Inside the west wing, Xing Muzheng was eating in large mouthfuls—though still with some elegance. His body had been drained; he didn’t even know what it felt like to be full anymore. Ah Da, Wang Yong, and Li Qingquan sat not far off, trying to tell him in detail what had happened during the time he was under the parasite’s influence. But he didn’t hear a word. He was wholly focused on eating.
No one knew better than him what had really happened. Those humiliating memories made him feel so ashamed, he didn’t even dare speak of them to Jiaoniang. Xing Muzheng bit through the bone in his mouth—Ji Tribe’s Du Ye… Was she taking revenge for Mongerli? Very well. He would soon let her know what true revenge looked like.
Ding Zhang had the kitchen prepare two full tables of dishes. Xing Muzheng finally ate his fill. After wiping his mouth, he drank two large cups of tea brought in by a maid. When he stood up, all the weakness in his body was gone. He took a deep breath, stretched his limbs, and felt a joy only those who’ve escaped death could understand.
Xing Muzheng stepped out. Ah Da, panicked, rushed forward and blocked his path, saying, “Commander, do you believe us, or do you believe Miss Feng? Please give us a clear answer!” He knew the Commander’s thoughts were always hard to read, and he couldn’t guess them at all. But if the Commander didn’t clarify things now, his own heart felt like it was being roasted over a fire.
With a single glance from Xing Muzheng, Ah Da stepped aside. Then Xing Muzheng said, “I don’t believe anyone.”
He left the wing room and entered the main hall. Feng Yuyan was whispering to the wet nurse. When she saw Xing Muzheng come out, she immediately approached, pretending concern and asking after him. Seeing him sit in the seat to the left, she stood beside him and said, “Tanlang, what did those people say to you? You mustn’t believe them completely—you should also hear my side!”
Xing Muzheng said, “Of course I’ll hear your side.” Then he looked around. “Where is the madam?”
Why was he referring to Qian Jiaoniang as “madam”? Could it be that he believed those fools’ words? Feng Yuyan bit her lip gently and said weakly, “I don’t know where Madam Qian went. I told her you’d ordered she not wander off, but she ignored me completely.”
Xing Muzheng looked at her. “You always call her Madam Qian?”
Feng Yuyan’s heart skipped a beat. “I used to respectfully call her elder sister, but she’s too vicious. I don’t want to call her that anymore.”
Xing Muzheng said nothing, then ordered Wet Nurse Ye to go invite Qian Jiaoniang. Wet Nurse Ye glanced at Feng Yuyan, gave a curt nod, and left. Feng Yuyan’s eyes welled up with tears again. “Tanlang, you’ve believed what they said, haven’t you? You think I’m in the wrong? You can have me swear any terrible oath, as long as you believe me!”
Feng Yuyan used to believe in the gods. But when Xing Muzheng lost his mind, no matter how she prayed, it didn’t help. So she stopped believing. And once she no longer believed, she feared nothing. If swearing to any god or spirit could help her turn the situation around and become the Marquis’s wife, she’d even bow to monsters and demons.
Xing Muzheng stared fixedly at her. He had once admired this woman. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have wanted to marry her. But he hadn’t expected her to be this ruthless. He had never been defeated by an enemy, yet he had nearly fallen into her hands. Was it always those closest who brought death?
Feng Yuyan was so unnerved by his stare that goosebumps rose all over her. Before, Xing Muzheng’s expressions were always calm, and that never scared her. But now, though his face remained emotionless, it terrified her deeply. “Tanlang, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? That Qian—your original wife—she’s really not a good person! She just wants to control you and seize all the power in the Marquis household!”
Ah Da and the other two stood off to the side, furious but not daring to speak. They knew now was not the time for them to talk.
Xing Muzheng nodded. “I just heard—you said you did it for my own good, that you locked me up. If Ah Da and the others had arrived even a moment later, I would’ve been dead…”
“No! How could that be? How could I let you die? I brought in so many doctors to cure you—I even brought monks, Taoists, and spirit mediums. I tried everything I could think of! If you don’t believe me, ask Zhou Mu, the former steward. He can testify for me!”
“Didn’t you just say Zhou Mu colluded with my wife to harm you?”
“T-that was afterwards,” Feng Yuyan faltered. “Zhou Mu only colluded with your wife later, after he saw you couldn’t be cured.”
“How exactly did they collude?”
“I already told you—they deliberately hid you away and locked you up behind my back, and then called these subordinates of yours over to frame me for it. Heaven and earth can attest—I could never bear to lock you up! I was only injured by you at the time and couldn’t move, that’s how they took advantage of the situation!”
Xing Muzheng asked, “And is there anyone who can back up your story?”
“M-my wet nurse can testify for me!”
There was a mocking snort from below. Feng Yuyan didn’t need to turn around to know it came from those three eyesore subordinates of Xing Muzheng.
Xing Muzheng was silent for a moment, then nodded and no longer pressed on. “Then what about the accusation that you took silver notes—what’s that about?”
Feng Yuyan, secretly pleased that the matter of locking him up had been so lightly brushed past, gave the response she had prepared in advance: “After you were taken to the side courtyard, I later checked the accounts and found several thousand taels worth of promissory notes under my name. They claimed I borrowed that money for my brother to buy land. It was outrageous! When have I ever borrowed such a large sum from you? I wouldn’t be so shameless as to ask you for money for my family before I’ve even married into your household! That’s clearly a setup—your wife’s trick! She wanted me out of the mansion so she could seize all the power. I was consumed with worry, afraid she’d harm you, so after much deliberation, I set aside my own reputation and claimed I was pregnant with your child…”
“I’ve always treated you with propriety—why would they believe such a far-fetched claim?” Xing Muzheng was, in fact, a cold and restrained man, not one to indulge in lust or passion. Though he’d spent years outside the capital, he never frequented brothels. The courtesan Xiangyue, gifted to him by an old general, he treated as no more than a servant and never touched. Other beauties offered to him by flatterers, he’d given away without hesitation. Even with Feng Yuyan throwing herself at him repeatedly, he had never been moved.
Feng Yuyan’s eyes flickered. “W-well… that night on my birthday, you got drunk and rested in my courtyard, so I said…”
Xing Muzheng pretended to suddenly understand. “Ah, that night. Then… how much did I drink that night?”
“How much did the Marquis drink that night?” Qian Jiaoniang’s voice rang out from behind the curtain—she stepped out, speaking in unison with Xing Muzheng.
