Inside the guest room.
"Feng Ran, you are truly remarkable, your methods are indeed extraordinary."
"Back then, I truly didn't see that you possessed such great capabilities."
Feng Ran looked at the person before her with confusion, seemingly not understanding what Xuanyuan Heng was saying. She remembered doing nothing.
Had she offended Xuanyuan Heng again in ways she was unaware of?
Feng Ran lowered her gaze but said nothing more.
The atmosphere around them instantly plummeted to an extreme.
Xuanyuan Heng had been waiting for Feng Ran's answer, but after a long while, seeing no response, he finally said coldly, "Feng Ran, one by one, everyone around me speaks for you. What have you done to be able to bewitch people so profoundly?"
He even wondered if Feng Ran was involved with them in some illicit way. Was Feng Ran desperately trying to please them? Desperately serving them?
"Feng Ran, tell me, how did you serve and please them, to the point where they would speak for you in front of me, even at the risk of offending me?"
Feng Ran remained silent, not answering a single word.
However, Xuanyuan Heng grew even more enraged.
At this moment, Feng Ran's silence, in Xuanyuan Heng's eyes, was tantamount to an admission. She had acknowledged it, hence her inability to speak.
"Is it because I've touched upon your innermost thoughts that you dare not answer? Or perhaps you are formulating a strategy, contemplating what excuse to find to make me believe what you say?"
Feng Ran's silence only worsened his mood. He would have rather seen Feng Ran rage at him hysterically. Seen her kneel before him, begging for mercy. Seen her kowtow, pleading for him to listen to her explanation.
Every time, Feng Ran was so humble and lowly.
But this time, she had become an exception.
This was the first time she had acted this way.
Feng Ran truly continued to surprise him.
When had Feng Ran become so disobedient? When had Feng Ran quietly started to change?
When had Feng Ran stopped defending herself, stopped explaining? Stopped kowtowing and begging for her life.
All of this was too abnormal.
Feng Ran's hands, hidden from Xuanyuan Heng's sight, clenched tightly, her lips bitten so hard they almost broke.
She desperately wanted to express all the dissatisfaction in her heart, but she could not. She could only endure.
"Feng Ran, once you had a rosy complexion, leaning into my embrace, shyly saying: Regent, in this life, Feng Ran belongs to you. Feng Ran's life is yours."
"But Feng Ran, it seems you've broken your promise."
"You once swore to me that if you violated that oath, you would die a gruesome death. Feng Ran, you wouldn't have forgotten, would you?"
Listening to Xuanyuan Heng's words, she couldn't help but laugh mockingly. These were indeed words she had spoken before.
Hearing them now, she realized how foolish she had been then to say such things. If she had known then what would happen later, she would never have said them.
Everything she was enduring now was all Xuanyuan Heng's doing. What right did he have to mock and taunt her like this?
She raised her eyes, her gaze filled with fury and rage.
Before, she had knelt outside the Xuanyuan mansion, desperately pleading to see Xuanyuan Heng, but could not even get a glimpse. She had even been pursued and humiliated daily.
Every day, Xuanyuan Heng's carriage had crushed her hands and feet, yet she dared not retreat, kneeling continuously. She only wished to see Xuanyuan Heng, to beg him to save her Feng family.
But on the day her Feng family was to be executed, Xuanyuan Heng appeared before her. However, he did not step forward to help her. Xuanyuan Heng ordered his men to take her to the execution ground, pulled her by her hair, pinched her chin, and forced her to witness the deaths of her Feng family before her very eyes.
She didn't even have a chance to speak. Her mouth had been gagged with a strip of cloth.
Back then, Xuanyuan Heng had not given her a chance to speak, and now? He was forcing her to speak. Ha, it sounded utterly ridiculous now.
Xuanyuan Heng hesitated when he met Feng Ran's terrifying fury and her bloodshot eyes.
A sense of unease welled up within him, and his expression became extremely unpleasant.
He had never expected Feng Ran to change like this.
Feng Ran's eyes should not hold resentment towards him.
Xuanyuan Heng's cold, bloodthirsty gaze fell upon her, as if he were dissecting her alive.
Feng Ran suddenly let out a cold scoff, speaking with icy sarcasm, "Regent, what do you want here? Do you want to hear what I have to say? Or, what answer does the Regent hope to hear from my mouth?"
"Otherwise, the Regent could also teach me what to say."
"After all, I'm someone who 'cannot spew ivory from a dog's mouth,' and I fear that what I say might anger the Regent, in which case, I would truly deserve to die."
"Feng Ran, you are truly vile."
"Ha, explanations, I never need your insincere explanations."
"Keep those so-called explanations and tell them to Wan Yan in hell."
"In this life, you owe no one, only Wan Yan."
"Hahahaha." Feng Ran burst into laughter. She suddenly wondered why she had been so foolish just now. How could she have harbored a sliver of hope that Xuanyuan Heng would believe her words?
Feng Ran, you truly deserve to die.
To have harbored such unfounded hope for Xuanyuan Heng.
Feng Ran, remember, in this world, you can place your hope in anyone, except for Xuanyuan Heng.
Because he hates you so much he wants your life, how could he treat you well?
"Regent, to say such a thing is simply the greatest joke in the world."
"I have wronged no one in my life, yet I owe Yu Wan Yan absolutely nothing."
"Yu Wan Yan's death was her just deserts, she brought it upon herself."
As soon as Feng Ran finished speaking, a hand directly grasped her neck, choking her tightly.
Feng Ran made no struggle, but closed her eyes resignedly.
She thought, if she died, and if there truly were vengeful spirits in this world. Then she would hide from Yu Wan Yan and return everything she had suffered over the years.
But such a simple matter, she could not accomplish.
"Feng Ran, look at your slender, fair neck, it turns red with just a gentle touch. Suddenly, I feel like ruining you."
"Looking at your wounds, I feel even better."
"Feng Ran, you are truly disgusting."
After Xuanyuan Heng finished speaking, he directly flung Feng Ran away. Feng Ran fell to the ground.
Xuanyuan Heng took a handkerchief from a servant and meticulously wiped his fingers before discarding it.
The look of disdain and disgust was evident.
Xuanyuan Heng looked at Feng Ran, who had been thrown to the ground, said nothing, and walked out.