Water Reflects Peach Blossoms

Shangguan Qian was drowsy from the whipping, and his fingers felt excruciating pain when he moved his hands while being hung up.

Gong Shangjiao hasn't arrived yet.

The people who tortured and interrogated her left after the flogging.

She knew that what was coming next was the highlight.

Soon, footsteps were heard. She lowered her head and did not move, because it was not Gong Shangjiao who was coming. If she raised her head at this time, she would lose his pity.

She couldn't look up, but when Shangguan Qian saw from the corner of her eye that two guards were carrying a person covered with a white cloth on a stretcher in front of her, her eyelids twitched slightly, and she instantly had a very bad premonition in her heart.

Who is this guy?

Who at the palace gate could be used to test her?

Apart from Yun Weishan, there was only Wufeng, the man responsible for testing whether Gong Yunzheng knew martial arts tonight.

It shouldn't be him...

He...can't be that stupid!

The rhythmic footsteps were approaching here, and every step seemed to be walking on Shangguan Qian's heart. She suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and closed her eyes.

Until someone stopped in front of her.

Gong Shangjiao looked at Shangguan Qian, who was covered in blood. The executioner avoided her face. The whip marks on her fair neck had solidified into bloody bruises on her skin. Gong Shangjiao raised his hand, grasped Shangguan Qian's jaw in a controlling posture, and lifted her entire face up.

Shangguan Qian opened her eyes tremblingly. She was even more fragile after the torture, like a flower that would break at the slightest touch and was about to wither.

"I'm not..." She looked at Gong Shangjiao expectantly, her breath weak.

Gong Shangjiao's voice was cold: "Did you know that Yun Zheng was assassinated in Jiuchen Valley tonight?"

That's not an assassination.

If it was an assassination, Yuan Zheng would not be so cruel. Knowing that the other party was the assassin without a front, he still killed him to silence him. Gong Shangjiao was smart enough to figure out why with just a little thought.

That's why he was so angry!

This anger even brought him back to the resentment and helplessness he felt when he saw the bodies of his mother and brother Lang ten years ago!

He only had Yuanzheng and Yunzheng at the palace gate, and his sister almost died tonight...

Feeling the force of fingers pinching his jaw, Shangguan Qian was confused: "I... don't know..."

Seeing Gong Shangjiao's obvious disbelief, she shed a tear: "I've been with Master Jiao the entire night, so how could I possibly know the Second Young Lady's whereabouts?"

"Mr. Jiao, no matter how much you doubt me, you shouldn't doubt that I would hurt your family."

When the tear was about to touch his fingers, Gong Shangjiao withdrew his hand, squatted down, and lifted the white cloth covering the corpse.

The man's frozen face of horror made Shangguan Qian's sad expression freeze, and she tried hard to suppress the collapse in her heart.

It's really him...

Idiot! Why don't you let others take on the task of testing Gong Yunzheng?

Jackdaw Qi... She was left alone again, and from then on she became lonely again...

"Who is this?" Her voice was dry, and she tried her best to express the confusion and fear of seeing the body of an unfamiliar person.

Seeing her reaction, Gong Shangjiao said two words with a cold expression: "Wu Feng."

……

In the morning, when the results of Shangguan Qian's interrogation came out, Gong Yunzheng was searching for something among the vast amount of files in the room where the palace files were stored in the Elders' Council.

"sister!"

The bell on the boy's hair jingled as he ran. He pushed open the door and ran to Gong Yunzheng anxiously, his face full of anxiety: "The results of Shangguan Qian's interrogation are out!"

Gong Yunzheng had long expected Shangguan Qian to have a way to escape, so he asked without surprise, "What is it?"

Gong Yuanzheng whispered, "She is an orphan of the Gushan Sect. After the Gushan Sect was wiped out, she fled to Dafu City and was rescued by the Shangguan family. She replaced the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family and came to the palace."

"The people I sent to investigate overnight confirmed her identity. I've also seen the birthmark on the back of her neck, which is unique to the Gushan Sect."

The hand holding the file paused, and Gong Yunzheng said with an ambiguous tone, "Gushan Sect."

Shangguan Qian has the birthmark of Gushan Sect. If she is from Gushan Sect... Wufeng wiped out the entire Gushan Sect back then. As an orphan, how could she, who has a blood feud with Wufeng, join Wufeng?

Gong Yuanzheng was worried because his sister's reaction was too strange: "Sister, something is wrong."

"No." Gong Yunzheng whispered, "I just remembered that Brother Huanyu is also an orphan of the Gushan Sect."

"Ten years ago, Wufeng sneaked into the palace. Brother Huanyu's father and mother both died in that bloody battle. Later, when the Gushan Sect was destroyed, the palace was severely damaged. The younger generation had not grown up and were unable to help. Brother Huanyu's mother was the sister of the Gushan Sect's leader."

Gong Yunzheng clenched the file in his hand.

Gong Huanyu faked his death. Since he didn't seek the position of Gongmen Blade, was it possible that he wanted to avenge his parents?

He gave up his position as the wielder of the sword and secretly forced an internal fight within the palace. She didn't understand it before, but now she kind of understands it.

Faced with internal and external troubles, does Gong Huanyu want to force the palace gate to do something to protect itself?

Gong Yuanzheng was a little anxious: "Sister, do you really believe that Shangguan Qian is an orphan of the Gushan Sect?"

"Believe it or not, the birthmark on her body is the truth." Gong Yunzheng looked at the files in the room and said to Gong Yuanzheng, "I'm staying here for the next few days. Don't let anyone who shouldn't know know."

"Yes." Gong Yuanzheng nodded: "Don't worry, sister, just leave it to me."

Ignoring what had happened recently in the palace, Gong Yunzheng first went to see the two elders, Hua and Xue. After getting nothing out of them, she thought of the back mountain.

One night, a whistling arrow belonging to Gong Shangjiao streaked across the night sky.

When Gong Yunzheng arrived at Yu Palace, it was in a mess. Gong Shangjiao and Gong Ziyu were clashing with swords. Gong Yuanzheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and ran to Gong Yunzheng: "Sister? Why are you here?!"

"What happened?" Seeing his brother's red lips, Gong Yunzheng's face fell.

Gong Ziyu's eyes flashed with guilt for a moment.

Gong Yuanzheng gnashed his teeth in anger: "Yun Weishan...she is Wufeng!"

After looking around but not seeing Yun Weishan, Gong Yunzheng's gaze fell on Gong Ziyu: "Where is Yun Weishan?"

Gong Ziyu lowered his head, then looked up again in an instant: "I sent Yun Weishan to the Snow Palace to pick some ice lotuses. Brother Shang Jiao and brother Yuan Zheng rushed into the Yu Palace and started a fight without knowing any reason, which caused the chaos!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Gong Yuanzheng was furious. "How could our palace produce a traitor like you?"

Gong Yunzheng looked at Master Yue meaningfully, "Master Yue is here too?"

Young Master Yue's expression remained calm, and his words were even more precise: "Zhiren has something to ask you. I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly on paper, so I came here to clarify. I didn't expect to see such discord in the palace."