However, though people watched, Feng Yue couldn’t say anything while beside Yin Gezhi, and naturally, no one on this street could save her.
Madam Zheng dawdled for a long time before finally returning with an ounce of goji berries. Yin Gezhi reached out to take them and steeped them in water, frowning as he watched the dried berries spread and swell, but he didn’t immediately hand the cup to Feng Yue.
Feng Yue smiled and boldly took the cup, taking a large drink.
Yin Gezhi’s pupils contracted as he stared at her in shock.
“What are you worried about?” Setting down the cup, she smiled and said, “This servant already told you that I’m only immune to snake venom because my family raises snakes. What’s wrong with eating some goji berries?”
Customers came and went in the pastry shop, curiously watching these two impossibly beautiful people, and noting the unusually pale complexion of the typically cheerful shop owner. Everyone wondered what was happening.
By the time an incense stick had burned out before the God of Wealth shrine on the wall, Yin Gezhi was still staring deeply at the person standing before him. Her expression remained normal. Apart from being slightly pale, she showed no signs of pain.
No reaction.
Clenching his fist, Yin Gezhi lowered his gaze: “I overthought it.”
Clutching her chest, Feng Yue said pitifully, “You scared me! What would have happened if this servant couldn’t eat goji berries?”
His palms cold with sweat, Yin Gezhi pressed his lips together, about to speak when suddenly a tremendous boom echoed from afar, gradually reverberating throughout Bu Yin City!
“BOOM—”
The sound was just like thunder, startling Prince Yin. As nearby citizens rushed out to the street to look, Feng Yue exclaimed, “Ah! It exploded.”
Exploded?
Suddenly remembering what she had said at the envoy’s mansion, Yin Gezhi turned and rushed outside.
Feng Yue didn’t move, standing in place with a smile. After he had disappeared, she grabbed Madam Zheng’s sleeve and said in an extremely soft voice, “Please, help me upstairs to rest for a while.”
Madam Zheng came to her senses and supported her upstairs with complex emotions.
As soon as the door closed, Feng Yue collapsed to the ground, curling up and gasping in pain. Madam Zheng gritted her teeth, pulled out a packet of medicine powder from her sleeve, mixed it with water in a cup, and helped Feng Yue drink it.
“You… how could His Highness make you eat goji berries!”
Struggling to drink the medicine before it took effect, Feng Yue was covered in sweat from the pain, curled up as she stammered, “You… should be grateful… that I had the chance to eat goji berries.”
“Did he discover something?” Madam Zheng was very anxious but didn’t know what to do. She could only help Feng Yue to a nearby couch and gently rub her back. “Don’t think about anything else right now, just get through this spell. This pain could kill someone!”
Feng Yue nodded, closing her eyes and breathing heavily, the sight making Madam Zheng’s tears fall: “What sin is this? Heaven is blind, making good people suffer such punishment!”
She wanted to comfort her by saying the bad people wouldn’t fare well either, but waves of cramping pain surged up, and Feng Yue’s consciousness grew hazy, leaving her unable to speak. After enduring the pain for a while, when it finally eased, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Yin Gezhi went to check the mill that Feng Yue had mentioned. There were no casualties. However, many citizens were rushing toward the billowing smoke, shouting, “Gold! It’s all gold!”
But they couldn’t get in. The Crown Prince’s men seemed to have been waiting nearby and had quickly emerged to control the scene, deliberately moving boxes of gold out in front of everyone, shocking the onlookers.
“What kind of place is this? How could it be so wealthy?”
“How could a broken mill have such money? But it has connections – they say it’s owned by some high official’s concubine’s brother-in-law.”
“Now that’s intriguing.”
“Indeed, look how the soldiers have it surrounded. There must be quite a story here.”
Yin Gezhi narrowed his eyes. After some thought, he turned to stake out the area near the General’s Manor.
News of this earth-shattering explosion that revealed countless gold and silver spread extremely quickly. Two hours later, the entire court was abuzz with discussion, and the Crown Prince himself went to the Imperial Study with a memorial.
Thus, Yang Fengpeng couldn’t sit still. He rose and left through his mansion’s back door, heading straight for the General’s Manor.
Heaven was set to destroy him! That mill was owned by his most favored concubine’s brother-in-law. Once investigated, it would be traced back to him. Now only General Yi could save him, or he was surely dead!
As he hurriedly tried to enter the General’s Manor, he was stopped near the back door.
“Official Yang,” Yin Gezhi looked at him calmly, “May we speak for a moment?”
Upon seeing Yin Gezhi, Yang Fengpeng lost his soul. How could he want to talk? His first reaction was to turn and run!
However, after just a few steps, Yin Gezhi appeared before him again, his gaze much colder: “I stop Your Excellency at death’s door, yet you show such poor judgment?”
Yang Fengpeng wanted to cry. He didn’t know how the General’s Manor counted as death’s door, but the Prince Yin before him was truly the King of Hell!
“Your Highness!” His legs gave way and he knelt. The mighty Director of the Three Offices, his courage broken by that thunderous boom, knelt to a foreign prince with remarkable directness: “Please spare this old man!”
Looking down at him, Yin Gezhi said, “If I didn’t want to spare you, why would I appear here?”
Slightly startled, Yang Fengpeng looked up in confusion.
The person standing before him had merciful features, like a benevolent Buddha, looking at him with pity: “Official Yang, in the past two years you’ve embezzled over 300,000 taels of military funds, received 100,000 in bribes, and paid 200,000 in bribes. The evidence is all in my hands. If I meant you harm, why would I come to find you?”
His face went white as Yang Fengpeng collapsed to the ground, dumbfounded.
How did Prince Yin know about these things? He thought that with Zhu Laicai’s death, all these matters would be buried with him! What could he do now? With the evidence in Yin Gezhi’s hands, begging General Yi would be useless – after all, he was just a general, not the emperor.
“If you step through the General’s Manor’s gate, I’m afraid you’ll meet the fate of ‘suicide from guilt,'” Yin Gezhi looked at the manor’s walls and said deeply. “Sacrificing the chariot to save the king – you used this move on Zhu Laicai, so why do you think General Yi wouldn’t use it on you?”
If he were convicted of corruption, the money trail would surely be investigated, and General Yi’s manor would be the first to be implicated and certainly dragged down.
But what if he died at this time?
A chill ran down his spine as Yang Fengpeng stood up and bowed deeply to Yin Gezhi: “Your Highness, save me!”
“This way, please.” Pointing to a nearby alley, Yin Gezhi said, “I’m willing to show Your Excellency a clear path, but whether to take it or not is your decision.”
Lifting his foot to step forward, he hesitated and Yang Fengpeng frowned as he asked, “Why would Your Highness help this official?”
Yin Gezhi said flatly, “Because your crimes are not the most severe.”
Nor was he the one Yin Gezhi most wanted dead.