Chapter 225 The Last Straw

Huo Yunzhan still wanted to pin the blame on Liu Wenyuan, who had long since disappeared.

But at that moment, Chu Jichen, who had been silent all along, suddenly let out a very soft but endlessly mocking sneer.

Huo Yunzhan finally turned his gaze to Chu Jichen, who had not uttered a word from beginning to end.

He had never liked Chu Jichen.

He felt that Chu Jichen was nothing more than a cripple, only that... being born into an imperial family allowed him to sit in the position of regent despite his disability.

He actually... dared to compete with him for Shen Qingci!

On what grounds?

Just because he's the regent?!

Huo Yunzhan gritted his teeth and asked, "What are you laughing at?!"

Chu Jichen then slowly spoke, his voice calm and even, yet like a thunderclap, it struck Huo Yunzhan's heart: "General Huo... doesn't know yet, Liu Wenyuan has already been... found by me, has he?"

Huo Yunzhan's face turned deathly pale in an instant!

He exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible?!"

The reason he dared to pin everything on Liu Wenyuan was because he was certain that Liu would not show himself easily!

Liu Wenyuan is an old fox. If he doesn't want to show himself, then no one in this world can find him!

Chu Jichen's lips slowly curled into a mocking smile: "Opposing me has long been Liu Wenyuan's obsession. Now that I'm back, he naturally... can't hold back anymore."

"Moreover," his voice was filled with the certainty of a master strategist, "I have been at odds with Liu Wenyuan for so many years, and I can absolutely say that I know him inside and out."

Chu Jichen clapped his hands lightly.

Outside the door, heavy footsteps immediately sounded, accompanied by the harsh scraping sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Everyone instinctively looked towards the room outside the interrogation room!

Two guards clad in black armor were seen escorting a disheveled and wretched prisoner slowly past.

The prisoner's hands and feet were bound with handcuffs and shackles as thick as his arms!

Huo Yunzhan saw the man's profile clearly and his heart skipped a beat.

Liu Wenyuan!

As Liu Wenyuan passed by the interrogation room, he suddenly looked up and glanced in Huo Yunzhan's direction!

Those eyes were filled with a deep-seated killing intent and ruthlessness!

Huo Yunzhan had initially suspected that this Liu Wenyuan... was a fake. But upon seeing that look in his eyes, he couldn't help but shudder!

In his heart, he had already come to believe in Liu Wenyuan's identity.

He felt ice-cold all over his body!

How could Liu Wenyuan be captured so easily by Chu Jichen?

Judging from his eyes just now...did he...hear what he said earlier?

If... if Liu Wenyuan, in order to protect himself, were to turn around and insist that he was the one who did it all, that he was the one who planned it all, then... wouldn't he be in a terrible predicament?

As Huo Yunzhan was still pondering, he heard Chu Jichen's meaningful voice ring out again: "Liu Wenyuan must know quite a few of your secrets, right?"

"Tell me, if he wanted to protect himself, who would he pin the blame for framing the Shen family and killing Huo Yunting on?"

Huo Yunzhan shook his head, his voice filled with a final struggle: "I will not admit it! I will not admit that I am Huo Yunzhan!"

"As long as I insist that I am Huo Yunting..."

Chu Jichen looked at him indifferently, his voice full of pity: "Do you think it matters now whether you admit it or not?"

"If there are both witnesses and physical evidence, even if you don't confess, you will still die."

"If Liu Wenyuan truly succeeds in pinning other, even greater crimes, such as treason, on you, then... it won't just be you who dies; the entire Huo family will... be buried with you!"

Huo Yunzhan's mind was in complete turmoil!

But he still insisted, "I know nothing! I didn't do it!"

Chu Jichen and Shen Qingci exchanged a glance.

Shen Qingci pushed Chu Jichen's wheelchair and was about to leave.

"You...think about it carefully."

“But actually,” her voice was cold and resolute, “at this point, whether you say it or not…it’s not that important anymore.”

As Huo Yunzhan watched Shen Qingci push Chu Jichen away, the taut string in his heart finally snapped!

He began to feel that he... might really be going to lose Shen Qingci.

His heart was filled with endless panic and regret.

It's all his father's fault! He and Huo Yunting are twin brothers, and he is clearly more capable, so why... did he give the title to Huo Yunting?

If it weren't for his status as the Marquis of Yongning, he... wouldn't have come to this! He wouldn't have lost Shen Qingci!

And their children!

If Liu Ruolan hadn't killed his and Shen Qingci's child, Shen Qingci, still carrying his seed, would never have been so heartbroken as to leave him and marry that good-for-nothing Chu Jichen!

If that child were still alive, he would be about to be born by now, right?

Even if his impersonation of Huo Yunting is exposed, even if the Shen family's affairs are exposed, Shen Qingci will forgive him for the sake of the child! She loves him so much, and she loves their child so much!

Shen Qingci had no idea what Huo Yunzhan was thinking, and had already left the prison with Chu Jichen.

Chu Jichen looked up at the bright sun in the sky before slowly speaking: "Huo Yunzhan is on the verge of collapse. He's probably just one final, fatal blow away."

Shen Qingci nodded, a cold glint flashing in her eyes: "I think this fatal blow should be delivered by Old Madam Huo."

Chu Jichen keenly noticed that Shen Qingci's gaze was fixed on a carriage not far away.

He followed her gaze and saw an ordinary blue cloth carriage, quietly parked in the shadows at the street corner. However, a very familiar sign with the character "Huo" was hanging on the carriage.

Chu Jichen narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of coldness creeping into his voice: "Old Madam Huo?"

Shen Qingci nodded.

Sure enough, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a nanny stepped down.

She strode up to the two of them, but dared not look at Chu Jichen. Instead, she bowed deeply to Shen Qingci, her voice filled with pleading:

“Princess Regent… my matriarch wishes to… wish to speak with you.”

"Please, Your Highness... considering that the old lady treated you quite well in the past, go and see her."

Was she treated well?

Shen Qingci slowly lowered her eyes and smiled.

How well did Old Madam Huo treat her?

After learning that Huo Yunzhan was impersonating Huo Yunting, he painstakingly helped cover it up.

Or did she turn a blind eye when Liu Ruolan repeatedly tried to harm her?

Or perhaps... when he learned that Huo Yunzhan was going to give her to the emperor, he begged her to enter the palace to serve him out of consideration for their past relationship.