"Are you ready?"

I think I am.

"Yes."

My heart was pounding loudly that I can hear it through my ears. A weird sensation started to knot inside my stomach, I feel like vomiting. I gripped Chen Mu's hand tighter and he gave me an encouraging nod.

Riu, Chen Mu's shadow guard, opened a hidden door leading to the underground dungeon below Ying Yi restaurant which me and Xiao Yu often went to eat. As it turned out, Ying Yi is owned by my husband and so are most of the business establishments in the Imperial Capital including Fu Zhuang.

As we descended the stairs, I was greeted by a dim endless hallway with prison cells on both its side. I bit my lip in attempt to hold back the urge to puke as the stench of blood and rot assaulted my nose. The mask covering my lower face was of no help.

I shifted closer to Chen Mu as my eyes drifted from one empty cell to another. Then someone familiar caught my eyes, the man who almost raped me.

He was sprawled on the cold hard floor, probably sleeping but more likely unconscious. What made me cringe was the cloth wrapped around his wrists where his hands used to be attached.

"He touched you." Chen Mu said as he nudged me forward.

I swallowed back the pity that I was feeling after being reminded of the things I have went through in that man's hands.

I've only seen three people inside the cells. It made me wonder what happened to the others.

I shook my head to clear out the gory thoughts invading my mind.

We stopped at the farthest cell and finally, I was faced with Ming Shu. She was leaning on the wall with her head hung low, her matted hair covering her face. She slowly raised her head when she heard the noise outside her cell. When her eyes met mine, a mocking grin formed in her dry chapped lips.

"Oh, came to pay me a visit?" She laughed before halting to a fit of cough.

Her once bright eyes were engulfed in a shadow, her fluffy cheeks were now sunken. Her clothes stuck on her body revealing her bony stature. She was an empty shell of the past Ming Shu.

I turned to Chen Mu and whispered if I can talk to Ming Shu alone but instead of answering, he motioned for Riu to bring the seat forward. He sat on it and pulled me towards his lap. I tried to get up but his hold on my waist made me slump back to him.

Riu cleared his throat and faced sideways, he wasn't really used to seeing this side of his master. I turned my head to glare at Chen Mu but he just brushed it off.

"Speak." Chen Mu said, whether he was directing it to me or to Ming Shu, I could only guess.

"Ming Shu, tell me everything."

Ming Shu shuffled closer to us, only the bars and a few inches of space between separating us.

"Why would I?" She jeered at me.

"Riu..." I heard Chen Mu mutter behind me.

In the next few seconds, Riu dashed towards Ming Shu. He grabbed Ming Shu's hands between the bars and injected a clear fluid through her vein. It happened so fast that even I was stunned.

"You have ten minutes and two choices. Speak or bring your secrets to the grave." Riu's monotonous voice echoed.

"Bastard!" Ming Shu shrieked as she pulled her hand back and held it to her chest. She looked at Chen Mu with disgust and landed her eyes on me

"Speak." This time, it was clear that Chen Mu was directing his words to Ming Shu.

Ming Shu dejectedly sat on the floor, thinking whether she should speak or not.

Releasing a puff, she opened her mouth, "Bai Fan, I have two things for you."

My forehead creased in question.

"The first one is my confession."

Going back to the time when I rescued her on my way to Imperial Capital, she was actually waiting for the third prince. She had information that the third prince was in the Western Border so she planned to make their paths cross. But since Chen Heng Li travelled a day earlier, I was the one who was able to spot her. Hearing that I was from a prestigious house, she changed her target and latched onto me. When she found out that I was somehow connected to the third prince, she took the chance and seduced the him. Her plan was going smoothly when the third prince brought her to the palace. But Chen Heng Li kept talking about me and it irked Ming Shu. She started stealing from the crown prince's treasury and Chen Heng Li noticed the sudden disappearance of relics. He confronted Ming Shu about it and of course, Ming Shu denied. Chen Heng Li knew that Ming Shu had something to do with it but had no evidences against her so he kicked Ming Shu out. Then Ming Shu came back to me, wanting to manipulate me for her own plans. But I ended kicking her out, too. The day I was kidnapped, she knew someone was following her so she led me to the alley. When she saw it was me, she decided to kidnap me in exchange of a hefty amount of gold. But her plans failed as Chen Mu hunted her. She was not expecting that the first prince was the real Dark Shadow whom she stole her identity from.

My head started to ache hearing Ming Shu's revelation. Everything she told me was lies and I easily trusted her. I remembered what the man in the other cell told me back when I was kidnapped, I was truly naive and gullible.

But who would have thought that the Ming Shu, the female lead, would turn out this way?

Ming Shu started to heave inside the cell. She clasped her hands around her neck as she gasped for air.

"What's happening to her?" I worriedly asked Chen Mu as I jumped on my feet.

"Time's up."

Chen Mu stood up and held my hand. He pulled me away from the cell but I stood frozen when I heard Ming Shu's words. She uttered them in between pained breaths but I understood it, shivers ran up my spine.

She told me earlier that she had two things for me. The first one was her confession, the second one...

"I..."

"Poisoned..."

"You..."

"Barren..."

"Womb..."