Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

"What are you going to do?"

Madam Du tried to pull her hand away, but she was no match for Gui Yao's strength.

Gui Yao placed three fingers on her wrist, and after a moment, moved them to her right middle finger and examined it carefully.

"Your pulse indicates that your spirit has been disturbed by external evil influences."

Gui Yao looked up. "And you always seem so agitated in the early morning. Has someone done something to you?"

There's no need to deliberately choose a specific time to retaliate against Du Shao.

Madam Du turned her face away, and after a long while said, "I don't want to talk about these things. If you want to know, I can tell you."

She turned her gaze to Gui Yao, "But you saved Ling Xi."

"Can."

Gui Yao should respond decisively.

Trading one's lifespan is going against the will of Heaven. By restoring order, she will not suffer any backlash, but will instead accumulate merit.

It was fate that Du Lingxi came to them.

"However, Xuanji Tower has its own rules. If you lie to me, you will be punished."

Madam Du nodded, and after a long silence, she spoke, "Some time ago, I suddenly started having dreams."

Sometimes I dream of past events, sometimes I dream of my father and brothers coming to scold me with their heads in their hands, sometimes I dream of my mother and the others…”

She paused, her eyes reddening. "I dreamt that my mother, because of her old age and fading beauty, could only serve the lowest-class guests."

The madam, dissatisfied with her low earnings, sent several men to her room at once, and within a short period, the mother was utterly ruined.

The men began to despise my mother for being too thin and too old. One beast even came up with a wicked idea: to beat my mother's lower body until it swelled up with a wooden board...

Her voice seemed to be blocked by something; she gripped her dress tightly at her knees, her whole body trembling.

Gui Yao didn't urge her, but gently picked up the teapot and poured her a cup of hot tea.

After a long while, Mrs. Du continued in a hoarse voice, "My mother, born into a scholarly family, was tortured to death in the lowest room of a brothel in the most humiliating way in the world."

My younger sister was arranged to work as a prostitute before she even reached marriageable age. Six months later, she became pregnant. A bowl of abortifacient medicine caused her to suffer for days and nights until she bled to death. After her death, she was dumped in a mass grave and her remains were never found.

My sister-in-law was still breastfeeding when she entered the brothel, and local officials took her in to be their wet nurse. Don't you think she was lucky?

She slid off the chair, hugged her knees, and sat on the floor, her delicate eyebrows twitching slightly, a look that was both a smile and a cry.

"No, heaven did not favor her. The one who needed a wet nurse was not an infant, but a mentally challenged man in his twenties."

The fool was obsessed with breast milk, and every morning when his body reacted, he would torment his sister-in-law to the point of wishing she were dead…

Gui Yao's fingertips curled slightly inside her sleeve.

The case file shows that the Xie family women were unaware of the treason plot, but the system of collective punishment was intended to curb more evil deeds.

She couldn't say that the system itself was flawed; the problem lay in the imperial court's management of these pleasure quarters and brothels.

As for Du Shao, Gui Yao's eyes narrowed slightly, a coldness seeping into them.

Madam Du continued, "Ever since I had those dreams, I have felt like I was living a life worse than death. All this suffering is what I brought upon them."

Perhaps it's retribution, or perhaps it's the backlash from Du Shao's dealings with the ghost market, but I need a man every morning.

This will lessen my guilt towards my mother and the others. I haven't lost my sense of shame; it's just that my heart is no longer my own.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and she reached out to scoop up a cup of tea and drank it all in one gulp.

"Du Shao won't let you continue like this."

Gui Yao pursed her lips. "If he can find me, he'll find other ways."

"I know."

Madam Du lowered her eyes and hugged herself tightly. "My father and brothers did make mistakes. My mother and I enjoyed the benefits they brought us, so we should share the consequences of their mistakes with them."

But I hate that he used me and erased my memory.

I hate that he knows the treacherous nature of officialdom, and that when the Xie family falls into misfortune, their enemies will surely not let my mother and the others go.

I hate that he keeps saying he loves me, yet he's unwilling to take care of my mother and the others...

Her gaze, sharp as if laced with venom, pierced the doorway. "I hate him."

Gui Yao poured her another cup of tea.

Du Shao stood by and watched the Xie family women, probably fearing that this would give others leverage to uncover the secret that Xie Shuxian was still alive.

Hiding the daughter of a disgraced official is a violation of the law, and once exposed, the death penalty is inevitable.

"You love him too?"

He pondered the return.

Since Xie Shuxian hates Du Shao so much, shouldn't she make him lose his official position and his life?

After all, he got that official position by stepping over the Xie family.

Suddenly, Madam Du punched herself hard in the chest with a dull thud that sent chills down everyone's spines.

"That's what I hate most about him, and why I can't forgive myself."

Her voice was squeezed out from between her teeth.

"He spent more than a decade planting deep love and happiness in my heart, which I can never completely eradicate."

On the day the Xie family was arrested, she saw him dressed in official robes and felt extreme hatred in her heart. At that moment, she wished she could tear him apart.

But before she could do anything, he knocked her unconscious. When she woke up, she had forgotten all the pain, but she fell in love with him again.

For more than a decade, he took meticulous care of her. They spent every day and night together, their minds filled with happy memories.

She tried to cover those memories with hatred, but to no avail.

Torn between love and hate, her heart was torn apart every day, causing her great pain.

"I also thought about dying together with him, but compared to the suffering my family would endure, our deaths would be too easy."

Madam Du grasped Gui Yao's hand and pleaded, "Both of us deserve our punishment. Let us torment each other until the very end."

But as you said, my Lingxi is innocent. Please protect her; I'm willing to pay any price.

Gui Yao stared at her intently. "Is this the whole truth?"

Madam Du was slightly taken aback, then nodded emphatically, "Yes."

"it is good."

Gui Yao gazed at her, his eyes gradually turning a deep blue-green. "I promise you."

Mrs. Du seemed relieved, a huge weight lifted from her shoulders, and she forced a smile, "Thank you."

There were no further words spoken.

The power of her aspirations, like a gentle stream, flowed continuously toward the unknown.

Gui Yao got up, and as she was about to leave, she turned back and gave Madam Du a deep look.

Madam Du lowered her eyes, avoiding her gaze.

A breeze blew through the corridor, dispelling the heavy gloom, and Gui Yao walked towards Du Lingxi's courtyard.

"Fairy Sister".

Du Lingxi was pleasantly surprised to see her. "You really came to find me! Did you know I was locked up?"

Gui Yao patted her head. "You guessed I'd come?"

"It wasn't me."

Du Lingxi pointed to the wet nurse and introduced her, "She is my wet nurse."

"This old servant was afraid that Miss would be unhappy, so I thought I'd say a few words to comfort her."

The wet nurse bowed to Guiyao, saying, "Thank you for remembering my young lady."

Gui Yao's gaze lingered on her for a moment, then she smiled at her.

Du Lingxi asked impatiently, "Fairy Sister, besides seeing me, did you come today to deal with my parents' affairs? How is it going?"

The wet nurse also looked up at Gui Yao.

Gui Yao smiled, "I did go to see your mother. She realized she was wrong and won't do it again."

"real?"

Du Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief and then told her everything that Du Shao had said to her in the study.

"I was worried that my father might do something to my mother. If my mother gets better, my father won't do anything reckless."

She sighed again, "That'll save me some trouble."

The conversation between the father and daughter in the study had already been relayed to Maodan by birds, and Maodan then truthfully told Guiyao about it.

"You're so well-behaved and sensible, how could he really bear to send you back to your ancestral home?"

The wet nurse's eyelashes fluttered, which Gui Yao noticed out of the corner of his eye, but his heart remained unmoved.

Du Lingxi spoke of these things without any attempt to hide them from her wet nurse, which shows that she trusted her wet nurse very much, and that the wet nurse was also someone who knew about this matter.

But Du Shao probably didn't know that.

"I understand."

Although Du Lingxi had been frightened by Du Shao, she still felt good about her father because of their blood ties.

Nodding in agreement, "Father must have been worried about Mother, that's why he spoke without thinking."

Gui Yao pinched her cheek. "You're such a little devil. Alright, you don't need to worry about your parents. I should go back now."

"Can you stay with me a little longer?"

Du Lingxi grabbed her sleeve.

The wet nurse also advised, "Miss, my young lady is lively and cheerful. Being confined to her quarters is too difficult for her. With you talking to her, she will feel more at ease."

"right."

Du Lingxi nodded hurriedly, "What exactly did you talk about with my mother?"

"This is the secret of Xuanji Tower."

Gui Yao looked at the wet nurse and said, "I've come uninvited, so I shouldn't stay any longer."

She insisted on leaving, and Du Lingxi did not try to stop her, only saying, "You must help me fulfill my wish."

Gui Yao nodded, "Okay."

He left the courtyard but didn't go; instead, he leaped and hid in a large tree.