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When they were done, Cailiuyu also tiptoed into the room and handed the copper lock to Guo Fengdan. "Miss, remember to come back early."

"Alright." Guo Fengdan locked the door, her face filled with concern. "I'll be back after my performance. Cailiuyu, I'm sorry to have to trouble you to stay here for me."

On normal days, Cailiuyu would accompany her to the performances, clapping the loudest when watching from downstairs.

Now, she was the one taking the fall for Guo Fengdan.

Guo Fengdan felt a pang of guilt.

Cailiuyu covered her mouth and chuckled. "It's alright, Miss. Go quickly. If you're late, Lord Jinwu might get angry."

"Alright, I'll deal with it." Guo Fengdan put on a cloak. Pulling the hood over her head to conceal half her face, leaving only her eyes visible to navigate her way, she sneaked out of the mansion.

By the time Guo Fengdan returned, stars already speckled the night sky. She switched back with Cailiuyu, and the next day, they did it again. Surprisingly, no one noticed their repeated exchanges as they ventured out.

Until one day...

Madam Guo informed her that General Sun hadn't visited in quite some time, likely having forgotten about the marriage proposal. She urged Guo Fengdan to find someone to marry as soon as possible.

Guo Fengdan had just let out a sigh of relief, planning to seek another family that would allow her to sing outside. After sneaking out of the mansion one day and finishing her performance, she pushed the door open only to find the entire residence filled with warlords and soldiers pointing their guns at her parents.

Dashuai Sun sat nonchalantly in the garden. Upon seeing Guo Fengdan return, he clapped his hands and laughed heartily, "Miss Guo is truly a heroic woman; not even chains can hold her back from singing."

Cai Liu, with her limbs bound and mouth gagged, knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. Upon seeing her mistress, she shook her head repeatedly, signaling not to worry about her.

Guo Xiang, with a gun barrel pressed against his head, trembled as he pleaded in agony, "General Sun... General Sun is an admirable man, Dan Dan, just marry him..."

"I appreciate your kind words, future father-in-law," Dashuai Sun replied.

With the long spear planted on the ground, Dashuai Sun wiped the barrel with a forced smile, noticing Guo Fengdan's silence. "However, Miss Guo seems not to have grasped the situation yet?"

The spear spun around.

Dashuai Sun lifted the spear, pulled the trigger, and a gunshot echoed. Cailiuyu fell to the ground, the bullet exiting through her forehead after entering through the back of her head. She didn't even have time to cry out before collapsing silently, her blood staining the garden, making the wooden hibiscus blossoms appear even more vibrant.

Cailiuyu's eyes remained wide open in death.

Guo Fengdan clutched her head in agony, letting out a pained scream.

Each night, Cai Liu was confined to her room, never allowed to take her evening stroll, all to keep Dan's secret safe.

Each night, exhausted, Cai Liu would fall asleep fully clothed on the cold floor, abstaining from the comfort of the bed to maintain propriety.

Cai Liu, who had dedicated herself entirely to her, died right before her eyes.

She was wrong...

She should not have sung. She should have married Dashuai Sun.

Then Cai Liu would still be alive.

Eighteen guns were aimed at every member of the Guo family. Dashuai Sun, in a display of intimidation, stroked his mustache with a fake smile, "Miss Guo, think carefully. Accidents happen, and I cannot guarantee that my dear father-in-law won't be the next to fall, or perhaps someone else from the Guo family."

Upon seeing Cai Liu's demise, the servants prostrated themselves, begging for mercy from their mistress.

Guo Fengdan's body was numb, yet she shakily closed Cai Liu's eyes.

"I'll marry," she said.

Would it not suffice if she were to wed?

Would it not suffice if she ceased singing?

Four days later, Guo Fengdan was carried out of the Guo residence in a grand palanquin.

Madam Guo collapsed weeping at the entrance, pounding her chest repeatedly as she wailed, "My darling, my darling."

The palanquin swayed, and Guo Fengdan lifted the red veil. She didn't turn back to look at her mother but, with a calm expression, slowly retrieved a rope from her wedding attire and tied it to the top of the palanquin.

The rope passed through the beam, and her slender, unadorned hand skillfully tied a knot.

All was prepared.

She then slowly... placed the rope around her neck.

...

Guo Fengdan had died.

In the cramped palanquin, where escape was always possible, where standing up could avert death, she personally ended her own life, as vibrant as a blooming flower.

Dashuai Sun had obtained Guo Fengdan's corpse through his authoritarian power.

She could not escape her fate, nor could she choose to pursue her desires; all she could do was protest with her lifeless body.

She had thought that with her death, Dashuai Sun would no longer torment the Guo family.

But reality proved otherwise.

When Dashuai Sun ordered Guo Fengdan's corpse to be thrown into the Guo residence, her parents were unable to accept it, repeatedly questioning him for such cruelty.

Guo Xiang fought Dashuai Sun fiercely, demanding the return of his daughter.

And then...

The Guo household echoed with screams as Dashuai Sun and his men slaughtered everyone within the family.

In the end, the entire Guo residence was set ablaze, consuming both the house and the remains of the Guo family members.

Flames soared into the sky, accompanied by the crackling of burning timber.

Guo Fengdan's parents' eyes remained wide open in death, unblinking.

Dashuai Sun callously threw Guo Fengdan's body into the blaze, snarling, "Do you think you can escape me by dying? Think again!"

It was all over.

Yu Feiyang witnessed the entirety of Guo Fengdan's demise, his mind unable to regain composure for a long while.

He loathed his own powerlessness.

All he could do was watch helplessly as the object of his affection slowly suffocated before him, agony etched on her face.

In that moment, Yu Feiyang bitterly regretted being born in this era. If he and Guo Fengdan had existed in the same time and space, would he have been able to save her?

The darkened space gradually grew colder as bamboo shoots emerged from the soil, their stems glistening with dewdrops.

"Master Chu, how can we help Dan Dan?"

Chu Yuening faintly heard Yu Feiyang's near-tearful inquiry. Turning her head again, she found the two figures had vanished into the darkness of the bamboo grove.

"Oh no, we've been separated," she realized.

The soil softened, and the rustling of the bamboo on both sides of the path grew louder as the dense grove slowly converged in the middle.

Opening her eyes, Chu Yuening brandished her peachwood sword and coldly commanded, "Scram!"

The bamboo leaves that were cut off fluttered back to their original positions, trembling.