Xi Sijin changed into looser clothes to hide her pregnancy and rarely appeared in public.
However, eventually, the paper couldn’t cover the fire, and the fact that Xi Sijin was pregnant was discovered.
Fortunately, the one who discovered her pregnancy was not someone else, but her brother Xi Qishan.
Xi Sijin fell to her knees with a thud before her brother, begging Xi Qishan to give her a way out and allow her to leave the valley.
Despite being disappointed in her, Xi Qishan couldn’t bring himself to send his own sister to the guillotine.
Xi Qishan let Xi Sijin go.
But when Xi Sijin, heavily pregnant, arrived at the prearranged location with Ji Zhao, she was told that the Ji family had moved away with no known whereabouts.
Later, guided by feathered birds, Xi Sijin traversed mountains and waters to find Ji Zhao, only to discover that he was already married.
Ji Zhao not only had a wife but also concubines, with children in abundance.
Ji Zhao didn’t expect that even after moving his entire family to a secluded mountain village, Xi Sijin would still find him.
Seeing Ji Zhao’s shocked and defeated appearance, Xi Sijin became furious.
Luckily, when Xi Sijin detoxified Ji Zhao’s Poison Gu, she had casually placed a Unity Gu on him; otherwise, how could she have found him?
Knowing Xi Sijin had found him, Ji Zhao, being clever, realized he still had the Gu Worm and immediately knelt before Xi Sijin.
Xi Sijin officially moved into the Ji family, but as a Saintess of the Witch Clan, how could she become a concubine?
After realizing his life was in Xi Sijin’s hands, Ji Zhao complied with all her requests.
When Xi Sijin asked him to divorce his wife, he did so; when she asked him to dismiss his concubines, he complied.
Xi Sijin lived like a queen in the Ji family, speaking with authority.
Five years of peace passed, and after giving birth to Ji Er, Xi Sijin accidentally discovered that Ji Zhao had secretly been supporting his original wife and her family in Yangcheng, sneaking away monthly under the pretense of doing business.
Xi Sijin had long grown weary of living like a village woman in this ruinous place, no different from the Witch Clan Valley.
Having heard enough of men’s false sweet talk over these years, it was time to make a conclusion.
Xi Sijin silently used Gu Worms to kill everyone in the Ji family, including Ji Zhao’s parents and his dismissed wife and concubines, along with their children.
Xi Sijin took her two sons and moved into the Ji family’s residence in Yangcheng, living there for decades.
Xi Sijin sneered coldly and slowly said, "I was too young then, too impulsive. I regretted killing Ji Zhao soon after.
Why did I kill him? Wouldn’t it have been better to let him live the rest of his life groveling at my feet like a dog?
After his death, I found life rather dull..."
After Ji Zhao’s death, Xi Sijin felt life was meaningless.
The business Ji Zhao left also declined because she didn’t know how to manage it, and in a few years, their life’s cost became tight. To improve her life, she started using sinister Gu techniques to benefit herself.
She first befriended wealthy families and then secretly placed Gu on them, finally offering to heal those afflicted under the guise of treating difficult illnesses.
Thus, Xi Sijin not only never lacked money but also established a reputation for curing strange illnesses.
However, later on, she noticed that the people around her, as if sensing something, quietly distanced themselves, and her sinister reputation spread.
Later, her two sons grew up; one became an executioner, and the other a leather artisan, making the Ji family’s sinister reputation even more prominent.
The Huainan Prince Mansion’s little imperious heir sought Xi Sijin to cure his little fiancée’s ’congenital cold illness.’
With just one glance, Xi Sijin realized that Yu Yanran didn’t suffer from a cold illness but was afflicted with the Cold Cicada Gu.
Moreover, this Gu had been in Yu Yanran since she was very young. Xi Sijin didn’t know who planted the Cold Cicada Gu, but since it wasn’t her Gu, she wouldn’t solve it—it was an unwritten rule within the Witch Clan.
Xi Sijin had always known that the Witch Clan had an ambitious plan, and she suspected Yu Yanran was a part of it. Although she was no longer with the Witch Clan, she wouldn’t harm their interests.
What’s more, she felt gratitude toward the Witch Clan for not eradicating her, so she absolutely wouldn’t interfere with Yu Yanran’s Cold Cicada Gu.
Xi Sijin feigned helplessness, refusing to save Yu Yanran.
Besides, the Cold Cicada Gu had been in Yu Yanran’s body for over ten years, not something to be solved overnight.
The real connection to the Huainan Prince Mansion started with Xi Sijin’s two sons.
Her two sons were even more eccentric than her, hardly speaking a few words all year long, like two mutes.
Yet these two puppet-like mutes one day approached Xi Sijin, asking to help the Huainan Prince Mansion dig a grave.
At the time, Xi Sijin didn’t know whose grave they intended to excavate, as her sons didn’t tell her.
When she found out, her two sons had already died brutally under numerous blades.
When Xi Sijin learned her sons went to dig Miao Qinya’s grave, her body stiffened as if struck by lightning.
She realized she had indirectly caused her sons’ deaths!
Indeed, Xi Sijin trusted no one, not even her sons, putting Gu in them when they were young.
Her two sons had gone to help Jun Mobai dig a grave because they had heard the grave’s owner was a member of the Witch Clan.
Xi Sijin wept bitterly, "Why did they seek to solve the Gu? I’m their mother; I wouldn’t harm them, would I? Why would they go through such trouble?"
Yu Xiaolian clicked her tongue twice, "Who would want to be controlled their whole life? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, don’t you know?
Besides, your two sons were of age, without wives or children; maybe they just wanted to live like ordinary people!"
Xi Sijin wept bitterly, "I’m their mother, their real mother! Would I harm them? No... It wasn’t me... It was Jun Tingye... Jun Tingye sent people to kill my two sons."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaolian finally understood why Xi Sijin was willing to help Jun Mobai.
Xi Sijin refused to admit her own depravity, which indirectly caused her sons’ deaths, and instead needed an outlet for her grief, focusing her blame on the Crown Prince Jun Tingye.
To be fair, Jun Tingye wasn’t wronged, as Ji Da and Ji Er were indeed killed by the people they had dispatched.
"You captured Miss Miao to give her to Jun Mobai for revenge? Has your conscience gone to the dogs? She is your brother’s disciple’s descendant. Ah, I spit on talking conscience with an old pervert like you. What conscience do you have left? ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
The Witch Clan spared you, yet you didn’t let them go. Your conscience truly rotted to the core!"
Xi Sijin glared at Yu Xiaolian, "So what if I captured Miao Yingyao? It’s not like I took her life! The old Emperor is like a candle in the wind, not long for this world. However, Prince Jin’s power isn’t mature yet, so the old Emperor can’t die too soon..."