Ming Lan was shocked, and his eyes got dazzled by the glare reflected by the square jade seal in front of him.

"How dare you—"

Getting fuming, he shook his head fiercely and stared at Leng Qingtang with a hateful gaze.

"I'm also a rank-second official of the court. How can your man insult me like this?"

Beside him, Lord Bai shook his head in disbelief and yelled to the man at the top of the steps.

"Master Leng, you, you are deliberately embarrassing me!"

Leng Qingtang faintly smiled and lowered his ice-cold gaze.

"I said it beforehand. Master Ming, it is clear that you cannot eat the seal of the Imperial Ceremony Office, and it seems that you do not really want to save them. Guards, take the kneeling people to the Violent Room, and I will deal with them later."

The Eastern Depot's guards replied in unison and then rushed to the center of the courtyard. They hauled the eighty eunuchs and maids into the terraces on the courtyard's east and west sides.

There were twenty-six terraces, which were the Imperial Ceremony Office's Violent Rooms used to punish culprits.

No matter how firm and persistent those people were, few of them could come out alive from the airtight small black rooms like pigeon cages.

These eighty eunuchs and maids also knew how terrifying the Violent Room was, and many cried or howled at the top of their voices piteously all the way while being forcibly dragged into the room.

If it weren't for this scene was showing in broad daylight, it would make people mistakenly believe that they had gotten into the hell.

Duan Shaochun sat on the edge of the bench with a puddle of liquid dripping under him. He was so frightened that he actually wet himself on the spot.

The remaining thirteen people also looked blank and kept trembling.

Leng Qingtang glanced down contemptuously, and then he raised his eyebrows and the corners of his lips, saying.

"Since you came to my Imperial Ceremony Office today, I will not let you leave with no gain. Lord Bai, how about staying to watch the punishment with me?"

Lord Bai trembled slightly and held his tongue.

Leng Qingtang chuckled and ordered in a clear and loud voice.

"Execute the flogging of the service center's culprits immediately!"

The eunuchs taking charge of punishment pushed the fourteen back on the benches in the entreating cries, and then they raised the iron-clad big sticks in their hands and swung fiercely...

Soon, red blood spattered on the ground, and the smell filled the courtyard.

Under the porch, the internal officials' chiefs were palpitating with an unnatural expression and feeling weak in their legs. None of them dared to glance to the center of the courtyard. They were all soaked with cold sweat.

One of the eunuchs taking charge of punishment stopped lashing and bowed in front of the porch.

"Master, Duan Shaochun, the Supervisor of the service center, cannot bear the punishment. He has died."

The penalty Duan Shaochun suffered named "A Stick in Red".

The so-called "A Stick in Red" was to club one's waist with a big stick. The lumbar spine was the most vulnerable part of the human body, and the tortured person would soon die of the broken spine within a few blows.

Sure enough, Duan Shaochun, the one who was so resourceful in the usual, half closed his eyes after being hit a few times by two eunuchs with sticks, and gurgling blood spilled from his wide-opened mouth. His arm stretched out towards Ming Lan for help drooped down suddenly.

Watching Duan Shaochun die like this, Ming Lan felt as if a knife had been piercing his heart, and his pupils got contracted in pain.

At this moment, another eunuch stopped his movements. He turned around and bowed to Leng Qingtang.

"Master, I'm incompetent. I made a mistake counting the number of blows, and I don't know how many is it now. Please forgive me."

"It's not a big deal..."

Leng Qingtang laughed wickedly. Intentionally or unintentionally, his flickering gaze fell on Ming Lan's blank sweaty face, and then he waved his hand casually, saying.

"Be nimbler! Start all over again when you get confused!"

"Yes."

The eunuch responded viciously and continued to swing the stick.

Leng Qingtang sneered. With his gentle smile accompanied a trace of ferocity, he turned his eyes to Lord Bai, who kept silent.

Seeing that Lord Bai got shocked and kept wiping the sweat on his forehead with his wide sleeves, Leng Qingtang knew that he was frightened by the horrifying and bloody scenes everywhere.

In any case, he should give this meddling eunuch a decent out.

"Lord Bai, I always know how to do things properly, and this time I will not stump you. I will go to Yongning Palace in the future and tell the truth of the matter to the Imperial Noble Concubine.

"Besides, the Eastern Depot has conducted several cases recently, and I believe that the Imperial Noble Concubine will also be interested in knowing some about it."

Lord Bai was shocked suddenly and looked with his widely-opened eyes at Leng Qingtang, who kept a meaningful smile.

As the chief eunuch of Yongning Palace, Lord Bai knew that there were several that inextricably linked to the Wan clan among the cases the Eastern Depot was investigating.

Leng Qingtang dared to say such words to him today, clearly showing that it was a hint and a threat.

The Wan clan and Ming Lan, who was more significant to Wan Yuyao? Lord Bai knew the answer in mind.

He helplessly sighed. He shook the horsetail whisk and then arched his hands to salute Leng Qingtang on the steps.

"Master Leng, since you said so, I won't stop it anymore. I will take my leave and return to Yongning Palace first."

Glancing at Ming Lan, Lord Bai left alone.

Leng Qingtang steadily walked down the steps with his hands behind, and he walked at ease to Ming Lan with a light smile.

Xiao Xiaoshen had already handed the seal in his hands to a eunuch of the Imperial Ceremony Office, and now he firmly stared at Ming Lan and the Western Depot's eunuchs beside him with a pair of falcon-liked sharp eyes, holding the hilt of the broadsword.

If they dared to attack his Master, he would wave his broadsword and kill them on the spot.

Leng Qingtang lowered his eyes casually and glanced at Ming Lan's left hand blocked and concealed by the deerskin glove, laughing mockingly.

"Master Ming, you despised the majesty of the Imperial Ceremony Office, repeatedly obstructing me from punishing the internal officials and wanting to take away the criminals forcibly."

"Now that they have been executed. Master Ming, do you want to play safe to avoid punishment alone now?"

Ming Lan kept his tongue, staring at his complacent opponent. He felt so angered that his eyes seemed about to pop out.

Leng Qingtang curled his lips to chuckle and ordered coldly.

"Xiaoshen, Master Ming feels inconvenient in his hand. Come and help him."

"Leng Qingtang, you are going to avenge your personal revenge and kill all of us!"

Before Xiao Xiaoshen came over, Ming Lan clenched his fist tightly. He spoke resolutely with his hateful gaze fixing on the man with a handsome face and a cold smile.

"So what?"

Leng Qingtang replied carelessly. He took another two steps forward until the distance between him and Ming Lan was within one finger, and his voice was so low that only Ming Lan could hear him clearly.

"Ming Lan, you have done all sorts of evil. If I let you go today, I'm afraid that I will feel guilty to Captain Jiang's soul in heaven, to Captain Yuan paralyzed on the bed, and to Yunxi, who is still missing!"

Ming Lan got in a daze, and then his expression suddenly changed. Instead of becoming angry, he sneered.

"You said you feel guilty to Gu Yunxi? Leng Qingtang, you should actually know it!"

"You should be aware that it is all thanks to Gu Yunxi that you are in charge of the Imperial Ceremony Office again and being able to stand here with your head in the air in front of the internal officials and me in the courtyard at this time!"

Seeing Leng Qingtang suddenly raised his eyebrows and got firmly stuck in place, Ming Lan twisted his lips numbly and showed a cold and bleak smile.

"What you have done is not known to others, but you are unable to hide it from me. You always said you love Yunxi and would protect her, but when your life was at stake, you finally chose to take care of yourself and abandon her. What funny is that she keeps believing in you."

"Master Leng, Seal Keeper Leng! You used Gu Yunxi's life in exchange for the chance to regain control of the Palace's inner court. So, what qualifications do you have to yell at me?!"

After finishing speaking in one breath, Ming Lan suddenly felt a pain in his eyes and a sense of severe suppression in the chest.

Ming Lan's gray eyes wandered among Leng Qingtang's stupefied facial features, and then he slightly relieved. His eyes brightened again, and he continued.

"If you tried to rescue Gu Yunxi earlier that day, instead of planning how to restore power to deal with the Western Depot and me, how could your subordinates be disabled, and how could Gu Yunxi disappear?"

"Leng Qingtang, what you are doing at this time is just buying peace for your conscience. Of course, even if you kill me and kill the ninety-four internal officials, Gu Yunxi will never come back—"

"..."

Leng Qingtang's handsome face twitched fiercely, and he immediately felt countless sharp blades were gouging his heart, and bursts of heartache swept through his body.

Ming Lan's cruel accusation hit the nail on the head. Yunxi's disappearance was still a knot in Leng Qingtang's heart that he could not let go.

Before long, Leng Qingtang trembled uncontrollably. With a pair of bloodshot eyes, he weakly said to Ming Lan.

"Don't think that saying this will make me release you."

Ming Lan sneered, and his contemptuous gaze straight shoot Leng Qingtang, who looked sad and lost.

"No need! Since you are for her, I accept the punishment! I agree that I am not a good person, but I never have your hypocrisy. Leng Qingtang, I indeed despise you."

After resolutely speaking, Ming Lan turned around to the courtyard's center under Leng Qingtang's glassy gaze.

Raising his head, Ming Lan narrowed his eyes to look at the sun hanging high on the blue sky and smiled freely with his lips curled.

"Pussycat, I will pay you back all that I owe you!"

Dispelling the Western Depot's eunuchs that wanted to stop him, Ming Lan kneeled down in front of the bloodstained floor. He took off his high hat of net-patterned black gauze and said calmly to Xiao Xiaoshen.

"Begin."

Leng Qingtang walked up the steps step by step. Suddenly, he felt weak in his legs and leaned on the fauteuil with his hands hurriedly to support his frail body.

His world abruptly became silent, and he couldn't hear any noise of execution and howling.

His complexion turned dark and gloomy, and his charming facial features got twisted because of the indescribable pain.

Leng Qingtang arched his back and clenched his teeth, refusing to let out any sound, but finally, he couldn't hold back the blood coming out of his throat, and it overflowed from the corners of his lips while he opened his mouth.

His heart was already full of holes, and he did not taste any pleasure of revenge at all. On the contrary, the heart-wrenching pain became more severe.

After a long time, cruel and merciless punishment finished.

Fourteen cold bloody corpses were lying on the benches. Those torturers propped one end of the big stick on the brick floor, holding the other end and wheezing.

Xiao Xiaoshen also stopped. Spreading his palms and looking at the blood on his fingers, Xiao Xiaoshen kept poker-faced.

Ming Lan's cheeks became purple and swollen, and his mouth was full of red blood. His three teeth were knocked out by Xiaoshen, who had strong strength in his palms.

He stumbled to his feet. He pushed away the subordinates coming to help him and staggered under the cloud platform.

Ming Lan slowly looked up with a mouth full of blood, trying to focus his blurred vision on the decadent man beside the fauteuil. He made a weak smile, saying in a delicate voice.

"Leng Qingtang, to be honest, I don't want to fight with you anymore. The Eastern Depot and the Western Depot have been competing for so long. What have you lost? What have I gained? Who wins, and who loses? Or both sides suffer?"

Leng Qingtang was heartbroken. When he dully turned around, he saw Ming Lan slowly exit the courtyard.

——

The sun went down in the west, and darkness fell.

The dark and vast Cold Palace stood in the coldness and bleakness. A dusky light filtered out through the broken corner of the wall and lighted a dark figure's half-side.

A low voice of a woman came behind the wall.

"It's unexpected that an ordinary girl will make waves between the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot. What makes me even more stunned is that Western Depot's Master seems to have indeed fallen in love with her. Fortunately, she is not in the imperial harem. Otherwise, she must be a strong opponent."

"In your opinion, who is the one that intervened and robbed the girl?" The dark figure on the other side of the wall suddenly asked.

The woman behind the wall became silent for a while and then said.

"I have no idea either."

"If that person is our opponent, what shall we do?"

"Even if so, what he did is aimed at the Eastern and the Western Depots, and it will not threaten you and me for the time being. We only need to sit on our hands and watch the tigers fight."