"I remember now, it was just like this back then," the Rabbit Queen said.
"Back then..." Mu Anxiao was startled by the Rabbit Queen's words and stammered, "You mean... I... I haven't... changed much, and Xiao Nian, she... will still... die?"
"Why are you stammering?" the Rabbit Queen asked, confused.
"I thought she wouldn't die," Mu Anxiao said, trying his best to calm the trepidation in his heart.
"Never mind it, be an observer," the Rabbit Queen said.
"Ob-observer, but I already promised Xiao Nian. If I go back on my word... it might not be good," Mu Anxiao insisted on changing Xiao Nian's fate.
"You've already interfered too much in this matter. That butler was originally a bad person, but with your intervention, he changed and didn't have to die. Xiao Nian..."
"So Xiao Nian has to die?" Mu Anxiao asked.
"Even if she lives, she will only suffer," the Rabbit Queen said firmly.
"Suffer?" Mu Anxiao frowned slightly. "You are indeed hiding something from me."
The Rabbit Queen said, "I have hidden it from you, and you cannot interfere further."
"You... you didn't absorb her mother's soul breath, did you?" Mu Anxiao exclaimed in shock.
The Rabbit Queen's body stiffened, and she lowered her head.
"No wonder you told me to stop. You were worried I would ruin your plan at this moment," Mu Anxiao said, his eyes filled with anger. "I will handle this matter."
"Mu Anxiao, you..."
"Stop talking. No one can make me change what I've decided," Mu Anxiao interrupted, turning to walk away.
The Rabbit Queen stood rooted to the spot, watching Mu Anxiao's receding figure, thinking about what had happened here. She clenched her fists.
Inside the mansion...
Feng Qishi stood before the room, looking at the scenery outside, and yawned. "This is so boring. I don't think that young madam will come."
"Who knows? Mu Anxiao wants us to stay here, so we have to obey, or she'll definitely get angry," Piao said.
A smile played on Feng Qishi's lips. "You weren't like this before you came. If I remember correctly, you were a tyrannical demon. How did you suddenly become a little lamb? Oh my, I'm really not used to it."
"What tone is that?" Piao walked over to Feng Qishi and said.
"This tone," Feng Qishi grinned and said.
Piao tilted his head and smiled, "I remember in your past life, you had a bad temper and cursed Mu Anxiao in your dreams at night. Mu Anxiao would get angry when she heard it."
"How do you know?" Feng Qishi frowned.
"Back then, because of a mission, I followed her every day. She would visit you in your past life every night. You also had a habit of kicking off your blankets, and Mu Anxiao would cover you, saying," Piao sighed, "You are weak, and it wouldn't be good if you caught a cold."
Feng Qishi had never imagined that Mu Anxiao had such a caring side. He lowered his gaze and fell silent.
"Are you moved?" Piao asked with a smile.
"Yes, I am moved," Feng Qishi admitted, then looked up at Piao and smiled. "Speaking of which, have you ever enjoyed such treatment?"
Upon hearing this, Piao's face fell. "No."
"Then I have won again," Feng Qishi said with a smile.
Piao glared at Feng Qishi. "Childish."
"You are also childish," Feng Qishi said, turning to look at Yan standing in the bushes. "My name in my past life was Shen Yan, and this little mouse is called Yan. It's quite a fate, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Piao frowned. "Huh? How did I not realize that she shares a similar name with your past life?"
"I just thought of it, because I was idle!" Feng Qishi said.
Piao glanced at Feng Qishi. "Speaking of which, I feel like that girl has something on her mind."
"She definitely has something on her mind," Feng Qishi said faintly.
"Why?" Piao looked at Feng Qishi and asked.
Feng Qishi turned to Piao and said, "I promised her that I would show her how her father died, but you were the one who cast the spell to bring us here. Naturally, she's... also worried."
"Is that really what she's thinking?" Piao asked, half-believing, half-doubting.
Feng Qishi shrugged. "I'm guessing. I don't know if it's what she's thinking."
"You..." Piao pointed at Feng Qishi helplessly.
Feng Qishi gave Piao a naive smile, then looked at the woman creeping towards them. "Look, here she comes."
Hearing this, Piao looked at the woman. "What does she want to do?" he said, frowning.
Feng Qishi looked at the object clutched in the hand of the accompanying maid. "She's not going to poison us, is she?"
"There's a possibility," Piao nodded, pointing at the woman who had suddenly stopped. "She's stopped."
"She wants that maid to do something," Feng Qishi said, pointing at the accompanying maid.
"Yes," Piao nodded.
Then, as they had expected, the woman looked around cautiously, as if afraid of being seen, and said, "You, pour this into that teapot, understand?" She pointed at the hand of the accompanying maid.
"But, if she dies, will I be held responsible?" the accompanying maid asked, pointing at herself.
"No, Master will handle it," the woman said in a low voice.
"Then... I'll go," the accompanying maid whispered.
The woman nodded. "Go on, I'll keep watch for you."
The accompanying maid hummed, looked left and right, and quickly ran into the room.
Feng Qishi and Piao followed the accompanying maid inside.
Outside, Yan saw the old man standing behind the tree and exclaimed, "Not good."
However, just as Yan cried out in alarm, the woman also saw the old man. "Why are you here?"
Hearing this, the old man, holding a quilt, walked up to the woman and asked, "Young Madam, why have you come here?"
"I..." The woman rolled her eyes and said, "I'm here to poison Xiao Nian. If you dare to say anything, I'll make you pay." She pointed at the old man's face.
"Young Madam, you absolutely cannot do this," the old man said agitatedly.
"I don't care. You remember this: if you dare to speak out, you'll be sorry," the woman said, pointing at the old man's face.
Meanwhile, the accompanying maid had already poured the poison into the teapot.
"Xiao Nian, it was the young madam who told me to do this. If you die, don't blame me." Saying this, she looked around, quickly clutched the cowhide paper that contained the poison in her palm, turned, and ran away, passing Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi lowered his head and looked at his body, then turned and said, "She's very nervous."
"Why would that woman be so cruel to Xiao Nian?" Piao said, looking down at the teapot.
"Don't you think that child looks a lot like... a rabbit?" Feng Qishi suddenly said.
"Rabbit..." Piao widened his eyes as he spoke. "You didn't say it, but now that you mention it, she really does."
"I suspect that the Rabbit Queen is the one who has been absorbing Xiao Nian's mother's soul breath," Feng Qishi said faintly.