Yan Sanhe’s usually calm voice was tinged with fury.

“Zhu Qing, go to the kitchen and get a cleaver.”

“Yes!”

“Buyan, watch my expression and act accordingly. If I detect he’s lying, for every sentence, cut off one of his fingers.”

Li Buyan deliberately asked: “What if the fingers aren’t enough?”

“Then the toes.”

“What if the toes still aren’t enough?”

“I brought poison from the Pei family. Painful for forty-nine days, then turns into a pile of white bones. That should be enough.”

Yan Xi was so frightened his three souls lost two. His head banged on the ground: “Miss Yan, I’ll talk, I’ll tell everything.”

Yan Sanhe’s ice-cold expression didn’t soften because of this one sentence.

At this moment, Zhu Qing came over with a cleaver.

Li Buyan took the cleaver, examining it front and back in her hands a few times, then squatted down and grabbed Yan Xi’s hand.

“Miss Yan, Miss Yan, spare my life, spare my life!”

Yan Xi banged his head bang bang bang desperately. After a dozen strikes, blood appeared on his forehead.

“Speak!”

Yan Sanhe bellowed: “What was Yan Ruxian’s true purpose in going to the northern lands as military supervisor?”

Yan Xi raised his head to look at Yan Sanhe. His body shook like a sieve, his lips moving but unable to speak.

“Buyan, cut one of his…”

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

Yan Xi lowered his head, utterly despairing: “Yan Ruxian went to the northern lands on His Majesty’s orders… to kill Zheng Yu.”

As expected!

All the blood in Yan Sanhe’s body rushed to her head. Her face flushed red.

The others weren’t much better off. Caught completely off guard, shock was written all over their faces.

“Why did he want to kill Zheng Yu?”

“Miss Yan, Miss Yan…”

Yan Xi began wailing: “I’m just a lowly servant. How could I possibly know what the Son of Heaven thinks? I truly don’t know, and I wouldn’t dare ask. Asking would be a capital offense.”

Yan Sanhe: “Then how did you know he wanted to kill Zheng Yu?”

“When Yan Ruxian spoke with Tan Shu, this lowly one… this lowly one was serving right beside them.”

Yan Xi fiercely wiped away tears. “I’m the master’s adopted son. My life is in his hands. He knew I didn’t have the guts to speak out.”

“So Zheng Yu was forced to his death in Black Mountain City by you people?”

“No, no!”

Yan Xi waved his hands repeatedly: “His Majesty’s oral decree was to wait until after the army won the battle, then kill Zheng Yu on the way back to the capital.”

“What did you say?”

Yan Sanhe stood up abruptly and strode quickly to Yan Xi: “On the way back to the capital?”

“Yes.”

Yan Xi nodded desperately: “Originally, Yan Ruxian and Tan Shu had planned it all out. After the army won the battle, they would tell the Old General about the Zheng family massacre.

After hearing it, the Old General would fall gravely ill on the spot. They’d already prepared the excuse—the Old General died of illness halfway back.”

Yan Sanhe squatted before him, her gaze ice-cold.

“So everything you told me last time about overhearing Yan Ruxian’s conversation with the Old General was all fake?”

“It was fake.”

Yan Xi was deeply ashamed. “His Majesty issued a death order. All of us on that trip were forbidden from revealing the Zheng family matter. Whoever dared reveal it would have three generations executed.”

Yan Sanhe: “All to make sure Zheng Yu won the battle first.”

Yan Xi glanced up at Yan Sanhe, then nodded. “To be absolutely safe, Yan Ruxian even concealed it from Prince Han.”

Yan Sanhe: “So Zheng Yu truly did die in battle?”

Yan Xi’s pig-like face began wailing again.

“Miss Yan, I don’t know how to put it either. Anyway, he died in battle. When Yan Ruxian learned of this, he was furious. After consulting with Tan Shu, he immediately wrote a secret letter and had someone deliver it to the capital.”

Yan Sanhe: “Why?”

“Because…”

Yan Xi spat out a bloody phlegm: “Because His Majesty only allowed the Old General to die of illness, not to die in battle.”

Yan Sanhe’s body swayed. Li Buyan was quick—she immediately pulled her up and steadied her.

Yan Sanhe gently pushed her away. An indescribable chill crept up her spine.

Only allowed the Old General to die of illness, not to die in battle.

Of course. Dying of illness was for the Zheng family’s sake.

But dying in battle meant dying for the country, being a loyal hero, representing supreme righteousness. Not only would the history books record this in heavy ink and vivid colors, but the people of the Hua Kingdom would remember him for generations.

How could Emperor Yonghe allow someone who betrayed him to gain such tremendous posthumous honor after death?

“What about Ye Dong? Why did you kill him?” Yan Sanhe asked.

At the mention of Ye Dong, Yan Xi quickly hid his hands behind his back.

“Yan Ruxian didn’t tell me the real reason, but this servant guesses Yan Ruxian feared His Majesty’s reproach, so he simply killed the person.”

Yan Sanhe repeated with a cold laugh: “Simply killed the person?”

“Because Ye Dong was the person the Old General valued most. He had high prestige in the army, second only to the Old General. With him around…”

Yan Xi looked at Yan Sanhe timidly: “…With him around, the Zheng family army couldn’t be disbanded quickly.”

With those casual words, Yan Sanhe staggered back half a step.

Yan Ruxian was the worm in the Emperor’s belly. What the Emperor was thinking, in all the realm, only he knew best.

Zheng Yu dying on the battlefield was beyond Yan Ruxian’s expectations. He’d bungled this assignment terribly.

To atone for his failure, he speculated on the Emperor’s thoughts and took it upon himself to kill Ye Dong.

So the dog Emperor not only wanted to kill Zheng Yu, but also wanted to ensure there would never again be a Zheng family army in this world.

How ruthless!

Yan Sanhe stiffly turned around, her gaze seeking out Xie Zhifei.

What was Xie Zhifei feeling right now?

He felt nothing.

He reached into his robes, took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a pill, and swallowed it raw.

Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and quietly waited for the piercing pain in his heart to slowly subside.

Yan Sanhe looked at his face, pale as paper. Her heart became clearer than ever before. She turned around and glanced coldly at Li Buyan.

Li Buyan immediately picked up the cleaver.

Yan Xi was so frightened he kept backing away while shouting:

“Miss Yan, everything I said is true, not a single word is false! Miss Yan, believe me! If I lie even one word, may I die a terrible death!”

“Now you speak the truth, but before it was lies.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice turned harsh: “Tell me, why did you lie?”

“I…”

Yan Xi raised his head, looking at Yan Sanhe guiltily.

Yan Sanhe stepped forward, roaring with extreme fury: “Speak!”

“It’s because…”

Yan Xi spoke three words—only three words.

An arrow flew in from outside like a whirlwind.

Thwack—

It pierced through Yan Xi’s left chest.

Yan Sanhe stood just one step away from Yan Xi. She hadn’t yet reacted when Li Buyan, who had been stunned for a moment, already flew over and tackled her to the ground.

Seeing this scene, Xie Zhifei felt his skull would explode, but his body disobeyed and froze for an instant.

In that instant, Zhu Qing drew his sword and stood before Zhao Yishi.

“Assassin! There’s an assassin! Quickly, protect the Crown Prince!”