Zeng Lanyue was quickly brought to the main hall of the Martial Arts Tower.

Ever since she had slit her own throat earlier, no one besides the people at the medical hall had seen this woman.

Seeing her again today, both her complexion and her spirit had clearly improved.

That someone who had slit her own throat could miraculously survive at all was clearly thanks to Jiu’er.

Yet now, somehow it had turned into Feng Jiu’er being the one who exposed their relationship and nearly got Zeng Lanyue killed.

No matter how one looked at it, this didn’t add up.

But Officer Zheng had confessed his guilt, and Zeng Lanyue had also admitted to her illicit relationship with him.

Zeng Lanyue truly harbored deep resentment toward Feng Jiu’er, because in her heart she was convinced that it was because of Feng Jiu’er that her relationship with Officer Zheng had been exposed.

No one could say just how complicated the human heart could be, but this matter was, for the time being, considered closed.

Because Officer Zheng had sent men to pursue and kill Feng Jiu’er, treating human life with such disregard, he received one hundred strokes of the rod and was thereafter imprisoned.

Military matters were always handled by the military itself. Although the Regular Army Academy wasn’t yet formally incorporated into the army, it still fell under military jurisdiction.

So this matter never reached the attention of the Jiantian Bureau, much less disturbed His Majesty.

Officer Zheng not only received one hundred strokes of the rod and was permanently stripped of his right to serve in the military, but once his wounds healed, he would also be exiled to the border regions.

As for his family, no one knew who had first said it, but the principle that guilt should not extend to one’s wife and children was invoked, and so his family was spared.

Some even said that with a husband who had been unfaithful, the wife was already pitiable enough and shouldn’t have to pay for the crimes of such a scoundrel.

So even the punishment of confiscating the family’s property was waived.

Terms like “unfaithful” and “scoundrel”—such trendy expressions—who else but Feng Jiu’er could have come up with them?

But since the Ninth Prince was willing to listen to her, those around him had nothing more to say.

And naturally, who else could that person at his side be but Yu Jingfeng?

Everyone said the Ninth Prince had shown remarkable mercy in this matter, never knowing that his original intention had been to confiscate the family’s property and exile them all to the border.

Because of this, Miss Jiu’er and the prince had argued the entire night.

She argued that if the husband was the one who’d been unfaithful, why should the wife be punished too, when the wife was clearly the victim, and so on and so forth.

In any case, by the next day the punishment had been settled as such, so it seemed the prince must have lost the argument.

But behind closed doors the two of them got along blissfully—arguments, for a prince as untouchable as some sort of immortal, surely didn’t exist.

As for Zeng Lanyue…

“She’s actually a pitiable person too, Ninth Imperial Uncle. Don’t make things hard on her.”

“How have I made things hard on her?” Zhan Qingcheng was applying medicine to her, his fingertips resting on the wound on her back, a cool sensation immediately spreading through her entire body.

It actually did feel quite pleasant, but the situation itself made it impossible for her to relax and enjoy it.

Why hadn’t he let a female physician apply the medicine instead? After that group of female physicians had been beaten, no one at the medical hall dared show Feng Jiu’er any disrespect anymore.

Or failing that, even letting Xiao Yingtao do it would have been fine!

Having the Ninth Imperial Uncle apply the medicine himself meant… her clothes had to come off again—it was just too… too embarrassing!

“Wait, wait a moment, Ninth Imperial Uncle, what are you doing?” A sudden chill below made Feng Jiu’er’s expression change drastically in alarm, and she hastily reached out to grab at her own skirt.

“Let go. I don’t want to hurt you.” His large hand settled over her wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Feng Jiu’er felt a numbness shoot through her wrist, and her fingers, which had been clutching her skirt, instinctively let go. A cold sensation immediately spread below, so chilly that she shivered without even realizing it.