Starve Them to Death

Kevin Zhuo thought about it for a while, then nodded and said, "I've already dealt with Gavin Gao in secret, so... that's it! We'll starve them to death!"

...

No one was delivering food anymore, and Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu and Lena were both anxious.

If their water and food supply was cut off, in just a few days, all three of them would die in here.

Grace was much less anxious.

To better take care of her mother, she had brought plenty of Lena's favorite grains and medicinal foods.

She even brought a pot for cooking medicinal meals.

Plus, her Sanctum had mountains and water.

There were mushrooms on the mountain, and she could even hunt birds.

There were fish in the water, and plenty of edible wild vegetables growing by the lake.

In short, for now, they wouldn't starve to death.

She was just puzzled—what happened to Gavin Gao?

He'd served Colin Gu for years and should know him well. How could he be so careless?

Could it be... he's dead?

...

After a whole day without food, Grace went into her Sanctum, cooked rice, caught a fish to make soup, and finally picked some water celery from the lakeside for a stir-fry.

Thankfully, you could enter but not leave this place, so the bowls, chopsticks, and plates from previous meal deliveries were all still there.

Grace filled the bowls and plates, then brought the food out for her grandmother and mother.

No one came to deliver food, and suddenly their imperial meal was replaced with wild vegetables. She had to come up with an explanation for the change in food sources.

If it were just Lena, Grace could tell her the truth directly.

But with her grandmother around, Grace didn't want to tell the truth.

She only had one grandmother, but her grandmother had plenty of grandchildren, both from the family and extended relatives.

Grace didn't hold a grudge against Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu for the past.

But she still remembered how, for Queenie Zhu, her grandmother had snatched Little Cutie and even dug up Serenity Pavilion three feet deep.

Grace worried that if her grandmother learned about the Sanctum, she might one day force her to hand it over for the sake of another grandchild.

She definitely didn't want that.

So, Grace told them it was a young eunuch who secretly delivered the food through the side window of her room.

The side window of her room happened to be right next to the Spirit Barrier.

And since you could enter but not leave from any spot in the barrier, they didn't suspect anything.

"Why did a young eunuch sneak food in?" Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu asked. "What about Gavin Gao?"

Grace shook her head. "No idea. That young eunuch is afraid of being discovered, so he can't speak. Just getting the food in here is already quite a feat."

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu frowned and said nothing.

Grace thought aloud, "I think there are two possibilities."

Lena asked, "What are the two possibilities?"

"First, Gavin Gao was ordered by Colin Gu to deliberately stop delivering food, intending to starve us to death."

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu shook her head. "We're inside this Eight Trigrams Array. If Colin Gu wanted us dead, he could do it easily. Why bother with such a complicated method?"

"I think so too. So... someone else wants us dead! Gavin Gao might already be gone!" Grace said.

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu nodded. "At the same time, someone else wants to save us, so they sent that young eunuch."

Grace nodded. "Grandmother, Mother, let's wait another two or three days. If Gavin Gao still doesn't show up, we shouldn't leave this room lightly.

If someone calls for us outside, unless we're sure they're friendly, don't go out and don't make a sound.

Otherwise... if the people who want us dead find out we're still alive, they might try something else. We won't be able to guard against it."

Both women nodded.

...