"You..."
Lin Zhenfei was speechless. His Duke Lin's mansion had been purged and his clan exterminated. If Tao Xiangqing gave birth to his child, they would also be implicated. It would be better not to have the child.
"What 'you'? Lin Zhenfei, I, Tao Xiangqing, wish I could drink your blood and offer your dog's head as a sacrifice to my parents."
Tao Xiangqing pointed at Lin Zhenfei, her eyes blazing with rage, and shouted.
Lin Zhenfei looked at the anger on Tao Xiangqing's face and closed his eyes slightly.
He was a prisoner now. No matter what he did or said, it would be useless. However, one thing made him extremely depressed: he couldn't use his internal energy. He didn't know why.
Otherwise, he could have escaped the imperial prison through special means. But now, he was like an ordinary person, waiting for his execution in prison.
However, at this moment, he glanced at Tao Xiangqing from the corner of his eye and suddenly understood why he couldn't use his internal energy.
"Tao Xiangqing, did you do something to me?"
Lin Zhenfei glared at her with malicious eyes, his voice cold and bloodthirsty.
"Yes, I know you practice martial arts, so I put a drug in the food you usually eat," Tao Xiangqing sneered.
"You damned woman, you are truly detestable!"
At this moment, Lin Zhenfei could no longer hold back. He cursed Tao Xiangqing in front of the Emperor and the Cold King couple.
He was going to die anyway, so whether he had one more crime or one less crime would lead to the same outcome. He might as well curse to his heart's content.
Just then, Jian Feng entered the hall, escorting Fei Pang with his men.
Fei Pang scanned the people in the hall. Not only the Emperor and the Cold King couple were present... but most importantly, Lin Zhenfei was also there.
His heart sank. He knew that his worries of the entire day had still come to this...
When Jian Feng brought Fei Pang before the Emperor, he quickly paid his respects.
"This subject pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
"Fei Pang, do you know why I had you brought to the palace?"
"Your Majesty, forgive this subject's ignorance, but I do not know!"
As he spoke, the Emperor casually threw a letter from the table at Fei Pang's face.
"Take a look yourself!" the Emperor roared at Fei Pang.
Fei Pang lowered his eyes and looked at the familiar letter that fell to the ground. His hands began to tremble.
He knew exactly what these letters contained. He hadn't expected that after so many years, Lin Zhenfei hadn't burned these letters. This was truly disastrous.
"Afraid to read it? Tao, you can read, can't you? Read it for them!"
At this moment, the Emperor's expression seemed very calm, but his face was as rigid as if it were carved from cold stone. His fierce eyes seemed capable of spewing fire, as if to burn Fei Pang to ashes.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Tao Xiangqing raised her hand and wiped away a tear with the cuff of her sleeve, answering respectfully.
Then, she opened one of the letters and began to read aloud. As Lin Zhenfei and Fei Pang listened, they felt an increasing chill.
Especially when Tao Xiangqing read this passage: "Duke Lin, please rest assured, I have prepared false account books and will shift the blame to Tao Zhixing, making him a scapegoat for us. Then we can obtain a batch of official salt... I have already found salt merchants, and we will hand over the remaining matters directly to the salt merchants, and we can directly pocket the profits..."
And Lin Zhenfei's reply: "...You have done an excellent job. After Tao Zhixing is imprisoned, this Duke will recommend you to the Emperor as the new salt official. If you continue to perform excellently, this Duke will then propose to the Emperor to have you stationed in the capital. However, you must be even more careful and cautious in all your actions from now on. We must not only obtain this money but also ensure that no one can uncover any tricks, otherwise, both of us will be dead..."
Lin Zhenfei and Fei Pang's letters were not long, but every passage revealed a conspiracy: the two of them intended to frame Tao Zhixing.
After Tao Xiangqing read two letters, Fei Pang and the other man were already so terrified their legs were weak. Lin Zhenfei was truly foolish. Why didn't he destroy the correspondence between them and kept it until now? He had truly doomed him.
Lin Zhenfei, on the other hand, looked quite calm. He was going to die sooner or later, so he wasn't afraid of having one more crime.
He didn't burn these account books and letters because he was too confident in the past, and also because he disliked the habit of burning his correspondence with others. Therefore, after completing any unsavory major task, he would always request the letters he had written to the other party back and collect them together.
Lin Zhenfei thought this would make him safe, but he didn't realize it was a huge time bomb for him.
"Lin Zhenfei, Fei Pang, you two truly have immense courage!"
After Tao Xiangqing finished reading the two letters, the Emperor's face became stiff as if carved from a dark stone, his expression blank.
Lin Zhenfei then decisively knelt down.
"This subject Lin Zhenfei accepts his punishment!"
However, Fei Pang still wanted to struggle. He wanted to live well. He had only been promoted to a fourth-rank official in the capital by the Emperor for less than three years.
Now that he was about to be purged by the Emperor, he was unwilling and wanted to fight for the lives of the dozens of people in his mansion.
But at this critical juncture, a thought flashed through Fei Pang's mind. Since Lin Zhenfei was definitely going to be beheaded by the Emperor, why shouldn't he push all the blame onto Lin Zhenfei and clear himself?
"Your Majesty, these matters were forced upon me by Lin Zhenfei. If I didn't obey him, he would threaten me with the lives of my family."
Fei Pang said shamelessly, acting as pathetic as possible.
Lin Zhenfei, standing nearby, laughed when he heard Fei Pang's words.
"Fei Pang, it was clearly you who was unhappy with Tao Zhixing's management and wanted to replace him and take his position. You actively curried favor with me. At that time, I didn't even know you. I only got entangled with you once when I was sent by the Emperor to handle affairs in the East Sea. If anyone doesn't believe me, you can go to a secret chamber behind the screen in my study and take out the first and second letters of our correspondence from back then."
Lin Zhenfei sneered, looking at Fei Pang's ugly face.
"You... Lin Zhenfei, do you really want to cause the deaths of dozens of people in my Fei family?" Fei Pang roared at Lin Zhenfei, his eyes splitting open.
"A clown like you wouldn't live much longer even if I didn't expose you. Since you were promoted from the East Sea to an official in the capital, a lot of tribute grain and tax silver has been embezzled. If the Emperor investigates this matter one day, you will definitely not escape responsibility. By exposing you now, Lin Zhenfei, I can reduce the pressure on the common people's grain taxes."
Lin Zhenfei said righteously.
"You... Lin Zhenfei, I will kill you..."
At this moment, a dog-eat-dog battle erupted in the Emperor's grand hall.