Chapter 277 - 275: An Ordinary Woman Simply Cannot Grow to Be Like Her

Words : 1602 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

It was night. Over the past few days, the wealth amassed through corruption by the Luo Family and their affiliated officials had been fully accounted for, with evidence thoroughly documented. The merchants sent to the docks served as the best witnesses, while the tens of thousands of catties of tea unloaded from the cargo ships became key exhibits. Lu Ying personally presided over the court, sentencing Luo Magistrate and over a dozen officials to execution by beheading, set to take place the following midday at the shores of Qianyou Lake. As a warning to others, he allowed the local citizens to enter Liang Garden to watch the execution. Perhaps because he was still busy wrapping up matters related to this major case, Lu Ying did not come to Ciyin Temple tonight. Shen Yinning sat by the window, hearing the heart-wrenching cries echoing from the Buddhist Tower. The men doomed to face execution the next day clung to each other and sobbed bitterly, while their families and relatives, who had come to bid them farewell, also embraced and cried. As she listened, she didn’t expect Luo Wanzhao to suddenly come and visit her. Luo Wanzhao looked much more haggard, her complexion sallow, her eyes shadowed with dark circles. Though she was only twenty years old, fine lines had already begun to crawl at the corners of her eyes. Shen Yinning guessed that she hadn’t been living well over the past few days. "I came to visit my father and bring him his last supper," Luo Wanzhao took a deep breath, paused, then mustered up the courage to look at Shen Yinning. "Do you know, Shen Sister? The Prince wants to divorce me. He says he doesn’t want to be Prince Wu anymore; he wants to rediscover the self he lost. Shen Sister, did you say something to him?" Shen Yinning swung her legs, the chains around her making a jingling sound. Her own father was about to die, yet Luo Wanzhao still had the energy to fret over Lu Shiyan. She gathered her loose, flowing black hair to one side and spoke nonchalantly, "His decision is commendable. Indeed, he wasn’t like this before. The downfall of the Luo Family spared the Princess from any involvement, which is quite fortunate in itself. Now that you’re divorcing, perhaps you should also try to find your original self." She did not care for Luo Wanzhao, so she spoke only perfunctory pleasantries. But to Luo Wanzhao’s ears, those words were far from innocent. To her, Shen Yinning’s every word was filled with arrogance and ridicule. She thought Shen Yinning was deliberately flaunting her understanding of the Prince when he was young, deliberately mocking her family’s downfall and her father and brothers’ execution, deliberately stabbing her by reminding her that the Prince no longer wanted her! How could such a venomous woman exist in this world?! To think that she had hesitated earlier, deliberating whether she should take action against Shen Yinning tomorrow. Now she realized she should not harbor any kindness toward her. Red veins climbed into Luo Wanzhao’s eyes as she rasped, "Had I known you would ruin the Luo Family and destroy my relationship with the Prince, I would never have shown mercy and brought you back to the Capital from so far away! I foolishly treated you like a sister, but now I understand—you’re nothing but an ungrateful wretch that can never be tamed!" Leaning against the window frame, Shen Yinning curved her brows, gently reminding her, "Princess, such accusations are rather meaningless. This trip to Jiangnan—did you think I wanted to come? Both you and Lu Shiyan forced me here to become a concubine. I haven’t even confronted you two about it, yet now it’s you complaining of grievances!" Behind her was the cold moonlight. Her dense, raven-black hair cascaded to the ground like flowing water, her face framed by her hair blooming like a hibiscus, radiant and alluring. Even her bare feet were delicate, smooth, and exquisitely small. As she smiled, her eyes radiated an enchanting clarity, her figure swaying gracefully like a breeze. The wide sleeves and hem of her pear-white dress fluttered like a dream—not at all resembling a prisoner of mortal flesh, but rather like a fox spirit subdued and sequestered by a Bodhisattva within the Buddhist Tower. Such a stunning beauty—the sight of her with every glance made Luo Wanzhao feel inferior. Unconsciously, she raised her hand to touch her own sallow face, resentment and bitterness surging in her heart. Yet the moment she considered that this breathtaking beauty might very well be the transformation of a demon—that no ordinary mortal could possess such peerless allure—she felt a little more at ease. She cast a glance at the teacup on the table. Lu Qianqian and Luo Wanxiang had long bribed the monks who delivered food and water, and the powdered poison had already been mixed into the tea. She was eager to see if the Prince and the Crown Prince, upon witnessing her transformed into a demon, would still protect and love her. With a hidden expectation brewing in her chest, she gave Shen Yinning one last glance before quickly leaving Ciyin Temple without saying another word. Shen Yinning swung her feet again. She watched as the door was locked from the outside by the guards, and couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. She had a strong suspicion that Luo Wanzhao’s expression just now was rather odd. The next day. It was only dawn, yet the shores of Qianyou Lake were already bustling. Shen Yinning, bleary-eyed, sat up and leaned against the window to gaze into the distance. The weather today was poor—gray and somber skies loomed overhead. At the lakeside, countless citizens had gathered to watch the spectacle, even snack vendors had entered Liang Garden to sell fruits and pastries, all waiting to witness the midday execution. The batch of convicted officials, including Luo Magistrate, had not yet been escorted to the site; only the Imperial Guard was there maintaining order by the lake. She yawned lazily and suddenly noticed the strands of hair hanging at either side of her cheeks—shockingly white. She froze for a moment, instantly waking up fully from her drowsiness, rushing to the corner of the room. Lu Ying had provided her with a dressing table here. In the copper mirror, the reflection staring back at her was a girl—her black hair had turned snow-white overnight, her complexion pale, eyes dark and lips crimson, resembling a demon that feasted on human flesh! Shen Yinning touched her white hair. She was, after all, just a nineteen-year-old girl, and had always cared about her appearance. Seeing herself like this, she couldn’t help the panic that surfaced on her face. She bit her lip and suddenly approached the table, lifted the lid of the teapot, and sniffed its contents. She remembered Luo Wanzhao visiting her last night and sneaking a glance at this teapot before leaving. She suspected that something was wrong with the tea, but it didn’t seem to have any peculiar smell. Pondering for a moment, she reached for a silver hairpin from her dressing table and dipped it into the tea. Within seconds, the silver pin darkened into a grim shade of black. The tea was poisoned... But the poison didn’t kill her—it transformed her into this neither-human-nor-demon state. It was clear Luo Wanzhao and the others had further schemes in mind. She cherished her life and dared not procrastinate; dragging her chains, she went to the door and began pounding on it: "I want to see Lu Ying!" Unfortunately, the guards stationed at the Buddhist Tower had been served food laced with heavy doses of sedatives under Luo Wanzhao’s guise of generosity, and were already sound asleep. No one outside responded. At Qianyou Lake. Lu Qianqian and Luo Xibai’s trusted maids had disguised themselves as ordinary women, scattering among the citizens and vividly recounting tales of strange occurrences in Liang Garden. The common folk, ever curious about the scandals of the elite, listened with rapt attention. "I’ve heard the most bizarre thing in Liang Garden is that Lv Zhu girl!" a young maid whispered mysteriously. "They say she’s breathtakingly beautiful and has bewitched both Prince Wu and Luo Xibai, driving them mad. All the evil deeds committed by the Luo Family were orchestrated by her behind the scenes! Do you know how those merchants perished before? My elder sister works at Liang Garden, and she told me that every night at midnight, Luo Xibai would send the kidnapped, strong men to her Zhaoyue Pavilion, where she drained their Yang Energy at will! My sister got lucky and saw Lv Zhu a few times. No ordinary woman could possibly look like her—she sustains her beauty by consuming men’s spirit and eating human hearts!" The crowds gasped in shock and pressed for more details. The young maid continued, "My sister also said, even the wise and valiant Crown Prince might have fallen under her spell. Otherwise, with all the heinous wrongs she has committed, why hasn’t the Crown Prince executed her? Why did he instead imprison her alone at the top floor of the Buddhist Tower in Ciyin Temple, treating her like his hidden beauty in a gilded cage? "I’m not trying to alarm anyone, but if she truly has bewitched the Crown Prince and turns him into a foolish ruler, our nation and people will be doomed! I think we must act now—before the Crown Prince loses his sanity completely—convince him to burn that fox spirit!" Those words easily incited the citizens.

Chapter 277 - 275: An Ordinary Woman Simply Cannot Grow to Be Like Her

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