Early spring.
The biting northern wind carried forth a tempest of snow, shrouding the entire capital city in a chilling veil.
At the northeast corner of Shengjing Shunqing Avenue's General's Residence, in the corner of a dilapidated thatched house, lay a thin and frail figure, curled upon a layer of musty straw.
The woman, with disheveled long hair ending in dry knots, laid in a fetal position upon the straw.
Her palm-sized face was devoid of color, a pallor stretching across her skin, even her lips displaying a bluish hue.
Sunken eye sockets harbored a murky, cloudy gaze, belying her young age of barely twenty, hinting at a past beyond this life.
Creak.
The tightly shut door was pushed open from outside, allowing the howling snow and wind to pour in, piercing flesh and bone.
Suyuxin, hugging her arms tight, instinctively lifted her head, only to see Suyuxiang being ushered in by a group of people.
Wrapped in a sable coat, holding a bronze hollow-carved plum-shaped hand furnace.
Her jet-black long hair coiled into an intricate bun, adorned with a set of ruby jewelry, her complexion rosy and delicate, resembling a girl who had just come of age.
The stark contrast between Suyuxiang's vibrancy and Suyuxin's pallor was evident, though the two were separated by merely three years.
"News from the border has arrived; the General has triumphed. Counting the days, he should return within a fortnight," Suyuxiang looked down upon Suyuxin, a faint smile curling her lips.
"You falsely accuse me. Once the General returns, you will not escape retribution," Suyuxin straightened her back, attempting to sound formidable. However, days of hunger and cold had weakened her voice, even making it tremble.
"Is that so?" Suyuxiang sneered disdainfully. "The General has long been disheartened by you. Do you think he cares whether you live or die?"
"You talk nonsense!" Suyuxin's emotions flared up, desiring to refute Suyuxiang, but her confidence faltered, her voice wavering.
Since her marriage into the General's residence, everything she did seemed appalling, to say the least.
However, she had been misled and manipulated by the woman before her.
"Whether I speak nonsense, you know best," Suyuxiang said nonchalantly, fiddling with the handle of the copper furnace, her eyes dangerous. "Furthermore, do you think you still have a chance to see the General?"
"What do you intend?" Suyuxin, fearful, clutched her arms tighter, nervously swallowing saliva.
Despite her title as the General's wife, she failed to win hearts within the residence.
Recently, she had been implicated in an incident plotted by Suyuxiang, and with the General absent, she was now facing adversity within the household.
"You are merely a concubine, whereas I am the General's wife!" Suyuxin bit her lip, shouting fiercely, her voice coarse and strained, causing aching discomfort to the ears.
Her throat had been poisoned by Suyuxiang some time ago.
"And so what?" Suyuxiang sneered coldly. "I am standing here now, while you… sink into the dust, not even comparable to a stray dog."
"It's you, all because of you!" Suyuxin raised her stiffened arm, breathing heavily with anger. "My current fate is all because of your scheming and deceit."
"That's right, it's all my doing," Suyuxiang admitted unabashedly, her eyes gradually turning cold. "I love the General, but he chose you instead. You are nothing but a worthless fool; what right do you have?"
At this point, Suyuxiang paused, the contemptuous smile in her eyes unmasked. "Fortunately, you're foolish enough. With just a few words from me, you rushed to your doom, slowly chipping away at the General's heart. Whom can you blame?"
Suyuxin choked, her chest heaving violently, her face turning ghostly pale.
Suyuxiang's words felt like a sharp blade, ruthlessly piercing into her heart.
"Let me tell you one more thing, that day, the General and I did nothing," Suyuxiang said, satisfied, while observing Suyuxin's pitiful and angry demeanor. Her smile was both gentle and cruel.
"You…." Suyuxin felt as if her chest had been torn apart. She spat out a mouthful of blood, gasping like a bull. "The General, the General won't like you."
"Life is long. I have plenty of time to kindle the General's affections. Sooner or later, even the hardest steel can turn tender. It's a pity, Sister won't be able to witness it," Suyuxiang spoke calmly as she uncovered the lid of the hand furnace, revealing a smoldering piece of silver wire charcoal.
The attendant maid, Taohong, handed her a delicate copper clamp. Suyuxiang took it and picked up a burning piece of charcoal from the furnace, her smile cruel and icy.
"Don't do anything rash," Suyuxin shrank back, nervous and incoherent. "If you dare…"
However, before Suyuxin could finish her sentence, Suyuxiang forcefully pressed the glowing piece of charcoal onto Suyuxin's cheek.
"Ah!" Suyuxin screamed in agony.
Seizing the opportunity, Suyuxiang ruthlessly shoved the burning charcoal into Suyuxin's mouth.
Suyuxin convulsed, collapsing onto the pile of straw, her eyes rolling back, her whole body spasming. Her eyes, once cloudy, remained wide open, strained in their sockets.
Before her life faded away completely, she seemed to see the General coming through the snowstorm.
She stretched out her hand with all her might, filled with regret and remorse, whispering with her last breath, "General, I…"
Her words went unfinished. Suyuxin had already lost her breath, leaving only a pair of cloudy eyes, wide open and lifeless.
The phrase "I was wrong" would never have the chance to be uttered again.