Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 157 Drawing Eyes

Changfeng frowned deeply. For so many years, he had dreamed of finding the truth. He had never known what the object was, but it seemed to be the key evidence. If he could find it, perhaps the Zhang family's case could be overturned! The Zhang family was not some traitorous villain!
"I don't know... They couldn't find it when they searched the house in the end." Uncle Liu shook his head and said, "It's said that it contained a secret. Perhaps the owner of this secret didn't want it to be revealed to the world, so he framed our Zhang family!"

Changfeng shook his head. He was completely clueless; he had never even heard of this object before.

"Who is that corrupt official? Was the assassination successful? Could it be revenge from the official's family? Since he's corrupt, there must be a lot of evidence against him. I'm afraid it might be reported to the Censorate," Changfeng said after a moment's thought.

"You and I are thinking the same thing. It's said that the corrupt official's surname was... right, it was Yan, and his name was... Yan Lizhuo! His wife was also assassinated, and he had a son named Yan Mingzhang, who was only five years old. My elder brother was kind-hearted and thought he was about your age, so he took pity on him and let him go. Who knew that this child was so intelligent and could remember so many things? When he returned to the Yan family, he told the Yan clan about these things. Do you think the Yan clan would let our Zhang family go? Alas, I never thought that in the end, a child would cause our family to be destroyed."

"What did you say?" Changfeng's face turned ashen after hearing this, and he stood there stunned.

Uncle Liu seemed oblivious to Changfeng's unusual behavior and continued muttering, "By the way, Changfeng, isn't your master an official? Does he know this family surnamed Yan?"

"Sixth Uncle, don't talk nonsense. The Yan family wouldn't do such a thing." Changfeng shook his head firmly, as if trying to convince himself.

"Changfeng, what are you saying? Those are enemies who wiped out an entire family! You still sympathize with them! Who sympathizes with you! None of the Yan family members are good people, they all deserve to die!" Uncle Liu looked furious, seeing Changfeng's wandering eyes, then suddenly realized something, as if remembering something, "By the way, Changfeng, what's your master's name? He... his surname is Yan?"

Changfeng turned his face away, not looking at his sixth uncle. He didn't say anything, seemingly having tacitly agreed.

"His surname is Yan, isn't it?" Uncle Liu suddenly glared angrily. "You...you unfilial son! You've betrayed your master! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!"

Ignoring his leg injury, Sixth Uncle made a move to get up and rush out, shouting, "I'm going to kill this Yan bastard! To avenge my entire Zhang family!"

"Sixth Uncle, stop joking. Could you be mistaken? We have no evidence right now. The Yan family wouldn't be like this. I know them after all these years. Madam Yan and Master Yan are both very good people. They're the ones who rescued me from the brokerage."

"What? They rescued you? Why don't you tell me who sold you in there? If it weren't for that Yan family, you'd still be the eldest son of the Zhang family! What do you know? They ruined our family so badly. Then they pretended to be good people and bought you to be their servant. What kind of redemption is that? Isn't that just another kind of humiliation? Changfeng, are you stupid? Can't you see through this?" Uncle Liu pounded the bed board, furious.

"Sixth Uncle, you should rest first. I'm a bit confused, and I want to be alone for a while." Changfeng's expression was grave as he rubbed his temples. "Also, don't mess with the Yan family. Don't mess with our family... don't mess with Lord Yan. I'll handle this myself. Let me think about it. I will avenge what I owe. But, every wrong has its perpetrator, and I will find the real culprit!"

Sixth Uncle was somewhat embarrassed and pursed his lips. He had just been bluffing. If he were really asked to kill Yan Mingzhang now, he couldn't do it!
Sixth Uncle lay back down, sighed, and calmed down a bit: "Alright, I'll listen to you. I'm so glad you've come to your senses. We're not just going to take down this Lord Yan. We're going to kill all those hypocritical members of the Yan family! If we don't kill them, I won't be able to quell my anger. You hurry up and think of what to do. After all, they are officials, and we are just ordinary people."

Changfeng didn't answer directly, but simply tucked the blanket around Uncle Liu: "Uncle Liu, we can discuss this later. Your leg is still not feeling well, so please rest more. I'll go get you a bowl of plum juice; you didn't eat much for dinner..."

"Good, good, good child..." Uncle Liu nodded, very happy. He was a filial child. Changfeng opened the door with a "creak," and two people almost fell in: Mo Yun and Rong Wanyin.

The two gave an awkward smile, feeling guilty and not daring to look at Changfeng.

"Um...the moon is so round tonight! We..." Rong Wanyin looked at Changfeng's ashen face, pointed to the sky, and casually made up a story, "We're admiring the moon..."

“Yes…yes…” Mo Yun echoed.

"..." Changfeng glanced at the two of them, then left without a word, leaving Moyun and Rong Wanyin looking at each other in bewilderment.

The two exchanged a worried glance: Could Changfeng really be seeking revenge? No way? He shouldn't…

Both of them tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The next morning, they both came to see Yan Mingzhang with dark circles under their eyes and told him what they had heard the night before.

"No, Changfeng isn't that kind of person. I believe him." Yan Mingzhang was only focused on drawing eyes on the paper. He had already drawn many pictures, and the papers were piled up in a large stack.

Rong Wanyin craned her neck, wanting to see the painting on the scroll. The painting seemed to depict a person. Rong Wanyin's curiosity was suddenly piqued, and she moved closer. The scroll depicted a pair of eyes. Yes, only a pair of eyes, a pair of somewhat familiar eyes. The eyes were somewhat long and narrow, with pupils like water, and seemed to hold many complex emotions.

"These eyes... I feel like I've seen them somewhere before." Rong Wanyin picked up a piece of osmanthus cake from the table, stuffed the whole piece into her mouth, patted the crumbs off her hands, and muttered.

Rong Wanyin was about to look through the paintings when Yan Mingzhang interrupted her. Without even looking up, Yan Mingzhang uttered a few words: "Wipe your hands!"

Rong Wanyin stuck out her tongue, wiped her hands clean on a damp cloth, and then carefully flipped through the large stack of papers one by one—eyes, all eyes!

The more Rong Wanyin looked at them, the more uneasy she felt. She felt a chill run down her spine from being stared at by those eyes. She shivered, quickly gathered the paintings together, and dared not touch them again. She thought to herself, "Is he sick? So many eyes in the paintings, it's so creepy!"

Rong Wanyin put the painting down with disdain and stuffed a small, fancy tea cake into her mouth.

Yan Mingzhang glanced at her and frowned. "Doctor Yan instructed that although these pastries are delicious, eating too many is not good and can easily cause indigestion. Go and move around a bit later. I just had someone prepare some hawthorn drink for you. You can drink some as well. Also, prepare some easily digestible Eight Treasure Cake to nourish your spleen and stomach."

Knowing she was in the wrong, Rong Wanyin obediently agreed.