After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

The door opened.

Zhan Yanfeng looked towards the door, and his eyes, which had adapted to the darkness, could only make out two blurry figures. One of them was Yanhuo, and the other was a petite woman - probably the "distinguished guest" that Song Wenyuan mentioned.

The "distinguished guest" stood outside the threshold, bent his knees, and called softly, "Sir Song." His voice was gentle and calm, with a natural charm.

It was actually Hong Lan.

Zhan Yanfeng was slightly startled. With both of them brought here, it was clear Song Wenyuan was targeting him. However, his attitude towards him hadn't been this way before. What had happened? He looked at Hong Lan, hoping to gain some insight from her gaze. Instead, Hong Lan bowed and walked into the room. She walked up to Song Wenyuan without looking away, then stood there with her head bowed, as if oblivious to everything in the room.

She didn't even care about the torture she was about to face, and let the guards take her to the corner.

"Is this Lord Song's 'distinguished guest'?" Zhan Yanfeng raised an eyebrow and looked at Song Wenyuan, a hint of displeasure evident in his gaze. Whether intentional or not, the stool the guards had brought him had four corners of different lengths. He needed to focus some of his attention on it to appear composed and composed, otherwise he would inevitably lose his composure and presence.

Song Wenyuan didn't even seem to glance in his direction. He took a whip from the guard behind him and toyed with it nonchalantly as he slowly walked towards the hanging Zhan Hongchang. He said, "I'm in charge of the prison, and my hands have been stained with blood over the years. But she didn't like it, so I changed... and now I think I've become much gentler."

After saying these words, he stopped right in front of Zhan Hongchang. He lowered his head as if he was looking at the blood-stained bricks on the ground. After a while, he turned back and asked Zhan Yanfeng, "Don't you agree, Third Elder?"

She really has a very superior appearance and an enviable figure, so much so that when standing in such a place and looking at you, there is an illusion of "affectionate eyes" - Zhan Yanfeng thought to himself, thinking that Yuan Ge, that girl, used to be very particular about food, clothing and daily expenses, and now her eyes are so vicious when choosing a husband, she actually chose such a person... Thinking of this, he shook his head and laughed, he was still thinking about these nonsense.

"I've lived in this mountain wilderness for half my life, so I'm naturally more ignorant than the average person. I know very little even about what's happening at the foot of the mountain, let alone Shengjing City, thousands of miles away." He said, "I've never had the chance to see Lord Song before, so naturally I have no way to compare him now."

"Ignorant?" Song Wenyuan seemed to smile. His laughter was very low and came from his chest. It sounded very nice.

However, when he smiled, Zhan Yanfeng noticed that the hanging figure seemed to sway again. Just as he was concentrating and frowning, he heard Song Wenyuan say with a smile, "You are too modest... The Third Elder can even contact the Murong family. In this regard, I also feel inferior. That's why I took the trouble to invite the three of you here, thinking of asking the Third Elder how to contact the Murong family."

Murong again? Zhan Yanfeng frowned, his patience running out. "I've already told you everything about them. If you want to know more, Mr. Song, you might as well ask Madam Ling..."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a shrill scream instantly stung Zhan Yanfeng's ears.

The moment the sound reached his ears, he couldn't even tell what made the sound. It was hoarse and sharp, weak but exhausted - it was Zhan Hongchang's scream. He was hanging there, his whole body trembling violently, his legs struggling and curled up and twisted together, and the remaining whimpering in his throat sounded like the last desperate and powerless whine of his life.

Zhan Yanfeng stood up suddenly, "Song Wenyuan! His life or death is not your decision!"

The tall, handsome man, twirling a whip with his brows lowered, seemed a bit out of place there, even... a bit gentle. Stroking the whip between his slender fingers, he whispered, "A whip soaked in chili water, barbed with barbs, would break even the strongest bones... especially against such a pampered, near-death old man."

"He said that everything that happened before was his own doing, and that you, Third Elder, knew nothing about it... Is that true?"

The voice was almost gentle, but it gave off an inexplicable chill that went straight to the bones, as if one had suddenly returned to the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month.

The promise Zhan Yanfeng was about to make was abruptly stuck in his throat. The man who turned around had a few drops of red splashed on his face, making it look even paler and more alluring, like a ghost. Zhan Yanfeng coughed, but avoided the man's gaze. "Of course," he said, his eyes falling on Hong Lan in the corner, then looking away. "Zhan, I only found out a few days ago that this servant had done so many evil things behind my back."

"But I don't believe it." Ning Xiuyuan's expression disappeared completely. He said, "I don't believe a single word of it."

"The Murong family is playing such a big game, but they only found a servant to coordinate it. If it were you, would you believe it? I didn't pursue the matter before because I didn't want her to be embarrassed... Does the Third Elder think that I am really a fool?" After saying that, he knocked the long whip in his hand and gave a wink to Yanhuo beside him. Yanhuo understood and took Honglan to a bench in the corner.

Honglan was as quiet as a puppet.

Zhan Yanfeng clenched his teeth and sneered sarcastically, "I didn't expect that the famous Lord Song was only capable of threatening people with women, children, and the elderly... But Lord Song's calculations are probably wrong. Putting aside the fact that I have nothing to do with this matter, even if I knew something, what would it matter? This woman has nothing to do with me. Even if you beat her to death in front of me, I wouldn't even frown."

"Master Song, please don't waste your time."

With an indifferent tone and vague gaze cast on the back, it was as if countless ants were slowly crawling past. Hong Lan, who had always kept her head down and remained silent, twitched the corners of her mouth silently in a corner where no one could see her, and then fell almost dejectedly... The hand at her side suddenly clenched, and the palm of her hand was pinched so tightly that it hurt.

It was a difficult walk, just a few steps away.

Yanhuo took her to a corner where two long benches had been placed there early in the morning. She lay on her back as he said, waiting for an unknown but obvious inhuman torture.

"After all, it was a makeshift operation, and the tools were limited." Seeing Zhan Yanfeng looking at that spot, Song Wenyuan kindly explained, "We used wet mulberry paper to cover her face, applying it piece by piece until she suffocated to death... The process was painful, but fortunately, her body was intact, so it was a bit of a gesture of compassion."

The trees in the courtyard had sprouted new branches and leaves. Sunlight streamed down from the distant horizon, casting sparse, flickering shadows into the study, which often kept its door closed. Xu Chengjin stared at the traces of paper left between the spines of the books for a long time, until his own shadow grew longer and longer in front of him.