Huo Wei looked noble and elegant as he slowly said, "When I left the palace, these people had already been targeted by my men.
Murong Lian, do you really think I've been sitting idle in the position of the Commander of the Imperial Guards? Do you really think I'm just a brute who only knows how to lead troops and train mindlessly?"
He let out a cold laugh. "I've looked into the family backgrounds of every single one of the 50,000 Imperial Guards. Do you think I can't tell who has a hidden agenda?"
Meng Tan said, "Your Highness, the interrogation potion is about to take effect. You can start asking your questions now."
His finger barely touched Murong Lian, but under the influence of the potion, Murong Lian felt as if he was being slowly sliced with a thousand knives. He couldn't help but let out a scream.
Huo Wei walked over to Dugu Luanyue, straightened his robe, and slowly sat down. There was no trace of the respect and reverence he once had for his master in his dark pupils. Only disappointment remained.
Shen Guilan frowned tightly. "Your Highness, can you not make him suffer so much?"
Murong Lian cursed loudly, "Shen Guilan, don't you even know whose son you are?
You're of the royal blood of the Murong family of the Northern Yan. Why don't you kill Huo Wei and protect the legitimate throne of the Northern Yan?
Huo Wei is the son of Xie Jinyang. How can he sit on the throne of the Northern Yan's Crown Prince?"
There was only disappointment in Shen Guilan's eyes as he lowered them.
"Why did you do that? Huo Wei has always respected you like a father and obeyed you in every way. Why did you scheme against him and kill him without a second thought?
And when you poisoned the tea, didn't you think that I might drink it too? Once I did, there was no antidote for that poison that kills on contact with blood!
You keep saying that I'm your biological son. But have you ever shown an ounce of fatherly love?"
Meng Tan stepped on Murong Lian's palm, causing him to scream in pain and roll on the ground.
Murong Lian roared, "You're just a lowly son I had with a songstress in Jinyang City. Shouldn't you be grateful to me for giving you half of the royal blood?
Your mother was such a lowly woman. She even dared to dream of going back to the capital with me. She really didn't know her place.
If it weren't for Lu Wanyin, who took you to the Xie Mansion after your mother died, I wouldn't have ended up with a white-eyed wolf like you!"
Hearing the name Lu Wanyin, Murong Min stumbled over and grabbed Murong Lian's collar.
"Murong Lian, I think I've finally figured it out. That's why Xie Jinyang knew so much about the things between me and Lu Wanyin.
I protected her so well, but as soon as Xie Jinyang came to the capital, he knew that Lu Wanyin was in Fuyue Temple. It must have been you who told him.
Back then, you were good brothers with Xie Jinyang. After you lost your position as the Crown Prince, you were filled with resentment and had long planned to rebel. So you wanted Xie Jinyang to raise an army to help you usurp the throne."
Murong Lian said coldly, "Yes. Xie Jinyang was such a pedantic fool. He only knew about loyalty to the emperor and love for the country. He wouldn't even fulfill his brother's dream of becoming the emperor. He deserved to die!
He was a natural war god with outstanding military skills, but he refused to help me. I hated him to the core!
I almost forgot to tell you. Everything that happened on the night when Xie Jinyang brought Lu Wanyin from Jinyang City to the palace for the Crown Prince's enfeoffment banquet was my doing.
Hahaha, Murong Min, all the entanglements between you and Lu Wanyin were my handiwork!"
Huo Wei's face darkened even more. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
There was a hint of madness in Murong Lian's expression as he said with a half-smile.
"After I drugged Lu Wanyin, I sent a eunuch to lead her to the Eastern Palace.
It was your first day as the Crown Prince. You had drunk a lot of wine, and being in high spirits, you were even more arrogant.
When a beautiful woman like Lu Wanyin showed up in the Eastern Palace, would you have let her go?
I knew what was going to happen, so I waited for Lu Wanyin to come out of the Eastern Palace and tell Xie Jinyang about it.
Unexpectedly, that slut Lu Wanyin could act as if nothing had happened after it all. She didn't say a single word to Xie Jinyang about it."
Dugu Luanyue's eyes sharpened.
"Madam Lu had a noble heart. She didn't want to provoke her husband into rebelling because she knew that the Xie family was loyal to the core. She didn't want to give people the impression that the Xie family was rebelling for a woman.
So she swallowed all her grievances and didn't give you a chance to incite Xie Jinyang to rebel.
Moreover, Madam Lu must have guessed that she was being set up back then. The purpose was to make Xie Jinyang rebel, so she chose to remain silent. Am I right, Murong Lian?"
Murong Lian let out a cold laugh. "Humph, Lu Wanyin was indeed a slut!"
Huo Wei threw the vase beside him at Murong Lian, hitting his forehead and covering it in blood. There was a raging fury in his eyes that he could hardly contain.
Murong Lian burst out laughing. "But I never expected that Murong Min, this lecher, would actually fall for Lu Wanyin after a one-night stand.
Just then, Xie Jinyang was going to support the western border. Murong Min found an excuse to keep Lu Wanyin in the capital and harassed her many times.
But by then, Lu Wanyin was already pregnant with Xie Jinyang's child. Murong Min refused to give up and imprisoned her in Fuyue Temple, ordering his secret guards to guard her closely.
Lu Wanyin carried the child for ten months and gave birth to Xie Jinyang's child in Fuyue Temple. She named the child Xie An, hoping that Xie Jinyang would return safely and take her away from this bitter sea."
Murong Lian let out another cold laugh and said, "But later, I named this child Huo Wei.
I cursed Xie Jinyang's son to be in danger all his life, to die in unease and in countless perils!"
Murong Min's heart shattered. He glared at Huo Wei and Dugu Luanyue with hatred in his eyes.
Huo Wei's heart was also tightly squeezed and crushed by the hand of fate. The flesh and blood were scattered all over the place.
The master who had raised him since childhood had been so vicious and heartless towards him from the very beginning.
No wonder, no wonder his treatment was so different from Shen Guilan's since childhood. Every time Murong Lian beat and scolded him, he was as ruthless as if he wanted to kill him.
Murong Lian said, "I planted a few of my own confidants in Fuyue Temple and found out that Lu Wanyin always wanted to escape from there.
But she was threatened by Murong Min. If she dared to run away, he would cut off Xie Jinyang's military supplies once, making him lose battles due to the lack of food and eventually die on the western border.
So Lu Wanyin didn't dare to run away anymore. In order for Xie Jinyang's son to survive, she began to flatter and curry favor with Murong Min.
In this way, Murong Min and Lu Wanyin had an affair in Fuyue Temple. What a pair of adulterers!"
Dugu Luanyue glanced over and saw that Huo Wei was biting his lips tightly. The veins on his forehead were bulging, and his whole body was trembling slightly due to the overwhelming hatred.
She could understand how painful it must have been for Lu Wanyin to stay by Murong Min's side every moment for the sake of her husband and son.
As a son, Huo Wei must have felt so much pain hearing that his mother had been constantly humiliated.
Murong Min shouted, "You're crazy!"
Murong Lian's smile was ferocious. "The next year, your son with Lu Wanyin was born. Lu Wanyin didn't like that son at all. She tried to strangle him several times but couldn't bring herself to do it.
So I came up with an idea and said that out of sight, out of mind. I helped Lu Wanyin send the child away. In fact, I was going to send him to Xie Jinyang to disgust him.
But on the way, I couldn't help it. I thought this was Murong Min's bastard child, so I strangled the few-month-old baby to death. Hahaha, it was so satisfying at that moment."
Murong Min's blood boiled. He spat out a mouthful of blood and his eyes were bloodshot. "Lu Wanyin, she lied to me about one more thing."