Denghuangtai

"General Pei," Li Ji said anxiously, turning back to earnestly advise, "General, things have come to this point, please don't be stubborn anymore. Admitting your guilt sooner will save you from further suffering, won't it?"

"All twelve members of the Pei family perished in battle. The Pei family has done right by the Great Zhao Dynasty. The Pei family is innocent." Pei Qingyan raised his eyes, staring straight at Yun Zheng, and gritted his teeth as he continued, word by word, "This Marquis does not plead guilty."

"Ancestors! We're prisoners now, what are you doing putting on airs like a lord?" Li Ji cursed and wailed inwardly, thinking, "Don't you even know who you're talking to? You dare to jeer at a ruthless living devil? You're really tired of living."

"You won't plead guilty? The annihilation of 30,000 troops at Yixiantian was surely due to Pei Xuan's poor command, wasn't it?" Yun Zheng stared at the wound on Pei Qingyan's wrist, his dark eyes as deep and unfathomable as an abyss, devoid of any warmth.

"Mismanship?" Pei Qingyan laughed out loud as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "The Xiongnu invaded our northern border, and my father, Pei Xuan, led troops to support them, but they were ambushed at Yixiantian in Linhe County. At that time, Linhe County was still part of the Great Zhao territory. Why were there Xiongnu people there? Who let the Xiongnu in from the north? And who sheltered the Xiongnu people hiding at Yixiantian?"

Pei Qingyan's eyes were filled with hatred as she looked at Yun Zheng. "Instead of investigating the mastermind behind this, you're just pushing the blame onto the Pei family. Do you dare say you have no ulterior motives?"

Her words were firm and resolute, her body trembling with pain and excitement. Even so, she did her best to straighten her almost unbearable back, her eyes fixed on Yun Zheng.

Yun Zheng neither dodged nor moved, but stared back coldly.

Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Pei Qingyan sneered and continued, "If you don't dare to say it, I will say it for you. In the sixteenth year of Jianyuan, during the Northern Expedition, your father Yun Heng was punished by my father for delaying the battle. If it weren't for His Majesty's protection, your aunt, Empress Yun, would have made my father pay for her brother's life."

She paused, then sneered, "Now that His Majesty has passed away and a new ruler has ascended the throne, the former Empress has become the Empress Dowager, regent and holding immense power. I am the only one left alive in the Pei family, so naturally you want to pin all your dirty laundry on us to avenge your past grievances. Unfortunately for you, even if I am the only one left in the Pei family, I will not let you succeed so easily. Forget about it!"

"General, be careful what you say!" Li Jili scolded.

"Be careful what you say?"

Pei Qingyan raised her voice slightly, "If they dare to do this, are they afraid of what I say? Besides, can being cautious in my words stop them from smearing my Pei family? Can they bring my father and brothers back from the dead? Can they bring back the 30,000 soldiers who died unjustly? No!"

Overwhelmed with resentment, Pei Qingyan's voice trembled.

"They're just waiting for me to hesitate and remain silent, so they can pin baseless accusations on my Pei clan! I won't let them get away with it! I'll argue, I'll speak out, and even if I die, I'll leave a glorious mark on history. It's better than living a cowardly life, letting them nail my Pei clan to the annals of history, leaving an everlasting stain!"

"General, please stop talking," Li Ji pleaded helplessly, his eyes filled with pleas. He wished he could shut Pei Qingyan up to prevent her from spouting any more nonsense and completely offending Yun Zheng, the living devil.

However, given the current situation, he dared not make any move and could only pray in his heart that this ancestor would shut up.

Unfortunately, Pei Qingyan couldn't hear his thoughts. Instead of calming down, she became even more agitated.

"What's there to be afraid of? Even when I'm at Weiyang Palace, I still say the same things. I'm completely open and honest."

Pei Qingyan's eyes gleamed with anger as he pointed a finger at Yun Zheng. "But you lot, do you dare say you're completely honest and selfless?"

Li Ji was terrified by her roar, thinking to himself that this Marquis Yin'an was really courting death, repeatedly challenging his bottom line.

This time, he dared not speak up to plead for Pei Qingyan again, and silently shrank to the side, lest he, a nobody, be caught in the crossfire of the battle of the gods.

To his surprise, Yun Zheng did not show any anger in the face of Pei Qingyan's questioning and provocation; his eyes still held an intense and unyielding gloom.

In fact, the curve of Yun Zheng's lips deepened even more.

"It seems the sandstorms of the North are nothing special. Instead of smoothing out General Pei's rough edges, they've only made your sharp bones even more razor-sharp," Yun Zheng said calmly, looking down at Pei Qingyan.

"I hope that General Pei can maintain this proud spirit in a few days."

After saying that, Yun Zheng shifted his gaze to Li Ji, who was standing to the side. "Remove the shackles from General Pei's hands and feet. In her current state, let alone escaping from prison, she'll probably have a hard time even crawling to the door."

Li Ji responded and stepped forward to untie the ropes binding Pei Qingyan's hands, but the knots were too strong, and he tried for a long time without success. Instead, he repeatedly touched the wound on Pei Qingyan's wrist, causing Pei Qingyan to frown repeatedly.

"Get out of the way."

Just as Li Ji was in a flurry of activity, Yun Zheng's cold voice rang out from behind him.

Li Ji instinctively dodged, but a cold glint flashed before his eyes, and a sharp blade swept down, precisely striking the gap between Pei Qingyan's two wrists, causing the rope to fall to the ground.

Yun Zheng followed the same method, removing the restraints from Pei Qingyan's feet and handing the knife back to the servant behind him.

He looked coldly at Pei Qingyan, "I'll give you three days to think it over. Decide whether you want to plead guilty and accept punishment, or remain stubbornly unrepentant."

After saying this, Yun Zheng turned and left the cell.

With Yun Zheng no longer in front of him, Pei Qingyan's carefully maintained composure vanished instantly. He felt dizzy and collapsed face down to the ground.

Upon hearing the noise outside the door, Yun Zheng stopped abruptly, turned around abruptly, and rushed to Pei Qingyan's side.

In the dead of winter, Pei Qingyan lay on the cold ground in thin clothes, his eyes half-closed, his consciousness barely conscious.

At this moment, Yun Zheng felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly, the pain almost suffocating him. The worry and panic in his eyes could no longer be suppressed and surged forth like a tidal wave.

He instinctively bent down, wanting to pick Pei Qingyan up from the ground and take her to a warm and safe place to recover properly, but as soon as he reached out, alarm bells rang in his mind.

Don't act impulsively!

He had gone to great lengths to persuade his aunt to hand over the task of interrogating Pei Qingyan to him.

Even so, his aunt might not be entirely at ease with him. Inside the imperial prison, countless eyes were watching from the shadows, and anyone could be an informant planted by his aunt.

If he dared to show even the slightest reluctance towards Pei Qingyan at this moment, his aunt might receive the news the next moment.

If that's the case, all his previous preparations and maneuvering will have been in vain!

In a few breaths, Yun Zheng concealed his emotions again. He squatted down and pretended to indifferently check Pei Qingyan's breath. The faint airflow made his anxious heart relax a little.

Yun Zheng withdrew his hand, stood up, tore off his cloak, and threw it at Pei Qingyan.

"Your Court of Justice is becoming increasingly thoughtless," Yun Zheng said, giving Li Ji a cold glance. "In this freezing weather, you're only giving criminals thin clothing. How..."

Yun Zheng paused slightly, his words now laced with sarcasm and coldness, a half-smile playing on his lips as he said, "So you want to freeze her to death, ending her suffering quickly and painlessly?"

Li Ji opened his mouth, wanting to say that these were all old rules of the imperial prison, and that he had not done it intentionally.

But Yun Zheng didn't wait for him to explain before turning around and leaving the cell.

Before leaving, he said, "She'll get the cloak. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't die."

After saying that, Yun Zheng walked out without looking back.

The snow fell even harder, and the sparse snowflakes that were falling earlier turned into swirling snowballs that filled the sky, turning the world into a vast expanse of white.

The chill emanating from Yun Zheng was comparable to the bitter cold of the raging blizzard. His entourage all lowered their heads and looked away, none daring to provoke this man's aura.

Yun Zheng boarded the carriage aggressively, declaring, "Let's go back to the manor."

As the wheels rolled, Yun Zheng sat alone in the warm carriage, heated by the incense burner. His long-suppressed emotions finally found an outlet. He slammed his fist on the mahogany table, which shattered instantly. Splinters of wood cut his hand in countless ways, drawing blood.

Yun Zheng, however, seemed oblivious to the pain, letting his hands hang limply as blood dripped onto the floral carpet, splattering into countless red plum blossoms...

Inside the prison, Li Ji watched Yun Zheng's figure disappear completely. He let out a long sigh, changed from kneeling to sitting, and looked back at Pei Qingyan, who had fallen into a coma, shaking his head helplessly.

She's already so badly injured, why be so stubborn? If she confesses and admits her guilt sooner, given her military achievements, at worst she'll lose her official rank and title, and at least her life will be spared. But if she continues to insist and refuses to confess, she might not even be able to save her life.

Thinking of this, Li Ji couldn't help but sigh, stand up, look at Pei Qingyan, and murmur, "If you were smarter, you would understand the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils."

After saying that, Li Ji left the cell. His footsteps faded into the distance and gradually disappeared. The light inside the cell dimmed again, with only a faint glow on the stone wall outside.

Pei Qingyan opened his eyes, his gaze sharp. He scoffed inwardly, "Choose the lesser of two evils? I'm not surrendering to go back to the capital to die. I will protect the Pei family's reputation and my own life!"