Lao Min Na watched Lory with cold eyes. Her face remained unperturbed. She didn’t feel it was wrong to kill an innocent person. The fact that Lao Min Na lived under much pressure, was tortured, and was treated like an animal in the Lao Manor turned her heart cold. However, the recent events changed her as her heartfelt lighter and she felt better than ever. Her mind also become sharper and clearer. 

Lao Min Na used to hate and love her late mother, craved for her father’s love and acceptance from everyone. But her feelings changed, and she didn’t want the same things anything. She now felt anger whenever she saw her father’s face. She felt suffocated by her stepmother’s laugh and Lao Fei Yan’s presence. She hated every single person inside the Lao Manor as she felt they did not intercede on her behalf when she suffered. They mocked and taunted her instead. They pretended she did not exist and treated her like air. The tides had turned, and it was her turn to seek revenge by punishing every single person. 

​​

Lory took a bit of a pastry without touching the chopsticks, “It’s not too sweet, Young Miss.” 

A sneer touched Lao Min Na’s lips as she squinted her eyes and firmly said, “Finish it!” 

Lory smirked. No matter how vicious Lao Min Na’s was, Lory still hoped he still had a conscience deep inside her heart. It seemed Lory was wrong to think that. She looked and Lao Min Na asked calmly, “Are you still going to kill me even when you know I was just doing my job?”

Lao Min Na exhaled loudly. She was surprised the maid wasn’t scared but remained calm and composed “You knew…?”

“You did too…” Lory replied. 

Lao Min Na continued sneering, “This isn’t entirely your fault, but you brought the pastries to my table even when you knew the food was poisoned… Don’t tell me I wronged you now.”

“It would be humiliating for an alchemist to get poisoned by a simple drug,” Lory tilted her head with a knowing look.

“You don’t seem to be an ordinary servant,” Lao Min Na was stunned by what she heard. Suspicion tingled within her. She gave Lory a second look. She never noticed Lory’s existence before because Lory was too low key. Nothing about her stood out and this fact made Lao Min Na anxious. “Who do you work for… the Prime Minister, Yang Wei Lan, Lao Fei Yan or someone else…”

Lory smiled mildly as she put the chopsticks on the table gently. She ignored Lao Min Na’s glare and said, “You overestimated me Young Miss. I’m an ordinary servant. I’m just a little more observant than others.”

“Hump! I don’t believe you!” Lao Min Na said. She didn’t believe someone with Lory’s temperament could be an ordinary maid. A normal maid would be crying, shivering and begging for her mercy by now. However, this maid was so serene and Lao Min Na couldn’t read her mind. Such a person could be a more dangerous enemy. 

“I think you stop believing a long time ago…” Lory sighed and smiled pitifully at Lao Min Na. What was the point of living if you didn’t have anyone to trust or believe in anything but yourself?

Lao Min Na hated the way Lory looked at her. It was the same look everyone gave her for having a mother who was a loose woman, for losing her father’s favor, a stepmother and stepsister who bullied her daily. The family elders saw all this happen but chose to turn their cheeks, while the Crown Prince played with her heart and easily discarded her after he got bored. She hated them all. She stopped caring about them, but the humiliation was still there. She could not reconcile with the fact that someone as talented and beautiful like she was degraded by them. 

“Eat this!” Lao Min Na’s eyes were filled with rage as she raised the pastries plate towards Lory.

“Make me…” Lory provoked Lao Min Na. Her face was unchanged. She had been through a lot in her life and she was not afraid of anything. 

Lao Min Na threw the plate towards Lory’s face. It was a good thing Lory was nimble enough to mostly dodge it. It flew past her but graced her cheek leaving a small scratch, yet Lory remained calm. She expected Lao Min Na to throw a tantrum. Lao Min Na was ridiculed by Lory’s calm face. She got up from her chair and slapped Lory’s face. 

Lory spits out blood. Cultivators, even the lower-ranked ones, were stronger than the common people. However, Lory who has had a high threshold of pain didn’t feel anything from Lao Min Na’s slap. Lory chuckled and teased, “You hit like a girl…”

This is made Lao Min Na flip out. She punched Lory’s stomach repeatedly, but Lory didn’t make a sound. Lory just laughed at Lao Min Na and mocked her by calling her weak. Girsha who watched from afar became worried and shouted angrily, [I’m gonna killed her!!]

[Wait, not yet… It’s weird. I am not hurting as much] Lory responded to Girsha through their telepathic connection.

[What do you mean…?] Girsha was baffled and anxious as he watched Lao Min Na hit and kick Lory until she was on her knees. However, the Princess was too proud and stubborn to make a sound.

[Seriously, it’s not painful anymore…] Lory was stunned by the discovery. 

[It’s not your ‘Gift’, isn’t it? The curse is still binding your power…] Girsha was connected to Lory’s soul. They were both bound by the curse, but he could still use about thirty percent of his power since he was not the bearer of the curse. His current power was more than enough to kill Lao Min Na with a single strike. Lory, however, stopped him from doing it. If they killed Lao Min Na, Lory would be hunted by the authorities. As much as Prime Minister Lao didn’t care about his daughter and would be glad, she was dead, the Prime Minister still had a reputation to keep and would not let her get away. 

Lory believed she could avoid the authorities with her shapeshifter spell as all she needed was to slightly change her face and move to another town. Changing her face meant she needed to start over again and meant she won’t meet him again. Somehow, she was reluctant to lose their connection. 

[My ‘Gift’! Could this be because of Li Xin’s necklace?] Lory gasped as she suddenly remembered.

Lao Min Na became more irritated by Lory’s silence. She gathered her Qi in her palm. If the cultivator used their Qi to hurt a common person, the results could be devastating. Lao Min Na aimed at Lory’s head as she suddenly had the urge to kill the maid painfully. 

“DIE!” Lao Min Na screamed at Lory.

Her hand touched Lory’s head yet something repelled her. Lao Min Na’s body was thrown towards the window hitting the nearby wall. Lao Min Na coughed a mouthful of blood before she fainted. Her personal maid ran towards her unconscious master with worry. 

Lory watched the wrecked room. It looked like a hurricane had passed through. Girsha flew in and perched on her shoulder, a bewildered look touched his face.

[WHAT THE HECK?!] 

Lao Min Na’s maid scream woke Lory from her daze. She knew she had to escape. She left Lao Min Na’s place and headed towards the maid’s courtyard. She bumped into Mu Han on the way back. He saw Lory’s face and knew something bad had happened.

“Follow me!!” Mu Han said in hurry. She didn’t hesitate to follow him since Zhao Li Xin told her Mu Han was his subordinate. They were trotted to the backdoor when he asked, “What happened?” 

“Lao Min Na tried to kill me…” Lory answered nonchalantly. This was a new normal at Lao Manor.

Mu Han sighed. It was fortunate he found this out before things became fatal as he would not have known how to answer his lord. Lately, his lord paid a lot of attention to Luo Ri Yi. Mu Han found it weird since Lory was not the type of woman a man would fall ‘head over heels’ with. She was just too… common.

“Wait here!” Mu Han hid her behind a tree and approached the soldier who guards the back door. Lory couldn’t tell what the housekeeper told the guard for him to anxiously leave his post. Mu Han beckoned Lory after the guard left, gave her some money, and told her to go to Zhao Li Xin’s manor, the Nin jing Manor. 

Being quick-witted by nature, Lory quickly understood Mu Han’s directions to Nin jing Manor. She thanked Mu Han and left immediately leaving him stunned. She was not like other women who would whimper or act anxious. Then again, Lory was the woman who caught his lord’s attention. There was no way she could be normal. 

Lory hid in the shadows as she did not want the patrol guards to see her. It was not normal for a woman in this world to walk alone in such an hour. Zhao Li Xin’s Manor was far from the main road, but it was also located in a remote area, so she didn’t have to be afraid of being seen by other people. It took her twenty minutes to get to Nin jing Manor. She placed her hands on her knees once she reached Nin jing’s front gate as she was exhausted. The guards were surprised to see a woman panting tottering towards the gate. She could barely talk. 

Lory raised her hand gesturing ‘Wait’ as she tried to control her breathing. The guards watched her with puzzled looks. 

“Apologies for the intrusion but can I see Zha… Sixth Prince?” Lory asked courteously. She didn’t forget her manners especially since she was a guest. 

The guards opened the gates reluctantly. They did it because she was polite. “Could we inquire about the purpose of your visit?”

“I’m in trouble and the Lao Manor’s housekeeper sent me to here. The Sixth Prince also told me to find him if I ever need anything.” 

“Mu Han…?”The guards didn’t know about Mu Han, but they were only lower guards. Someone like Master Mong would know if the Sixth Prince asked someone to find him. They also wonder what relationship the woman had with the Sixth Prince for him to ask her to find him. The woman was too ordinary, yet their lord’s beauty was too outstanding. 

“Wait here!” One of the guards said as he walked inside the manor leaving her with the guards. 

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Lory who was tired and thirty asked. She took the guards’ silence as a ‘Yes’. Lory sat on a stair and placed her head between her knees. It was a good thing Lory wore Zhao Li Xin’s necklace or else she would have frozen to death walking in the streets at such an hour. She was dozing off when the gate was roughly kicked open. Lory jolted into alertness as she wondered if someone wanted to kill her. 

“Ri Yi, are you okay?!” Someone embraced her, it was more like bumped into her to be exact. Lory would have fallen if not for his arms around her waist. The familiar scent made her realize it was Zhao Li Xin.

“I’m fine, Li Xin. You are actually crushing me,” Lory chuckled with relief.

“Oh sorry,” Zhao Li Xin let go of her waist. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt her. Lory laughed at him but her swollen lips stung when she moved her mouth. Zhao Li Xin’s eyes bulged when he saw Lory’s bruised and swollen face, “Who did this…?” 

The guards and few shadow guards, including Mong Ki and Mong Yi, unconsciously took a few steps back. They all thought the same. “Oh, SH**T!”