The next destination Feng Liuxie was heading for is his stepbrother's residence , where his stepmother was grounded. Upon his arrival, the guards slid the door open and made way for him. He patted them on the shoulder, perhaps a bit playfully. They bowed in return.
As it turns out, Yan Shen had luckily not arrived at the mansion yet or else with his temper, he would have barely held in his urge to kill Feng Liuxie. His steps resounded throughout the room, alerting Yan Meixiu. Despite being crippled, her senses seemed as sharp as before. "Long time no see."
"Woah."
"What?" A cold annoyance layered her gentle voice.
"You and your son said the exact same thing today. I am seriously getting goosebumps."
[What game are you playing now?]
Nothing, just...having a genuine conversation with her.
"Why have you come here?"
"To irritate you." He calmly responded, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Then your goal is already achieved. Go back."
"You are so cold."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Anyways, back to the real business." He sat down on the chair that was adjacent to the bed she was lying on, handing her a bottle of medicine. Looking around the room, there was nothing strange. Everything in this house was arranged neatly, just like an ordinary household.
Who would think this is where she abuses her own people?
[Then why are you giving this medicine to her? You aren't trying to poison her, are you?] System raised his voice for the first time.
Relax. I am not planning to kill someone who doesn't deserve my first time, she deserves to be tortured till death does her apart.
[Brutal.]
Yan Meixiu was extremely cautious, scrutinizing the bottle and whiffing the scent, haizz, even poking it with a silver needle. "Who told you to give me this?"
"At least it's not your family." He shrewdly retorted. She glared at him in response. "Your son asked me to give it to you."
"Impossible. My son wouldn't trust you, especially after I became confined to this place."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because he's my son."
Feng Liuxie smirked. "You sure? I am sure he wouldn't after hearing your precious past deeds. Your heavy sin towards my whole family that can't be forgiven no matter how many years you spend repenting."
She seemed to have thoughts on covering it up, but yielded quite decisively. "Huh, so you are aware of it."
"Yeah, everything. How you mercilessly planned to kill me and how you threatened my father to reveal his secret if he didn't declare you as wife."
"Ever since, I have entered the Yan family, I have no regrets in doing what I did to achieve what I get today." She exhaustedly muttered.
"What you get now is punishment, freedom taken away from you forever. And you say that's an achievement?"
"I don't mind. I already had the glory and power of being a clan head's wife. I am now merely waiting for my death. My son will continue this lineage for me after I die. And under house arrest, I can still survive."
"I am sure you won't, especially if I asked father to change the conditions. After all, the one you decided to harm was me, the potential heir to the clan and my honorable guest. I am the one who controls your punishment."
"He wouldn't." What made her so certain that he wouldn't. Did she have some secret she could threaten him with?
"Whatever. I promise I won't harm your son, but you..." He stared down at her with murderous intent. "I can't even guarantee your life before my revenge begins."
"What do you mean?" She shakily reached out to grab his robe.
"What do you think?" He leaned in, yanked her head towards him, muttering. "Other people you harmed will definitely come seek revenge while you only have two guards outside to protect you. If they slack off, who knows? You might be tortured badly before you die."
"No...please. Don't.." She trembled like a leaf, a clear difference from the arrogance she shown during the bout. It's the game to blame, not me. You were just designed to be an evil character unable to be saved.
He hissed. "You are pathetic." He slapped her hand away. "What happened to the cruel you who decided to kill a mother, right in front of a young child?"
"What?" She looked stunned.
"Ah, speaking of which that young child was coincidentally her son."
"You..." Her eyes widened in shock. "You were there? Impossible. My brother told me there was no witness left."
He laughed, "You believed him. That untrustworthy liar who could turn back on you at any time?" He cracked up. "You are so naive, aunt."
"What..." She had a premonition if she listened to these words she can never turn back again. "Guess who informed me?" His eyes didn't advert, his gaze seeped into the depths of her soul as if everything was useless in front of him.
"Yan Luoxi."
"Correct." He grinned. "How did you guess that in one shot? I am quite impressed." He clapped enthusiastically.
"I guess that's all our family amounts to. Despair, revenge, trampling over the weak. Now that I am not favorable to them any longer, I guess I am being discarded." She seemed to have been ingrained with the law of survival since childhood or else with her pride, there was no reason to accept her current state. "Your mother...Every time, I see you, I am painfully reminded of her."
"Huh.." He declared in disbelief. "You of all people have no right to say that." His eyes looked down coldly as he grabbed her collar. His actions were aggressive in comparison to his stoic expression.
"Why not? Just because I laid my hands on her?" She chuckled, fascinated at the sight of her provocation working on him.
"I have been waiting for this moment. Ever since I saw you again, I thought how lucky I was that I didn't need to search around for you."
"What do you mean? You won't have any evidence to condemn me."
"You are right, but it doesn't matter, since I swore that one day I would come back to collect your debt myself." Eyeing her as if she was an animal, he continued. "Killing you will only dirty my hands."
Normally, his eyes reflected gentleness and obedient but now...to Yan Meixiu, these aspects were replaced with unleashed hatred and hostility. She knew it. She was afraid to face it, even after all these years of running away.
At that time, wouldn't anyone have chosen the same? She had no choice - either she dies or her best friend dies. She was young at that time and had no plans to die just yet. Of course, she was in pain that she had to kill her best friend, however, if she didn't she would be tortured by her family clan before facing a peaceful death.
One thing she regretted was that she didn't make use of that situation. She was in shock to recover from facing her real self who struggles to survive even if she is trampled on. If she had another chance, she would have made use of the fact that her best friend died and gained sympathy from Wuying. After that incident, he no longer opened his heart to anyone, not the concubines and not even his offsprings. He just took on a lot of work to forget about her in turn paining himself.
"I didn't kill her...I didn't...She killed herself." She shook her head in denial. As if painful memories were resurfacing, she clutched her head, panting heavily. Her knees felt weak and ebony, struggling to get up. "Yeah, she killed herself...I didn't force her...I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Do you truly think so?" If she didn't have the courage to do it, then it must be someone else behind her. "You are unwell. I will come visit you another day when you are better."
"No...I didn't..." She was a mad woman, murmuring crazily. At least, now Feng Liuxie had some excuse to send her somewhere remote, where she can easily be targeted by her former servants.
"While you stay in arrest, think carefully whether my mother really deserved to be killed. How can you not feel a silk of guilt when you are living happily instead of her? You are a monster." Abruptly, a rustle interrupted his conversation with her. Not paying heed, he continued. "I sometimes wonder where you have the guts to kill someone as a Monster. I guess it just runs exclusively in the Yan family."
He walked out, humming happily.
[What happened to your revenge and tears?]
That was just acting. It's not like Yan Meixiu was deceived by my cover either.
[Do you mean...]
Exactly. She faked it. A woman of such pride faking mental illness in order to trap me into changing the conditions. If father found out that it wasn't true, he would definitely be furious, especially if he had something important in her hands.
[So wicked.]
I agree. With her acting just now, if I didn't know better, I would have thought she had gone mad.
[Just now, someone managed to break into the mansion.]
Yeah, he was swift enough in qing gong to pass through the mid rank guards my father trained. The only person who can achieve that is either the head clan, my elder sister, or Yan Shen.
[Won't it be a problem?]
No. I have ways to solve it. If it was the head clan, by his impatient personality, he would call me to probe around tomorrow. He is easier to handle. If it was one of my siblings.., all the better.
[You look so evil right now...}
...
[Anyways, where are you heading to now?]
I am heading back to receive my report.
In front of his residence, the guards were standing with an old couple in tow, demanding entrance to the gate. With Feng Liuxie's permit, they were able to get in.
The guards bowed, reporting the situation. "Sir, these two have been acting very suspicious in the morning and delivered a letter to you." They asked indirectly whether he had any person scheduled to meet today.
"So, are you saying without my elder brother's permit, you won't allow me to meet anyone else?"
"No, young master. We were just concerned."
"If you were, then leave it be. These two are harmless."
"However," Guard 1 voiced.
"These intruders are still..." Guard 2 supported him.
"Relay to father that they were saviors who helped me during the kidnapping accident three years ago." They were flustered at the mention of the clan head. By the mention of 'that' incident, the guards then realized they overstepped their boundaries.
To show remorse, the guards bowed to await their punishment. From his gentle voice, they were stunned he was letting them off with a preach. "He will surely understand how much I care for them. Writing letters to show appreciation and present them with gifts is the least I could do for my saviors. They are like second family to me." His eyes gave out a look of nostalgia as he remembered his parents.
The guards, convinced by his genuine reaction, apologized to the young master and the old couple for their rude behavior, and quickly strode to pass on his words. Seeing no surprise in their response, the original owner must have been aware of his father's cloaked guards, meaning the head clan trusted him more than his elder brother.
He received the letter, snuggling it securely it in his outer robes. Seeing the old couple felt nervous and not knowing what to do, he felt somewhat bad and offered the seats next to him. There were too many eyes around them.
"I hadn't seen you in a long time, I was actually worried about your safety. How have you been?" He smiled warmly at them. The servants who watched him discreetly was surprised that a person so cold and aloof could greet a stranger they didn't know of with such gentle response.
This should create solid proof that I trust them to some extent. Let the encrypted conversation begin.
"We are doing quite well. You look thinner compared to when you were younger. Are you eating properly?" The woman replied.
//We have gathered what you needed.
"Yeah I am. Lately, I just feel tired. How's your shop doing? Is the business as usual?"
//I am bored waiting. Have you taken care of your business?
"Actually, we are having trouble in keeping out troublesome customers but we will be fine. "
//There are still some people unsatisfied, but we have silenced them.
"That's good. Please write me another letter when you get back."
//Send me another report once you get more news.
The old man finally spoke, nodding his head. "We will write you one when our business is peaceful."
//Ok. We will sort things out and send a report as quickly as possible.
It was going to be dark soon. "I guess time do pass very fast when you enjoy something. If you need help, please free to come back again. I will let the guards allow your entry automatically."
//You learnt it quick. Come to the residence if you need something.
"Thank you for your generosity."
//Your favor to return the boys was already enough for us.
"Since you say I am generous, should I invest in your business?"
//Is your relation to the orphanage covered?
"No, we don't want people to think we saved you to ask you for more money. I still think what we did when we were younger was right, though we considered you might not want to remember us."
//All covered. We sponsored the orphanage anonymously.
"How could I not? You took care of me when all the others were ignoring me, because they may lose money and looked at me as if I was a nuisance."
//If you find this meeting, uncomfortable, I won't bother you anymore.
"It was our desire to adopt a child as adorable as you because I wasn't able to have any children. I was very grateful we had you as a child for just a few months." She laughed gently, with tears brimming at her eyes. "We would like to see young master even without a purpose in return you can rely on us if you need any support. "
//I won't mind meeting young master again if you need us. You are our boys' savior. We will be there for you whenever you need us.
"That's...reassuring. Thanks, old He and Madam Ying." He hugged them, feeling a reassured warmth for the first time in his second life. They strangely reminded him of his parents. "Take care." He sent them off to the clan's front gates. He leant on the pillars, watching them as they disappeared, out of his sight. "Let's go back."