The people who died were those who wanted me to be their concubine.

After Zhao's second son died, those families who wanted me to be their concubine a few days ago also died or were injured.

They all asked my mother and sister to compensate them with money.

My mother and sister were busy dealing with the compensation, while I was ignored and left hanging on a tree.

Until the third night.

Someone pushed open the gate to our yard from the outside.

The wind blew in through the open gate, causing me to sway.

By the moonlight, I saw a tall figure walking towards me.

It had been three days and nights since I had eaten, so my voice was weak when I spoke.

As I recognized the person clearly, I was somewhat surprised and said, "Cousin!"

"Fang Fang?" My cousin, originally full of tension, had a change in expression after seeing me.

He rushed to me in one stride and first let me down from the tree.

Seeing the whip marks all over my body, my cousin, a grown man, started crying, "Fang Fang, you are a girl. How could you endure so much suffering?"

It had been four years, and it was the first time I saw someone feel sorry for me and cry for me.

My cousin said to me, "The patients who have been coming to the hospital clinic these days are all infected with a plague. I asked about the source, and they said it originated in our village. I came to investigate the plague, but I didn't expect to see you hanging there."

My cousin examined me, "Why is your body so weak? Have you not eaten for a long time? What do you want to eat?"

No one had ever asked me what I wanted to eat.

Ever since I became a concubine, my mother only gave me things that would make me shed more tears.

They wouldn't ask me what I wanted, they just forced me to accept what was good for them.

My cousin was the only one who cared about me and genuinely asked me what I needed.

"I want to eat steamed buns." I looked at my cousin, "I don't want to eat the nutritional supplements they give me. Those are just meant to make me cry."

Hearing me mention tears, my cousin's hands trembled, and he suddenly asked, "You kept the secret buried in your heart, right? You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

I never told anyone.

They also never tried to uncover my secret.