Blood Light

Old Li stepped back in shock at the sight of the gleaming short sword. His legs buckled and he fell on his backside.

Gu Yanfei sheathed the short sword without changing her expression. Her movements were clean and decisive. She thought to herself, ‘It’s indeed a good sword!’

Juan Bi stood rooted to the ground, dumbfounded.

“Let’s go, Juan Bi.” Gu Yanfei smiled sweetly.

She lifted her dress and crossed the high threshold, her posture still elegant and upright.

Juan Bi was slow to catch up.

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As soon as the master and servant entered, they heard an old-fashioned and stern female voice reprimand them aggressively.

“Second Lady, look at yourself. You don’t look like a noble lady at all!”

A short distance away, a housekeeper in a rust-coloured dark-striped duster came trudging towards them with three or four old women in tow.

The leader was a granny in her early 50s. The ends of her eyes were drooping, and there were deep grooves at the corners. A hint of arrogance rested between her brows.

Juan Bi greeted her. “Granny Xu.”

Three months ago, it was Granny Xu who had received the orders of Marquis Mansion’s matriarch to bring Gu Yanfei here from Huaibei.

Granny Xu walked straight to Gu Yanfei and had no intention of bowing. Her picky gaze swept over her from head to toe. When she glanced at her slightly messy hair and the mud on her skirt, she frowned. She felt that this Second Lady was really unruly. She was even inferior to the first and second-class maidservants in their Marquis Mansion.

If not for the marriage between the Marquis Mansion and the Fang family…

Granny Xu calmed herself down and said sternly, “Second Lady, Madam asked you to stay here temporarily to learn the rules. Where are the rules you’ve learned?!”

“You’re almost at a marriageable age. A girl from a rich family should be reading ‘Female Precepts’ and ‘Female Training’ at home and doing needlework. Look at you now. Not only are you dressed improperly, you leave early and return late. Just now, you even… Sigh!”

“If this gets out, people will only laugh at the Gu family for not educating their daughter well.”

“You’ve really let Madam down. To think that Madam specially wrote to ask how you’ve learned the rules and wanted to bring you back to the capital early.”

Granny Xu shook her head in disdain. Her arrogant attitude and tone made it seem like she was the master and Gu Yanfei was a servant.

“Granny Xu, you’ve misunderstood.” Juan Bi hurriedly told her about the carriage’s accidental fall to the cliff. Her eyes were red when she talked about the dead coachman and the old female servant.

Granny Xu’s frown deepened, and her expression became even colder. She reprimanded Gu Yanfei again, “Second Lady, if you didn’t insist on going out, this wouldn’t have happened!”

This sentence was equivalent to blaming Gu Yanfei for the death of the coachman and the old female servant.

Gu Yanfei raised her eyebrows and looked at Granny Xu.

In her previous life, it was already the next morning when she woke up from her coma. She had a high fever and her body was weak. There was no relief from surviving the calamity, only deep fear.

At that time, Granny Xu had also reprimanded her, claiming that she had caused the deaths of Juan Bi, the coachman, and the old female servant.

Back then, she believed it. Just as Granny Xu had hoped, she blamed herself for everything… After that, she spent many years in guilt and self-blame. She felt increasingly inferior and was always overcautious.

But she wouldn’t be so stupid now.

She knew who was really wrong. She knew who really deserved to pay the price. She wasn’t going to condemn herself for someone else’s mistake.

“Granny Xu, how could you—”

Juan Bi wanted to defend Gu Yanfei, but Gu Yanfei stopped her. “That’s enough, Juan Bi.”

Gu Yanfei and Granny Xu looked at each other with deep eyes.

Granny Xu thought that she had the upper hand and smiled smugly. There was a hint of mockery between her brows.

Could she not control a girl from the countryside?!

Granny Xu casually brushed her sleeves and turned to Juan Bi. “Juan Bi, Madam asked you to serve the girl so that you can help her follow the rules, but instead, you encouraged her to not come home!”

“I’ll punish you with 30 slaps.”

A cold smile slowly appeared on Granny Xu’s face as she planned to make an example of Juan Bi.

“Let’s go, Juan Bi,” Gu Yanfei said indifferently. She didn’t want to waste her breath on Granny Xu and walked away.

Granny Xu’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. She shouted, “You’re not allowed to go!”

“What do you think of your body compared to the door?” Gu Yanfei glanced at the broken door on the ground as she walked forward. At the same time, she smiled, showing off her strength.

There was a moment’s silence. Old Li and the old women were stunned.

“…” Granny Xu felt as if she had been slapped in public. The anger in her heart rose.

She had been in the Marquis Mansion for decades, and even the young masters and young ladies in the mansion would give her some face. However, she was humiliated by such an unpresentable country girl.

“Second Lady!” Granny Xu’s voice was cold, and her gaze was like a knife. “If you continue to cause trouble, don’t even think about returning to the Marquis Mansion!”

Granny Xu did not hide the threat in her words. She was certain that the other party would give in.

Unexpectedly—

Gu Yanfei was not moved at all. She shrugged nonchalantly. “Then I won’t return.”

The evening breeze blew a few strands of black hair by her cheek. The ends of her hair caressed the girl’s beautiful face, giving off a distant and indifferent feeling.

Juan Bi obeyed and immediately followed.

Granny Xu’s eyes were filled with bewilderment.

In the past three months, she had guided and suppressed her step by step. She had clearly completely controlled this slow and timid country girl. Why did this girl seem to have changed into a different person in just a day?!

When she brushed past Granny Xu, Gu Yanfei lightly said,

“I wish you bad luck. You’re going to have a bloody accident.”

“How dare you curse me?!” Granny Xu subconsciously raised her voice, her eyebrows rising.

Gu Yanfei had nothing else to say. She flicked her hair and left.

“Stop right there!” Granny Xu’s face was tense, and her chest heaved violently. She was about to chase after her.

But she had forgotten about the broken door-panel at her feet and tripped on her right foot. Her bloated body lost its balance and she fell forward with a scream.

All of this happened too quickly. The others around didn’t have time to help her at all. They just watched as Granny Xu fell to the ground.

She slammed her chin against the door panel, knocking blood from her mouth. She screamed and spat out a front tooth. The hairpin on her head was askew, and half of her thinning gray hair fell loose. She looked like a madwoman, battered and exhausted.

One of the old woman pulled at the other beside her, dumbfounded. She was practically on her knees.

The Second Lady had just said that Granny Xu would face a bloody accident, and it actually came true so quickly!

This, this, this… was too amazing!

“Granny Xu, are you alright?”

After a moment of silence, there was a commotion.

Someone quickly went to help Granny Xu, who had fallen to the ground. Someone rushed to get a doctor, and someone shouted for the doorkeeper to repair the door…

Gu Yanfei did not care about this.

When she returned to the house, she was alone in her room.

The boudoir was simple and elegant. Against the wall was a medium-sized lacquered bed with a sky-blue canopy hanging over it.

On the east side, against the wall, were a dresser and a black lacquer shelf. A large, dark red desk was set up by the east window, facing the small pond outside.

Gu Yanfei sat in front of the desk by the window. She lowered her eyes and looked down, focusing on sensing the surrounding spiritual energy.