespan—anything you can get, I can give you."

"You can leave now."

Gui Yao's face turned completely cold. "Xuanji Tower does not practice evil magic."

She turned and walked into the void.

Du Shao squatted down in despair.

He wouldn't have risked coming to Xuanji Tower if he hadn't lost all contact with the Ghost Market, but since he'd come up empty-handed, there was only one last option left...

Gui Yao stood behind the door, watching him ride away, and whispered to Mao Dan, "Follow him."