Denghuangtai

"My lady."

The residence of the General of the Five Offices.

Feng Lingsu was sitting in front of her dressing table, and the maid behind her was carefully removing the hair ornament from her head.

Ban Qing hurriedly entered the house, heading straight to the inner room, a smile he could hardly hide on his face.

Upon seeing Feng Lingsu, he excitedly exclaimed, "It's done! I've already..."

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Lingsu turned and glared at him, annoyed that he was speaking so recklessly in front of outsiders.

Ban Qing was stunned by Feng Lingsu's gaze, swallowed the words that were about to come out, forced a flattering smile on his face, stepped forward, and chased the maid away. He then took the place of the maid and removed the last few hairpins from Feng Lingsu's head.

With her black hair loose, Ban Qing picked up the ivory-carved comb from the table and carefully combed Feng Lingsu's hair. He then used a finer-toothed comb to comb it from head to toe. After this, Feng Lingsu immediately felt refreshed, and even her irritable mood improved.

"Is it done?"

She half-closed her eyes and asked softly.

Ban Qing leaned down and kissed her behind the ear, excitedly saying, "It's done! I had someone tie up that lame jailer's grandson and secretly add a sleeping potion to the jailers' food. It's a drug used in the countryside to put mad donkeys to sleep; an ordinary person only needs a little bit to fall asleep for several hours. Just to be on the safe side, I made sure that lame guy put the whole packet in there. By the time they wake up, Pei Qingyan will be dead."

"Aren't you afraid now?" Feng Lingsu teased.

"To be honest, I'm still afraid," Ban Qing confessed truthfully. "But if we keep Pei Qingyan alive out of fear and give her another chance to live, the Ban and Feng clans will be in big trouble in the future."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ban Qing embraced Feng Lingsu from behind, buried his chin in her shoulder, closed his eyes, and slowly kissed her neck. "Xijun, over the years, I have finally accomplished a great thing for the Ban family. When the news of Pei Qingyan's death spreads tomorrow, I will send a letter to my brother to claim credit."

Feng Lingsu closed her eyes, tilted her head back to make it easier for Ban Qing to kiss her, and stroked Ban Qing's face with her hand. "You stayed in the capital and lived under the surveillance of the royal family. Without you, the Ban family could not have developed its influence in the Northwest. You have always been a meritorious official of the Ban family. There is no need to belittle yourself."

"That's different."

Ban Qing released his grip on Feng Lingsu, extinguished the candle in the inner room, and then turned to pick her up in his arms. Using the flickering candlelight in the outer room, Ban Qing made his way to the bedside.

"I come from a military family, but unfortunately I lack the talent for martial arts and cannot fight on the battlefield like my brothers and make contributions to the Ban family. This is the first time that I can help the Ban family get rid of a major threat without relying on others."

He paused, then smiled and said, "Of course, this is also thanks to my wife."

Feng Lingsu lay on her back, her arm around Ban Qing, a faint smile playing on her lips. "We are husband and wife, there's no need for thanks."

"You should thank me." Ban Qing lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "If it weren't for my wife's excellent guidance, I wouldn't be where I am today."

As soon as he finished speaking, his lips fell to the ground.

A ripple spread through the room...

Inside the cell, a cold glint flashed, and the masked man exuded murderous intent.

Just as the knife tip was about to pierce Pei Qingyan's heart, she suddenly opened her eyes from her dream, raised her hand and punched the masked man, her fist landing a few inches below his abdomen.

The masked man loosened his grip, clutching his lower abdomen and groaning silently in agony; the veins on his forehead bulged as he screamed.

Pei Qingyan sat up abruptly, picked up the dagger, and stabbed at the masked man.

Seeing this, the masked man ignored his cries of pain, dodged the attack, and then drew a short knife from his waist.

The sound of clashing blades rang out immediately, and the cell was filled with flashing swords as the two men grappled with each other.

Pei Qingyan was injured and had a fever. After only a few blows, his vision went black and he saw stars.

Seeing her weakening state, the masked man seized the opportunity to launch an even fiercer attack. Pei Qingyan was forced to retreat, constantly dodging within the cell.

Seeing that she was about to run out of energy, Pei Qingyan knew he couldn't keep going. "If this continues, I'm afraid I'll really be done for today. I need to find a chance to escape."

Pei Qingyan suddenly kicked the masked man in the abdomen. Having learned from the previous incident, the masked man immediately dodged and retreated.

Seeing this, Pei Qingyan immediately turned and ran towards the door. But the masked man wouldn't give her a chance to escape. He caught up and stabbed at Pei Qingyan in the back.

Pei Qingyan sensed a gust of wind coming from behind and immediately dodged, the blade grazing her shoulder. Having failed in her first strike, the masked man twisted his wrist and brought the blade down on Pei Qingyan's head.

Pei Qingyan blocked the attack with his sword, but his arms went numb from the blow, and he staggered back dozens of steps.

At this moment, she had completely exhausted her strength, and her vision was blurring. Even though the masked man raised his hand to strike again, she had no strength left.

The short sword gleamed coldly. Pei Qingyan knelt on the ground, secretly grabbing a handful of dust. She stared at the direction from which the short sword was coming, and as she quietly raised her hand, just as she was about to throw the dust away, a gust of wind suddenly swept past her, and a gray-robed man flew over and kicked the masked man.

The masked man was kicked backward repeatedly, and the gray-robed man pressed his advantage.

On the other side, Pei Qingyan used his short sword to support himself on the ground and slowly stood up, his eyes fixed on the two fighting. In his other hand, he was holding dust in his hand, just in case.

Fortunately, the gray-robed man was clearly stronger, and the masked man was forced to retreat, completely unable to fight back. In just a few breaths, the masked man was knocked to the ground by the gray-robed man.

The gray-robed man pressed his sword against the masked man's neck. "How is Marquis Yin'an?"

"Thanks to you, I'm still alive." Pei Qingyan wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand, walked quickly to the two men, and ripped off the masked man's mask.

Beneath the face mask was an extremely ordinary face.

Seeing that he was about to be captured, the masked man did not struggle or beg for mercy, but decisively opened his mouth to bite his tongue.

Pei Qingyan reacted quickly, grabbing the masked man's chin and applying force. With a snap, the masked man's jaw was dislocated.

She clapped her hands, pointed at the masked man, and said, "I need to interrogate him. Please pull out all his teeth."

After saying that, she stood up and stepped aside, giving the gray-robed man room to maneuver.

She must have been too agitated, because everything went black before her eyes and she collapsed to the ground.

She lay on the ground, countless images flashing before her eyes inexplicably.

Legend has it that people can see their past before they die. However, she never expected that she would see her short twenty years in prison.

Before plunging into darkness, Pei Qingyan let out a long sigh in his heart.

She finally couldn't take it anymore...

Father, brother, I'm sorry that I couldn't get justice for the soldiers who died in the north.

"I hope you walk slowly on your way to the underworld, and wait for me."

Tears slowly slid down his cheeks. Pei Qingyan could no longer hold back and slowly closed his eyes.