For a moment, all the blood in his body seemed to freeze. In weather this cold, he felt as though the air itself carried blades, drilling straight into human skin.
The Wen family had been wiped out?
There was no such coincidence in this world!
The only person he could think of was Wen Mingfeng, that rebellious b*stard.
That man was like a vicious dog, always ready to leap up and bite someone at any moment.
The Wen family had always treated both him and his mother terribly because of his birth. He had hated the Wen family to the bone, and whenever he mentioned them, his attitude was always icy cold.
But never in his wildest dreams had Duke Cheng expected him to exterminate the entire Wen family.
And moreover…
Thinking of his own guess, Duke Cheng instantly felt chills crawl over his scalp. “What does the extermination of the Wen family have to do with me?”
As though waiting specifically for him to ask that question, Lai Chenglong looked down at him with a half-smile and leaned slightly forward, flinging out a blood-written letter.
His expression was cold, every word sharp as a blade. “Someone from the Wen family left behind a blood letter stating clearly that Wen Mingfeng is not a member of the Wen family by blood, but the Duke’s biological son.”
With a loud uproar, everyone present cried out in disbelief.
Even with Xiao Yunting there, the shock among the crowd could not be suppressed.
No—not just shock.
There was disbelief and utter absurdity as well.
Things in this world could be ridiculous, but they could not possibly be this ridiculous.
Wen Mingfeng?
That Wen Mingfeng who had previously been caught secretly sleeping with Ling Qiang in the back courtyard was actually Duke Cheng’s illegitimate son?!
Good heavens!
Not even opera scripts would dare write something like this!
Then wouldn’t Wen Mingfeng actually be Ling Qiang’s biological younger uncle?!
A niece and her uncle?
What exactly was the Ling family doing?!
Earlier, Ling Chuhan had switched the hunting dogs, throwing everyone into chaos and making them all lose face. The eldest young master of the Xiang family had nearly been beaten to death by Duke Cheng, and even Miss Qi had almost been strangled to death by him.
Meanwhile, Wen Mingfeng and Ling Qiang had been secretly fooling around in the back courtyard, an uncle and niece in an illicit affair.
And now Duke Cheng had exterminated the Wen family over the matter of an illegitimate son!
The Wen family was too miserable, wasn’t it?!
They helped raise someone else’s son, and once the truth came out, they got wiped out for it!
For some reason, Xiang Jie and Second Madam Qi subconsciously both turned to look at Qi Yuan.
Could things in this world really coincidentally all happen at once like this?
All the scandals of Duke Cheng’s household had rushed out in a single day.
As if the King of H*ll’s palace had suddenly become short of souls.
Of course there couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence in this world.
Qi Yuan lowered her head, a trace of a smile flashing through her eyes.
Wen Mingfeng killing the Wen family had actually long been decided.
In her previous life, Wen Mingfeng had done the same thing.
He had even personally chopped off the head of that so-called father of his.
In this life, Wen Mingfeng had also long made all the preparations. He had merely been waiting for a single order from her before the bandits he had bribed would massacre the entire Wen household.
Qi Yuan had merely used a few methods to leak the news ahead of time.
The Wen family were no saints either. To curry favor with and gain leverage over Duke Cheng, they had cooperated with the Crown Prince’s schemes and offered up a beautiful concubine.
Afterward, however, they poured all their hatred onto that pitiful woman.
Over the years they had also done many disgraceful things for the Crown Prince.
Wen Mingfeng and they were simply dogs biting dogs, completely undeserving of sympathy.
“Has Duke Cheng’s household gone mad?!”
“Like father, like son. Duke Cheng cuckolded someone for decades, no wonder his granddaughter is so shameless too.”
“Did that Wen Mingfeng even know his own background?”
“Could he have deliberately seduced Ling Qiang to take revenge on Duke Cheng?”
Comments like these poured endlessly into Duke Cheng’s ears.
His heart beat faster and faster. Rage and humiliation spread over him overwhelmingly. He stretched out a hand and had only just opened his mouth when, before he could speak, a mouthful of blood suddenly sprayed out first.
Lai Chenglong swiftly dodged aside.
The blood splattered entirely onto the ground.
After coughing up that mouthful of blood, Duke Cheng’s face turned purplish-red. He staggered forward once before collapsing face-first onto the floor.
Second Madam Qi was stunned.
She tightly gripped Qi Yuan’s hand and nervously swallowed.
Earlier she had hated the people of Duke Cheng’s household so fiercely that she wished they would all die out within a single day.
But that had merely been an extreme thought born from her fury. She herself knew such a thing was impossible.
Yet now it had truly happened.
How had Yuan Jie’er done this?!
How could she have calculated everything so precisely?!
Xiang Jie felt even more horrified.
The look in his eyes as he stared at Qi Yuan changed completely. Even when Duke Cheng had beaten him earlier, he had not been this frightened.
Qi Yuan watched Duke Cheng collapse expressionlessly, sneering inwardly.
Laugh now.
Hadn’t they all been arrogant just moments ago?
From top to bottom, every single person in Duke Cheng’s household was disgustingly overbearing.
They never treated human lives as lives, nor did they know what restraint meant.
Qi Yuan asked herself honestly, she had never offended Duke Cheng’s household.
Previously, when Duchess Cheng had gotten into trouble after eating Liu Mingzhu’s pastries at the Liu residence, it was Qi Yuan who had helped induce vomiting and save her from danger.
Yet not only had the woman shown no gratitude, she had instead insisted on treating Qi Yuan as an enemy.
If someone wanted to be her enemy, then they had better be prepared for what that meant.
Lai Chenglong frowned and waved a broad hand. “Help the Duke up and take him away!”
After speaking, he cupped his hands toward Xiao Yunting. “Your Highness, this subordinate takes his leave.”
Originally he had wanted to say a few words to Qi Yuan, but after thinking about it, he ultimately said nothing.
Xiao Yunting gave a quiet acknowledgment before turning to look at Master Xiang. “The hunting dogs being switched is no small matter. I had originally intended to attend the banquet as well. How can we know whether Ling Chuhan switched the dogs merely intending to bite two children to death, or whether he was actually targeting me?”
What?!
Master Xiang suddenly raised his head.
He understood now.
His Highness the Imperial Grandson was afraid Duke Cheng’s household wouldn’t die thoroughly enough!
Wasn’t this openly accusing Duke Cheng’s household of attempting to assassinate the Imperial Grandson?!
He nervously glanced at Xiao Yunting, then at Qi Yuan, finally beginning to understand.
His Highness… was this supporting Miss Qi?
Not only had he realized it, Xiang Jie had as well.
For a moment, his emotions were indescribably complicated.
His Highness the Imperial Grandson was worrying unnecessarily.
Even if His Highness had not shot that arrow earlier, Lai Chenglong would have arrived the next instant.
There was no way Duke Cheng could have harmed Qi Yuan in the slightest.
No, it should be said that from beginning to end, Duke Cheng and everyone in his household had all been fish on Qi Yuan’s chopping block. She held the knife and could cut them however she pleased.
Well then.
Originally, he had still been worried about how this matter could possibly be resolved.
Now it seemed there was no need to worry at all.
Instead, Ling Chuhan now didn’t even have anyone left to collect his corpse.
He swallowed hard, thinking to himself that Miss Qi’s blade truly killed without shedding blood.
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