Fengyue was furious, not just at his shameless persistence, but more at her inability to deal with such a shameless person!
What could she do? Should she stand firm against him and bring about mutual destruction right now? She still wanted to live to have her revenge – who wanted to die with him?
Grinding her teeth in anger, Fengyue said hatefully: “Then you might as well move in, but don’t blame me for speaking harshly – if others discover you’re here and trace it back to me, none of us will survive!”
“Easy enough.” Hearing her relent, Yin Gezhi’s lips curved slightly: “Since I want to move in, I certainly won’t endanger you. Guanzhi has already gone to the household registry office. Everyone in this courtyard will be re-registered. From now on, you won’t need to hide when entering or leaving the city gates. I’ve already planned the new identities. As it happens, some shops need clerks and managers – what does the young master think?”
Blinking her eyes, Fengyue was both angry and amused: “Is this supposed to be your benevolence?”
“Just rent payment for moving in.”
“Well, thank you so very much!” Fengyue was truly annoyed at someone who came offering benefits like this, but she couldn’t even properly express her anger. She couldn’t even show her displeasure, or she’d appear ungrateful!
What could she do? She turned her head, and while her anger had nowhere to go, she spotted Shi Youxin attempting to pry open his cage.
Having been confined for so many days, Shi Youxin had always believed he wouldn’t die. After all, those people had threatened him but hadn’t intended to kill him. But now, seeing Guan Qingyue’s sinister sword-sharpening and Yin Chenbi colluding with her, Shi Youxin began to panic. He decided to make one last attempt – perhaps he could pry the cage open?
The wooden stick he’d hidden earlier proved somewhat useful. While the two were talking, he began prying, and just as he saw some hope when it started to give way, he was discovered!
This hope followed by disappointment was worse than complete despair. Shi Youxin let out an “Ah!” and began frantically banging his head against the cage: “Just kill me! Kill me!”
Attracted by his shouting, Yin Gezhi raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at Shi Youxin’s pathetic appearance and lifeless eyes, sighing: “So this is where you are, Sir? Chancellor Shi has been searching for you quite desperately.”
Hearing this, Shi Youxin froze, then gritted his teeth: “He warned me early on to be wary of you. I never imagined you’d truly ally with villains and defy imperial will!”
“It’s too late for such talk now.” Yin Gezhi said coolly: “Why don’t you tell me where your seal is hidden? Perhaps I can convince her to leave your corpse intact.”
“Pah!” Shi Youxin cursed with a trembling voice: “I’d rather die than submit to threats from traitors like you!”
“Is that so?” Fengyue raised an eyebrow, walking over with her knife and bending down to look at him: “That works out well then. I was just thinking a quick death wouldn’t satisfy my hatred. I specifically visited a duck butcher’s shop to learn how to slice off skin piece by piece. Looking at you, though you’re thin, we should still manage eight hundred to a thousand cuts.”
Eyes widening in terror, Shi Youxin thought it couldn’t be possible when Yin Gezhi came over and wrenched open the cage, grabbing him out like a chicken and tying him to a pillar with rope, round and round.
“Go ahead!” said Yin Gezhi.
“Yes!” Fengyue saluted, then approached with fierce eyes and raised the knife, bringing it down toward his hand!
“Wait!” Shi Youxin screamed, eyes shut tight: “Just give me a quick death! The seal… my seal is in a hidden compartment under the desk in my study!”
Yin Gezhi was silent for a moment, then shook his head regretfully: “If only you’d said so earlier. You see, it’s too late now that we’ve tied you up. Fengyue, slice him up!”
Fengyue bared her teeth, raising the knife and giving Shi Youxin a “hehe” laugh that chilled him to the bone. Unable to decide whether to condemn Yin Gezhi’s faithlessness or fear Guan Qingyue’s torture, his body stiffened for a moment before his eyes rolled back and he fainted!
“What a wimp!” Fengyue frowned, turning to shout: “Brother Luo, bring a bucket of cold water!”
Luo Hao was still waiting at the courtyard entrance for Yin Gezhi, and hearing the shout, went to fetch water with some worry, looking back every few steps fearing Yin Gezhi might slip in while he was gone!
However, when he brought the water to the room’s entrance, Luo Hao was dumbfounded. He stared at the white-robed figure inside for a long while, then put down the water and ran “thump thump thump” to drag Yin Yanzhong and the others over, pointing at the man: “Who is this?”
Yin Yanzhong started, his face darkening: “Prince Xiao!”
“Then who were we guarding against at the gate?”
“…”
Everyone looked at the dumbfounded expressions in each other’s eyes, then charged at Yin Gezhi!
“Release our young master!”
Yin Gezhi raised an eyebrow, calmly stepping aside to avoid their successive lunges, saying tightly: “First wake him up so your young master can have her revenge, then I’ll go out and spar with you.”
Madam Qiu was about to start scolding with hands on hips, but seeing their young master showing no reaction nearby, and noting Yin Gezhi’s unruffled expression, she hesitated before waving her hand: “Fine, you all go out first.”
So Fengyue watched as Madam Qiu splashed water to wake Shi Youxin, while the others left like cats who’d encountered a dog, their hackles raised as they kept their eyes on Yin Gezhi until he stepped out of the room.
The door closed. Fengyue didn’t hesitate – with two cuts she severed Shi Youxin’s hands, then picked up the small porcelain bottle nearby and forced the entire bottle of poison down his throat!
“The hands were what you owed me, and this poison is the same kind you fed to Guan Canghai back then.” Listening to Shi Youxin’s howls and roars, Fengyue curved her lips: “We’re even now, Sir Shi.”
“It hurts… it hurts…” Shi Youxin’s face gradually turned blue, blood flowing steadily from his severed hands, his face covered in tears. After the initial roaring, he had little strength left and just cried softly: “It hurts, it hurts…”
Staring at him, Fengyue’s eyes reddened slightly as she sneered: “Useless coward! Guan Canghai back then definitely didn’t make a single sound!”
Indeed, he hadn’t made a sound. That iron-blooded general, even with his body subjected to torture and poison eating away at his organs, didn’t say a single word until his death, never making a sound.
But… he died with eyes wide open…
Shi Youxin was in extreme agony, struggling to breathe as his chest grew tighter and tighter. His eyes bulged, mouth gaping, and finally, long trails of blood flowed from his orifices.
Death by bleeding from seven openings.
Taking a deep breath, Fengyue closed her eyes and turned to say: “Madam Qiu, I’ll trouble you with the aftermath.”
“No trouble.” Wiping Fengyue’s hands clean with a handkerchief, Madam Qiu said softly: “As long as it eases young master’s heart. But, about Prince Xiao… will it be alright?”
Fengyue said: “If possible, I’d rather not have him stay here. It would be best if you could keep him out.”
“Understood!” Madam Qiu nodded, immediately going out to arrange the burial of the corpse and to encourage the people in the courtyard.
However, half an hour later, led by Yin Yanzhong, a group from the courtyard stood before Fengyue with bright eyes saying: “Young master, let him stay!”
“Yes, let him stay! He’s not a prince anymore anyway. He won’t cause us trouble, and we can practice martial arts with him daily!”
“That’s right, we can also talk about past battlefield matters. Hah, the former great Prince Yin used to be so high and mighty, unreachable, but now he can mix with us – it’s a good thing!”
Fengyue: “…”
She narrowed her eyes to look at Yin Gezhi sitting nearby, who was leisurely swirling his teacup, taking a sip of tea, seemingly quite satisfied. He glanced over, his eyes and brows full of smug charm.
How she wanted to kick him in the face!
Taking deep breaths in and out, Fengyue suppressed this impulse and waved her hand: “If you want him to stay, then let him stay. Prepare the woodshed for him.”
“How can anyone live in a woodshed? The room next to yours is empty. Perfect.”
Hearing this, Madam Qiu immediately shook her head: “That’s reserved for General Feng!”
It wasn’t, but she had to say so. Otherwise, living so close, what if he kidnapped someone in the middle of the night? Who would know?
Yin Gezhi narrowed his eyes, looked at Madam Qiu, and then turned away saying: “I’ll stay anywhere, I’m not picky.”
Considering how he had held back half a move during their sparring match earlier, not making his victory too humiliating, Yin Yanzhong kindly found him an empty room not far from Fengyue. After cleaning it up, they let him move his luggage in.
Thus Yin Gezhi became a member of this courtyard full of hidden tigers and dragons. Since he never went out the front gate or second gate, and Guanzhi was extremely careful in his comings and goings, never leaving traces, during this period the court truly lost track of Yin Gezhi’s whereabouts.
Except for Feng Ming.
Feng Ming came the day after Yin Gezhi moved in, crouching at Yin Gezhi’s window and staring at him for a while until the seemingly closed-eyed Yin Gezhi said quietly: “If you keep staring, I’ll think you have ulterior motives.”
Coming to his senses, Feng Ming frowned: “You’re awake? I wanted to ask why you suddenly demoted yourself to commoner status. Princess Nanping cried terribly, and couldn’t even see you once before you disappeared.”
Slowly opening his eyes, Yin Gezhi propped himself up to look at him: “Didn’t you say my situation was more difficult than yours?”
“Now, I’m breaking free from those difficulties.”
Slightly startled, Feng Ming’s expression turned ugly: “Don’t tell me it’s for Moon?”
“What else?”
“No!” Feng Ming was angry: “Even if you’re no longer a prince, past sins can’t be erased so easily!”
“They can’t.” Yin Gezhi said methodically: “But when a path is broken yet you still want to walk it, you can only slowly rebuild it.”
Feng Ming fell silent, glaring at him for a long while before turning to jump out the window.
Fengyue was just about to eat a mung bean cake when she suddenly felt someone crouching at her window. Looking back, she almost dropped the cake in shock: “General, what are you doing?!”
Looking somewhat dejected, Feng Ming jumped into the room, walked to her table, and sat down, stuffing one of the mung bean cakes from her plate into his mouth before asking unclearly: “Do you remember that time you scolded me as ‘unworthy to be a husband’?”
Unworthy to be a husband? That incident? Fengyue nodded: “I remember, because you were being ridiculous, grabbing me on the street saying you liked me and would die for me.”