Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Song Wanrong placed a blood-stained five-colored cord into my hand-the one I had tied around Heidou’s neck.
According to the customs of Jiangling, the five-colored cord was also known as the “Longevity Thread.” Women would weave them during festivals to give to their family members, symbolizing peace and a long life.
I had long since lost my family, so I wove a five-colored cord for Heidou.
“You have to live a long, long time and stay by my side, do you understand?”
Heidou had licked my hand and barked once, as if to say he understood.
At this moment, Song Wanrong clutched the five-colored cord, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I really just thought he was cute and wanted to feed him something.
“Who knew that chicken bone was so sharp? It pierced his intestines. He vomited so much blood, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t save him…”
Looking past Song Wanrong’s shaking shoulders, I saw a small mound of earth.
I knelt down and began to dig with my hands.
“Hongxiu!!”
All ten of my fingernails snapped off, and blood seeped into the soil, but I didn’t feel any pain.
I finally saw Heidou again.
He lay there, looking exactly as he did when he fell asleep hugging my pillow.
The only difference was that one of his ears was missing.
Song Wanrong leaned in. “Miss Hongxiu…”
With tears in her eyes, she put an arm around my shoulder as if to comfort me.
In reality, she leaned close to my ear and whispered, “No matter how I called this lowly cur, he wouldn’t listen to me. He only knew how to bite His Highness’s sleeve to make him go see you.
“Tell me, for a dog that doesn’t understand human speech, shouldn’t his ears be clipped?”
By the time I snapped back to my senses, I already had my hands locked around Song Wanrong’s throat.
I gripped her neck and slammed her head against the ground, over and over again.
Countless voices erupted around me.
There was Pei Ren’s: “Sister! You’ve gone mad! It’s just a dog!”
And there was Xiao Qibai’s. He was pulling at me, calling my name repeatedly: “Hongxiu, Hongxiu…”
The chaos gradually cleared.
I found myself clutching Heidou’s corpse tightly.
And Xiao Qibai was clutching me just as tightly.
The Song Family wanted to report this to the authorities.
I was a mere performer of lowly status, yet I had injured the legitimate daughter of their household so severely.
They wanted me to pay with my life.
It was Xiao Qibai who stopped them.
He said, “The Imperial Consort’s envoys will be entering the city soon. Are you sure you want to involve Wanrong in a criminal case at a time like this?”
The Song Family fell silent.
Xiao Qibai looked back at me. “As for her, I will handle her myself.”
I was locked in a side room of the Prince’s Mansion.
The Song Family kept watch. For a whole day and night, not a single bowl of water was brought in, let alone food.
When Xiao Qibai entered late at night, my lips were cracked and bleeding. I sat there in a daze, cradling Heidou.
“I wanted to take you away with me,” I whispered, patting him. “In just a few more days, I could have taken you away.”
Xiao Qibai stood behind me.
He didn’t take my words seriously.
This wasn’t the first time I had told Xiao Qibai in a fit of pique that I wanted to leave Jiangling.
But both he and I knew it was a joke.
The performers in the troupe had all signed life-and-death contracts.
If you dared to run, you would be beaten to death once caught.
When I was eight years old, a senior sister eloped with her lover. They had reached the ferry and were about to board the boat when they were caught.
She was beaten to death by the troupe leader, and her body was hung in my room for an entire night.
After that night, I was scared out of my wits. No matter how much I was beaten or scolded, the thought of escaping never crossed my mind again.
Perhaps the memory stirred a flicker of pity in Xiao Qibai.
He approached me and knelt down, reaching out to take Heidou from me.
I didn’t let go. I turned my back to him, avoiding his touch.
He paused and asked in a low voice, “Are you blaming even me?”
I said nothing.
Heidou was very good, but he was just a little dog.
A little dog thinks that if he is loved once, he will be loved for a lifetime.
That was why he ran to find Xiao Qibai when I was sick, begging his ‘father’ to save his ‘mother.’
“Hongxiu.”
Seeing that I remained silent for a long time, Xiao Qibai’s patience began to fray.
He rubbed his brow. “Wanrong said she can forgive you.
“Tomorrow is her birthday. Since the Imperial Consort’s envoys haven’t entered the city yet, this will likely be the last birthday she can celebrate openly.
“She said that as long as you perform an opera for her, the past will be wiped clean.”
I remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking.
“Your Highness, have you heard the common saying?
“‘Performers have no heart, and whores have no honor.'”
I smiled. “Since Miss Song and I are such a perfect match, how could I possibly perform for her?”
Xiao Qibai’s face instantly turned cold.
His patience exhausted, he was no longer willing to waste words with me.
“You won’t sing, then?”
He waved his hand.
Several servant women rushed forward to snatch Heidou from my arms.
“Boil this dog and distribute the meat to the refugees outside the city,” Xiao Qibai said coldly.
The servant women began to tear at me. Many hands grabbed Heidou’s tail and hind legs, pulling violently.
Utter despair washed over me.
I hugged Heidou tight and closed my eyes.
“I’ll sing.”