Chapter 365: Dealing with Each Other Honestly (3)

For Yan Hongtian, her feeling was like a thin fishbone stuck in her throat, unable to swallow or spit it out. It wasn't necessarily painful to the point of wanting to die, but every time she swallowed saliva, every breath, it pricked her so she couldn't be at peace.

The prison door was pushed open again. Qingfeng knew someone had come in, but stubbornly closed her eyes, leaning in the corner, not wanting to pay attention to anyone.

Zhuo Qing and Gu Yun entered the cell and saw Qingfeng curled up in the corner. Zhuo Qing asked in a low voice, "Qingfeng, are you okay?"

Qingfeng didn't answer. Zhuo Qing was worried that she was injured, so she walked over to take a closer look and found that she was just closing her eyes to rest, her face full of indifference.

Zhuo Qing had also just given birth a few days ago and was still in her confinement month. Gu Yun collected the straw on the ground, piled it in the corner on the other side, and helped Zhuo Qing over to sit down. Zhuo Qing sat half-leaning in the straw pile, which wasn't comfortable, but it was warm. Zhuo Qing gave a wink in Qingfeng's direction, and Gu Yun nodded gently. Picking up a pile of straw, she walked to Qingfeng's side, and while piling the straw, asked, "What happened in the palace? Why did a charge of being a spy suddenly pop up?"

Qingfeng remained the same, looking like she didn't want to bother with anyone. Gu Yun wasn't in a hurry either. After piling up the straw, she said to herself, "This should have something to do with the Empress's secret."

The person leaning in the corner moved slightly, and then returned to silence. Gu Yun continued, "Or it could be said, it has to do with Guo Yi."

Qingfeng opened her eyes suddenly and looked at Gu Yun, "You... found out?"

Seeing her reaction, Gu Yun confirmed some of her inferences; Qingfeng wasn't completely ignorant. Pulling her to sit on the piled-up straw, Gu Yun leaned against the stone wall between the two and said in a low voice, "I was only guessing at first, without concrete evidence, but now it seems I was right. I checked the cloth strip in the deceased's hand; it was part of the sleeve of the clothing worn by generals above the rank of Imperial Guard Commander. In this way, only four people, including Guo Yi, were suspicious. When the Heavenly Prison arson case happened, the other three had alibis, only Guo Yi did not, and it was such a coincidence that he was on duty that day. This person was very suspicious, so I started focusing on investigating him. It turns out he used to be a house general of the Xin Mansion. And..."

Turning her head to look at Zhuo Qing on the other side, Gu Yun smiled with some pride, "Remember the letter Hui Jun mentioned? I found it."

"Where?" Zhuo Qing also laughed and asked, "Was it really in Yilan Palace?"

"No, she had been hiding it in the Heavenly Prison. After the fire, I went to the scene to investigate several times. Once, in order to see what relics Hui Jun had left behind, I lit a fire in the prison. There was nothing in the prison, but I found that the soil in the deepest corner was piled particularly high and particularly hard. If Hui Jun often curled up there, it would be understandable for the soil to be hard, but it should have been sunken due to long-term stepping. At that time, I felt there was a problem there. I dug down more than a foot deep and dug up that letter."

Zhuo Qing nodded and pursued, "What did the letter say?"

"After so many years and a fire, most of the letter was destroyed. The general meaning that could still be seen was that the Empress was committing adultery. Combined, the most likely adulterer was Guo Yi." After Gu Yun finished speaking, her gaze turned to Qingfeng in the corner.

Listening to Gu Yun's analysis and facing her eyes that seemed to see through everything, Qingfeng secretly admired her while also feeling there was nothing to hide. She replied, "You are right. Yan Jing is not Yan Hongtian's son; he was born to Xin Yuening and Guo Yi."

"How did you know?" Since Xin Yuening could commit adultery with others, it wasn't strange that Yan Jing wasn't Yan Hongtian's child. What Gu Yun found strange was how Qingfeng could be so clear and speak so definitively. She had investigated for several months and only found out that the Empress was having an affair.

Gu Yun stared at her as if to see through her. Qingfeng suddenly laughed. Anyway, it had reached this point, so if they wanted to know, she would tell them. Nestling deeper into the straw pile, she replied unhurriedly, "Yiyue overheard the conversation between Shui Xin and Guo Yi and was discovered. When she ran out, she met me and told me this secret. When I was locked in the Heavenly Prison, I had seen Hui Jun, and later I checked and found out her identity. At that time, I became suspicious of the Noble Consort's death. I also went to find Hui Jun. According to her, the Noble Consort also suspected that the Empress was having an affair back then and sent people to investigate, but ended up dying an unnatural death. That letter was sent into the palace by the person the Noble Consort sent to investigate, but it was intercepted by Xin Yuening. Hui Jun wanted to steal it and was caught. Actually, Hui Jun wasn't as crazy as you saw before. I forced her to tell me where the letter was, but she refused. Later, she suddenly screamed and became crazy, and I couldn't ask anything anymore."

Zhuo Qing stared at Qingfeng's calm to indifferent face and asked, "Since you knew everything, why didn't you tell Yan Hongtian, or tell us?"

"Tell?" Qingfeng looked up at her, her eyes full of sarcasm. "How could I tell? Just based on a word from a little palace maid, or the testimony of a mentally unclear woman who had been locked in a prison for seven or eight years? Would Yan Hongtian believe me? Even if I told you? You might not believe me. Xin Yuening killed my Zhi'er, and I want her to die! So, I could only set up a layout and wait for you to come and reveal Xin Yuening's true face bit by bit. You have Lou Xiyan and Su Ling behind you. If it was you who found it out, this result would be believable."

"You..." The Qingfeng in front of her was very strange. Zhuo Qing looked at her and didn't know what to say for a while.

"You don't need to look like that." Qingfeng glared at Zhuo Qing fiercely and laughed coldly, "I knew long ago that you are not my sisters at all. I did so many things, from beginning to end, just to use you."

Qingfeng turned her face away, not looking at them, waiting for their accusations or scoldings. Time passed second by second, and the prison was too quiet. Did they not even bother to scold her? Qingfeng slowly turned her head to look over. Gu Yun was still half-leaning against the wall, looking at her calmly. Zhuo Qing even laughed and said in a low voice, "Using us, but you still trusted us enough to hand your child over to me."

A single sentence immediately shattered Qingfeng's feigned indifference and aggressive posture. Yes, she had handed the most important person in her heart to them. In fact, in her heart, even though she knew they were not her biological sisters, she couldn't help but trust them and rely on them, but she was afraid that after all the truth was exposed, they would look at her with contempt and disdain, which was why she used a cold shell to wrap herself tightly.

"Everything you did was just to help the child get revenge. We can understand that, and we never thought about deceiving you. You guessed that we were not your sisters, which is also what we wanted you to know in our hearts. As for the so-called use, if it was to find out the truth, then it doesn't count as using." Gu Yun took in Qingfeng's annoyance, guilt, and awkwardness, half-squatted down, looked at her levelly, and asked in a deep voice, "Qingfeng, I will only ask you one thing. Was the woman in the dry well killed by you?" She sympathized with her and could tolerate her, but if she really killed someone for her own private gain, then she was a murderer. No matter how many hardships and reasons she had, she must be punished by the law.

"No." Qingfeng answered quickly and firmly, "That was just a woman I found from the executed female death row prisoners who had a similar figure to Yiyue."

"Where is Yiyue?"

"I sent her out of the palace." Under Gu Yun's clear and pure gaze, Qingfeng was for the first time so glad that she hadn't done anything wrong for revenge at that time. Otherwise, facing such a pair of eyes today, she would probably be disgusted with herself.

Gu Yun nodded slightly, "Good, I believe you."

The word "believe" made Qingfeng's heart tremble, and the eyes looking at Gu Yun gradually became misty. Lowering her eyes, Qingfeng took a deep breath and asked, "I also want to ask you a question. My eldest sister and younger sister, are they... already dead?"

Gu Yun looked at Zhuo Qing. Zhuo Qing secretly deliberated on how to say it to minimize the harm to Qingfeng. After a while, Zhuo Qing said softly, "We are indeed not your sisters. We don't know where Qing Ling and Qing Mo went. When we woke up, we were in these bodies."

"They finally left me after all." Zhuo Qing didn't say the words "dead child," but the result was self-evident. That night in the dilapidated temple really became a final farewell. The gentle eldest sister and the shy younger sister would never be able to return to her side again. From now on, in this world, it would just be her alone.

Tears blurred her eyes. Qingfeng stared at the two people in front of her. She could no longer see their faces clearly. They were ultimately not... not...

Tears wet that beautiful face. The despair and endless sorrow in her eyes, even through a layer of tear mist, still hit Zhuo Qing and Gu Yun's hearts. The two looked at each other, both unable to bear it. Zhuo Qing stood up, Gu Yun stepped forward to support her, and the two walked to Qingfeng's side, reached out, held Qingfeng's cold palms tightly, and said in a low voice, "If you are willing, we are still your sisters."

Because of the tears, Qingfeng couldn't see the expressions of the two people in front of her, only hearing the low, shallow voice ringing in her ears and feeling the two warm gazes. Qingfeng closed her eyes and leaned gently on Zhuo Qing's shoulder, tears continuing to flow silently, but she had a place to rely on.

Gu Yun could see that although Qingfeng couldn't let go, she finally accepted them. She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart; she also didn't want the three sisters' bodies to end up as enemies. As for the little knot in Qingfeng's heart, it would slowly be untied. Qingfeng cried until she was tired and finally raised her head. The three of them were not sentimental people, and at this moment, there was a feeling of being speechless. Gu Yun coughed lightly and changed the subject, asking, "Alright, now let's talk about what's going on with the spy?"

Qingfeng told what happened in Qingfeng Palace this morning. Gu Yun listened carefully, and the more she listened, the tighter her brows furrowed, "You said, Yan Hongtian was poisoned and vomited blood?"

Thinking of the scene she saw when she looked back at the end, Qingfeng's heart tightened, and she gave a light "Um."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 366 =====