Jingrui's veins combusted with fury as she glanced at the sardonic woman; the perpetrator she had been flipping Heaven and Earth to find. Her eyes grew sombre as she pressed the hairpin against Yihuai's throat until blood oozed out, refusing to let go of him.

Lingyue cocked her haggard neck to the side, her eyes popping out of its sockets with threat. "Oh, my dear, if you kill the Emperor, you will never get to know the truth. Don't you want to know how your precious sister died? Don't you want to know the wrenching details of why she died with her eyes open?"

Blood rushed up Jingrui's face, and the fire within her threatened to unleash. She wanted to jump up, hurl at the Empress Dowager like a beast, and stab the knife into her taunting face. Yet, she found her body rigid. She needed to know the truth, it was what she endeavoured for this whole time.

She gritted her teeth and pulled herself away from Yihuai. Backing towards the open window, she held her knife out in front of her. "Tell me."

The Empress Dowager's eyes were putrid with her rotten nature. Her smile stretched wide. "You are just like your sister, impatient and fiery." Her brows drew together as she shook her head in pity. "Your precious sister was not supposed to die in such a horrific way . . . it's just that, she happened to mingle in something she should not. Her death was just a price paid for being nosy."

Jingrui brought her other hand to clutch the hilt of the blade that was sliding from her clammy palm. "Y-You killed her." Her jaw clamped tight, her teeth grinding. "You killed my sister."

Lingyue's smile harboured all of the world's evil, and she breathed in the thick air filled with steel scent. "Don't worry, my dear. I didn't kill your sister." Devoid of emotions, she pierced her eyes at Jingrui. "I am the Heavenly Empress Dowager, why would I stain my purity with the blood of mundane beings?"

Jingrui grew rigid. The blood that seeped from her stomach was draining her skin white. "Tell me, then. Who?"

The Empress Dowager paced the room. "It was quite a time ago. I am not one to recall such irrelevant matters. . ." She reared her ghastly face towards Jingrui. Her pursed red lips contrasted harshly against her porcelain skin. "But your sister's death was a rather memorable one, so I can recall the exact details of how she died."

Jingrui watched the Empress Dowager's inhumane figure lurk within the shadows of the dark room, and she gulped.

The Empress's smile widened. "Your sister was a nosy little maid. She stooped around, investigating things she shouldn't have. I remembered that she moved from the Floating Abyss Palace into mine. The bastard prince must have hated her a lot to personally send her away. Within my palace, she poked her nose into something she shouldn't have, and for that, she deserved to die.

"You see, your sister could be nosy all that she liked, but she just happened to hear my conversation with the Third Prince. Naturally, I would have to silence her as the matter could not get out."

Jingrui's breath quickened. "You and the Third Prince. . ." She stumbled back, her back hitting against the wall. "My sister found out that you killed Consort Chen."

A surprised expression took over Lingyue's face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came. "So . . . you are one of the few who knows of my crime." A cackle like that of an old hag blurted out of her. "That's right, I killed Chen—oh no actually, it's not right to put it that way. Yunru killed Chen. All these years, I've been trying to bury down the cause of her death. And even though the bastard prince suspects me, I have erased all the evidence so that he would never find anything to convict me.

"That was exactly why I also had to erase your beloved sister after she found out of Chen's death. It's her fault really, eavesdropping on superiors' conversation. I was conversing with Yunru at the time, saying that we should burn the letters we exchanged when we planned Chen's assassination. We counted the letters, but one was missing. It's without a doubt that your nosy beloved sister took it.

"She was swift like a fox. She ran out of my palace. Her cultivation was low, but she sure was fast. I saw her run into the Floating Abyss Palace, and after that, Yunru and I pursued her throughout Heaven. We caught her in the end, that pitiful soul. We should have silenced her, but who could have thought Yihuai would take a liking of her. She was, after all, one pretty maiden.

"We gave her to him after we couldn't find the missing letter on her. That lass could have lived a happy life in the harem, but she thought of it as a ruin of her dignity. . ."

Jingrui's face burnt red knowing how much her sister had been traumatised by the brothel. For her dignity to be trampled upon again after she had tried to forgive, Jingrui couldn't imagine the pain.

Her stomach churned. People in Heaven held such cruel hearts.

"Are you even human?" She gritted her teeth as she held herself from launching at the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager laughed. "We are deities, we don't need to be human." She took steps towards Jingrui, cornering her against the wall. "When an animal can't be tamed, we must butcher it. Your sister didn't want a good time with my son, and, just like you, she fought him. She must have been heavily injured by Yihuai as she ran from the Stardust Palace, trailing a heavy track of blood along the Golden Alleyway. It took the maids strenuous time and effort to clean all that dirty blood off.

"I was with Yunru again at that time, and we pursued her through the realms until she jumped into a large valley within the mortal realm. There was a strong protective barrier covering the Valley, and it exhausted Yunru and I to tear that tricky, little barrier down. It was really cold too; such a tempestuous blizzard was blowing.

"Your sister was talking to an old man, and I didn't have time to care, being so soaked from the snow..." Her eyes lit with a menacing glow as she held her slender finger up and began licking it. "I remember that day was the first day I stained my hands with such a wondrous red and warm substance. Amidst the cold snow, it was such a beautiful, warm, and vibrant red. A beauty.

"Slowly, I pressed my knife against your sister's beautiful face, letting blood ooze drop by drop. Then I sliced her limbs, her stomach, her chest, and her neck. The blood splashed onto my arms and face, tainting the white snow. And the smell"—she moaned—"simply glorious."

Hot tears scorched in Jingrui's eyes, blurring her vision as she watched the crazed Empress Dowager lick her fingers and moan in pleasure.

"Yunru was off, fighting that old man, and once he took him down, I ordered him to finish off your beloved sister. I couldn't stain my hands with death. Yunru abided me as always. A stab and your sister tumbled to the ground, lifeless like a little doll." She laughed, her eyes growing dreamy.

Jingrui stood, lifeless. She felt utterly numb. Her body was so tense that she couldn't feel the pain in her stomach anymore. The dying embers in her heart were stomped on until no fire was left.

So that was the truth; the truth she had campaigned through adversities to find. And the Heavenly Empress Dowager was the culprit, the one who killed Master and Sister.

Jingrui felt empty. Her world turned into a void.

She wanted to draw her knife into Lingyue's gut, let the steel sink into her intestine, and slice her until her form dissipated. Yet, she felt weak and powerless.

Lingyue took a step closer to her, a wide smile coming back upon her face. "Now that you know the truth, just like your sister, you shall be erased."