Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Yuan Zhi smiled coldly, his eyes flashing with an eerie light, like a desperate, ignorant, and fearless madman waiting for death to come.

"Now that things have come to this, do you think I would still care about life and death?"

She was the embodiment of her father's hatred and the shackles that bound her mother to the Yuan family. Although she could not remove the filthy flesh and blood from her body, she had solved the source of evil, and she had no regrets!

It seems that being reborn was a mistake.

People like her should sleep underground and go to the eighteenth level of hell to atone for their sins!

Xiao Zong watched as she closed her eyes as if facing death, his thumb grinding against her earlobe, his hand gripping her neck, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily.

Yuan Zhi opened her tear-filled eyes and sobbed, as if asking him why he hadn't made a move yet.

The man glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then lowered his head and bit her earlobe hard, venting his anger.

"You think I'd give you a quick death? Dream on! I'll make you wish you were dead!"

He had already decided that once Zheng Xiangxiang's child was born, he would repay that debt of gratitude and live a peaceful life with her.

But why did she lie to him?

If you're going to lie, why not lie for a longer period of time?

If this was her revenge against him in her past life, then she succeeded.

But he also died because of her in his past life. Shouldn't he seek revenge on her for this?

Xiao Zong slowly stepped back, wiping the blood from her ear, and thought to himself: Yuan Zhi, we have a long future ahead of us!

The man's back looked resolute, and Yuan Zhi suddenly lost all strength, sliding down the wall.

She buried her head in her arms and sobbed softly, like a helpless child.

Xiao Zong stopped the jailer halfway there, saying he wanted to go see Yuan Pu.

The jailer hesitated, "The Vice Minister has ordered that Yuan Pu is a serious offender, and no one is allowed to..."

"Just ask him a few questions. If you're worried about him making a mistake, you can watch over him from the side."

Xiao Zong tossed him a silver ingot and said in a deep voice.

The jailer accepted it with a smile and led him to the men's cell, where they stood at the door.

"Lord Xiao, there are indeed regulations, so... why don't you ask over the fence?"

Xiao Zong breathed heavily, glanced at him sideways, and then looked at the middle-aged man sleeping in the cell.

"Father-in-law, how have you been?"

Yuan Pu suddenly opened his eyes, saw Xiao Zong, and his eyes lit up.

"My dear son-in-law!"

He sprang to his feet, lunged at the railing, and asked excitedly, "Did you come to save me?"

Xiao Zong's eyes were filled with sarcasm. "The Xiao family and the Chu family are related by marriage. You harmed Uncle Chu, how could I possibly come to save you?"

The light in Yuan Pu's eyes vanished instantly. "Then what are you doing here, kicking someone when they're down?"

"I'm not that free. I just want to know what you said to Zhi'er, and why she's so determined to die?"

"I didn't expect you to care about my daughter so much!" Yuan Pu said smugly. "I can tell you, but you have to agree to one condition."

"I told you, I can't save you!"

"It wasn't me, it was Jun'er! I only beg you to save his life!"

"His Majesty will not kill him."

"But Marquis Changping will! I harmed his son, and he will never let Jun'er go after twenty years of blood feud!"

Xiao Zong sighed, "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

Yuan Pu laughed heartily, "When Commander Xiao faced the Imperial Uncle's family, did he ever show any mercy? It's all about the victor taking all! He should have stabbed Chu Xia in the chest back then, letting him die in the belly of a fish, and then this disaster wouldn't have happened!"

The jailer spat, "Insolence! Lord Xiao was eliminating a scourge for the people. You were jealous and harmed a loyal official. How dare you defend yourself?"

Yuan Pu glanced at him with disdain, "What are you to dare comment on my character? You filthy, lowly commoner, get out of here!"

"Hey! How dare you talk like that? You've been tortured and you're still not behaving yourself!"

The jailer rolled up his sleeves, ready to challenge him.

Xiao Zong stepped between the two and said, "I don't have time to watch you two fight, so shut up!"

The jailer sullenly shrank back, cursing as he walked towards the end of the passageway.

Xiao Zong withdrew his gaze and turned to Yuan Pu, "The outsiders are gone, can we speak now?"

Yuan Pu chuckled. As expected of a close advisor to the emperor, his ability to read people's expressions was first-rate.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and recounted his past in detail.

In the early years of the Zaiyuan era, the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to go to Shuozhou to provide disaster relief. Because he and Chu Xia were of similar age and got along well, they often ate, slept, and worked together.

At first, there wasn't much conflict between the two, until they met a woman named Su Ying.

She was on her way to Lianzhou to do business, but she encountered a flood while passing through Shuozhou and was stranded there.

When Yuan Pu recalled her, his expression unusually tender.

"Although she isn't a stunning beauty, she has a cheerful and bright personality, and she brews excellent wine, making people want to get close to her without even realizing it." He smiled and added, "Moreover, she is an extremely kind person!"

After the flood, many people caught a cold and had a persistent high fever.

The doctor said he needed a large quantity of wine to wipe the patient down and reduce their fever. Su Ying generously donated all her wine collection and took it to the refugee camp for the doctors' use. Chu Xia estimated the price of the wine and paid in silver, but to his surprise, she returned it without taking a penny.

Perhaps it was from this moment that Chu Xia and Su Ying came together.

However, in Yuan Pu's eyes, he felt that Su Ying was attracted to Chu Xia's face, as well as the power and status of the Marquis of Changping's mansion.

Seeing the person she liked fall into the arms of another, Yuan Pu's inferiority complex and resentment quickly took root and sprouted on top of what they already were.

One day, he followed Chu Xia to Su Ying's courtyard. The gate wasn't fully closed, and the two inside began to kiss passionately. At that moment, all his violent emotions exploded like a bolt from the blue!

On the day of the river inspection, torrential rain fell and the river swelled.

He knew that a poorly constructed dike couldn't possibly stop a raging flood. It was all because Chu Xia was too kind and too conscientious, fulfilling his wish to come upstream to help.

That idiot deserved to be pushed into the water!

Later, under the guise of offering condolences, he got Su Ying drunk, and also got himself drunk after committing his first murder.

In that small courtyard where she and Chu Xia embraced and kissed, he took her virginity and kept her by his side for the rest of his life, until she died.

He had initially thought that the two of them might get mixed up again in the underworld. But to his surprise, Chu Xia returned to the capital alive and well, now appearing as a complete idiot.

He was both surprised and delighted when he heard the news.

What's shocking is that he wasn't killed; what's gratifying is that Chu Xia will never remember the name "Su Ying" again. Even in the underworld, the two of them won't recognize each other—how satisfying!

"Don't you want to know why the child is so determined to die?"

Yuan Pu's eyes were bloodshot, and his smile was maniacal.

"That's because Su Ying had tried to commit suicide for Chu Xia countless times, but I stopped her each time. Later, when I was away, she tried to end her life, but found out she was pregnant with my child."

"That child is Zhi'er!"

Xiao Zong gripped the railing so tightly that sharp wood chips embedded themselves deep into his flesh, leaving a bloody mess.

"You are unworthy of being a husband and a father; you are worse than an animal!"

Not only did he ruin a woman's life, but he also destroyed his own daughter. How can such a person be worthy of being called a human being?

He couldn't imagine how heartbroken and desperate Yuan Zhi must have been when he realized he had trapped his mother!