Tianjie Ward, General's Manor.
Yang Yumniang wore a tight-fitting practice suit, holding a long spear in her hand. As she moved, it stirred up a fierce gale, and with a final thrust, she left a long, snake-like crack in the ground.
"The Yang family spear is truly well-deserved!" Following the butler into the courtyard, Li Feng clapped and praised the young maiden before him.
Yang Yumniang was only fifteen years old, possessing a breathtaking, angelic face. Having practiced martial arts since childhood, her slender figure was graced with a pair of long legs.
A Yang family maiden had just blossomed. Although her figure was not yet voluptuous, it was already beginning to take shape—the very image of a fresh, youthful beauty.
Born into a prestigious family, Yang Yumniang naturally recognized the Second Imperial Highness before her. In fact, she and Li Feng had almost been successfully betrothed, so she curtsied while holding her red-tasseled spear: "This humble maiden Yang Yumniang pays her respects to Second Imperial Highness!"
"Old General Yang has been suddenly summoned into the imperial palace. Someone intends to make a move against your Yang family today. I beg you to quickly take me to the inner courtyard!" Mentally praising the young maiden's vibrant energy, Li Feng made his urgent request with utmost seriousness.
Yang Yumniang furrowed her brows slightly, but nodded cleanly and decisively: "Alright!"
The Yang family was a military household through and through. Their ancestor, Yang Xiangshan, was a founding meritorious official of the Xia State, having followed the Grand Ancestor of the Xia State through battles across the realm to secure the magnificent domain they enjoyed today.
Yet by now, the Yang family's male descendants had withered away, and today they faced a calamity of annihilation.
The Yang Manor was a standard courtyard residence with four successive compounds. Following Yang Yumniang through a maze of courtyards, Li Feng finally arrived at the back garden.
"Dismiss everyone irrelevant, and use a hoe to dig straight down from here!" Arriving beneath the stone tablet of a rockery, Li Feng pointed at the soil below.
Yang Yumniang glanced at Li Feng, but asked no further questions. She immediately shooed away the idle staff: "Amu, fetch a hoe!"
Clang!
After digging down a few strokes with the hoe, the metal blade soon struck a hard object.
No longer harboring any doubts about Li Feng, Yang Yumniang unearthly an exquisite wooden box from the soil and opened it.
"Quick! Quick! Seal the General's Manor immediately! We will dig three feet into the ground if we must to find those things!" Lu Shaojie, the Right Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, led a pack of wolf-like and tiger-like imperial guards into the Yang Manor, issuing commands without a word of explanation.
The front and back gates of the General's Manor were sealed, and the residence was thrown into instant turmoil.
Lu Shaojie, the Right Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, marched straight into the garden with his guards, only to suddenly notice that the ground beneath the stone tablet had been dug up. Enraged, he demanded, "Who did this? Where did you hide the items?"
"Items? What items? Pray enlighten me, Your Honor!" Catching a clue from Lu Shaojie's reaction, Yang Yumniang pulled a cold face and shot back.
Searching all around and failing to find the hidden items, Lu Shaojie angrily pointed at the excavated dirt pit and accused, "Stop playing dumb here! You clearly buried witchcraft items here to curse Your Majesty!"
"May I ask what official position Your Honor holds?" Yang Yumniang cast a grateful glance at Li Feng before asking.
Tidying his official robes slightly, Lu Shaojie proudly announced his newly promoted rank: "This official is Lu Shaojie, the Right Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review!"
"Right Assistant Minister, how did you know for certain that witchcraft was buried here? Could it be that you buried it yourself to frame our Yang family?" Having now seen through the plot, Yang Yumniang immediately launched her interrogation.
This...
Only then did Lu Shaojie realize he had spoken out of turn. The General's Manor could not be convicted without solid evidence, especially since he hadn't actually managed to unearth that piece of incriminating proof.
"Right Assistant Minister, you claim the General's Manor buried witchcraft to curse His Majesty. Who exactly was the whistleblower? Our Yang family has been loyal for generations, yet today we suffer such false accusation. I demand an explanation, or else our Yang family will certainly take the matter to His Majesty to seek justice!" Seeing Lu Shaojie's eyes darting about nervously, Yang Yumniang pressed her attack further.
Oh?
Observing Yang Yumniang's words and actions, Li Feng realized what a fool he had been in the past—to have such a genuine pearl right before his eyes while he went out of his way to fawn over some ordinary trash.
Realizing things had gone wrong, Lu Shaojie suddenly caught sight of Li Feng standing off to the side, looking somewhat suspicious. He pointed a finger at him: "It's him! Just now I saw him acting suspiciously at the gate! Men, take him back to the Court of Judicial Review at once. I shall interrogate him personally!"
Me?
Li Feng instinctively pointed at his own nose, his face a picture of utter astonishment.
The Yang family was a staunch pro-emperor faction and a thorn in the First Prince's side, which was why the Court of Judicial Review was framing the manor.
He had come today to help the Yang family evade this trap and preserve a house of loyalty and righteousness. Yet, paradoxically, he had somehow ended up as the driving force of the entire incident, even making people suspect he had orchestrated it himself.
Two Court of Judicial Review guards stepped forward, preparing to seize Li Feng.
Slap!
Moving a step ahead with a swift stride, Li Feng delivered a direct blow across Lu Shaojie's face: "Impertinent wretch! How dare you slander this Prince? Are you tired of living?"
An imperial prince?
At these words, the two guards froze instantly, turning to scrutinize the young man carefully.
"You... you are the Second Imperial Highness?" Only now recognizing the familiar features of the youth before him, Lu Shaojie clutched his stinging cheek in belated realization.
Gazing coldly at Lu Shaojie, who had just tried to bluff his way through, Li Feng said icily, "You had better explain the whole story from beginning to end! Dare to slander this Prince by claiming I tipped off the Court of Judicial Review about buried witchcraft in the General's Manor, and take this matter to my Imperial Father—it will cost you your head!"
Even though he was not favored, for a mere Right Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to fabricate such lies out of thin air was a grave crime. Add in the involvement of the General's Manor, and this insignificant official's neck was guaranteed to roll.
"Your Highness, spare my life!" Realizing he had kicked a steel plate, Lu Shaojie dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.
Without a word, Li Feng stared coldly down at the kneeling man: "Still refusing to talk? If you dare to frame this Prince, then wait for your head to roll!"
Watching Li Feng handle the situation with such poised control, Yang Yumniang couldn't help but hold this man in higher esteem.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! It was Scholar Liu from the General's Manor who informed on them! He claimed witchcraft was buried here, which was why our Chief Justice ordered this subordinate to come search. Every word this subordinate has spoken is the absolute truth, I beg Your Imperial Highness to spare my life!" Gritting his teeth, Lu Shaojie immediately betrayed his source.
Liu Rui?
Yang Yumniang was momentarily stunned. She never expected that Liu Rui, a scholar living under their roof as a guest, would have the audacity to frame them. He was truly a wolf in sheep's clothing biting the hand that fed him.
Knowing that Lu Shaojie's confession was true, Li Feng turned his gaze toward Yang Yumniang, deep in thought.
Liu Rui was merely a frustrated scholar who, for reasons unknown, had chosen to help First Prince Li Xian frame the Yang family, ultimately enlisting as a strategist under the First Prince's banner.
It was precisely this man's ruthless cruelty that helped Li Xian step-by-step usurp the position of Crown Prince, ultimately ascending the throne of the Xia State.