Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 61 Three Days Before Death, the Methods of Two Beasts

Jiang Zao almost laughed in anger when she heard Xiao Yuanzhe say that about her.

She gritted her teeth and looked at Xiao Yuanzhe with disappointment, feeling more and more that the past ten years of hardship had been a joke!

The two were childhood sweethearts and entered the palace together, but after ten years of hard work, they still could not be promoted.

Xiao Yuanzhe was happy and carefree guarding the warehouse, but Jiang Zao was truly suffering in the laundry department.

When she first came to the laundry department, everyone bullied her, and even in the dead of winter, her hands had to be soaked in cold water.

If it weren't for the fact that later, she gritted her teeth and saved up some money, which she then gave to the head aunt to exchange for an ironing job.

Even if my hands are so badly rotten that I can see the bone, I'll still have to keep washing clothes!

Jiang had told Xiao Yuanzhe about these things before.

But Xiao Yuanzhe would only advise her to be patient, saying that all the work in the laundry department was like this, and that everyone else could endure it, so why was Jiang Zao so delicate?

Now, all we're asking is for Xiao Yuanzhe to plead with the Empress, but he says it's not dignified of him.

Jiang Zao's heart gradually grew cold, but when she looked up again, her eyes seemed to be burning with flames.

“Brother Yuanzhe, I am determined to change palaces. I don’t want to spend my whole life in the laundry department.”

“In this palace, if you don’t climb up, everyone will step on you.”

“I am not the Empress, nor do I have the family background of an Empress, so I am mercenary and undignified.”

"But this is how I have to live, like a weed. If you don't want to, then we don't have to be together anymore."

After Jiang finished speaking, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She clenched her fists, still holding a sliver of hope that Xiao Yuanzhe would try to persuade her to stay.

But Xiao Yuanzhe's face remained indifferent after hearing this.

"In that case, let's go our separate ways from now on."

Watching Xiao Yuanzhe's departing figure, Jiang Zao's tears gradually dried up.

She wiped her face and said fiercely, "I must go to the East Palace, I absolutely must!"

After the two had left, the crown prince emerged from the shadows.

Staring in the direction the two had left, she asked the young eunuch, "That third-rank guard, does he know the Empress Dowager?"

Wu Liu reported truthfully: "When the Empress was confined to her quarters, it was Xiao Yuanzhe who was in charge of guarding her."

The Crown Prince nodded, then added, "Tell the steward of the Eastern Palace not to take this Jiang Zao."

Wu Liu was taken aback, somewhat puzzled. He knew about Jiang Zao's situation as well.

Jiang Zao didn't just bribe the stewards of the Eastern Palace; he also bribed the eunuchs.

This girl is perceptive, knows how to handle things, and is also very diligent and ambitious; she's quite likable.

Why didn't the Crown Prince want it?

"Your Highness, has Jiang Zao violated some taboo?"

The prince glanced at Wu Liu with icy eyes, and Wu Liu immediately shut up in fright.

"It was my fault for being so talkative."

The Crown Prince said coldly, "I dislike women who scheme and plot like this."

"I understand. I'll have someone send Jiang Zao away as soon as I get back."

The Crown Prince nodded in satisfaction, but Wu Liu sighed inwardly, feeling sorry for Jiang Zao.

As the personal eunuch who had served the crown prince since childhood, Wu Liu knew that the crown prince was actually quite awkward.

Although he disliked Empress Jian Xiyan for her aloof and indifferent attitude towards matters that didn't concern her, he still admired her.

But deep down he yearns for a woman who is aloof and proud; otherwise, Mei Xingyue wouldn't be the one he can't forget!

If Zhou Wei were present, she would surely have been able to pinpoint Jiang Yueshan's problems.

This kid is totally obsessed with his mother!

Not only is she attached to her mother, but she also has Jian Xiyan's bad habits in her genes.

Because they are born noble, they look down on those of low status. If a person of low status has ambition, then he is considered restless.

Jiang Yueshan's contempt for the lower classes was ingrained in his very bones.

He just hid it very well!

Seeing Jiang Zao's resilience and tenacious vitality, the Crown Prince could no longer hide his disgust.

.........

The Princess's Residence.

Seeing Zhou Wei showing off by taking out the painting of the Canaanite her, Jiang Yueli praised her for it.

"What a wonderful painting! Although it is a copy, I love the brushwork of the great Song Zhiwei the most."

"Zhou Wei, you have such good taste, you actually picked such a good painting."

Zhou Wei chuckled and glanced at Zi Yu.

"Princess, I know nothing about painting! It was all Xiao Ziyu who gave me the advice."

The eldest princess also praised Ziyu a couple of times, and then Hongxiu came in carrying a plate of melons and fruits.

She pouted and said, "Princess, Zhou Wei insisted that I wash these fruits and bring them to you, saying that she carefully selected them all."

"To this servant, the fruits and melons look exactly the same as those in the Princess's residence!"

Zhou Wei grabbed a bunch of grapes, carefully peeled the skins for the princess, and placed them in a small bowl.

He presented the fruit to Jiang Yueli like a precious treasure, saying, "Princess, my fruit is certainly different."

"I have a saying, it's called eating grapes without spitting out the grape skins. Hongxiu, can your grapes do that?"

Hongxiu scoffed, "What do you mean by 'eating grapes without spitting out the skins'? It's just peeling the grapes for the princess, isn't it? I can do that too."

"If you know how, why don't you do it yourself? Why do you have to plagiarize me?" Zhou Wei threw a grape into her mouth and spat out the skin.

"Excellent scholar!"

"you……"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, the eldest princess quickly stopped them.

"Alright, alright, we're all on the same job, why do we always argue when we're together?"

“Hongxiu, you are older than Zhou Wei, you should give way to her.”

Hongxiu was on the verge of tears, looking at the princess with a pitiful expression.

Hmph, now that Zhou Wei is here, the princess doesn't care about her and Ziyu anymore; Zhou Wei always comes first!

The princess ate grapes while admiring the painting "Girl Practicing Swordplay".

I casually asked, "Where did you buy this painting?"

“Qingruozhai on West Street,” Zhou Wei said, then began to show off again, “Princess, you don’t know, after Ziyu and I bought the painting, we ran into a naughty kid on the way.”

Zhou Wei's arm wound has been treated, and there are no visible signs of injury.

Ziyu's chest pain had also eased considerably, so when the two returned to the mansion to see Jiang Yueli, she did not notice anything amiss.

Hearing Zhou Wei say this piqued Jiang Yueli's interest.

A naughty child?

A brat is good, but a brat is definitely not the destined heroine!

Jiang Yueli felt that her heart could handle provoking the naughty kids.

"What kind of brat?" the princess asked.

Speaking of this, Zhou Wei also had a question to ask the main villain.

That is, why did the eminent monk Yuanxing of Kongshan Temple accept Jiang Nianyue as his disciple?

"It was a widow with three children, two sons and a daughter, but none of the four in the family were any good."

Hearing that it was a family of four, two sons and a daughter, Jiang Yueli felt a sense of familiarity.

But with so much information in her head, she couldn't immediately recall which part looked familiar!

Ziyu continued to add, "Yes, Princess, didn't you see? That child is only five years old, yet he's chest-high and incredibly strong!"

"He rammed into me headfirst, and I almost broke my bones."

"He also bit Sister Wei. What's even more terrifying is that he kept yelling at that little girl that he wanted to skin us and make us into human skin lanterns!"

hum ---

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yueli's mind exploded like fireworks, buzzing loudly!

She finally remembered why this family of four sounded familiar.

There were only two children who liked to skin people and make them into human skin lanterns.

The child of Mei Xingyue, the heroine of Destiny!

Jiang Yueli looked at Zhou Wei and couldn't help but feel a headache. This ancestor, she went out for a while and offended four more evil stars.

The princess couldn't help but tremble at the thought of Jiang Nianyue and Jiang Nianmei.

The pain of being skinned and having her limbs severed is something she can never forget, even after being reborn.

In her previous life, Jiang Nianmei peeled off the skin from her back and made it into a lantern.

Jiang Nianyue cut off her legs, kept her alive, and made her watch as her legs were refined into lamp oil.

The eldest princess held on until nightfall, and was still alive.

As night fell, the human skin lantern was lit!

The flickering candlelight, tinged with a deep red, emanated from the leather bag, illuminating the entire dilapidated temple as if it were a ghostly realm.

Jiang Yueli's voice was already hoarse, and her scalp was hooked by Jiang Nianmei with an iron hook, so she could only stay in a backward-leaning position.

He just looked up at the statues in the dilapidated temple, letting out unconscious wails.

Jiang Nianyue sat cross-legged on the ground of the dilapidated temple, his face full of scars, turning a prayer wheel made from the skin of the eldest princess.

He was muttering scriptures that no one else could understand!

Amidst the bloodshed and cruelty, there was an eerie sense of peace.

At that moment, Jiang Yueli had only one thought: to die.

She prayed to all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens, asking that if even one of them heard her prayer, she should die quickly.

Only in that way can the suffering end.

However, Jiang Nianmei and Jiang Nianyue, those two devils, possess a secret medicine that can keep people alive indefinitely.

And so it went on until the morning of the fourth day, when there was no part of her body left to make lamp oil.

Only amidst the laughter of the two beasts did he gradually close his eyes!