Shangguan Wanning couldn't help but shudder when she saw Zheng Bingrong's nonchalant look.
Mu Jingrui entrusted such an important thing to her for safekeeping. If she handed it over so easily, then...
How could she live up to Mu Jingrui's trust in her? Moreover, there were so many victims.
"Ning'er, Dad has offended many people in the court over the years, and many people are afraid of the power of our Yiyong Marquis Mansion. If someone with ulterior motives gets a hold of this, I'm afraid... the consequences will be disastrous."
Shangguan Wanning was stunned.
Four words emerged in her mind.
His achievements surpass his master's.
She remembered that in her previous life, the emperor was very wary of the Zheng family's power.
All the men in the Zheng family are good at fighting. Even my third uncle, who was the least favored by my grandfather, rarely lost a battle on the battlefield.
The emperor has to rely on the Zheng family, but also has to be on guard against the Zheng family.
If he hadn't had any suspicions about the Zheng family, Xiao Zhenting probably wouldn't have taken advantage of the situation.
Shangguan Wanning's memory came back to the tragic scene in her previous life where all her relatives were hung on the city wall.
Didn't she tell herself that she would protect them well in her next life? Even if her third uncle did something wrong, she hoped to give him a chance to reform.
"Ning'er? How is it?" Zheng Bingrong saw Shangguan Wan Ning staring blankly and couldn't help but urge her.
Shangguan Wanning came back to her senses and said in a trembling voice: "Uncle, this matter is very serious. I can't make up my mind for the moment. Please give me some time to think about it."
"Ning'er, Third Uncle is not rushing you. I'm just afraid that time is running out. Mu Jingrui has been back for so long. If he goes to the palace to see the emperor, then..."
"Don't worry, Third Uncle. The list you mentioned is in my hands. I won't hand it over to the emperor until I figure out a solution. You can rest assured."
Zheng Bingrong was stunned and looked at Shangguan Wanning in disbelief. "Ning'er, are you serious?"
"Yeah." Shangguan Wanning nodded.
Zheng Bingrong felt mixed emotions and hesitated to speak. After a long while, he stared at Shangguan Wanning with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Ning'er, the safety of the Yiyong Marquis's Mansion is now in your hands."
Go ahead and say it, then he walked out of Shangguan Wanning's room with a sigh.
Late at night, Shangguan Wanning lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, with Zheng Bingrong's pleadings lingering in her ears.
That list and the evidence became a source of worry for her.
If she sits back and does nothing, if anything happens to anyone in the Yiyong Marquis's Mansion, her mother will definitely not be able to bear the blow.
Shangguan Wanning couldn't fall asleep, so she put on her clothes and came to her uncle Zheng Binghong's door. Just as she was about to raise her hand to knock on the door, the door opened automatically.
"Ning'er, why aren't you sleeping yet so late?"
Zheng Binghong heard footsteps lingering outside the door.
"Uncle, I..." Shangguan Wanning lowered her head and played with her fingers for a long time, then said in a low voice, "I have something I want to discuss with you."
Zheng Binghong rarely saw his innocent niece's eyes full of worries. "Come in and talk."
He poured Shangguan Wanning a cup of tea and asked, "Go ahead."
Shangguan Wanning organized her words and explained the whole process in detail.
With a "bang", Zheng Binghong slammed the table after hearing it, and slammed it hard on the table, even the tea in the cup spilled out.
His face turned pale, and he cursed angrily: "This beast... is so bold and presumptuous to do such a rebellious thing. I will beat him to death with one palm."
Shangguan Wanning looked at Zheng Binghong and felt a little scared.
She pulled his sleeve and soothed him, "Uncle, now is not the time to pursue the matter. We need to find a way to protect Uncle Three and hand over the evidence."
"He should take the responsibility for what he did. Hand him over to the emperor for disposal."
Shangguan Wanning knew that Zheng Binghong was speaking in anger, so she waited in silence for his next plan.
"Ning'er, can this matter... be postponed for the time being?"
Zheng Binghong calmed down a little and looked at Shangguan Wanning seriously.
Shangguan Wanning had thought about this question a long time ago.
"Uncle, although I have the list, I am not the only one who knows about this. Even if I can convince Jing Rui to postpone the submission of the memorial, it is only a temporary solution. Do we want to let everyone go unpunished?"
Shangguan Wanning knew that it was wrong for her to shield her third uncle.
But now, she just wants to protect her shortcomings and can't care about anything else.
"Ning'er, could it be that... you already have a solution?"
Shangguan Wanning clenched her fists nervously.
"I've seen the list and sorted out the pattern of their entire organization. In order to protect and contain each other, they won't contact too many people in the entire chain. According to my guess, there are probably only three or five people who know the true identity of my third uncle. As long as they die..."
When Shangguan Wanning said this, not only Zheng Binghong, but even Shangguan Wanning herself felt unfamiliar.
"Ning'er, you..."
"Uncle, I know this is wrong. But... we can't just watch Third Uncle die. We can't let him bring trouble to the entire Yiyong Marquis Mansion because of this. Jingrui also needs an explanation, and this is the best way."
Shangguan Wan Ning found that her heart was changing little by little. She didn't know whether it was good or bad.
She had to comfort herself that those people deserved to die.
Zheng Binghong felt that Shangguan Wanning seemed to have changed a lot after not seeing her for half a year. He didn't want her to get too deeply involved.
"Ning'er, let me handle this matter. You just need to delay submitting the list for another three days."
Zheng Binghong tacitly agreed with Shangguan Wanning's idea.
"Okay, I understand." Shangguan Wanning had mixed feelings. It was the first time she did something like this, and she still felt a little guilty and uneasy.
"There's a fire... Come put it out..."
Loud shouts and calls for help were heard outside the door.
Shangguan Wanning and Zheng Binghong looked at each other and rushed out in a hurry.
"What happened? Where is the fire?" Zheng Binghong asked Xiao Si who was running over to put out the fire.
"Eh? Miss cousin, you are here? That's good." Xiao Si breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The room you live in is on fire. Miss thought you were inside and fainted out of fright!"
"My room is on fire?" Shangguan Wanning's face suddenly changed, and her heart skipped a beat. She turned to look at Zheng Binghong and said in a hoarse voice, "The list is inside."
The two rushed towards her room, which was already engulfed by the raging fire.
Not to mention the list, everything was burned to ashes.
Shangguan Wanning's mind went blank and she didn't know how to explain to Mu Jingrui.
"You did a great job." Zheng Binghong rushed to Zheng Bingrong and punched him hard in the face.
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