She accidentally flirted with the villain and was fiercely criticized as the regent for forcibly mar

Despite the excruciating pain, Madam Jiang endured a bumpy journey to the place where Jiang Ruining had the accident.

The entire mountain road was packed with people.

She could only climb up one step at a time, and by the time she reached the place where Jiang Ruining had the accident, it was already evening.

The setting sun painted half the sky red.

The search for the person has stopped.

"Why don't you go down and look!"

The guard said with difficulty, "At the bottom of the cliff is a rushing river. There's only a small, rocky area about the size of a courtyard where we can stand, but there's no sign of the girl there, only this!"

He handed out a handkerchief.

The handkerchief contained the broken, incomplete remains of a plain jade hairpin.

Madam Jiang stared intently at the wreckage, shaking her head stiffly: "Impossible... She's incredibly lucky, how could this be..."

Jin Yu came up from the bottom of the cliff, but found nothing. Her heart was breaking. When she saw Madam Jiang standing there wiping away tears, she suddenly realized something. She could no longer remember anything about hierarchy or life and death. All she felt was hatred!

He rushed over and shoved her hard: "You're faking illness!"

"You're perfectly fine, yet you pretend to be covered in needles and on the verge of death, making our young lady attend to you day and night. You even brought in a Taoist priest to put on an act, saying that only if our young lady kneels and kowtows three times to beg for the solution from Master Ziyang, you can live!"

"It was all a trap! It was all an act! You set up this scheme to kill our girl, it must be you!"

Madam Jiang stumbled from the push, but managed to steady herself by gripping the railing.

To my astonishment, the excruciating pain in my body had disappeared without me noticing!

The onlookers watched her walk over, noticing her pale and haggard appearance and unsteady steps, and assumed she was heartbroken upon learning of her daughter's accident.

Covered in needles?

I didn't see it at all!

Discussions and rumors began to circulate.

A passerby looked on incredulously: "Her illness was completely cured after her own daughter died? What kind of curse is so powerful that it can exchange one life for another?"

Madam A, who came from the city and had some connections with the Jiang family, sneered, "If such a spell truly existed, wouldn't there be countless immortals in the world? I've always heard that Madam Jiang dislikes her own daughter, constantly suppressing and humiliating her, yet she treats her niece like a treasure!"

"Just as that maid said, she was probably feigning illness to lure her own daughter into a trap and eliminate her completely!"

Lady B, having witnessed Lady Jiang publicly belittle her own daughter, could not help but agree: "To devise such a vicious scheme to murder her own daughter in order to elevate her niece, it's truly an eye-opener! What a wicked woman!"

A passerby with a vivid imagination rubbed his chin, grinning lewdly: "Could it be that there's something going on about these two girls' backgrounds?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Whether it's disdain, raising an eyebrow, or even lewdness, it's all incredibly captivating.

Madam Jiang was speechless, her heart pounding with anger: "I didn't! She's my daughter, how could I harm her!"

Jin Yu sobbed uncontrollably, her accusations echoing halfway up the mountain: "All these years you've slandered her, suppressed her, allowed your wicked servants to bully her, and driven her to the brink of death! Now what are you pretending to be innocent for, what are you playing at, this heartbroken and loving mother? You're a hypocrite!"

"The girl is really gone. You must be secretly happy!"

"This young lady knelt and kowtowed all the way up; every step is stained with her blood and sweat. Aren't you afraid that even the gods and immortals wouldn't be able to bear watching you walk on these steps and would really take your life?"

"That's too cruel! How could there be such a vicious mother in this world!"

At the end, she burst into tears.

Her crying was heart-wrenching.

Chu Jin came up from the bottom of the cliff, her elegant clothes torn in several places by branches, and her face and hands covered with countless small wounds, looking quite disheveled.

She walked dejectedly to Madam Jiang, tears welling in her eyes as she asked, "Aunt, Ningning has returned my life to you. Are you... satisfied?"

She raised her hands, basking in the reddish light of the setting sun.

He chuckled, a sound so melancholy.

"Aunt, our hands are red, stained with Ningning's blood! No matter how much we deny it, it's no use. Everyone can see clearly that it was your suppression and my encroachment that drove her to her death step by step!"

"Aunt, there will never be a daughter willing to kneel and kowtow three times and kowtow nine times to pray for your well-being again. Do you feel... even a little bit of heartache?"

Madam Jiang's vision was blurred by the blood-red color, and she couldn't see anything clearly.

The pain in her bones became sharper, like a razor-sharp knife churning wildly inside her body and mind.

The world spun around.

Unable to catch my breath.

Unable to bear it any longer, everything went black, and he collapsed.

The moment his head hit the ground, something in his mind cracked open, the cracks spread rapidly, and eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, it disintegrated.

A chilling voice pierced her mind, asking her again and again: Jiang Ruining is your own flesh and blood, the child you carried for ten months and gave birth to with great difficulty, why don't you love her? Why use her life to atone for your sins? Why can you be so cruel to an innocent life?

In the past, she would have said in a tone of disappointment, "I've taught her what I needed to teach her, and I've disciplined her what I needed to discipline her, but she's disobedient and unmotivated, and I can't do anything about it." But at this moment, those words had grown into a thorn, stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say them no matter what.

Was she... really wrong?

Chu Jin stood there, watching her, watching tears drip from the corners of her eyes, but she couldn't tell if she was truly heartbroken, or afraid that no close relative would kneel and kowtow three times to beg Master Ziyang for a solution, or... she was just pretending to be a mother's heartbroken?

She squeezed her eyes shut, her heart sinking heavily.

I wonder where Ningning is right now, and whether she is safe.

……

Jiang Ruining was traveling downstream in a small boat.

Everything was going smoothly until night fell and waves rose on the river, almost capsizing the small boat.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, they encountered a large ship, which lowered the ropes and pulled her and Eleven Cranes aboard.

After asking them their destination, he kindly offered to take them ashore.

Jiang Ruining was extremely grateful, feeling that she was incredibly lucky.

Looking at the Yinglong totem in an inconspicuous corner of the ship, Shiyihe said: Whatever makes you happy!

They traveled with the merchant ship for a day and a night.

We arrived at the county town where the adoptive father in the novel was intercepted and killed.

Jiang Ruining changed into men's clothing, trying his best to look like a young man. He then had Shiyihe put on a cap to cover the silver mask on his face, pretending to be a master and servant traveling together. They stayed at the inn closest to the scene of the incident.

Upon entering the inn, even Jiang Ruining, who considered himself to be of robust build, sensed something was amiss in the atmosphere.

Although the guests coming and going all seemed normal, there was a very abnormal "aura" lingering in the air.

Moreover, from the moment she entered the room, she always felt as if a pair of eyes were watching her, following her like a shadow.

She glanced around discreetly, but found no one watching her.

How strange!

The innkeeper's enthusiastic greeting interrupted her thoughts: "Sir, are you looking for a place to stay or a meal?"

Jiang Ruining said, "Two superior rooms, opposite each other."

If it were on the other side, it would be easier for Eleven Crane to detect any activity in her room.

What if you run into a petty thief who doesn't know any better?

Safety is very important.