Taking her into his tent, he incurred the wrath of a powerful and mad minister, from which he could

The person who rushed in to save Mingyi was Chang Sui.

He was small and agile, and soon he carried Mingyi out.

As soon as they got outside, the beam inside the house crashed down with a deafening roar, and the entire house was instantly engulfed in flames. Just moments before, the two of them were about to perish in the inferno.

"How is the aunt? Quickly, go and fetch a doctor!"

Now that Mingyi is Zongxian's concubine, he can no longer call her "Miss" as before.

Ah-Qing's eyes were red, and she assumed that Ming-Yi had fainted from the smoke.

She had barely finished speaking when she noticed that Chang Sui, who was holding Mingyi, was trembling all over.

"There's no need to call a doctor."

Chang Sui's face had never been so pale. He looked down at the person in his arms and said, word by word, his voice hoarse and broken, "She... has already died."

Aqing's face turned pale.

The servants nearby were whispering among themselves.

"She was just promoted to concubine, how could she die so suddenly?"

"What bad luck! We finally made it through the tough times and were just about to start living a good life when this happened."

"What a pity, he wasn't born to enjoy a life of luxury."

Ah Qing wiped away her tears and, forcing herself to remain calm, ordered, "First, settle the concubine in a side room. Also, send someone on horseback to guard the palace gates as fast as possible. Once the Second Master leaves the palace, immediately report this matter..."

The commotion was so loud that it alerted all the women in the backyard. Madam Liu and Old Madam Zong rushed over, along with Zong Ying.

"What did you say? Mingyi is dead? Wasn't she rescued? How come she's gone?!"

The servant said, "She was rescued, but the fire must have spread too quickly. We discovered it too late, and my aunt inhaled too much smoke. She was already beyond saving when she was pulled out..."

"How could this happen..." Zong Ying burst into tears, her body swaying. The maidservant reacted quickly and supported her.

Respect for the deceased is paramount, and everyone around showed expressions of regret.

Madam Zong was also very sad. All she could think of was Mingyi's goodness, and she couldn't help but shed tears, feeling utterly lost.

-

The emperor intended for Zong Xian to stay overnight in the palace and return to his residence at dawn.

However, Zong Xian felt inexplicably restless and uneasy, with a persistent sense of panic lingering in his heart, so he declined the emperor's kind offer.

At that time, the palace had long been locked and the nine gates were tightly closed, and ordinary people could not easily enter or leave. However, he was a favorite minister of the emperor, so he still had this privilege.

As soon as they stepped out of the palace gates, a servant from the manor rushed over, looking utterly panicked.

"Second Master! Second Master, something terrible has happened!"

Zong Xian's brow twitched suddenly: "What's wrong? Did Ji Mingyi run away again?"

"No...no..." the servant stammered, "It was a fire at Songhe Garden, and my aunt was trapped inside. She couldn't be saved!"

Zong Xian's face stiffened for a moment before he shouted sternly, "What did you say! What do you mean the person couldn't be saved?!"

The servant knelt on the ground, drenched in cold sweat: "The fire came on so fiercely and so quickly, we couldn't put it out no matter what we did. I risked my life to rush in and rescue my aunt, but she had already stopped breathing. The doctor came and took her pulse, and confirmed that she had passed away. Please accept my condolences, sir..."

Zong Xian didn't even have time to hear him finish speaking before he quickly mounted his horse, lashed the horse's body with the whip, and galloped off towards the mansion.

My mind went completely blank; I couldn't think about it, nor did I dare to.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he rushed back to the clan residence.

A man who is usually calm and composed, stumbled and nearly fell to the ground when he dismounted.

The gatekeeper, seeing this, hurriedly tried to help him up, but he pushed him aside without turning his head and strode inside.

The smell of burning filled my nostrils; the area around Songhe Garden was a mess, with wisps of smoke drifting into the dark night sky.

When he returned to Songhe Garden, all the servants knelt down upon seeing him.

The fire was out, and the sleeping quarters were burned down to skeletons, lifeless and desolate.

"Where is she?" His voice was tense and hoarse, eerily calm.

A-Qing's eyes were red: "My aunt is in Tingshui Pavilion on the west side."

Without saying a word, Zong Xian turned around and ran towards Tingshui Pavilion, his steps hurried and heavy.

The Listening Water Pavilion was eerily quiet; even the maids were deliberately suppressing their sobs.

The maids who served Mingyi stood guard outside. When they saw him walking in covered in dust and looking frightening, they instinctively fell silent and stepped aside.

The door was ajar, and a faint candlelight leaked out from the crack.

Zong Xian raised his hand to push the door, his knuckles trembling slightly. He pushed the door a little too hard, and the wooden door hit the wall with a dull thud.

The person on the bed lay quietly, covered with a plain-colored thin quilt, with long hair neatly spread across his chest. There were no burn marks on his face, only a few faint marks from cigarette ash.

Her eyes were closed, her face was peaceful and serene, lifeless, and she looked as if she were asleep.

Zong Xian walked slowly to the bedside, and everything around him seemed to fall silent.

He slowly bent down and raised his hand to brush the dust off Ji Mingyi's cheek, only to touch something slightly cool.

His fingertips suddenly curled and tightened, and the composure he had been forcing himself to maintain shattered. His chest felt like it had been burned by a raging fire, leaving only an empty chill.

The sky collapsed and the earth caved in.

...

The servants all stood guard outside, and without orders, none of them dared to go in.

Who would have thought that two days had passed, and Zong Xian had not come out since stepping into Tingshui Pavilion, nor would he allow anyone else to go in and disturb him, and he neither ate nor drank.

No matter how much Ah-Qing tried to persuade him, the room remained completely silent, and he received no response whatsoever.

She had served Zong Xian since childhood and had never seen him like this before. She was filled with worry and fear and could only turn to the old lady Zong to explain the situation.

"What did you say? Ji Mingyi hasn't been buried yet? What exactly is he trying to do?!"

When Madam Zong heard this, she was both angry and heartbroken. How could she let him guard a corpse? What kind of talk was that?

He immediately went to Tingshui Pavilion and went in alone.

But the moment he looked up, all the words of rebuke stuck in his throat.

The candlelight inside the room was dim and dim.

Zong Xian sat on the edge of the bed, carefully holding Ji Mingyi in his arms, his arms encircling her, his chin resting on the top of her head, his face expressionless, surrounded by a deep desolation.

He remained in that embracing position, motionless, for an unknown period of time.

His eyes were filled with an unyielding stillness, as if he had died along with the person in his arms.

You should know that he was holding a dead person. The scene was so shocking that even the old lady Zong was a little scared when she saw it with her own eyes.

This scene is both eerie and tragic.

Not daring to approach, the old lady sighed from a distance: "Second Brother, she is already dead. The dead cannot be brought back to life. You can't stay by her side like this for the rest of your life."

Zong Xian lowered his eyelids slightly, his long eyelashes casting a shadow, his voice hoarse and obsessive: "There's nothing wrong with guarding her like this for the rest of my life."

"Foolish!"

Madam Zong was anxious and advised, "She's just a woman, is she worth you humiliating yourself like this? I'll find you someone better later."

Zong Xian's eyes were empty, devoid of any light. He gently stroked the hair of the person in his arms and said slowly, "No matter how good others are, none of them can compare to her."

No one in the world can compare to Ji Mingyi.

"I failed to protect her; I broke my promise. I shouldn't have gone to the palace that night; I should have stayed with her. If I hadn't left, she wouldn't have died."

"I should stay here with her..."