Chapter 59: Atonement of Life

Wan Tang, don't act impulsively; Xiao Mingshu is clearly doing it on purpose.

Tonight the Xu Family moved her people, causing her to be reprimanded by the Empress Dowager; that resentment must be vented.

Handing a person over to you at this moment is obviously to watch you clash with the Xu Family. Since the child is already born, you two will die together, and she will be delighted.

Kind words can't persuade a death‑seeking ghost, let alone you babbling here while she remains unaware.

How could Wan Tang not understand Xiao Mingshu's intention in doing this?

With the ace of having a child secured, let Wan Tang and the Xu Family engage in a sandpiper‑clam battle.

But Wan Tang is just a single person!

It's not that any matter can be handled with perfect self‑control and without any emotion.

When it concerns her mother, Wan Tang refuses to back down even an inch.

Li Ping'er and Qiu Ju were taken by Bai Wei to the Side Hall, unaware that Wan Tang had already left.

Songbai Palace.

At this moment, it is dead quiet.

The people in the Side Hall keep the doors and windows tightly shut, fearing to attract the people of the Zhudian.

"Mother, is that all your ability?" Xu Luoyan swept the tea cup off the table, porcelain shards scattering to Wang Jingyi's feet, "You brought in a reckless scoundrel, and now it's harming us."

"Enough!" Wang Jingyi finally could bear no more, pinching her fingertips into her palm, "If it weren't for your stupidity that can't surpass others, lacking a holy heart, why would you resort to using others' hands to vie for favor?"

"Is it me who's foolish? It's all mother, placing that scoundrel by my side, poisoning me for years…"

Xu Luoyan's voice was full of grievance, and now she complained, "Mother, no matter what, you must find a way to stay."

"If you leave, I'm alone in the palace—what can I possibly do!"

Wang Jingyi's head throbbed from the argument, and she kept rubbing her temples.

"I didn't expect it at this hour, Songbai Palace is still so lively."

A smiling voice floated in from outside the hall, light and airy, yet it froze both mother and daughter in place.

Wan Tang slipped silently to the doorway, while two people behind her carried a vermilion‑lacquered wooden box, its corners still dripping an unidentified liquid.

The two were dressed in night‑cloaks, cold light flickering at their waists, each bearing a side‑blade.

Xu Luoyan's pupils contracted sharply: "Are you crazy?"

She shouted sternly, "To trespass Songbai Palace at this hour and still dare bring a man inside!"

"This hour is just right," Wan Tang tilted her head and laughed lightly, moonlight bathing her pallid face, making her black eyes seem bottomless, "The Side Hall's doors and windows are sealed shut."

She stepped forward slowly, embroidered shoes treading over broken porcelain, "Even if something happens, no one will hear, right?"

Wang Jingyi blocked her daughter, voice tightening: "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Just a gift."

Wan Tang brushed the wooden box: "Madam, you've shown me kindness since I was a child; how could I possibly repay you?"

"Madam is leaving the palace tomorrow; I will of course give my utmost sincerity."

She suddenly lifted the lid with force.

Bang!

Someone was curled up inside the box.

The old beast doctor was blood‑splattered, both hands gripping the box rim tightly, a "huff huff" sound coming from his throat.

His murky eyes met Wang Jingyi's, and he suddenly shrieked, "Madam, save me!"

"Back then I also carried out tasks for you; I was helpless too!"

Wang Jingyi let out an "Ah!" at the doctor, staggered back, and knocked over the candlestick.

In the instant the flame went out, she saw Wan Tang's face clearly.

It was an uncanny likeness to that scoundrel's youthful appearance, except the scoundrel was always timid, while Wan Tang wore a cloyingly eerie smile.

"Do you like this gift, madam?" Wan Tang asked softly, her voice gentle as if inquiring about today's pastry.

Countless doubts flashed through Wang Jingyi's mind.

Wan Tang is a mistress without any backing; where did she get the person, and how did she find the beast doctor?

Since Wan Tang became a favored concubine, Wang Jingyi, plagued by endless nights, had already sent people everywhere to look for a beast doctor, yet never succeeded.

She never expected that, in such a tense moment, he would appear before her eyes.

"How audacious!" Wang Jingyi scolded sharply, her well‑kept face twisted with anger, "You dare bring an outsider man before me?"

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Wan Tang's mouth twitched upward, her eye sockets reddening uncontrollably.

"When my mother died, blood soaked the entire bed; do you know that!"

Wan Tang suddenly cut her off, her voice as light as a feather, yet it caused the hall's temperature to drop sharply.

"She clutched my hand until death, teaching me restraint; if I endure a little, I can live well. She wanted me to bear no resentment toward anyone…"

The candle flame crackled, reflecting the frenzy swirling in Wan Tang's eyes.

"Yet her kindness became the very excuse others took for bullying her."

"Wang Jingyi, how you killed my mother back then, now repay it to me!"

Xu Luoyan, seeing this, raised her hand to slap her: "Scoundrel!"

"Your despicable mother died nearly twenty years ago, yet you still bring her up!"

"Her existence is our shame."

Wan Tang precisely seized her wrist, her five fingers tightening like iron tongs.

Xu Luoyan winced in pain, but saw the usually gentle Wan Pin reveal stark white teeth: "Your Majesty, golden branch and jade leaf, do you know what it feels like to wash in water?"

She suddenly exerted force, hurling Xu Luoyan onto the ground.

"Since I was a child, the hardships I've endured have long prevented me from becoming a delicate little lady."

"If you dare raise a hand against me again, I'll snap your finger off." Wan Tang's gaze instantly turned as cold as frost: "Xu Answering, did you hear me clearly?"

"Help! Someone, quick..." Xu Luoyan screamed, her hair in disarray: "You scoundrel, how dare you threaten me..."

"Shut up!" Wang Jingyi suddenly roared.

She stared intently at the barely living veterinarian in the box, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

If this old thing were taken before the throne, who knows how much trouble it would cause.

The matter of Xu Qinghuan was already a light reprimand, but stirring up the veterinarian affair might involve the General's Residence.

In an instant, Mrs. Xu's fierce expression vanished, replaced by a tender smile: "Child, perhaps there's been a misunderstanding."

She personally helped her daughter up, her hand in the sleeve trembling slightly, "That mediocre doctor once lied about his skills for money and harmed your mother."

"Think about it, back then I was in labor, how could I have known about outside matters, how could I have arranged anything?"

She spoke while giving the veterinarian a look: "I admit I was negligent, but the one who truly harmed your mother is this veterinarian."

"All these years, I've been searching everywhere for him."

Wang Jingyi's gaze suddenly turned cold: "Since you've found him, why not kill him? As for your mother, I will personally intervene so her spirit tablet can enter the ancestral hall."

"The lady's skill at changing faces is truly admirable," Wan Tang chuckled, running a hand over the bloodstains on the box rim: "Now I recall, it's too late!"

Wang Jingyi's smile froze on her face.

"Don't kill me! It was Madam Wang who forced me!"

The veterinarian curled up there, trembling as he pointed at Wang Jingyi, his voice hoarse: "That winter, the General's wife was only eight months pregnant, yet Madam Wang ordered me to add abortifacient to the food given to that woman."

Wan Tang's body swayed, her nails digging deep into her palm.

In her mind, the scene of her mother's death resurfaced: the pale face, the eyes that had lost their spark.

She trembled with hatred.

"Before that woman gave birth, I had already met Madam Wang."

The veterinarian's eyes shed cloudy tears, his voice growing lower: "The first time, in the cellar of the Wang family manor, she had someone press my daughter's hand. She said if I obeyed her, she would sell my daughter to the lowest‑class kiln."

He sobbed, "I didn't want to, but I owed the gambling den fifty taels of silver."

"My daughter is only thirteen, she's still so young, I really…"

As he spoke, the veterinarian suddenly looked at Xu Luoyan and shouted, "At that time, there was also a little girl there, it seems it was her..."

Xu Luoyan staggered backward, her embroidered shoes stepping on broken porcelain and producing a harsh clatter.

Her complexion turned as white as paper, her lips trembling, yet she could not utter a single word.

Wan Tang's shoulders shook with anger: "Ha ha, what a virtuous and gentle Madam Wang, so filthy behind the scenes."

"Isn't it tiring, to keep up such a disguise?"

"Even the filthy deeds you yourself did, you don't dare to admit, right?"

Wang Jingyi suddenly let out a low laugh, the golden Step Shake tassels casting flickering shadows in the candlelight.

She gracefully smoothed the folds of her sleeve, her gaze gradually twisting: "Indeed, I did it."

Her voice was eerily gentle: "Your despicable mother, a daughter of a traitor whose family was eradicated, how dare she compete with me for a man?"

"Just because of that fox‑like face!"

She suddenly screamed, the candle flame flaring wildly, casting her snarling face onto the wall: "The General had just earned a battle merit and was eager to bring her back to the residence! If our Wang family didn't still have a sliver of standing at court, she wouldn't have been merely kept abroad."

Wan Tang roared angrily: "Nonsense! My mother married him long ago and kept sending him to the Capital for exams; it was Xu Chengyuan who coveted the Wang family's power!"

Her voice was hoarse beyond recognition, "He wants the Wang family's support, yet he can't bear to part with my mother!"

Wang Jingyi hysterically tore open her collar, revealing a fierce scar on her clavicle.

Her fingers trembled as they brushed the scar, her gaze wild: "On the night of the grand wedding, I pressed a dagger against this spot to force the General to swear an oath."

"Besides me, he will never marry another woman, nor let any other woman enter the house."

Wang Jingyi said, her eyes reddening as she cried out, "But within a year, that scoundrel came to the Capital and even bore your illegitimate child."

"It's you who have wronged me!"

"Want power and old affection," Wan Tang let out a chilling laugh, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Xu Chengyuan is the one who truly deserves death! The three of you should all go to hell!"

Her lips trembled, yet her voice was unusually clear: "That scoundrel should die! She deserves to bleed to death! She deserves to die without closing her eyes!"

Wan Tang slowly lifted her head, the hatred in her eyes palpable: "Wang Jingyi, I demand you repay your blood debt with blood."

"Repay with life?" Wang Jingyi suddenly laughed up to the heavens: "Just because of that rotten gambler animal?"

"Do you think a lowly veterinarian's testimony could shake my position, Wang Jingyi?"

She lunged toward Wan Tang, golden‑plated armor slicing across Wan Tang's cheek, leaving a bloodstain: "You'd better take him now and file a petition to the throne!"

"Let all officials and generals know," her voice suddenly rose, "you are the wretched offspring of a traitor's daughter!"

Thunder roared outside the hall, illuminating the strange smile on Wan Tang's face.

"Who said I would have him see the Emperor?" Wan Tang's voice was as light as a feather, yet made Wang Jingyi shudder all over.

She slowly raised her hand to wipe away the tears: "I only want you to receive the Retribution you deserve."

Her gaze suddenly turned frantic and desperate, tears mixing with blood winding down her face: "These past ten‑plus years, every day I've wondered how painful my mother's death was..."

"And my poor younger brother."

Her voice choked, almost inaudible: "I clearly heard his cries, how could he be a stillborn?"

Wang Jingyi involuntarily stepped back, her back hitting the desk.

The veterinarian seemed to seize hope, suddenly shouting, "No, it's not a stillborn."

"It's a boy; spare me, and I'll tell you the truth!"