"Are you proud?"
Feng Ran scoffed. What was there to be proud of?
Everyone around was waiting to see a show.
After all, it was incredibly rare for someone to be noticed by the Regent, let alone have him act personally.
What extraordinary abilities did this woman possess to provoke such anger in the Regent?
Gu Yan Chen frowned, finding Xuan Yuan Heng particularly inscrutable today. Why was his hostility so intense?
He was not usually like this.
Listening to Xuan Yuan Heng's words, Gu Yan Chen felt that the fault ultimately lay with him. If he hadn't intervened, perhaps she wouldn't have experienced such a harrowing scene.
Xuan Yuan Heng's moods were naturally unpredictable, but this was usually the case. Today, however, his emotions seemed excessively volatile.
"Actually, the entire matter has nothing to do with Feng Ran..." Gu Yan Chen was about to speak in Feng Ran's defense when Xuan Yuan Heng's words cut him off.
"Gu Yan Chen, if you don't want her to lose her life because of your words, you can say whatever you wish."
As Gu Yan Chen was about to retort, Feng Ran spoke.
"Regent, it is all my fault." Feng Ran knelt on the ground with a thud.
Could Feng Ran's plea on her knees quell this storm? Why not?
Hadn't she grown accustomed to her humble pleas and kneeling over the years?
To cling to pride and make matters worse was a foolish act she considered utterly not worth it.
Besides, in Xuan Yuan Heng's eyes, she had always been lowly. Did it matter whether she knelt or not?
Feng Ran's movements were boneless as she imitated others, trying to appease Xuan Yuan Heng. Her actions were stiff and unfamiliar, her entire body rigid. Her face instantly flushed. She lowered her gaze, biting her lip tightly, afraid to meet his eyes. She was afraid that if she met Xuan Yuan Heng's gaze, her last shred of hope, her only dignity, would be shattered.
In truth, after enduring years of torment, humiliation, mockery, and cold cynicism, shouldn't she have become accustomed to all of this?
How difficult were those days, being troubled by those in red, cursed at daily, and beaten? Yet, she had persevered. Now, merely bowing her head and begging for favor from Xuan Yuan Heng was far better than being treated like a dog.
However, upon touching Xuan Yuan Heng, her entire body trembled uncontrollably.
But recalling the past, it was several times more terrifying than the present. If she could endure such hardships and move forward, what was there to fear now when facing Xuan Yuan Heng?
After all, those people had risked their lives to take hers.
But the Xuan Yuan Heng before her would not take her life. Compared to that, the present Xuan Yuan Heng was not as terrifying.
Feng Ran had no idea how she managed to appease and please Xuan Yuan Heng.
Then, Xuan Yuan Heng uttered, "Feng Ran, you are truly base."
"But I always keep my word. If you do what you say, then I shall too."
"However, it seems the arrogant eldest daughter of the Feng family is willing to go to great lengths just to survive and beg for others."
"The eldest daughter of the Feng family?"
Gu Yan Chen looked at Feng Ran, incredulous. "She is the wicked Feng Ran who caused Wan Yan's death?"
His tone was laced with disbelief.
If she was truly the one who killed Yu Wan Yan, then had he just been speaking up for the person he had longed to avenge?
She was such a wicked woman.
And he had completely failed to see it.
Feng Ran's face turned ashen. In fact, she was barely holding herself together.
Gu Yan Chen, who had just defended her, now looked at her with disgust and disdain, even wishing to take her life.
Feng Ran had long anticipated such a shift, but the change felt so drawn out.
At this moment, the surrounding crowd was mocking Feng Ran.
Feng Ran appeared utterly disheveled.
Feng Ran could no longer stand.
Feng Ran lowered her gaze, a self-mocking smile playing on her lips. "Regent, I beg you. This is all my fault. Please, do not blame others for my mistakes."
Gu Yan Chen let out a cold sneer. "Hah, what good person is she pretending to be now?"
"Feng Ran, shut up. I don't need you to speak for me," Gu Yan Chen said with contempt, his gaze harsh. "You vile creature, what right do you have to say such things?"
"Just now, I was truly blind to have spoken for someone as wicked as you."
"Now, I actually feel that the Regent's actions against you were too lenient."
"You should know best how Wan Yan died."
"I never expected that the once arrogant, doted upon eldest daughter of the Feng family would fall to such a state."
"However, you are not to be pitied at all. This is your just deserts."
"Feng Ran, do you know? When I learned you had caused Wan Yan's death, I wished I could have killed you on the spot."
"But I searched for you. You seemed to have vanished into thin air, impossible to find."
"Hah, that allowed you to live these many years. Meeting you here today is truly an opportunity given by heaven."
"Feng Ran, when you drove Wan Yan to her death, have you had nightmares all these years? Aren't you afraid Wan Yan will come to claim your soul in the dead of night?"
Feng Ran looked at Gu Yan Chen calmly and scoffed, "Claim my soul? Haunt my dreams? Is that it?"
"But I have never seen Yu Wan Yan all these years."
"If she is truly dead, then let her come to me. I am not afraid. I fear nothing."
Feng Ran spoke with conviction, her eyes filled with disdain and scorn when mentioning Yu Wan Yan.
Did Yu Wan Yan truly dare to haunt her dreams? She had been waiting for Yu Wan Yan to appear, but she never did.
"Hah, Feng Ran, how dare you show your face to Wan Yan?"
"Why would she dare to enter my dreams? She knows best what she herself has done."
"Feng Ran, if you hadn't poisoned her, if you hadn't taken advantage of Xuan Yuan Heng's absence to insult and torment her, she wouldn't have died."
"It was you. You caused everything."
"Hah, no, I didn't. I did nothing."
"Hah." Gu Yan Chen sneered. "Feng Ran, do you think I would believe your words?"
"Everyone in the world knows what you have done."
Feng Ran remained outwardly calm, but suddenly, a smile bloomed on her face. It was a bitter smile.