A string of Buddha beads fell from Su Zhixue’s sleeve. She grabbed the beads tightly in her hand and muttered to herself:

"Miss Su... it’s been many years since anyone has called me that. No wonder the noble ladies of the Capital City all see the Young Master as their dream lover."

The Young Master Gu blushed and thought to himself that if he weren’t afraid Su Zhixue would faint, he could have called her "Third Sister-in-law."

Rong Heng and Rong Jue are indeed real brothers, and Su Zhixue, posing as Rong Jue’s widow, well deserves the title of "Third Sister-in-law."

Su Zhixue’s voice was gentle and soft, yet she affirmed:

"The Young Master guessed correctly, my Miaoyan is the only bloodline Jue left in this world."

"Gulp—"

Lin He felt the sound of him swallowing echo distinctly within the hall.

Gu Lan exhaled a long breath. Although she had already guessed this possibility when Su Zhixue first knelt down and had mentally prepared herself, she was still utterly shocked to hear Su Zhixue personally confirm it.

Miaoyan,

is the daughter of Rong Jue and Su Zhixue!

No wonder Su Zhixue cherishes Miaoyan so much, almost treating her as her own life. Besides, although Rong Jing isn’t biologically related to Rong Heng, Miaoyan has a slight resemblance to Rong Heng in their features.

The noble circle is really a mess!

Winter has arrived,

thanks to Third Sister-in-law for the hat she knitted for Rong Jing.

"Third Sister-in-law, does Miaoyan know about this?" Gu Lan asked hesitantly.

Hearing the term "Third Sister-in-law," Su Zhixue shook all over, with crystal-clear tears streaming down her elegant face, dropping one by one onto the ground.

"Third Sister-in-law... to have you acknowledge it, I have no regrets in this life."

Supporting her body with her hand, the hard Bodhi Buddha beads pressed into her palm. Her long eyelashes trembled, tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice was hoarse and mournful.

"Besides me, no one else in this world knows this... Even when Jue died, he didn’t know that Miaoyan was his own flesh and blood. But now, I’ve already told you and Lin He, and in a few days, when everything is over, I’ll let Miaoyan know too."

Beside her, Lin He was rendered speechless, staring at Su Zhixue in utter shock.

In this short month, he had experienced too much.

The Young Master Gu is actually a woman disguised as a man;

The Emperor is the son of the Empress Dowager Su and Xie Xu, a half-brother to Xie Yun;

Princess Ning’an isn’t the Emperor’s biological child but the daughter of Empress Su and the late Third Prince Rong Jue?

He muttered blankly, "You... you guys talk, I’ll go check the surroundings."

With that said, Lin He tactfully withdrew.

Gu Lan forcibly helped Su Zhixue up from the ground. She couldn’t stand girls crying, and even if Su Zhixue, by seniority, was her elder, she was still a girl!

"If you don’t get up, I won’t call you ’Third Sister-in-law’ anymore."

Only then did Su Zhixue sit down on the chair, holding the Buddha beads and silently tearing up.

"How do you plan to tell Miaoyan?" Gu Lan looked at Su Zhixue’s tear-filled eyes, paused, and asked, "Third Sister-in-law, did you come here today to tell me this because you want to kill Rong Jing and then tell Miaoyan?"

The eyes can’t lie. Although the woman in front of her used to look sickly, she still had vitality in her eyes. But today, standing in front of Gu Lan, her eyes held only coldness and grief.

Su Zhixue gave a bitter smile and nodded, no longer concealing the deep-seated hatred in her eyes. Her ink-like eyes were tainted with a thick scarlet hue.

"I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. Three days ago, Miaoyan told me about Rong Jing’s origins. Only then did I know this man has no blood ties to the Rong Family... This lunatic, this executioner, this despicable beast... 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Since he isn’t of the Imperial Family’s blood, all my years of endurance and actions have been nothing but a joke. It’s better for me to end it all!

I want to kill him, to avenge Jue!"

Her words were full of anguish and despair, almost uncontrollably shouting in the end, her heart filled with hopelessness and hate.

Memories from the past flashed repeatedly in the woman’s mind, playing over and over, like hot oil scalding her heart, twisting her once-lovely face with hatred.

Gu Lan asked, "Rong Jing is protected by layers of Death Warriors and experts. How are you going to take revenge?"

Su Zhixue steadied herself, raising her head in trembling pain to look at Gu Lan, pleading:

"Wu is a Divine Doctor. He surely has plenty of effective, flavorless poisons you could use for self-defense. However, the poison I can find neither causes him immense pain nor death, and secondly, a prior affair of mine was recently exposed and has aroused his suspicion..."

Her voice was sorrowful as she continued, "Young Master, if you don’t have any, then just pretend I never asked."

For Su Zhixue, a woman lacking the strength to truss a chicken, poisoning is undoubtedly the simplest and most brutal yet easiest path to success.