Chapter 2: Seeking Death

Lan Yanyao's eyes widened like copper bells, her pupils shrinking slightly in their sockets like glass beads. Her face, covered in powder, was pale like a ghost, and her lips, stained with lipstick, trembled, producing a crisp sound as her teeth clattered together.

She had just confirmed with her own hands that Lan Yanrou was indeed dead. How could this be possible? How could this be...

The people present were equally shocked, some frozen in fear, unable to move, others too frightened to run, and some, their legs refusing to obey due to fear.

Lan Yanrou furrowed her eyebrows, her mind overwhelmed with information, feeling as if her head was about to explode.

Her gaze fell on Lan Yuanyao.

Lan Yuanyao, the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, had always treated Lan Yanrou as a thorn in her side, never as a human being. In Lan Yanrou's memory, that high and mighty figure, who seemed to hold a whip and beat her like a horse, now, seeing Lan Yanrou come back to life, the fear in her eyes far surpassed that of her other sisters behind her.

She came to her senses slightly, her eyes filled with fear, her body trembling, taking a step back and pointing at Lan Yanrou, trembling as she said, "Ghost... ghost!"

Lan Yanrou furrowed her eyebrows slightly, her eyes coldly glancing at Lan Yuanyao. With just one glance, Lan Yuanyao felt as if she had been stared at by a fierce ghost, her heart pounding like a drum.

"Sister, I heard that those who hang themselves in red clothes will turn into vengeful spirits after death..."

"Shut up!" Lan Yuanyao, already trembling with fear, was even more terrified by the voice of Lan Wanru behind her, and a cold chill ran down her forehead.

She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and tentatively took a step forward towards Lan Yanrou, extending two fingers to test whether Lan Yanrou was alive or dead.

"You're asking for it!"

Lan Yanrou coldly spat out two words, a hint of killing intent flashing in her eyes, and she swiftly grabbed Lan Yuanyao's two fingers, forcefully twisting them upwards. With a crisp sound, she directly broke Lan Yuanyao's fingers.

"Ah!"

In the next moment, Lan Yuanyao let out a scream that sounded like a pig being slaughtered, the intense pain in her fingers spreading throughout her body.

The pain of losing one's fingers!

Lan Yuanyao tightly held her hand, rolling on the ground, her hairpin and hairpin scattered, the thick powder sticking to a layer of dust. As the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, Lan Yuanyao had never suffered such torment before, and the screams made everyone present tremble with fear.

Lan Yanrou slowly stood up, shook off the dust on her hands, and disdainfully glanced at Lan Yuanyao, who was rolling on the ground.

"Miss, Miss... You're okay, that's great, you're actually okay!" Su Jin crawled to Lan Yanrou's side, grabbing her leg and crying in pain.

Lan Yanrou furrowed her eyebrows slightly, her gaze falling on Su Jin. Su Jin was the maid chosen by her mother for her before her death, three years older than her. In the vast Prime Minister's mansion, only Su Jin had treated her sincerely. It was because of this sincerity that Su Jin had suffered so much over the years.

"Why are you crying!" Lan Yanrou pulled Su Jin up, her starry eyes covered with a cold light, and said coldly, "If you want to follow me in the future, don't cry."

Hearing Lan Yanrou's words, Su Jin was slightly stunned. For some reason, she felt that her just-awakened young lady seemed to have changed, and she nodded awkwardly.

Lan Yanrou pointed at the group of stunned young ladies, maids, and old women from the Prime Minister's mansion, a touch of malice in her eyes, and said coldly, "Whoever has bullied you in the past, go and hit her."

As she spoke, Lan Yanrou picked up a palm-sized stone and turned to sit under the crooked-necked tree, saying, "If there's no blood, you don't have to see me again."

Su Jin picked up the stone, looked at it, then at Lan Yanrou, and finally locked her gaze on Lan Wanru, the second sister of Lan Yuanyao, who had just been shocked by Lan Yanrou breaking Lan Yuanyao's fingers. She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and before Lan Wanru could recover from her shock, Su Jin was already in front of her.

Su Jin clenched the stone in her hand and fiercely smashed it on Lan Wanru's face.

With a loud bang, Lan Wanru had not yet felt the pain, only feeling a sweet and fishy taste in her mouth. She raised her hand to touch her mouth, and found a few teeth mixed in the blood in her palm.

"Ah!"

In the next moment, a heart-wrenching scream, no less terrifying than Lan Yuanyao's earlier one.

One scream here, one wail there, enveloped the entire Prime Minister's mansion, making everyone in the backyard tremble with fear, all eyes falling on Lan Yanrou under the crooked-necked tree, their eyes filled with horror, no less than when she had just awakened.

"What's all the noise for?!"

At that moment, a voice filled with authority came from behind the crowd. Following the sound, a noblewoman dressed in a luxurious Shu brocade dress with gold and silver threads and embroidered peonies, her cloud bun adorned with a phoenix hairpin, fanned herself with one hand and held a female servant's hand with the other, walked with a dignified and graceful gait. However, in her eyes, there was a hint of calculation and a touch of malice.