Qi Yue talked with A Ru for a good while before A Ru finally calmed down and remembered what she needed to do, retrieving shoes from a nearby room. "I'll mend these shoes for you," she said, yet she didn't return to her room, but instead brought needle and thread over and sat on the footstool beside the bed to begin sewing.

This was still a precaution; Qi Yue found it both tearful and laughable. "I won't sleep anymore.

Let Ah Hao be outside in the midday sun," she stated. A Ru made an 'oh' sound, only then remembering the girl had been out for quite some time.

"I'll go call her," A Ru set down her work and went out. Qi Yue, listless and bored, casually picked up the half-repaired shoe and curiously tried using the needle and thread.

Before long, A Ru returned, her expression strangely mixed. "She's gone?" Qi Yue asked, looking up.

"That girl, she hasn't run off anywhere..." A Ru remarked. Qi Yue looked up to listen, accidentally pricking her finger; she gasped softly.

"What is it?" A Ru was startled and quickly looked over. Qi Yue's hand had a small puncture, and a drop of blood welled up, startlingly bright red.

"Go look for her," Qi Yue felt a sudden sinking in her heart, a bad premonition. She immediately stood up and said so.

At that very moment, Ah Hao also harbored a sense of dread as she looked at the red coral ornament shattered on the floor, sweat beading on her forehead. "It wasn't me...

I... It was fine when I picked it up..." she stammered to the cluster of seasoned maids and young servants gathered around.

This was the Young Master's courtyard. After Ah Hao followed Yin Huan in, she indeed saw several maids laughing and leading groups, some saying, "This one is ours," others, "That one is yours," chattering noisily together in great excitement.

"They are all the same... no distinction between which ones..." Several older women smiled, continually handing simply packaged boxes to the maids who stepped forward.

"Our Young Master has always been straightforward..." Ah Hao's heart soared with delight. Although the Young Master hadn't specified these were particularly for the Young Miss, if she took one, the Young Miss would surely be very pleased.

Just as she was about to line up to step forward, a maid waved her over from the side. "Hey, you there, give me a hand." Ah Hao looked around.

"It doesn't matter who, it'll be you. Help me take this box into the Young Master's room," the maid beckoned.

Ah Hao hurried over. "Oh, you must be a..." The maid finally noticed Ah Hao's sash.

She was merely a third-rank maid with a scallion-green belt, so her demeanor immediately became much more respectful. "Oh, I wouldn't dare trouble you.

I'll find a younger maid to do it..." Ah Hao smiled and shook her head, saying it was no trouble. She noted that the maid looked unfamiliar; the Marquis of Dingxi’s residence had numerous servants, some being released every year and others newly hired.

Moreover, she had been in the Qiutong Courtyard for over three years, and the personnel changes in the estate were significant; it was normal not to be recognized. "Then I must impose," the maid said with a smile, handing Ah Hao the box she held.

She then lifted another box from the side and chatted merrily with Ah Hao as they walked toward the main chamber. "Where are you from?" Ah Hao found this topic slightly awkward to answer.

"I... I serve the Young Miss's side," she managed.

The maid visibly faltered, and her expression grew somewhat strained, but thankfully, they had already entered the room. "Please put that down on the low table," the maid quickly suggested, using the instruction to divert the conversation.

Ah Hao surveyed the interior. Like all main chambers in the household, it was composed of three main sections: a central hall, with a bedroom on one side and a sitting room on the other.

Softly colored gauze curtains hung from the moon-gate entrance, and peering through them, one could glimpse large chests and cabinets. A treasured sword with a cherry-red tassel hung on the wall.

What set this room apart from others was the sparsity of floral arrangements or even decorative porcelain vases, lending it an air of broad, martial spaciousness. Four or five maids and older women were inside wiping down and arranging things; they didn't spare her a second glance.

Ah Hao acknowledged the instruction, placed the box on the low table, and opened it. Inside was a red coral ornament.

Just as she reached out to lift the ornament and place it on the table, the piece suddenly fractured and slipped from her grasp. The sharp cracking sound drew the attention of everyone in the room, and Ah Hao stood frozen in fright.

"You foolish girl, this was specially ordered for the Young Master..." one maid exclaimed, snapping out of her shock with a face full of terror. "I...

I..." Ah Hao was close to tears. She immediately knelt down, scrambling to piece the fragments together, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"What is it?" someone asked upon entering. Everyone quickly turned to see Mother Su had arrived.

"Heavens!" Her face changed color instantly upon seeing the shards on the floor, and she cried out in shock. Ah Hao looked up and saw her, then immediately knelt and kowtowed.

"Mother Su, I didn't... it just broke..." She finally burst into tears.

"You... Ah Hao?" Mother Su was astonished, then her face darkened.

"What are you doing here?" "Yes... it was that maid who asked me to help..." Ah Hao quickly explained, raising a finger to point, but when she looked up, the maid who had called her was nowhere to be seen, leaving her tongue-tied.

"Which one?" Mother Su demanded grimly, her gaze sweeping over everyone in the room. "Is anyone allowed to casually enter the Young Master's room?

"No, Mother Su, I came to collect things, and I was stopped by someone who asked me to bring it in..." Ah Hao rushed to explain. "Who asked you to come?" Mother Su cut her off, sharply questioning.

"It was... it was..." Ah Hao anxiously scanned everyone in the room, but the person who had called her wasn't there.

"It was someone... you all...

you all saw her, which one was it?" The maids and older women in the room all looked baffled. "We were all in the room; no one else entered except for you, miss," one older woman stated, looking at Ah Hao with confusion.

"We were wondering who you were." Ah Hao was instantly dumbfounded. "You...

you didn't see her?" she cried out. "It was that girl wearing yellow just now, with the scallion-green sash, the one who went into the inner room..." Everyone looked at her, a mixture of bewilderment and pity in their expressions.

"Enough, Ah Hao," Mother Su commanded sternly. "For your ambitions, I understand, but this incident is truly too much!" These words only served to confuse Ah Hao further.

"No, no, it wasn't our Young Miss who sent me; it was Yin Huan, Yin Huan called me..." she insisted frantically. "Are you confused?

Yin Huan went out with the Young Master today," a maid couldn't help but say, her expression now showing even more astonishment mixed with a degree of scorn. Ah Hao’s mouth fell open, her eyes wide.

"That's not true! It really was her!

She came in with me, she was just in the courtyard a moment ago..." she shouted, standing up as if to rush outside. "If you don't believe me, come with me and see..." "Enough," Mother Su roared in anger.

"Guards, take her away." Ah Hao, who had just managed to stand, sank back onto the floor, her face ashen. "No, Mother Su, Mother Su, I truly didn't...

it really wasn't me... I am not..." Her mind was in such chaos that she couldn't form a proper sentence.

She crawled forward a few steps and clutched Mother Su’s leg, just repeatedly crying out her name. Several older women rushed in, grabbing Ah Hao like an eagle snatching a chick and dragging her out, while someone casually stuffed a kerchief into her mouth to silence her cries.

The courtyard had fallen utterly silent; everyone watched as Ah Hao was dragged away, struggling and weeping. "Watch yourselves carefully.

The Young Master's courtyard is not a place anyone can enter on a whim. Those harboring improper thoughts, don't blame me if I show no mercy," Mother Su declared under the eaves, her voice severe.

A low chorus of assent rose from the courtyard. No one dared look anymore; they quickly turned back to their previous tasks, and the lively atmosphere soon resumed as if nothing had happened.

Mother Su watched Ah Hao being hauled out the door, letting out a small breath, her expression heavy. Just as Ah Hao was being carried out, a group of people strode in.

The older women respectfully stopped and cleared a path. As the group walked past, they paused, seemingly curious about the older women's sudden deference.

"This maid committed a transgression, breaking an ornament meant for the Young Master; Mother Su has ordered corporal punishment." Ah Hao’s eyes were blurred with tears; she struggled desperately, unable to make out the figures approaching her. "Oh." A slightly deeper male voice sounded, detached and utterly devoid of emotion, as if commenting on the weather.

This sound, reaching Ah Hao's ears, only caused her to tremble more violently. She struggled harder, her muffled cries growing louder, but it was all in vain.

The older women quickly dragged her away at a fast pace. Ah Hao’s sight only managed to catch the hem of a deep indigo robe before she was gone.

"Auntie..." Ah Jin, who had been standing silently on another path, couldn't bear it and called out softly. Concubine Zhou fanned herself languidly, her face expressionless.

"If they truly punish her severely, Ah Hao might lose her life..." Ah Jin murmured again. "Her maidservant will take the punishment in her stead.

What can we do?" Concubine Zhou stated coolly, without sparing another glance in that direction, and continued walking. Ah Jin dared not say more and followed closely.

Midway, she couldn't help but look back one last time, but Ah Hao’s figure was already out of sight. Perhaps she would never be seen again...

By the time Qi Yue and A Ru received the news and arrived, the execution was over. Ah Hao lay motionless across the bench, her parents kneeling beside her, weeping softly but afraid to cry aloud.

A Ru had nearly fainted upon hearing the news, and her tears had not stopped on the way over. Seeing the scene before her now, her body gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground.