Ji Hong looked at Xuan Lin, growing increasingly angered.
How could he have mistaken the real Feng Luan for an imposter, despite Ji Hong's vivid description of her appearance? Fortunately, he wasn't entirely foolish and hadn't let the "imposter" Feng Luan slip away, or Ji Hong would have flayed him alive.
"Who was the person being tortured?" he asked.
Xuan Lin stammered a couple of times, then sheepishly replied in a small voice, "Your subordinate... your subordinate doesn't know."
Ji Hong pressed his forehead, realizing he had been so angered that he had asked a foolish question.
Ji Hong shot Xuan Lin a glare and decided to go to the imperial prison himself.
Nan Shiying crouched beside Feng Quan, setting his bones back into place. As for the shattered fragments, she was powerless to help. In fact, if she could have dismantled the prison cell door and used it as a splint, she might have been able to reposition his broken bones. However, if she had done so, Ji Hong might have ordered her to be tortured.
It wasn't worth it, not worth it at all!
Taking out a tonic from her robes and stuffing it into Feng Quan's mouth, Nan Shiying considered her duty fulfilled. Having done all she could, Nan Shiying sat down against the cell wall, looking up at the moonlight filtering through the iron bars, a faint smile playing on her lips.
From an outsider's perspective, stepping away from the immediate situation, there were fewer mists and doubts. In essence, too many people were involved in this game, extending what seemed like a simple setup into a complex web.
Xiliang, Miaojiang, Changsheng Dao, Ji Jinmo, Ji Hong!
Liu Ling, this chess piece, had died a worthy death. As for herself, this chess piece, her mission was far from over!
Nan Shiying sighed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Long live Your Majesty, long, long live!"
The sounds of salutations and greetings drifted from afar. Nan Shiying turned her head and gazed into the dim corridor. The golden dragon patterns embroidered on the dark gold robes emanated flecks of golden light in the darkness.
The jailer opened the cell door, and Ji Hong entered, looking down at Nan Shiying.
"Your humble subject greets Your Majesty!"
Nan Shiying did not rise. With a languid gesture, she raised her hand and greeted Ji Hong, considering it a sufficient obeisance.
"You are insolent!"
Xuan Lin glared at Nan Shiying, his hand resting on the sword at his waist. If Ji Hong gave the order, he would draw his sword and cut down this presumptuous rebel, Nan Shiying.
"Oh, Handsome here too!"
Nan Shiying felt a smile coming on when she saw him. Xuan Lin, seeing her eyes crinkle at the corners and her lips curve upward with a smirk, blushed with embarrassment and anger.
"Feng Luan!"
"Your humble subject is here!"
Ji Hong uttered her name, his tone slightly deepening, as if imbued with surging killing intent.
Nan Shiying acted as if she hadn't sensed the anger radiating from Ji Hong. Her hand, soft as if boneless, lifted and then drooped, responding to Ji Hong.
That arrogant demeanor, Ji Hong felt he had seen it somewhere before!
"Do you truly believe I won't torture you?" Ji Hong frowned, his anger surging. The moonlight outside the window was obscured by dark clouds, making the surroundings even darker. In this setting, accompanied by a few sobs, the atmosphere would be perfect.
Nan Shiying tilted her head back, her head resting against the wall, and asked Ji Hong, "Your Majesty knows I am skilled in poison, why then do you come to see me in person? Why doesn't Your Majesty consider why Ji Jinmo, after leading troops into the Ministry of Punishment for me, did not take me away, but instead left me for Your Majesty?"
"If Your Majesty were to die in the palace, it would have nothing to do with Ji Jinmo!"
"Your Majesty!"
Xuan Lin's heart skipped a beat. He darted in front of Ji Hong, drawing his long sword and holding it at Nan Shiying's throat.
Ji Hong patted Xuan Lin's shoulder, gently pushing him aside. He then walked to Nan Shiying and squatted down. His phoenix-like eyes, identical to Ji Jinmo's, remained fixed on Nan Shiying's face. There was no fear or suspicion in his eyes, stemming from her words. Instead, they seemed to hold a mocking, disdainful cold smile.
"You can try!"
"Your Majesty jokes, your humble subject would never dare to harm the Son of Heaven." Nan Shiying's eyes held a playful smile.
Some matters no longer required evidence to confirm. Or rather, the so-called struggle for imperial power had been nothing more than a grand feast.
The guests, coming and going, were all on the chessboard.
Her gaze was so profound it seemed capable of piercing through the superficial to the heart of the matter. Ji Hong frowned, a voice echoing in his mind: Kill her!
It was an instinctive reaction of the brain after being seen through.
Ji Hong suppressed the urge to kill and turned to look at the person beside him. Feng Quan, lying in the corner, had been following Ji Hong with his eyes. Ji Hong's gaze met his.
"Feng Quan?"
Ji Hong recognized him.
The Feng Quan who had grown up in the underground black market and was later promoted and appointed to the Ministry of Personnel by Zou Cheng.
Of course, Zou Cheng's daring to defy regulations and promote him exceptionally was also due to Ji Hong's decree, including what happened afterward... Ji Hong suddenly turned, glaring at Nan Shiying, "Did you torture him?"
Nan Shiying felt that telling the truth at this moment would only add fuel to the fire. She said, "It was that official from the Ministry of Personnel who beat him!"
Let alone Ji Hong, even Feng Quan, the person involved, was stunned. Who? Who beat me? Wei Wu Xian?
Nan Shiying nodded earnestly, "It was an official from the Ministry of Personnel. Like this Handsome one, he mistook Feng Quan for me."
Ji Hong: "..."
Was she taking him for a fool? One couldn't fool a fool like this!
"Really, but unlike Handsome, that official from the Ministry of Personnel was under a hallucination spell..." Nan Shiying thought her fabrication was quite plausible, as long as Feng Quan kept quiet. Of course, it was fine even if he spoke, as everything could be blamed on the illusionary spell.
"There was a pair of illusion masters in the black market known as the Phantom Twins, who are now under Ji Jinmo's command."
"Weren't they already dead?"
Feng Quan remembered that the Phantom Twins had died several months ago, and even their residence had been burned to ashes.
"They are still alive!"
Nan Shiying did not explain that the female twin was alive while the male twin was dead. She mentioned them only to lend credibility to her words, ideally to deceive Feng Quan as well.
"So then Qin Qianyu..."
"Yes, also an illusion!"
Feng Quan was silent for a moment. Although Feng Luan's words seemed to have no flaws, he felt she was trying to fool a fool.
Ji Hong twitched his lips. Hearing this, he knew she was spouting nonsense. He wondered how Ji Jinmo could tolerate her, or perhaps she wasn't like this in front of Ji Jinmo.
Ji Hong took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to kill her. He turned to Xuan Lin and said, "Send Feng Quan to the Imperial Hospital."
"Yes, but Your Majesty..."
Xuan Lin hesitated, reluctant to leave the Emperor alone.
"It's alright, I doubt he can do anything to me!"
Seeing that the Emperor's mind was made up, Xuan Lin said no more and carried Feng Quan away from the prison.
Ji Hong squatted in front of Nan Shiying and looked at her, "Are you the direct disciple of Medicine King Valley?"