Her tone was calm, yet every word squeezed through clenched teeth, each one sharpened with murderous intent!
Peng Pei was so intimidated by that gaze and tone that he forgot to react, unconsciously retreating another step. With this retreat, he backed up to the railing. Remembering Hua Qiong was behind the railing, he didn’t dare retreat further and quickly stopped.
Just as he stopped, Hua Qiong behind him suddenly struck like lightning, knocking off his official hat with one hand and grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of his head, slamming him hard against the railing!
At the same time, Feng Zhiwei raised her shackled hands and viciously lashed down at him!
“First lash! For fabricating charges, forging witnesses, and attempting to frame an innocent high court official!”
“Crack!”
A bloody flower bloomed on his pale forehead. Blood spurted out and streamed down, instantly covering his face and blocking Peng Pei’s terrified, disbelieving vision.
Feng Zhiwei didn’t even look, backhanding another lash!
“Second lash! For abusing severe torture, conspiring to extract forced confessions, and plotting to torture a national hero to death in prison!”
“Crack!”
Another bloody flower bloomed at the corresponding position on his forehead. Peng Pei awakened from his immense shock and finally felt the heart-rending pain. He screamed and struggled continuously, but restrained by Hua Qiong, he couldn’t escape. His eyes rolled back, his neck stretched straight, his hands flailing wildly in the air, clawing frantically.
Everyone in the hall had been frozen like clay sculptures and wooden carvings, shocked by these two’s actions. No one had imagined that the always calm and composed Wei Zhi would suddenly erupt in court and beat someone, striking with such viciousness. After two lashes, when Peng Pei’s screams arose, they finally reacted one after another. The Second Prince angrily slammed his table and rose, shouting furiously, “Wei Zhi, you dare! Guards—”
At the same time, the third lash came, accompanied by Feng Zhiwei’s cold laugh that paid no heed.
“Third lash! For stealing your reputation through deceit, for corruption and profiteering! You originally intended to sell offices and titles during the spring examination, but because I suddenly appeared and disrupted your source of income, you colluded with others, deceived the Emperor and concealed the truth. As one who enforces the law, you know the law yet play with it, attempting to wrongly condemn innocent people to capital punishment!”
“Crack!”
A bloody, dripping gash opened on Peng Pei’s left cheek, the flesh turning outward, opening and closing like another screaming mouth!
The Second Prince’s furious shout stuck in his throat.
That last lash, Wei Zhi’s words, made it crystal clear that he already knew everything completely. That phrase “colluded with others to deceive the Emperor” was the coldest warning.
Taking action against Wei Zhi wasn’t merely because his source of income was disrupted, but Wei Zhi only mentioned this point, showing he understood the situation and didn’t plan to make this matter big enough to implicate court politics. If he himself insisted on prosecuting Wei Zhi, looking at this young man’s furiously cold, murderous appearance, he would truly disregard everything and fight to mutual destruction.
While he was still calculating and hesitating in his mind, Feng Zhiwei’s fourth lash had already struck down without hesitation!
“Crack!”
Blood burst forth. Another bloody gash opened at the corresponding position on Peng Pei’s right cheek, symmetrical with the left, deep enough to see bone.
Peng Pei convulsed, unable to scream anymore.
The people in the hall stared, waiting for the erupting Feng Zhiwei to curse out the fourth accusation, but she said nothing, only laughing coldly continuously.
Hua Qiong laughed heartily and said, “Satisfying!” She released her grip in disgust, throwing the bloody sack that was Peng Pei onto the ground.
Feng Zhiwei stepped forward and pressed down with one foot, bending down to look coldly at the four bloody, dripping gashes on Peng Pei’s face—up, down, left, right. A cold, fierce light flashed in her eyes as she whispered in his ear:
“The fourth lash—for daring to treat Nanyi like that!”
“Wei Zhi!” At this moment, the one shouting angrily was Grand Secretary Hu. “Have you gone mad! As a prisoner, beating a presiding official in court!”
Jailers swarmed forward from all sides, rattling their chains as they moved to surround her. Feng Zhiwei stood coldly and shouted, “Get lost!”
The jailers’ hearts pounded at her shout. They stood frozen in astonishment, looking at each other, not daring to move. Feng Zhiwei had already turned sharply to face those above and declared sternly, “I have gone mad! But some people are even madder than me!”
She shook the chains in her hands. Amid the clanging sounds, she raised her head and advanced. The jailers forming a circle vigilantly raised their swords and spears, guarding the high officials and princes in the hall, retreating slowly as she advanced.
“I’m mad!” Feng Zhiwei said grimly. “I dared to raise my hand in Longxi and kill a second-rank court official, personally sending three hundred thirty-six heads to the execution ground! I dared to pry open the Chang family’s lair on their own territory in Nanhai—he bombed me, so I bombed back at his home! I dared to pull in seven second-rank officials with one rope in Nanhai’s ironclad bureaucracy. Zhou Xizhong, the Nanhai overlord, had to bow his stiff neck! I dared to exchange cannon fire with pirate ships in Anlan Valley, firing until the official ship was shattered and I had to swim ten li in the sea! I dared to block Jin Siyu’s ten thousand troops with three people at Thousand Jin Ravine! Blocked until he fled with his tail on fire! I dared to ride through Great Yue’s various military camps seven times with ten thousand cavalry on the Hulun Grasslands, disturbing them until they couldn’t eat or sleep in peace! I dared to scale White Head Cliff and attack at night, willing to suffer wounds to behead eleven enemy generals! When captured by enemies and subjected to cruel torture, I dared to escape by jumping from the city wall. I dare—” She turned sharply and pointed at Peng Pei trembling on the ground in a pool of blood, —on His Majesty’s behalf, execute this wolf-hearted, dog-lunged scum who disregards imperial grace, betrays the sovereign’s favor above and the people’s trust below—this disgrace to the cultivated class!
Her words came like lightning and thunder, not pausing for a single character. Everyone listening felt as if struck by drums, fierce thunder, surging tides rushing at their faces. In an instant, their hearts and spirits were moved. They were actually shocked by her momentum and couldn’t speak a word.
“Some people are even madder than me!” Feng Zhiwei didn’t give anyone time to think or digest. If she was going to erupt, she would erupt to control the entire situation. Everyone had to follow her train of thought. “Some dare to deceive His Majesty’s wisdom in court, treating His Majesty’s sagacity as nothing, thinking themselves able to overturn clouds and rain, yet acting like jumping clowns! Some dare to torture high court officials whose crimes haven’t been determined, subjecting them to ten thousand snakes and harmful cold shackles, claiming ‘under the three tortures, what confession cannot be obtained!’ Some lie with errors everywhere, their testimony absurdly ridiculous. When exposed in public, they still don’t know to repent, speaking confidently and aggressively, every word placing people in mortal danger. Some dare to fabricate false evidence, seeking those base, despicable, shameless, immoral people, either threatening or enticing them to give false testimony in the solemn place of national law, before the Three Judicial Offices, four princes, and His Majesty’s observing representative, fabricating charges, treating everyone in the world as idiots, attempting to publicly construct a shocking case!—Who is being deceived by you? Who is being deluded by you? Who will be jointly destroyed by you, whose nation will fall into darkness because of you? Who gave you such audacity? Who fattened your bloated bodies full of corruption? Who inflated your hearts overflowing with greed and unspeakable ugliness? Who allows you to act so perversely, invert black and white, ignore public opinion throughout the world, confuse proper order, and trample the law?”
Her words came roaring like ocean tides, crashing waves with overwhelming momentum. Everyone in the hall listened with shocked spirits, unable to speak. No one noticed that at some point, the atmosphere outside had become strange. Many people had gathered, standing outside the railing with bright eyes, listening.
Feng Zhiwei walked back and forth in the hall as if no one else existed, waving her shackles with a face full of righteousness and indignation. At this moment, she walked to the Second Prince’s table, suddenly leaned both hands on it with a resounding clang, and demanded sternly, “Your Highness, you tell me—who?”
The Second Prince, who had been staring blankly at her, was startled by this sudden question and trembled all over, opening his eyes wide and staring at her speechlessly.
At his side, Ning Yi immediately smiled and said, “Surely it’s not Second Brother?”
The Second Prince trembled again. Feng Zhiwei laughed heartily and had already left the Second Prince’s table, moving to the Ministry of Justice Minister’s table directly in front. With a sweep of the chains in her palm, she swept all the case files and document holders onto the floor, then stepped on them and crushed them. The bamboo slips crackled under her feet as she raised her head and laughed loudly, “Today, whether you say I’m mad or seeking death, I’ll stake this life to tell you all—no matter who can tolerate it, heaven can tolerate it, earth can tolerate it, but I cannot!”
“Excellent!”
Thunderous cheers arose, the voices as powerful as if from a thousand people. The officials in the hall, sweating profusely, only now realized in shock that at some point, countless people had densely packed the area outside the main hall’s railing. At the front were those young masters from Qingming, and behind them, crowded shoulder to shoulder, were people whose identities couldn’t be clearly made out. But because the offices of the Six Ministries were all nearby, one could vaguely see that officials from various ministries seemed to be mixed in as well, watching the spectacle with bright eyes.
The most enthusiastic cheers came from the Qingming students, even more excited, agitated, and arrogant than Feng Zhiwei herself. Several at the very front directly climbed onto the railing, standing on it and rolling up their sleeves to curse loudly:
“Fucking persecuting loyal officials and destroying the Great Wall yourselves! Peng Pei, go die! Ministry of Justice, go die—”
“This is the nation’s foremost legal ministry? Fuck your grandmother’s lie concentration camp! False testimony headquarters!”
“This is how you treat national heroes? Aren’t you afraid the whole world will sneer?”
“No matter who can tolerate it, heaven can tolerate it, earth can tolerate it—Lord Wei cannot tolerate it, and Qingming’s three thousand students cannot tolerate it!”
“Qingming’s three thousand students cannot tolerate it!”
“Cannot tolerate it!”
The shouts were earth-shaking, powerful as tides, wave after wave, almost overturning the entire vast main hall.
Peng Pei trembled in the shouting. Several “witnesses” had long since collapsed like mud. The Second Prince’s face was iron-blue. The Seventh Prince’s brows were tightly furrowed. Ning Yi stared at a certain direction, deep in thought. Several high officials whispered to each other. Eunuch Jia, who had been sitting motionless earlier, suddenly became restless, his eyes constantly glancing toward the rear hall.
“I also cannot tolerate it!”
Suddenly a voice rang out, resolute as iron. Though the tone wasn’t loud and carried a bit of an elderly person’s frailty, that first character—short, authoritative, representing supreme power—instantly suppressed the roaring tempest!
With the voice came the person. Figures moved in the rear hall. From behind the pine and crane screen emerged several people. The foremost wore a bright yellow casual robe, with mountain-like brows and fine eyes—it was Emperor Tiansheng!
Except for Eunuch Jia, everyone in the hall froze, never imagining Emperor Tiansheng would suddenly appear at the Ministry of Justice. It was Ning Yi who reacted fastest. He pulled the Tenth Prince, quickly turned around their table and knelt down. “We pay our respects to Imperial Father!”
Only then did everyone awaken, kneeling in confusion. “We pay our respects to Your Majesty!”
Emperor Tiansheng glanced at the several officials and princes and grunted, “Rise.”
His voice revealed no joy or anger. The several officials and princes all secretly glanced up at him, speculating why he had come, how long he’d been there, what he came to do. Was he personally trying the case or observing? How much had he heard just now, and what did that first sentence mean when he appeared?
Only Ning Yi appeared most composed, smiling as he yielded his own table, sitting together with the Tenth Prince. Emperor Tiansheng looked at him with satisfaction, sat down, waved his hand and said, “I’ve come to observe the trial. You may continue.”
Several people sat back down apprehensively, looking at each other. Who dared continue now? How could they continue? Above in the hall, the supreme sovereign himself was observing. Below in the hall, officials from various ministries and Qingming students had their ears pricked, monitoring. The presiding official had been beaten into a pig’s head. The accused wore a cold, murderous smile. Though the Three Judicial Offices had handled major criminal cases for many years and weathered countless storms, they had never encountered such a situation. Zhang Yong and Ge Yuanxiang exchanged glances. Neither was willing to speak first.
Emperor Tiansheng’s gaze, however, had already fallen on Feng Zhiwei kneeling in the hall below.
The old Emperor’s expression was calm. Though his eyes were slightly clouded with age, they still sparkled with keen light when looking at people. Feng Zhiwei didn’t boldly meet his gaze to show defiance, nor did she cower and beg for mercy. She seemed to have recovered from her agitated state, calmly accepting Emperor Tiansheng’s sharp gaze that seemed to search through bones and intestines.
After a long while, Emperor Tiansheng finally spoke, saying gravely, “Wei Zhi, do you know your crime?”
As soon as these words left his mouth, commotion arose above and below the hall. When Emperor Tiansheng appeared just now, those words had clearly shown agreement with Wei Zhi. How had his attitude changed in the blink of an eye?
Peng Pei, who had already been in despair, raised his blood-covered face and was about to rush forward in delighted tears to file his complaint, but was blocked by Imperial Guards. The Second Prince’s eyes flashed. Grand Secretary Hu stroked his beard. Ning Yi frowned, his gaze sweeping over Emperor Tiansheng’s entire body before gradually relaxing.
Feng Zhiwei was actually the calmest one hearing this sentence. She raised her head, shuffled forward on her knees a few steps, and knelt before him.
The Imperial Guard experts who had followed immediately stepped forward nervously. Emperor Tiansheng stopped them.
“Your Majesty!” Feng Zhiwei straightforwardly kowtowed once. “Wei Zhi is guilty!”
Below the hall came another thunderous sound. Everyone’s faces showed shocked expressions.
“Oh?” Emperor Tiansheng’s tone still revealed no joy or anger. “Of what crime?”
“First crime,” Feng Zhiwei said calmly. “I shouldn’t have wantonly trampled case files and equipment in the solemn place of national law, nor roared in the public court.”
“Mm.”
“Second crime—I shouldn’t have, during the solemn moment of law enforcement and trial, restrained the presiding official and beaten a court official in the hall, injuring him severely.”
“Mm.”
“Third crime…” Feng Zhiwei bared her teeth in a smile. Usually refined and composed, this smile actually carried a hint of ferocity, causing even Emperor Tiansheng, who had been watching her with interest, to twitch his brows. “I shouldn’t have failed to beat this beast to death right there in court!”
“…”
The entire hall fell deathly silent. No one could have imagined that Wei Zhi, even before the Emperor, would be so fierce. Emperor Tiansheng froze there, staring straight-eyed at Feng Zhiwei. Provoked by this person’s murderous, unrepentant manner, he broke into violent coughing, his face flushing red.
Ning Yi timely passed him a cup of tea. Emperor Tiansheng gulped down two large mouthfuls before barely calming his voice enough to ask grimly, “What did you just say?”
Below the hall, the Qingming students stared at their Director Wei, admiring him with utmost respect while also worrying, their fists clenched tight.
Feng Zhiwei kowtowed and declared loudly, “Your Majesty! Peng Pei is corrupt and deceitful, deceiving the monarch and concealing the truth, fabricating charges to frame colleagues. Such a deranged, morally depraved person—as a commoner, he kills and harms lives; as an official, he harms an entire region. He betrays Your Majesty’s ocean-deep grace and damages the court’s sagacious virtue. Such shameless scum, such colossal fool of the court—whether our Tiansheng subjects, from governing ministers above to three-foot children below, anyone with the slightest conscience and hot blood has the right to execute him!”
Emperor Tiansheng remained silent and didn’t refute this statement. The Qingming students pressed their lips tight, staring at their Director Wei’s back as he spoke eloquently, their eyes bright, their blood boiling!
“This humble minister should have spared no effort to personally slay this villain and restore our court to clarity, like a bright moon after clearing skies!” Feng Zhiwei’s voice gradually gained a few notes of helpless, choked emotion. “But Peng Pei can disregard national law and knowingly break the law in court—this humble minister cannot learn from him! If he’s guilty, then the proper authorities should judge him, Your Majesty should personally approve it, and proper punishment should be meted out—that is the solemn, supreme, impartial meaning of law. Moreover, this humble minister is not loyal enough to Your Majesty—this humble minister is still afraid of death! Afraid that after killing him, I myself would be attacked by the crowd unto death. This humble minister couldn’t bring myself to spare no effort for Your Majesty’s good name and the court’s reputation. This is this humble minister’s selfish heart. This is this humble minister’s crime!”
Complete silence.
The two Grand Secretaries exchanged glances, their eyes flashing before each looked away.
Grand Secretary Hu leisurely stroked his beard, thinking to himself that he couldn’t speak such words. This game of placing oneself in mortal danger to survive—this young man played it to perfection. Who wouldn’t be moved by this both loyal and sincere heart-baring speech? An eighteen-year-old person, yet when he speaks, it’s smooth as a glazed ball on all sides! Ruthless when needed, soft when needed, using thunderous actions to intimidate, using gentle edges to suppress… Sigh… In less than three years, I’m afraid this old man will have to bow when seeing him.
The Tenth Prince covered his mouth with his teacup and leaned close to Ning Yi’s ear. “Sixth Brother, why are you helping this guy? Why help him? Too frightening—such a slippery character, aren’t you afraid of being sold out by him in the future?”
Ning Yi sipped his tea, smiling faintly. After a long while, he also covered his mouth with his teacup and whispered in his most beloved younger brother’s ear, “Old Ten, being sold out by someone isn’t frightening. What’s frightening is when they don’t even deign to sell you out.”
The Tenth Prince looked puzzled. After pondering for a long while, thinking he understood, he nodded. “Mm, if Sixth Brother weren’t strong enough, this Lord Wei probably truly wouldn’t deign to consider you an opponent.”
Ning Yi smiled without speaking, thinking it probably wasn’t that he wouldn’t deign to consider him an opponent, but that it had already begun long ago…
This conversation didn’t reach Emperor Tiansheng’s ears. Emperor Tiansheng kept staring intently at Feng Zhiwei. Feng Zhiwei knelt unflinchingly at his feet. After a long silence, Emperor Tiansheng suddenly laughed loudly. “Good! What excellent three great crimes!”
The Qingming students all breathed a collective sigh of relief, the sound rumbling like a small whirlwind.
“Your Majesty is wise!” Hua Qiong shouted, gripping the railing.
Emperor Tiansheng looked over there with a stern face. He naturally recognized this newly prominent female general who had once had an audience with him. Bright and forthright Hua Qiong was like a ray of light wherever she went, illuminating the deathly still court. The old Emperor had a very good impression of her and actually didn’t rebuke her.
“Wei Zhi,” he withdrew his gaze and said gravely. “Just now, I came over and heard your speech from the rear hall. Truly words that pierce the heart. By rights, your wild speculation about others’ crimes is also improper, but since I can give others opportunities, I naturally must give you an opportunity. You thoroughly prove to me how exactly Peng Pei deceived the monarch, concealed the truth, and acted with deranged malice, and I’ll exempt you from those first two actual crimes.”
“Yes!” Feng Zhiwei’s response was crisp and decisive. In that instant, she raised her eyes and met Emperor Tiansheng’s gaze. Both their eyes flashed.
Feng Zhiwei inwardly sighed in that instant.
The Emperor had clearly been investigating this matter all along and knew to some extent about the turbulent undercurrents. Now that he came so actively and timely, it was very clear—he didn’t want her to say too much.
Once this matter was fully exposed, it would inevitably implicate broadly. Those who masterminded it, those who were accomplices, those who stuffed notes into the spring examination—it must be a huge and complex interest group. Once the web was untangled, what would be stirred up would be far more than just a Peng Pei or a single prince. It could be Tiansheng’s entire officialdom and national foundation!
Tiansheng and Great Yue had a major battle coming this spring. It was said that over in Xi Liang, with a young ruler newly enthroned and a regent controlling the government, there were repeated border patrols with restless movements. Recently, they had even been clamoring that Longnan Circuit should originally have been Xi Liang territory, stolen by Emperor Tiansheng through despicable means—under such circumstances, what Emperor Tiansheng wanted was stability, not destruction.
This long-premeditated persecution was destined to reach compromise through the flow of a small amount of blood. When she lashed Peng Pei with chains earlier, she had also shown her attitude of not wishing to implicate others broadly. It was precisely this attitude that made Emperor Tiansheng come forward and make his position clear. If she still didn’t know her limits, she would truly have no good end.
But no matter—as long as she preserved herself, there would be endless revenge to exact, endless great heads to sever!
Various thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. She straightforwardly kowtowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.” Then she stood up and, without another word, first went to the Second Prince’s table.
The Second Prince’s face paled. His fist hidden beneath the table clenched.
Feng Zhiwei didn’t speak, just leaned against the table and smiled at him, watching for a long time, until everyone looked over in puzzlement, until the Second Prince kept nervously swallowing, before he finally said with outward fierceness masking inner cowardice, “Lord Wei, if you have something to say, just say it. Why are you staring at this prince like that?”
“I find Your Highness very—” Feng Zhiwei drew out her voice. Under the Second Prince’s increasingly ashen complexion, she suddenly changed course and said quickly, “Your Highness, this humble official first needs to clear my own name. This requires Your Highness’s testimony—two nights ago, before the Ministry of Rites examination theft case occurred, fire broke out at this humble official’s residence. The Imperial Capital Prefecture, the Nine Gates Infantry Command, you and the Seventh Highness all rushed there at the time and personally saw that this humble official and Brother Gu were both at our burned residence gates and hadn’t left. Afterward, this humble official had nowhere to go. You and the Seventh Highness both invited this humble official to temporarily stay at your residences. This humble official, not wishing to disturb the Seventh Prince and his wife’s loving harmony, followed you to your prince’s mansion and was arranged to stay in the West Garden’s Bizhao Pavilion. Because Brother Gu’s two-year-old adopted daughter was staying in the outer room of your sleeping quarters, that night he stood guard outside your door with the guards and never left to rest. Do you still remember this?”
“Huh. Such important evidence—why didn’t Second Brother mention it before?” The Tenth Prince, chin propped on both hands, muttered again.
“Second Brother naturally remembers,” the Seventh Prince immediately said with a smile. “I also remember. At that time, I did invite Lord Wei to temporarily stay at my residence, but Lord Wei politely declined. Second Brother didn’t deliberately fail to mention it—it’s just that only now has Lord Wei begun presenting evidence to clear his name.”
“This prince naturally remembers,” the Second Prince immediately said. “I was just about to tell Imperial Father! This matter is highly suspicious, highly suspicious!”
Emperor Tiansheng glanced at him and said lightly, “Old Two is not bad—can see it’s highly suspicious.”
Someone was giggling. The Second Prince coughed with an embarrassed expression and said softly, “Thank you for Imperial Father’s praise…”
Emperor Tiansheng ignored him but said to Feng Zhiwei, “Though you and Gu Nanyi have proven you weren’t at the scene when the Ministry of Rites incident occurred, this doesn’t prove you didn’t direct someone else to steal the examination questions.”
“Your Majesty, you’ve forgotten,” Feng Zhiwei smiled. “From beginning to end, all of Minister Peng’s witnesses and case files accused this humble minister and Gu Nanyi of personally stealing the examination questions. As long as this humble minister and Gu Nanyi prove we never did so, then the Ministry of Justice is wildly slandering and falsely accusing high ministers, isn’t that right?”
Emperor Tiansheng pondered in silence. Peng Pei’s face turned ashen. He looked toward the Second Prince with venomous resentment—since Wei Zhi and Gu Nanyi were at your residence that night, why didn’t you notify me to withdraw!
The Second Prince’s expression was also very ugly—that night Gu Nanyi stood guard right outside his door. He could feel Gu Nanyi turning to stare at him with every movement. The previously arranged contact person couldn’t approach. Early the next morning, Wei Zhi came to court again. He couldn’t send out a message from start to finish. At that time, he actually had thoughts of changing the plan, but unable to notify, Peng Pei’s side proceeded with the original plan. Because of this, he had been somewhat uneasy all along, which was why he had directed Peng Pei to preferably obtain a confession in prison, then kill the person and disguise it as suicide from fear of punishment, to avoid problems during the joint trial. Who knew Wei Zhi was so guarded at every step, actually making a scene all the way to the imperial presence!
“Your Majesty,” Feng Zhiwei said lightly. “This humble minister will certainly thoroughly prove the innocence of myself and Gu Nanyi. Please, in view of the doubtful circumstances of the case, first remove those cold iron shackles from Gu Nanyi that could kill or injure a person.”
Emperor Tiansheng was startled. He looked carefully at the shackles on Gu Nanyi’s body, suddenly froze, thought for a while and recalled the origin of this thing. Anger appeared in his eyes as he said sternly, “Peng Pei, you’ve truly lost your mind, actually using such severe torture indiscriminately without distinguishing right from wrong. Someone, remove them!”
Several Imperial Guard attendants stepped forward to remove the shackles. Just as their hands touched them, they cried out. Then they saw pale white vapor rising from the shackles. Their fingers stuck to the shackles. One attendant, in his nervousness, yanked, and with a scream, a layer of finger skin remained bloodily on the shackles!
These shackles were actually like deep winter ice, able to stick to people’s warm skin!
Cold fire flashed again in Feng Zhiwei’s eyes. She suddenly strode over and grabbed Peng Pei. “You unlock them!”
Peng Pei looked up timidly toward Emperor Tiansheng, his eyes full of pleading. Emperor Tiansheng drank his tea impassively and said lightly, “The Extreme Ice Shackles cannot be used without imperial approval. Since you dared use them so casually, you should unlock them yourself.”
Peng Pei showed a despairing expression, trembling lips as he tried to tear his own garment hem. Feng Zhiwei kicked his hand away with one foot. “You’re not allowed to tear cloth to wrap your hands!”
Peng Pei had no choice but to grit his teeth and use bare hands to unlock the shackles. White vapor rose in waves. Layer after layer of skin and flesh stuck to the shackles. The pain made his whole body break out in cold sweat and tremble continuously. Several times he nearly fainted, but Feng Zhiwei kept jabbing him hard from behind. He couldn’t faint even if he wanted to. On the ground, cold sweat and fresh blood instantly formed a puddle.
After a long while, the shackles were finally removed, already covered with bloody fingerprints and flesh. Falling to the ground, they instantly shattered several huge flagstones, releasing a faint blue vapor.
The instant the shackles fell, Gu Nanyi’s body swayed, then he sat steady. From beneath his garment front, a pile of ice shards instantly fell.
Feng Zhiwei looked at those dark, heavy shackles emitting pale blue light, looked at the ground covered with ice shards that had rolled off Gu Nanyi’s body. A tear nearly fell, and she quickly raised her hand to cover it, reaching out to check Gu Nanyi’s wrist pulse.
Gu Nanyi immediately stood and retreated. Feng Zhiwei knew he didn’t want her to display Wei Zhi’s martial skills before everyone, but this way she also didn’t know how serious his injuries were. In an instant, her heart filled with extreme hatred. She grabbed Peng Pei and strode back before the hall.
No patience to keep entangling with them—quick battle, quick resolution.
“Lord Wei,” before she could launch her attack, Grand Secretary Wu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. “Though you have two Highnesses testifying you weren’t at the Ministry of Rites at the time of the incident, this still cannot clear you of the possibility of directing others. Moreover, spring examination questions are so important. As the Ministry of Rites’ chief official, with examination questions stolen, you inevitably bear the crime of negligence.”
Everyone in the hall showed grave expressions. This was the truth. Historically, anything related to spring or autumn examination questions carried severe punishment. Stolen examination questions meant at minimum dismissal and exile. This crime—Wei Zhi still couldn’t escape it.
Still not giving up?
A cornered beast still fights—be careful it doesn’t wound you!
Feng Zhiwei turned her head and stared at him coldly, staring until Grand Secretary Wu sat restlessly in his seat, before she said grimly, “Thank you for Grand Secretary Wu’s reminder—but…”
She smiled through gritted teeth.
“Who says my examination questions were stolen?”