Denghuangtai

"General Pei has no need for anyone else. You can just stand aside and watch the show."

Upon hearing Yun Zheng's voice, Pei Qingyan immediately rolled her eyes and yelled, "Yun Zheng, you son of a bitch!"

Upon being addressed as "Grandpa" again, Yun Zheng slightly curled his lips, slowly walked to the edge of the pit, and looked down at her. "General Pei, I'd like to kindly remind you that you are currently being held captive here by the Empress Dowager..."

"The imperial decree clearly states that I am to perform a ritual to appease the spirits of the three armies who died unjustly, to comfort their loyal souls," Pei Qingyan sneered, mockingly adding, "May I ask, can you distinguish between confinement and performing a ritual to appease the spirits of the dead by imperial decree?"

"Oh." Yun Zheng wasn't embarrassed at all when he was exposed. He said confidently, "Is that so? Maybe I misunderstood. But it doesn't matter. You're here, so you can't go out and complain. You can only be like a fish on a chopping board, at my mercy."

Pei Qingyan, not to be outdone, retorted sarcastically, "How do you plan to slaughter me? With this shabby pit? And a pit lined with cotton, do you think it can hurt anyone?"

"It's not about whether this thing can hurt anyone; it's enough that it can insult General Pei."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingyan felt as if she had been stabbed by an arrow. To think that she, a general who had fought countless battles, could fall into a trap inside a house without any warning was truly humiliating.

Seeing Pei Qingyan's face turn from red to green, growing increasingly gloomy, Yun Zheng squatted down and, speaking to Pei Qingyan at the bottom of the pit, said in a rather pleasant tone, "General Pei, this is both a warning and a reminder. I've set traps and mechanisms all around this courtyard. If you stay inside and recite scriptures obediently, you'll be fine. But if you try to sneak out like yesterday..."

Yun Zheng looked at the broken stones on the ground with his hand, "You'll be caught like a turtle in a jar, falling into a trap. The other places aren't paved with cotton, they're all covered with sharpened wooden stakes. As soon as someone goes in, they'll be riddled with holes."

"Yun Zheng, you son of a bitch!" Pei Qingyan gritted his teeth and cursed angrily.

Yun Zheng wasn't annoyed by the scolding; he just smiled and teased her, "Is this the only thing General Pei ever says?"

"I don't just curse! I can hit too!"

With a loud shout, Pei Qingyan stood beside Yun Zheng, exuding murderous intent. She rubbed her hands together, clenched her fists, and raised her hand to smash towards Yun Zheng's face.

The force she used was so great that even the beggar next to her felt the gust of wind. The beggar covered his mouth and, without thinking, rushed to Yun Zheng, intending to take the blow for him.

But as soon as she made a move, Yun Zheng held her down firmly.

Yun Zheng stood still, neither flinching nor avoiding, staring directly into Pei Qingyan's eyes.

He didn't move, but Pei Qingyan didn't hold back at all, and slammed the fist hard into Yun Zheng's face.

Yun Zheng remained unmoved and did not dodge.

"Since you're not going to dodge, don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll beat you black and blue today," Pei Qingyan thought to himself.

However, she vaguely felt the force of the punch suddenly become weak and powerless. Just as she was wondering about this, her heart suddenly clenched, her vision went black, and she fell forward.

"General Pei!" the beggar exclaimed in surprise.

Yun Zheng reached out and pulled Pei Qingyan into his arms in time, then instructed the beggar, "Call the old doctor over."

The old doctor rushed over from beside the medicine stove and saw Pei Qingyan lying quietly on the bed with her eyes closed and her breathing weak.

"Oh dear." The old doctor frowned. "Why is she making such a fuss after just waking up!"

Yun Zheng stared at Pei Qingyan without saying a word, his expression growing increasingly sinister.

Seeing this, the old doctor shook his head helplessly, silently taking the patient's pulse and checking his condition.

After a series of acupuncture treatments, Pei Qingyan, like someone who had been drowning and holding their breath, suddenly opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and slowly woke up.

"I'll go and bring General Pei his medicine from this morning. General Pei, you must not force yourself to use your internal energy again, otherwise if you faint like this a few more times, even a god would not be able to save you."

After giving his instructions in a hurry, the old doctor turned and left.

"You keep an eye on her," Yun Zheng coldly instructed before leaving the room.

Only Pei Qingyan, who had just regained consciousness, and the female slave girl called Beggar remained in the room.

Inside the study, the chief clerk was tidying up the room in the east side room when he suddenly heard footsteps. He looked up at the door and saw Yun Zheng slowly walking into the room. Just as the chief clerk was about to greet him, he saw Yun Zheng raise his hand and slap himself across the face.

The chief secretary froze on the spot. Just as he was hesitating whether to lower his head and pretend he didn't see it, or to go forward and check on his lord, he saw his lord raise his hand and slap him again!

Good heavens, what happened? How could I slap myself repeatedly?

The chief clerk couldn't stand it anymore. Even if the lord thought he had witnessed the lord's strange behavior and wanted to punish him, he would accept it!

The chief secretary rushed to Yun Zheng and grabbed his arm just as Yun Zheng was about to slap himself for the third time.

"My lord."

The chief secretary looked at Yun Zheng, whose face already showed a palm print, paused, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

What happened to Yunzheng?

How could the lord possibly speak too much with him? If it were some unspeakable reason, even if Yun Zheng dared to speak, the chief secretary would not dare to listen.

The chief secretary racked his brains but couldn't think of anything to say, so he could only hold Yun Zheng's arm and stand there awkwardly facing Yun Zheng.

The room was quiet, and the two of them stood frozen in place, speechless.

After a long while, Yun Zheng sighed, closed his eyes briefly, and said wearily, "I'm fine, you can go now."

The chief clerk shook his head, stubbornly standing still, and continued to press Yun Zheng down.

"Get down." Yun Zheng repeated himself, his attitude even more resolute, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

The chief clerk had followed him for many years and knew that this was a sign that Yun Zheng was about to get angry.

"Don't make me say it a third time," Yun Zheng warned coldly.

Having said all that, the Chief Clerk dared not linger any longer. With a sheepish look on his face, he released his grip and walked out the door. He was cautious, so after closing the door, he quietly crouched down by the door, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside.

As the door closed, Yun Zheng collapsed to the ground as if his spine had been suddenly removed. The scene of Pei Qingyan fainting in his arms kept flashing before his eyes. His heart felt like it had been squeezed tightly, and the pain was so intense that he couldn't breathe.

He didn't intend to hurt Pei Qingyan. He had a trap set in Pei Qingyan's house so that she would know there were traps around the house in advance, and that she would give up and stay in the house.

"Trying to trap me here? No way!"

At Hanxu Courtyard, Pei Qingyan slowly woke up. Even though she still felt weak all over, she still asked the beggar to deliver a harsh message to Yun Zheng on her behalf.

"Tell him that your great-aunt is under imperial decree to cultivate herself and must be going to the quiet room to meditate and practice alchemy. There's no way she can keep me here."

"This..." The beggar's expression was conflicted. One of these two men was the master who bought her, and the other was the first general who had shown her kindness. She couldn't afford to offend either of them, and she stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Little girl, you can go down now."

The old doctor appeared just in time with a bowl of medicine and rescued the beggar. The beggar bowed slightly to Pei Qingyan and fled the house as if escaping.

Inside the room, the old physician stood by the bed. While Pei Qingyan was drinking his medicine, he slowly spoke, "General, I shouldn't say much, but I've been watching this unfold these past few days, and I really have to speak out."

Pei Qingyan drank the medicine in one gulp, the bitterness of which made his face contort in pain.

"You are my savior, so please feel free to speak your mind."

Upon hearing this, the old physician waved his hand, "General, you are mistaken. I was merely following orders. The one who truly saved your life was the Grand Minister of Works."