After a few months of repair work, the rundown Xuyang Mansion finally looked somewhat up to par. Even though it could not be compared to any aristocrat’s mansion in the imperial capital, it looked much better than when they had arrived last year.

At the very least, the mansion stood sturdily against the wind and did not leak during the winter. Nevertheless, the house was very chilly during the cold season.

From the outside, the side courtyard in front of her looked even more downtrodden when compared to the other courtyards, but its interior was a completely different story.

This was the only place within the Xuyang Mansion that the Liege had forbidden anyone from entering.

If her cat had not wandered there by accident and she had gone looking for it, she would never have known the secret the place was hiding.

From the inside, the courtyard looked very wide and was not as rundown as it looked to be outside. Moreover, the courtyard had been tidied up quite well and there were a few plants that were recently transferred there. Peering through the brand-new window, she could see that the furnishing of the interior room was quite different, even more well-kept than the Liege’s room.

However, the door was shut tight and she could tell that someone was inside, though she had never seen anyone come out before.

To be fair, she had entered only once before and never had another opportunity to come here again. The Liege had somehow discovered that she had been to the courtyard and he had ordered for her not to step inside there again.

That happened last year during the twelfth month of the lunar year. So much time had passed but even her maidservant said that no one has ever been seen coming out of there. However, sometimes wailing could be heard coming from inside the place during the middle of the night.

Her maidservant even had a suspicion that a female ghost might be residing there.

Even though supernatural tales should not be easily believed, this was indeed a strange phenomenon. Who exactly was staying there? Why was the Liege so touchy about the place?

Beauty Lin suppressed the curiosity brewing inside her and turned away as she continued moving forward.

Beauty Lin had failed to see a woman in a white dress sitting in the side courtyard.

The woman was pale and very skinny. Her eyes were sunken due to her gaunt physique and there was a deadened look to her, which gave her a particularly ghastly and horrifying look. Her right sleeve hung empty.

Slam!

The woman seemed to abruptly remember something as she suddenly lifted her left hand and smashed the cup on the table.

A man came rushing out of the kitchen when he heard the commotion.

However, he did not dare go anywhere near the woman. All he did was say with concern, “Shuang’er, you can just tell me what’s going on. You shouldn’t keep the anger bottled in and compromise your health.”

The woman laughed pitifully when she heard his words. She turned toward him and said with disgust, “What’s the point of telling you? Can you get me the head of Ling Lihua and her daughter? Can you kill that dog of an Emperor and get revenge for me?”

The woman was Lu Yunshuang. After escaping from certain death, she had not bothered to reflect on her behavior, but rather, she became even more vicious and wicked.

When the man failed to answer her, the disgust and disdain in her eyes turned deeper. “You’re useless. Why did you even follow me? Go back to where you came from. I don’t have a weak, useless father like you.”

Zeng Lunan’s expression sank, but he was not able to reprimand her at all.

Shuang’er had already suffered so badly. If he did not allow her to vent, it would just harm her health.

Lu Yunshuang began coughing after she was done with the rant.

Zeng Lunan immediately ran into the room when he saw this and fetched a cloak to wrap her in it. “Shuang’er, it’s better that you go lie down in the room. You shouldn’t catch a cold.”

He carefully tried comforting her.

Lu Yunshuang did not appreciate this and she swept away the cloak he had placed over her shoulders with a wave of her hand. She replied fiercely, “Lie down, lie down, you’re always going on about lying down. What else do you know besides asking me to lie down? I don’t want to lie down. I want to return to the capital and get revenge on Lu Liangwei.”