"But don't worry, I'll tell the executioner to be ruthless and not let your family suffer too much."
Zhang Zhou spoke casually, as if he were talking about something very trivial.
Completely ignoring the butler's ashen face, he said to himself, "After you die, I will definitely give you endless gold and silver ingots, and I will not let you suffer in the underworld."
The butler collapsed to the ground, his face deathly pale.
He had always known that the Zhang family was cold-blooded, but it seemed that only now did he truly realize it.
These people really didn't treat him like a human being at all.
The butler felt that Qu Jingyun's gaze was full of mockery, after all, just a moment ago, he had been righteously refuting Qu Jingyun's words.
But reality slapped him hard in the face.
"You really are good at scheming!" Shen Yunting sneered.
"There's no other way, this is the only way to deal with you." Zhang Zhou laughed even more wildly, beckoning to attack Shen Yunting.
His guards were no match for Shen Yunting. Even with his bare fists, Shen Yunting was able to keep them at bay.
Seeing this, Zhang Zhou frowned and picked up a dagger, holding it to Qu Jingyun's neck.
"Stop it right now, or I'll kill her."
Shen Yunting stopped resisting without hesitation, and the guard punched him hard.
Then a knife came slashing at him. Although he dodged to the side, it still managed to cut his arm.
All of this happened so suddenly that Qu Jingyun was caught off guard.
Upon seeing this, his eyes widened, and he shouted, "Don't worry about me, just go!"
Qu Jingyun knew very well that with Shen Yunting's background, as long as he didn't care about her, he would definitely be able to break out.
But she knew even more clearly in her heart that Shen Yunting couldn't possibly abandon her.
"How could I possibly abandon you?" Shen Yunting gave a bitter smile, clutching his wound and looking coldly at Zhang Zhou.
"Now that the evidence has been destroyed, you can no longer be threatened. Release Qu Jingyun, and I will do whatever you want with me."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhou laughed out loud: "General Shen, are you so naive? As long as the two of you die here, no one will be able to threaten me anymore. Why would I let one person go?"
"General Shen, your deep sense of loyalty and righteousness will be your greatest weakness. I truly pity you."
Qu Jingyun snorted coldly and said directly, "Do you think everyone is as inhuman as you?"
After saying this, she looked at Shen Yunting with bloodshot eyes.
He growled, "Don't worry about me. You need to escape so you can avenge me. Do you really want us both to die here? Get out of here."
But Shen Yunting remained unmoved, only looking at Qu Jingyun with a firm expression.
He said, pausing between each sentence, "Don't worry, we'll all be fine. He can't possibly hurt us."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhou couldn't help but burst into laughter, and said bluntly, "Do you think you still have the right to negotiate with me? You will definitely not leave here alive today, I can guarantee that."
"Oh? Is that so?" Shen Yunting gave a cold laugh with an ambiguous meaning.
Zhang Zhou's expression showed a hint of confusion, but he quickly regained his resolve.
He has planned it all out; there's absolutely no chance of it going wrong.
But unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he felt a sudden pain in his hand, and the dagger fell to the ground.
Shen Yunting's voice rang in my ears: "So what now?"
Zhang Zhou stared in disbelief as the person beside him used a blood-stained longsword to untie the ropes binding Qu Jingyun and escort her to Shen Yunting.
Shocked and furious, he shouted, "Zhang Feng, what are you doing?"
“General Shen, it is my incompetence that caused you to be injured. Please stay here and recover. I will take care of things here.” Zhang Feng spoke respectfully to Shen Yunting.
Seeing this, Zhang Zhou became even more defensive.
"Do you know what you're doing? You're also a member of the Zhang family. I raised you and let you grow up like a young master. Is this how you repay me?"
"You heartless ingrate! If I had known this would happen, I should have just left you to fend for yourself when your parents got into trouble."
Zhang Feng snorted coldly, his eyes filled with icy intent as he looked at Zhang Zhou.
"If you could, you would probably prefer to kill me the same way you killed my parents when they were in trouble. Unfortunately, you're disappointed. I survived and learned the truth about what happened back then."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhou's face turned deathly pale.
Feigning composure, he asked, "What nonsense are you spouting? Has someone been talking nonsense in front of you?"
"Your parents were killed by bandits, and I not only saved you from their clutches but also raised you with great care for so many years. Don't be deceived or sown apart by those with ulterior motives."
"If you kill them both for me now, I can pretend nothing happened, how about it?"
"Do you think I'll still believe you?" Zhang Feng's face grew colder and colder, filled with deep hatred.
"Weren't those bandits you secretly keeping? Otherwise, how could you have happened to be there?"
"You coveted our family's property and almost wiped out my entire family. You expect me to be grateful and serve as your bodyguard, risking my life for you. You have such a vicious heart."
"Nonsense, that's not how it is," Zhang Zhou quickly retorted. "You must have been deceived by someone. That's not how it is."
"Heh." Zhang Feng snorted coldly.
He said through gritted teeth, "If I hadn't met you that day when the bandit who had harmed my parents was also treating you with utmost respect, I would never have imagined that you were the one who harmed my whole family."
“Over the years, every time I saw you, I gripped the dagger tightly in my hand, wishing I could kill you to vent my anger, but that would be too easy for you.”
"So I took the initiative to approach General Shen. He is someone I admire and someone who can help me take revenge. I have been serving him for three years."
Zhang Zhou's face immediately turned completely pale.
He hadn't expected that Zhang Feng would have known the truth so long ago.
Especially when the other party continued, "Weren't you curious why General Shen had so much evidence against the Zhang family? I personally taught him all of that."
"You were so arrogant, thinking I would never betray you. How do you feel now that you know the truth?"
Zhang Zhou glared fiercely at Zhang Feng, wishing he could rush over and kill him.
"My carefully planned scheme was easily ruined by you. I will definitely kill you."
Shen Yunting interrupted him, saying, "You should mind your own business for now. After all, cheating in the imperial examinations, embezzlement, bribery, kidnapping and assassinating court officials are no small matters."
“Each charge is enough to kill you.”
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