Xuan Tianyan had never said such harsh words to Fendai before, just like he said, in the past, he only saw it as because Fendai grew up in the environment like the Feng manor, it was inevitable for her personality to be a little twisted. But Fendai was still young and there was still a long life ahead. As long as she left Feng manor, she would change over time. In fact, when he knew that Fendai brought Xiao Bao back, he felt happy, thinking that some kindness and kinship still existed in this girl, knowing that she should keep her family by her side and treat them well.
But Xuan Tianyan did not expect, it had been such a long time since Feng family had fallen, not only did Fendai’s personality not improve, she became more violent, developing to the point that she wanted to hit and scold her younger brother. He did not understand at all, asking Fendai in confusion: “To say that people from the Feng family have twisted personalities, but why are your Second and Third Sister very good? And only you are like this? I admit that I treated you well, what you wanted, what I can give, I gave it all to you, I only hope that you can be good, be kinder, even if you cannot treat everyone kindly, then at least treat your family and the people close to you kindly. But look you what you have changed into now? This is…… really too disappointing!”
Xuan Tianyan’s words caused Dong Ying to feel afraid, she truly feared that this Fifth Prince would suddenly void the engagement with one sentence, then her Young Miss would have nothing! She felt anxious and her hand moved, pulling Fendai’s sleeve lightly, saying softly: “Young Miss, apologise to His Highness the Fifth Prince quickly! His Highness is truly angry.”
But who knew, Fendai flicked her sleeve, saying coldly: “Apologise? Why do I have to apologise to him? Punishing my younger brother, how is that related to him? Ignoring the fact that I have not married him yet, even if we are already married, my younger brother is from my mother’s side, he cannot interfere!”
“Feng Fendai!” Xuan Tianyan was truly angry, he pointed directly at her and said loudly: “Am I interfering with the matters from your mother’s side of the family? I am doing this for your own good! Why don’t you understand anything? You are 14 years old this year! You are becoming an adult in less than a year, do you not know how to use your brain when you’re speaking and acting?”
Faced with this extremely angry Xuan Tianyan, Dong Ying already knelt on the ground in fright, and even Xiao Bao was trembling in Xuan Tianyan’s embrace. He really wanted to return to his older sister’s side, but once he saw Fendai’s cold and emotionless face, he stopped walking, choosing to take refuge with Xuan Tianyan.
With regards to Xuan Tianyan’s words, Fendai was not surprised at all, she also did not feel too strongly about it, only asking Xuan Tianyan calmly: “What? Are you regretting it? I have been like this since I was young, why did you not do your own research when you delivered the dowry to the Feng family? Xuan Tianyan, you are not stupid, you should understand, if I did not have this personality, how did I catch your attention at that time? And how would I be able to go so far as to dance that Snow Plum Dance in the snow? I am this type of person, in order to climb to a high position, for the sake of my dream to achieve great things, I can do anything. You delivered the dowry without looking carefully, wanting to regret today, you should bear some responsibility too, do not blame me for everything.”
She looked at the other party coldly, and even if she saw the disappointment in Xuan Tianyan’s eyes which could not be hidden, her heart was a little depressed. But her personality did not allow her to compromise, she even told Xuan Tianyan: “Feng family is no more now, and I am alone. If you regret it, you can cancel the engagement anytime, just let me know. As long as you say that you do not want me, I will turn around and leave, no longer having any connections with you. Xuan Tianyan, I also had enough over these years, since a prince like you cannot give me the high position and authority I want, then do not let me still have this hope with my identity as the future first wife of a prince.”
She said as if she was severing ties, and after she said it, she ignored Xuan Tianyan, turning around and returned to her own tent, losing the mood to even eavesdrop on Feng Tianyu.
Dong Ying followed behind quickly, leaving Xuan Tianyan and Xiao Bao where they were, with one extremely disappointed and another extremely afraid.
But talking about fear and terror, at this moment, there was one person who was more afraid than Xiao Bao. This person was no one else but the person who was openly taken away from the imperial palace, the Eighth Prince, Xuan Tianmo.
Xuan Tianmo knew who took him out, even though his mind was not that clear sometimes, it was not to the point that he did not recognise people. Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng took him out, he had thought that he would be brought to the hunting grounds to wait for his head to be cut off, but unexpectedly, after leaving the imperial palace, abducting him here and there, he was actually taken to a strange place. It looked like an inn outside, but once they entered, they continued to move down, walking down a very long and narrow path before they stopped, then he was tied to another frame, and it was without dignity, being tied up while naked, and who he was faced with, other than Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming, it was actually a group of unfamiliar people.
For a whole night, plus another half day, that “Feng Yuheng” kept examining his face, looking from the left and right, occasionally touching his face with her hand. And when the lower half of his body started itching again, the other party would even take out a type of medicinal powder and sprinkle it on. He had thought it was medicinal powder to relieve the itch, but he only knew later on, it was only something like Mafeisan, able to numb his lower body to relive the symptoms of itchiness.
(Translator’s Note: Mafeisan (Anesthetic) is an anesthetic created 1800 years ago. It was created by Hua Tuo for surgery.)
However, compared to when it first started, he no longer felt that pained with regards to whether he was itching or not, after all, after a long time, he had gotten used to it. In addition, his lower body had already rotted to this extent, resembling neither a human or a demon, with death circling around him every day, he no longer felt strongly about many things.
But currently, he truly felt fear. Because when that “Feng Yuheng” was examining his face, she would occasionally discuss with the people next to her, he clearly heard the other party say: “Recreating the height would not be a problem, but we do not have that much time. All of you should know, making a human skin mask is not that easy, it will take at least two months.” That woman touched her own face as she spoke, saying very proudly: “This mask of mine took three whole months for it to look like the original.” After she said this, she pointed to “Xuan Tianming” next to her: “And for his one, it took more than two months to finish. If it were so easy, Da Shun would have been under our control long ago.”
When she said this, Xuan Tianmo finally understood, he had been tricked. Not only him, everyone in the imperial palace had been tricked. These two people were not Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng, but people wearing human skin masks. But who exactly are they? Taking him out from the death row prison, what was the reason for that? They seemed to be examining his face, were they also going to make his human skin mask as well?
Not knowing anything was scary, but Xuan Tianmo’s mind worked a little harder, he suddenly spoke to the other party: “I don’t care who all of you are, and I don’t care what all of you want to do, but I can give all of you a good idea.”
“Oh?” That woman chuckled, “Eighth Prince who is about to rot to nothing, what good ideas can you think of?”
Xuan Tianmo gritted his teeth, the three words “rot to nothing” was grating to his ears, but in the end, he had not died. As long as a person had not died, they would always hope to live longer. Therefore he said: “You want to make my human skin mask? Why waste that effort, what you want to do, I will help you directly. As long as you can cure my injuries, I am willing to be your puppet.”
“Oh?” That woman seemed to be interested in his proposal, asking in response: “Puppet? Do you know the concept of puppet?”
“I do.” Xuan Tianmo said urgently: “No sense of self, listen to all your commands, just like a doll, what you want me to do, I will do.”
“Including killing your family and betraying your country?”
“Hahahaha!” Xuan Tianmo laughed loudly, “Family? I have already harmed them before, it was just that I did not succeed in the end, ending up in this state? And country? If all of you want Da Shun, just take it, I just want to live.” That’s right, he only wanted to live. With things as they are now, there was no sense of ambition anymore, what he had, was only the most basic thought: to live.
However, that woman shook her head in disappointment, saying: “Da Shun’s Eighth Prince, ignoring the fact that we cannot even heal your injuries, even if we can, do you think we can work with a person like you without worry? We are worried about nurturing a snake in one’s bosom, at that time, we will get bitten by the animal we raised.”
What nurturing a snake in one’s bosom, Xuan Tianmo did not even hear what was said later, he only cared about what was said in the first half: “What? You cannot heal my injuries?”
The woman still shook her head, “It cannot be cured, a strange ailment created by Princess Ji An, no one in the world can cure it.”
“Feng Yuheng!!” Xuan Tianmo shouted angrily, his hatred towards Feng Yuheng surged up once again, as if it was going to rush to the Heavens. If Feng Yuheng was standing in front of him now, he really wanted to crush her bones and eat her up without leaving any bones left! He hated her! Hated her to the point of going crazy!
“Why are you still speaking with him! He is only someone who is going to die.” That “Xuan Tianming” spoke, and after speaking, he actually raised his own hand and made a tearing motion on his face, this human skin mask was then torn off quickly, and what replaced it, was an unfamiliar face.
Xuan Tianmo stared at that face, finally thinking of a key point, he asked the other party: “All of you are from Zong Sui? I remember Zong Sui has a Sixth Princess who is an expert in disguise.” As he spoke, he looked at the woman in front of him, asking again: “You are that Sixth Princess?”
The woman was stunned, then she laughed again with a “Kekeke”. As she laughed, she also tore off the mask on her face, then replied Xuan Tianmo: “It is an honour that the Eighth Prince still remembers me.” When her actual appearance appeared, wasn’t it that Li Yue who was known as Yu Qianyin?
Xuan Tianmo laughed loudly, saying: “Very good! Zong Sui is finally unable to sit still and is finally having ideas of attacking Da Shun! That’s good! Currently, only Gu Mo is left, if Gu Mo causes Da Shun trouble as well, with a pincer attack from both the East and West, even if Da Shun does not die, it is going to lose a layer of skin.” As he laughed, his gazed dimmed and staring at Yu Qianyin, he said: “If there is a clash on the battlefields one day, you must tell the soldiers of Zong Sui, grind that Feng Yuheng into minced meat, or throw her into a red tent to get stepped on by a thousand people. As long as that woman is dead, Da Shun will be within easy reach!”
“Is that so?” Yu Qianyin did not believe his words at all, “Even though Princess Ji An is amazing, it is not to the point where one person can hold up a whole country. Do not forget, there is still her husband, that Ninth Prince who is known as a war god!” After she said this, she waved her hand in dismissal subconsciously, showing some irritation, “Why am I saying such things to you? Person who is going to die, it would be good to first help us solve the problem we have right now.”
After saying this, she looked towards Xuan Tianmo’s face for a while, then turned around and said to the people she brought: “There is no time to make a mask, but there is a better and accurate method, why don’t we try it.” As she spoke, she smirked, staring at Xuan Tianmo’s face again, saying in a sinister way: “That would be pulling off his face in one piece, we would be able to use it directly!”