Fan Changyu couldn't remember whether she had fainted or simply fallen asleep from exhaustion. In her dazed state, she felt as though a hot, sticky rain clung to her relentlessly—no matter how she ran in her dreams, she couldn't shake it off.
When she finally awoke, daylight already streamed through the windows, and muffled voices drifted in from outside.
"...The Li family will surely act out of desperation. Wei Yan's contingency plans won't be so simple either. Notify Gongsun that it's time to move."
"Understood."
Footsteps followed, then the creak of a door opening and closing.
By the time Xie Zheng returned to the inner chamber, Fan Changyu was already sitting up, wrapped in blankets. The cold severity in his eyes softened slightly as he approached, sitting beside her on the bed. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear with a tenderness that came naturally to him. "Awake? It's still early—why not sleep a little longer?"
The snowstorm from last night had left a thick layer of snow outside, at least two fingers deep. But with the heated floors, the room remained comfortably warm.
As she sat up, Fan Changyu noticed she was wearing an oversized inner robe, its collar so loose it kept slipping off her shoulders.
A glance revealed the marks trailing from her shoulders down to her arms—utterly unsightly...
Memories of last night's chaos flooded back. Silently, she tugged the collar back into place. When Xie Zheng entered, she studied him briefly before asking her first question: "Are you alright now?"
His fingers, still resting against the delicate curve of her neck where he had tucked her hair, paused. His dark eyes held hers for a long moment before he suddenly cupped the back of her head, pulling her close to press two kisses to her lips. Then, voice low, he murmured, "How can you be so endearing?"
Fan Changyu met his gaze with clear, unflinching eyes. "Last night, you were holding back so hard you coughed up blood..."
Xie Zheng seemed to adore touching her, his thumb stroking lightly along her nape as he asked, "If I hadn't coughed up blood, would you still have indulged me like this?"
The memory of losing consciousness was too embarrassing—proof of her inferior stamina, a humiliating defeat. Flustered, she lowered her head and changed the subject. "I'm a little hungry."
Xie Zheng's phoenix eyes darkened at her evasion. "The kitchen has kept food warm. I'll have it brought over."
Fan Changyu nodded, but instead of leaving, Xie Zheng knelt before the bed, taking both her hands and pressing kisses to them. His expression was solemn as he said, "For you to be with me like this—I've treated you too lightly. Once everything settles, I'll give you a wedding unmatched in this world."
Whether it was because Fan Changyu was carefree by nature or because her experiences had made her indifferent to worldly formalities, she hadn't particularly cared about such promises.
But hearing him speak so earnestly sent ripples through her heart, like a pebble dropped into still water.
This feeling of being cherished and treasured made her believe that even if the road ahead was paved with fire and blades, she would fearlessly walk it by his side.
So she cupped Xie Zheng's face, leaned down, and planted a loud kiss on his forehead. Her cheeks flushed, but her eyes sparkled bright and clear. "You haven't treated me lightly. I'll marry Xie Zheng—but Yan Zheng was the one who married into my family."
When Xie Zheng remained silent, she glared at him, her face still faintly pink. "We never annulled our marriage. Unless... you're thinking of going back on your word?"
Xie Zheng gripped her wrist tightly, not speaking for a long while before finally lifting his head to ask, "Are you still in pain?"Fan Changyu was momentarily stunned. When she realized what Xie Zheng was asking, the tips of her ears turned crimson with embarrassment. Enraged, she threw a punch at him and shouted, "Get lost!"
Xie Zheng took the hit without anger, swiftly catching her wrist and pressing her into the bedding for a fierce kiss. Only then did he lift her clenched fist to his lips, planting a kiss there as well. The corners of his eyes and brows were brimming with irrepressible joy and delight. "Rest a while after your meal. I’ll go make some arrangements to speed up the endgame. Later, I’ll escort you back to the Office of Presentations."
Still catching her breath, Fan Changyu recalled the voices she had heard outside when she first woke up. She asked, "Has something happened to the Li family again?"
Xie Zheng’s smile turned icy. "They’ve been outmaneuvered by Wei Yan."
"The strategist the Li family arranged to testify against Wei Yan for colluding with rebels was actually Wei Yan’s man all along. During the final trial, he suddenly recanted, claiming everything was orchestrated by the Li family—even producing incriminating letters as evidence."
Fan Changyu was astonished. She knew all too well how heavily guarded the Court of Revision had become after their prison break. Initially, Grand Tutor Li had suspected Wei Yan wanted the witness dead. Since Wei Yan had allies in the Court of Revision while the Li family only controlled the Western Judicial Bureau, Grand Tutor Li had pushed for the Censorate to station troops there as well and even mobilized heavy reinforcements from the Five Armies Garrison to secure the court.
Now that the strategist had recanted, Grand Tutor Li’s earlier actions had backfired spectacularly. She said, "Is this why you were worried the Li family might act desperately?"
Xie Zheng nodded. "Last night, Xie San led men to the Court of Revision to abduct the witness and happened upon the Li family’s men diverting the Five Armies Garrison guards outside. They were trying to silence the strategist. By sheer chance, Xie San disrupted their plan. With their attempt to kill the witness and destroy evidence foiled, they’ll have no choice but to fight to the death now."
Fan Changyu was stunned. "Wei Yan’s schemes run far deeper than I imagined."
Frowning, she added, "He must have known from the start that the Li family was setting him up. He deliberately left a ‘loophole’ with Qi Min to lure them in."
Xie Zheng’s expression darkened, his long lashes lowering as he spoke with cold mockery. "Hasn’t he always been ruthless to the extreme?"
Fan Changyu squeezed his hand. "Your men have already abducted the old steward from Changxin Prince Manor. We might uncover Wei Yan and Changxin Wang’s collusion through him. Justice may be slow, but it never fails. We’ll find the evidence to convict him."
Xie Zheng looked at her hand tightly gripping his, and some of the gloom and fury in his heart dissipated. He murmured a soft "Mm" in agreement.
After the meal, Fan Changyu didn’t idle. She joined Xie Zheng in the private prison of the Xie residence to interrogate the steward from the manor.
At first, the steward was tight-lipped, refusing to answer anything and feigning madness. Later, Xie Zheng had Zhao Xun and the mother-son pair brought in. Seeing his act fail, the steward still refused to speak, even with his grandson as leverage.
Xie Zheng ordered torture. The frail old man proved shockingly resilient, preferring to bite his tongue and die rather than betray Changxin Wang. His loyalty left Fan Changyu stunned.
Xie Zheng quickly realized the old man’s frail body wouldn’t withstand further torture—he’d likely die in the cell. So he shifted tactics, aiming to break him psychologically.The glow from the brazier illuminated the entire dark and damp dungeon. Xie Zheng sat in the Grand Tutor chair, accepting a cup of hot tea handed to him by a personal guard. He leisurely scraped the lid twice, his tone utterly indifferent. "Your son has already been beaten to death in court. This marquis dislikes staining his hands with the blood of children, but my patience is truly limited. If you continue to be this ungrateful, every one of my men here is skilled in the art of slow slicing. They will carve the flesh from your grandson piece by piece to feed the dogs. I assure you, by the time they reach his organs, he will still be alive, crying and calling out for you, 'Grandfather.'"
As he finished speaking, he lifted his gaze, coldly observing the old man across from him through the steam rising from the teacup.
The woman holding the child had already fainted in terror upon hearing Xie Zheng's description, leaving only the child beside her crying and calling out, "Mother! Grandfather!" The pitiful cries, like those of a lamb being led to slaughter, tugged at the heartstrings of anyone who heard them.
Fan Changyu knew that breaking the old man's psychological defenses required such intimidation. She forced herself to remain seated in the Grand Tutor chair nearby, watching coldly.
The old man, seeing his grandson crawling on the ground, weeping and desperately shaking his unconscious mother, was also moved to tears. Yet all he could say was, "Grandfather has failed you... Grandfather has failed you... but I have no choice..."
Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes impatiently and called out, "Shiyi."
Xie Shiyi gestured to the outside, and soon servants led in several ferocious, slobbering wolfhounds. The moment the dogs caught sight of the child inside, they began barking wildly, terrifying the boy into screaming and wailing.
The old man, covered in blood from his torture, had tears clouding his vision as he kowtowed repeatedly to Xie Zheng. "The child is innocent! Give him a quick death! The prince treated me with immense kindness—without him, my family would have perished long ago. These decades of my life were borrowed from the King of Hell himself! I swore never to betray the prince!"
The wolfhounds, held back by the guards, were nearly upon the child. Yet the old man, despite his tearful pleas for a swift death for the boy, refused to yield even a single word.
Fan Changyu glanced at Xie Zheng, who made a gesture. The guards immediately pulled back the snarling dogs.
Fan Changyu addressed the old man, "Your loyalty lies with Sui Tuo? But the one you're loyal to now—is he truly Sui Tuo's descendant? Don't play the fool with me. The one who died in Jizhou wasn't the real Sui Yuanhuai. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had your daughter-in-law and grandson pose as his concubine and child."
The old man's sobs halted abruptly as he stared at Fan Changyu. "What do you mean by your first statement?"
Fan Changyu exchanged a glance with Xie Zheng before replying, "It means a royal switch. Seventeen years ago, during the great fire in the Eastern Palace, the Changxin Wang's consort and child were also invited there. The one who died in the fire was Sui Yuanhuai, while the one whose face was burned beyond recognition was the Crown Prince's eldest grandson. It was all a scheme—a golden cicada shedding its shell."
The old man's expression turned frantic, as if he couldn't believe it, muttering over and over, "Impossible... impossible..."
Fan Changyu continued, "The young Changxin Wang's consort and Sui Yuanqing—they also died by his hand."The old man hunched over, but his eyes suddenly gleamed with ferocity: "Wasn't the princess consort covering for the eldest young master when she took her own life? As for the heir, he died by your hands! Don’t think you can deceive this old man with such lies—I won’t fall for it!"
Zhao Xun seized the moment to interject: "I can testify that the man truly wasn’t your Changxin Prince Manor’s eldest young master."
The old man spat at him fiercely: "Traitor’s words are not to be believed!"
The old man’s stubbornness gave Fan Changyu quite the headache.
Having grown restless from being cooped up in the dungeon for too long, Fan Changyu went outside with Xie Zheng to get some air. Kicking at the snow on the ground, she sighed and said, "He’s a tough nut to crack. What do we do if we can’t get him to talk?"
At first, she had wondered why Xie Zheng didn’t just tell the old man that Sui Yuanhuai was an impostor and immediately resort to threatening him with the child.
Only now did she realize that for someone so obstinate and unwilling to admit defeat without absolute proof, no argument would sway him without irrefutable evidence.
The sky began to drizzle with fine snow again, the clouds gloomy and oppressive.
As stray snowflakes settled in Fan Changyu’s hair, Xie Zheng reached out to brush them away. Lowering his gaze slightly, he asked her, "I’d like to use the imperial great-grandson to stage a scene. Are you willing?"
After a brief hesitation, Fan Changyu nodded. "As long as Bao’er isn’t harmed, I’ll get him to cooperate."
The old man, out of loyalty to the Sui family, might disregard his own grandson’s life—but he would never ignore Yu Bao’er’s safety.
If they wanted to pry open his mouth, it seemed Bao’er was their only option.
That afternoon, Fan Changyu secretly returned to the Office of Presentations to fetch Yu Bao’er. Changning, who hadn’t seen her all day, immediately teared up with resentment when she noticed Fan Changyu only taking Bao’er out and leaving her behind.
Fan Changyu had no choice. No matter how much she coaxed, she couldn’t calm Changning down. Thinking that Xie Zheng’s residence was safe enough and that bringing Changning along shouldn’t cause any issues, she informed Aunt Zhao before making an excuse to take the two children out to play, leading them out of the Office of Presentations.
Little did she know, this unintended decision would spare both children from disaster.
OpenNovel