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She obediently followed and wanted to buy candy gourds when she saw them.

I bought several, and she ate them all the way back to the mansion, even stuffing one into my mouth.

At that moment, the anger in my heart extinguished instantly, leaving no trace.

In the evening, I stayed in her courtyard and forcefully took advantage of her.

She was very angry, biting and scratching me, but I enjoyed it.

I was thinking, once back from my mission this time, I’ll give her the status of a concubine.

In autumn, bandits raided everywhere again, and foreigners were also on the move, violating our borders.

I was ordered to assist the frontlines, so I instructed the steward to take care of the mansion and also to look after Chen Ying.

Before leaving, I kissed her forehead and said, “Behave and wait for me at home. If you feel unwell, summon the house doctor to check your pulse. Ask the steward for anything you want; he will arrange it.”

In fact, I was hoping she was pregnant already, bearing me a son or a daughter. If that were the case, her alone would be enough for my whole life.

But I didn’t dare give her any silver coins. All her jewelries from before were stored by me in the treasury—I would naturally return them to her upon my return.

Because I couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t run away again if she had money.

During the months on the border, I thought of her every day. I would buy any interesting item I found to take back to her, to make her happy.

Thinking about her small expressions of scolding and anger, I felt so itching.

One day, I suddenly received a letter from the steward, saying Chen Ying ran away.

My heart felt as if it was plunged into icy water during the harshest winter, chilling to the bone.

Once the wars concluded, I rushed back to the mansion.

She really was gone. I found a letter on the pillow.

In the letter, she asked me not to look for her and claimed she only took her clothes and nothing else.

At the end, she added that she was able to escape thanks to Chen Zhao’s help.

I understood what she meant by the last sentence—she wanted to blame her escape on Chen Zhao.

As she wished, I had Chen Zhao beaten fifty times, and threw him out of the mansion.

As for Chuyan, who helped her escape, I couldn’t touch him—for now.

But he had to give me an explanation.

Chuyan knelt before me and said that Chen Ying was his fellow townsman. He pitied her for being so worried about her brother that he sent her out of the city, solely because he too had a sister, who was harmed by bandits.

I remained silent for a long time, then ordered him to receive fifty lashes.

Afterward, I sent people to search everywhere. Failing to find any trace of her, I eventually had people station near Jiang Village, where her brother was. If she was still alive, she would definitely go there.

Half a year later, I finally received news of her.

It turned out she had travelled back to Qinchuan County incognito as a beggar. She started a small business in Qinchuan County and finally went to find her brother after accumulating a sum of money.

Seeing her brothers in such a destitute state, she brought them back to live in the city.

It was then she found out that the money she sent previously, besides being used for her brother’s treatment, had also been pocketted by her sister-in-law.

After taking her brothers to the city, Chen Ying went out to do business alone, often moving among the local hooligans. I ordered the local gang leader to protect her, not allowing anyone to touch her, or they would be severely punished.

The gang leader agreed and told his subordinates to treat her politely.

I was angry and didn’t want to interfere in her affairs anymore, but she haunted my dreams. I couldn’t let her go, so I decided to leave her alone for a while and let her enjoy her freedom.

At exactly this time, the court was unstable, and many people were eager to stir up troubles, so I couldn’t afford to pay attention to personal matters.

I thought, once the court is stable, and she’s had enough fun, I would bring the three siblings back.

But during the court rectification, someone impeached Chen Changping for corruption and exploitation of his village.

I wasn’t the one investigating this case and had no intention of defending him, so Chen Changping was dismissed and investigated.

I didn’t care since my girl didn’t like her parents and didn’t need to rely on them to live.

A year later, I suddenly received a message that Chen Ying had hung herself.

I was shocked and angry, my hands trembling as I held the letter.

How could my girl hang herself? She was so full of life, even after so many hardships, she managed to make her way back to her home town. What reason could she have to hang herself?

I immediately dispatched people to investigate and found out that she was killed by her own parents.

“Find them! Bring them back to me! I will deal with them myself.” I sent people to find the whereabouts of the whole Chen family, and the leads pointed to King Cheng.

Just then, I received news that King Cheng was planning a rebellion, so I eliminated him in one fell swoop.

When that family was brought back, I interrogated them one by one, starting with their servants.

One servant explained everything in minute detail, including who found her first.

The servant said, “The Mistress found her selling fish in the city. She accidentally saw the Third Mistress, so she trailed her. After finding her place of residence, she told the Master and Madam. They then went to the small yard. The Madam ordered us to beat up the Third Mistress’s brothers. Afterward, the Madam strangled the Third Mistress to death. We didn’t dare to kill anyone. It was all done by the Madam herself, while the Mistress just stood outside the fence watching, never trying to stop it.”

I waved my hand, having them take them away, and ordered the Chen family to be brought over.

I looked at the weak woman below, curious how she could strangle a robust person to death.

I told her, if she could personally strangle her eldest daughter to death, I would spare her life.

Without a second thought, she agreed and put a belt around her eldest daughter’s neck.

I just watched, feeling rather bored.

In fact, ever since I lost my girl, I’ve lost interest in anything.

Even when later someone advised me to have more progeny, kill the Little Emperor, and ascend to the throne myself, I still found it uninteresting.

I had many women in my backyard, but none could touch my heart.

That girl was gone forever.

I found many others who looked like her, but still couldn’t dispell the sorrow in my heart.

Every time I thought about it, it hurt me deeply.