FID – Chapter 272

The old man standing in front of her had white hair, deep stern eyes and a cold gaze.

And he was exuding wrath from head to toe.

Zuo Xuan kneeled down. “Grandfather, I dare not or forget your teachings. I always keep them in mind!”

“If you really bore them in mind, you wouldn’t have caused such a scandal today! Do you think that Feng Qingbai and I aren’t hostile enough, so you have come to add fuel to the fire?!”

“I wouldn’t dare!”

The old man put his hands on his back, and the anger that had just burst out of him only appeared for a moment and then converged. He gazed coldly at the kneeling woman from his high position.

“I told you, you can choose any noble son in the capital, anyone, but not Feng Qingbai! If you can’t remember, you know the consequences. I can always pick someone to marry you off! Don’t lose the face of my Zuo House!”

Zuo Xuan buried her head low, not daring to answer.

How could she dare forget her grandfather’s admonition? It was for this reason she obviously cared for Feng Qingbai, but only dared to secretly like him behind his back. She never dared to show it.

The only thing she could do was to delay and delay the marriage, indulging her own bit of unwillingness.

Feng Qingbai – one glance at that man was all it took, and she couldn’t take a fancy to anyone else.

She wanted to marry the best. However, she was forbidden to marry the best.

“This is the last time. If there is another time, you won’t have a choice.”

“I will remember, Grandfather.” Zuo Xuan bowed deeply. “The matter at the sweet osmanthus grove today…”

“Do you still have the nerve to mention this ugly scandal? One blow missed, and instead you got yourself involved. I just realized that my, Zuo Shurong’s, granddaughter is so stupid!” The old man sneered, walked back behind the desk and sat down, no longer looking at the woman. “I will solve this matter, get out!”

Zuo Xuan went back to her bedroom, closed the door and looked at her half and swollen red face in the bronze mirror. Zuo Xuan chuckled mirthlessly while laughing and weeping.

After crying, the eyes of the woman in the mirror gradually became sinister and malicious.

Feng Qingbai was a gem, setting off other men as fish eyes.

If she could not get this gem, then Liu Yusheng was even less worthy of it.

Liu Yusheng, a lowly peasant girl, was not even a fish eye!

At best, she was just a piece of gravel!

In the afternoon, after putting the woman to sleep, Feng Qingbai left the Shengxiao Courtyard and went to the study.

The shadow guards immediately came to report.

“Your Highness, the minister’s hand has really reached out. One of the drunken men who were sent to the court died before noon in jail.”

Feng Qingbai’s eyes flickered – as expected.

Even if the prime minister made no move this time, he would also do it. 

“Have you released the tip off?”

“Yes. The prime minister’s daughter, Zuo Xuan, was molested by a drunken man in the Osmanthus Grove, and then the drunk man inexplicably died in the jail. Public scrutiny has risen from the tip off.”

“Continue to guide the direction of public opinion. That old fox, Zuo Shurong, wishes to be free from the shame. In his dreams.”

“Understood!”

After the shadow guards retreated, Feng Qingbai sat at his desk and began to finish the pile of official business.

This time, apart from causing the prime minister’s prestige to collapse a bit, there was no practical effect.

He wasn’t expecting to bring down Zuo Shurong all at once.

It was only through such things, to wear each other’s foundation a little.

Little particles of sand could build a tower.

In court battles, it was impossible to be fast and furious. Each game was a protracted war. The end depended on whoever committed an oversight in laying the foundation and collapsed.

As for the Fu family, Feng Qingbai narrowed his eyes, turning more and more complacent. It was almost time to close the net.

On that day, new rumors spread throughout the capital in just half a day, and the clamor raged.

The streets, alleys, teahouses and restaurants – there was talk about a drunk who just entered the jail and died violently everywhere.

Everyone discovered the reason. The rumors had spread long ago, but nobody dared to voice out this matter.

The drunken man’s end was a deterrent for ordinary people, as an example.

Nevertheless, the prime minister’s ruthless means, treating human life like grass, also carved a mark in the hearts of the people.

His popularity dwindled.

Nightfall.

In the room, Fu Yuzheng looked at the note in front of her, sat quietly for a long time, and then burned the note and covertly left the royal residence.

She went in through the side door of the palace and went directly to Qingning Palace.

Consort Dowager Liu summoned her.

She didn’t have to guess what it was about.

She also knew what was waiting for her.

When she arrived at the Qingning Palace, the old servants took her directly to the torture room.

The gorgeous and noble woman was sitting in the torture room, out of place in the surroundings.

Her deadpan visage made people shudder just like those cold torture tools.

“You should know why I summoned you to the palace. Take your punishment yourself.”

The old servants immediately took action. They stripped off her outer clothes and tied her backwards to the pillars of the torture room wall.

Fu Yuzheng gritted her teeth but did not beg for mercy.

This consequence was within her expectations.

She helped Liu Yusheng and made the prime minister’s daughter suffer such injustice. No matter how many excuses she had, she could not escape the punishment.

Besides, she didn’t regret it at all.

There were a variety of torture tools hanging in the torture room – leather whips, bamboo spikes, nails, pipa hooks, maces, soldering irons…

There were also two strong men responsible for the execution.

“Snap! Snap!”

Facing the wall, sharp stabbing pain and icy lashes came from behind, echoing one after another in the ugly and hideous torture room.

Fu Yuzheng almost broke her lips, unable to stand the torture.

Cold sweat soaked her hair, and her face was as white as paper. She had a dizzy spell in front of her eyes, but she could still sense the cold and merciless gaze behind her.

The damp air of the torture chamber was gradually tainted with a bloody smell. It grew stronger and stronger and turned nauseating. 

By the time she was let down from the pillar, she was a bloody mess, lying on the cold floor.

The sound of very light footsteps approached, and Fu Yuzheng forced her eyes to open. Right before her was a pair of gorgeous palace boots.

It lifted up and slowly crushed on her fingers.

Ten fingers were connected to her heart, and the pain pierced her heart.

“Hmm!” Fu Yuzheng curled up, trembling but holding back the moan that nearly rushed out.

“If you do something wrong, you have to accept punishment. After all these years that you’ve stayed in the Nanling Palace, are you about to forget whose person you really are?”

Above her head, the noblewoman’s voice did not contain the slightest fluctuation, regarding her like the most humble mole.

“Fu Yuzheng, this is not the heaviest punishment. In any position, people have to recognize their own identity, and it’s impossible for you to please everyone.

If you’re still not clear-headed, I have plenty of means to send you to a brothel madam. I’ll let you have enough of entertaining guests and ingratiating yourself in his lifetime!”

Fu Yuzheng, who was crouching on the ground, did not say a word and bit through the tip of her tongue to keep herself from passing out.

“Let her on another water torture, and let her go.”

“Understood!”

Fu Yuzheng’s pupils suddenly shrank, and she laughed silently and miserably.

Water torture was even more unbearable than flogging.

This time, Consort Liu was really angry.

She was dragged up and thrown onto a chair without mercy. Someone grabbed her hair and covered her face with a cloth towel.

The cold water poured down on her face, soaking through the cloth and blocking her breathing.

The wet cloth towel was removed from her face only when she was suffocating to the point where her limbs were convulsing and dropping stiffly.