85: Chapter 69, Are you kidding us?

85: Chapter 69, Are you kidding us?

“Injustice, my daughter was merely searching for the Great Tomb in the Old Land.

How could she possibly be behind the assassination of the Princess?”

Yan Wangshu shouted his grievances; the matter needed clear and explicit explanation, for otherwise, both his daughter and he would be in mortal danger.

“My daughter bears no grudge against Her Highness the Princess, she has not even seen the Princess…

Why would she commit an act of violence against her?”

Yan Wangshu was confronting Tang Fei for the first time; he had never before contemplated meeting such an insignificant figure.

In his daughter’s description, this was a heartless devil who committed unspeakable evils.

Now upon meeting him…

He found his daughter’s description was all too accurate.

He seemed ready to frame them for death at the mention of a word.

That Princess Xiu Xue had been the target of an assassination attempt in the Old Land was something he had also heard some news about.

After all, Phoenix City had been a place of flustered whispers recently, with many people connected to the incident having lost their heads.

But what did that have to do with his daughter?

They had simply obtained a map through a channel and went to the Old Land to search for an Ancient Tomb…

How could they be implicated in the assassination of the Princess?

Even if they really were plotting to assassinate the Princess, he would hire an Assassin or find unrelated people for the task; who would send their own daughter?

If accusations were needed, of what would there be a shortage of words?

“That’s for you to answer,” said Tang Fei, his face seething with anger as he spoke.

“If it wasn’t for protecting the Princess, how would your daughter and I have become enemies?

I, a refugee from the Old Land, certainly don’t associate with noble young ladies like her…”

“I’ve heard from my daughter already; they found the Great Tomb and acquired some treasures from within…

You saw the opportunity for profit and attempted to seize them by force.

When my daughter disagreed, you resorted to murder…” Yan Wangshu interjected in his defense.

Tang Fei looked at Xin You with a face full of astonishment; this woman might lack intelligence, but she surely had a knack for making up stories.

He had reversed their roles, turning the aggressor into the victim, and then fled back to New Star, sniveling to her father to seek revenge for her…

A life as worthless as death!

“Do you think anyone will believe your words?” Tang Fei sneered contemptuously, “At the critical moment the Princess was ambushed, your daughter just happened to be in the Old Land, just happened to go to the Great Tomb where the Princess was attacked…

As soon as I was brought to New Star by the Princess, you immediately made your move…

If this isn’t to silence a witness, then what is it?”

Tang Fei had read a wuxia novel in Mr.

Tang’s library before, in which there was a Cultivation Technique named: “To treat others with their own methods, to apply their strategies against them.”

When Qin Shaofeng had taken out that packet of blue pills from his pocket, he knew which tactics they would use against him.

The moment he suspected that the targeted individual might be the rich young lady who had fled from Shen Nong’s Ladder, he decided to use the same trick against her.

To be countered by your own malicious plot must be an unbearable feeling, right?

As expected, Yan Wangshu roared in desperate frustration, “You’re slandering us…

You’re slandering us…”

“We’ve never done such a thing…

You have no proof that we’ve done such a thing…”

“Do my words count as evidence?” Phoenix shouted angrily, “Did the Assassins you sent after me ever consider that I might survive to return?”

“How about now?

Here I stand before you…

Do you dare not admit to the crimes you’ve committed?”

“Your Highness, you can’t do this…” Yan Wangshu looked at Phoenix with a horrified face, pleading, “We’ve never thought to harm you, those Assassins were not our people…

How could I harm Your Highness?

I wouldn’t dare even if I had a hundred times the courage…”

“You wouldn’t dare?

When I was shopping at Galaxy Mall, you sent Qin Shaofeng to frame me in public…

is that also false?”

“That incident is true…

but I didn’t know at the time that Your Highness was present…

If I had known, I would never have done such a thing…”

“When you knew I was present, you dared not.

When I wasn’t, you dared to instruct Empire officials to frame and trap innocent citizens…

What do you think of Empire law?”

“Your Highness…

I’ve been wronged…

I need to find a lawyer…”

“Fine,” Phoenix laughed coldly, “I really do want to see how the lawyer you find will argue black into white, and exonerate the mastermind behind my attempted murder…”

Yan Wangshu’s face paled, his heart sinking lower and lower…

He and his daughter might have found a way to escape Tang Fei’s false accusation.

But if Her Highness, the Princess, also stepped forward to identify the perpetrator as you, what chance of survival did you have?

He fell to the ground with a ‘thump’, kowtowing repeatedly towards Phoenix and Tang Fei.

“I deserve to die…

I deserve to die…”

“Your Highness, I know my wrongs, I deserve to die…”

“I’m willing to compensate…

I am Yan Wangshu, Vice Chairman of the Mandala Chamber of Commerce, and I’m willing to compensate for all the losses of Her Highness…”

“Your Highness, I beg you to spare our lives…

I truly realize my mistake, my daughter is young and ignorant, having offended Her Highness and your friend…”

“All losses should be counted against me, I’m willing to compensate…

Please grant us, father and daughter, a chance to live…”

Xin You also knelt down, following her father in their desperate kowtowing.

Her skin being too delicate and her efforts too forceful, she ended up with a bleeding head, the blood trailing down her powdered cheeks like an evil spirit, unable to utter a complete sentence due to the shock…

Phoenix pointed at Tang Fei, saying, “Had I not been at the scene, had he not been my friend, had I not been the Princess of the Phoenix Empire…

would there have been a chance for him to live, for me to live?”

“Your Highness…”

Phoenix turned to Dalith, saying, “It seems your work has not been thorough enough…

he is not willing to admit to the grievous crime of plotting my murder…”

“I have failed in my duty,” Dalith bowed in apology.

Phoenix looked at Tang Fei and said, “Let’s go, there’s nothing more to see here.”

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Tang Fei sighed, saying, “I’m too soft-hearted, can’t stand seeing others kowtow and cry…

If torture is used again, I definitely can’t watch…”

The iron door behind them closed slowly, and from inside came the wailing of Yan Wangshu and Yan Xinyou father and daughter…

Tang Fei shook his head and said, “It’s too cruel, I get scared just seeing those instruments…”

Phoenix gave Tang Fei a look and said, “Mr.

Tang, are you feeling vindicated now?”

She knew Tang Fei wanted revenge on this father-daughter duo, with the same framing methods they had used on him.

She was willing to stand with him right from the start, just as he had done for her in the Old Land.

This wasn’t repayment, this was fellowship.

——

Tang Fei was woken up by the clicking sounds outside; he ran to the window and looked down to see Little Fatty shirtless in the yard, breaking stones.

He was holding the ugly and ferocious Skull Hammer, and with one swing, a stone split in two, the line in the middle straighter than Phoenix’s legs in a bikini in his dreams…

Ever since watching an episode of the Galaxy Bikini Beauty Contest on TV, he always dreamt about things related to bikinis…

“This isn’t Hateshan, what’s the use of breaking stones?” Tang Fei called out.

Little Fatty looked up, grinned, and said, “I used to find ways to be lazy when godfather asked me to break stones…

now that godfather is gone and no one is pushing me to do it, I feel out of sorts, like I’m missing something…”

Tang Fei pointed at the pile of stones in the yard and asked, “Where did you find these stones?”

When they had just moved in, the yard was flat and clean, without any oddly-shaped large stones.

“There’s a park next door, I carried them over from there,” Little Fatty said.

“That’s public property…

If they come asking for compensation because you took them, what then?”

“Compensation?

For these broken stones?” Little Fatty had a look of disbelief.

There were as many stones in Hateshan as you could want, break them however you please, no one ever came asking for money…

They could even earn money from the stones they had broken.

“This isn’t Hateshan…” Tang Fei waved it off, saying, “Forget it, keep breaking…

we’ll see if they come looking.”

If they don’t come looking, then no need to talk about it.

I’m a refugee from the Old Land, what do I care about manners?

Tang Fei got dressed and went downstairs, asking Little Fatty, “Have you eaten breakfast?”

“Not yet,” Little Fatty said.

Little Fatty could cook, but it was usually very unpalatable.

So, most of the time, it was Tang Fei and the old man who did the cooking, that’s how Tang Fei’s culinary skills were honed.

“I’ll cook for you,” Tang Fei said.

Phoenix had brought over plenty of food last night, stuffing the fridge full to the brim; they wouldn’t starve even if they didn’t go out for a week.

This feeling of being well-provisioned, not having to worry about food or shelter, was delightful—cracking open a Coke, watching TV when idle, not trading it for anything, not even a genie.

As he was thinking, the video doorbell inside the house rang.

Tang Fei went over and glanced at it, noticing a car parked outside with two unfamiliar people standing by it.

One was an old man with a walking stick, and the other a young man with a buzz cut.

Tang Fei gestured to Little Fatty, signaling him to bring the hammer inside.

The Skull Hammer was the Evil God’s Treasure; it wouldn’t be good if someone who knew what it was recognized it.

He hadn’t dared to let Little Fatty carry the hammer while out during this period.

Once Little Fatty was back inside, Tang Fei went to the courtyard entrance and spoke up, “Who are you?”

“I am Huo Zhenwei, President of the Mandala Chamber of Commerce, here to visit Mr.

Tang Fei,” an elderly voice came back.

Tang Fei, hearing the other party speak so courteously and even address him as “Mr.,” cautiously opened the courtyard door and faced the old-young duo, asking, “What do you want with Mr.

Tang Fei?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Tang Lei,” Tang Fei said.

“My brother is showering upstairs…

What do you want with him?

I can go and relay the message.”

“In truth, we’ve come to seek Mr.

Tang Fei because we have a favor to ask,” Huo Zhenwei, thin yet energetic, spoke with a vigorous voice and a certain dignified authority befitting someone of his standing.

“What favor?” Tang Fei asked.

“Could you…

please notify your brother and ask him to come down for a chat?”

“No need to notify him, I am Tang Fei,” Tang Fei blurted out his identity casually, saying, “Tell me whatever it is you want to say.”

“Are you playing with us?” Huo Dongbai’s face darkened as he yelled angrily.

He had never seen anyone dare to speak to him or his grandfather in such a manner.

“Who knows what you’re here for?” Tang Fei said matter-of-factly, “What if you intend to harm me?

What happens if I say I’m Tang Fei and you start attacking to kill?”

“…”