Zhаo Xu's сriеs wеrе uttеrly wretchеd, hоarse аnd despеrаtе, fillеd with оvеrwhelming resеntment: "This humble official hаrbоred nо intent tо аssаssinаte thе еmреrоr, no suсh intent! Traitоrs hаve wrоnged me, traitоrs have wrоnged me!"
Fеng Yuе smilеd, fееling nоthing but immеnse satisfасtion, thе реnt-up аnger in hеr сhest loоsеning slightly.
Нow eloquеnt Zhao Xu hаd оnсe bеen, advising and mislеаding thе ruler, sееking his оwn wеаlth аnd glorу, lеading tо the еxeсution оf thе еntire Guаn fаmilу! Nоw, wrongfully dying оn the same exеcution plаtform—this was truе retributiоn. Whо neеded him to die by the law? She wanted him to die by the very crimes he had committed!
Unfortunately, she couldn't speak. If she could, she truly wanted to ask him—
"Have you tasted the bitterness the Guan family felt when they knelt here back then?"
A robe embroidered with a three-clawed white dragon swept past Zhao Xu, and a voice as cold as autumn frost echoed across the execution platform.
For a moment, Feng Yue truly thought she had spoken those words, but the voice didn’t sound right.
Looking up, she saw Yin Gezhi standing facing Zhao Xu, his back solitary and desolate.
A strange light flickered in Feng Yue's eyes. She pursed her lips and glanced at the execution supervisor's seat.
Guan Zhi stood beside the empty seat, gripping his sword sheath, his expression grave.
The execution supervisor was actually Yin Gezhi.
A peculiar feeling stirred in her heart, something between resentment and reflection. Feng Yue sighed, listening to Zhao Xu's cries and watching Yin Gezhi return to the supervisor's platform.
As noon arrived, the "execute" order was thrown down. The executioner's blade rose high under the blazing sun, gleaming brightly.
Feng Yue didn’t watch the final scene of blood splattering. She turned away, listening to the hushed gasps of the crowd, and slowly made her way out.
"A grand minister of war, executed just like that."
"Bah, he did no good deeds. Who else should be executed? I heard he poisoned His Majesty half a month ago. In the past two weeks, more evidence of other crimes has surfaced. He was definitely guilty of a capital offense."
"He deserved to die, but it feels like... our Lidu is about to undergo a great change."
Amidst the murmurs of discussion, Feng Yue stood at the exit of the execution ground. The dispersing crowd passed by her, followed by the guards retreating and collecting the bodies. Finally, Prince Xiao emerged in his sedan chair.
"Guan Zhi," Feng Yue whispered, sneaking closer with a sly look, her face covered in a thick beard as she tugged at his sleeve.
Startled by her disguise, Guan Zhi nearly shouted, "Catch the assassin!" But upon recognizing her eyes, he calmed down and tentatively asked, "Miss Feng Yue?"
The sedan chair beside them stopped. Feng Yue chuckled, but the person inside showed no intention of coming out.
Scratching her head, she said, "It's nothing much. I just wanted to thank your master. Without him, Zhao Xu wouldn’t have faced justice so quickly."
Gratitude was an important thing. Even if you hadn’t asked for help, if someone helped you, you should still thank them. Otherwise, who would be willing to help you in the future?
Delighted, Guan Zhi immediately turned and called out, "Master?"
There was no response from the sedan chair. The air froze for a moment. After a pause, Yin Gezhi's voice rang out emotionlessly, "It has nothing to do with me. What is there to thank? Guan Zhi, let's go."
What? Guan Zhi looked bewildered, glancing at the sedan chair and then back at Feng Yue. He waved for the sedan bearers to leave first, then stood still and whispered to Feng Yue, "Did you and the master have a fight?"
A fight? Stroking her chin, Feng Yue replied, "Not exactly a fight. He’s probably just angry with me."The reason for his anger was utterly baffling—simply because, in his eyes, she hadn't come to him as a virgin. Tsk, the great Prince Yin, who had bedded countless women, actually had the nerve to get angry over something like this?
Well, let him be angry then! He deserved to stew in it! Her own views on chastity were already quite lax—if the Confucian scholars found out, they'd probably denounce her in writing. If he truly minded, why not go find himself a virgin? Why bother picking a fight with her?
Rolling her eyes, Feng Yue also turned and walked away, her fake beard twitching with each step, looking rather adorable. Unfortunately, no one saw it, as she quickly disappeared into the crowd, vanishing without a trace.
Yin Gezhi lifted the carriage curtain, glancing outside with half-lidded eyes before calling out unhappily, "Guan Zhi."
"Master." Guan Zhi hurried over, bowing his head. "Your subordinate is here."
With a light snort, Yin Gezhi said nothing, slightly raising his chin as if wanting to ask something.
Guan Zhi immediately understood. "Miss Feng Yue has already left. She didn't say much, only that you were angry with her."
Knowing he was angry, yet she didn't say more? Yin Gezhi scoffed, letting the curtain fall as he thought coldly, Was it truly because he had been too good to her that she felt she didn't need to care about him? Just wait—there would come a time when she needed him!
With Zhao Xu's death, although the court was filled with praise on the surface, everyone was actually wary of Emperor Wen of Wei's unpredictable moods and grew cautious.
As the first to submit a memorial and present evidence regarding Zhao Xu's case, Feng Ming was summoned by Emperor Wen of Wei to the imperial study for a talk. Afterward, he was relieved of his duties as the palace gate guard, granted a general's salary, and left idle at home, awaiting deployment for battle.
Once this happened, the court became even more tense, with visitors streaming to the Marquis of State Pacification's Mansion to inquire about the situation. However, Feng Ming refused to meet any of them, instead heading alone to the tenement courtyard, shaking his head at Feng Yue.
"Our emperor is truly unpredictable."
Handing him a cup of tea, Feng Yue frowned. "I've implicated you."
"It's not an implication. Guarding the palace gates wasn't a good job anyway. When I returned to Lidu, the emperor gave me this position just to legitimize taking back my military authority." Feng Ming waved his hand dismissively. "But it did give me a taste of what it means to be trapped once you enter the palace gates."
Nearly spitting out her tea, Feng Yue narrowed her eyes. "General, if I recall correctly, that's something the imperial consorts should say. What do you mean by saying it?"
"Ah, I mean the emperor's thoughts are too numerous, truly hard to guess!" Feng Ming sighed, shaking his head. "I used to think that fighting on the battlefield and serving the country loyally would allow me to fulfill my ambitions. But after returning from a campaign and hearing the emperor's convoluted words, I realized being a general in Wei is truly dull—you fight enemies outside, and you get beaten by the emperor when you return."
No wonder Yin Gezhi preferred to go as a hostage to Wu Kingdom. Thinking about it now, not being a general is the most comfortable.
Feng Yue smiled without speaking, chewing on a piece of mung bean cake as she listened to Feng Ming continue.
Compared to Yin Gezhi's silence, Feng Ming was much livelier. Even if she didn't speak, he could talk for a long time on his own. "Nowadays, the official atmosphere in the court isn't upright either. If we're talking about integrity, perhaps only Academician Hang and Prime Minister Shi have any backbone. Back when the Guan family's case was being tried, all the officials followed Zhao Xu in submitting memorials—only those two claimed illness and avoided the discussion. Now that a storm is brewing, it's also them who advised the emperor in front of him, urging him not to listen to biased opinions."Hang Hanyi and Shi Hongwei? Feng Yue shrugged. He didn't know much about these two, after all, aside from brief vacations, she had always been following Old Man Guan on campaigns outside.
However... thinking of someone, Feng Yue narrowed her eyes, turned to look through the compiled information booklet collected by General Yin and the others, and immediately flipped to a name.
Shi Youxin.
This man was the Chief Justice of the Wei Kingdom, the presiding judge in the Guan family case back then. In just two days, without questioning the accused or investigating the evidence, he directly closed the case.
Zhao Xu was the one who incited the emperor, but Shi Youxin was the one who truly wronged Guan Canghai to death.
Narrowing her eyes, Feng Yue closed the booklet. Turning around, she immediately asked Feng Ming: "Do you know Shi Youxin?"
Shi Youxin? Feng Ming nodded: "The current Chief Justice. I heard from my father that he is a distant nephew of Prime Minister Shi, but not very close to him. They don't speak even when going to or leaving court, and their principles are vastly different."
So they really are from the same family? Feng Yue sighed. So even within the same family, people could be so distinctly different.
"Are you asking about him because you want to learn about the Guan family case from back then?" Feng Ming said: "This man is hard to meet. Not to mention he's always busy, even when he's free, he doesn't like to receive guests."
Feng Yue smiled: "Never leaves the inner quarters?"
"Not exactly. He seems to frequent a certain academy on Wenlin Street. I don't know the name of the academy, just heard it mentioned in passing."
Wenlin Street? Feng Yue nodded, just thinking about whether to go check it out, when she saw Lingshu bouncing in and saying: "Master, Madam Qiu is here."
Handing her a piece of mung bean cake to go play with, Feng Yue looked up and saw Madam Qiu standing at the door with a strange expression.
"What's wrong?"
Clutching a letter in her hand, Madam Qiu glanced warily at Feng Ming.
Anyone who knew how to read the situation would usually excuse themselves. However, General Feng was not one to read others' expressions. Frowning, he said: "Even you're guarding against me? My life is hers, what are you afraid of?"
Feng Yue's face darkened: "General. When did your life become mine?"
Turning back in surprise, Feng Ming looked at her with shock: "You forgot?"
"Huh?"
"That year when you were fifteen, didn't I say I'd fight you, and if you lost, you'd be mine?"
Looking up at the sky, Feng Yue seemed to recall the incident. Back then, Young Master Feng, as soon as he said that, was beaten up by her. Half-lying on the ground, he mumbled incoherently: "I lost, I'm yours."
What that sentence meant, Guan Qingyue at the time didn't pay attention, just snorted coldly and left him with a cool, departing figure.
Now remembering, Feng Yue wiped her face. She forced a laugh: "The General's memory is really good."
Feng Ming said seriously: "I've always remembered things related to you clearly."
Madam Qiu shivered, no longer caring, and directly shoved the letter into Feng Yue's hand. Turning away angrily, she walked out muttering: "Bullying me, a widow for so many years. Young people these days really don't speak properly..."
The improper young man stared intently at Feng Yue, who composed herself and opened the letter in her hand.
It was actually written by Lian Heng. Somehow he had contacted Madam Qiu. The letter had only one meaning: he wanted to atone. He asked her to meet him at the foot of Zhaoying Mountain east of Lidu, as he had important matters regarding the General to tell her.Regarding an important matter about the general? Feng Yue thought coldly for a moment, then her eyes suddenly blazed with intensity. Without another word, she immediately chased after her and called out, "Madam Qiu!"
"Huh?" Madam Qiu stopped and turned around.
Her chest heaving slightly, Feng Yue said in a trembling voice, "Please ask the letter writer to go to Zhaoying Mountain immediately. I'll be waiting for him there!"
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