Han Yan glanced at Zhuo Qi, noting his quick work. He had already reversed Lady Zhou’s unconscious state—after all, she wasn’t the only familiar face imprisoned here besides Concubine Mei. Upon waking, Lady Zhou saw two black-clad figures standing before her, one telling Concubine Mei they could take her away. Lady Zhou could no longer walk; her legs had been rendered useless by prison torture.
Unable to escape this nightmare herself, she naturally wouldn’t let Concubine Mei flee alone. Even if she had to go to hell, she’d drag someone else down with her—such as human selfishness and instinct. Not everyone can achieve sacrifice and selflessness.
Han Yan and Zhuo Qi had pulled up their masks, leaving Lady Zhou unable to see their faces. She assumed they were accomplices Concubine Mei had arranged. She bit down hard on Concubine Mei’s hand and wrapped an arm tightly around her, howling loudly like a complete madwoman.
Concubine Mei couldn’t break free, watching helplessly as Han Yan said to her, “Since your friend so desperately wants you to stay, and it’s getting late, we can’t help you. Farewell.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Zhuo Qi grabbed Han Yan like a chicken and leaped away.
Concubine Mei stared blankly at the space before her, momentarily forgetting about Lady Zhou clawing at her. After a moment, a muffled scream escaped her throat as she realized her last chance at freedom was gone, her eyes turning bloodshot. She turned around, staring fixedly at Lady Zhou, who cowered at her gaze. The next second, Concubine Mei lunged at her like a rabid dog, and they began tearing at each other.
Outside the imperial prison, Concubine Mei and Lady Zhou’s screams could no longer be heard. Zhuo Qi looked at Han Yan standing beside him, lost in thought, and teased, “I’ve never seen you play so dirty. If I were your aunt, I’d want to eat you alive right now.”
Han Yan smiled indifferently. She had never intended to free Concubine Mei. Someone like her, who could betray Zhuang Shiyang and sell secrets today, could just as easily betray Han Yan tomorrow. At what price would she trade Han Yan’s secrets? Han Yan couldn’t and wouldn’t take that risk. She’d simply played the role of an unscrupulous merchant this time.
Han Yan stood silently in the wind for a long while until Zhuo Qi looked at her and asked, “How long are you going to stand there?”
Without looking at him, Han Yan suddenly asked, “Zhuo Qi, why did you come to Great Zong?”
Zhuo Qi was startled, not expecting this sudden change of topic. After a brief pause, he smiled, “I was being hunted, so I fled to Great Zong.”
“You’re no beaten dog,” Han Yan said coldly. “You’re a wolf. You were hunted, so you wanted revenge, and you chose Great Zong as your battleground. Tell me, what are the people who stole your position in Western Rong planning with their Great Zong court connections?”
Zhuo Qi was completely stunned. Initially, after Han Yan’s conversation with Concubine Mei, he thought she had been severely shocked, but in such a short time, she had returned to her former sharp self. She spoke of such matters so casually that Zhuo Qi felt she must have known about his situation all along as if she could foresee everything that would happen and was merely watching it all unfold in reality.
Seeing his silence, Han Yan turned to face him, adopting a stance both familiar and strange to Zhuo Qi as she asked, “You’re targeting Fu Yunxi, aren’t you?”
This version of Han Yan was familiar to Zhuo Qi—it was the same as when he first met her and threatened her to cover for him. She appeared casual and calm, but kept herself at a thousand-mile distance, alert and guarded, like facing a stranger who might attack at any moment. Zhuo Qi strongly disliked this Han Yan; such detachment made him feel impossibly far from her as if he could never get close. His eyes narrowed as he approached dangerously, asking, “So what if I am?”
“Let’s make a deal,” Han Yan said calmly, unaffected by his attitude. “Don’t touch Fu Yunxi, and I’ll cooperate with whatever else you’re planning.”
Zhuo Qi laughed instead of getting angry. He hated seeing her like this, worried about Fu Yunxi despite how everyone had witnessed Fu Yunxi’s treatment of her. Zhuo Qi hadn’t expected someone like Han Yan to fall for him quickly—if she were that type of person, he wouldn’t have become so fond of her. These days, he felt they had grown closer, and Fu Yunxi had gradually disappeared from her life. He couldn’t deny feeling pleased about that. But after just one conversation with Concubine Mei, here she was, concerned about Fu Yunxi again. Though he didn’t understand why, Zhuo Qi was truly angry. In his life, women had only ever fawned over him; he’d never experienced such coldness. He didn’t consider himself particularly magnanimous, and now he could barely contain his fury. But when he turned to look at her, he met Han Yan’s calm gaze. She merely looked through him, as if seeing someone else—and he knew exactly whose shadow lingered in her heart. Zhuo Qi suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of defeat. He sneered, “How would we cooperate?”
Han Yan looked at him. “The Western Rong ruler is conspiring with people in the Great Zong court—things are about to change. Zhuo Qi, you must know that the ones colluding with Western Rong are the Seventh Prince and the Empress Dowager.”
Zhuo Qi remained noncommittal. By now, nothing Han Yan said could surprise him. This woman simply knew too much for someone who rarely left her home. Yet her intelligence seemed more comprehensive than anyone else’s. “Sharp-eyed and keen-eared” described her perfectly. Most importantly, this woman had a terrifying instinct for politics.
“They want to overthrow the current Emperor. I guess Western Rong must have agreed to certain conditions in return, such as ceding territory,” Han Yan said.
By now, the Empress Dowager’s ambitions were fully exposed. She was targeting the Emperor and the Fu Yunxi brothers, along with the Seventh Prince who had no sense of family loyalty. These two had joined forces and were conspiring with Western Rong to help deal with the Emperor and his brothers. Since the Empress Dowager and Seventh Prince lacked sufficient military strength, they naturally had to borrow troops from Western Rong. They planned to use Western Rong’s military might to suppress the entire court and Great Zong, not realizing they were letting the wolf into the house and trying to use a tiger’s skin. The Western Rong people were cunning, their ambitions unfathomable. Once Western Rong soldiers truly entered Great Zong territory, the nation would inevitably be plunged into bloody chaos, and the common people would suffer unimaginably. The Empress Dowager and Seventh Prince would then reap what they had sown because Western Rong would not be satisfied with mere territorial concessions. They wanted to take over—their goal was all of Great Zong.
Zhuo Qi was quite strategic. His plan was simply to watch the tigers fight and then reap the benefits like a fisherman. Han Yan guessed that Zhuo Qi must have secretly positioned some troops in Great Zong, planning to confront the Western Rong ruler after they destroyed Great Zong.