Gu Xin is dead.

"Xin'er is dead," Gu Yunting said in a deep voice.

"Ah, my grandson!" Old Madam Jiang swayed, her body going limp. Gu Yunting caught her by the hand to steady her so she wouldn't collapse to the ground.

With her face covered in tears, Old Madam Jiang stumbled forward and flung herself over Gu Xin, weeping heart-rendingly.

Jiang Xunnian panicked as well; he had only intended to teach Gu Xin a lesson.

He raised his hands and shook them frantically, stammering, "No, it wasn't me! I didn't kill him."

His legs turned to jelly, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Only one thought echoed in his mind.

Everything was over. He had actually beaten the Heir of the Pingning Marquis Estate to death.

"Ah, I'll fight you to the death!" Old Madam Jiang wobbled to her feet, raised her cane, and rained fierce blows down upon Jiang Xunnian.

Jiang Xunnian scurried away, shielding his head, not daring to fight back as he cried out in pain.

Seeing her own son being beaten, Old Madam Jiang finally snapped out of her grief over Lin Rou's death and shouted loudly, "Stop that!"

Madam Gu, who had lost her mind with grief and rage, was hardly going to listen to her.

She had always looked down upon the despicable deeds of the Jiang family anyway, and now they had caused the death of her own beloved grandson. How could she possibly let them off so easily?

Old Madam Jiang walked straight up to Gu Yunting, furrowing her brows deeply as she said, "Marquis, please go persuade your mother to stop."

With deep, unfathomable eyes, Gu Yunting stared at Jiang Xunnian, who was dodging frantically, and remained silent.

"Marquis, my husband is an official of the imperial court, after all. Do you truly intend to beat him to death to pay for the Heir's life? He is getting on in years; if anything were to happen to him, would you be able to bear the responsibility? Just now, my son did not use all that much force, yet the Heir died. The exact cause of his death still needs to be investigated," Old Madam Jiang reasoned, employing both soft and hard tactics.

Gu Yunting withdrew his gaze and cast a cold, indifferent glance at her.

His chilling aura made Old Madam Jiang shudder involuntarily, but knowing it was for the sake of her son, she forced herself not to back down.

With a pale face and a straightened back, she said, "We should investigate the cause of death for both of them together. Once the truth comes to light, everything will be clear. If it truly is my son's fault, we will naturally bear the responsibility."

After a long pause, Gu Yunting finally spoke in a flat tone, "Mother, stop."

With that, he exchanged a subtle glance with Fengye nearby, who stepped forward and pulled Old Madam Jiang away.

Not far away, Jiang Sawan watched the scene unfold with a faint trace of disappointment in her eyes.

Why did they stop? They should have just beaten Jiang Xunnian to death along with him.

"Miss, this is truly gratifying! These people have finally received their retribution," Liusu said with a smile.

"Indeed. But more importantly, Miss is brilliant. Everything happened just as Miss predicted, and you even had someone leak the news of their tryst to them," said Ma Liu, who had gone to find Old Madam Jiang earlier. Now standing by Jiang Sawan's side, he beamed with joy.

Ma Liu was the son of Mother Ma from her courtyard. Upon learning of the affair, Jiang Sawan had immediately ordered Ma Liu to keep a close eye on Lin Rou's every move and report back to her.

That was why she had arranged for both the Jiang and Gu families to catch them *in flagrante delicto*.

"Let's go back." Her goal had been achieved, and the outcome was even better than she had expected. Jiang Sawan was immensely satisfied.

Originally, her plan was merely to expose the two of them being caught in the act and draw a crowd to subject them to public condemnation and pressure. But before she even had to make her move, both of them had lost their lives—perhaps fitting retribution for the evil deeds they had committed in their past lives.

As she spoke, Jiang Sawan flicked away a leaf she had been twisting between her fingers.

Liusu suddenly grabbed her hand and cried out, "Miss, your hand..."

On Jiang Sawan's fair, tender hand, a deep scratch was bleeding.

Seeming not to feel any pain at all, Jiang Sawan closed her hand and dismissed it indifferently, "I was just pricked by a leaf. It's nothing."

She lifted her foot and walked outside, with Liusu and Ma Liu following closely behind.

Early the next morning, Liusu came bustling over to Jiang Sawan with a beaming smile. "Miss, I just managed to find out some news. Guess how the cousin and the Heir died?"

"Oh? How did they die?" Jiang Sawan, who was sipping tea, raised her eyes and asked indifferently.

"I had to ask around through many different channels to find out. They say that the medicine the cousin used was poisonous. Once they engaged in that act, the poison entered their bloodstream, and they died of poisoning very quickly."

Jiang Sawan put down her teacup, still somewhat surprised.

"Then how did Gu Xin die?"

"The Heir was also infected. Then, because he became overly emotional, he died as well."

Jiang Sawan felt a slight sense of disappointment.

She had assumed Jiang Xunnian had beaten him to death. If that were the case, the Gu family certainly wouldn't have let Jiang Xunnian off, and she would have been able to watch him get thrown into prison.

It seemed Jiang Xunnian still had a bit of luck left.

"I also heard that neither the Jiang nor the Gu family is making a public fuss about it. They're just claiming they died of illness. The cousin's body was wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into the pauper's grave, and the Heir's funeral is tomorrow," Liusu whispered excitedly.

Such a scandalous and humiliating affair was something they dared not breathe a word of to the outside world.

It was entirely expected; they were people who cared deeply about their reputations. If outsiders found out, goodness knows how the capital would mock them.

Still, she was somewhat surprised by the callous disposal of Lin Rou.

She had originally thought that, given how much affection Jiang Xunnian and Old Madam Jiang had previously shown Lin Rou, they would give her a lavish burial. Instead, they had discarded her like a hot potato.

Then again, the Jiang family had always been cold and heartless. How could they possibly show any residual kindness to someone who no longer had any value to exploit?

Meanwhile, in Madam Li's chambers, she had just finished breakfast when a woman wearing a delicate cap walked through the door. Seeing her, Madam Li was greatly startled.

She hurried over to pull the woman's hand. "Xue'er, why have you come back?"

Jiang Xueyu lifted her cap, walked over to sit down at a table, and squeezed Madam Li's hand back, her voice tinged with excitement. "Mother, is Lin Rou dead?"

Madam Li paused, taken aback, and asked, "How did you know?"

"I left someone behind in the estate, and they sent word to me."

Originally, because she had her purity sullied at the teahouse, her spirits had been extremely low. To keep the matter quiet and allow her to clear her mind and forget about it, Madam Li had sent her away to recuperate at a mountain villa outside the city.

Madam Li wasn't entirely surprised. She nodded at her daughter but instructed her strictly, "Your father and grandmother have both given strict orders that no one is to speak of this outside."

Because Lin Rou had died in such a disgraceful manner, the Jiang family had forcefully suppressed the news to protect the estate's reputation.

They had even issued an order: anyone caught gossiping about it would be immediately driven out of the household.

"Why?" Jiang Xueyu asked, utterly bewildered.

When she walked in just now, she hadn't even seen any white funeral banners hanging. It didn't look like a mourning household at all.

Madam Li was silent for a few seconds. Since Jiang Xueyu was her own daughter, there was nothing that couldn't be said.

She briefly explained the affair between Lin Rou and Gu Xin.

"What? They died because of... that kind of thing? Hahaha! That is truly retribution! Serves her right for trying to seduce another woman's husband."