A Luo’s expression softened. How could she not understand what the Wei father and daughter were calculating? They wanted her to join them in restraining that person—regardless of whether the other party was that person or someone new!

Miaoyin was a faction unto herself and wouldn’t ally with them, but she needed to rely on their help.

Even though she was also a threat to them, to Wei Chenghui, that person was even more fearsome.

Moreover, after bringing down that person, they could still use her against Miaoyin.

But regardless, for her, it was still better than the current situation! If she had a chance to turn things around, who could say who would emerge victorious in the end?

The Wei father and daughter exchanged a glance. What A Luo was thinking was exactly what they were thinking. Though they spoke of alliance, they would still be borrowing her hand. When the time came for Li Zhaoting to assign blame, it wouldn’t fall on them.

“Does the Marquis have a way to help this palace prove itself?” Finally, A Luo spoke proactively for the first time tonight.

“Marquis, His Majesty’s edict has arrived.” Just as Wei Chenghui was pondering and about to speak, the steward’s anxious voice suddenly came from outside the door.

Everyone in the room was startled. Wei Wulei said: “Could it be that His Majesty knows I brought the Empress out!”

“Stay calm. Let me investigate first.” Wei Chenghui interrupted, remaining composed as always, then opened the door and went out.

Arriving at the reception hall, he saw a captain waiting.

Seeing Wei Chenghui approach, the captain quickly came forward: “Marquis.”

“His Majesty has sent an edict?” Wei Chenghui asked.

“Yes,” the captain said: “By His Majesty’s command, asking Your Lordship to meet at the city tower.”

“Right now?” Wei Chenghui was somewhat surprised.

“Yes.”

“His Majesty went to the city tower? Did he mention what matter?” Wei Chenghui asked.

The captain said: “His Majesty went there with a young lady. As for specifics, this humble officer doesn’t know.”

Who this young lady was, Wei Chenghui naturally knew without saying.

“His Majesty urgently summons me. He and that woman are at the city tower. I’ll go over first to see the situation. Wulei, you take Her Majesty back to the palace first.”

He returned to the room and told the two women.

A Luo’s eyes flickered slightly in the lamplight, but she suddenly said: “Marquis, I want to go see what kind of person that woman really is! Whether it’s her, whether she’s human or ghost!”

“Marquis, His Majesty has ordered that there are important matters to discuss and only wants you to go up.”

Below the city tower, soldiers stopped A Luo and Wei Wulei, who were disguised as guards.

Wei Chenghui nodded with a smile, saying lightly to the two: “You wait here while this Marquis and His Majesty come down.”

In his last sentence, his voice slightly lingered. A Luo understood—he wanted them to pay attention and observe. She and the similarly disguised Wuxia retreated to one side.

As he climbed the steps, he saw teams of soldiers below the city tower moving forward in orderly fashion. He was slightly puzzled—where were these city guards going?

On the city tower, a woman stood sideways by the parapet, the wind making her clothes flutter.

“Where is His Majesty, if I may ask?”

He stood still and spoke with narrowed eyes.

The woman turned sideways: “Uncle Wei, have you been well?”

If what she had said to Wei Wulei earlier was still uncertain, at this moment his heart sank heavily, almost immediately determining the other party’s identity.

“You indeed didn’t die before.”

“Li Zhaoting saved me.”

He remained unmoved: “Where is His Majesty?”

“I lured him away.”

She looked at him, speaking word by word.

Wei Chenghui wasn’t flustered either, giving a cold laugh: “So you falsely transmitted the imperial edict to summon this old man here. Feng Suzhen, what audacity!”

“Yes.” Suzhen smiled. “I want to settle accounts with you.”

“Settle accounts?” Wei Chenghui stared at her coldly. “Just with you, you think you can deal with me?”

“What? Are you planning to use tonight’s opportunity to formally declare war on me? You’ll bewitch the emperor and use his hand to kill me? Just with you?”

He repeated these three words, his pair of experienced, fierce eyes full of mockery. He was never a careless person, but he was certain that even if she were like Feng Shaoqing, no matter how many schemes she had, she absolutely couldn’t accomplish it.

Not to mention that Li Zhaoting still needed to rely on him—just considering the gratitude between him and Li Zhaoting, Li Zhaoting wouldn’t make this move now! As for future matters, he couldn’t predict them—it’s lonely at the top—but for now, Li Zhaoting wouldn’t!

Her eyes slowly narrowed as she looked at him with an amused gaze.

At this moment, she was extremely like her utterly detestable dead father, her eyes carrying an arrogance that seemed capable of seeing through everything.

“Wei Chenghui, you truly don’t understand me, don’t understand the Feng family. No wonder from the beginning you weren’t qualified to be my father’s opponent.”

“You think I would use Li Zhaoting’s hand to eliminate you? You have shown kindness to Li Zhaoting. Even if there’s no longer a trace of gratitude between Li Zhaoting and me, I would never use his hand against you, putting him in an unrighteous position.”

“Li Zhaoting never acknowledges the Feng family’s kindness—that’s his way. Feng Suzhen will never disregard human ethics—that’s my principle.”

“I’m not here tonight to declare war on you, but to eliminate you immediately. The soldiers here have been transferred a li away by me. No one can come to your aid during our fight. You shouldn’t have touched Lian Xin!”

She spoke slowly, drawing the long sword from her side.

These days she had practiced swordwork daily, wearing weapons at her side, and Li Zhaoting hadn’t interfered much.

Wei Chenghui’s eyes grew more sinister: “You’ve played a good game of chess. You transferred the soldiers away, thinking no one could come to my aid. How foolish—this way no one can help you either! You think that with His Majesty’s favor, this old man would be restrained and find it hard to account for harming you? I’ll kill you right here and let you reunite with your dead father in the underworld.”

A Luo was here too—it was fitting that she should die here. He could blame her death on A Luo!

He could say she was trying to kill A Luo and him, and he had to fight back to save the Empress.

As for why A Luo was here, he could tell the truth—Consort Wei was worried about the demon woman bewitching their lord and contacted the Empress to devise strategies, bringing the Empress out of the palace. The Empress wanted to see whether this was truly an old acquaintance and followed them here…

Since he was summoned for an audience, he carried no weapons, but with just his bare hands, he could kill her ten times over!

Palm wind whistled as he touched his toe to the ground, about to attack her when sword wind swiftly approached from behind. He gave a cold laugh, spun in mid-air, and struck backward.

His palm force was so experienced and fierce that it made the opponent’s sword tip tremble and retreat several steps.

He raised an eyebrow and stood firm, glaring coldly. He saw the opponent had sword-like brows and cold eyes, with darkness to the extreme in his gaze.

“Leng Xue?”

He sneered: “Even ten more Leng Xues wouldn’t frighten this old man!”

Leng Xue never wasted words, shouting sternly: “Old thief, tonight I’ll make you pay with your life for the Feng family!”

Wei Chenghui looked on coldly: “Just with you two? Wishful thinking!”

“I’ll kill you first, then kill this girl!”

As he spoke, he suddenly leaped forward. Leng Xue raised his sword and jumped up, and the two fought together. How could Leng Xue show any signs of poisoning or injury at this time? Every move was agile and forceful, full of determination.

“Leng Xue, I want to ask—will your poison flare up early?”

“No. Quan Feitong’s poison won’t be biased. It won’t be early, but it won’t be late either. When it’s time to take my life, I’ll go.”

“I want you to pretend it’s flaring up early.”

“Zhen’er, what exactly do you want to do?”

“This way I can use the excuse of taking you to Quan Feitong for medicine. Lian Yu knows I value righteousness and won’t be able to refuse to let me go.”

“I want to make a trip to the capital—first to seek medicine for you, second to try to save Lian Xin’s life. The princess has been captured by Old Man Wei.”

“You’re crazy! You can’t do it. This way you’re just throwing away your life. You finally got this little life back! How far do you want to go for Lian Yu! Have you forgotten you still have Little Lotus?”

“Leng Xue, I can’t be cured. Heaven was kind, letting me escape death twice and live until now, but this time… Little Zhou lied to you all.”

“You… what are you saying?! How could this be? You…”

“It’s true. So this time I’m not doing this for Lian Yu. I just want to do something for the people of Da Zhou and for Lian Xin. Lian Xin used her own reputation to help me. I can’t just watch her suffer without doing anything. I said I would protect her.”

“I am a subject of Da Zhou, and even more so, Lian Xin’s husband.”

“Brother, you witnessed the beginning of my life. Are you willing to accompany me to finish it?”

What else could he say?

“Good! Zhen’er, what do you want me to do?”

…

Those words still rang in his ears, so even though this was intense combat with wounds constantly accumulating, his heart was surprisingly calm.

In this lifetime, he regretted that he couldn’t become one of the two most important men in her life, not even as important as Quan Feitong. But with the word “brother,” in her heart, he was irreplaceable.

That was enough.

Unable to live together, they could die together.