Volume 1: Gathering Winds of Splendor Chapter 51: The Curtain Falls on the Opera

  Yun Mingyue's complexion became increasingly pale as the three maids spoke one after another, and by the end, her entire face was drained of blood, her lips trembling slightly. Fortunately, she had her two attendants supporting her on either side, or else she would have collapsed.

  "You all go back first, later I will send someone to hand over the silver and the sale contract to you!" Ling Susu's hanging heart finally landed safely, and she couldn't help but let out a breath of relief, instructing the three maids.

  The three girls were overjoyed and hastily thanked and bowed, leaving with quick steps.

  "The truth is out, and the princess's reputation is cleared. As for you two, your crime of slandering the princess is not small!" An Xin smiled with curved eyebrows, but her tone was icy cold, and she deliberately referred to herself as "the princess" in order to severely punish these two who liked to jump to conclusions.

  "'Miss' just means she's the general's daughter, and since they're from the same household, a family scandal can be glossed over, but 'Your Highness' represents the Eastern Ling imperial family. Bullying her is bullying the imperial family, and the guilt isn't something that can be simply covered up."

  "Miss Anxin, it's the maid's fault. The maid was deceived by Mistress Mingyue and misunderstood you. Please forgive the maid's ignorance! Spare the maid's life!" Madam hurriedly knelt down, using her knees to move slowly to Miss Anxin's feet, continuously kowtowing and begging for mercy.

  "If you were really kept in the dark, I wouldn't blame you, but what's wrong is that you clearly knew it was Yun Mingyue who did this, yet you didn't report it and even framed me with malicious intentions. Do you think that just because I've just returned to the manor, I'm inferior to Yun Mingyue's status here? That's why you dare to offend me so brazenly?" An Xin leaned forward slightly, her face close to Madame's tear-stained face, a hint of sarcastic smile on her lips.

  "No, no, I didn't know either. I just understood after hearing what those three maids said..." Madam shook her head vigorously in denial.

  "Should I have someone bring the second young master over to ask him clearly in person? Children won't lie, their thoughts are simple and pure, I believe he will tell me whether you knew about it or not! Now that things have come to a head, you still refuse to speak the truth? You've calculated your own interests, yet you want to escape unscathed? Foolish dreams!"

  Upon hearing this, Madame seemed to have all her energy drained out of her, collapsing onto the ground in a state of utter stillness, her face deathly pale.

  "Father, I'll leave the rest to you, I'm going to sleep." With a reassuring glance at Yu Rou's pale face, he narrowed his eyes and sighed, saying with ulterior motives, "The love of a child is precious, Second Master was also manipulated by others, innocent and young, since he's been injured, take good care of him!" After finishing speaking, he pulled Ling SuSu and An MuDust with both hands and walked out of the Mingyue Pavilion.

  An Liancheng's eyes flashed lightly, understanding the comforting words.

  Ling Yi Hen saw An Xin walking away, hastily got up and followed her footsteps, chasing after her. Le Zheng Xi smiled softly to himself and also stood up, lifting his feet to leave.

  "Demote Yun Mingyue to a secondary wife, and abolish the martial arts of all the shadow guards by her side. From today on, she will be confined in Mingyue Pavilion for reflection. Without my order, no one is allowed to visit her, nor can she be released." The courtyard, An Liancheng's eyes, rarely with a hint of sharpness, looked at Mingyue, and after a moment, he shouted lightly.

  "General!" Yun Mingyue didn't expect the punishment to be so severe. Being confined to her quarters was one thing, and demotion in rank she had anticipated, but what she couldn't accept was that he actually wanted to dismiss her Dark Guards! These Dark Guards were brought from Nan Yun by her, and he had always known about them, yet remained silent. Now, because someone hurt An Mochou's hand, they were all being expelled from the manor, and their martial arts would be abolished as well. Wouldn't that leave her isolated and alone? What capital would she have left to contend with An Xin? For a moment, she stared at An Liancheng in disbelief!

  "General An, we are all the princess's guards. You have no right to kill us!" The dark guard behind Yun Mingyue was shocked by this and immediately knelt down on one knee, pretending to be tough.

  "Standing on the land of Dongling, you still say that General Ben has no right? Your existence is not in line with the rules. In the past, General Ben was lenient because Mingyue was abroad and couldn't bear to part with her, so he didn't oppose your stay. Now that you've made a mistake, you should be punished!" An Liancheng let out a cold snort, calmly saying, as his words fell, he raised his hand towards the General's dark guards, signaling them to take action.

  Seeing the obvious resentment in their eyes, An Liancheng added a sentence, "If you resist, kill without mercy!"

  Yun Mingyue's guard turned pale and didn't dare to have any more resistant thoughts. His martial arts were abolished, but at least he still had a life that could be lived in hiding, if he died, there would really be no hope left.

  An Liancheng's expression was indifferent as he cast his gaze on Ruolan, who sat silently on the ground. His voice was as cold as ice on a winter day, "Xin'er said she wanted to spare your life, and this general agreed. However, from now on, you'd better stay in Ruyue Pavilion and do your duty properly. You should know why I let you enter the manor. If there's a next time, you'll be nothing but a corpse for Huofeng to collect!"

  As the lady suddenly raised her head, she looked at An Liancheng with a terrified gaze. She had always known that the general was cold-blooded and ruthless to everyone except Ling Susu, but she never thought he would be so heartless and unscrupulous to this extent.

  An Liancheng slowly crouched down, his handsome face close to Rong'er's ear, and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Whether or not I've touched you, you know it in your heart. I allowed Huo Feng to become the second young master of the General's Manor, I allowed you to secretly find other men behind my back, these things I don't care about, Rong'er, as long as you and Huo Feng are well-off for the rest of your lives." An Liancheng paused, his warm lips lightly brushing against Rong'er's ear, "Otherwise, both mother and son will perish!"

  As Mrs. Zeng had always hoped that An Liancheng would speak to her with such intimacy, but now she didn't have a single joyful feeling in her heart, only an extreme fear, like Mrs. Zeng's body trembled slightly, and her eyes dared not look at An Liancheng.

  An Liancheng smiled with a curved lip, restoring her elegant and refined appearance. She stood up gracefully and didn't give another glance at Ruhuan on the ground. Her eyes scanned the courtyard, seeing Yunmingyue's guards falling to the ground, she ordered people to throw them out of the mansion.

  Qingxin Ge, after safely sending Ling Susu and An Mudan back to their respective courtyards, returned to have dinner.

  "Hey, you two are like a pair of flies buzzing around my butt, what do you want? There's no extra food here." Anxin lay comfortably on the soft couch, watching Ling Yihen and Le Zhengxi enter her room as if it were their own, asking with disdain.

  "Xin'er, little sister, are you still short of one meal here? It just so happens that I'm also hungry, and I'll settle it here with you." Ling Yihen sat on the other side of the soft couch, looking at Le Zhengxi who couldn't outrun him and could only sit in the taishi chair opposite him, feeling quite pleased.

  "I am too." Le Zheng Xi Zheng replied with a straight face, without any embarrassment.

  With a burst of anger, she picked up something from the small table and threw it at Le Zheng Xi's face without thinking.

  He didn't use any internal force, just ordinary strength. Le Zheng Xi raised his hand and easily grasped the object in his hand. He glanced sideways and found it was a purple sand teapot carved with floral patterns. He couldn't help but smile, "Does Xiner know I'm thirsty? She's really considerate." As he spoke, he took a cup from the nearby table, poured himself a cup of tea, and slowly savored it, "Xiangshan Yunwu, good tea."

  He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but the teapot was full of tea water, and he caught it effortlessly without spilling a single drop. It seemed that his martial arts skills were not weak after all. Thinking to himself, indeed, everyone in the capital city was a hidden dragon or crouching tiger, each with impressive skills.

  "Xin'er, why did you release the emperor's concubine?" Seeing Anxin's gaze fixed on Yue Zhengxi, Ling Yihen felt displeased and quickly used a question to draw back her attention.

  Digression

  A small house fight, I actually wrote a few chapters. If only it were to be made into a novel, how great would that be? A plot with many twists and turns is really hard to follow. Everyone has gotten to know An Lian Cheng a little better now, right? Originally, this plot was going to be delayed, but considering all the beautiful people out there, I'll reveal just a tiny bit... But it's only a hint, okay?