Chapter 51: "Yiyi, are you awake? Why don't you sleep a little longer...

"Yiyi, are you awake? Why don't you sleep a little longer..."

Tuoba Xuan was somewhat surprised by Liu Yiyi's sudden appearance. This was the reception hall, quite a distance away from her bedroom. Normally, she rarely set foot here.

After Liu Yiyi finished washing up that morning, she felt drowsy and wanted to go out for a walk. When she asked a servant for help, he hesitated, saying he couldn't make the decision. In desperation, Liu Yiyi went to Tuoba Xuan in person.

But she heard something...

Fang Buyu is in jail! It's Tuoba Xuan's doing!

Liu Yiyi shook off Tuoba Xuan and walked over to hold her hand, repeating angrily, "What did you do to Fang Buyu?!"

This time her voice was even louder, almost shouting at the top of her lungs.

Tuoba Xuan was completely confused by Liu Yiyi's sudden anger. He straightened his expression and looked at her with an inquiring look: "How do you know Fang Buyu?"

Tuoba Xuan's calm and indifferent expression completely inflamed Liu Yiyi. She used all her strength to grab Tuoba Xuan's collar and loudly demanded, "I'm asking you, what on earth did you do to Fang Buyu?!"

She looked as if she was ready to fight Tuoba Xuan to the death. She grabbed Tuoba Xuan's collar and shook him non-stop. However, her body was too weak. Even though she used all her strength, Tuoba Xuan remained motionless.

Instead, she herself was so excited that she staggered several steps due to her own strength and almost fell to the ground.

Tuoba Xuan was quick to support her. However, he was also enraged by Liu Yiyi's behavior. He tried hard to control his anger, "Yiyi, can you calm down a little! What's wrong with you?!"

After the intense confrontation, Liu Yiyi seemed to have exhausted all her strength. At that moment, as if all her energy and spirit had been drained away, she collapsed limply, staring blankly at the ground. She muttered in a voice so faint it could be blown away by a gust of wind, "Do you know..."

"What do I know?"

Liu Yiyi suddenly looked up at Tuoba Xuan, her face full of pain. She finally managed to squeeze out a word from her dry throat: "Do you know Fang Buyu..."

Tuoba Xuan felt something vaguely. He half-knelt and pulled Liu Yiyi's arm, his eyes fixed on hers, waiting for her to continue speaking.

At this point, she paused.

During this brief moment of eye contact, a voice flashed through Tuoba Xuan's mind. It was the words Fang Buyu had said at Mengxixuan that time, "Ever since I was a child, I've been afraid of beans. Eating them causes a rash..."

Tuoba Xuan took a breath of cold air instantly.

No matter how angry he was at other times, even when Liu Yiyi stabbed him, he never said a harsh word to Liu Yiyi. This was the first time he yelled at Liu Yiyi.

"Tell me! What should I know?"

The uneasiness revealed on his face actually gave Liu Yiyi a sense of pleasure.

She almost admired Tuoba Xuan's loss of control, a strange smile spreading across her face as she nodded repeatedly, "Tuoba Xuan, you have come to this day... It's your karma! Hehehe... This is all your karma!"

"What on earth do you mean?!"

Liu Yiyi ignored Tuoba Xuan's questioning. She raised her hand to remove the restraint on Tuoba Xuan's arm, staggered to her feet and kept backing away. She glanced at Tuoba Xuan, who was still half-kneeling, and turned around and walked out without looking back.

*

The black cloak swept across the wet stone steps, drawing a sharp arc in the darkness.

The soles of the man's boots stepped on the uneven loose blue bricks, as if crushing broken bones, making a dull and suppressed crisp sound.

The air was filled with the pungent, sour smell of rust and rotting flesh. Tuoba Xuan frowned slightly and couldn't help but raise his hand to half-cover his nose. His steps finally stopped in front of a cell door.

There are twelve bells hanging on the prison door. It is a secret prison specially used to detain officials of the second rank and above in the imperial court.

A few faint rays of light filtered through the dark windows of the dome, barely illuminating a corner of the cell. Through the dark brown wooden bars, Tuoba Xuan could clearly see the person imprisoned inside.

He was half-sitting on a mat, his back against the moldy wall, one leg casually bent, one hand resting on his bent knee. Hearing the sound, he looked up at the person who came with an expressionless face.

The two of them were each thinking about their own things and remained silent for a long time.

Tuoba Xuan was the first to break the silence, "Fang-bu-yu."

He pronounced each word clearly, as if it was the first time he was saying this name, and the emotions in his eyes became more complicated with each word he pronounced.

Fang Buyu looked at him coldly, waiting for his next words.

But after reading his name, Tuoba Xuan didn't speak for a long time, just staring at him with a look that he couldn't understand.

What kind of trick is this? Aren’t they trying to take advantage of someone’s misfortune?

Fang Buyu thought to himself, too lazy to explore his intentions, and turned his eyes away in disgust.

"It must be uncomfortable in the dark cell, right?" Tuoba Xuan finally spoke again.

As expected... Fang Buyu smiled contemptuously, "I'm afraid Prime Minister Tuoba will be disappointed. I think it's not bad."

As he spoke, he lowered his bent legs, took a pillow from the neatly folded quilt beside him and placed it on the head of the mat. He sighed, "Ah," and then slowly lay down. He placed a hand on his forehead, closed his eyes, and said lazily, "It's been a long time since I've had such a peaceful and comfortable life. It's just right to rest."

The words he spoke as he lay down were long and pleasant in his nasal voice, as if he was really content in this dirty little place, not caring at all about the predicament before him.

Tuoba Xuan noticed the exquisite plain velvet quilts on the pile. It was impossible for the prison to distribute such fine quilts. It must have been arranged by Liu Mingzhong.

He felt a surge of anger in his heart. Who the hell was Liu Mingzhong? Why...

Unable to think any further, he quickly looked away, suppressed the anger in his heart, and began to persuade Fang Buyu earnestly.

"Let's close the case. As long as you put the blame on Lin Bowen, I promise you can get out now."

Fang Buyu changed his posture and turned his back to him. "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

The short sentence seemed to come from the wall, cold and without any warmth.

"You..." Tuoba Xuan grabbed the two bars, the barbs on the wood pierced his palms, and blood slowly seeped in through the cracks in the wood. He seemed to feel no pain and continued,

"Do you know what the consequences will be if you continue like this? Do you think that dragging me down with you will achieve your so-called justice? Do you really think that I can cover up everything for so many years with my abilities alone? You are too naive!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Buyu sat up with a serious expression, "What do you mean?"

Tuoba Xuan put down his hand and pressed his fingers against the wound on his palm. "Think about what I mean. If you continue to be stubborn and refuse to change, no one can save you!"

Fang Buyu looked at Tuoba Xuan warily for a long time, then smiled, his eyes full of mockery, "Prime Minister Tuoba is very cunning, I was almost fooled by you, you are good at using the power of others to intimidate others!"

"You..." Tuoba Xuan was speechless again. He felt that if he continued to talk, he would be so angry that he would vomit blood. He could only swallow his helplessness, threw down a sentence "You take care of yourself", turned around and was about to leave.

"Prime Minister Tuoba, please take your leave."

This frivolous tone made Tuoba Xuan pause. Look, isn't this the same attitude he had towards Liu Mingzhong yesterday?

He really is his son. Even the irritating words he says are exactly the same as his.

Although he was angry, he subconsciously took off his cloak, turned back, and stuffed it into the wooden fence. He deliberately avoided Fang Buyu's wary and suspicious gaze and said, "It's cold tonight, keep this cloak to keep warm."

But he had just taken a few steps when a gust of wind suddenly rushed past behind him, followed by a muffled "click" sound from the ground.

He turned his head and saw that his purple brocade fur coat, which had taken twenty embroiderers half a year to weave, was now thrown on the dirty ground like a rag.

Through the dim light of the dark prison, one could still see the python pattern embroidered on the lining of the clothes between the folds of the fabric - just a moment ago, it symbolized supreme honor, but now it looked like a skinned snake, in a miserable state.

A layer of frost instantly formed on Tuoba Xuan's face, and the remaining warmth in his eyes disappeared completely, as if a cold blade was about to stab Fang Buyu in the prison.

In his rage, his disguise as a kind father was completely removed, and his true self was fully revealed.

He was too kind. How could someone who grew up in a brothel be a good person? He thought, forget it! He has many sons anyway, so what if one is missing? Let him fend for himself!

＊

"Father, it's time to get up..."

It was just dawn and the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, bringing with it a slight chill.

Chen Weiyu came to Chen's father's house with the boiled medicine in both hands and shouted.

No one answered.

She repeated it louder, but still no response.

Chen Weiyu began to wonder: It's strange. My father has always had a regular sleep schedule. He shouldn't still be asleep at this hour.

Since she was holding the medicine and couldn't free her hands, she had to lean sideways and slowly push the door open with her elbow.

"Squeak--" the door hinge made a long, light sound.

The morning light seeped in little by little like golden threads, illuminating every corner of the house, and even allowing one to clearly see the dust particles flying in the air.

In the light, Chen Weiyu saw the bulge in the quilt on the bed.

Strange, are you still sleeping?

She was filled with doubts. Then she thought, maybe her father hadn't felt comfortable staying at her uncle's house for the past few days, and he had taken medicine, so he must be too tired. Let him sleep a little longer.

She turned around and prepared to leave, but after taking a few steps, she stopped as if pulled by some invisible force.

No, no!

It was so quiet! I couldn't even hear a breath!

Chen Weiyu turned around suddenly, and because he moved too quickly, most of the soup in the bowl spilled out and splashed onto the ground.

She didn't care about that and quickly ran to Chen's bedside. On the bedside table, she clearly saw a half-empty bottle of pesticide standing there quietly.

Chen Weiyu felt her legs go weak, and she took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but her trembling fingers betrayed her inner fear. She reached out her hand to Chen's father's nose.

"Bang!"

The ceramic bowl in his hand fell to the ground and exploded on the earthen brick floor.

Chen Weiyu's eyes went dark, he took several steps back, and finally fell to the ground.

She stared blankly ahead, and at this moment, she saw Chen's father lying flat on his back, with a piece of paper seemingly under his folded hands.

She completely ignored the debris on the ground and quickly crawled to the bed using almost all her hands and feet.

Her hands couldn't stop shaking as she took out the note. She read her father's handwriting clearly, "Daughter, go do what you really want to do."