Hua Zhi reached out and took her hand, clasping the thin, small, withered hand within her own palm. If possible, she wished she could gently warm the child’s heart in the same way—even if it wouldn’t help much, in that moment of warmth, the child might at least feel a trace of heat. Even if only for an instant, even if only a little.
Lifting her head to meet the child’s bright black eyes, Hua Zhi forced a smile, trying to appear less intimidating. “Were you sent here alone? How often do they bring people here?”
“I came with another sister. We slept through the journey and woke up here.”
The little girl licked her lips and lowered her head to stare at her toes. She didn’t understand much, but instinctively felt that this person seemed kind—a possible lifeline. So she tried to share as much as she knew. “They bring two people about every seven days.”
Hua Zhi looked at her encouragingly. The girl bit her lip and continued, “Last year, my family suffered a drought. The fields yielded no harvest. It was already the twelfth lunar month, and we had nothing left to eat. That’s when a man who looked different from us said he was a steward from a noble family in the capital. The noble needed to buy a few servants from clean backgrounds to serve them, but once we entered the noble’s household, we could never return. Because we had to cut ties with our families, the price he offered was a fortune to families like ours. My father said only wealthy landlords had such large silver ingots.”
The girl lowered her head further, shifting her feet into a slightly pigeon-toed stance. “My father sold me. That man bought four others after me, then brought us all to the capital and settled us in a residence. I don’t know where it was—he forbade us from going out. He said we were all from small villages and didn’t understand the capital’s customs. A single misstep could offend a noble and bring death upon us. He specially had an old matron teach us rules and said nobles preferred plump, fair-skinned servants, so they made us eat a lot every day. Back then, I truly thought there really were such kind-hearted masters in this world.”
“Were you always together with the others?”
“We lived in the same residence. Although that man forbade us from meeting, we still found chances to talk secretly.”
“And them…”
“They died.” The girl lifted her head, her lips pressed together until they were bloodless. “There were five of us in total. I was the youngest and couldn’t eat as much as they could. They were stronger than me and had arrived earlier. After I came, they would secretly take my food and eat it, leaving me only a little each day. I grew thinner and thinner, and within a few days, I fell ill. They probably despised me—they locked me in another room and only let me out once I recovered. But just a few days later, one of the sisters was gone. An older brother told me she wouldn’t be coming back.”
The girl pulled another, slightly less sturdy girl forward from behind her, rolled up her sleeve to reveal a white bandage around her elbow, where a distinct red mark was visible in the crook of her arm.Hua Zhi knew exactly what this was. Suppressing the urge to turn away, she watched as the little girl slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing the blue and purple bruises in the crook of her elbow. This era lacked advanced blood-drawing tools like needles, and normally, medical treatment didn't require blood extraction. Thus, when it had to be done, it appeared even more brutal. Those marks were left by knife cuts.
"Does this happen to everyone? What about you?"
"They take turns. The strongest are usually those who've just arrived, while the thinnest have clearly had the most blood taken. When they can't endure anymore, they're taken away and never return. I knew they were dead, but I never knew where they were taken—until now." The little girl's eyes welled up with tears. She lifted her head to stare at the ceiling, refusing to let them fall. "They were taken to have their heart's blood dug out, weren't they?"
The room fell into complete silence. Hua Zhi glanced back and saw the Empress Dowager's expression devoid of emotion, offering no instructions. After a moment of bowed head, Hua Zhi continued, "What about you? How did they treat you?"
The little girl shook her head. "They didn't take my blood, probably because they thought I was unclean after being sick, and I've always been thin. If it weren't for the fact that when my four older siblings were in pain, my singing seemed to comfort them, I would have died long ago."
"So you've been singing for the children who came after you?"
"Yes. My brother said it would make me useful, so they'd keep me alive."
Hua Zhi's heart felt heavy and suffocated, cold as ice yet burning like fire. How could someone be so cruel, all for selfish desires!
If she were facing a formidable enemy, one might call her brave. But these were not enemies—they were mere children, a few years old, harmless to anyone, with no ability to fight back. How could she bring herself to do this!
"May I see everyone's elbows?"
By now, the little girl had developed some trust in her. Silently, she brought the youngest child forward and helped unwrap the bandage. The other children also rolled up their sleeves and undid their wrappings for her to see.
The number of knife marks corresponded to their physical condition: the thinner ones had noticeably more scars, while the sturdier ones still retained some color in their faces. Haoyue was raising them like livestock—fattening them up only to slaughter them one by one.
Hua Zhi couldn't bear to learn more. Knowing these children were entangled in such filthy palace secrets meant they could never regain their freedom. Sooner or later, someone would interrogate them in detail. She hoped the Empress Dowager was truly merciful enough not to erase their existence merely to cover up the Emperor's disgrace.
In this matter, she didn't even have the ability to plead for them.
The Empress Dowager, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke, "Who arranged this room? Why were all the furnishings removed?"
A palace maid was about to respond, but the little girl, thinking the question was directed at her, answered first, "There used to be furniture. Someone couldn't bear it anymore and died crashing into the corner of a cabinet. After that, they took everything out of the room."
No one criticized the little girl for her lack of etiquette. Even the Third Prince, who usually enjoyed causing trouble and considered himself ruthless, admitted defeat compared to Consort Yue. This was truly vicious—how could a woman be so cruel?Taking another look at Hua Zhi, the Third Prince inwardly shook his head. When had women become so formidable? Haoyue was ruthless, but when it came to wisdom, Hua Zhi surpassed her by a notch—after all, there was a clear distinction between walking the righteous path and resorting to underhanded means.
Catching a glimpse of Xiao Liu'er out of the corner of his eye, the Third Prince couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. How had that fellow managed to catch Hua Zhi's favor? If he himself had gained the Hua family's support, tsk, what chance would anyone else have!
As it stood, he keenly felt his momentum slipping away. It wasn't about the scale of influence—today, his performance had paled in comparison to Xiao Liu'er's. The court officials weren't blind; Xiao Liu'er already enjoyed the backing of the Hua family's network and the natural support of the Sun family. Now, with the neutral faction led by Duke Dingguo taking notice, what waves could anyone else hope to make?
Still, the Third Prince glanced at the gloomy-faced Fourth Prince and thought, as long as it wasn't this guy who came out on top, he could tolerate it.
And this wasn't even the end of the matter.
PS: Those following along must be true fans.
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