CFSSIR

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That night, Shen Qingyao suffered from insomnia for the first time after Lu Zhao's departure.

Her mind kept dwelling on the contents of Lu Zhao's letter, but her brain kept replaying scenes from the original plot in her dreams. In the original plot, Lu Zhao drank under the moonlight, his eyes wild and desolate, his white robe stained with blood and moonlight, and her Eldest Sister and Xiao Mu confronted him with a drawn blade...

"Ah!" Once again, Shen Qingyao woke up screaming from her dream. She sat up, panting heavily, her head already drenched in sweat. After calming herself for a while, she suddenly turned to look out the window. The night was stifling, and Cui Qiao hadn't closed the window tightly. Through the crack, she could see that the sky was completely dark, with no moon or stars visible, only a sky full of oppressive clouds.

Suddenly, a strong wind arose, bringing with it damp and hot air, mixed with a faint earthy smell, making her chest feel uncomfortably tight.

Shen Qingyao sat holding her chest for a while. Recently, Kong Lin had been nursing her back to health, and though she was still weak, her heart condition hadn't flared up again. But tonight, for some reason, the familiar pain began to subtly resurface. Absentmindedly, her fingers brushed over the jade fox placed beside her pillow. Lu Zhao had taken one of the pendants, and the other one had always been with her.

Just as her hand slid over it, a sharp pain pierced her fingertip. Shen Qingyao paused, staring blankly at her raised hand, seeing a thin cut on her fair finger. Startled, she quickly picked up the jade fox for a closer look. It turned out that the fox's ear had been chipped at some point, leaving a small but sharp edge that had cut her.

Her heart pounded as she recalled the dream where the jade fox shattered after Lu Zhao's suicide, as if it were some kind of omen. An unsettling feeling gripped her, lingering for a long time.

Unable to fall back asleep, Shen Qingyao got out of bed, threw on some clothes, and, without worrying about the impending rain, pushed open the door and went outside.

Cui Qiao, who was keeping watch outside, groggily opened her eyes at the sound and softly asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm just going for a walk to get some air. Don't worry about me, you go back to sleep." Shen Qingyao stopped Cui Qiao from getting up and didn't let her follow.

When she went out, she hadn't thought to bring a lamp. With no moonlight to guide her, the surroundings were pitch dark. But she wasn't afraid, wandering around the courtyard, probing the path with her toes and feeling her way. Eventually, she walked out of her own courtyard and suddenly saw a light ahead.

She paused for a moment, recognizing the light as coming from a gazebo in the Gu family's garden. Due to its secluded location, it was rarely visited even during the day, let alone at night. Who could be there now?

Her heart pounded with curiosity mixed with hesitation. In theory, a side character like her wandering around randomly could easily stumble upon some hidden secret and get silenced. That's a common trope in both male and female-oriented novels.

"Forget it, I'd better go back." Shen Qingyao thought for a while and decided her life was more important.

Just as she was about to retreat, the system in her mind suddenly stopped her: [Wait! Host! The person over there seems to be Gu Ziyan's father!]

Gu Hui? Shen Qingyao paused. What was Uncle Gu doing there so late?

[Go take a look, Host!] The gossip-hungry system couldn't hold back upon identifying the person, urging Shen Qingyao to go over. Shen Qingyao felt a bit helpless but thought Uncle Gu would never harm her. After pondering for a moment, she decided to satisfy both the system's and her own curiosity.