Chapter 23

He slowly turned his head to look around the new room. The room was decorated festively, with lanterns and streamers in the main hall, and the character “囍” (double happiness) was pasted everywhere. The scattered bloodstains on the floor seemed to complement the red “囍” characters, creating a strangely harmonious scene.

Step by step, he walked up to Sheng Jing’an, examining the wounds on his body—all the work of Donghuang.

Sheng Jing’an was still wearing his groom’s robe. For some reason, half a day had passed, and no one had suggested changing his clothes.

Were they expecting the Grand Princess to return and use this robe to play the victim?

Feng Yaoguang coldly looked at the wedding robe.

Even though the robe was torn in several places, it still looked annoying. However, the swollen and broken wound on his forehead was somewhat pleasing.

Feng Yaoguang’s gaze shifted to Sheng Jing’an’s swollen forehead and the bloodstains on his face, then to the shattered mirror in the room. He felt slightly satisfied that at least this hypocritical, despicable, and sinister man was disfigured.

Let’s see how he would use this face to seduce people in the future. Yet, even with this satisfaction, he couldn’t dispel his disgust for the man in front of him.

Feng Yaoguang slowly drew the soft whip from his waist and, with lightning speed, lashed it across Sheng Jing’an’s face.

Swish!

The sharp tip of the whip left a deep, bone-revealing wound on his cheek.

Sheng Jing’an screamed, clutching his face and rolling on the ground.

“What are you doing?” The Old Madam’s face changed drastically, jumping up in panic, “How dare you hit the Duke! Are you looking for death?”

Feng Yaoguang ignored the old woman’s shouting, his whip mercilessly wrapping around Sheng Jing’an’s neck, his voice as cold as if it came from hell: “Poisoning the Grand Princess? Sheng Jing’an, you must have a death wish!”

Sheng Jing’an’s face turned blue, trembling as he grabbed the whip. His face turned purple from the lack of air: “You… you…”

“Let him go!” The Old Madam rushed forward in a panic, throwing herself at Feng Yaoguang, “You are outrageous! Outrageous! Someone, come quickly!”

“Let…” Sheng Jing’an gasped with difficulty, “Let… let go…”

The feeling of suffocation was unbearable. Sheng Jing’an clutched the whip tightly but couldn’t escape the torment of suffocation. His eyes widened bit by bit, glaring at Feng Yaoguang with hatred.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, Feng Yaoguang mercifully loosened his grip and withdrew the whip, ignoring the deep marks it left on Sheng Jing’an’s neck. His voice was cold and ruthless: “Don’t worry, I won’t let you die so easily. In the days to come, you will be immersed in torture, paying tenfold, a hundredfold, for your foolish actions.”

With that, he turned and ordered, “Take all the Sheng family members to the Grand Princess’s residence.”

Leaving this command, he walked out.

Outside, dozens of people swarmed in, roughly dragging Sheng Jing’an from the couch, not caring that he was injured.

The Old Madam’s fearful voice rang out: “I am the old madam of the Duke’s Mansion, with an imperial decree. If you dare to do this, it is open rebellion. Are you rebelling?”

“Don’t touch me, don’t touch me!” Shen Yun resisted fiercely, “I have the antidote! I have the antidote for the Seven-Day Heartbreak Powder. I can give the Grand Princess the antidote. Please don’t take me…”

“Let go of me!” Sheng Chuyue backed away in fear, pushing away the hands reaching for her, “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me…”

However, no matter how they resisted, it was all in vain.

A general’s soldiers reflect their leader. Feng Yaoguang was ruthless and cold. His Yaoguang Army was equally a group of cold-hearted men, showing no mercy regardless of the situation. No matter how Shen Yun and the Sheng family women resisted, they were easily subdued and unable to struggle.

From the Old Madam to Sheng Jing’an, the Sheng family members were forcibly taken to the Princess’s residence. The Duke’s Mansion guards had been overwhelmed since last night, unable to protect their masters. Now, surrounded by the Grand Princess’s elite troops, the guards and servants trapped in the inner courtyard could only watch helplessly as the Old Madam and the Duke were taken away. It was like a raid, arresting them and bringing them to prison.

The entire Duke’s Mansion was shrouded in an unsettling gloom, like the calm before a storm.

While Feng Yaoguang took the Sheng family away, the Chu family’s gold, silver, jade, antiques, and silks were carried out in boxes, quickly filling the courtyard. Among them, gold and silver were the most abundant. Large red boxes were opened side by side, the golden light dazzling in the sunlight.

The chief eunuch, Li De’an, was pale with fear.

Yan Donghuang did not make things difficult for him, only giving a cold order: “Take this severed hand of Chu Yuanzheng back to show the Empress Dowager. Tell her that if she doesn’t want to leave the palace, someone will bring Chu Yuanxiao’s leg in two hours.”

Li De’an was terrified by Yan Donghuang’s ruthless methods, trembling as he tried to persuade her: “Grand Princess…”

“What?” Yan Donghuang raised an eyebrow, her voice icy, “Do you think you, a chief eunuch, can stop me?”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare,” Li De’an replied, trembling, “But the Emperor and the Empress Dowager have explained that this is a misunderstanding. They ask the Grand Princess to understand the Empress Dowager’s motherly heart—”

Yan Donghuang’s voice was calm: “If she truly has a motherly heart, she shouldn’t mind leaving the palace to negotiate with her daughter face to face.”

Li De’an was speechless.

“Running back and forth from the palace takes time,” Yan Donghuang said coldly, “If you continue to delay and waste two hours, I don’t mind letting you take both Chu Yuanzheng’s hand and Chu Yuanxiao’s leg back.”

Li De’an’s face changed, and he dared not delay any longer, quickly leaving. Leaving the Chu family’s gate, he held the box containing Chu Yuanzheng’s hand, trembling as he explained the situation to Ying Rong.

After hearing it, Ying Rong’s face turned even darker, but they had no choice but to mount their horses and rush back to the palace to report.

Yan Donghuang spared Li De’an and Ying Rong’s lives to have them and the Imperial Guards run back and forth, delivering messages. She wanted the Emperor to be angry, scared, anxious, terrified, and desperate… all these emotions needed to be conveyed to the palace through new messages, with Li De’an bringing back the Emperor’s reactions.

The Seven-Day Heartbreak Powder’s poison period was seven days. She wanted to see if the Emperor’s courage could last seven days.

“Mo Lin,” Yan Donghuang’s gaze shifted to the courtyard filled with boxes, “Have you finished counting?”

Mo Lin bowed and reported: “The search is not yet complete. So far, there are 5.3 million taels of silver, 900,000 taels of gold, jade, paintings, silks, and some antique vases. We need to estimate their value.”

Yan Donghuang was indifferent: “First, move the counted gold and silver to the Grand Princess’s residence. When we have time, exchange all the silver for ten-tael ingots and distribute ten taels to each Qingluan Army soldier to supplement their household expenses.”

“Yes.”

“Keep the gold for now; we can’t exchange too much at once.” Yan Donghuang looked up at the sky. “It’s getting late; it’s time to wrap up.”

Mo Lin asked, “What about the Chu family?”