Denghuangtai

Who would have thought that among the people personally selected by the late emperor were many who were loyal to Wang Fang? Pei Qingyan was forced by these people to fall off a cliff. If she hadn't been caught by a crooked tree halfway down the cliff, she would probably have been half-crippled if not dead.

She was stuck in the crooked tree all night. In the early morning, a farmer who was collecting herbs nearby found her, rescued her, and took her home.

At that time, Pei Qingyan had just experienced "betrayal" and was still shaken, so she dared not reveal her identity rashly. Therefore, when the farmer asked about her identity, she only said that she was a daughter of a merchant family in the city. She had encountered bandits while traveling, and all her servants and attendants had been killed by the bandits. She did not want to be humiliated by the bandits, so she simply jumped off a cliff.

In fact, there was an obvious flaw in her words. The clothes she was wearing were made of brocade, and it would be a serious crime of overstepping one's bounds, let alone for merchants or even for officials who were not from noble families, to wear them without permission.

Whether the farmer was inherently kind and honest, or simply failed to see the secret behind Pei Qingyan's clothing, he didn't doubt her at all upon hearing her story. Instead, he kindly offered to take her home.

However, Pei Qingyan was once bitten by a snake and was afraid of ropes for ten years. She dared not agree to it easily and could only stammer that she had actually run away from the marriage. If she went back now, her stepmother would give her to someone who could be her grandfather as a concubine.

When Pei Qingyan made up this excuse, he silently begged for forgiveness in his heart: Mother, I said this because of the circumstances, and I did not mean to tarnish your image in public. Please forgive me.

Of course, Pei Qingyan did not give a true account of this part later. He only vaguely said that he had agreed with the farmer to wait a day until things seemed calm outside before asking the farmer to help him send a letter to the capital.

The reason Pei Qingyan postponed this day was to secretly investigate this person's identity.

The farmer was honest and kind-hearted. Not only did he not guard against Pei Qingyan, he also let Pei Qingyan meet his bedridden mother. After observing him secretly, Pei Qingyan felt that the farmer did not look like someone else in disguise. Only then did he tear off his clothes and write a letter in blood.

There was no other way; the farmer's house was bare, barely enough to eat, let alone have any money for writing materials.

Just to be on the safe side, after watching the farmer go out to deliver the message, Pei Qingyan quietly left as well, setting several traps outside the cave where he had arranged to meet Yun Zheng...

Fortunately, this time, Pei Qingyan did not misplace his trust. The farmer followed the route Pei Qingyan gave him to the Grand Marshal's mansion, knocked on the heavy gate, and entered a place that was like a fairyland, resplendent in gold and jade. He also saw many gorgeous fairies.

The farmer, looking rather foolish, returned home with the princess's gift.

Yun Zheng received the news and rushed to the cave where Pei Qingyan was hiding.

After Pei Qingyan explained the whole story to the Princess and Yun Zheng, she was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep again.

The eldest princess and Yun Zheng then entered the palace to meet the late emperor.

The late emperor was furious upon hearing this and imprisoned Wang Fang and his associates in the imperial prison. After a thorough interrogation by the Vice Minister of the Court of Justice, the mystery of the missing persons case that had started in the early autumn of the twelfth year of the Jianyuan era was finally solved.

It turned out that Wang Fang had always been a hypocritical man with a fondness for young children. After his daughter became the late emperor's wife, Wang Fang was flattered by his clansmen to the point of almost losing himself in the process. On one occasion, he inadvertently revealed his preference. In order to please Wang Fang, those people actually took up the work of human slaves, searching everywhere for young children.

At first, they only targeted the poor, whose families struggled to even feed themselves, and selling their children was commonplace. The Wang clan was very generous, and the poor even begged the Wang clan to take their children away in exchange for some money.

Unfortunately, the children in these families were skin and bones, and their appearance was so emaciated that Wang Fang, that old scoundrel, found them boring.

Those children were either sold to brothels by members of the Wang clan, or died mysteriously in the residence of one of the Wang clan members.

Seeing that they hadn't satisfied that old scoundrel Wang Fang, the clansmen turned their attention to the children of merchants in the capital.

Someone mustered up the courage to send someone to kidnap a man for Wang Fang. The old scoundrel was overjoyed and, despite being in his sixties, was able to have sex with someone twice in one night. Afterwards, the bastard who had given the man to the old scoundrel was highly valued by him and soon became the Minister of Justice.

Yes, that damned bastard is Wang Hong.

This is why, after Yun Zheng found this person, the person pretended to be stupid and refused to lead people to investigate.

Seeing Wang Hong rise to prominence so quickly, others naturally envied him and simply followed suit, targeting the children of merchants in the capital. They all rose rapidly through the ranks, while the poor children were not only bullied by that old scoundrel, but almost all of them were tortured to death in the end.

The matter escalated, and Wang Hong, as the Minister of Justice, pretended to lead a thorough investigation, but secretly discussed with his clansmen to build a house in the mountains outside the capital. The mountains were sparsely populated, so the old scoundrel could enjoy himself to the fullest without worrying about being discovered by his wife at home or being caught by someone when his clansmen sent him away.

To be on the safe side, Wang Hong had his men disguise themselves as bandits, completely severing ties with the Wang clan.

They went to great lengths, but unexpectedly, Pei Qingyan and Yun Zheng stumbled upon the truth.

Upon learning the full story, the late emperor was furious. He had all those involved arrested and imprisoned, then secretly executed. As for Lady Wang in the palace, although she wasn't directly involved, these people had dared to act so brazenly because of her. While she wasn't executed, she was banished to the inner palace, never to rise again…

The next morning, Pei Qingyan was awakened by the birds outside his window.

For some reason, she slept incredibly soundly last night, without dreaming of any bizarre or bloody events. She woke up feeling refreshed and invigorated.

She got up, put on her outer robe, pushed open the bed, and the morning sunlight shone on her, gentle and warm.

Pei Qingyan stretched and yawned when he suddenly heard Yun Zheng's voice in his ear.

"Ah Yan".

Pei Qingyan was stunned for a moment before realizing that yesterday he had tricked Yun Zheng into reconciling and agreeing to live in peace.

"Yun Zheng." Pei Qingyan pretended to be happy and waved to Yun Zheng in the courtyard, "Good morning."

Overjoyed at the sight of Pei Qingyan's radiant beauty, Yun Zheng practically leaped into the house, handing the lacquer box to her.

"I sent someone back to the capital to fetch these for you before dawn this morning."

Pei Qingyan reached out and took it, but did not open it.

"Aren't you going to take a look?" Yun Zheng asked, looking puzzled.

Pei Qingyan smiled gently. "The fact that you're willing to give it to me is enough to prove that you have an open and honest heart. With your attitude, why would I need to look at these things anymore?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Zheng's smile deepened. The legendary "Living Yama" disappeared, and the spirited young man of yesteryear reappeared.

What he didn't know was that Pei Qingyan's words were just to deceive him; Pei Qingyan's reason for not opening and looking was entirely different.