Without thinking much, Feng Ming pulled her back into his embrace, holding her tightly.
His iron-like arms squeezed until Feng Yue coughed, unable to breathe. She wanted to hit him, but looking at her weak little fists, she sighed and rolled her eyes: “General Feng, show some restraint.”
“Restraint?” Gripping her shoulders, Feng Ming released her, his eyes blazing like stars: “What does that mean?”
Feng Yue: “…”
Flicking his hand away, she said with a slight headache: “The Guan family was convicted, and our marriage arrangement was automatically dissolved. Even if we’re old friends meeting after a long time, you needn’t behave this way.”
His brows furrowed slightly as Feng Ming reluctantly withdrew his hand, looking at her seriously: “I know you must have returned for revenge. I won’t rush to discuss matters of the heart with you. Whatever you want to do, I’ll help you.”
“No need to trouble yourself.” Feng Yue covered her face: “If you hadn’t come, He Lan Changde would already be dead.”
He Lan Changde?
Only then remembering his original purpose, Feng Ming grabbed her hand and returned to He Lan Changde, frowning: “He’s already half-dead. Rather than killing him, you should keep him alive to provide testimony in court proving General Guan’s innocence.”
“No.” Feng Yue shook her head: “I just want to kill him.”
“…You used to be quite clever, why are you so rash now?” Shaking his head at her, Feng Ming said to Luo Hao: “Tie him up and send him to the Prince Xiao Manor.”
“Prince Xiao Manor?” Feng Yue was quite confused: “What place is that?”
“Yin Chenbi’s new nest.” Lifting her onto the horse in one motion, Feng Ming mounted with one hand on the reins: “He was made Prince Xiao. You didn’t know?”
How could he be a prince? Struggling to sit properly on the horse, Feng Yue asked: “The Emperor still hasn’t appointed a Crown Prince?”
“Wei State already has a Crown Prince, Second Prince Wei Chenyue.”
What?! Suddenly remembering Yin Gezhi’s expression earlier, Feng Yue drew in a sharp breath: “Has the Emperor gone mad, passing over someone as talented as Yin Gezhi for Crown Prince to appoint an unremarkable Second Prince?”
“I can’t understand it either.” Riding forward, Feng Ming said unhappily: “Although I don’t like him, he’s both wise and brave, a rare pillar of talent in our time. If he were to rule, he would be an enlightened ruler for generations, able to protect Wei State’s territory through chaotic times. With the Second Prince, that’s hard to say.”
After a long silence, Feng Yue gave a light laugh: “They really can end up on the same path now.”
Previously Emperor Wei had used honeyed words to teach Yin Gezhi to favor the royal family so much! Now that the true face was revealed, someone as righteous as Yin Gezhi probably wouldn’t protect the Emperor unreasonably anymore.
But he had already left the country for over a year – could he oppose the Emperor?
Lost in thought, they had already arrived at Prince Xiao’s manor. Feng Ming reined in his horse and asked in a deep voice: “You’ve already met the Crown Prince, and let him know you’re Guan Qingyue, right?”
Feng Yue nodded, then asked puzzled: “How did you know?”
“He told me himself.” Helping her dismount, Feng Ming seemed somewhat unhappy: “You still like him?”
“Nonsense!” Turning her head away, Feng Yue narrowed her eyes at He Lan Changde being tied up and dragged off his horse by Luo Hao: “I stopped liking him long ago.”
Really! Eyes brightening, Feng Ming broke into a grin. His naturally handsome face crinkled until his eyes disappeared in smile lines, making Feng Yue sigh inwardly.
Young and ignorant of love, she had thought she must marry someone she liked, not cherishing those who were good to her. Now that she realized how impulsive she had been, there was no going back.
“Come on, let’s talk inside.”
“Mm.”
Yin Gezhi was already preparing for bed when the door was suddenly kicked again, followed by Feng Ming’s voice outside: “Door’s still bolted. Yin Chenbi, are you a turtle?”
Unconcerned, Yin Gezhi turned over to continue sleeping, but unexpectedly heard Feng Yue’s voice.
“Your Highness, we’ve caught He Lan Changde.”
His heart tightened as he sat up, looking toward the door in disbelief.
When Feng Ming left earlier, hadn’t he still not known her whereabouts? How much time had passed for them to return together?
Was he not fully awake?
Holding his breath to listen to the movement outside, hearing no more conversation, Yin Gezhi relaxed and patted his chest.
Just his imagination.
“The master has retired.” However, just as he relaxed, Guanzhi’s voice rang out again, somewhat helplessly: “Could whatever business you have not to wait until tomorrow?”
Looking at the half-dead He Lan Changde behind her, Feng Yue shrugged, about to say tomorrow would be fine, they could sleep first since he couldn’t escape anyway, but the door in front of her suddenly opened without warning!
The room was unlit, making Yin Gezhi’s expression look very dark as he looked down at the two people at the door, his loose hair hanging down, eyes displeased: “Very noisy.”
Sensing this lord’s terrible mood, Feng Yue instinctively shrank back: “Uh, if you’re very tired, we can discuss this tomorrow.”
Understanding flickered in Feng Ming’s eyes – a man’s concerns are best understood by another man. He immediately realized why Yin Gezhi was in such a bad mood and promptly placed his hand on Feng Yue’s shoulder with great satisfaction. Showing off, he said: “What’s wrong? Didn’t want me to find her? Well, I found her, doesn’t that make you angry?”
Regarding this fearless provocative behavior, Feng Yue frowned, immediately removed his hand, and protected her life by hiding behind Guanzhi.
Yin Gezhi’s knuckles cracked as he moved with extreme speed, stepping out the door to grab Feng Ming and execute a shoulder throw!
Feng Ming had anticipated the attack and landed steadily with a flip, letting out a light snort: “Angry with embarrassment?”
“No.” Yin Gezhi said darkly: “Being woken up makes me irritable. Let me cool down with you.”
With that, he flashed forward to attack.
Feng Ming was in a good mood and had no desire for battle, dodging left and right with agile movements, occasionally grinning: “Calm down, Your Highness, we’re here on important business.”
Seeing Yin Gezhi about to go on a rampage, Feng Yue quickly called out: “Your Highness, look over here!”
His movement paused as Yin Gezhi turned back with murderous eyes, seeing He Lan Changde whom Feng Yue was pointing to.
“Your Highness!” Completely different from his earlier shifty-eyed panic, He Lan Changde’s expression was full of grievance as he called out shakily: “Your Highness, please save this humble servant!”
Looking at him, Yin Gezhi withdrew his hand, slowly walking over with his expression returned to normal: “Changde?”
Hearing this intimate form of address, He Lan Changde immediately felt hope for survival and began to wail: “Your Highness, this servant never betrayed you, this servant has things to say!”
“What more do you have to say?” Feng Ming frowned.
Eyes darting about anxiously, He Lan Changde said: “This servant doesn’t understand why Your Highness would believe the words of criminals and think that I betrayed you. But Your Highness, don’t you remember? I’ve followed by your side for five years, how many times have I used my body to block swords and blades meant for you? We’ve been through life and death together! You’ve already wrongly accused General Guan once, surely you won’t wrong this servant now too!”
These earnest words, combined with the blood flowing beneath him, made even Feng Yue waver slightly, unable to help considering another possibility – could it be that Yi Guoru had deliberately implicated him before death?
However, Yin Gezhi slowly crouched down. Looking at the person before him, he said calmly: “In your first year following me, you were full of passion and loyalty, so I promoted you to Captain of Hundred and took you campaigning with me.”
“In the second year, your conduct was also without fault, you took blades for me, showed unwavering loyalty, and your martial arts improved, so I promoted you to Vice Commander.”
“In the third year, you said your old illness had returned. You didn’t want to join the vanguard, I agreed, kept you by my side to relay military orders.”
“In the fourth year, you accepted bribes to promote a noble family’s son to Captain of Hundred. Considering your sick mother, I only found an excuse to demote that person and punish you lightly for other reasons.”
“In the fifth year, I was busy with campaigns and didn’t pay attention to you. After the Battle of Pingchang, you retired to Lidu and became an official. Now thinking back, I have a question for you to answer: Where did you get the silver to secure connections and become this Inspector?”
Cold sweat poured down his forehead as He Lan Changde’s eyes filled with panic. He couldn’t understand how the Crown Prince knew these things, momentarily thinking he might be bluffing.
However, as the words fell, his neck was seized.
“I’ve always trusted those I use and not used those I doubt, but I was negligent, and forgot that people can change. Changde, tens of thousands of commanders died because of you, General Guan was wrongly accused because of you, don’t you feel any guilt?” Yin Gezhi’s expression was grave, hatred in his eyes.
Face full of remorse, He Lan Changde choked out: “How could this servant not regret it? But there was no way back! When has His Majesty ever treated soldiers well? Once retired, how many just received some reward money and went home to farm? This servant didn’t want that. This servant wanted to continue as an official after retiring… but the official world is treacherous, how could anything be accomplished without silver? Yi Guoru was cunning and vicious, threatening this servant with my mother while offering much silver, asking only for that one piece of intelligence. This servant… how could I not tell!”
“‘How could I not tell,’ indeed!” Killing intent surged around him as Yin Gezhi tightened his grip, watching as the other’s eyes bulged and filled with blood vessels, wanting nothing more than to personally end this person he had once trusted!
If not for him… how could he have helped commit such a tremendous error?
“Your Highness!” Growing serious for once, Feng Ming stepped forward to grab Yin Gezhi’s wrist: “Don’t silence him, these words need to be heard by the Emperor.”
“The Emperor?” Feng Yue sneered: “When he doesn’t want to listen, even if Guan Canghai came back to life to tell him, it would be useless.”
His heart tightened as Feng Ming turned to look at her.
Yin Gezhi nodded: “Telling the Emperor is useless. Feng Yue, if you want to kill this person then kill him, leave the rest to me.”
“Good.” Drawing her dagger again, she had Guanzhi fetch a bowl and, amid He Lan Changde’s panicked howls, cut his wrist to bleed him.
This method of death was both gentle and cruel, dying only when the blood ran out, slowly. One could feel the process of dying, wanting to live while surrounded by people waiting for death.