That was a sound like moaning, seemingly a woman’s voice in pain, along with a man’s coarse, ragged breathing.

Why would there be such things in this place…

She suppressed the fear continuously rising in her heart, covered her mouth tightly, and slowly backed away—

Suddenly, two dark shadows flew out simultaneously and landed in front of her.

Then two scantily clad women fled out in panic.

She stared in shock with wide eyes. This place was not as dark as the shadowy brush she had seen earlier—moonlight fell on them like ghosts.

“Is that you?” The dark shadow looked at her with eyes full of surprise, then slowly filled with… delight!

It was them?!

But obviously, this kind of joy was terrifying for Lian Xin—her eyes showed completely opposite emotions.

Fear!

“Oh, these are Six Doors Bureau clothes?” One of them frowned slightly, then slowly said to the other, “Hand her over—this might be a great achievement.”

The other nodded continuously, but then seemed to think of something, his eyes showing a strange expression as he whispered in the other’s ear.

“Princess…”

“Princess.”

Not far away, several anxious voices called out. Lian Xin was about to respond when those two men leaped in front of her.

Her mouth was tightly covered by a sweaty, foul-smelling hand… In the darkness, Lian Xin could only see shadows slanting across the moon.

Dawn was just breaking when Si Lanfeng urgently requested an audience outside. Suzhen, who had been sleepless all night because of Lian Xin’s situation, slowly opened her eyes. Throughout the night, she had been tormented in her heart, and at the same time, for unknown reasons, her entire body was filled with an indescribable uneasiness.

She also didn’t understand Li Zhaoting’s meaning—he had actually played the flute all night.

At this moment, Li Zhaoting got up from the floor. He glanced at Suzhen—her clothes were still relatively neat, but he still pulled down the bed curtains. After thinking, he finally went out.

Soon after, he returned to the tent and looked at Suzhen again with a very strange expression.

In his eyes was a flash of mockery.

“What’s wrong?” Suzhen’s heart grew cold as she asked cautiously.

But he neither answered nor questioned, quickly changed his clothes, and lifted the tent flap to go out.

Suzhen knew something must have happened, and that it was certainly related to her, so she also hurriedly dressed and went out.

Li Zhaoting seemed to have given some instructions to the imperial guards outside the tent. Just as she emerged, an imperial guard approached and said, “Concubine Shu, His Majesty wants you to wait for his return in the tent.”

Everyone still bowed respectfully to her, but they prohibited her from leaving.

Suzhen was angry in her heart. Just then, someone approached and said, “By order of the Dowager Empress, summon Concubine Shu for an audience.”

This was a female official from beside the Prince of Jin’s consort. Hearing this, the imperial guards did not obstruct. Suzhen saw frost in her eyes and knew she came with ill intent. What had happened this time?

…

Suzhen did not enter a tent, because everyone was outside. This was also her first time seeing these court people again since coming here.

When the female official announced “Concubine Shu has arrived,” everyone parted, and the first thing she saw was the slightly furrowed brows of the man in the center.

But her gaze was immediately drawn to the scene on the ground.

Imperial guards were pressing someone to the ground. Additionally, nearby, Wuqing, Little Zhou, and others were also half-surrounded by Si Lanfeng and imperial guards with drawn swords.

Everyone’s face showed grief and indignation, except for Wuqing. He slightly lowered his head, motionless, like a wooden statue.

The person on the ground was Lian Xin.

Her hair was disheveled, her eye sockets were black and blue, both cheeks were highly swollen, and blood still seeped from the corners of her lips.

She was wrapped in an outer robe. Suzhen recognized this robe—it was Wuqing’s.

Yesterday when Wuqing fought with others, he was injured and had bloodstains in many places.

Under the outer robe, one could vaguely see torn and disheveled clothing, a pitiful sight.

Lian Xin stared vacantly at one spot with empty eyes, no focus in them, as if only instinctual consciousness remained.

Suzhen knew she hated the Wei and Li families extremely, but following her gaze, she saw it was not directed at those two, but somewhere else.

There stood two people—Limitless Daoist’s two disciples, Mao Hui and Yu Jinglun.

They were the ones who had captured her?!

No, Suzhen knew it was certainly more than that.

A chill ran through her body, and she almost immediately realized what had happened.

Acid immediately kept rising from her stomach!

She couldn’t describe that feeling, that numbing pain—it wasn’t much less than when Lian Yu died. Her whole body trembled. She wanted to speak but couldn’t even make a sound.

“Your Majesty, how should these remnants of the former dynasty and those who harbored criminals be dealt with?”

Finally, the Prince of Jin’s consort broke the silence and spoke slowly, her meaningful gaze falling coldly on her.

“Your Majesty, Wuqing had some relationship with the Princess in the past, so now when she had nowhere to go, Wuqing sheltered her—this has nothing to do with others. If Your Majesty wants to punish someone, just hold Wuqing alone accountable!”

Wuqing, who had been lowering his head in silence, suddenly looked up.

“Also, please think thrice, Your Majesty—should scoundrels like Mao Hui and Yu Jinglun be kept in the court? With such filthy people around, aren’t you afraid they’ll defile and corrupt the new dynasty Your Majesty worked so hard to establish? Such people should die!”

He spoke word by word, his sword-like gaze pointing directly at Mao and Yu.

“Master Wuqing, you offended His Majesty yesterday, ignoring His Majesty’s rest and forcibly breaking into the camp. You were stopped by my master and disciples. Are you now bearing a grudge and seeking revenge?” Yu Jinglun smiled sinisterly in response.

“Exactly! We captured this criminal, but instead of being rewarded, we’re being blamed. How could His Majesty be so confused?”

Mao Hui loudly agreed. Limitless glanced at him sternly, and he shivered and quickly shut his mouth.

“Confused? His Majesty is naturally not confused. His Majesty has always been clear in rewards and punishments. Capturing criminals is indeed meritorious, but when officials rape women, what will people think when this spreads among the common folk? Won’t the people speak of the court as filthy and corrupt? Master is the National Preceptor of this dynasty—shouldn’t he set an example and share His Majesty’s concerns?”

Someone emerged from among the ministers—a pair of phoenix eyes that seemed to smile but didn’t, fixing on Limitless.

Limitless frowned. This Quan Feitong was clearly using the name of sharing Li Zhaoting’s concerns to demand he punish his two disciples!

At this moment, Wei Chenghui also stepped forward with a smile, his eyes flickering with dark light as he slowly spoke, “Minister Quan’s words are wrong. If this were an ordinary citizen, then those two would indeed be at fault. But this woman is a princess of the former dynasty. By the crime of treason, death would be certain. Even more lightly, exile to the frontier and serving as a military prostitute would be appropriate. Speaking of this, what crime is there? Minister Quan is being too harsh, isn’t he?”

He was on good terms with Limitless and engaged in secret struggles with Quan Feitong—how could he not speak up at such an opportunity! Moreover, this Wuqing’s origins were unknown, but he everywhere protected Feng Suzhen. If they could eliminate him this time under the name of harboring a former dynasty princess, it would be a great gain.

He glanced at Suzhen, and Quan Feitong met his gaze unceremoniously, laughing coldly.

“Surnamed Wei, damn your eighteen generations of ancestors! You can actually say such words—what if it were your daughter? Oh, I know, you could personally kill your own daughter too. What wouldn’t a beast like you do!” Iron Hand laughed heartily and spat fiercely on the ground.

“Impudent! How dare you insult a court official!” Wei Wulei gave a delicate shout, ordering eunuchs to slap him.

The Prince of Jin’s consort looked at Li Zhaoting and softly asked again, “Your Majesty?”

She knew Li Zhaoting wanted to check Wei Chenghui, but having Quan Feitong was sufficient. This Six Doors Bureau commander was an old guard of the Inspector’s Office. This former dynasty criminal was actually wearing Six Doors Bureau official robes—needless to say, she was connected to Feng Suzhen. She knew Li Zhaoting was still protecting this woman, but she deliberately called her here to charge her with harboring serious criminals! Even if she couldn’t bring this person down this time, she had to clip her wings first!

Suzhen now also slowly looked at Li Zhaoting. He was also looking at her, his gaze very deep.

Was that hidden anger about her private relationship with Lian Yu’s sister, or something else? She didn’t know. She only knew that at this moment, she was filled with grief and anger with nowhere to vent!

She slowly knelt down, “Your Majesty, the one who had a relationship with the Princess was not the Six Doors Bureau, but Suzhen. It was Suzhen who used both soft and hard methods to make the Six Doors Bureau shelter her. If punishment is due, I should bear the consequences. However, whether toward ordinary citizens or criminals, rape is an evil act. Your Majesty, the nation has its laws, unchangeable regardless of person. Toward enemies, one shouldn’t harbor sympathy, but toward a helpless enemy, someone who never harmed you, a woman—shouldn’t one have a trace of mercy? Even if imprisoning or killing, shouldn’t her dignity be preserved? Isn’t this the way of humanity? These two men shouldn’t be kept—they should be punished!”

Li Zhaoting seemed unmoved, slightly narrowing his eyes.

At this moment, he was probably considering his own interests more? This Limitless represented a force in the martial world.

Suzhen smiled coldly in her heart.

She glanced at A Luo.

A Luo momentarily had the thought to say a few words for Lian Xin, but Lian Xin was Xiao’an’s daughter. She hated Xiao’an to the bone, and Lian Xin had never been as kind to her as to Feng Suzhen.

Miaoyin wanted to step forward but was tightly held back by Fifteen.

“National Preceptor, your two disciples captured this person, which was originally meritorious, but this incident in between is bad for the court’s reputation if it spreads. I don’t want similar incidents to happen again in the future. I hope you will strictly supervise them, and I trust you can do so. As for this Lian Xin, this matter cancels out—expel her from the capital!”

Finally, Suzhen heard Li Zhaoting speak thus.