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The sound of the clock shattered into fragments amidst the torrential rain, and cold sweat soaked Su Qing's bangs. The Silver Scissors seemed embedded in her heart, each drop of Blood Pearl falling and blooming dark patterns on the blue bricks, resembling the ancestral tablets in the ancestral hall that had been scorched black by incense. When Lu Jinyu released his grip, the deadly weapon clattered to the ground. She staggered to support the offering table, her palms sticky with crimson staining the gold paint on the Spirit Tablet.
"Ugh—" The metallic sweetness surged in her throat, splattering onto her embroidered golden skirt, blooming like blood-red plum blossoms. Su Qing stared at her pale reflection in the mirror and suddenly recalled how three days ago, her Eldest Sister had coughed up blood, vibrant and striking. At that time, she had knelt in the Buddhist hall with a blood-soaked handkerchief clenched in her fist when their mother suddenly lifted the curtain to enter, her golden hairpin catching half of the drapery and billowing like a ghostly white in the draft.
"Qing'er." Their mother’s fingers trembled. "Your father said... Lord Lu wants a legitimate daughter from the Su Family; it must be..." Before she could finish, thunder roared outside, and Eldest Sister's maid rushed in, kneeling and crying, "Miss has coughed up blood! The musk in the Aromatic Pouch..."
Her memories were interrupted by Lu Jinyu's sinister sneer as he snatched a Celadon Vase from the table. The wilted peach blossom branch brushed past Su Qing's ear before crashing to the ground. Petals mixed with mud ground into the brick crevices, reminiscent of last spring when Lin Jue had tucked a blossom behind her ear. "When the peach blossoms bloom next year..." The boy's unfinished words were torn apart by the night wind, leaving only scattered remnants of red.
"It seems Su Qing still remembers this peach blossom." Lu Jinyu's boot crushed the flower branch, its python-patterned sole muddy against her embroidered shoes. "Three years ago, when Wan Jun passed away, she was clutching an Aromatic Pouch sent by your Su Family." He suddenly leaned closer, and the scent of Dragon's Blood Incense mixed with rust assaulted her senses. "Do you know what she said before she died?"
Su Qing felt his grip painfully constricting her jaw as a broken whimper escaped her throat. Lu Jinyu's fingertips traced over her collarbone Birthmark with such force it felt like he was digging into her very bones: "She said... 'Ayu, daughters of the Su Family are accustomed to wearing human skin as ghosts.'" Before his words faded, he violently tore open her collar; the Silver Scissors glinted coldly against her collarbone as they sliced through a strand of hair.
Suddenly, Xi Zhu ignited a spark from the lamp; Su Qing saw flickering flames reflected in his eyes, reminiscent of hellfire. Lu Jinyu twisted that severed lock around his fingers and suddenly chuckled darkly: "Su Qing knows what color I despise most?" Without waiting for her response, he abruptly tightened his grip on her hair. "Red—your Su Family women in red wedding dresses look more like vengeful spirits than anything else."
Pain exploded from her scalp as Su Qing stumbled and knocked over a bronze mirror. Shards flew up, cutting a line of blood across her wrist. Yet Lu Jinyu still held onto her hair until every last strand fell away before releasing her to collapse onto the ground. In the sound of tearing fabric from her clothes, she caught sight of her disheveled reflection in the mirror: hair in disarray, wedding dress stained with blood—she looked just like a ghost crawling out of a coffin.
"Sir!" A frantic call came from outside the door; it was the steward. "The one in the west courtyard... may not survive tonight."
Lu Jinyu remained unmoved, methodically wiping blood from his fingertips. But Su Qing trembled all over—the one locked away in the west courtyard was none other than Eldest Sister who was supposed to marry three days ago. When their father struck the offering table with a Jade Pipe, she had heard Eldest Sister’s suppressed cough behind the screen, like an old bellows leaking air.
"Take her to witness the punishment." Lu Jinyu tossed down a blood-stained silk handkerchief onto the ground. "If Su Qing is willing to plead with me, perhaps I can make her death less painful."
As spring rain mixed with blood wafted towards them, Su Qing was being held by two maids at the entrance to the west courtyard. Eight white lanterns hung along the corridor illuminated Eldest Sister’s pale face like a ghostly apparition. She curled up on a damp straw mat; her golden hairpin was nowhere to be found, leaving only a few strands of white hair stuck to dried blood.
"Eldest Sister..." As Su Qing struggled to break free, an icy dagger pressed against her neck. Lu Jinyu's voice wrapped around them like night rain: "Su Family’s legitimate eldest daughter Su Yun has been having an affair with an outsider and poisoned our matriarch." He suddenly grasped Su Qing’s blood-stained wedding dress tightly. "According to our laws..."
"It is hanging." Su Yun spoke suddenly; her frail fingers clutched at the straw mat. "But what Lord Lu wants... is likely a more merciful death." She coughed up fragments mixed with black blood but looked at Su Qing with an eerie glint in her eyes. "Dear sister, when you were about to marry off... did you find that marriage certificate under the shrine in the ancestral hall?"
Su Qing's pupils dilated sharply. Three days ago during ancestor worship in the ancestral hall, she indeed discovered a yellowed marriage certificate hidden within an offering table compartment detailing Zhou Shi Wanjun and Lu Jinyu’s birth dates. But within its layers lay a Secret Contract between the Su Family and Zhou Family—twenty years ago, their grandfather had coerced Zhou Family regarding private salt cases to betroth Wan Jun to then illegitimate son of Lu Family.
"Shut up!" Lu Jinyu suddenly kicked over a brazier; sparks flew onto Su Yun’s clothing. Yet she did not flinch but stared at Su Qing with a smile: "Dear sister, do you know what else is mixed into that musk Aromatic Pouch?"
"Scorpion powder," Su Qing's voice trembled. Three days ago when Eldest Sister coughed up blood, she had clutched Su Qing's hand saying: "Father wants more than just to cling to Lu Family; he wants... for Lu Jinyu to forever remember our 'kindness.'"
The torrential rain suddenly poured down heavily extinguishing lanterns along the corridor. In darkness, Su Yun’s laughter mingled with Lu Jinyu’s cold chuckle pierced into Su Qing’s ears like poisoned arrows. She saw Eldest Sister suddenly rise violently and grasp Lu Jinyu's robe corner: "If you want revenge on him, you should dig out Su Qing's heart!"
In the sound of breaking air, Su Qing's last sight was the Blood Flower blooming from Eldest Sister's throat. The warm liquid sprayed across her face, mingling with the rainwater that flowed into her lips, tasting so fishy it made her nauseous. As Lu Jinyu's Python Pattern Boots crushed Su Yun's corpse beneath them, she heard a beast-like whimper escape her throat.
"Take her away." Lu Jinyu flicked the blood-stained Jin Pao aside, revealing a grotesque scar on his chest. "Tomorrow, summon the Bureau of Astronomy to select an auspicious day." As he turned, Su Qing caught sight of the jade pendant swaying at his waist, the very Twin Fish Jade Pendant Lin Jue had gifted her last Lantern Festival.
The musty smell of the dungeon mixed with the stench of blood invaded her nostrils as Su Qing had been hanging on the Xing Jia for two days. The iron shackles around her wrists dug into her flesh, each movement sending waves of excruciating pain through her body. She gazed at the faint light filtering through Shi Chuang and recalled Lin Jue standing soaked outside the drooping flower gate three days ago, clutching the Mandarin Duck Sachet she had embroidered for him when she came of age.
"Has Su Qing awakened?" A sinister male voice accompanied the creaking iron door. Lu Jinyu, clad in a dark Python Robe embroidered with a golden python, glimmered under the torchlight. His fingertip traced over her wrist wound, sending a shiver down her spine. "Do you know where you are?"
Su Qing stared at the dried blood crusted on the stone wall and suddenly remembered Eldest Sister's words before she died: "The Lu Mansion dungeon... held the entire Zhou family twenty years ago." A hoarse laugh escaped her throat. "Lord Lu wants me to... experience all the suffering Wan Jun endured?"
"Suffering she endured?" Lu Jinyu suddenly gripped her chin tightly, enough to draw Blood Pearls from between her teeth. "The poison from your Su Family is a hundred times worse than that of the Zhou family." When he released his grip, Su Qing slammed against the Xing Jia, and the iron chains let out a painful groan.
The stone door of the torture chamber suddenly swung open, and two women entered carrying a woman whose body was covered in bruises. Su Qing's pupils constricted—this was Chen Mama, her mother's close attendant, who had been praying for her safety in the temple three days ago. "Speak." Lu Jinyu toyed with a Jade Pipe, which belonged to her father. "What methods did the Su Family use to poison Zhou Wanjun?"
Chen Mama's throat emitted a series of strange sounds as Lu Jinyu suddenly pressed the pipe into her throat. Amidst the sound of shattering jade, Su Qing saw her mother being dragged in trembling, with hairpins long gone and gray strands of hair sticking messily to her face.
"Qing'er..." Her mother reached out just as Lu Jinyu's dagger pressed against her throat. Su Qing heard herself sobbing brokenly: "Speak! Was it your husband who instructed you to put scorpion powder in that Aromatic Pouch?"
Her mother's pupils trembled, and the sound of swallowing was clearly audible in her throat. Lu Jinyu suddenly scoffed. "It seems Madam Su needs some reminders." He waved his hand to sever the iron chains beside Xing Jia; amidst the screams of agony from the tortured victim, Su Qing saw it was Chun Tao—her personal maid.
"Don't!" Su Qing struggled to lunge forward, but the iron chains yanked her back to Xing Jia. Chun Tao's bloodied hand suddenly grasped at her skirt: "Miss... beneath the altar... there is..."
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Jinyu's dagger had already sliced across her throat.
Blood sprayed onto Su Qing's wedding gown, blooming like red plum blossoms. She watched Chun Tao's eyes gradually lose focus and suddenly recalled three days ago in the temple when Chun Tao knelt on the bluestone floor crying out: "Miss, hurry and leave! The jewels in that Bride Price..."
"It seems Su Qing needs a more direct reminder." Lu Jinyu suddenly tore open her inner garment; Silver Scissors glinted coldly as Su Qing felt a searing pain radiate from her collarbone. He pinched a piece of flesh bearing a Birthmark and examined it closely under the torchlight. "All women from your Su Family bear this damned Birthmark."
The pain nearly made her faint, but she heard her mother scream suddenly: "Speak! I will tell you! The scorpion powder in that Aromatic Pouch... was purchased by your father from merchants in the Western Regions!" Her voice was hoarse and laced with tears. "But Wan Jun’s true cause of death... was due to Su Yun bribing her physician..."
Lu Jinyu abruptly released his grip, and Su Qing fell heavily into a pool of blood. She watched as her mother was dragged toward Xing Jia, hair disheveled covering half of her face like those dusty ancestral tablets in the temple. As torture devices were applied to her mother, she suddenly turned to look at Su Qing: "Qing'er... beneath the altar... there is..."
The unfinished words were drowned out by screams. Su Qing stared at her mother's contorted face and suddenly remembered Eldest Sister’s words before she died: "The marriage contract beneath the altar... between Zhou family and Su Family’s Secret Contract..." She began to struggle violently; the iron chains around her wrists screeched painfully against each other.
"It seems Su Qing has recalled something." Lu Jinyu stepped on her bloodied wedding gown; his Python Pattern Boots crushed over her collarbone wound. "Why not let me guess—what is written within that marriage contract? How did your Su Family frame Zhou family for treason?" He suddenly chuckled softly. "Good girl, can you guess what I found in Zhou’s ancestral hall?"
Su Qing's pupils constricted sharply. Three days ago, she had discovered a secret letter from the Zhou family beneath the altar in the ancestral hall, detailing how the Su Family had forged evidence of collusion twenty years ago, leading to the annihilation of the entire Zhou clan. The secret contract hidden within the marriage certificate was the incriminating evidence of her grandfather's blood oath with Zhou Fu.
"I found this." Lu Jinyu suddenly pulled out a yellowed letter from his sleeve. As he unfolded it, Su Qing recognized her grandfather's handwriting—"After the Zhou Clan Annihilation, the Su and Lu families shall be eternally united." A strangled whimper escaped her throat, but she heard Lu Jinyu's cold voice: "Your Su Family owes a blood debt to the Zhou clan, to be repaid with the heart's blood of three generations of women."
The iron door of the torture chamber was suddenly flung open, and Lin Jue burst in, covered in blood, just as Su Qing was suspended on the Xing Jia. His pale blue robe was stained with mud, and he used his sword to deflect Lu Jinyu's dagger. Su Qing looked at his bloodied profile and suddenly recalled how he had polished her shoes on Lantern Festival night.
"Let her go!" Lin Jue pressed the tip of his sword against Lu Jinyu's throat, his voice hoarse and terrifying. But Su Qing saw a glint of excitement in Lu Jinyu's eyes as he suddenly grasped the blade, allowing blood to drip down his palm: "Do you know, Lin Gongzi, how many traitors I personally carved out on the night Wan Jun breathed his last three years ago?"
Lin Jue's pupils trembled, and the tip of his sword wavered slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Lu Jinyu twisted the sword from him, its cold light flashing before Su Qing's eyes. She heard Lin Jue grunt as he fell to the ground, blood pooling around him like the peach blossoms he had broken that spring.
"Take him away." Lu Jinyu threw the bloodied sword into the Xing Jia and turned around, his dark Python Robe sweeping past Su Qing's blood-stained wedding dress. She stared at the Twin Fish Jade Pendant swaying at his waist and suddenly began to struggle violently: "That pendant... belongs to Lin Jue!"
Lu Jinyu paused, his fingers brushing over the bloodstains on the pendant: "It seems Su Qing is still unaware." He leaned closer to her ear, whispering, "Three days ago when your Eldest Sister passed away, she clutched... precisely what Lin Gongzi entrusted her to deliver."
Su Qing felt her heart tighten as if gripped by an invisible hand. Three days prior, when Eldest Sister had coughed up blood, she had handed her half of a jade pendant, claiming it was brought by Lin Jue. At that moment, she hadn’t examined it closely; now she heard Lu Jinyu’s sinister laughter: "Unfortunately, Lin Gongzi does not know that your family crest is engraved on the inner side of that pendant."
Suddenly, a crow’s caw echoed outside the torture chamber. Su Qing gazed at the faint light filtering through Shi Chuang and recalled what Lin Jue had said while pinning flowers in her hair on her coming-of-age night: "This Twin Fish Jade Pendant... when I pass my exams, I will change it for a betrothal gift." She began to cough violently, blood frothing from her throat and staining her wedding dress with Double Lotus patterns.
Lu Jinyu abruptly grasped her bloodied chin: "Do you know why I kept you until last?" His fingertip traced over her collarbone wound, drawing forth a string of Blood Pearls. "Because Wan Jun said before he died that he hated your Su Family women’s eyes most." He suddenly removed an iron hook from the Xing Jia. "These eyes... might as well be gouged out and fed to dogs."
As excruciating pain surged through her, Su Qing's final sight was of Lu Jinyu’s robe corner stained with Peach Blossom Petals. Those were what Lin Jue had tucked behind her ear during her coming-of-age ceremony; now they danced in the night wind of the torture chamber and fell into her gradually blurring vision, reminiscent of that spring day when they rode their Snowy Black Steed through a river of lanterns together.
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