Chapter 783: Things Went Wrong

Old Second Wu felt his scalp tingle listening to the whole chain of people and events.

"Once we've stepped into this muddy water, I'm afraid it'll be hard to get out. Those people probably won't let us go. If—I'm saying if—things really reach that point, where do we go?"

Guan Fangyi said, "Master Dao already arranged a road of retreat for us. You don't need to worry about that."

Hearing her say so, Old Second Wu relaxed slightly and sighed. "Only he can keep all of this under control. Hopefully he comes back safely."

Guan Fangyi showed no intention of returning to her room. She stood there like Maolu Villa's night watchman, while Old Second Wu remained beside her and chatted with her in fits and starts.

The night was the same night as ever.

But people's hearts were restless.

Ever since Niu Youdao left, no one had truly been at ease.

...

A pale light was beginning to show outside the window.

Inside the room, a naked man and woman lay drenched in sweat. The man lay flat on his back as though his soul had left his body, while the woman curled in on herself.

"Let me go," the woman murmured.

The man said, "Someone tampered with the wine and food."

The woman stared blankly.

They had been together for some time now. She did not dislike the man beside her. There was even some strange, indefinable feeling she could not quite explain.

Now she could no longer tell how much of what had happened was because the wine and food had been drugged.

She had nearly abandoned herself until she died.

She had nearly been ravaged to death by the man beside her.

"My name is Feng Guan'er. The Grand Commander-in-Chief of Song is my husband!" the woman murmured dazedly. "Now you know who I am. Let me go!"

Yuan Gang was struck as though by lightning.

He abruptly sat up and stared at her in disbelief.

She was actually the wife of Luo Zhao, Grand Commander-in-Chief of Song?

Then the sight of her exquisitely sculpted, ivory-pale body made him immediately turn his head away again, not daring to look.

He scrambled to his feet, dressed in a fluster, and fled the room as though escaping for his life.

...

In the light of dawn, Yuan Gang rushed to the highest pavilion in Maolu Villa and came face-to-face with Guan Fangyi in the morning breeze.

Slap!

Yuan Gang raised his hand and struck her across the face.

Guan Fangyi did not dodge.

She simply let him slap her.

She felt she deserved it.

Even when Old Second Wu, startled by the blow, was about to intervene, she stretched out a hand and stopped him.

Old Second Wu snapped, "Yuan Gang, don't go too far!"

Yuan Gang ignored him.

He only glared at Guan Fangyi with fury in his eyes.

The fact that she had not resisted confirmed his suspicion.

Inside Maolu Villa, aside from this woman, there was no one else who would dare scheme against him.

Sure enough, it had been her handiwork.

He shouted angrily, "Bitch!"

He had struck hard enough to split the corner of Guan Fangyi's mouth.

Blood appeared there.

She raised a hand and wiped it lightly, then looked at the blood on her fingers and gave a cold laugh.

"A bitch? Fine. Everyone knows what kind of woman I am. And you? What good thing do you think you are?"

"Yes, I tampered with the wine and food. But if you truly hadn't wanted to do anything, the moment you realized something was wrong, you could have run out."

"That little bit of medicine wasn't enough to stop you from getting away."

"So why did you keep going?"

"You were the one who chose to do something beastly."

"You wanted it in your own heart."

"You were the one who couldn't control your desire."

"I don't know about other people, but if this had been Niu Youdao, he absolutely could have controlled himself. If he didn't want to do it, he absolutely could have gotten out."

"Put your hand over your conscience and ask yourself what sort of upright gentleman you really are."

"Heh. So because someone else tampered with things, you can tell yourself you bear no responsibility?"

"Fine. Then I'll oblige you."

"If that lets you sleep at night, put all the blame on me!"

She advanced one step at a time.

Sentence after sentence drove Yuan Gang backward, his breathing growing ragged, his face full of shame—though with his naturally red complexion, no one could tell.

Pushed to the brink by words that struck straight at the heart, Yuan Gang suddenly reached out and grabbed for her throat.

How could Old Second Wu stand by and watch?

He swept Yuan Gang's hand aside and stepped between them.

His voice sank.

"Yuan Gang, I'm warning you. Try anything again and don't blame me for being rude."

Yuan Gang pointed past him at Guan Fangyi and ground out, "She's the wife of Luo Zhao, Grand Commander-in-Chief of Song. That's the answer all of you wanted. Satisfied now?"

The instant those words fell, Guan Fangyi and Old Second Wu both froze.

A fine sheen of cold sweat seemed to break out over them.

Yuan Gang turned and walked away.

Old Second Wu asked weakly, "Wasn't Luo Zhao thrown into the Imperial Prison?"

Guan Fangyi had nothing to say.

...

After daybreak, Yuan Gang arranged a large flying mount.

He intended to send Feng Guan'er away and return her to the Song capital.

After what had happened, he no longer had the face to force her to remain.

When Guan Fangyi learned of the movement, she blocked the two of them and asked Yuan Gang, "Where are you going?"

Feng Guan'er lowered her head without speaking.

Yuan Gang replied heavily, "I'm taking her back."

Guan Fangyi said, "If she wants to go back, she can go by herself. You don't need to escort her."

Yuan Gang said, "So you can secretly kill her on the road?"

That was the problem he had always worried about.

Even while Niu Youdao was still here, Yuan Gang had been concerned about it.

Others might not understand what kind of man Master Dao truly was.

Yuan Gang understood him too well.

In his previous life, Niu Youdao had been a giant of the underworld, a man who had walked out through storms of blood. The lives on his hands were beyond counting.

Later, Master Dao had cultivated his character and tempered himself, wearing away the savagery on the surface. He had almost stopped involving himself personally in all that fighting and killing.

But the dark marks carved into his bones by years of wind and rain could never truly be erased.

There was no need to look far for an example.

Before Yuan Gang infiltrated Qi and began selling tofu, he had rescued and secretly hidden more than ten border soldiers.

When he later went back to collect them, every one of them was dead.

The hiding place had been secret.

Very few people knew about it.

Once Yuan Gang investigated and learned from Yuan Feng that Master Dao had found out, he immediately understood what had happened.

Master Dao had been afraid that Yuan Gang's borrowed identity as a border soldier would be exposed.

He had been afraid that would endanger Yuan Gang in the Qi capital.

So every last one of those soldiers had been secretly executed.

All silenced forever.

Niu Youdao had never said what he intended to do with Feng Guan'er.

But Yuan Gang had already guessed.

That was why he had guarded her so carefully.

Whatever other reasons he had for protecting her, at the very least he did not like Niu Youdao killing innocent people indiscriminately.

Guan Fangyi pressed both hands downward.

"Red-Faced Monkey, I don't want to argue with you. You can let her go. I promise I won't touch her."

"But you cannot go to the Song capital."

Yuan Gang said, "Since when do I need you to manage me?"

Quite a few people had come out after hearing the argument.

They stood around watching the two of them clash.

Niu Youdao was absent.

The conflict immediately erupted.

Who could control whom now?

Who would submit to whom?

Yuan Gang could not control Guan Fangyi.

Guan Fangyi would not obey Yuan Gang.

The three allied sects would not obediently listen to either of them.

Wuliang Mountain would no longer unquestioningly obey anyone else.

They could not command Shang Chaozong.

Dachan Mountain would not take them seriously.

Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion would not speak to them of cooperation.

Without Niu Youdao here to keep everything suppressed, many things became problems.

The argument grew fiercer.

At last Guan Fangyi exploded.

"Yuan Gang, with Master Dao gone, are you trying to destroy everything he worked for?"

"Don't you know Song's attitude toward Master Dao?"

"If you go there and fall into Song's hands, am I supposed to rescue you or not?"

"What am I supposed to do when Master Dao comes back?"

That single question finally made Yuan Gang calm down.

If he truly fell into Song's hands, there was a group inside Maolu Villa who would stand on his side.

If Guan Fangyi refused to save him, Maolu Villa would immediately split apart.

But if she did try to save him, what could she possibly use?

How could she rescue him from Song's hands?

Under the current situation, Maolu Villa simply did not have the strength to involve itself in Song as well.

"I can stay out of Song. How do you guarantee you won't touch her?" Yuan Gang asked.

He wanted to force Guan Fangyi to spare Feng Guan'er.

Guan Fangyi was furious.

Hands on her hips, she snapped, "You don't need my guarantee. Arrange for your own people to escort her and be done with it!"

"I'm telling you, this is the greatest concession I will make."

"If you're determined to ruin Maolu Villa, then there's nothing left to say."

"Go ahead and try."

"Neither one of you will be leaving!"

Yuan Gang fell silent for a moment.

Having someone else escort Feng Guan'er was indeed a possible solution.

Master Dao was gone.

There were people here who would not listen to Guan Fangyi.

In the end, that was what he did.

He arranged for Duan Hu to personally escort Feng Guan'er back and repeatedly instructed him to protect her safety.

At the same time, Yuan Gang took control of the other large flying mounts to prevent anyone from pursuing them.

He watched Feng Guan'er rise into the sky and disappear into the distance.

Old Six Xu moved beside Guan Fangyi, whose face remained cold, and asked quietly, "Big Sister, we're really just letting her go?"

"Things went wrong. What else can I do but let her go?" Guan Fangyi snapped.

She had never imagined the woman would actually turn out to be Luo Zhao's wife.

After resorting to such a sordid method, it seemed she had gained nothing from it and had merely made herself the villain.

The reason was simple.

With Yuan Gang's temperament, after he had already slept with the woman and then made up his mind to release her, killing Feng Guan'er afterward would almost certainly make him turn hostile.

Even invoking Niu Youdao might not help.

Yuan Gang would probably fight Guan Fangyi to the death.

Under circumstances like these, was she really supposed to let Maolu Villa descend into internal conflict as well?

All she could do was settle for the next-best option and stabilize the larger situation first.

Old Six Xu said worriedly, "I heard she's the granddaughter of the previous Sect Leader of Lingxiao Pavilion. If Lingxiao Pavilion learns what was done to her, how could they possibly let it go?"

"Of all the things you could mention, you pick exactly the one I don't want to hear. Do you think I'm not irritated enough already?"

Guan Fangyi rounded on him angrily.

What else could she do?

With Niu Youdao gone, she simply could not restrain Yuan Gang's people.

Fortunately, protection from Lingjian Mountain and Zijin Cave would arrive soon.

At least she did not need to fear Lingxiao Pavilion traveling all that distance to make trouble.

She could only hope the situation held until the matter of the Tiandu Secret Realm came to an end.

...

At the Imperial Prison in the Song capital, a cell door opened.

Disheveled and reeking of wine, Luo Zhao walked out.

A familiar female figure seemed to be standing ahead.

Coming from the darkness into daylight, he closed his eyes for a moment to adjust.

When he opened them again and saw clearly that the visitor was his wife, Feng Guan'er, delight flooded his face.

He strode forward and pulled her into his arms.

Feng Guan'er's smile was somewhat strained.

She let him hold her with a numb expression.

Too many things had happened that she had never anticipated.

After losing her freedom for a time, she had not expected Song's situation to deteriorate so badly.

She had not expected Luo Zhao, who once commanded thousands upon thousands of troops with such heroic confidence, to suffer such a crushing defeat.

Still less had she expected him to fall this far.

Was this truly the same man who once rode a white horse with a silver spear and looked down on the heroes beneath Heaven?

The moment she learned Luo Zhao was imprisoned, she went straight to Lingxiao Pavilion and caused an enormous scene.

She finally knelt outside Lingxiao Pavilion.

What was the sect supposed to do?

She was the granddaughter of its previous Sect Leader.

The bitterness of seeing tea go cold once a man was gone was not easy to bear.

Those who held power today would one day be gone as well.

Who among them had no affairs after death for which they hoped later generations would receive consideration?

Once Feng Guan'er made such a scene, ignoring her became impossible.

Even the discussion spreading through the sect from top to bottom became more than Lingxiao Pavilion's senior figures could endure.

The disciples and grand-disciples of her grandfather whom she sought out were equally embarrassed.

In the end, many people in the Song court began speaking on Luo Zhao's behalf.

Eventually, an imperial decree ordered his release.

[End of Chapter 783]