Chapter Sixty-Nine: Are You Toying With Us?

"Innocent! My daughter only went to the Old Lands in search of an ancient tomb—how could she possibly have gone to hunt down the princess?"
Yan Wangshu cried out his grievance loudly. This matter had to be clarified beyond doubt, or else both their lives would be in jeopardy.
"My daughter bears no grudge against Her Highness the Princess, she’s never even met her... Why would she try to harm her?"
It was Yan Wangshu's first time meeting Tang Fei; he had never thought he would ever need to meet such a minor figure.
According to his daughter's account, this man was a ruthless, wicked demon guilty of every conceivable atrocity.
Now, face to face—
He found his daughter’s description was all too accurate.
This man opened his mouth only to drive them toward their deaths.
He’d heard some rumors about the assassination attempt on Princess Xiu Xue in the Old Lands. After all, recently Phoenix City had been gripped by fear and suspicion; many connected to the incident had already lost their heads.
But what did it have to do with his daughter?
All they had done was acquire a map through certain channels and go searching for an ancient tomb in the Old Lands... how could they have tried to assassinate the princess?
Even if he really had wanted to assassinate her, he would have hired killers or found someone unrelated—who would send their own daughter?
If one is determined to accuse another, what’s to fear about a lack of evidence?
"You’d do better to ask yourself that," Tang Fei retorted, his face clouded with rage. "If not for protecting the princess, why would I have become enemies with your daughter? I’m just a refugee from the Old Lands, how could I know a noble young lady like her?"
"I’ve heard from my daughter already: they found the great tomb, got some treasures from inside... then you saw the riches and tried to seize them by force. She refused, so you struck to kill..." Yan Wangshu protested.
Tang Fei looked at Yan Xinyou in surprise. This woman wasn’t smart, but she could spin a tale.
She had swapped the roles, turning herself from the predator to the victim, then ran crying back to Newstar, begging her father for revenge...
She hardly deserved pity.
"Do you think anyone will believe such nonsense?" Tang Fei sneered. "At the critical moment when the princess was attacked, your daughter just happened to arrive in the Old Lands, and just happened to visit the very tomb where the attack took place... And just after the princess brought me to Newstar, you immediately tried to silence me... What else could that be but murder to cover up the truth?"
Tang Fei remembered a martial arts novel he’d read in the teacher’s library, which featured a technique called ‘using the enemy’s tactics against them.’
When Qin Shaofeng had fished that packet of blue pills out of his pocket, Tang Fei had known what kind of trick they planned to use on him.
And when he guessed that the target might be the wealthy young lady who’d escaped from Shennongjia, he’d decided to use their own scheme against them.
To strike you with your own poisoned arrow—what could be more fitting?
Sure enough, Yan Wangshu, beside himself, shouted, "You’re slandering us... Slandering us..."
"We’ve never done such things... You have no proof we’ve done anything like this..."
"Does my word count as evidence?" the princess thundered. "When the assassins you sent came for me, did you ever imagine I might return alive?"
"What now? Here I stand before you... and yet you dare not admit your crimes?"
"Your Highness, please..." Yan Wangshu looked at the princess in terror, begging, "We never meant you harm. Those killers weren’t ours... How could I ever harm your Highness? Even if I had a hundred lives, I’d never dare..."
"You wouldn’t dare? When I was shopping at the Galaxy Mall, you sent Qin Shaofeng to frame me before everyone... Was that a lie too?"
"That part is true... But at the time, I had no idea you were present, Your Highness... Had I known, I’d never have done it..."
"So, in my presence, you wouldn’t dare. But in my absence, you’d instruct imperial officials to frame innocent citizens... What do you take the laws of the Empire for?"
"Your Highness... I am innocent... I demand a lawyer..."
"Very well," the princess replied coldly. "I’m curious to see how your lawyer will turn black into white, how he’ll exonerate the mastermind who tried to kill me..."
Yan Wangshu’s face turned ashen; his heart sank lower and lower...

Tang Fei's accusations they might still wriggle out of.
But the princess’s word was as good as gold—if she stepped forward to name them as the culprits, what chance did they have of surviving?
With a thud, Yan Wangshu dropped to his knees, banging his head repeatedly on the ground before the princess and Tang Fei.
"I deserve death... I deserve death..."
"Your Highness, I know I was wrong, I deserve death..."
"I’m willing to make amends... I am Yan Wangshu, vice president of the Mandala Chamber of Commerce, I will compensate Your Highness for all your losses..."
"Your Highness, spare us, please... I truly know my fault, my daughter is young and ignorant, she offended Your Highness and your friend..."
"All the losses are on me, I’ll pay them all... Please, Your Highness, give us father and daughter a chance to live..."
Yan Xinyou also fell to her knees, following her father and knocking her head on the ground.
Her skin was so delicate, and she struck so hard, her forehead broke and bled, the blood streaking down her powdered cheek, making her look like a wraith.
Frightened out of her wits, she could no longer utter a complete sentence...
The princess pointed at Tang Fei and said, "If I hadn’t been there that day, if he hadn’t been my friend, if I weren’t a princess of the Empire... Would he have survived? Would I?"
"Your Highness..."
The princess looked at Dalid and said, "It seems your work still isn’t thorough enough... He still refuses to admit to the crime of plotting my murder..."
"It’s my failing," Dalid bowed in apology.
The princess turned to Tang Fei. "Let’s go, there’s nothing more to see here."
"Let’s go, let’s go," Tang Fei sighed. "I have a soft heart, I can’t stand to see people grovel and weep... If they start torturing them, I’d find it even harder to bear..."
Behind them, the iron door slowly closed, the wails of Yan Wangshu and his daughter echoing from within...
Tang Fei shook his head. "Too cruel. Just seeing those devices scares me..."
The princess shot Tang Fei a glance. "Well, Mr. Tang, do you feel vindicated now?"
She knew Tang Fei wanted to take revenge on the pair using the same frame-up they’d tried on him.
She was willing to step forward and help, just as he had risked so much for her in the Old Lands.
This was not repayment, but a matter of trust.

——

Tang Fei was woken by the clattering noise outside. He ran to the window and looked down: Fatty was in the yard, bare-chested, smashing rocks.
He wielded that hideous, fearsome skull hammer—one blow, and the stone split in two, the fine line between them straighter than Princess Phoenix’s calf in his bikini dreams.
Ever since he’d watched an episode of the Galactic Bikini Beauty Pageant on TV, his dreams had been haunted by bikinis...
"This isn’t Hatred Mountain, what’s the use in breaking rocks?" Tang Fei called out.
Fatty looked up, grinning. "Godfather used to make me break rocks, and I always tried to slack off... Now that he’s gone, no one’s pushing me anymore, but I can’t sit still—I always feel like something’s missing..."
Tang Fei pointed at the pile of stones in the yard. "Where did you get these rocks?"
When they’d first moved in, the yard was neat and empty—there hadn’t been any of these odd-shaped boulders.
"There’s a park nearby. I carried them over from there," Fatty replied.
"That’s public property... If they come asking us to pay for it, what then?"
"Pay? For a few lousy rocks?" Fatty looked genuinely bewildered.

Back in Hatred Mountain, there were as many rocks as you could want—break as many as you pleased, and no one asked for payment...
They even made money selling the smashed stones.
"This isn’t Hatred Mountain..." Tang Fei waved a hand. "Fine, go on, break your rocks... If someone comes, we’ll talk then."
And if no one came, nothing more need be said.
I’m just a refugee from the Old Lands—what quality are you expecting from me?
Tang Fei got dressed and went downstairs, asking Fatty, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
"Not yet," Fatty replied.
Fatty could cook, but his food was terrible.
So most of the time, Tang Fei or the old man cooked—the only way Tang Fei had honed his own culinary skills.
"I’ll make you something," Tang Fei said.
Last night, the princess had sent over all sorts of food, packing the fridge to bursting—they could go a week without stepping outside and not go hungry.
The feeling of not worrying about food or shelter, of opening a soda and watching TV whenever you liked, was so good, even a god would envy it.
Just then, the video doorbell rang.
Tang Fei went over to take a look: a car was parked outside, and two strangers stood at the gate.
One was an elderly man with a cane; the other, a young man with a buzz cut.
Tang Fei waved for Fatty to come in, indicating he should bring the hammer inside. The skull hammer was a formidable artifact—if someone recognized it, it could be trouble.
He hadn’t let Fatty carry the hammer around when they went out lately.
After Fatty had gone inside, Tang Fei walked to the gate and asked, "Who are you?"
"Mandala Chamber of Commerce President Huo Zhenwei has come to visit Mr. Tang Fei," came a venerable voice.
Tang Fei noted the man’s polite manner and respectful address, so he cautiously opened the gate. Facing the old and the young man, he asked, "What business do you have with Mr. Tang Fei?"
"And you are?"
"I’m Tang Lei," Tang Fei replied. "My brother is upstairs showering... If you need him, I can let him know."
"To tell the truth, we’re here to ask Mr. Tang Fei for help," Huo Zhenwei said. Though thin, he was spirited, and his voice carried the authority of someone used to command.
"What’s the matter?" Tang Fei asked.
"Well... could you please let your brother know we’d like a word?"
"No need, I’m Tang Fei," he announced, carelessly exposing his identity. "Speak your mind."
"Are you toying with us?" Huo Dongbai’s face darkened, and he shouted angrily.
Never in his life had he seen anyone dare speak to his grandfather and himself like that.
"How should I know what your intentions are?" Tang Fei replied matter-of-factly. "What if you’re here to harm me? If I said I was Tang Fei, and you tried to kill me, what then?"
"..."