As the woman's voice faded, the crowd slowly parted to make way, and then a woman wearing a cap led two maids out from behind the crowd.

This woman was none other than Yan Xiao, who had arrived late, having calculated the time perfectly.

As soon as Yan Xiao appeared, the scene fell into a brief silence, and almost everyone's eyes fell on her.

Besides ordinary people, the majority of people here are soldiers, so the atmosphere here is naturally different.

If an ordinary person were being stared at like that, their heart would be pounding by now, but Yan Xiao remained calm.

She walked to the front, waited for Qianqiu to bring her a chair, then sat down. She turned to look at the person who had spoken first, her tone calm, but her words carried a hint of aggressiveness:

"You were quite talkative just now, but now that I'm asking you a question, have you gone deaf or suddenly become mute?"

The person who just spoke was just a junior team leader named Wang Yang, who had only recently been promoted by Zhang Kangnian. He said those words on impulse, and he was actually still a little unsure of himself.

Seeing that so many people echoed his words, he calmed down considerably, feeling that he must have done nothing wrong and that there must be some injustice involved. He never expected that the general's wife would suddenly appear.

Hearing Yan Xiao's question, Wang Yang felt caught in a dilemma. Finally, he mustered his courage and gritted his teeth to reply:

"In response to your question, Madam, I had no intention of offending you. I just feel that General Zhang may have been wronged in this matter."

"I fear that you, Madam, may be deceived by treacherous people and do something irreversible. Therefore, I hope you will be cautious to avoid wrongly killing a meritorious official and making things difficult for General Shen in the future."

Wang Yang was very respectful to Yan Xiao. Although his words seemed to be defending Zhang Kangnian, they were all heartfelt words of advice, so he could be said to have offended neither side.

Yan Xiao listened to his words and carefully looked him over. She saw that Zhang Yang looked very young, probably only in his early twenties. Although his forehead was covered with a layer of fine sweat from nervousness, his expression was still quite calm.

Yan Xiao glanced at him twice, then looked away, showing no intention of continuing to attack him. Instead, she turned to the crowd and said:

"It seems that many of my soldiers are dissatisfied and suspicious of my actions. In that case, I will give this city-guarding general another chance to speak."

As she spoke, she waved her hand at Zhao Qian:

"Wake him up and get him to talk."

Zhao Qian's expression changed slightly when he heard Yan Xiao's instructions. He covered Zhang Kangnian's mouth to prevent him from talking nonsense. After all, only a few of them heard Zhang Kangnian's testimony at the General's Mansion, and they were all Yan Xiao's people and could not be witnesses.

If Zhang Kangnian were to turn around and claim that he was wronged, they would have absolutely no evidence against him.

He wanted to say something, but considering Yan Xiao's temper and his inexplicable trust in her, he held back and chose to obey.

After a basin of cold water was poured on him, Zhang Kangnian, who had been unconscious, slowly began to react. By the time a second basin was poured on him, he was fully awake and raised his head.

When he saw Yan Xiao leisurely sitting on the wooden chair with his legs crossed, he was stunned for a moment, then burst into a tirade:

"You vixen, you wicked woman, you will not have a good end."

He finished speaking and then realized the gag had been removed. This immediately roused him, and he looked at the soldiers present and shouted:

“I, Zhang Kangnian, have been loyal to General Shen. I have faced life and death many times without fear. But I never thought that I would not die on the battlefield, but instead die at the hands of a vicious woman in the inner quarters. I am not reconciled.”

"Shut up!"

Zhao Qian's face darkened. Resisting the urge to gag him again, she slapped him instead, cursing:

"If you continue to spout nonsense and disrespect the lady, I'll cut out your tongue."

"Pah, hehe~"

Zhang Kangnian spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood, gave a bitter laugh, and scolded:

"I am destined to die unjustly here today, so what's the harm in losing a tongue?"

"You~"

"Alright, let him talk."

Zhao Qian was about to get angry when Yan Xiao stopped him.

Yan Xiao waved her hand at Zhao Qian, showing no sign of anger, signaling Zhao Qian to calm down, and then looked at the disheveled Zhang Kangnian calmly and said:

"You're a tough guy, but it's a shame you're not smart enough, otherwise I would really admire you."

Zhang Kangnian now hated Yan Xiao to the core. Knowing he had no way out, his attitude became extremely hostile.

"You wicked woman, stop pretending. Do whatever you want with me."

I refuse to accept this, even unto death.

"I have never done anything to wrong you, General. I have always been devoted to Jiangbei. Today, I die unjustly at the hands of you, you wicked woman. All my soldiers know my injustice. You will not have a good end."

"Whether I will have a good ending or not is none of your concern. After all, you are already a person with no future."

Yan Xiao's words were always infuriating, and one sentence from her made Zhang Kangnian vomit blood again.

Before Zhang Kangnian could speak, Yan Xiao continued:

"I don't know where you get the nerve to say you're innocent. Do you think you only did a small thing like being a hero and letting Jiang Xinrui go, and that's not a big mistake?"

Zhang Kangnian thought this way, and was very confident that many people present shared his opinion and believed in Jiang Xinrui's character as much as he did. Therefore, he readily admitted it and even defended Jiang Xinrui:

“We all know what kind of person Doctor Jiang is. She would never do something like defecting to the enemy. She left now because you, you poisonous woman, forced her to do it. She was just trying to save her own life.”

Anyone with a conscience would have made the same choice as me. What was wrong with me saving her?

Yan Xiao sneered at these words and looked at the soldiers present, especially those who had some connection with Jiang Xinrui.

Some of them looked indignant and their eyes darted around, clearly agreeing with Zhang Kangnian's words.

Judging from their current attitude, she dares to say that if Jiang Xinrui comes knocking on their door in the future, she only needs to say a few nice words, act weak and pitiful, and they will be willing to risk their lives for her, just to see her smile.

Therefore, she must make an example of them today to extinguish their hopes. Those who are particularly stubborn should just go to the underworld with Zhang Kangnian, which can also be considered as fulfilling their feelings for Jiang Xinrui.