The South Gate of Chaoge.
Bustling crowds streamed in and out through the city gate, men and women, young and old, flowing without end.
"Sis, when I was six months old, Mother was accidentally stung to death by a Wufeng Bee. The bee suddenly took human form and said something about repaying a karmic debt, then took me away to teach me its arts. Father thought this involved demons. If the truth came out, not only would we be driven out of the village, Mother wouldn't even be allowed a burial. To conceal the truth, Father had no choice but to claim that Mother had lost me and that he'd beaten her to death."
The purple-robed man spoke beside Gao San. His name was Gao Jieneng, Gao Cheng's son and Gao San's younger brother. He was also the chief reason Gao San had been abandoned.
Gao San lowered her head, at a loss over what to do.
She now knew everything. Her father was not that good a man, but neither was he as bad as she had imagined. To save her, he had even barged into the Ministry of Punishments' great hall and confessed to every charge.
Although Gao San could not condone Gao Cheng killing two people to shield her, he had, after all, done it for her sake.
She suddenly remembered the orchids she had picked for Gao Cheng before she was abandoned. His eyes had been full of disdain then, and she had been just as bewildered and helpless as she was now.
She vaguely remembered that although Gao Cheng had not accepted the flowers, he had given her a bowl of soup. She had been eager to eat it and asked why he was not having any. He had said it did not agree with