Wu Jianfeng had slowly regained consciousness. Seeing his surroundings, he gave a miserable smile. His clothes were soaking wet, and although there was no wind in the cell, it was cold enough to make him shiver.
As soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Xi Xizhi and An Honghan in front of him.
Laughter echoed through the cell. "I've been thinking about this for two days... and I've finally figured it out! Why does the Phoenix Cloud Sable mysteriously disappear every time this child appears? And why does the child vanish without a trace as soon as the Phoenix Cloud Sable returns? The silver-white hair, the azure eyes, and the red mark on the forehead—everything is so similar!"
“Sorcery! Monster! You are a monster!” Wu Jianfeng shouted wildly at Xi Xizhi, as if he had been provoked. “You are Feng Yun Diao, aren’t you? Aren’t you! Otherwise, why would His Majesty dote on you so much, but ignore Feng Yun Diao whom he cherishes so much?”
The chains binding his arms and legs swayed violently with his frenzied actions, the clanging of metal tormenting Xi Xizhi's eardrums.
"I...I really regret why...why didn't I realize this sooner? Then that night, I would have skinned you alive!" Wu Jianfeng's ferocious face resembled a vengeful ghost from hell, his eyes bloodshot and wide open to their limit.
Xi Xizhi felt a chill run down her spine looking at him, and secretly rejoiced that Wu Jianfeng wasn't very bright, otherwise she would have been in trouble that night.
An Honghan stood there unmoved, seemingly oblivious to Wu Jianfeng's frantic struggle.
"It's all your fault! It's all your fault!" The person who had been shouting wildly just now suddenly shed two lines of tears and cried miserably, "If it weren't for you, my elder brother wouldn't have died, and none of this would have happened."
He was still the obedient son of the Wu family, adored by thousands, and would not be kicked out of the family, much less be looked down upon by others.
The stark contrast in Wu Jianfeng's expression before and after made Xi Xizhi feel a strange sense of unease.
“This is pretty much what desperate people look like,” An Honghan said casually, as if he was already used to this scene.
But no matter how relaxed Ren Anhonghan appeared, it couldn't lessen the pressure on Xi Xizhi's mind. What had she done to wrong Wu Jianfeng? She hadn't done anything wrong, had she?
Xi Xizhi's worries did not escape An Honghan's notice. An Honghan raised his hand and touched the child's forehead. "This has nothing to do with you. Even without the hunting incident, I would have dealt with Wu Lingyin sooner or later. He secretly replaced the military camp's weapons. He deserved to be riddled with arrows."
The last four words struck Wu Jianfeng's heart heavily. He would never forget that he was the first to shoot an arrow and hit his elder brother.
Without his elder brother and without protection, no one knew how unpopular he was in the palace! It seemed that wherever he went, people talked about him and looked down on him behind his back.
The cramped cell gave one the illusion of suffocation, and the heavy atmosphere made Xi Xizhi feel like she had difficulty breathing.
"No...that's not how it is!" Wu Jianfeng shook his head. "If it weren't for you trying to avenge Feng Yundiao, how could you suddenly dig up evidence and ruin my elder brother's reputation?"
That's right!
An Honghan narrowed his eyes; that was indeed the case.
If Wu Lingyin hadn't tried to injure Xi Xizhi, he would have planned to deal with Wu Lingyin's matter later. But who told Wu Lingyin to seek his own death in advance?
Wu Jianfeng's emotions became increasingly difficult to control...
An Honghan raised his foot and kicked him in the abdomen. The kick was so vicious that Wu Jianfeng spat out a mouthful of blood.
This was the first time Xi Xizhi had seen An Honghan's fierce side. She felt that An Honghan in front of her had become very unfamiliar, as if he was not the person she knew. She remembered that An Honghan had once said, "It's better if you don't know about my other side."
Xi Xizhi lowered her head and sighed; this side of her was indeed hard to accept.
But people have multiple faces, don't they? You wouldn't greet an enemy with a smile, would you?
Although she doesn't support it, Xi Xizhi won't object either.
After the attack, An Honghan stopped and said, "Enough with the nonsense. Name your accomplices."
Accomplice? Xi Xi was taken aback and looked at An Honghan.
"Do you think Wu Jianfeng alone could cause such a big incident? He's not worthy." An Honghan's tone was flat, speaking as usual.
This was also the reason why An Honghan initially let him go unchecked. Without Wu Lingyin's protection, given Wu Jianfeng's personality, he was really not going to amount to anything.
Xi Xizhi understood immediately, gritted her teeth in hatred, and wondered who else she had a grudge against.
Unfortunately, even if Xi Xizhi counted on her fingers, she couldn't find a single one.
She didn't actually offend anyone.
But because of An Honghan, a whole bunch of people took their anger out on her.
First, let's talk about the princess... Everyone thought she was competing with them for favor, and they regarded her as a thorn in their side.
As for the concubines... each one of them is more ferocious than a tiger. They either think she is An Honghan's illegitimate daughter, or they see her as a threat to them. She is young, so it's not a big deal yet, but once she grows up, she will definitely be a major scourge that shakes their positions.
Thus, ever since Xi Xizhi stepped into the palace, she seemed to have been hated and envied by others.
"It's all your fault," Xi Xizhi murmured softly, firmly believing that she was absolutely right and that the fault lay with people's hearts.
An Honghan did not refute.
Being in a high position naturally comes with many troubles.
"I won't say! If Your Majesty is so capable, go and investigate yourself." Wu Jianfeng spat out the blood in his mouth, looking extremely disheveled, but he remained stubbornly defiant.
He wanted to see how His Majesty would treat Feng Yun Diao, His Majesty's most beloved concubine, after she was 'defiled'!
Should he defy public opinion and keep Xi Xizhi by his side, angering the court officials, or should he abandon his most beloved pet and quell the dispute?
No matter what choice An Honghan made, Wu Jianfeng felt a great sense of pleasure.
Thinking of this, Wu Jianfeng laughed even more wildly.
"Not going to talk?" An Honghan's eyes turned cold. "You're not going to talk? Do you think I can't guess? The only beneficiary of this conspiracy is An Yunyi."
Wu Jianfeng's face froze for a moment, never expecting His Majesty to be so clever.
"So what if it is? His Majesty must not have any evidence to arrest her, which is why he came here to interrogate me. Unfortunately... I will not confess anything."
He knew he was doomed, so rather than revealing his accomplices, he decided to keep quiet and leave An Honghan helpless.
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