Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

“I see, so that’s how it is.”

Understanding dawned on Yui Mei after she heard the life story of Xu.

‘So, looks like Xu wants to die?’ —  unexpectedly, this thought of hers had hit the bull’s eye.

“You understand now, right? I’m just a shameless, selfish, unfair woman who just cares about my own life. My intention to help my parents just brought destruction to them, and I even let my lover face danger, and yet here I am just passing my days without a care. I thought I’d be able to starve myself to death, and yet I greedily ate that sweet potato that you gave me back then. I’m sinful and despicable.”

Xu mocked herself.

Yui Mei couldn’t help but frown when she heard those words.

“Humans’ instinct is to survive. Trying to survive by instinct is never a shameful thing.”

Yui Mei declared with a bit of force in her tone, and Xu was taken aback with the unexpected reply. 

However, Yui Mei saw that she was about to retort, so she immediately bombarded Xu with the things that she wanted to say.

“Miss Xu just wanted to play the lute for her family, so where is the sin there? There’s no way you would know that the succeeding unfortunate events would happen, so you shouldn’t mistake the truth for what it is. Miss Xu, you are also the victim here, and the criminal is the person who framed your family.”

Yui Mei’s reply was crisp.

In her previous life, there were patients who, upon hospitalization due to injuries sustained because of an incident or an accident, would question themselves whether they had done something wrong. They were obviously the victims, but they would lose sight of their own position because aside from the hassle of dealing with the aftermath, the other party would justify his actions so openly, sowing seeds of doubt in the victim’s heart.

This was precisely what happened to Xu.

And because the things that she lost were too much for her to bear on her own, and the emptiness that it left probably made her feel that everything was spiraling out of her control.

There were people who managed to heal from that emptiness over time, while there were also those who chose to ignore it. Xu seemed to be one of those who weren’t capable of finding solace in time.

Moreover, the news of the death of her lover who went to the borderland to work must’ve been the final blow.

“But…”

Xu was about to refute Yui Mei’s words, but found that she couldn’t say anything.

She repeatedly opened and closed her mouth. She was sitting on the platform, so Yui Mei bent down and stared straight into Xu’s eyes.

“Miss Xu, did your lover ever say ‘you must die with me’ to you?”

Yui Mei quietly asked, without any intention to reproach.

“…He never said such a thing.”

Xu mumbled after a moment of silence and hesitation.

“It seems that you don’t have any memories of him saying ‘die with me’, right.”

Yui Mei repeated back to confirm Xu’s words.

“Then, how did you talk with him? Did he tell you what he wanted you to do?”

“Wanted me…to do?”

Xu’s eyes widened. It seemed that she hadn’t thought about this.

“Please try to remember. He’s your precious person, isn’t he?”

Yui Mei encouraged her.

‘It’s really sad if you’re only going to reminisce about the scene of your parting over and over again.’

It’s understandable that the last farewell would be the scene engraved most deeply in her mind.

However, the memories she had with her lover should be more than that.

Xu looked like she was deep in thought, but her expression was no longer clouded.

The man who had been silently watching over their conversation during the entire time suddenly spoke.

“It seems that it’s better to end the interrogation here for today. Xu Zi, we’ll talk again once you’ve calmed down.”

The man already declared so, so it was the end of the interview with Xu, and Yui Mei and the guys left her alone with her thoughts.

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