Chapter 21: Unraveling the Cocoon

  Yin Huan could clearly hear the sound of dripping water coming from beside his ear, but his eyes couldn't open. His neck felt numb and painful. He tried to move, only to find that his hands and feet were all tied up.

  He wanted to shout for people, moved his mouth, and found that something was also stuffed in his own mouth.

  "Damn it..." He cursed in his heart, struggling to open his eyes, but they felt heavy as if in a dream.

  Suddenly, another ear-piercing scraping sound came from beside his ears, as if it was the sound of stones rubbing against each other. In any case, this sound made Yin Huan extremely uncomfortable.

  Then a ray of light came in, passing through Yin Huan's thin eyelids, feeling the heat and brightness, the long darkness made Yin Huan even more unable to open his eyes.

  "Your Highness, Crown Prince Huan..."

  Did I hear that wrong? Yin Huan furrowed his brow, why did he feel that this voice was so familiar? Who is this person? Is it someone who came to rescue him or... is he the one who kidnapped him?

  "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you for two more days," the man continued, "That mysterious person from who-knows-where has already found out too much. I fear that the matter of Wan Guifei may get beyond my control... Although it's not enough to incriminate me, I'm still afraid..."

  Yin Huan moved his body slightly and bumped into something hard behind him, probably a wall, which felt rough to the touch, likely an unpolished stone wall.

  Is this place here? Is there such a place in the palace?

  "You are my last chip, I will go kill that man now and then let you out. If I can't kill that man, I will kill you." The man said in a low voice.

  That man? He's talking about Fei Dian, Yin Huan thought to himself. Actually, he also hated him very much, and now he even implicated him in being tied up! Once he got out, he would first kill this person and then kill Fei Dian!

  "Oh, I'm so sorry, I made a mistake earlier," the man said, reaching out to touch Yin Huan's soft face. "Prince Huan, I've suddenly changed my mind - regardless of whether that man lives or dies, I'm going to kill you."

  Hearing this, Yin Huan's body twisted violently, but the man's hand remained on his face, the gentle caress gradually increasing in strength and turning into a knead.

  "I've suddenly had enough of tolerating you, this dead kid, for so many years," he pinched Yin Huan's face fiercely, "How do you want to die? Heh..."

  Yin Huan pushed his face away and didn't let him touch her.

  "First, I'll lock you up for two days, and you can experience the feeling of being hungry and thirsty, a life worse than death." The man said with a loud laugh, then Yin Chen heard the sound of rubbing stones again, and the light that had been cast also gradually disappeared, leaving Yin Chen's eyes in darkness once more.

  ……

  Just as the heavy rain had stopped, a scene that had never been seen before suddenly appeared in the imperial palace: all the animals in the palace, from the goldfish in the water to the mice on the ground, the birds and dragonflies in the sky, and even the tigers and wolves raised by Emperor Yin Xun in the hunting grounds, seemed to have gone mad and were running wildly around the palace. However, they all followed a discipline that was incomprehensible to the maids and guards of the palace, as if they had a very clear purpose, searching for Emperor Yin Huan's whereabouts.

  Yin Sheng paced back and forth in the grand hall, until a guard came in to report. Yin Sheng's head lifted with joy, "Has Huan'er been found?"

  The guard opened his mouth, somewhat reluctant to say what was coming next...

  "It's not Your Majesty, it's the Grand Master... Just now, there was a sudden rumor that the Grand Master had died suddenly. I went to the Grand Master's residence to investigate just now, and the Grand Master is indeed..." The guard still spoke out about the matter.

  "What?" Yin Chen was taken aback for a moment by this news, but he immediately calmed down and asked the person, "Where is the mirror?"

  "Your Majesty, the Captain of the Guard is still at the National Master's residence, investigating the real reason behind the National Master's sudden death."

  Fei Yan listened quietly, thinking about what Yin Zhen had told him today. The death of the national teacher clearly showed that it was a good thing done by Yin Zhen, but... should he tell Yin Chen or not? Even if he told him, what could he do about it anyway?

  "There's no need to investigate," Yin Chen said suddenly, "I'm familiar with the movements of the few people involved. I just went to Guo Shi's residence and Guo Shi died, it's clear that someone is trying to frame me, give me the title of 'murdering a meritorious official to gain power'. Besides Rui Wang, who else could do such a thing?"

  Fei Yan was somewhat surprised, but thinking about it, it was also within his expectations.

  "Your Majesty, what should I do now? For example, send a palace doctor over to check on something..."

  "There's no need to do anything else," Yin Cheng said coldly. "Even if all the doctors in the world say that Guoshi's sudden death has nothing to do with me, the people of the world won't believe it anyway. Now issue an order to posthumously confer on Guoshi the title of Supreme Duke and Great National Teacher. As for the rewards for his wife and children, take this blank imperial edict with my seal to the residence of the Grand Tutor, and let Feng Lingxuan draft the decree."

  "Yes, I obey your orders."

  Fei Yan stared at Yin Chen in shock, from hearing the news to resolving it took less than a cup of tea's time. Yin Chen was indeed fearless and calm in the face of danger, but why did he seem to lose his soul when mentioning Yin Huan's affairs...

  Fei Dian opened his mouth, finally deciding to say what he had guessed about Wan Ying's death, but when he saw Yin Sheng solve the national teacher's problem and then frown and sit at the desk, the words that had reached his lips retreated.

  Let's wait until Yin Huan finds out before saying anything else.

  Fei Dian glanced at Yin Sheng, thinking that maybe he should comfort him... but comforting people seemed to be something he had no experience with, so he gave up. Fei Dian quietly left the Golden Hall.

  After walking out, the rain-soaked dusk was exceptionally refreshing. I had already asked the animals in the imperial palace to help find Yin Huan. If he was still inside the palace, he should be found within an hour.

  He walked towards his residence, the scenery around him becoming increasingly serene. The flying electric eel didn't notice the malicious gaze behind him, nor the growing sense of danger.

  Walking to the edge of the pond where Wan Ying fell into the water, he said to the rippling lake surface, "I think I'm about to find out who killed you."

  Fei Yan's words were met with no response, and it was likely that Wan Feng had already entered a new cycle.

  "However, you don't have to thank me at all. You're just a lowly human being. I'm doing this only because I hate uncertainty and want to know who killed you."

  "Just because you're annoying, I have to die with you?" A low, awkward voice suddenly sounded from behind Fei Yan.

  Fei Yan saw the inverted reflection of the person behind him in the water, and it was indeed him.

  Fei Yan turned his head around because the person in front of him was a bit short, and slightly lowered his eyelids to look at him, "Are you human or ghost, or are you a monster?"

  "Hmph, although I may be lacking something compared to a normal person, I am still human." The man suddenly raised his voice, but this sharp feeling made Fei Yan's awkwardness less intense.

  "Why do we have to harm our own kind, when we are all lowly creatures?" This was indeed a question that Fei Yan had been unable to understand for a long time. Whether it was Yin Zheng or Yin Sheng, or the person in front of him and Wan Xiang, they were all of the same race, the same species. Shouldn't beings of the same species be loving and affectionate towards each other?

  "Did I harm one of our own kind?" The man asked, "You said I killed Wan Guifei?"

  "Besides him, did you kill anyone else?"

  "Haha... bullying one's own kind..." The person seemed to have heard a very funny joke, laughing so hard that tears flowed out. "How can I, an old slave, be considered the same as those people? I'm a eunuch, a castrated man, a lowly dog slave, while Wanfeng is a noble consort because of her good looks and good father, able to live a carefree life... Haha... I was wrong to have been born male decades ago!"

  "Did you kill her just because Wan Ying was one rank higher than you?" Fei Dian became even more puzzled, a higher-ranked creature should do more things and make more contributions than the lower-ranked creatures of the same clan, it's clearly a very pitiful and helpless role, how could they still be envied by others?

  "Of course not, if it were that reason, I'd rather kill the one who's been bullying me all day, treating me like dirt - Yin Huan!" At the mention of Yin Huan, he became infuriated, his eyes filling with bloodshot veins.

  "Is it you who hid Yin Huan?" Fei Dian asked.

  "Ah," he suddenly burst out laughing, "you also dislike him, don't you? That dead child... I've taken care of him for so many years, and in his heart, I'm still not as good as his royal brother's cat!"

  "Hmm, you're indeed not as good as I thought." Fei Yan's expressionless face spoke the truth, "Tell me why you killed Wan Feng, Li Gonggong."

  "Haha......" Li Gonggong burst out laughing, "So you didn't guess it, if I had known that earlier, I wouldn't have kidnapped Yin Huan... Never mind, never mind, anyway I've changed my mind now, sooner or later I'll kill Yin Huan, might as well do it now."

  "Did you kill Yin Huan?" Fei Dian asked incredulously, suddenly thinking of Yin Sheng's anxious face... If Yin Huan was really killed, he should be very sad... Although Fei Dian disliked Yin Huan, but thinking of the premature sorrow on Yin Sheng's face, he suddenly didn't want Yin Huan to die.

  "Not yet, wait till I've killed you then I'll go kill him."

  There's another person who wants to kill himself. Although the flying thunderbolt that can't use magic is a complete waste, his face still doesn't have a hint of fear, and he calmly says, "You haven't answered my question yet, why did you kill Wanfeng."

  "The reason is simple, because I stole things from the palace to sell outside and was seen by her. Although she didn't say anything, one day she will. " Li Gonggong said, "Heh, I've been in the imperial palace for so many years, of course I know what kind of life it would be like if someone else got a hold on me. So I killed her first."

  "It was the reason," Fei Dian stroked his chin, analyzing, "As for what happened that night, it should be that Guoshi was seen by Wan Xuan while conspiring with Gufei Gongzhu, so he pushed Wan Xuan into the water. However, he didn't expect Wan Xuan to be familiar with the water and not die, crawling out herself. Then you, who had been wanting to kill her, appeared and strangled her, throwing her into the water again. Afterwards, for some unknown reason, you ordered Yin Huan's guards to retrieve her corpse once more, right?"