Back in the Zhen Manor, Madam Du was wearing a blue dress robe. On her head, she wore an ornate headband with a blue gem. She was in a hearty mood and was seated in front of a round table having her breakfast.
The table was filled with plum cakes, pineapple cakes, chicken, duck and porridge. The smell was enough to send one drooling.
Madam Du was eating a bowl of porridge. Discreetly, she asked, “Grandma Guo, have we receive any news from ‘there’?”
Grandma Guo was Madam Du’s maid servant and was very much trusted by her. Everything that Du had commanded was carried out or see to by her.
Madam Du’s ask was very cautious but Grandma Guo had understood: “Madam, there hasn’t been any news!”
Madam Du jolted with shock and frowned, “It has been a long while and there hasn’t been any news? What if something bad had happened……….”
Grandma Guo whispered in reply, “Madam, don’t you worry, we hired Qing Yan’s most ruthless and powerful assassins. Even if Murong Xue is strong, she wouldn’t have escaped………”
“Do you mean him?” an icy voice rung out and an indistinguishable object flew across the room and landed in front of Madam Du.
Madam Du lowered her head and peering at her was severed head with bloodshot eyes. There was blood oozing out from the eyes and the entire head was drenched with it. Drops of it had made its way into Madam Du’s porridge, staining it red……….
“Ahh!” Madam Du screamed out in terror.
Her arms were flailing with fear and they accidentally hit the severed head. It rolled under the table. Madam Du stood up panickily and wanted to leave the table but she slipped and fell with a heavy thud.
In the corner of her trembling eyes, she looked up as Murong Xue walked slowly towards her. Her light blue dress robe was swaying with her movement and her beautiful face was smiling. Her eyes, however, were cold with malice.
“You…you….you..” Madam Du pointed at Murong Xue. She was so stunned she couldn’t speak, her body trembled like sieving flour: Murong Xue had returned, she was really back…….
“Step grandmother, I am human, not a ghost, you need not be so surprise! Even though you have hired many assassins to kill me but I got lucky and survived. But they didn’t!”
Murong Xue smiled, she was holding more than one severed head. One by one, she threw them mercilessly at Madam Du:
“Surely, they aren’t strangers to you? They are the assassins you hired! You spent so much silver but couldn’t get rid of me, what a pity. So I brought back their heads to let you know that you have bought their lives instead and your pay didn’t go to waste……”
Madam Du was just the wife of a rich man. She knew how to scheme and hire assassins but she had never seen such a gory and bloody scene. The bloody heads Murong Xue threw had left her robe soaked with blood. It had stained her skin and she could feel the stickiness of it. It made the hair on her neck stood at ends.
And those heads had vacant eyes, it was as if they were glaring at her, making soundless accusations at her. She broke down into a cry, “Help me……help me!’
Grandma Guo came to her senses and paced quickly to put herself in front of Madam Du.
She looked coldly at Murong Xue and said, “Madam happens to be your great grandmother. Even if she did do something wrong, you are not fit to punish her….”
“Get lost!” Murong Xue kicked Grandma Guo away.
Grandma Guo was kicked 3 to 4 meters afar. She knocked against the wall and fell with a heavy thud. She spat out blood, it felt as if all her bones in her body had shattered.
“The owner of this palace is speaking, when was it your turn to intervene?” Murong Xue peered at Grandma Guo, “You think I don’t know that you are her accomplice? You’re also involved in hiring assassins to kill me…….and you still use that old hag’s position to threaten me? You obviously don’t know where you belong!”
Murong Xue kicked Grandma Guo once more. She rolled 3 to 4 meters away and hit the wall. She wailed with pain before passing out…….
Murong Xue gracefully walked towards Madam Du. She then lifted one of the heads and swayed it in front of Madam Du, “It’s just a head, everyone has one of those on top of their necks. It’s not like you’ve never seen one before, why are you so afraid? Is it because you feel guilty? Oh so you can feel guilt too, what a rare thing to witness….. ”
A sudden shout filled the air, Madam Du was charging towards Murong Xue with a dangerously sharp hair pin, flames of anger ablaze in her eyes, “I’ll kill you, Murong Xue!”
Kill her? Clearly, she doesn’t know what she’s capable of!
Murong Xue laughed coldly. She grabbed her wrist roughly and applied pressure. The breaking of bones could be heard. She had broken Madam Du’s wrist. The hair pin fell on the ground.
“Ahh!” Madam Du wailed loudly with pain.
Murong Xue raised her brow and gave her a brutal kick, “Shut up!”
Madam Du’s aged body hit the wall from the impact and her wailing stopped. Beads of sweat rolled down her wrinkled face and her brows knitted together. She curled up into a ball of pathetic agony.
Murong Xue walked up to her and gave her another merciless kick which made her roll to the table and hit it with a heavy thud. The impact sent the contents of the table crashing and pouring onto her – plates, bowls, food. It was a terribly humiliating sight…….
Murong Xue walked towards her slowly. Ignoring the leftover food all over Du, she grabbed her collar when suddenly a voice said, “She is well advanced in her years and can’t take many blows. If you keep kicking her, she might lose her life!”
“Ahh don’t worry, I know what I’m doing!” Murong Xue smiled and grabbed Du’s collar even more tightly, “All because this is your first crime, I am sparing you. If you dare hire assassins to kill me again, I will cut your head off and kick it like a ball.”
After threatening Madam Du, she released her grip and Du collapsed. Without turning her head, she walked out of the room. The air once again carried her icy warning to Madam Du: “Don’t treat me as a joke, I have never made jokes to my enemies. Even if you borrow the royal palace’s bodyguards, I can still kill you!”
The maidservants who were in the room were trembling terribly in the corner. Murong Xue ignored them and walked out.
An arm lied on the floor, blocking her way, Murong Xue pretended not to see it and stepped on it while exiting.
“Ahh!” Grandma Guo yelled, her wail of pain so loud that it shook the heavens above…..