Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Upon hearing this, Simeng's expression immediately changed.

She was slightly angry: "Mother-in-law, you're joking with me, right?"

Granny Yan coldly replied, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. You must have reaped quite a bit of benefits last night, right?"

Upon hearing this, Simeng felt a little guilty.

Last night, a wealthy businessman from out of town came to Hongxiu Tower and took a liking to her almost immediately in the crowd.

It should be noted that among the many beauties in the Red Sleeve Pavilion, her appearance was not considered outstanding.

In fact, she had always been jealous of Ruyan, because even if Ruyan didn't go to entertain guests, she still had Yu Wang backing her up.

Simeng had no powerful backers, so she had to fight tooth and nail among a group of girls to get what she wanted...

But last night went by too smoothly.

Simeng had already tasted the benefits, but then she thought again that this old woman was being superstitious and might not really be true, even if she said she wanted to borrow someone's life.

So, on a whim, she said, "Actually, I don't really think it's thanks to that sugar figurine."

Looking at her face, Granny Yan only said one sentence: "If you don't believe me, then come again next time."

Simeng was proud and felt somewhat humiliated, so she turned around and left.

However, she came again after only three days.

From her frustrated expression, it was easy to see that she had had a very difficult three days.

It turned out that the wealthy guest from out of town had come to the Red Sleeve Pavilion for several nights in a row.

They had spent the night together just the night before, but he acted as if he didn't recognize her.

Simeng swallowed her pride and went forward to curry favor, but was ruthlessly driven away.

After this incident, she lost all face in the building.

It was at this moment that Simeng thought of Granny Yan again, wondering if the other party had real skills.

This time, she changed her attitude, her face plastered with a fawning and ingratiating smile, hoping that Granny Yan would forgive her past mistakes and help her one more time.

Grandma Yan didn't say much, "As long as you can afford the conditions, I can help you."

Simeng didn't care about anything else, "I promise you, I'll agree to anything!"

That very night after taking the sugar figurine home, Simeng was indeed noticed by that wealthy businessman from out of town again.

The other party was inexplicably bewitched by her, spending all their money on her, which puzzled the other people in the building.

"I wonder what methods Simeng used; why does this wealthy businessman change his attitude every single day?"

Simeng did indeed profit a lot from this wealthy customer, but after all, he was only in the capital to do business. He had a few days of fun and then left.

But then, every now and then, Simeng would go to the sugar figurine shop, take the sugar figurine back and "try her luck", and it always worked.

Until one day, Granny Yan suddenly stopped giving her the sugar figurine.

"You have less than three years left to live, and it can't be changed."

These words shocked and angered Simeng. "What do you mean? I'm so young, how could it be less than three years?"

She was clearly starting to panic.

Granny Yan said, "Believe it or not, the point is, cherish the friends who are truly good to you, and do less things that harm others for your own benefit!"

Simeng was furious and about to smash up her shop when Ruyan, who had suddenly arrived, stopped her.

Ruyan, unaware of the situation, tried to persuade her and apologized to Granny Yan.

Before leaving, Granny Yan called Ruyan back, avoiding Simeng, and said, "You are very kind, but you should be more wary of the people around you."

Ruyan simply smiled, then turned and left with Simeng.

After that, the two never came to the sugar figurine shop again.

Although Granny Yan used unorthodox methods to borrow Simeng's "life" for several years, it was only enough to fool the underworld officials for a short time.

If she wants it to last, she needs more "life" to fill this hole.

So she used the same method to attract many people like Simeng.

They followed one after another, each with their own agenda, and the reputation of the sugar figurine shop gradually spread throughout the capital.

What the public knows is only the family's traditional sugar painting skills...

……

"If what you say is true, that these people exchanged their lifespans and won't die immediately, then what about the two servants of the estate?"

Ren Fengjue raised a question.

Granny Yan looked at Zhuang You beside her and said, "Because this young lady didn't exchange three years of her life for beauty, but her entire life."

Zhuang You, who had completely collapsed due to blindness, suddenly came to his senses upon hearing these words.

She stumbled and rushed over, following the sound of Granny Yan's voice.

"You old hag! It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

Because she couldn't see clearly, she tripped over the table and chairs and fell to the ground before she could find Granny Yan.

Granny Yan stared coldly at her, "It's because you didn't value other people's lives that you're suffering the consequences. Think carefully about what you were thinking when you forced those servants to eat the sugar figurines."

Zhuang You suddenly froze, his lips trembling, but he dared not utter a sound.

She still clearly remembered the two maids in her room, one named Qiuxin and the other named Dongyue.

Qiu Xin has hands that are as beautiful as carved jade, while Dong Yue has eyes that are born with the power to captivate and bewitch.

Zhuang You was extremely jealous.

They were just two lowly maids, so why did they have to possess all of this?

As she forced them to eat the sugar figurines, she thought, "You worthless lives are better off dead. These good things only deserve to be on my body..."

Granny Yan knew she was feeling guilty. "Didn't you wish they were dead so you could get what they had? Now you've got what you wanted."

Zhuang You gritted her teeth, screamed again, and tried to rush forward to fight for her life once more.

But this time, she wasn't so lucky. Overwhelmed by her emotions, she slammed her head against the corner of a table and died on the spot.

Yu Lang, who was closest to her, couldn't help but take a big step back when he looked at that grotesque, dead face.

Her eyes were still oozing black liquid, and her hands were covered in black patches. At first glance, she looked as if she had been dead for a long time.

At this moment, Guan Yue also led a group of constables from the East District Government to arrive, completely surrounding the courtyard inside and out.

Granny Yan suddenly smiled contemptuously and said to Ren Fengjue, "I have confessed everything that needs to be confessed. Your government can do whatever it wants with me."

"But before that, I hope you will leave first. I have something I want to say to Xiaohe alone."

Ren Fengjue paused for a moment, then waved to the surroundings, and everyone immediately left through the door.

Granny Yan closed the door, and Guan Yue was startled, fearing that she would escape, but then he heard Ren Fengjue say, "She won't escape."

Not long after he finished speaking, thick smoke began to seep out from the cracks in the door.

Guan Yue was shocked again and kicked open the door, only to find that Granny Yan had set fire to the "sugar figurine" while he was embracing it.

As the fire raged, the two huddled together, indistinguishable from one another, just as they had been when their child was in its mother's womb.

Ren Fengjue gazed at the mother and child in the fire and sighed softly. Xia Ximo, who was standing beside him, turned and glanced at him.

She knew he had long anticipated this outcome.