Chapter 67 Only the Dead Can Keep a Secret

Madam Li stared in utter shock, her eyes wide with panic and terror. “No, no, no, please, Your Ladyship, for the sake of all the years I have served by your side, spare me!”

“Spare you?” Tan Yunge bent down, pinching Madam Li’s chin between her fingers. “Do you truly think that’s possible? You know far too much.”

“Only the dead can keep secrets. Only your death will truly put my mind at ease.”

With those words, Tan Yunge released her and straightened, surveying the secluded courtyard. “This yard is quite suitable—separate from the others, already ruined and desolate. An ideal place for murder and arson.”

“That blaze you set this afternoon gave me quite the inspiration. Burning you to death is certainly the best solution. Once your body is reduced to an unrecognizable husk, no one will know it was you, and I’ll be saved from a great deal of trouble.”

Her face showed nothing but frigid indifference. “Men, bind her. Then set the fire.”

“Yes, madam.”

Madam Li was tied to a chair and dragged inside. The masked men doused the floor and furniture with tung oil, then tossed their torches to the ground.

The moment the flames touched the oil, they shot up in a fierce column, nearly reaching the beams overhead. The fire spread rapidly, crawling swiftly toward Madam Li’s feet.

“No, please, it’s so hot, it burns! Your Ladyship, please have mercy on me!”

Tan Yunge stood outside, watching through the firelight as the flames caught Madam Li’s skirts. “Nanny, when you are reborn in your next life, remember to guard your tongue.”

“The blaze will grow soon, and someone may discover it. I won’t see you off, then. Farewell, Madam Li.”

Having spoken, she turned and ordered, “Leave two men on watch outside. Let the fire burn at least a quarter of an hour. Make sure there’s no hope of rescue before you depart.”

“Yes, madam.”

The flames had already begun to consume the house, and Madam Li’s form was soon lost amid the inferno.

Outside the rear window, Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes at the scene. “Throw a soaking wet quilt over her, then bind both quilt and woman with a chain and drag her out.”

“Yes, miss.”

A sodden, dripping quilt was quickly tossed through the window, landing heavily over Madam Li’s head and shoulders. The flames around her diminished slightly. Then a chain was looped around quilt and woman together, and she was pulled out.

Inside, the flames and smoke were overwhelming. Madam Li, rendered insensible by the smoke and pain, had already suffered numerous burns.

Tan Qingjiu checked her pulse. Confirming she was still alive, she stood. “Go to the paupers’ field and steal a corpse—an old woman, preferably of similar age. Throw the body into the fire.”

“Yes, miss.”

“Take her away.”

Tan Qingjiu brought Madam Li to a courtyard she’d purchased earlier. She treated Madam Li’s wounds, applying ointment and bandages, and ordered someone to pour medicine down her throat. Suddenly, Madam Li began coughing violently.

After a time, she finally opened her eyes, gasping for breath, her brow furrowed in agony. “It hurts! It hurts!” Her voice, however, was so hoarse it was nearly unrecognizable.

Startled by her own voice, Madam Li jerked upright, only to cry out louder from the pain.

Tan Qingjiu stood by, watching Madam Li’s slightly ridiculous display, a faint arch to her brow. “Madam Li, are you all right?”

At the sound of Tan Qingjiu’s voice, Madam Li’s eyes flew open in shock. She turned her head sharply, her gaze filled with sudden terror. “Second… Second Miss? How did I…”

“Have you forgotten what happened?” Tan Qingjiu set the medicine aside. “Shall I remind you?”

“You set fire to the Prince Regent’s manor and fled, but then had a servant from the heir’s household fetch your belongings for you. Unfortunately, what was brought wasn’t just your gold and jewels…”

Madam Li clutched the covers tightly around herself. She remembered now!

The maid hadn’t only brought gold and jewels—she’d brought Tan Yunge as well.

She had pleaded and begged, but Tan Yunge had been utterly merciless, disregarding all her years of loyal service. Tan Yunge insisted on her death—she set the fire…

Fire!

At the very thought, Madam Li seemed to see that blaze still leaping before her eyes, searing her flesh.

The smoke had choked her—she’d coughed and coughed, but the smoke kept forcing its way into her throat. She had suffered terribly.

Then the flames had burned her, searing her skin. She had watched in horror as her own flesh blistered and blackened.

Recalling this, Madam Li hurriedly raised her hands to inspect them. They were securely bandaged, but the pain still throbbed deep in her bones.

“It was you, Second Miss…”

Tan Qingjiu’s lips curled in a faint smile as she nodded lightly. “Yes, I was the one who saved you. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“If not for my intervention, you’d be nothing but a charred corpse by now.”

“You would be burnt beyond recognition. When the fire was finally extinguished, they’d find you in that abandoned ruin—a house no one lives in. They’d assume you were a beggar seeking shelter.”

“Even in death, no one would know your name or your origins. You’d become an anonymous corpse, tossed into the paupers’ field beyond the city.”

Madam Li shuddered violently. As Tan Qingjiu spoke with such calm deliberation, the images played vividly in her mind.

“Thank you, Second Miss, for saving my life.”

Tan Qingjiu only laughed softly. “I did rescue you, but I never save anyone useless to me.”

“I saved you because you know the truth about what happened six years ago—you are a witness.”

“And not just those events six years past, but also… the death of my mother, over ten years ago.”

A jolt of fear ran through Madam Li. She looked up to see Tan Qingjiu’s serene expression, eyes calm but resolute, utterly self-assured.

“Six years ago, when you dragged me outside the city and into the wilds, I heard every word you said.”

“I remember each one, clear as day.”

Tan Qingjiu’s eyelids lowered. “If you agree to tell me everything you know about those two matters—every detail—then, once my revenge is complete, I’ll let you go.”

“If you refuse, I’ll send you straight back into the fire.”