```
Thus, the outcome they had created, in truth, both were at fault.
Miss Du hadn't left that desolate courtyard for a long time, and indeed, tender pink buds had begun to sprout from the lotuses in the pond, with a few early dragonflies perched on them, appearing exceptionally endearing.
Miss Du, holding a spade, walked quietly by the lotus pond with Concubine Du, heading straight to the willow tree beside Lotus Pond Waterside Pavilion.
The two of them didn't speak a word along the way, Miss Du's heart filled with boundless melancholy.
Before her father's death, he had entrusted them to support each other, knowing the character of Officer Xie; he felt very reassured about Miss Du, which was why he implored her even more to take care of her younger sister. Back then, how could he have foreseen such an outcome.
Miss Du squatted down and began to use the spade to dig up the soil beneath the willow.
