With one statement, everyone was shocked. Even Emperor Tiansheng leaned forward in his seat and asked in surprise, “What?”
“Doesn’t Your Majesty find it strange?” Feng Zhiwei said with a smile. “A very important witness in this case—that Li Changyong who allegedly colluded with this humble minister, paid heavy bribes for examination questions and sold them to others, and was caught red-handed by the Imperial Capital Prefecture—why has he not appeared from beginning to end?”
Only with this question did everyone suddenly realize—indeed, this most important witness who should have been the first presented had actually not appeared in court.
Peng Pei’s expression became even uglier—this witness had disappeared!
This matter wasn’t his sole handiwork. He only managed the part about torture and killing at the Ministry of Justice. That important witness was arranged by someone else. He hadn’t known who beforehand. When the witness was escorted over by the Imperial Capital Prefecture, for safety, he kept him separate from Wei Zhi and the others in an ordinary prison above ground. Who knew that this morning, just before the trial was to begin, jailers reported that this prisoner had disappeared.
At that time, the arrow was on the string and had to be released. He thought that the other evidence was comprehensive enough anyway, and with people helping in the hall, it would be sufficient to convict Wei Zhi to death. So he ordered the jailers not to make a fuss and to search everywhere. Now hearing Feng Zhiwei proactively raise this question, his heart thundered—he already understood that Wei Zhi had tampered with this matter.
For a moment, his heart filled with extreme hatred—not hatred for Wei Zhi, but hatred for the Second Prince who clearly knew things had changed but didn’t notify him in time. The hatred surged so intensely that he even forgot his pain. He only stared at the Second Prince with murderous eyes for a long while before gritting his teeth to answer, “Your Majesty… that witness… mysteriously disappeared from the prison last night…”
“Disappeared?” Emperor Tiansheng was startled, then furious. “Absurd!”
“Your Majesty,” Feng Zhiwei smiled. “Please allow this humble minister to summon several witnesses to the hall.”
“Proceed.”
“Please summon Zong Chen, Li Changyong! Tian Liu!”
When the name Li Changyong came out, everyone looked at each other in confusion. The witness was actually in Wei Zhi’s hands?
“Summon Zong Chen, Li Changyong, Tian Liu—”
Soon someone strode up to the hall, white robes fluttering with an easy-going bearing, wearing an ebony mask and dragging two people in his hands.
It was precisely Zong Chen.
As he passed by Gu Nanyi, he suddenly stopped and looked him up and down. Anger flashed in his eyes. He raised his hand to check his pulse. This time Gu Nanyi didn’t refuse. Zong Chen held his wrist, which was cold as ice, and immediately withdrew his hand, then stuffed a fire-red pill into his mouth.
Only then did he salute Emperor Tiansheng and push the two witnesses forward.
Feng Zhiwei turned around and pointed at the man kneeling on the left. “Your Majesty, this is Tian Liu.” She added, “Tian Liu, to your left front is the current sovereign. Pay your respects.”
That man had been listening intently all along, his gaze somewhat stagnant. Hearing this sentence, he shifted his knees and bowed down toward Emperor Tiansheng’s direction.
“Tian Liu, graduate student of Qingming Academy, thirteenth year of Changxi, pays respects to my sovereign!”
“Qingming?” Emperor Tiansheng froze for a moment, looking at Tian Liu’s obviously abnormal gaze and saying hesitantly, “Your eyes…”
“This commoner’s eyes, since a strange illness struck suddenly in the thirteenth year of Changxi, have long been unable to see. That’s why I withdrew from Qingming midway as a graduate.” Tian Liu’s voice was full of regret.
“You…” Emperor Tiansheng hesitated, not knowing what connection this Tian Liu had with the case.
“Your Majesty,” Tian Liu said unhurriedly. “This commoner is the Li Changyong that the Imperial Capital Prefecture captured earlier for bribing for examination questions. This commoner gave the Imperial Capital Prefecture a false name.”
“Li Changyong is you?” Emperor Tiansheng’s eyes flashed—Li Changyong was actually blind!
When the Imperial Capital Prefecture obtained Li Changyong, who was selling examination questions, he was holding fire-wax-sealed examination questions in an alley with a furtive expression. The questions were immediately confiscated. The Imperial Capital Prefecture naturally didn’t dare open them to verify, and rushed them to the palace. Emperor Tiansheng personally opened and verified them. Calculating from the time the case occurred, Li Changyong could only have just obtained the questions. That meant from beginning to end, the only people who had ever held the questions alone were Gu Nanyi, whom the Ministry of Justice accused of stealing the questions, and this Li Changyong. Gu Nanyi had already proven he never went out. If Li Changyong was also blind, then it was equivalent to the questions truly not having been leaked.
Emperor Tiansheng’s expression immediately relaxed somewhat. Regardless of anything else, if the questions hadn’t been leaked, the shocking spring examination scandal that would shake the world would cease to exist, at least preserving the court’s dignity and reputation somewhat.
But some things still didn’t make sense—for instance, why this Tian Liu would report a false name, and how he ended up in Wei Zhi’s hands. Shouldn’t he be Peng Pei and the others’ witness? And then there was this real Li Changyong…
His gaze turned to Li Changyong, who turned out to be a capable-looking character. Though dressed as a scholar, his face was full of rough features, his eyeballs rolling around wildly, his whole manner that of a street person. Even kneeling on the ground, he wasn’t peaceful, constantly twisting his head around. Zong Chen stood right behind him the whole time, strictly on guard.
Feng Zhiwei didn’t look at Li Changyong, only watching several people in the hall. After Li Changyong appeared, neither Peng Pei nor the Second or Seventh Prince’s expressions changed much, but Grand Secretary Wu, who had attacked her earlier, suddenly lowered his head and began drinking tea.
With this glance, she understood. Indeed, this wasn’t the work of one person. It should be handled by several parties, each responsible for one link, serving the purpose of confidentiality and mutual supervision. But precisely because of this, with no clear grasp of the overall situation, they gave her an opening to exploit.
“Li Changyong,” Zong Chen gave a light kick. “Tell His Majesty what kind of person you are and what you came here to do.”
Li Changyong’s whole body trembled. He glanced at Grand Secretary Wu again, but the man concentrated on drinking tea and refused to raise his head no matter what. His lips trembled. Remembering the strange and varied methods of harming people possessed by the person behind him, he swallowed and said helplessly, “This lowly one… is called Li Changyong… from the Imperial Capital, living at White Tooth Street by Xinghua Bridge at the South Gate… This lowly one’s family originally had some modest property, could be considered local wealthy people. But this lowly one became addicted to gambling and owed gambling debts all over. Creditors came demanding payment, forcing the children to cry and wife to wail. My old mother even hanged herself… This lowly one’s heart grew desperate. I grabbed a knife and headed for the creditor’s house, planning to go in with a red blade and come out with a white one—to die, might as well die quickly… In the alley outside Xinghua Bridge, someone stopped me… told this lowly one… you’re going to your death anyway, might as well die for something worthwhile… as long as I waited at the second alley west of East Tower Street at exactly the hour of the pig on the second night to receive something, then walked to near the fourth alley north within the designated time… if caught by the Imperial Capital Prefecture… just say I bought it through connections at the Ministry of Rites… if successful, they’d give my family a thousand taels of silver and arrange a large mansion in the Jianghuai Circuit for my wife and children…”
By this time, the Qingming students who had been listening outside had already received Feng Zhiwei’s hint, left reassured, and dispersed separately. Officials from various ministries could no longer mix in to listen to the trial and also quietly left. These people knew that further listening wouldn’t give them the full story. The reason Emperor Tiansheng had let them in earlier was also because more and more people were gathering in the streets outside, and he feared the matter would become unmanageable if it grew too large. Now if they continued listening and heard something irretrievable, that would be bad.
The hall therefore gradually quieted down, instead giving rise to an oppressive, tense atmosphere. Emperor Tiansheng half-closed his eyes, listening to Li Changyong’s account, his gaze revealing no joy or anger. For a long while he didn’t say a word. Everyone looked at him apprehensively, not knowing the old Emperor’s current state of mind. Only Ning Yi didn’t look at his face, but let his gaze fall slightly on his fingers.
Emperor Tiansheng’s fingers, concealed beneath his wide sleeves, trembled spasmodically.
Ning Yi’s eyes flashed. He knew the Emperor wasn’t silent because he had nothing to say, but because his heart burned with fury and he temporarily couldn’t speak.
“Li Changyong!” he immediately said. “Since you took this deal, how is it you’re now under Lord Wei’s control?”
“This lowly one… this lowly one doesn’t know either…” Li Changyong said with a mournful face. “That night this lowly one went on time, just arrived at the second alley west of East Tower Street, when someone came over and asked, ‘What is your esteemed surname and name?’ This lowly one answered, then was immediately knocked unconscious… afterward, afterward was locked in a dark room… this lowly one doesn’t know what happened…”
“Your Majesty,” Feng Zhiwei said with a cold smile, slowly advancing. “These two can be considered this humble minister’s witnesses. However, they don’t understand the causes and consequences. Let this humble minister explain everything to you at once.”
Only now did Emperor Tiansheng recover. He stared at Peng Pei, whose face had long lost all color, and said gravely, “Speak!”
“The matter must begin from when this humble minister first took over the Ministry of Rites,” Feng Zhiwei spoke eloquently. “When this humble minister took over the Ministry of Rites, the first thing I did was have someone clean up the documents and records left by the previous minister. By chance, in a hidden compartment behind the bookshelf in the study, I discovered a strange list.”
Emperor Tiansheng’s expression changed. He immediately asked, “What list?”
“This humble minister doesn’t know either,” Feng Zhiwei said. “It only simply listed some numbers and people’s surnames and native places. For instance, the first line—this humble minister remembers—was ten thousand, Wang, Quyang, these few characters.”
Emperor Tiansheng’s expression became several degrees uglier. He glanced at Feng Zhiwei. “Where is the list?”
Feng Zhiwei stared at his eyes and said slowly, “This humble minister didn’t know what this list was but found it suspicious. I wasn’t comfortable leaving it in the study, so I brought it back to my residence. That night fire broke out at this humble minister’s residence. This humble minister was rescued by servants. The list was in my bedroom—I don’t know if it was destroyed.”
Emperor Tiansheng pondered for a moment and said, “Your residence burned quite severely. I’m afraid nothing could have survived.”
A cold smile floated up in Feng Zhiwei’s eyes. “Yes.”
Emperor Tiansheng avoided her gaze.
Feng Zhiwei’s eyes were mocking—what list? If Peng Pei really accepted bribes, how could he be foolish enough to leave a list? She said this to prove Peng Pei’s guilt and test Emperor Tiansheng’s attitude toward this case. In any case, her residence had been burned—not being able to produce the list for now was reasonable. If Emperor Tiansheng truly wanted to investigate, she could eventually find out who was implicated. But now, Emperor Tiansheng didn’t even have anyone go check her residence. Clearly his determination to cover up this case had long been set.
Sneering inwardly, she revealed nothing on her face and continued, “This humble minister held this suspicion and paid extra attention to the spring examination questions, secretly making arrangements to protect them. On the surface, the night watch guards seemed no different, but in reality, they were relaxed on the outside yet tight on the inside, watertight—especially when this humble minister wasn’t on duty rotation and both vice ministers were also absent, this humble minister was even more careful.”
“On the night the examination theft case occurred, the guards this humble minister had dispatched in secret came to report—outside the Ministry of Rites, someone’s movements were secretive and seemed suspicious. This humble minister didn’t want to alert the prey, so I ordered the guards to watch carefully.”
“Then fire broke out at this humble minister’s residence. This humble minister knew something was wrong—it must be related to that list. Not daring to move about randomly, I went to the Second Highness’s prince mansion.”
“Let this commoner explain what happened next,” Zong Chen suddenly interjected. “This commoner Zong Chen, from Nanhai, born in Five Springs Mountain of Nanhai, has considerable friendship with Yan Huaishi, master of the Yan family. Master Yan owes Lord Wei great gratitude and entrusted this commoner to lead a group of guards under the Yan family to protect his benefactor. On the night of the incident, outside the Ministry of Rites walls, this commoner saw a figure flash over the wall. While closely monitoring, I reported to my master. The lord told this commoner not to alert the prey but to act as circumstances required. This commoner therefore followed that black-clothed person the whole time, saw him pick the lock and steal the examination questions, and even lock the door again before leaving. This commoner followed him all the way to the second alley west of East Tower Street and discovered Li Changyong was there pacing back and forth. This commoner’s heart then understood what was happening, so outside the second alley west, I intercepted that question thief, seized the examination questions, then captured Li Changyong. After questioning Li Changyong about what he was supposed to do, this commoner thought—why not go along with the plan to draw out the mastermind behind this matter? But spring examination questions are of extreme importance. No matter who received them, they could potentially be convicted in the future for having contacted the questions. So I sought out Tian Liu, who was quite friendly with Lord Wei earlier but later withdrew from Qingming due to eye disease, and asked him to impersonate Li Changyong for this matter. Tian Liu is righteous by nature and agreed immediately, carrying the questions to near the fourth alley north… later, as expected, he was captured by the Imperial Capital Prefecture.”
Emperor Tiansheng listened with half-closed eyes the whole time, as if pondering whether this account had any suspicious points. After deliberating for a long while, he found it flawless. Wei Zhi’s response could be considered painstakingly careful—even the person used to draw out the snake was carefully arranged to be the blind Tian Liu. To still speak of negligence after this would be nitpicking.
After a long while, Emperor Tiansheng asked with a grave face, “Then how is Tian Liu now in your hands?”
“Your Majesty,” Zong Chen smiled. “Whether the theft of examination questions or the Imperial Capital Prefecture’s later capture, the timing connected too coincidentally. This commoner wasn’t comfortable with the Imperial Capital Prefecture, fearing Brother Tian Liu would suffer physical torment or even lose his life while at the Imperial Capital Prefecture or Ministry of Justice. So this commoner kept watch at the Imperial Capital Prefecture. After the initial court session there, I stole Brother Tian Liu out. Brother Tian is loyal as the clouds and willing to take great risks for our lord—I couldn’t let him come to any harm.”
“Where is the person who stole the examination questions now?”
“This commoner has already captured him. This person’s mouth is hard. This commoner believes I have no authority to interrogate this person on behalf of national law, but I’m also not comfortable handing him over to the current Imperial Capital Prefecture and Ministry of Justice, fearing he might accidentally die. This person is currently with this commoner. If Your Majesty is willing, this commoner can hand him directly to the Imperial Guards.”
Grand Secretary Wu in the hall already had no color left in his face. Emperor Tiansheng pondered for a moment and said coldly, “Later I will send someone to take this prisoner.”
Zong Chen smiled and bowed before withdrawing.
Grand Secretary Wu’s hands trembled as he reached for his teacup. His hand lifted several times only to fall stiffly back down. Grand Secretary Hu at his side immediately supported him, saying with a low laugh, “Old Wu, what’s wrong with you? Your complexion is so terrible. Where don’t you feel well?”
Grand Secretary Wu looked at him woodenly. In his heart, he knew his behavior was improper and tried hard to compose himself, but his heart was a complete mess, burning like hot oil—how could he maintain dignity and honor?
The Second Prince’s face was dark—you couldn’t see white, but vaguely it showed a sickly yellow-green tinge. His fingers beneath the table kept trembling lightly where no one could see.
The Seventh Prince’s folding fan half-covered his face, concealing his expression. A beautifully embroidered fan tassel between his fingers had somehow lost several silk threads. He silently put the threads into his sleeve.
Glancing sideways at Ning Yi, the Seventh Prince snorted coldly in his heart… His Majesty originally wasn’t going to leave the palace today—this was something he had confirmed through multiple inquiries. Who made His Majesty decide to come observe the trial? And arrive so timely?
All efforts wasted… once again.
“Your Majesty,” after a long while, Feng Zhiwei said softly, seemingly with a sigh. “Some people, in order to fabricate this shocking case, truly went to painstaking efforts—stealing from the Ministry of Rites, burning Wei’s residence, colluding with officials, forging witnesses. Today, nearly every witness they brought to the hall gave false testimony. Such deranged malice is truly alarming…”
She sighed, looking as if her own death didn’t matter, but the presence of such malicious ministers beside His Majesty was worrying.
Emperor Tiansheng remained gravely silent.
The hall returned to silence.
Unlike the earlier oppressive, tense silence, this moment’s silence was cold yet burning. In the air flowed a trembling breath, like overnight fragrant ash in a purple-gold bronze furnace—seemingly cool on the surface, but actually concealing dark red, leaping sparks beneath. Just waiting for the ash to scatter and erupt with a roar—
“Peng Pei!”
The silence was indeed shattered in an instant. Emperor Tiansheng’s furious shout resounded through the great hall like a hurricane!
Peng Pei, already half-unconscious from excessive blood loss and pain, leaning against the railing unable to get up, not even clear about what had been said afterward, was shocked into clarity by this roar. He opened his eyes wide and saw in terror that Emperor Tiansheng angrily pushed aside his table and rose, snatching the long sword worn by an Imperial Guard attendant behind him. Gripping it in his hand, he struck down at Peng Pei’s head—
“I’ll kill you, this deranged scoundrel!”
“Your Majesty!”
Among the hall full of clay and wooden sculptures, a figure disregarding the sharp sword’s edge flew forward!
It was actually Feng Zhiwei.
“Your Majesty—” Feng Zhiwei wrapped both arms around Emperor Tiansheng’s sword-holding hand and declared loudly, “Your Majesty imprisoned Wei Zhi based on someone’s words, but you cannot kill a high minister based on Wei Zhi’s words! Major investigations cannot be taken lightly, ministers cannot be killed arbitrarily. If Peng Pei is guilty, hand him over to the ministries for deliberation. If you kill him with one sword strike like this, this subject’s grievance… this subject’s grievance… will never be cleared even unto death…”
She held Emperor Tiansheng, her voice gradually turning mournful and choked. “…Your Majesty… please don’t let anger harm your body… this subject still hopes you will live a thousand autumns, ten thousand years… forever teaching this subject, training this subject…”
Her sleeves slid down, revealing her arms “tortured until covered with wounds”—the dense, numerous wounds were too horrible to look at.
Emperor Tiansheng listened to her blood-weeping words, remembering this youth was precisely because he didn’t form factions for private gain, didn’t follow the crowd, relied on no one but only on the Emperor—and therefore was jointly framed and imprisoned by everyone. And the order that imprisoned him and nearly got him killed to death was issued by himself. For a moment, his heart trembled and rare feelings of guilt and remorse arose. Turning his eyes again to see the shocking “torture wounds” on Wei Zhi’s arms, his body shook. Fury rose again. Between surging and subsiding, his face flushed red, but blue qi flashed between his brows. He only felt his heart pounding like drums, his temples wildly throbbing. With a clang, the long sword fell to the ground. He swayed.
Feng Zhiwei, closest to him, saw this was bad. The old Emperor seemed to have truly erupted in anger today—better not let him have a stroke right in front of her. Then thinking that she’d been speaking eloquently until now while supposedly suffering “severe torture wounds,” this spirit should be used up by now. If she continued full of energy, it wouldn’t make sense. She quickly let out a low cry, “Your Majesty… don’t be angry… don’t be angry… it’s all my fault…” Taking the initiative, her body swayed and she fell backward.
Behind her, a figure flashed—it was Ning Yi who had just rushed over to catch her. He supported her lower back lightly, looked down at her, and stated definitively, “Lord Wei has injuries and urgent pain in his heart. He’s fainted.”
Extending his hand again, he supported Emperor Tiansheng. His palm flipped and a stream of warm energy entered. He said gently, “Imperial Father, Lord Wei’s plea for you to stay your sword is also the words of a minister devoted to public service and nation. Peng Pei should still be handed to the ministries for deliberation.”
Emperor Tiansheng had just experienced a bout of breathlessness, dizziness, and blurred vision, forcibly supporting himself, unwilling to collapse before the assembled ministers. Now with Ning Yi’s true energy entering, he immediately felt much better. He looked at him with a complex gaze—in the past, one reason he always disliked Ning Yi was this son’s martial skills. Originally, when all the princes studied martial arts together, they all studied under famous masters hired by the palace. But Ning Yi stood out exceptionally, surpassing his master. That famous master eventually resigned because of this. Such an outstandingly talented prince should be an emperor’s blessing. Yet uniquely with Ning Yi, he increasingly resonated with a certain shadow in his heart. For many years, he had deeply feared this. Ning Yi should actually know of his fear, but admirably didn’t shrink back because of it. When he should use martial skills, he still used them—like this moment.
Thinking of this, recalling that this son had been frank and upright despite not receiving his favor for many years, rather like the iron-boned Wei Zhi—a similar type of person—his heart involuntarily softened. He said warmly, “As you say.”
His unusually amiable tone didn’t evoke much surprise from Ning Yi, but the Seventh Prince who had followed and stood behind them—his eyes jumped.
Emperor Tiansheng kicked Peng Pei’s forehead in disgust—Peng Pei had collapsed into mud, his robes soaked through a large area. He shouted furiously, “National law will deal with you!”
Eunuch Jia hurried over and helped Emperor Tiansheng walk out. Emperor Tiansheng looked at the “unconscious” Wei Zhi in Ning Yi’s arms, looked at Gu Nanyi who had remained leaning against the railing unmoved throughout, pondered for a moment, and stopped.
“Someone come! Send Wei Zhi and Gu Nanyi to the palace to seek imperial physicians for treatment!”
A shocking catastrophe was eliminated without a trace by Feng Zhiwei, who had received timely information, through a combination of attack and defense. Outsiders didn’t understand the turbulent undercurrents and imminent danger within. They only knew that the young Marquis Wei was truly legendary—there wasn’t a single incident surrounding him that didn’t make people’s eyeballs drop. For a time, the Tiansheng populace gained considerable material for animated discussion. On street corners and in teahouses and wine shops, waiting examination candidates and tea-drinking common folk crowded together, spittle flying and knees slapping as they described that day’s “heaven-shaking, ghost-weeping” “Three Lashes in Court.” The speakers glowed with excitement as if they themselves were the protagonists who lashed the minister, cursed the court, and stomped on the desk. The listeners stared wide-eyed, gasping repeatedly and shouting with satisfaction. Storytellers in various wine shops were quite astute and quickly compiled this twisting, dramatic case into a story: “Treacherous Minister Envies the Worthy and Plots in Secret, Loyal Marquis Disrupts the Ministry of Justice with Three Lashes in Court.” Not to mention Wei Zhi’s brilliant, imposing glory—even Hua Qiong, Gu Nanyi and others all received glorious, positive images as loyal, righteous, and wronged figures.
That famous line “Heaven can tolerate it, earth can tolerate it—but I cannot!” was rapidly sung throughout, known to women and children. One Tan Family Wine House followed the trend perfectly—the couplet on the door read: “Heaven tolerates, earth tolerates, I don’t tolerate—don’t enter without trying” paired with “Stir-fried dishes, stewed dishes, Tan family dishes—every dish fragrant.” For a time, their doorway bustled like a marketplace, business flourishing.
Outside, chaos reigned. In the court, bustle prevailed. Emperor Tiansheng’s fury was thunderous as he personally handled the case. Peng Pei was stripped of office, imprisoned, and sent to the Court of Judicial Review awaiting trial. The two vice ministers of the Ministry of Rites were suspended pending investigation. All officials who had testified for the Ministry of Justice’s accusation that day were thoroughly investigated by the assembled ministries. Li Asuo, who gave false testimony, was executed immediately. That profit-crazed Qingming disgrace Ni Wenyu—it was said Prince Chu suggested stripping him of his scholar credentials, never to be employed, and placing him in stocks at Qingming Academy’s gates for three days before further handling. Emperor Tiansheng approved. As for Ni Wenyu’s ultimate fate—no need to ask, it could be imagined.
Some people wailed to heaven. Some people sat restlessly. Some people panicked. And some people—scratched their heads in frustration.
The one scratching her head in frustration was Feng Zhiwei.
She had only intended to fake unconsciousness, then appropriately make a glorious exit. Let Emperor Tiansheng handle what came next however he saw fit. Who knew Emperor Tiansheng would suddenly have a fit of conscience and exceptionally receive both her and Gu Nanyi into the palace to recuperate. This truly worried her sick—never mind that the palace’s imperial physicians weren’t as good as Zong Chen. Worst of all, in the palace she had to pretend “severe injuries not yet healed.” The eunuchs attended her without blinking, preventing her from getting out of bed, which meant she couldn’t know how Gu Nanyi actually was. Though both she and Gu Nanyi were arranged in the outer court’s Jingshen Hall, they were still separated by two courtyards. When she asked eunuchs about how Lord Gu was doing, they either smiled and said “Marquis, rest assured, first heal your own injuries,” or they knew nothing whatsoever, saying the imperial physicians were all there but had all been driven out by Lord Gu. Hearing this worried Feng Zhiwei to death even more. If all the imperial physicians were there, didn’t that mean they were at their wits’ end? If Gu Nanyi drove them out, was something wrong?
Those “wounds” on her body were medicine Zong Chen had concocted. He had tossed it to her when she boarded the prison cart and the cart tilted that day. After use, the skin showed red marks, bruising, and dense bloody bumps with bleeding—looking frightening but actually harmless as long as she took the medicine from the other bottle. Before taking the antidote, the qi and breath within her body would also appear weak. Feng Zhiwei wasn’t afraid of being discovered by imperial physicians—she only worried that dragging things out would delay Gu Nanyi. After patiently recuperating for two days, this evening she could endure no longer. Wearing soft socks, she slipped out of bed, preparing to investigate Gu Nanyi at night. If anyone encountered her, she’d say her sleepwalking disorder had flared up. In any case, she was quite skilled at pretending to sleepwalk.
She had inquired beforehand about Gu Nanyi’s lodging chambers. Actually, they were just the east and west side courtyards of one palace compound, but this Jingshen Hall was rather peculiar—designed with complex corridors. To reach Gu Nanyi’s courtyard, she still had to go around a palace wall.
She walked silently. Suddenly seeing a figure flash ahead, she quickly hid behind the corridor and saw it was a young eunuch walking briskly past. Judging by his direction, he was also heading toward Gu Nanyi’s courtyard.
Feng Zhiwei stared at that eunuch’s gait, her eyes flashing—this person knew martial arts, and his skills were quite high.
A martial arts-proficient eunuch, late at night not attending his own palace but running to this Jingshen Hall—what was he planning to do?
Feng Zhiwei’s breathing became even lighter.
The eunuch walked a few steps, suddenly stopped, and stood waiting.
The shadow of moonlight faintly shone over. Ahead, the palace gate slowly opened. Someone was crossing the palace path, hands clasped behind their back, strolling leisurely forward.