Yet, why was she feeling so nervous?

Gu Changjin's subtle and unhurried gaze swept across her face before settling on her clear, dark eyes.

They were spotless, carrying a gentle and demure smile.

Gu Changjin tapped his long fingers against his leg, deep in thought.

Rationally, he shouldn't have agreed.

Madam Jin's body was currently resting in an inn at the outskirts of the city. Empress Qi had shown mercy by granting her a cypress coffin for a proper burial and allowed Li'er to escort the coffin to Daci'en Temple for a 49-day mourning period.

Daci'en Temple was a place where only royalty could hold funerals. Empress Qi had made an exception out of sympathy for Madam Jin's maternal love.

Li'er was staying in an inn not far from the inn tonight. Tomorrow morning, the inn staff would send her to the inn to personally accompany the coffin to Daci'en Temple.

Rong Shu had expected the man's silence.

In her previous life, when Li'er and Madam Jin were still in prison, Rong Shu had once asked if she could send them some food and clothes.

Back then, Gu Changjin had coldly refused.

This request today was far more unconventional than sending food or clothes; he would surely decline.

In truth, Rong Shu had no intention of meeting Xu Li'er.

She only wanted to use Gu Changjin's hand to save Xu Li'er.

Xu Li'er's death wasn't as straightforward as it seemed.

Everyone claimed she had hanged herself, but Rong Shu knew there was something suspicious about her demise.

If not for her intervention in the previous life, Xu Li'er might not have died.

Long ago, she had planned to make a request that Gu Changjin would reject. After he turned it down, she would propose a less outrageous one, and he would likely agree then.

That was how it always worked. Once he denied her one thing, he tended to acquiesce to the next.

Loosening her grip on the lamp handle slightly, Rong Shu sensed that the moment was ripe. The words she had mulled over for so long were almost on the tip of her tongue when the man in the green robe, with his stern expression, suddenly relaxed his brows and spoke softly:

"Chang Ji, prepare the carriage. I'm taking Lady out for a ride."

Chapter 23

The setting sun retreated, leaving behind the last vestiges of twilight.

The carriage rolled through the night, heading towards the inn outside the city gates.

Rong Shu held a wooden box in her arms, still somewhat in disbelief.

Gu Changjin had actually agreed?

He was... unexpectedly accommodating?

This was truly like a maiden sitting on a sedan chair for the first time.

She had intended to ask Gu Changjin to deliver the Ginseng Essence Pills to the inn on her behalf. Based on her understanding of him, once he refused her request to see Li'er, he would certainly agree to send the medicine for her.

To her surprise, he not only didn't refuse but also accompanied her personally.

Rong Shu lifted her gaze to glance across at him.

The man was still clad in his emerald green official robe, his head tilted as he gazed out the window. His cold jade-like face revealed no emotion.

Ever since they had boarded the carriage, he had maintained this position.

This aloof and reticent Gu Changjin was the one Rong Shu knew well.

Though they were silent, Rong Shu found contentment in their silence.

The corners of her lips curved slightly, her peach blossom eyes transforming into crescents, like the moon reflected on spring tides.

In her previous life, she had grieved for Xu Li'er's death for quite some time, feeling a profound guilt that she had indirectly caused Boren's demise.

On the night Xu Li'er took her own life, Gu Changjin had initially intended for Heng Ping to guard the inn on the outskirts of the capital.

Coincidentally, it was on that very night that she brought up Yang Xu's adopted son. Gu Changjin promptly went to his study, and half an hour later, Chang Ji and Heng Ping hastily left the Gu residence. Neither of them headed straight to the inn, and by the time they finished their errands, Xu Li'er had already passed away.

Rong Shu had often wondered, if she hadn't spoken up that night and postponed the conversation, Heng Ping might have reached the inn in time, and perhaps, he could have saved Xu Li'er.

She had carried this guilt for a long time. Nurse Zhang had consoled her, saying that it was precisely because of Xu Li'er's suicide and the blood-stained letter she left behind that the people of Obeying Heaven Mansion had grown to despise the Imperial Guards.

That had all happened after Xu Li'er had hung herself.

On the first day of the tenth lunar month, the Cold Food Festival, thousands upon thousands of citizens gathered beneath the "Eternal Fame" plaque at the entrance of the Eastern Depot, vociferously cursing the door and demanding that Yang Xu avenge Xu Li'er and her daughter.

Ever since Emperor Jiande established the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guards, these two institutions had functioned as the emperor's eyes and ears, stirring countless storms of blood and violence throughout Great Yin.

For many years, the guards had wielded an intimidating power in Great Yin; how could they tolerate such brazen defiance from the common folk?

The head of the Eastern Depot's torture unit then led a dozen or so enforcers to violently beat the most vocal citizens into submission. However, this attempt at intimidation only fueled the people's anger instead of silencing them.

Tens of thousands of civilians swarmed forward, mercilessly killing the head of the torture unit and several enforcers. The incident escalated dramatically, eventually drawing in the Imperial Guards.

It was precisely due to this massive uproar that Gu Changjin later managed to so effortlessly overthrow Yang Xu's faction.

That was why Mama Zhang told Rong Shu that Li'er's death served a purpose.

"This poor girl had been ravaged by Yang Rong, her reputation ruined. After her mother passed away, she found herself alone in the world with no one to turn to. She had little hope left in life, so it was perhaps better for her to die swiftly. By sparking such a turmoil, her death could be said to have had some meaning."

In Mama Zhang's words, there was both sighing and contemplation, but no sense of regret.

Perhaps this was how most people in the world thought: Once a woman lost her innocence and reputation, her life was ruined, and it would be better to end it with a white silk rope.

Rong Shu wasn't oblivious to the meaning behind Mama Zhang's words, but she always felt that it shouldn't be like this.

For someone who didn't deserve to die, there was no such thing as a "rightful death."

Death meant the loss of everything.

Rong Shu had tasted death once before. What was so good about it?

Even ants cling to life.

In her previous life, if she hadn't known that there was no escape from her fate, she would never have drunk that cup of poison. How she wished to have acted coquettishly with her mother more times, enjoyed more delicious delicacies, and seen more of the world's magnificent landscapes.