Lady Die was awakened by the cold in the middle of the night. She coughed as she pulled the blanket over herself.
"Madam, what’s wrong?" Sister-in-law Gong came in, draped in clothes, her eyes watching Lady Die with a haunting gaze. She looked as if she was about to cough out her very heart and lungs, and hurried to help.
"I don’t know, suddenly my throat feels very uncomfortable." Lady Die took a sip of water and waved at Sister-in-law Gong, "You can sleep now."
She said this and then another heart-wrenching cough ensued.
Sister-in-law Gong saw her like this and went to sleep. Lady Die wanted to say more, but her hand reached out for a long time without being able to voice anything.
Her throat was sore from the coughing.
That night, Lady Die hardly slept at all, and only dozed off when dawn broke.
But upon waking, her throat could hardly produce sound.
She was desperate as anything, yet more severe matters were ahead. The help she sought had yet to arrive, but Wei Zhong had already brought people over.
Accompanying him was the doctor who had treated the old head of the family back then.
"Drown this woman." Someone said angrily.
Upon seeing the doctor, Lady Die became somewhat panicked. Coupled with having almost no sleep last night, she was in a dizzy state. Now surrounded by people, their noisy demands made her want to rage.
But her throat couldn’t produce words, and the few sounds she managed were useless.
"Yes, drown her." Someone seconded.
"Drowning? No, no, we’re civilized people, drowning is an outdated thought." Wei Zhong’s faction argued.
"Then the old head of the family’s revenge remains unavenged?" someone immediately retorted.
"Then what should be done?" Struggling to find an acceptable resolution.
"Xue Laosan, you’re the oldest among us. What do you say we should do?" Someone pointed at Mr. Xue.
Xue Laosan?
Lady Die looked at him hopefully, not expecting him to have come.
All these years, if any elders had had a good relationship with her, it was certainly Xue Laosan. Plus, if he said something, everyone would likely listen.
"Nowadays, though many of us are doing our own things, the old rules of the stronghold still hold," Xue Laosan said.
What were the old rules of the stronghold?
Lady Die was equally perplexed; what were the stronghold’s rules?
"Betrayer of the stronghold, break their legs and cast them out," Wei Zhong said hauntingly.
Indeed.
Someone remembered.
Back then, people initially decided that betrayers of the stronghold, those unprincipled sorts, should just be killed. But the old head of the family said it’s still a human life.
So, break their legs and toss them out.
As for whether they live or die, leave it to fate.
Lady Die’s eyes narrowed, "No."
Once she spoke, many furrowed their brows.
Her voice was so hoarse, it was unpleasant to hear.
"I didn’t." Lady Die continued, "You are trying to frame me."
A bout of coughing... Once again, a heart-wrenching cough.
It made one suspect that at any moment, she might cough out her very heart and lungs.
Additionally, the horrid sound and her contorted facial expression were rather frightening.
Even though she had maintained herself fairly well over the years.
Yet she was after all a woman in her fifties.
But this woman was indeed ruthless, actually poisoning the old head of the family.
The old head of the family had favored her greatly back in the day.
Indeed, hell hath no fury like a woman’s heart.