Chapter 6 — When the Green Tea Meets a Dark Lotus

Three months later, the first snow of winter blanketed the earth in blinding white. The Xie family was officially and utterly ruined. Their creditors had united to file a joint petition with the magistrate, resulting in the sealing of the once-grand Marquis estate and the total confiscation of all its assets. Xie Heng, a man who had once lived high above the common folk, was dragged out like a dead dog and cast carelessly into the dirt right outside the threshold. Beside him lay Liu Yiyi, her body shattered and riddled with wounds, her mind wandering in a fog of delirium. The two of them were wrapped in nothing more than a few thin, tattered shreds of cotton, shivering violently against the blade-like chill of the snowy gale. Even now, Xie Heng attempted to reclaim his vanished dignity by barking his former title of Marquis, only for a yamen runner to strike him mercilessly to the ground with a heavy wooden staff.

What Marquis? Imperial edict has already been handed down! Xie Heng is guilty of matricide, stripped of his peerage, and reduced to a common commoner!

Xie Heng collapsed into the snow, howling like a wild beast. His lacerated face was a raw, bloody crimson that stood out starkly against the pure, pristine snow like splashed gore. Liu Yiyi cowered behind him, her lips trembling as she muttered incoherently, Do not hit me... I have medicine... I truly have medicine...

At that moment, I gave the order to halt the carriage. Lifting the silk curtain, I stepped slowly down, wrapped in a cloak of immaculate white fox fur while clutching a handwarmer to my chest. Snowflakes drifted onto my hair, yet they melted instantly without leaving a single trace. Catching sight of me, Xie Heng’s dim, bleary eyes suddenly flared with a desperate brilliance. He dragged himself across the frozen ground like a crippled beast, gouging a long, dark trench in the snow as he lunged toward me. Shen Qingzhu! Save me! I am Xie Heng! I am your husband!

Hach Feng stepped forward smoothly, using only the hilt of his sabre to block his advance and send him sprawling headlong into the slush. I stood tall, looking down from above upon the man who had once made me feel as insignificant and worthless as dust.

Young Master Xie, watch your tongue. I, Shen Qingzhu, have never taken a husband, so how could I possibly have one? Besides...

I let out a soft, low chuckle, my gaze as cold and detached as winter frost.

If anyone were to see a face like yours and claim a vengeful ghost had risen from the netherworld to claim a debt, they would readily believe it.

Xie Heng froze in sheer horror. With trembling fingers, he reached up to touch his own face—the realization dawning upon him as a waking nightmare from which there was no escape.

It was you... it was all of you who drove me to this wretched state! he suddenly vaulted to his feet, his eyes burning with venomous hatred. You stood by and refused to lift a finger! You plotted and schemed to ruin me!

A scheme? I interrupted him coldly. The poison was administered by Liu Yiyi. The blood was traded by your own mother. The ancestral fortune was squandered entirely by your own hands. Xie Heng, of every single tragedy that has befallen you, was there even one that I forced upon your shoulders? You reap what you sow. This... is your retribution.

Xie Heng slumped back down into the snow, his malignant glare melting instantly into pathetic, wretched begging. Qingzhu... remember the love we once shared, spare me a little silver... just a tiny bit... I am dying of starvation...

Liu Yiyi crawled forward as well, desperately trying to clutch at the hem of my skirt. Lady Shen... I was wrong... I am a wicked creature... I beg of you... give me a morsel to eat...

Watching the two people who had once driven me to a miserable death now groveling like stray dogs at my feet, the deep-seated grievances of two lifetimes dissipated by more than half. Yet, I had no intention of bestowing charity. To deal with vicious wolves, mercy is nothing more than cruelty inflicted upon oneself. I turned my back on them, leaving behind only a whisper on the wind.

The wind is fierce tonight, Young Master Xie. Instead of kneeling here and begging me for scraps, you would do better to ponder how to survive this long night. After all, only by staying alive can you truly atone for your sins. Is that not so?

Suddenly, a memory from my past life flashed through my mind. When I had been locked away in the frigid courtyard, my frozen limbs festering with pus-filled sores, I too had begged for a mere handful of burning coals. What had they said back then? Xie Heng had wrapped his arms around Liu Yiyi and mocked me openly. A heart that is cold inside cannot be warmed, no matter how many coals you are given.

Today, I returned every single word back to them, syllable by syllable.

Xie Heng’s eyes burned with a venomous, unyielding hatred. That very night, driven to madness, he made a reckless decision. Dragging Liu Yiyi with him, he crept back into the sealed Marquis estate, hiding away in the servants' firewood shed at the rear of the courtyards. He intended to set a blaze, burning the entire estate to the ground, and drag them both down to the underworld together. Hach Feng came to report the news while I sat quietly in the inner chamber, warming myself by the hearth and trimming the wick of an oil lamp.

Mistress, they have already sneaked inside. From the look of it... their intent is to start a fire.

My hand never faltered. The candle wick snapped with a crisp pop, sending a sudden burst of bright light dancing across the room.

Since he loves fire so much... let us grant him his wish.

Hach Feng accepted the command and departed. At the midnight hour, the flames erupted with terrifying fury. The winter air was bone-dry, and the howling wind only fanned the disaster, turning the fire into a roaring dragon that swallowed the decaying rear courtyard whole. I stood upon the high balcony of the Shen estate, gazing into the distance toward that crimson horizon. The blazing inferno painted half the capital’s sky in the color of spilled blood. On the wings of the wind, piercing, harrowing screams seemed to echo across the night—Xie Heng’s frantic curses, Liu Yiyi’s hysterical weeping, and the desperate, futile pounding against locked doors.

Open the door! Open the door at once!

Save me! I am the Marquis! I am the Marquis, I tell you!

Shen Qingzhu! Vile witch! You will die a wretched death!

I listened in silence. In my past life, I too had cried out in absolute despair amid a roaring sea of flames. Back then, Xie Heng had held Liu Yiyi and their child close, standing safely out of harm's way as he watched me coldly turn to ash. He had said, Only the dead make the most obedient and clean stepping stones.

In this life, it was their turn to taste that very same agony.

The fire raged throughout the entire night. By morning, the yamen runners dug out two charred, unrecognizable corpses from the ruins. The two bodies were locked in a desperate, unbreakable embrace, burned beyond any possibility of identification. Some whispered that the mad, fallen Marquis had tried to warm himself and accidentally knocked over an oil lamp. Others claimed it was a pair of star-crossed wretches consumed by mutual hatred who chose to die together. But... who truly cared for the truth any longer?

Three years later, the enterprises of the Shen family stretched from the southern reaches to the northern borders. My father had retired from the bustling world to enjoy a peaceful old age. Hach Feng’s injured arm had fully healed; with the capital I provided, he re-established his escort agency and rose to become a renowned grand master of the martial world. To Uyen Nhi was no longer the tearful maiden of the past, but traveled far and wide alongside Hach Feng, earning renown as a brilliant traveling physician.

On that particular day, I visited Hanshan Temple once more. The meat-eating monk from years past was still there, though he had aged somewhat, his beard and hair now completely silver. Seeing me arrive, he smiled broadly while gnawing on a roasted chicken wing.

Female patron... the fire in your eyes has finally gone out.

I offered a stick of incense to the Buddha, watching the thin spirals of smoke drift upward, my mind as clear and calm as an unblemished mirror.

It has gone out. Dust to dust, ash to ash.

The elderly monk nodded approvingly. A heart free of inner demons is a heart truly at rest. Patron, your true life... has only just begun.

Stepping out of the main hall, I was greeted by a flood of brilliant sunshine. The gentle spring breeze caressed my cheek, carrying the crisp scent of grass and earth, warming the entire world. I drew in a deep breath and felt my entire being grow light and weightless. There were no longer any red threads of malice, no lingering stench of blood, no heart-shattering betrayals. There remained only magnificent rivers and mountains, and an infinite horizon of tomorrows.

I gathered the fabric of my skirt and descended the stone steps with a light, unburdened tread. Behind me, the bronze bell of the temple chimed softly in the breeze.

I thought to myself... at last, I was truly alive.