“Master!” She frantically grabbed onto his arm and immediately burst into tears. “How did it go?! His Majesty won’t do anything to Zhan’er, will he?! Zhan’er and the Prince are as close as brothers—how could he possibly have any thought of harming the Prince?! Did you explain everything clearly to His Majesty?!”
The Marquis of Guangping fixed his gaze steadily on her. After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and struck her hard across the face.
Madam Yang staggered back several steps from the blow and nearly lost her footing. Once she steadied herself, she turned her head and stared at the cold-eyed Marquis of Guangping in disbelief, letting out a shriek as she lunged at him. “Have you gone mad?! You hit me—”
Without hesitation, the Marquis of Guangping raised his hand and delivered another slap to her right cheek, sending her tumbling against the corner of a nearby table. Blood immediately began streaming down her face.
Madam Yang was completely stunned by the beating. The temper she was about to unleash was silently swallowed back down into her stomach as she covered her face and kept backing away.
“Yes, you’re right—you said he and the Prince are as close as brothers.” The Marquis of Guangping’s voice was cold as ice, practically ready to devour someone, each word like a knife carried on the wind that made one’s scalp tingle. “That’s exactly why he dared to do something so treasonous and unfilial!”
Madam Yang’s face turned ashen in an instant. Her eyes that had been glaring at him angrily a moment ago immediately began darting away uneasily. But after a brief moment, she seemed to suddenly realize something and rushed straight at the Marquis of Guangping, looking at him with a terrified expression. “How did you find out about this… you—”
The Marquis of Guangping said nothing. He dragged over a chair and sat down heavily, wheezing, sweat still pouring from his head like rain. He pressed his lips together and looked at Madam Yang with a sinister expression. “If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place. Do you think you did everything without a trace?”
In fact, Madam Yang truly believed they had done everything quietly enough. Yes, the one who helped Prince Gong escape was indeed Fei Zhan, was indeed her own son. However, they had done it covertly and thoroughly enough—even the memorial that exposed this matter was submitted by Fei Zhan himself, and the scene was made to look authentic. Apart from the fact that she and her niece both bore the surname Yang, there was really nothing to arouse suspicion.
She looked up at her husband with a complex expression, then lowered her eyes again. The panicked and helpless feeling gradually dissipated, replaced instead by relief and ease—she had been constantly anxious about keeping this from her husband. Now that her husband knew about it on his own, it actually saved her a lot of trouble explaining. With this thought, a smile appeared on her face. She grabbed onto her husband’s arm once again, her tone becoming much gentler, as if she were a completely different person from the crazed and panicked woman of moments ago. “Master, for all these years, you’ve only held the idle position of Light Chariots Commander. Even our son, a proper marquis heir, can only spend day after day monotonously guarding the Imperial Mausoleum. Don’t you find it suffocating?”
The Marquis of Guangping looked at her with a complex expression, as if he hadn’t expected her to have this kind of thinking. He stared at her for a while, then suddenly laughed. “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know your own surname, what you’re worth?”
He stood up with his hands behind his back. “Have you forgotten about the former Duke Yingguo, the Su Family, and Zhang Tianhe? Back when everyone was living in constant fear, I remember you saying—what’s the point of fighting for all that?”
“How is that the same?!” Madam Yang interrupted him, her eyes gleaming. She paced excitedly around the room, her handkerchief clutched tightly in her hands, pursuing the Marquis of Guangping’s gaze with burning, crazed intensity. “Prince Gong is true imperial blood! Once he gains power, once he gains power, what will become of our family?! I’m the Princess Consort’s own maternal aunt!”
The Marquis of Guangping finally let out a laugh. He looked at his wife tenderly, imperceptibly lowering his head to hide the flash of mockery and resentment in his eyes. He raised his head and looked at his wife, nodding gently. “Yes, how could I forget—you’re the Princess Consort’s own maternal aunt.”
The smile on Madam Yang’s face grew even wider, her entire person appearing radiant.
The Marquis of Guangping couldn’t help but sigh. “But what use is that? Now our son has been thrown into the Imperial Prison. If he can’t withstand the torture and confesses, everything will turn into nothing but dreams and bubbles.”
Madam Yang glanced at him smugly, her eyes smiling and her face showing satisfaction. “How could that be? It won’t happen. We have our people in the Imperial Guard. They just had dumb luck suspecting Zhan’er—they won’t be able to find out anything.”
Finally reaching the crucial point, the Marquis of Guangping held his breath. “Oh? Then why, when I went, was Zhan’er being severely tortured?”
Madam Yang pressed her lips together, unable to hide the anger on her face. She glanced at the Marquis of Guangping. “Severely tortured?” Upon hearing this, she seemed to think of something and cursed hatefully, “Chen Ping, that scourge!”
The Marquis of Guangping sighed. “I don’t know if Chen Ping noticed something and used some scheme. When I arrived, I only saw Zhan’er being tortured. He’s holding up for now, but if he can’t hold on any longer—”
This was such a serious matter that Madam Yang’s gaze pierced toward the Marquis of Guangping like an arrow. “His Majesty summoned you—”
The Marquis of Guangping quickly sighed, his face unconsciously taking on a reproachful expression. “His Majesty naturally rebuked me, asking if I had indulged Zhan’er in colluding with bandits, and told me to question Zhan’er about exactly who he had colluded with. But Zhan’er secretly told me the truth. I was so frightened I lost my wits and nearly exposed myself in front of His Majesty and that cunning fox Chen Ping. If you and Zhan’er hadn’t kept me in the dark, I wouldn’t be in such a pathetic state.”
Madam Yang just let out a cold laugh and said nothing.
The Marquis of Guangping settled back into the armchair, rubbing his temples with an expression of heartache and distress. “Zhan’er told me to tell you to save him, saying he can’t hold on much longer. He wants you to find someone—find what person?”
“Tell me—at this critical juncture, if you still won’t speak, do you want us all to be finished together?” Seeing the guarded and wary look in Madam Yang’s eyes, the Marquis of Guangping said, “No matter how much wealth and status there might be, one needs to be alive to enjoy it. Otherwise, when the time comes, even our son will be dead.”
He did indeed seem to have always doted on their son. After hesitating for a long while, Madam Yang looked at him uncertainly. “Master, you’ve never concerned yourself with these matters. Besides, the more you know, the more mistakes you make. It would be better if I went myself—”
In the end, she still didn’t trust him and didn’t dare tell him the truth.
The Marquis of Guangping looked extremely exhausted. He looked at her deeply, made a sound of acknowledgment, then stood up anxiously and urged her, “Then you—then you go quickly. You must find the person and explain clearly, have him help save Zhan’er.”
She’s truly insane, he thought to himself. This foolish woman was actually still dreaming of the glorious achievement of being a dragon’s supporter, just because she had a niece who became a princess consort, her ambitions had grown this large. And not only was she insane, she was stupid—so incredibly stupid there was no cure. He had already gone to see the Emperor, yet she still believed the Imperial Guard and the Emperor truly only suspected Fei Zhan of colluding with bandits. Either she was too stupid, or… she had something to rely on.