"She’s just pitying you."

The cruel words pierced Leng Qingtang's heart like sharp ice columns, afflicting him with gnawing pain and biting cold.

He turned his head abruptly and shot a penetrating gaze at Lu Qiange, who had levitated to the top of the tree. The white figure stepped lightly on the leaves with his toes, as gentle and quiet as a dragonfly kissing the water. Within seconds, he had jumped over a few large trees and advanced a hundred meters away.

Seeing that Lu Qiange had left safely, Gu Yunxi was immediately relieved.

Yet a sudden violent tenderness on the wrist made her look up in panic and pain, and an inch away was the Master's stiff face.

A guard led the horse over, and Leng Qingtang raised Gu Yunxi on its back with distorted features. He then mounted the horse as well and took the reins to set off.

The heavy rain was pouring down from the grim night sky on their way. The wind was howling, shaking the ground. The trees were swaying and shuddering in the middle of the storm, fighting for their own life against the thunder and lightning.

Gu Yunxi's clothes were soon soaked. She could not stop shivering from the freezing cold sent by the gales.

Fraught with infinite resentment in his heart, Leng Qingtang kept whipping the horse, which neighed and ran despite splashing mud all over.

The bumping journey untied Gu Yunxi's hair, which now cascaded down her back. A few pieces also messily clung to her wet cheeks and shoulders.

Freezing raindrops were slapping her face mercilessly. Watching the misty way ahead, she gradually became numb from the pain. Her heart also withered away in the icy rain.

She could feel an iceberg pressing tightly against her backbone. It was the Master's chest, cold and sorrowful.

Once, it was a reliable place where Gu Yunxi could not bear to part. Whenever she laid her cheek on it, she would be embraced by the warmth and feel happy and secure, and her heart would palpitate with excitement.

But now, that chest was cold and lifeless. Through the skin without warmth, the broken heart was throbbing dully like a mechanical drum. Every time it was sounded, the vibration would pass through several layers of clothes and touch Gu Yunxi's nerve, making her suffer more on top of her exhaustion.

The Master had met Lu and had learned about their past. Gu Yunxi was distraught that the misunderstanding might remain an eternal nightmare entangling the three of them.

Leng Qingtang did not return to the Eastern Depot but headed to the Royal Prison.

Gu Yunxi had a bad feeling in her stomach but dared not to ask. She obediently let the Master stable the horse outside the Royal Prison. Not uttering a word, he pulled her down and dragged her into the prison.

When they stopped in front of an independent cell, Gu Yunxi began to struggle, grabbing the iron fence and refusing to enter.

She did not expect that the Master would be cruel enough to lock her in the Royal Prison personally.

What did he want to do? Was it mere anger?

Overwhelming fear mixed with a trace of shame instantly occupied her heart.

Without a word, Leng Qingtang put his big hand on top of her small hand tightly gripping on the fence and opened her slim fingers one by one. Then, he threw her into the cell like a drenched chicken.

Her petite body fell on the straws and rolled.

"Master..."

She exclaimed in horror and sorrow. Holding her breath, she watched his legs approaching step by step.

Leng Qingtang's whole body was also dripping wet from the heavy rain. His thighs were wrapped by the python robe, making his every step difficult.

"Is what he said true?!"

He halted before Gu Yunxi, gritting his teeth, and questioned sharply.

Horrified, Gu Yunxi silently lifted her eyes to meet the Master, whose wet face was clouded by rage. Panting and red-eyed, he looked like a grotesque monster that was ready to devour her alive.

"Answer me! You and him, when and where?"

Not receiving her reply for a while, he could hardly suppress his temper and yelled at her.

Gu Yunxi's eyebrows twitched, and her eyes were soon filled with crystal tears.

She surely knew what the Master was referring to several times even though the question was never complete.

"I found him seriously injured at the time and stranded in the mansion. If I had ignored him, he would have died. So I cut off a strand of hair to stitch up the wound on his arm. Then he lived in my room until recovery..."

Gu Yunxi stared at the Master's deformed face. As she stammered to answer, tears began to hang from her eyes.

At this point, she could no longer hide anything from him, so she confessed.

Leng Qingtang shook violently and took a staggering step back. He closed his eyes in regrets and anger.

It was during that time. The man in white failed in the assassination in the Eastern Depot at night and then hid in the Master's Mansion to heal.

It was no wonder that his two troops returned with no success in capturing the assassin. The sly man knew the most dangerous place was also the safest and quietly slid into the Master's Mansion.

Had all the guards and Qinger been blind?

Recalling the past seriously, Leng Qingtang could not help but feel a thrill down his spine. He was secretly awed by the danger.

If the young man had been ill-disposed, it would have been easy for a talented man like him to have his way with Yunxi.

To examine himself, he had been at odds with Yunxi during those days and returned to the Eastern Depot in a fit of anger. Had he foreseen this, he would never have left her alone in the mansion.

Gu Yunxi saw the Master's face fall instantly but could not fathom his thoughts. She only explained eagerly,

"It's not what you think. He has done nothing to me! Really, he is not a bad person..."

As if choked, her anxious and sad voice stopped abruptly. She saw the Master open his eyes suddenly, and his expression was more ferocious. Hence she shrank in the corner, not daring to speak more.

The Master at this moment could not hear a single good word from her about the man.

Handsome as he was, his face distorted by anger was even more frightening than that of an ugly man.

Eyes blazing, Leng Qingtang strode forward and grabbed Gu Yunxi's shoulders to lift and press her against the wall.

She moaned in pain, with her lips trembling and shivering.

"He was the one who left the note and framed me at the Qingfeng Temple. How could you save him?"

Leng Qingtang screamed, his cheeks swelling for Gu Yunxi's foolish behavior.

"I didn't know!"

Greatly aggrieved, Gu Yunxi cried,

"I didn't know that he was the one who framed you."

"What if you had known it?"

Leng Qingtang insisted, scrutinizing the sobbing girl with sharp and questioning eyes, where existed a complexity that was unfathomable for her.

"If you had known the truth at the time, would you still have saved him from the precipice of death?"

He asked again with undisguised contempt.

"I…"

Gu Yunxi's eyes opened wide in disbelief. She had been driven to desperation by the Master's ruthless interrogation, and from her overwhelmed heart was flowing endless pain and misery.

"Why? Can't answer?"

Leng Qingtang narrowed his eyes and pressed on. His lips curled indifferently with a charming yet chilling smile.

"You should know that I hate betrayal the most in my life! Yet you... How could you...”

Gu Yunxi stood there with tears streaming out of the corner of her eyes and sliding silently down her delicate face.

"Except for hiding him in the mansion to heal his injuries, I have done nothing unfair to you. I have given you my heart and body. And I shall never allow myself stained, or I'll kill myself on the spot. How would I have the courage to find you in Jiangan?"

Snuffling her wet red nose, Gu Yunxi looked away from the Master and conversed no more. Her long eyelashes drooped with sorrows.

She wanted to express her grievances through muteness and resist the Master's stubbornness with silence.

Her eyelashes were striking like the slick feathers of a crow, black, thick, and curved. Decorated with a few teardrops, they shimmered in the dark.

The torch on the wall flickered, casting shattered and dancing shadows on her smooth face. Untouched by makeup or dust, she was an exquisite beauty rare to the earthly world.

Time passed by second in the silent opposition.

Leng Qingtang was driven mad by Gu Yunxi's disregard.

His beautiful eyes were burning with extreme anger as he pressed on the lonely and miserable girl.

The wet clothes tightly wrapped her wet body, tracing her graceful curves and unraveling her youth.

Her petite body must be cold since it was trembling uncontrollably, not unlike the pathetic leaves shivering on the branches against the freezing winter wind.

He had always indulged in her beauty and purity. Her body, her charm, and everything about her should belong to him and him only!

He was the Master of the Eastern Depot and a rank-second officer of the court. How could a trivial wanderer compete against him for her beauty and heart?

Suddenly, an unexplainable emotion flooded from the depths of Leng Qingtang's heart.

He wanted to release his rage and desired pleasure, no matter how.

The anger blew up in his heart. Leng Qingtang approached Gu Yunxi again with his contorted face. He clawed her shoulders with one hand and pulled open her blouse with the other.

Revealed under were her delicate collarbone and shoulders. After being soaked under the wet garments for long, the skin was even fairer and smoother like grease. Covered under the thin cold mist, they radiated with a special charm.

His thin lips opened slightly, spraying her dainty face with cold breath. He pressed closer with might and danger but without the slightest eagerness or tenderness.

Yunxi's face shivered in shock, and her heartbeat speeded up suddenly. Panicked and shy as she was, she stayed unmoved helplessly, embracing his rage and force.

Staring blankly at the meek girl at his mercy, he felt a deep pain in his heart. In the end, he could not do anything.

He still could not believe that the innocent and lovely girl in his eyes had committed sins with another man behind his back.

"Won't you fight back?"

Howling in anger and pain, he pinched her chin and straightened her head, forcing her to look at him.

She wept and whimpered,

"I'm yours. I won't resist or complain however you treat me. You may have many beautiful women in your life, Pei Rushi, Yanwan, and me. But I only have you!"

His hands suddenly loosened and let go of her. Yunxi collapsed and sobbed in the corner as he gazed at her in a trance.

His heart trembled in constant pain. The indescribable anger also vanished from his face. His eyes went dim again and sank into the gloomy swamp.

The corner of Leng Qingtang's mouth twitched, pulling out a bitter arc. He said coldly and sternly,

"I don't need your pity."

Turning abruptly, he dragged his weak body and staggered out of the cell under Yunxi's confused gaze in silence.

The Royal Prison was a labyrinth composed of layers of cellblocks. Gu Yunxi was in one of the deepest cells. When the Master dragged his apprentice to the depth of the prison, the guards and jailers knew they should leave them alone, so no one had the courage to follow them.

After walking for a while, Leng Qingtang could not bear it anymore and spit a mouthful of foul blood on the ground.

"Master!"

The first captain came up to greet him and was astonished by the ill-colored blood on the ground.

"Are you..."

He was stunned, his red face dominated by irresistible pain.

Leng Qingtang waved him to be quiet. He stuck his cold hand into his sleeve pocket, groping for a handkerchief. Then he wiped his mouth and panted.

"Quickly, back to the Eastern Depot. I... I have instructions..."

Not long after the Master's departure, a jailer sent Gu Yunxi fresh bedding and a new set of clothes.

She was considered as a member of the Eastern Depot and the Master’s apprentice. Although no one knew how she had offended the Master, she still deserved exceptional treatment in this prison.

Gu Yunxi waited for the jailer to go away. Then she made the bed and changed into dry clothes. The bedding was thick and soft, not cold at all for her to lie on.

The night was as cool as water. A sullen roaring haunted the gloomy cells. It sounded like a wuthering draft or a crying ghost.

Gu Yunxi curled up in the quilt, fearing to put her head out of it. She listened to her heartbeat in panic, savoring the desolation and horror of the night alone. She felt that the world was empty for the rest of her life and only darkness and hopelessness prevailed day after day...

Ming Lan's Mansion at the Xijing Gate.

The sky was clear when he woke up.

In the bedroom, Ming Lan stood upright with the arms raised to the sides. Before and behind him, there was a young eunuch, helping him tidy his new Master's official robe.

An Hong's feminine voice rose from the porch with undisguised joy.

"Master, the news is out."

"Tell me in the study."

Speaking to the air, Ming Lan tilted his face up and beckoned the two servants.

The two eunuchs walked swiftly to the door and opened it for him.

An Hong followed Ming Lan into the study and presented a note to him after a salute.

Ming Lan smiled triumphantly after reading it and ordered, "Bring the map."

An Hong quickly went to the bookshelf to fetch a cloth roll and spread it out on the desk, waiting fawningly by his Master's side.

Ming Lan's eyes searched carefully on the map as his polished nails slid across the marks on the cloth and then stopped on one spot.

Squinting his creepy eyes, Ming Lan smiled evilly and tapped repeatedly on the mark, speaking to An Hong,

"They have found the antidote Qiangwu fern. Once they pass the Baishui Gate, it will take them at least six or seven days to reach the capital without stopping on the fastest steeds."

"Now that Leng Qingtang's gravely poisoned, the medicine-seekers will not dare to delay on the road, so they must go via one of the three places: the Goosefall Platform, the Eye Mountain, or the Immortal Stream. Yet the last two spots are too steep for his people to take risks."

"You'll have people guarding the three spots, among which the Goosefall Platform must have the most manpower. When you find them, kill them immediately!"

"Yes, Master!"

An Hong nodded and smiled as their eyes met, shinning with cunningness.

An Hong lowered his head and thought for a moment. Puzzle crawled on his face.

"Master, if you want Leng Qingtang dead, why didn’t you act at the Court of Judicial Review? Now it's more troublesome to do it."

"Ignorant fool. You're short-sighted!"

Ming Lan arched his index finger and knocked heavily on An Hong's forehead. Then he took his seat, curled his lips in disappointment, and rolled his eyes at him.

"Though he's offended Lord Shen, none dares to kill him without the Imperial Noble Concubine's consent. Now he's allied with the Empress. I controlled Yanwan to poison Leng Qingtang to deliberately alienate him and Empress Qian and break their alliance!"

An Hong was surprised. "Then, will you still give the Eastern Depot the antidote?"

"Naturally I will! But this time, I want the treasure that Leng Qingtang values most!"

Ming Lan smirked, staring at someplace on the map with his slightly lowered eyes, secretly proud of himself.

Thinking of Noble Concubine Wan's summon and quest for him a few days ago, Ming Lan could not help but chuckle to himself for his perfect plan.

Leng Qingtang was thoughtful. He must have got some messages before hiding his woman in the Royal Prison for protection.

Without the antidote, Ming Lan was keen to see how the Eastern Depot would react. By then, he would not believe he cannot expel Gu Yunxi into his hands.