Although most of Prince Ding’s forces had left the capital long ago, when Mo Xiuyao truly wanted to find someone, it was quite easy. After all, Prince Ding’s Manor had operated in Chu Capital not for just eight or ten years, but for nearly two centuries. The depth of their influence was absolutely beyond what someone like Tan Jizhi, a fallen royal descendant of the previous dynasty who could barely walk in broad daylight, could comprehend. So when Tan Jizhi was politely but irrefutably invited to Prince Ding’s Manor, he couldn’t hide his look of terror.

In the main hall, Mo Xiuyao sat in the host’s seat, looking at the middle-aged man before him with a faint smile. “Young Master Tan… how should this prince greet you this time? Or perhaps… do you have anything else to trade for your life?”

Hearing this, Tan Jizhi didn’t want to make any excuses. With someone like Mo Xiuyao, once he had made up his mind about something, any argument would be meaningless. However, he had to try for the sake of his name, after all, he wasn’t tired of living yet. With a bitter smile, he said, “Prince Ding’s Manor indeed has deep roots. Now that I’ve fallen into Your Highness’s hands, I have nothing to say. However… may I know what I’ve done to anger Your Highness?”

Mo Xiuyao observed Tan Jizhi with interest, raising his eyebrows and smiling, “Could Young Master Tan think this prince invited you here for tea?”

Tan Jizhi sighed. He certainly knew why Mo Xiuyao had summoned him, he just hadn’t expected to be found so quickly. With another sigh, Tan Jizhi spoke frankly: “I am powerless in the matter Your Highness speaks of. Though the idea was mine, I truly do not influence Great Chu’s court now. So… Third Young Master Feng, please be understanding.” After speaking, Tan Jizhi bowed apologetically to Feng Zhiyao, whose face hadn’t brightened since seeing him.

Feng Zhiyao responded with a cold laugh but didn’t acknowledge him. Tan Jizhi remained unperturbed, calmly sitting and drinking tea.

Mo Xiuyao leaned against his chair back, seemingly leisurely observing Tan Jizhi. However, though Tan Jizhi appeared composed on the surface, his heart was extremely tense. Mo Xiuyao’s gaze, while appearing casual, pressed upon him no differently than real swords. He knew that now that he had fallen into Mo Xiuyao’s hands, his life or death likely depended entirely on Mo Xiuyao’s mood.

After a while, Mo Xiuyao seemed to have looked enough and slowly withdrew his gaze. A mocking smile curled at his lips, “Is Young Master Tan making small talk with this prince while waiting for someone to rescue you?”

Tan Jizhi started, his smile growing more bitter, “Now that I’ve fallen into Your Highness’s hands, I dare not think such thoughts.” He truly hadn’t held much hope for those people. Tan Jizhi had always prided himself on his judgment, but compared to Mo Xiuyao, those schemers in Chu Capital now were far inferior. Falling into Mo Xiuyao’s hands wasn’t unfair, after all, he had once helped Mo Jingqi plot against Mo Xiuyao quite a bit. They had even once come close to destroying Prince Ding’s Manor. He just couldn’t accept it – he had carried great ambitions his whole life, yet approaching forty, he had still achieved nothing. Now falling into Mo Xiuyao’s hands, his chances of survival were slim…

Mo Xiuyao naturally saw the unwillingness in Tan Jizhi’s eyes. Smiling, he said, “Is Young Master Tan unwilling to accept that all these years of hard work have been for nothing?”

“I fear it’s not just for nothing, but that I’ve been laboring for others.” Tan Jizhi glanced at Ye Li, who had been sitting silently beside Mo Xiuyao and said somewhat regretfully, “Come to think of it, it seems Prince Ding’s Manor’s fortunes turned around after Your Highness married the Princess Consort. All of Mo Jingqi’s machinations, rather than troubling Prince Ding’s Manor, actually gave it a legitimate reason to sever ties with Great Chu.”

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows slightly, turning to smile at Ye Li beside him. Looking back at Tan Jizhi with some regret, he said, “If not for those past events, this prince would truly have hoped to keep someone like Young Master Tan in Prince Ding’s Manor. Young Master Tan needn’t feel regretful. Even if your original plan had succeeded, you wouldn’t have been the one laughing in the end. Because… you took the wrong path from the very beginning. Look at Ren Qining – Young Master Tan, don’t you know the difference between you and him?”

Tan Jizhi’s expression changed. If there was anything that pained someone like Tan Jizhi, Ren Qining was undoubtedly one of them. Ever since Ren Qining appeared as a descendant of the previous dynasty and with Lin Yuan’s identity, Tan Jizhi had felt extremely uneasy. There could only be one Lin Yuan – if Ren Qining was the orphan of the previous dynasty, then what was he, Tan Jizhi? If he wasn’t a descendant of the previous dynasty, then what had all his life’s work been for? Tan Jizhi hadn’t gone to find Ren Qining, nor had he gone to question Doctor Lin, because he vaguely felt that the answer might be one he didn’t want to see.

“This matter doesn’t require Your Highness’s concern,” Tan Jizhi said with an ugly expression.

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows and said, “Indeed, it has nothing to do with this prince. Whether it’s you or Ren Qining, this prince has never taken either of you seriously.”

“Your Highness is perhaps too confident. Don’t forget how miserably Prince Ding’s Manor fell in those years.” Rationally, Tan Jizhi knew he absolutely shouldn’t talk back to Mo Xiuyao now. But seeing the casual indifference in Mo Xiuyao’s eyes, he couldn’t help but feel his anger rise. The most infuriating thing wasn’t being unable to defeat your enemy, but that your enemy had never taken you seriously from beginning to end.

“Therefore, Young Master Tan and Mo Jingqi did something foolish. Did you think that if Prince Ding’s Manor hadn’t been a subject of Great Chu back then, Mo Jingqi’s insignificant abilities could have schemed against my elder brother?” Though the former heir of Prince Ding’s Manor, Mo Xiuwen, might not have had his younger brother’s reputation for achieving fame at a young age, he was indeed one of the people Mo Xiuyao most respected. To earn the respect of someone like Mo Xiuyao, definitely couldn’t be achieved merely through the status of being an elder brother. “And now… who in the world can stop me?”

Tan Jizhi gave a light snort, his eyes showing disbelief. However, such an expression seemed somewhat forced and strained. Mo Xiuyao paid it no mind and waved his hand for people to take him away. Tan Jizhi still had some use so he could be kept alive for now, but he would not be allowed to escape from his hands a second time.

Feng Zhiyao roughly led away Tan Jizhi, whose martial arts had been sealed, leaving only Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao sitting facing each other in the main hall. Ye Li unhurriedly replaced the cooled tea with fresh hot tea, and smilingly asked the white-haired man opposite her, “Does Your Highness have any plans? Someone like Tan Jizhi…” Tan Jizhi wasn’t much of an issue – having fallen into Prince Ding’s Manor’s hands with his martial arts sealed, even if they didn’t put him in prison and just left him alone, he couldn’t leave Prince Ding’s Manor, let alone cause any trouble with outside information. However, Ye Li thought of Doctor Lin in the Northwest – the last time she went back, she hadn’t asked Doctor Lin about Tan Jizhi’s matter. After so many years of interaction, plus the life-saving grace and teaching relationship from those years, Ye Li truly regarded the old man as family. She didn’t want to make the old man too sad.

“Just a clown,” Mo Xiuyao said indifferently. “Don’t worry, A-Li, I will handle Tan Jizhi’s relationship with Doctor Lin properly.”

Ye Li nodded. Whatever Mo Xiuyao promised was always quite reliable. After brief consideration, she put it out of her mind and said to Mo Xiuyao, “There’s nothing much to do in the capital, let’s return to the Northwest soon.” If they delayed any longer, the elder brother might truly become angry when they returned.

Mo Xiuyao nodded, smiling pleasantly, “We’ve dealt with the Feng family’s matter late this time, and the new emperor’s enthronement should have results by now. Then we can return to the Northwest.” Although he occasionally schemed to dump most affairs on Xu Qingchen, Mo Xiuyao still deeply understood the principle of moderation. If he pressured too much and made Xu Qingchen quit and run away, that would be counterproductive.

The Feng family had been quite unfortunate this time. Although merchants ranked last among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, doing business at the Feng family’s level was more glamorous than most people’s positions. Moreover, as the only one of the Great Chu’s four major wealthy families to establish themselves in the capital and maintain some relationship with the royal family, the Feng family usually commanded respect from everyone. But since the emperor’s death, the Feng sons had split into several factions, arguing chaotically about which side to support. Before they could conclude, the Feng family had been cleanly and thoroughly confiscated. They couldn’t even figure out the reason for their confiscation before over a hundred family members were imprisoned in the capital’s Ministry of Justice prison. As the saying goes, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter – with the Feng family unexpectedly caught in one net from top to bottom and thrown into prison, those who had maintained good relations naturally stayed far away, let alone those waiting to take advantage of the Feng family’s misfortune. Who would still speak up for them? The ladies and young masters who had originally lived lives of golden luxury were suddenly thrown into dark and dirty prison cells, naturally crying and making a commotion non-stop.

The Feng family head, who was also Feng Zhiyao’s birth father, Feng Huaiting, was kept in a separate cell. Compared to his wives, concubines, children, and other Feng family members crying and wailing in the adjacent cells, he was much calmer, just sitting in a corner of the cell leaning against the wall, not even responding to the shouts of Madam Feng in the next cell.

As soon as Feng Zhiyao entered the Ministry of Justice, he was stopped. According to the orders from above, although Feng Zhiyao’s relationship with the Feng family was cold, he was still a son of the Feng family and should be imprisoned. However, Feng Zhiyao had another identity – Prince Ding’s confidant and deputy general of the Mo family army. The people sent to arrest him thought it over repeatedly and didn’t dare to go to Prince Ding’s Manor to arrest him, only reporting back up, and in the end, the matter was dropped. But for this Third Young Master Feng to enter the Ministry of Justice to visit the Feng family members was absolutely out of the question.

Feng Zhiyao stared darkly at the justice ministry official wearing a fake smile before him. After the Feng family was imprisoned, he had been busy catching Tan Jizhi, and only after completing the prince’s orders did he have time to visit, yet he was blocked at the door. Having not slept for two days, one can imagine how bad Feng Zhiyao’s mood was.

“Get out of my way.” Feng Zhiyao said coldly, his usually refined and elegant smiling face taking on a harsh expression that made the person blocking his path involuntarily shudder.

“Third Young Master Feng, the court has already shown you mercy by not troubling you for Prince Ding’s sake. Don’t be ungrateful!” Perhaps discovering that he had been so easily frightened by a younger man, the old man before him tried to recover his lost face by speaking righteously. Feng Zhiyao gave a contemptuous snort, “If you have the ability, then imprison this young master too. I’ve never heard that the Ministry of Justice doesn’t allow prison visits.” The Ministry of Justice indeed didn’t allow casual visits, but there were always certain unspoken rules in officialdom. With money, there was no place inconvenient to visit except the imperial palace. However, Feng Zhiyao had no intention of paying money. He looked at the righteous-looking old man with a half-smile, “Does this young master need to tell the Censorate how many bribes Official Wang has taken during his seven years at the Ministry of Justice?”

Official Wang’s expression changed as he glanced at his subordinates who were lowering their heads and pretending they hadn’t heard anything. After staring at Feng Zhiyao for a long while, he finally coughed and said, “Since Third Young Master Feng is from Prince Ding’s Manor, this official naturally cannot stop you. Please, Third Young Master Feng, proceed quickly.”

Feng Zhiyao gave a cold laugh and said, “This young master’s visit here has nothing to do with Prince Ding’s Manor.” With that, he ignored Official Wang’s expression and swept his sleeves as he walked toward the prison cells.

Upon entering the prison, a cold, putrid air hit his face. On both sides of the passage were filthy, black hands reaching out through the bars, trying to grab passing visitors. Feng Zhiyao gave a light snort, his sharp eyes sweeping both sides, and the prisoners who had been trying to grab him immediately withdrew their hands. People who had been in prison for a long time had an instinct for avoiding danger. Even though Feng Zhiyao appeared handsome and noble like a young master from a prestigious family, the killing intent accumulated from over ten years of battlefield experience was not something these prisoners could withstand.

The Feng family was imprisoned in the innermost cells. Before even stepping in, the strange stench wafting from inside made Feng Zhiyao furrow his brows, a flash of coldness passing through his half-lowered eyes.

Walking into the area where the Feng family was held, Feng Zhiyao looked with complex emotions at the man meditating in a separate cell at the very back. Nearly sixty years old, Feng Hua looked considerably younger than his actual age. Even in such a dark and dirty prison cell, sitting on the ground, he appeared much neater than the crying and wailing Feng family members in the adjacent cells. However, Feng Zhiyao noticed that compared to when he left the capital years ago, there was much more white in his father’s temples. Six years ago when Feng Zhiyao returned to the capital, he ultimately didn’t follow Xu Hongyan’s advice to visit him. Counting the years, it had been seven or eight years since father and son had seen each other daily. Feng Zhiyao closed his eyes briefly, concealing the excess emotions in their depths.

Feng Zhiyao’s sudden appearance immediately silenced the previously noisy Feng family members. Standing in the passage, the man in red wore magnificent crimson brocade robes, his handsome and outstanding appearance bringing immediate brightness to the dark prison. The Feng family members weren’t familiar with Feng Zhiyao – since he was eight or nine years old, he had spent far more time at Prince Ding’s Manor and outside than at home. However, looking at the man in flowing red robes before them, someone finally remembered that many years ago, there had been a member of the Feng family who always wore red no matter the time or place. Someone suddenly called out, “Feng Zhiyao!”

“First Brother, Second Brother, it’s been a long time. Have you been well?” Feng Zhiyao raised his eyebrows, showing a slightly malicious fake smile to the two middle-aged men not far in front of him.

No matter how many years passed, Feng Zhiyao still couldn’t bring himself to like his two legitimate elder brothers. In childhood, they had been objects of both envy and fear to him; in his youth, they were objects of disgust and hatred. And now, the mature Feng Zhiyao had long since left these two elder brothers far behind. What he had thought was bone-deep hatred in his youth now remained only as an instinctive faint disgust.

“Feng Zhiyao?! Why are you here?!” The Feng family’s second son, Feng Zhiyuan, stared at his third brother whom he hadn’t seen for many years, and asked with some discomfort. Childhood grievances might have just been children’s thoughtless troublemaking, but the grievances of youth involved more interests. Back then, the Feng family had used Feng Zhiyao’s close relationship with Prince Ding’s Manor as an excuse to force the family head to drive him out of the Feng family, and after Feng Zhiyao followed Prince Ding to the Northwest, they publicly severed ties with him. But now Feng Zhiyao was flourishing in Prince Ding’s Manor while they had fallen to this state – both legitimate sons of the Feng family looked quite displeased.

“Third Brother… Third Brother! Save me, it has nothing to do with me! Save me…” A middle-aged woman crawled and rolled to the bars, reaching out to grab Feng Zhiyao’s clothes while crying. Feng Zhiyao raised his eyebrows – the Liu family and Prince Li had prepared quite thoroughly, not only arresting the Feng family’s main and branch members but even bringing back married-out daughters. It seemed… this wasn’t just about threatening him and Prince Ding’s Manor. Thinking of Mo Xiuyao’s casual smile before he left, Feng Zhiyao raised his eyebrows.

“What are you doing here?” Feng Huaiting had opened his eyes when Feng Zhiyuan first called out Feng Zhiyao’s name. Looking at the magnificently dressed man in red robes outside, a strange emotion flashed through his eyes but quickly disappeared. He asked calmly.

The cold voice made Feng Zhiyao’s heart constrict, but the smile on his face grew even brighter, “Of course I came to see you, Father. You look quite well.”

“Meddlesome,” Feng Huaiting said coldly. “You are no longer a descendant of the Feng family. Whatever happens to the Feng family has nothing to do with you, and I don’t need you meddling by visiting. If you have nothing else, then leave.” After speaking, Feng Huaiting closed his eyes again, ignoring Feng Zhiyao’s changing expression.

“Father, what are you saying?” The Feng family’s Fourth Miss said dissatisfied, “Third Brother is Prince Ding’s confidant, Third Brother must be here to save us. Third Brother… quickly have someone release me.”

Feng Zhiyao had originally felt some guilt, but being provoked by Feng Huaiting’s cold words, anger immediately surged in his heart. He gave a cold laugh and pulled back his clothes that Fourth Miss Feng had grabbed, raising his eyebrows and smiling, “Sorry, but as Old Master Feng said, I’m no longer a member of the Feng family, so what happens to the Feng family has nothing to do with me. Right now… I’m just here to watch the show.”

“You little beast! Even if the Feng family has fallen on hard times, it’s not your place to gloat. Perhaps the Feng family was cursed by having an ill-starred child like you born to a lowly woman!” Madam Feng suddenly cursed harshly.

Hearing this, Feng Zhiyao looked at Madam Feng with some surprise. Madam Feng had always prided herself on being the principal wife, and although she never properly looked at a concubine’s son like him, she had always maintained an appearance of magnanimity and virtue on the surface, never doing anything that would invite gossip. Apart from indulging her two sons in bullying him and subtly ostracizing his mother and him, compared to some viciously cruel women in the inner courtyard, Madam Feng had truly been quite decent. He hadn’t expected her to lose control at this moment.

“Silence!” Feng Huaiting suddenly spoke, saying coldly, “Such vulgar words – has entering prison eaten away all your cultivation?”

Madam Feng choked, and opened and closed her mouth several times, but couldn’t say anything.