Chapter 6 The Dark Room "You smooth talker, I'll rip out your tongue right now..."

"Yes," Feng Tan nodded, neither confirming nor denying, "So what does it matter to me whether you live or die, sir?"

With her uninjured arm, she pulled Lin Wanzhou closer, pressed her fingers against the stone wall, and a hidden passage opened up beside her with a rumble. "This passage is only for one person at a time. Don't worry, it's safe inside."

Feng Tan covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, then rubbed her fingers against the stone wall for a moment before pressing them down. Another hidden door opened, and she bent down and crawled inside.

The moment the hidden door closed, Feng Tan dared to lower the sleeve covering her mouth and nose. At the same time, the man's cool, woody scent wafted into her nostrils.

In the pitch-black room, Feng Tan gripped the short blade in his hand, sensing someone approaching, and turned to strike swiftly!

Xiao Yinshi used the sound to pinpoint the location in the darkness, and quickly made a move in the direction from which the wind was coming. He grabbed Feng Tan's arm and slammed him against the stone wall.

Feng Tan winced in pain, and the short blade clattered to the ground.

She was pinned against the wall by the man, her hands bound by one hand and raised above her head. When she tried to kick him in the groin, he quickly dodged. Her legs were also pinned down, and her body was completely immobilized.

Xiao Yinshi lifted his eyelids, his grip on Feng Tan's hand remaining firmly in place. "You want to kill me?"

Feng Tan, always adept at yielding and asserting himself, defended himself, saying, "My lord, you misunderstand. How could I dare to commit such a treasonous act? It was just that the room was too dark, and I mistook the person who came in with me for an assassin. My rash action was an instinctive reaction in the dark, and I almost injured you, my lord! Please forgive me!"

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. Feng Tan's murderous intent had already been brewing the moment he admitted to wanting Lin Wanzhou's life. A man like him, ruthless in achieving his goals, and an authoritative figure in the Dahuang Supreme Prosecutor's Office, would undoubtedly be the biggest obstacle to her future efforts to overturn her husband's case. However, she underestimated Xiao Yinshi's agility and fighting prowess in the shadows; her first strike missed, which was a bit of a pity.

"Feng Tan, a lie can only be told once or twice, not repeatedly. Aren't you afraid of biting your tongue if you keep telling it?"

Xiao Yinshi's other hand precisely covered Feng Tan's neck in the darkness. The boy's skin was surprisingly delicate in the tiger's mouth, and his prominent Adam's apple was visible in his palm.

The lurking beast slowly tightened its jaws, while the weak cub inside struggled and thrashed, but was powerless to fight back due to the vast difference in size and strength.

Feng Tan struggled to breathe, her movements disheveled and pathetic. "Let...let go..."

Xiao Yinshi felt the fragile yet stubborn life force in his knuckles, and the gentleness in his voice sent chills down one's spine, "Feng Tan, how did you know there was a secret room here, and why did you enter it? Explain everything clearly, hmm?"

Feng Tan's Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably, a slight hissing sound escaping her skin. She quickly made a sound to cover it up, "Okay..."

Xiao Yinshi curled his lips into a low sneer in the darkness, "The blade is relentless yet yields to the situation; Lord Feng will surely be a ruthless character in the future."

After he finished speaking, he released Feng Tan's throat. Feng Tan bent over and took a deep breath of the air rushing in from all sides. In the darkness, he quickly glued his fake Adam's apple back on.

Fortunately, Uncle Meng's craftsmanship was superb. The fake Adam's apple he made was exactly the same as Feng Tan's original skin color, and it looked exactly like a real Adam's apple when it was attached to her neck. Fortunately, there was no light in the room, otherwise, given Xiao Yinshi's vigilance, her disguise as a man would have been exposed.

Feng Tan endured the burning pain in his neck and said in a hoarse voice, "The assassins who attacked just now were all masked, but their noses were protruding high, as if they were hiding something... Your Excellency is so discerning that you must know the cause of death of Gu Junwei, the son of the Minister of War, and Zhu Youqing, the Vice Minister of Revenue. They died from inhaling a large amount of poison powder."

Xiao Yinshi said, "They were going to inject poison powder, so they made sure to protect their noses beforehand."

Feng Tan said, "If the lord wants to keep prisoners alive for interrogation, they have also prepared a backup plan. If they can't win, they will just perish together with the lord's men."

"Dream on," Xiao Yinshi chuckled. "Now it's time to answer the first question: how did you know there were two secret passages here?"

His words were sharp and direct in their threat: "Think carefully before you answer. If you try to sweet-talk me again, I'll rip your tongue out right now."

In the darkness, Feng Tan felt as if a fierce tiger was lurking beside her. Telling the truth was impossible, so she had to make the lie believable. The scene of Su Bai having his tongue cut off with one hand yesterday was still vivid in her mind. Her heart was pounding as if it would jump out of her throat, and all the blood rushed to her cheeks in an instant. The burning heat almost made her mind stop working.

“I…” Feng Tan’s chest pounded like thunder. She paused, slowly calming her pounding heart, and said in a calm tone, “I have seen the design drawings of the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace, so I know that there are two secret passages here.”

Xiao Yinshi said, "You are neither a member of the royal family nor a member of any powerful family. What right do you have to look at the blueprints for the Reincarnation Palace?"

Feng Tan said, “My lord, my acquaintance with Lin Wanzhou was not merely a one-time meeting. When I was young, my hometown suffered a natural disaster, and my parents could no longer support me, so they had to sell me to the Feng family to work as a servant. At that time, I was young, and the other servants in the mansion dumped all the chores they didn't want to do on me. Miss Lin took pity on me and took me into her courtyard. Sometimes she would even teach me to read and write. Later, Miss Lin taught me the art of mechanisms. On a whim, she brought me a new architectural drawing made by her mother for reference. That architectural drawing was the design drawing of the Revolving Wheel Palace.”

Feng Tan's words were a mix of truth and falsehood. She did live in the Feng family mansion when she was young, and she spent every day with Lin Wanzhou. Although they were only cousins, Feng Tan had long regarded her as her own sister because of her teacher.

Moreover, Lin Wanzhou was adorable when she was little and loved to follow Feng Tan around. Whenever Feng Tan left to return to the palace, she would grab Feng Tan's clothes and cry. At this time, Grand Tutor Feng would watch the two sisters and laugh heartily. He would also hand a willow branch to Lin Wanzhou and say that he would break off a willow branch for his sister and that his sister would soon leave the palace to see her.

Xiao Yinshi said, "Deceitful people in secret, I don't believe there could be such a coincidence in the world."

Feng Tan said, "The affairs of this world are wondrous by fate. If you do not believe me, you are free to verify the truth of what I have said."

Anyway, it's impossible to find them in a short time. The old people of Feng Mansion have long been dismissed, and it will take at least a year and a half to find them.

Seeing that he was no longer speaking, Feng Tan knew that she had won the match and slowly sat down, leaning against the wall.

The tense atmosphere eased slightly, and a belated dull pain slowly seeped into his brain. Feng Tan frowned, tore off a piece of cloth from his clothes and put it in his mouth, then forcefully pulled out the arrow that had penetrated deep into his arm.

The pain was excruciating. In the darkness, she lost control of her voice and let out a muffled groan. Because the fabric was in her mouth, the girl's soft voice was not revealed at all.

Xiao Yinshi lit a tinderbox he had somehow acquired, and in the dim light, he saw Feng Tan's forehead covered in cold sweat, her lips pale, as she carefully used a torn piece of clothing to bandage her bleeding arm.

He raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

In the capital, high-ranking officials and nobles are treated with great care and pampered. Even the slightest scratch requires a long period of healing. I didn't expect this kid to be so good at enduring pain.

Feng Tan bandaged her wound, stood up, looked around the small, dark room, and gently tapped on the walls to test their integrity.

The light was dim, and Feng Tan could not see Xiao Yinshi clearly if she was even a little distance away. Helpless, she turned back to Xiao Yinshi and looked at him, saying, "Sir, may I borrow your tinderbox?"

Xiao Yinshi leaned casually against the wall, toying with the tinderbox in his hand, and said, "The Embroidered Uniform Guard will take no more than five hours to deal with the assassins in the palace and remove the poison powder. What's your hurry?"

Feng Tan said, "I dare not forget the agreement of the twelve hours."

“Feng Tan, since you value Lin Wanzhou so much,” Xiao Yinshi said, approaching with a tinderbox in hand, a sneer playing on his lips, “how did you end up getting involved with Wan Niang?”

Here it comes again. Feng Tan's heart pounded. Xiao Yinshi was well-informed, suspicious, and perceptive. She was convinced that if she said anything wrong, Xiao Yinshi would immediately bury her alive with a shovel.

The two were very close, and the dim light of the dark room made Feng Tan look at the exquisite and smooth contours of Xiao Yinshi's face. His gaze then slid to his prominent Adam's apple, and he smiled, his eyebrows curving upwards. "Lord Xiao, we are both men. How could you not understand what I think? It's one thing for me to admire Lin Wanzhou, and it's another to like Wan Niang. A man, whether it's his body or his spirit, shouldn't he be able to treat himself poorly?"

"With such a handsome and aloof face," Xiao Yinshi pointed his index finger at Feng Tan's heart, his dark eyes fixed on Feng Tan, "this heart of hers is quite the player."

Without missing a beat, Xiao Yinshi pointed his index finger at Feng Tan's chest, which was wrapped in a breast wrap. Her face flushed red and then turned pale. She quickly took a step back and clasped her hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "You flatter me, sir."

Xiao Yinshi tossed the tinder into Feng Tan's arms, closed his eyes to rest, and said nothing more.

Feng Tan tapped and banged on the tinderbox in the dark room, and soon found the trick to get out of the dark room. Just before pressing the stone slab, his finger suddenly stopped.

Since Xiao Yinshi has already mentioned Wan Niang, she can try to find a way for Wan Niang to survive before leaving.

Under pressure from the Emperor, the Ministry of Justice, eager to find the true culprit in the murder case, subjected Wan Niang to cruel torture. Wan Niang was innocent and had been unjustly subjected to such a heinous crime; now, trapped in Gao Yu's hands, her life hung in the balance. Gao Yu, treacherous and selfish, would surely use Wan Niang as a scapegoat if he couldn't find anything.

Wan Niang, Lin Wanzhou, Su Bai...

So much has happened these past few days that Feng Tan can't make sense of it all at once. But she has a feeling that what Xiao Yinshi is investigating must be related to Wan Niang. But what exactly is he investigating?

Gao Yu is absolutely unreliable, and Xiao Yinshi is ruthless... so he's unreliable too. But since Xiao Yinshi has agreed to let her take Lin Wanzhou away within twelve hours, it might not be impossible for him to offer another condition to secure Wan Niang's release from prison.

In short, while seeking help from a tiger is dangerous, it is not impossible.

"You've been staring at me for so long," Xiao Yinshi opened his eyes and glanced sideways at Feng Tan, "Do you have something to ask of me?"

A note from the author: