"...Know what?"
"Back then, old Chancellor Xu was done in by villains, and the old chancellor's residence was searched and confiscated too. Sisi was taken into the entertainment bureau, and on her very first night there, she dashed herself to death," the old woman sighed. "That child had a fierce temperament. Everyone said she refused to suffer dishonor."
"..."
"It was already the eleventh month then, and heavy rain fell that night. The youngest girl dragged the body back from the entertainment bureau all by herself. We only found her the next day, unconscious outside the chancellor's residence. Such a little thing, covered in rope burns and scrapes-she nearly froze to death." The old woman murmured, "I hear she's teaching at the Grand Lecture Hall now. She's finally come through those hard times."
"...But, but when she came last night, didn't she say..." Pei Ye paused. "The person she came with last time was that Sister Sisi, and that it had been quite a while..."
He froze.
"Yes, quite a while... It was all ten years ago."
Chapter 562: The night before
There was no need to light a fire. Pei Ye set the earthenware jar he had carried back on the table, unwrapped its layers of cotton cloth, and pressed his hand against it. His abundant true qi soon brought the bone broth back to a boil, sending its rich aroma drifting out.
Xu Chuo leaned in a chair beside the candlelight, leafing through a book. Now she closed it and raised her head. "Take it outside to eat. You'll make the whole library smell of beef broth."
"It's fine. I'll sweep through with my true qi afterward."
Xu Chuo nodded.
"Aren't you afraid of the cold? Why don't you avoid it at all?" Pei Ye glanced at her.