Hungry, very hungry, extremely hungry.

Mu Yundai's pair of dull eyes were tightly fixed on a short piece of tree root in her hand, revealing an indescribable longing. She swallowed difficulty.

She didn't know whether to eat it or not. This was the last piece of tree root in the cold palace. Once finished, there would be nothing left.

Her vision was beginning to blur, and she knew she couldn't hold on much longer.

Everything edible in the cold palace had been consumed by her.

She had been confined in the cold palace for five years. For these years, she had survived on rats and insects. This winter, even the rats had stopped coming to the cold palace.

She was a concubine-born daughter of the Mu family. Her legitimate sister is the current empress, and Prince Ou, Ouyang Ting, promised to make her his concubine before he ascended the throne.

Mu Yundai leaned against the cold stone wall, weak and filled with resentment.

Why did the emperor treat her this way? Why doesn't her legitimate sister come to save her? What had she done wrong to deserve being confined to the cold palace?

Five years had passed, and no one had come to see her. Perhaps no one knew that there was still someone living in the cold, gloomy palace.

Hearing the sound of the cold palace gate being pushed open in a daze, Mu Yundai propped her frostbitten hands on the ground, tried to sit up and looked towards the gate.

More than a dozen brightly dressed palace ladies poured into the cold palace. A woman wearing a gold silk embroidered peony phoenix costume slowly stepped forward, then retreated a few steps.

Mu Yunmo reached out and covered her nose and mouth with a look of disgust, a voice as warm as spring was heard.

"Is this Yundai?"

The once charming half-sister has turned into someone worse than a beggar outside the city gate. It really shocked her.

Hearing the sound of Mu Yunmo's voice, Mu Yundai became excited, her previous weakness disappeared, she crawled towards Mu Yunmo, hoarsely shouting, "Elder sister, have you come to save me?"

Dehydrated for a long period of time, Mu Yundai cried two lines of blood tears.

Mu Yundai wanted to keep crawling but was brutally beaten by an approaching eunuch.

"How dare you, you vile woman, the Empress’s precious body would not tolerate your defilement, step back immediately."

Mu Yundai was dragged back, felt the ground spinning, her whole body in pain.

Mu Yunmo casually glanced at Mu Yundai, suddenly spoke, "The palace knew that the Emperor truly loved you back then, so I had to devise a small scheme to trap you in the Cold Palace. I did not expect you to last until now without closing your eyes. The palace knows you are inconsolable, but as your legitimate sister, the glory of the palace is the glory of the Mu family, you have to accommodate the palace."

"Only when you're dead can I sleep peacefully. I dreamt of you again last night, as long as you're alive, you're a threat to me, only the dead can really be trusted."

Mu Yunmo stopped talking, stared at the tree root tightly grasped by Mu Yundai for a long time without speaking.

After a while, she directed the eunuch, "Also a pitiful person, let her leave without suffering. Let her eat her fill before she leaves. Since she can even eat tree roots, she probably wouldn't mind eating dirt."

Mu Yunmo turned and left, hatred still concealed in her eyes.

The year that Ouyang Ting fell in love with Mu Yundai was a betrayal to her, like a sharp knife piercing her heart, causing her great pain.

She hates Mu Yundai for seducing Ouyang Ting, hates her for being prettier than her, and hates her for always being calm and composed, she was filled with hatred.

So, she used Mu Yundai, setting a trap for her.

The concubine who had tea with her that day miscarried, and the perpetrator was Mu Yundai, so she was sent to the cold palace.

For five years, her hatred should come to an end, to prevent the Emperor from suddenly remembering her, and to conceal the real cause of the miscarriage of the concubine from that year, Mu Yundai has to die.

Mu Yundai fell, her black and emaciated hand tightly clutching the tree root. From just a few sentences, she knew. The person who had caused her to be in this state was Mu Yunmo.

Footsteps slowly faded into the distance, and Mu Yundai was pinned down firmly to the ground by several eunuchs.

The dirt they dug from the garden was continuously stuffed into her mouth. She struggled, she wanted to vomit, but was forced to swallow the dirt, for someone was ruthlessly beating her stomach.

Her strength diminished. In a daze, she could hear the voice of the young eunuchs.

"Don't come to me when you become a ghost – though you die at my hand, I must obey my master's command. Your mother and younger brother are already waiting for you in the underworld, go a peaceful reincarnation, reunited with your family."

Were my mother and brother also dead? The emperor had promised her safety and riches for their whole life. Why did he break his promise?

Had Mu Yunmo caused her harm? Did she cause the death of her mother and brother?

No other sound could be heard. Her mouth was full of dirt; her lips were torn, and blood flowed down her neck, dirty and emaciated. She felt a sense of panic in her stomach as though it was bursting.

She died of both hunger and being stuffed with dirt.

Dissatisfied, after living a life worse than an animal for five years, she just wanted to find justice. She would not let herself die like this.

Mu Yundai seemed to see herself becoming transparent and floating in the air. The sky suddenly turned black, and a force pulled her into a black hole.

"Second Young Miss, wake up! It's almost the Eldest Young Miss's birthday, you have to go to the Lady's courtyard to measure your new clothes today."

Voices kept ringing in her ears, and Mu Yundai furrowed her brows. Was it because her grievance was too strong, that she couldn't even die peacefully?

Eyelids as heavy as mountains, a sudden sense of soreness throughout her body startled her. She hurriedly opened her pair of clear and bright eyes.

Should a dead person feel pain?

The courtyard is comfortably familiar, as is the scene.

This is her room, the boudoir where she had lived for more than a decade, she definitely wouldn't mistake it.

Upon seeing Mu Yun Dai awaken, Qi-er kneeling bedside quickly reaches for the clothes nearby and anxiously says," Second Miss, you said you'd only rest for a bit, but why have you slept for so long? I called for you several times but couldn't wake you up."

Hearing the all-too familiar voice from her memory, Mu Yun Dai casts a vacant look at Qi-er, feeling perplexed.

Didn't Qi-er die before she even married Ouyang Ting? Could she have such beautiful dreams after death?

She forcefully pinches her thigh from underneath the sheets, and while tears well up in Mu Yun Dai's eyes from the pain, she can't control the ecstasy in her heart.

The dead can't feel pain, she...she's remarkably still alive.

Suddenly inspired, she jumps off the bed and barefooted snatches the pastries placed nearby, stuffing them carelessly into her mouth.

She can't even remember what these pastries taste like.

With a stupefied look on her face, Qi’er stands in place. Watching the Second Miss swallow mouthfuls of food, fear emerges in her eyes.

What happened to Second Miss? Why is she behaving like a madwoman?

As Mu Yun Dai continues to eat, she begins to calm down. She realized that she's returned to life, that this isn't a dream.

After finishing a tray of pastries, her mind has regained clarity.

"Did you say you want to go to mother's courtyard? Is it Eldest Sister's birthday?"

Mu Yun Dai asks Qi’er as she heads back to bed, opening her hands and looks at them, she should be thirteen this year.

Seeing Mu Yundai returning to normal, Qi'er had a peculiar expression on her face. She simply deduced that Mu Yundai was scared due to a bad dream, behaving momentarily out of character, and she did not dare to probe further.

"Yeah, it will be young Miss's birthday in few days. Yesterday, the Madame sent a messenger informing that they will take your measurements for new clothes this afternoon."

At those words, Mu Yundai nodded. Indeed, she vividly remembered that in her past life, she had selected the blue, which was favored by Mu Yunge. Right after she left the yard, she was pushed into the pond by Mu Yunge. From that time onwards, her health started to deteriorate.

Looking at the familiar scenery around the mansion, Mu Yundai's emotion was complex. She swore that she won't let Mu Yunmo humiliate her in this life. She was determined to protect her mother and younger brother, and never let them suffer to death again.

Just as she was stepping inside the Furong Courtyard, the maidservants lifted the curtain. A warm fragrance wafted towards her.

As soon as Mu Yundai entered the room, she heard a displeased voice of Mu Yunge.

"Waiting for merely a concubine daughter like her, what a grand ceremony, second elder sister.

Ranking third in the family, Mu Yunge, was the younger sister of Mu Yunmo and was extremely willful, often manipulated as a tool by Mu Yunmo.