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

Xu Chengjin heard the hoarse screams and curses, as well as the desperate wails and cries outside the yard.

He had never heard such a sound from a human being before, and before this he had never imagined that a human being could make such a roar.

The guard at the door told him that Zhan Hongchang and Hong Lan were being tortured inside. The guard also said that the Third Elder of Zhixuan Mountain was also there, but had not been tortured. Xu Chengjin nodded, then asked how long he had been inside. The guard thought for a moment before saying, "Over an hour."

More than an hour...

Xu Chengjin did not go in, but just stood under the tree in the yard for a while. Not long after, he heard an almost tearing voice shouting with all his strength, "Third Master, take care! This old servant, this old servant, will go ahead!" The suddenly high-pitched voice stung his ears and stopped abruptly at the highest and sharpest moment.

Xu Chengjin pressed his lips together, holding the old book in his arms, and kicking the stones at his feet boredly. Not long after, the shabby wooden door creaked open, and two guards came out carrying a bloody Zhan Hongchang. It was obvious... he was dead.

As the wooden door opened, a bloody and foul smell hit him. Xu Chengjin lowered his head and touched the tip of his nose before walking in. He looked around and frowned, "Why is it so ugly?"

He said "ugly," not "cruel."

Although everything in front of me can no longer even be described as "cruel".

In the middle of the room, two iron chains hung empty, swaying slowly. The bluestone bricks beneath were stained red with blood, and the thick smell of blood filled the entire room. On a long bench in the corner, Hong Lan, looking as if she had just been pulled out of the water, was holding onto a bench leg and retching. It was obvious that she had nothing to vomit, but even so, she continued to hold onto the bench leg and retched bitterly.

The instigator of all this, leaning against the boarded-up window, a bloody whip in hand, fingertips resting on his chin as he lifted his eyelids towards Xu Chengjin, his expression languid—only his eyes betrayed an undisguised fierceness. He glanced around, his gaze settling on Zhan Yanfeng standing at the other end of the room. His lips curled slightly in a cruel expression as he chuckled, "Your former loyal servant was murdered, yet the Third Elder remained calm and declared it had nothing to do with you... This truly surprises me. I wonder, what about this confidante...?"

If Song Wenyuan hadn't mentioned it, Xu Chengjin wouldn't even have noticed Zhan Yanfeng hiding in the dark.

"A confidante? She's just a subordinate who works for me and happened to have a daughter... Since Lord Song is from Shengjing, he shouldn't be unaware of Mother Hong." He shook his head and laughed, his tone light, only the three words "Mother Hong" were pronounced a little heavily. He said, "I, Zhan, can't afford such a confidante."

A man in a moon-white gown stood in the corner with one hand behind his back. Apart from his pale face and the flickering, barely noticeable look in his eyes, he frowned slightly and looked calm and indifferent, as if the life and death of everyone here had nothing to do with him - including himself.

But... this acting is really too poor. Probably only Hong Lan, who suddenly stopped vomiting and lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking, would believe it in the whole room.

Song Wenyuan glanced at the suddenly quiet woman and smiled meaningfully, "Third Elder is right about one thing... Honglan is no ordinary woman in Shengjing, with many admirers, but you, Third Elder, don't know how to cherish her... Well, since she's guilty anyway, it doesn't matter if I kill her today. It will just end this bad fate for you, Third Elder. Yanhuo, continue."

A guard lifted Hong Lan and laid her back down. She offered no resistance. Her head hung low, her damp hair tumbling against her cheeks, like a discarded, soulless rag doll, a shabby image never before revealed to the public. In Zhan Yanfeng's memory, Hong Lan was always gentle and composed, always refined and appropriate. Even if she were merely a vase, she would surely be worthy of being placed on a prestigious collector's cabinet, carefully cared for.

Besides, she is far more than just a vase.

That’s all… Zhan Yanfeng suddenly sighed softly, his hands behind his back slowly falling to his sides. He raised his eyes to look at Song Wenyuan and said softly, “I’ll tell you. Let her go, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

"She doesn't know anything. She just runs a Zuihuanlou to help me make money... It's a legitimate business. If that damn girl Jinsu hadn't gone to Shengjing to make trouble, she wouldn't have to be involved in these things." He raised his chin and gestured again, "Let her go. Whether she should be imprisoned or executed, we have to go to the Shengjing government office for a formal visit before we can make a conclusion, right?" Hong Lan was committed in Shengjing and was imprisoned in Shengjing's prison. It was completely reasonable for Zhan Yanfeng to say this.

Song Wenyuan nodded, and the guards released their grip.

Hong Lan lay there motionless, she didn't even push aside the wet hair that was stuck to her face.

She seemed to have just woken up from a nightmare, and for a moment she was still confused about whether it was reality or a dream. She stared at the beams on the roof with empty eyes. Two thick iron chains hung there motionlessly, looking a little lonely... However, it was not like this just now. There was a "person" hanging there just now.

At least he is still a "human being".

That was the first time Hong Lan realized that a person could have so much blood, as if it could never stop flowing.

Zhan Hongchang, Zhan Yanfeng's true confidant, was tortured to death right in front of Zhan Yanfeng. Even so, Zhan Yanfeng never softened his heart—if he had said this a half-stick of incense stick earlier, Zhan Hongchang might still have survived. But Zhan Yanfeng didn't. Hong Lan witnessed his almost cold and indifferent expression, as if he were watching a stranger's fate from the other side of the river. Could Zhan Yanfeng, now in this state, still have a soft heart? Could he still show sympathy for women? Not anymore.

His submission and obedience was simply because he knew that he would be the next to be punished - all he cared about was his own life.

This is Zhan Yanfeng, cold, selfish, and heartless. He doesn't care about anyone except himself... Even for the woman at the top of his heart, his so-called deep love is just an act to move himself.

And she herself... for such a man, she really fell deeper and deeper into this situation, with no way out. Now thinking about it, she was really blind and heartless.

Hong Lan slowly closed her eyes. After a while, a tear oozed out of the corner of her eye, slid along the lines at the corner of her eye to behind her ear, and disappeared into her wet hair.