Denghuangtai

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell completely silent.

Feng Lingsu and Ban Qing quickly exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

"How did he know?" the two wondered to themselves.

The actions of the Feng and Ban clans were clearly extremely secretive, with their troops concealed in the mountains and forests, making it impossible for them to be detected.

"The Xiongnu in the northern border are eyeing us covetously. Originally, the court did not intend to investigate the underhanded methods of the Feng and Ban clans, but you two should never have had such thoughts. Sending someone to assassinate someone in the imperial prison, you two have quite the audacity."

Yun Zheng's voice was flat and emotionless, but his words struck the Feng couple like a thunderbolt, leaving them momentarily at a loss.

"Now that I've said this much, if you don't obediently come with me to the imperial prison, don't blame me for taking action."

"Grand Marshal, why did you come so late at night? Was it to capture the mastermind, or to avenge Pei Qingyan?" Having come this far, Feng Lingsu decided to throw caution to the wind, "My husband and I were outmaneuvered and have been caught red-handed. But Grand Marshal, are you truly innocent?"

"You're threatening me?" Yun Zheng's eyes showed a hint of surprise. For many years, no one had dared to be so audacious as to threaten him when he was about to die.

"If you haven't done anything wrong, why are you afraid of being threatened?" Feng Lingsu was uneasy, but she still mustered up her courage and stammered out the rest of her words.

"The Empress Dowager hates Pei Qingyan to the core and has repeatedly planned to get rid of him. But what about you, Grand Minister of Works?" Feng Lingsu composed herself and continued, "You secretly colluded with others to plead for Pei Qingyan and incited the people to petition at the palace gates. Does the Empress Dowager know about any of these things?"

"Yes," Ban Qing immediately agreed upon hearing his wife's words. "If the Empress Dowager knew that the nephew she raised was doing all sorts of sabotage things behind her back, do you think she would still trust you so much?"

"Of course not," Feng Lingsu answered for Yun Zheng, her arms crossed, looking confident. "So, rather than both of us suffering losses, it's better for each of us to back down."

"How can we each take a step back?" Yun Zheng asked with great interest.

"Simple." Feng Lingsu clapped her hands. "Let's pretend nothing happened today. You don't know what my husband and I did, and we'll pretend you didn't. From now on, let's keep to ourselves. Isn't that great?"

"What if I don't want to?" Yun Zheng sneered.

Upon hearing this, Feng Lingsu scoffed, her eyes filled with resolute ruthlessness, "Then we'll go all in, and no one will get away unscathed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent again. Outside, the wind and snow howled, and the biting wind, along with snowflakes, swirled and poured into the room through the doorway.

The three people inside the room were in a standoff, with Yun Zheng facing Ban Feng and his wife alone.

After a long silence, Yun Zheng gave a cold laugh, "So you're determined to refuse a toast only to suffer the consequences."

"Whether it's a toast or a penalty drink, it all depends on the Grand Marshal's choice," Feng Lingsu retorted, not to be outdone.

"Heh." Yun Zheng scoffed, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at Feng Lingsu. In his entire life, apart from being defeated by Pei Qingyan, he had never yielded to anyone else.

"Since you think you can threaten me with baseless accusations, then go ahead and try. We'll meet at Jianzhang Palace first thing tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Yun Zheng strode out and plunged into the vast snowstorm. Seeing this, Feng Xing and the others turned around and followed behind Yun Zheng. The group walked out in a grand procession.

Inside the house, Mr. and Mrs. Feng looked at each other, both at a loss for what to do.

"etc!"

Ultimately, before Yun Zheng's figure disappeared from their sight, the two were defeated. Feng Lingsu pinched Ban Qing, who immediately understood and called out to Yun Zheng.

"Grand Commander, it's late and the snow is falling heavily. Why rush off? Why not sit down and talk some more?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Zheng stopped in his tracks, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

He had long anticipated that the couple, though outwardly fierce, were actually cowardly and wouldn't dare to take any real risks, so they asked him to report the matter to Empress Dowager Yun.

It's true that Empress Dowager Yun wanted to kill Pei Qingyan, but she wouldn't allow anyone to tamper with the imperial prison, let alone send assassins in. This was a provocation against imperial power. Even if they wanted to kill Empress Dowager Yun's most trusted nemesis, as the regent, she would never easily let go of those who challenged imperial power and disregarded the law.

"Grand Minister of Works".

Seeing that Yun Zheng did not react, Ban Qing ran down the steps and ran to Yun Zheng, grabbing his sleeve.

"Grand Commander, come in and have another cup of hot tea."

Ban Qing was quite a genius, able to bend and stretch, and his mood could change faster than turning the pages of a book. Just a moment ago he was all tense and ready to fight, but now he was all smiles, as if he had a deep friendship with Yun Zheng.

Yun Zheng went along with Ban Qing and went inside.

"Grand Commander, I won't beat around the bush anymore. Please show us what to do so that you will show leniency and let us go."

Unlike Ban Qing, Feng Lingsu immediately appeared somewhat unnatural. She had a stern face, her brows furrowed, and she couldn't even manage a smile. Her tone was also dry and unnatural.

"It would have been better if you had said so earlier," Yun Zheng said with a forced smile.

"I won't waste any more words, let's make a deal."

The mention of the word "deal" suddenly reminded Yun Zheng of the time in the imperial prison that day, when Pei Qingyan's beautiful eyes stared intently at her as he smiled and said, "Grand Minister, shall we make a deal?"

At that time, Pei Qingyan's eyebrows were curved, like a beautiful little fox, and the cunning in his eyes could not be concealed.

Even though he saw through her little scheme, Yun Zheng couldn't bring himself to refuse her. He could only accompany her and willingly fall into the trap set by "Pei Qingyan" and be used by her.