With Na Yan’s words.

Na Tuo was so furious he couldn’t speak for a moment: “You…”

He wished he could kill this sinister villain before him!

Na Yan displayed the demeanor of a petty person achieving success, continuing: “You certainly didn’t expect this, did you? Actually, three years ago, my Second Prince’s Manor already received approval from the Ministry of Works to build an ice cellar underground for storing things that cannot be kept too long! It’s just because it’s winter now, and fearing the cold air would rush out, I ordered people these past two days to seal the entrance to the ice cellar with a wall, planning to open it again when the hot days come. Father King and the Ministry of Works both know about this matter—how is it that you don’t know?”

“…” The veins on Na Tuo’s forehead bulged prominently. He finally understood completely and said, “From beginning to end, you deliberately set this up. You deliberately leaked information saying your manor had a secret chamber, just to make me bring people to search your manor. When you saw I had searched fruitlessly and was preparing to leave, you deliberately glanced at this room, all to lure me in! To make me fall into your trap. Na Yan, you’re truly vicious!”

Vicious to the point of having absolutely no friends!

Na Yan didn’t deny any of this, directly saying: “It’s not too late for you to understand now. At least you don’t have to wait until you’re kneeling before Father King begging for mercy to realize it. However, there’s one thing you got wrong—I only set up the latter part of the trap, not the former! It’s because your own intelligence was poor that you jumped in, and I received advance information, otherwise where would I have had the opportunity to set up this trap? All of this was caused by yourself—you can’t blame others.”

“What do you mean?”

“Still don’t understand? I never leaked information about my manor having a secret chamber to you! So, if someone really secretly reported to you, leading you to search my manor, then that person must want to destroy you. The one you should resent and blame is not me!”

Na Tuo was skeptical.

Unable to speak for a moment.

Could someone really be secretly harming him?

That person… who was it?

Na Yan looked at him, stepped closer, lowering his voice to remind him: “Someone has tried to kill me time and again, and now someone behind the scenes wants to push you into a fire pit. As you can imagine, whoever is behind this, their purpose is only one—to take both our lives.”

Uh!

Na Tuo was startled!

Of course he understood.

Na Yan continued: “How to resolve the aftermath of this matter is your own business. Whether you can catch the person who framed you also depends on your own abilities! But today you brought so many people to search my manor and even broke through this wall—for such a grave crime, just wait to receive your punishment!”

Having said this, he swept his sleeves and walked away without looking back!

Na Tuo’s entire face was livid.

His chest heaving with rage.

His guard quietly asked: “Prince, what do we do now?”

“What to do… hmph! Return to the manor first!” Na Tuo left filled with fury.

Li Cheng, who had been hidden in the crowd all along, took all of this in.

He was utterly astounded.

He never imagined that the factional struggles within the royal family… were so treacherous.

Every step could cost lives!

Fortunately, he wasn’t born into the royal family!

Since he failed to rescue Song Zhi today, he would have to think of another way.

He followed the main group and left.

Afterward, the manor returned to calm.

Na Yan asked his shadow guard: “How did the transport of the chest go? Did anyone see it?”

“Prince, rest assured, no one saw it. Everything awaits your orders.”

“Continue the interrogation. If he still won’t talk by tonight, kill him immediately! Hang his corpse at the city gate, but remember, don’t make a commotion, and don’t let anyone suspect this prince.”

“This subordinate understands.”

At this very moment, people from the Second Prince’s Manor had transported the chest containing Lian Que to a secluded residence.

Several people worked together to carry him out from inside.

They tied him to a pillar again!

After a night of torture, Lian Que now had only a thread of life sustaining him.

The lead guard instructed: “Watch him carefully. If anything goes wrong, the Prince will take our lives.”

“Yes!”

“Also, the Prince said to continue severe torture. If he still won’t speak the truth before nightfall, directly behead him and hang his corpse at the city gate.”

This indeed fit the Second Prince’s style!

Ruthless!

Decisive!

These guards had all followed Na Yan into battle and had witnessed his methods.

Lian Que was barely breathing, his head hanging down, his body bound tightly with rope.

He weakly opened his eyes, seeing only his own blood-stained shoes.

Suddenly—

“Splash!”

A bucket of cold water was thrown at him!

It immediately cleared his head considerably.

Cold penetrating his entire body.

Gradually going numb!

“If you still want to live, quickly speak the truth. Otherwise, when night comes, your life won’t be spared.”

He didn’t speak.

“What stubborn bones! Beat him.”

A whip lashed across his body.

Another bloody mark appeared on him.

Now, he was neither human nor ghost!

He wanted to die but had not a shred of strength.

The guards couldn’t get anything out of him and were about to raise the whip to strike again when suddenly—

An arrow shot in from outside the door.

It pierced through that guard’s heart.

He fell dead on the spot.

“Who’s there?”

The guards immediately drew their swords and rushed to the entrance.

They saw over a dozen black-clad people charging in, each with extremely high martial arts skills.

Those guards were outnumbered and were silenced one by one.

Lian Que still had some consciousness, vaguely hearing the sound of weapons clashing outside. Unfortunately, his entire body was powerless—he couldn’t lift his head at all.

He only felt hurried footsteps drawing closer and closer to him.

The rope binding him was cut by someone’s blade.

His scarred body fell forward and was caught by someone.

Afterward, he completely lost consciousness…

This news quickly reached the Second Prince’s ears.

But at this time, he had already changed into court robes, preparing to enter the palace to denounce Na Tuo for barging into his residence and breaking through his wall.

He had just boarded the carriage—

When someone came to report: “Prince, something terrible has happened.”

Na Yan had heard this phrase too many times these past few days. He immediately lifted the curtain and rebuked: “Slap your own mouth!”

The guard outside was startled!

But not daring to disobey, he slapped his own face several times hard before stopping!

“Speak, what is it?”

“The person… the person is gone.”

Uh?

Na Yan’s expression darkened: “That assassin?”

“Yes! When this subordinate rushed there, the person was already gone, and those guards from before… not one survived.”

“Useless!”

The guard lowered his head, trembling without speaking.

Na Yan was so angry his palms were shaking!

But after weighing the situation, although he gained one thing and lost another, at least luring that big fish Na Tuo into the manor was more advantageous than finding out who was trying to kill him!

So—

He said: “You go investigate this matter. Also quickly dispose of those corpses cleanly. Don’t let anyone know, and especially don’t let word reach the Third Prince’s Manor. This prince must now enter the palace for an audience. Everything will be discussed when I return.”

“Yes!”