902 Confession (2/2)

”Yes. The Dragon Army once allied with the Waning Moon Hall. This one behind me counts as half a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.”

Shangguan Hong quivered. Ever since he had followed the Dragon King into this room, he had never raised his head for fear of making eye contact with his biological father.

Sun Chengqi gave an ambiguous ”Um” sound. Before confirming that the Waning Moon Hall was the mastermind responsible for the assassination, he didn't want to talk about them too much.

But Gu Shenwei didn't like breaking off in mid-sentence. Now that the Unique King had implied that he was a co-conspirator of Waning Moon Hall, he had to fight back. So, he continued. ”I think that deputy envoy already knows that the Dragon Army and Golden Roc Castle used to be allies too. The Dragon Army has a lot of allies, and it has even more former allies. In addition, the name of this attendant of mine here is Shangguan Hong, who is the Unique King's beloved son.”

”Who used to be,” Shangguan Fa corrected coldly.

Shangguan Hong broke out into a cold sweat and finally understood why the Dragon King had asked him to come. He deeply regretted coming and also badly wanted to complain, thinking that this tricky task should have been assigned to Shangguan Fei.

”Used to be… Exactly. I used to be an ally of Waning Moon Hall,” Gu Shenwei said.

The complex relationship between the Unique King and Dragon King bewildered Sun Chengqi, who then shook his head and said, ”Let's talk about this later. Did these three prisoners admit that Waning Moon Hall is responsible for the assassination?”

The other two disciples of the Waning Moon Hall kept silent, and once again Han Fen was the one who talked. ”All right. I'll talk. The envoy of the Central Plains was indeed killed by the Waning Moon Hall.”

The prisoner had admitted it so readily, which greatly surprised everybody present, Gu Shenwei in particular. He knew that Han Fen had never been a good liar, but now, she appeared frank and honest. However, back then, in the forest of peach trees of Gui Garden, when she had claimed that the assassin might be a member of the Kun Society, she had also looked very composed.

It had been only two months. 'Did she learn how to be a good liar in that timeframe?' Gu Shenwei was confused.

However, the others held the opposite opinion. Han Fen had admitted it too willingly, and there was a disapproving smile on her face, as if she believed that the assassination of the envoy of the Central Plains was not a big deal. Thus, most of the people here suspected that she had lied.

”Why did the Waning Moon Hall assassinate the envoy of the Central Plains?” Sun Chengqi felt that this woman was a little eccentric, so he asked his questions in a mild voice. ”Just tell us the truth. Don't be afraid.”

”Of course I'm not afraid. You're a pretty nice old man, unlike the Unique King. His face is even more sepulchral than the Dragon King's face, but he's not as handsome as the Dragon King. He's less good-looking than you.”

Embarrassed, Sun Chengqi gave out two short coughs. ”You still haven't answered my question.”

”Oh. Why did the Waning Moon Hall assassinate the envoy of the Central Plains – it's because of you, of course.”

Stunned, Sun Chengqi snapped, ”Do you know who I am? You dare openly slander me?”

”I know who you are. You are the one who argued about a prostitute with the envoy of the Central Plains in the Retention Alley. You lost, so you hired Waning Moon Hall to kill the envoy.”

Han Fen's remarks were becoming increasingly unbelievable. Annoyed and embarrassed, Sun Chengqi finally became furious. He turned and faced the Unique King, ”Did Golden Roc Castle make this arrangement to mock me?”

Shangguan Fa answered in an expressionless voice, ”No.” And then he said to Han Fen, ”It seems that you are not going to tell the truth.”

Han Fen widened her eyes. ”Why do you think that I didn't tell the truth? This is the truth. There are so many people here – the Dragon King, monks, and high-rank officials of the Central Plains. We are no longer in Golden Roc Castle, Unique King. You can't just force me to say whatever you want me to say. I know that you don't want me to tell the truth, but I'm no longer under your control.”

Gu Shenwei was becoming more and more startled. Talking meaningless nonsense was Han Fen's style, and the words ”playing it by ear” and ”an iron hand in a velvet glove” had never applied to her. However, these remarks that she had just made insinuated that the Unique King had been colluding with the deputy envoy of the Central Plains. Although these words sounded absurd, they were also coherent. Thus, it was very unlikely that she was the one who had come up with these words.

Face livid, Shangguan Fa disdained arguing with Han Fen. He asked the other two prisoners, ”What about you? Do you want to change your confession as well?”

The two exchanged eye contact and said in unison, ”Han Fen's words are our words.”

Han Fen was very smug. ”Good girls. This is what disciples of the Waning Moon Hall should be like.”

Shangguan Fa waved his hand and the six guards escorted the prisoners out of the room. Before leaving, Han Fen winked at the Dragon King, as if asking him whether this game had been fun or not.

”The prisoners refused to tell the truth. But it doesn't matter. Golden Roc Castle has other proof. But I'd like to hear the Dragon King's opinions first.” The Unique King's first move had ended up becoming a farce, and he had also deeply offended the deputy envoy of the Central Plains. However, the Unique King was unwilling to apologize to him in public, so he to make a concession and had decided to let the Dragon King make his move.

Gu Shenwei stood up. He had several plans in his mind, but none of them were flawless. After shooting a quick glance at Luo Qikang, who was behind Wei Song, he made the final choice.

”Ma Lian was killed by his own guard,” he said.