There was a tinge of grievance in Zhang Wencai's words.
Su Mingyu, watching from the side, curled the corner of her mouth with amusement. This Zhang Wencai was really an interesting character.
"Zhang Wencai! You stinking man! I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Qiu Shui stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Wencai's face, tearing at it. Zhang Wencai let out a shrill scream in pain. "No! No! No! It hurts so much! Xiang'er, save me!"
Hearing this, the woman named Xiang'er sneered coldly. "Save you! Fine, I'll save you right now!"
With that, Xiang'er stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Wencai's hair. Zhang Wencai was in so much pain that he could hardly breathe. "I'm wrong! I'm wrong! Stop grabbing, it hurts so much! It really hurts!"
Xiang'er and Qiu Shui didn't care at all. While twisting, they scolded. "Good for you, Zhang Wencai. You actually went whoring behind my back!"
"Zhang Wencai! If you don't pay back the silver you owe me ten - fold, I'll chop off your filthy hand!"
Zhang Wencai was so scared that he trembled all over. His face was as pale as paper. "I'm wrong, I'm wrong! Qiu Shui, spare me. I... I'll pay you back the silver right away."
"Pay back?" Xiang'er's face darkened. "You dared to take the family's money to support a woman from a brothel. See if I don't castrate you!"
"I... I..." Zhang Wencai was completely at a loss. He looked at Su Mingyu pleadingly. "Please, save me. I'll tell you whatever you want to know... Really, save me."
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, who ordered you to kill Gu Ruobai and steal those military intelligence reports?"
"It's..." Zhang Wencai's words were on the tip of his tongue when Xiang'er slapped him across the face. "Zhang Wencai, if you're a man, you should be responsible!"
Zhang Wencai was stunned by the slap. He looked at Xiang'er in disbelief. "You hit me because of this? In your heart, am I not as important as your brother?"
As soon as the word "brother" came out, Su Mingyu immediately understood.
She gave a look to the guard behind her, and the guard quickly went out to report to Gu Ruobai.
Xiang'er's face turned cold. "My brother is a man who acts upright! How could he possibly frame the King of Ruixian? There's no reason for it. Clearly, you, Zhang Wencai, are just overly ambitious. You secretly embezzled the silver for the military rations and were afraid of being discovered by the King of Ruixian, so you wanted to kill him to cover your tracks."
Su Mingyu watched from afar as Xiang'er dug her own grave, and a smile gradually curled on her lips.
Sure enough, the next second, Zhang Wencai got angry. He stared at Xiang'er fiercely. "I didn't embezzle the silver for the military rations! Don't talk nonsense! The reason I wiped out the Tang family was because I received a task from your brother. He told me to go there to find the King of Ruixian. He said that if I couldn't find him, I should order the extermination of the entire Tang family."
"Shut up! Don't talk nonsense!" Xiang'er slapped Zhang Wencai again. "My brother is not that kind of person!"
Then Xiang'er turned to look at Su Mingyu. "Miss, I don't care what you want to ask. I'll tell you right now that all of this has nothing to do with my brother! My brother is a just and honest good man!"
"Your brother is a ruthless person!" Zhang Wencai said coldly. "Do you think your brother is a good person?"
"You're the one who's not a good person. I just gave birth to a child, and you're looking for women outside. You're just a scoundrel." Xiang'er glared at him.
Su Mingyu curled her lips and glanced at Xiang'er. "Xu Wencang - the Minister of War, the youngest minister since the founding of the country. He's young and promising, and decisive in his actions."
Then Su Mingyu stared directly at Xiang'er. "I believe you when you say he's upright, but when you say he's just and honest?"
Su Mingyu sneered. "Among everyone, it's the last thing he is!"
"I... My brother has his ways, but you can't talk about him like that!" Xiang'er's face was extremely ugly, even uglier than when she first found out that Zhang Wencai had been unfaithful.
Seeing this, Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Don't be in a hurry. I won't talk nonsense without evidence. Let's take it slowly."
With that, Su Mingyu stood up and slowly walked to Zhang Wencai's side. "Alright, I'll give you a choice now. You can only keep one of these two women."
"I... I..." Zhang Wencai was completely stunned. He never expected that Su Mingyu would ask him to make such a choice, especially after she had gotten information from him. Wasn't this leading him to a dead end?
If he chose Qiu Shui, Xiang'er would know that he had betrayed her brother, and that would surely mean death. If he chose Xiang'er, and Xiang'er disappeared, Xu Wencang would surely devour him. No matter how he chose, it was a dead end for him.
"You're still hesitating!" Xiang'er stared at Zhang Wencai with wide - open eyes. "Is that slutty woman so good that you can't forget about her?"
Zhang Wencai bit his lower lip. "I'm not... I... I..."
He didn't say the rest of his words, but Su Mingyu already understood what was on his mind.
Su Mingyu got up and walked to Xiang'er's side, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't you see? He's hesitating whether to kill you. If he kills you, your brother won't let him go, but if he doesn't kill you, he won't live long either. So you're the sacrifice."
With that, Su Mingyu glanced at Zhang Wencai and asked, "Am I right?"
Zhang Wencai didn't dare to speak. He just lowered his head, but this action already showed his intention.
Xiang'er took several steps back in disbelief. Finally, she covered her head and looked at Zhang Wencai with a disappointed expression. "How could I have been so blind back then to follow a scumbag like you!"
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow. "Take her away. Cut off a finger and send it to Xu Wencang. Tell him we'd like to invite him over for a get - together."
Hearing that her finger was going to be cut off, Xiang'er turned pale with fright and her legs went weak. "No! No! No! I don't want to!"
Su Mingyu didn't show any mercy at all. Without waiting for Zhang Wencai to change his mind, she directly ordered someone to take Xiang'er out. Soon, a painful wail came from Xiang'er, and then there was no more sound.
Zhang Wencai went limp all over and collapsed on the ground. The sweat on his body was like water, soaking his entire clothes.
"Alright, you can go." With that, Su Mingyu gave a look to the guard who was holding Qiu Shui, indicating that the man should take Qiu Shui away.
After everyone had left, Zhang Wencai was as limp as a puddle of mud. Su Mingyu stepped forward and looked down at him. "Scared?"
Zhang Wencai nodded.
Su Mingyu asked again, "Regret it?"
Zhang Wencai continued to nod.
Su Mingyu curled the corner of her mouth. "This is just the beginning. Don't be in a hurry. You wiped out an entire family. Do you think it's going to be over so soon? Dream on."
Zhang Wencai's face was as ugly as if he had eaten a fly. "Wh... What?"