Outside, the daylight was dim, and a cold wind stirred.
After who knew how long, Qiao Rui finished her last sentence with her head lowered.
Within the cramped room, the four walls were cold and gloomy. There was no sound, and even the faint candlelight seemed to exude a chill.
The maid Xiao Dian stood in the damp, cold corridor, clutching the hem of her clothes with both hands, apprehension on her face. Half her body rested against a vermilion pillar. She wanted to steal a look at the people in the main hall but feared being blamed, her heart heavy with worry.
And finally.
After a long silence.
It was the World-Escaping Shuttle who spoke, breaking the stillness.
"So you mean that Qiao Jingyi, Baishang Court's Scripture Master, and Ju Shou, its Register Master, were both behind the plot against you? The former in particular-Qiao Jingyi tricked you out of your Sleeve Pouch, stripping you of your means of protection. But..."
"That wicked woman always put on such a good act. She and my miss were as close as sisters. Who could have known she would do something so vile! When her parents both died in Outer Heaven years ago, it was the old master who took her in and raised her!
"Without the old master, how could she have achieved what she has today? Yet even with such a great debt of kindness, that wicked woman-"
Just then.
Xiao Dian could not help speaking up from the corridor, her face flushed red and both hands trembling.
But before she could finish, Qiao Rui stopped her with a gentle shake of her head.
"She wasn't like this before... When I was little, she even risked her life to save mine. Without her, I would have died long ago. And