“I can see that.” Pointing first at Yu Xingliang and then at Mu Heng, the judge declared, “Both of you are vying to confess.”
“This truly was my doing!” Alarmed yet deeply moved by Yu Xingliang’s preemptive sacrifice, Mu Heng had originally been fully prepared to embrace death, entirely unprepared for the realization that his Lele had never intended to let him die.
Raising his voice to drown out Mu Heng, Yu Xingliang insisted, “Your Honor, I possess the clear motive to frame Fan Shenggang! Just as Mu Heng stated moments ago, he has no familial or personal ties to Fan Shenggang, meaning he has absolutely no reason to frame him!”
The judge nodded thoughtfully. “There is some logic to that.”
Panic instantly setting in, Mu Heng interjected, “No! Of course I have a motive!”
Deciding he was in no particular rush to adjourn for the day, the judge leaned forward and prompted, “Then enlighten the court, what was your motive?”
Mu Heng glanced briefly toward Chu Muyao and Chu Fengyuan.
Chu Fengyuan responded with a negative shake of his head, while Chu Muyao assumed an expression of pitiful helplessness.
Lowering his gaze, Mu Heng looked once more at Yu Xingliang’s back.
With absolute resolve, Mu Heng stated, “As everyone here is well aware, I am married to Chu Muyao. Should Fan Shenggang fall, the next in line to assume the position of general is none other than my father-in-law. Therefore, I possessed ample motive.”
“Mu Heng!” Clutching his chest in sheer fury, Chu Fengyuan gasped for breath while Chu Muyao rushed to support him.
Furious, Fan Ruyi shouted, “Mu Heng! You are only taking the blame because Chu Fengyuan coerced you! Stop trying to shoulder all the guilt yourself!”
Head bowed low, Chu Muxuan stood frozen in utter confusion.
“Mu Heng! How could you do such a thing?” Breaking her silence, Chu Muyao immediately sought to sever all ties with him, crying out, “You have disappointed me beyond words!”
Realizing the game was lost, Chu Fengyuan quickly chimed in to support his daughter. “Mu Heng, heaven knows I bestowed my daughter’s hand in marriage upon you, yet you repay my trust by framing others. You are completely unworthy of being my son-in-law! I hereby officially annul your marriage to Muyao!”
Thus, Mu Heng was unceremoniously discarded as a pawn by the Chu family.
“Whose son-in-law do you think you are!” Reaching his absolute limit, Yu Xingliang could no longer bear watching the Chu family bully Mu Heng. Leaping down from the table, he hurried to Mu Heng’s side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Mu Heng has long had his own true family.”
Chu Muyao sneered. “Is that so? Then pray tell, who exactly is Mu Heng’s family?”
Yu Xingliang choked on his words. In this era, same-sex relationships were surely far from accepted.
Would this reckless impulse of his bring endless trouble upon Mu Heng down the road?
Reaching out to clasp Yu Xingliang’s hand, Mu Heng shot a sharp retort back at Chu Muyao. “Whoever it is, it is certainly not you.”
The triumphant smile vanished from Chu Muyao’s face as she glared with venomous malice at Mu Heng. “Mu Heng, I am fully prepared to testify as well. Fan Shenggang is entirely innocent, and you are the criminal who…”
Before she could finish, Chu Fengyuan delivered a resounding slap across Chu Muyao’s cheek.
Stunned, Chu Muyao clutched her face in utter bewilderment. “Father, why did you hit me?”
Noticing the surrounding gazes, Chu Fengyuan lowered his voice into a vicious hiss meant exclusively for her ears. “You absolute fool! Do not provoke Mu Heng right now; if he loses his temper and exposes us, it will spell ruin for us all! Do you honestly want your father to rot in prison?”
Clutching her stinging cheek, Chu Muyao swallowed her fury and fell silent.
At that exact moment, a squad of uniformed police officers surged through the courtroom doors, led by officers handling leashed anti-contraband sniffer dogs.
“Reporting to the chief! All contraband has been recovered from Langya Village, and the suspects, including the village chief and Ren Shan from the general’s residence, have confessed and surrendered.”
“Ren Shan?”
“Uncle Shan?”
Yu Xingliang and Fan Ruyi exclaimed in simultaneous astonishment.
Ren Shan was Fan Shenggang’s trusted confidant, the very sycophant Yu Xingliang had first encountered fawning over Fan Shenggang at the estate on the day of the wedding, whom Yu Xingliang had mentally dubbed the head eunuch.
Stepping down from the bench, the judge walked directly up to Fan Shenggang and personally unlocked his handcuffs. “General, thank you for your stellar performance.”
Fan Shenggang offered a warm smile. “Everyone has worked hard.”
Snapping to attention in unison, the entire troop of officers roared in a resounding chorus, “Thank you for your service, General!”
Yu Xingliang and the others stood frozen in utter incomprehension.
Particularly Chu Fengyuan, whose complexion turned a shade paler than that of a terminal cancer patient.
“Father?” Fan Ruyi asked, bewildered. “What is the meaning of this? You were acting?”
Casting a grateful look toward Yu Xingliang, Fan Shenggang walked to the center of the courtroom floor to address the assembly.
“I am deeply grateful for the unwavering support everyone has shown me today. In truth, this entire charade was orchestrated to trap and dismantle the contraband smuggling ring operating within our borders. The reason our previous eradication attempts repeatedly failed over the years was due to a high-level mole leaking our operations from within my inner circle, a fact I only uncovered a few months ago.
Consequently, I conspired with the city’s anti-contraband merchant guild to stage this elaborate performance, enlisting individuals like tailor Zheng as players in our drama.
Our singular objective was to root out the smuggling syndicate by the very roots and restore a clean, peaceful environment for all of you!”
A deep sense of admiration welled up within Mu Heng. “So you were aware of my attempt to frame you all along?”
Fan Shenggang chuckled. “Naturally. Otherwise, how could you have smuggled illicit goods into the general’s residence with such effortless ease?”
A joyful smile bloomed across Fan Ruyi’s face. “Father, I genuinely thought… wait, look out!”
“Do not move!”
Drawing a concealed pistol, Chu Fengyuan lunged toward Fan Ruyi and seized her in a tight chokehold.
“Chu Fengyuan, you are merely an insignificant ant within the smuggling ring. It would be wise to surrender immediately.” Standing tall in his detention uniform, Fan Shenggang retained the imposing aura of a supreme commander as he warned, “You have run out of moves.”
Gritting his teeth, Chu Fengyuan snarled, “Fan Shenggang, I yield. Let me walk out of here alive, and I will release your daughter.”
Shaking his head, Fan Shenggang replied, “Given the circumstances, do you honestly believe you can escape?”
Pleading frantically, Chu Muyao cried out, “Winning! I knew nothing of this, please do not implicate me!”
Seemingly waking up to the harsh reality of his father’s crimes, Chu Muxuan stared in profound disillusionment. “Father! Let go of Fan Ruyi! If you have truly done wrong, you should…”
“You ungrateful little brat, shut your trap!” Enraged, Chu Fengyuan bellowed, “How did I ever spawn such a traitorous disappointment!”
Shrinking back under the barrage of insults, Chu Muxuan hung his head.
“Chu Fengyuan!” Mu Heng shouted in a stern warning, “Do not compound your crimes any further!”
Curling his lip in bitter hatred, Chu Fengyuan spat, “Damn you, Mu Heng! To think I valued you so highly, only for you to betray me like this!”
“You are gravely mistaken!” Glaring at Chu Fengyuan, Yu Xingliang interjected, “If he valued Mu Heng, it was purely because Mu Heng possesses genuine capability. Do not act as though you bestowed some grand favor upon him!”
“If you refuse to let me go, I will drag Fan Ruyi down to hell with me!” Driven to madness by desperation, Chu Fengyuan raised his weapon with a wild look in his eyes, preparing to squeeze the trigger.
Every police officer immediately drew and leveled their firearms at Chu Fengyuan while Chu Muyao shrieked in terror.
“Fine!” Deeply protective of his daughter, Fan Shenggang was forced to concede. “I will let you go!”
Trembling violently, Chu Fengyuan screamed, “Order all your officers to drop their weapons to the floor at once!”
Fixing a piercing glare on Chu Fengyuan, Fan Shenggang clenched his back teeth in agony.
“Do it now!” Frustrated beyond endurance, Chu Fengyuan fired a warning shot into the ceiling.
While Fan Shenggang kept his eyes locked unwaveringly on his captor, the sudden blast startled everyone else in the room.
Reacting instantly, Mu Heng pulled Yu Xingliang tightly into his protective embrace.
“All officers, drop your weapons!” Fan Shenggang issued the mandatory command through gritted teeth.
Obeying the order, the officers dropped their firearms. Seeing Fan Shenggang cornered and helpless, Chu Fengyuan broke into a triumphant laugh.
At that exact second, Mu Heng and Yu Xingliang exchanged a fleeting glance. Sharing an instantaneous understanding of Mu Heng’s intent, Yu Xingliang nodded in silent agreement.
A sudden gunshot cracked through the air, leaving a bullet hole in the courtroom doorframe as Mu Heng lunged forward and tackled Chu Fengyuan to the ground, instantly backed by a swarm of rushing officers.
Stepping forward, Yu Xingliang steadied a trembling Fan Ruyi. “Ruyi, are you alright?”
Traumatized and paralyzed by shock, Fan Ruyi stood frozen as hot tears welled up in her eyes.
Smashing his fist down onto the wrist holding the weapon, Mu Heng forced a sharp cry of agony from Chu Fengyuan.
Yet driven by unyielding malice, Chu Fengyuan caught sight of a sidearm holstered at the belt of a nearby officer pinning his legs. Struggling with his free hand, he managed to snatch the weapon within three fleeting seconds and blindly aimed the muzzle directly at Fan Ruyi.
“No!” Rage and terror flared in Fan Shenggang’s eyes.
A deafening shot rang out.
Time seemed to stretch into slow motion as a fraction of a second felt like an eternity, and the ringing in Yu Xingliang’s ears drowned out all other sound.
He caught sight of Fan Ruyi’s terrified, frozen expression before the sound of Mu Heng’s voice pierced his consciousness, crying out his name in a tone of absolute, heart-shattering devastation.
“Lele!”
A single bullet tore straight through Yu Xingliang’s chest, grazing Fan Ruyi’s arm in the process.
Desperate to turn and gaze upon Mu Heng’s face one last time, Yu Xingliang found his body refusing to obey. Even the sensation of pain faded entirely as darkness consumed his world.
He felt himself dissolving into a weightless cloud once more, drifting backward into the mysterious, boundary-free expanse he had known upon first plunging into the sea.
“Congratulations, host, on completing your journey through Blood-Colored Romance.”
An artificial, gender-neutral voice chimed mechanically into the void.
“What are you?”
The voice replied at an unhurried, even cadence. “Greetings, host. You are currently interfacing with the Black Lotus Upgrade System, version 1.0.”
“What… system?!”
“Are you prepared to embark upon your next journey?”
“Wait, answer my question first!”
“Apologies. Completion of a journey permits a single inquiry, and your question quota for this session has already been expended.”
“What kind of nonsense is this?!” Had Yu Xingliang possessed a physical face at that moment, it would undoubtedly have been covered in heavy dark lines of exasperated disbelief. “Is this system programmed by an absolute idiot?!”
The voice paused momentarily, appearing strangely sensitive to the insult. “In consideration of your 100% mission completion rate for the preceding journey, you are granted the privilege of selecting your next destination.”
“What destination?! I was literally killed in an assassination!”
“Apologies. Completion of a journey permits a single inquiry, and your question quota for this session has already been expended. Should you fail to make a selection, the system will execute a randomized novel assignment.”
“A novel?!” Yu Xingliang seized upon the crucial detail. “You mean to say… my previous transmigration into Zheng Lele… Zheng Lele was a character in a novel?! You mentioned Blood-Colored Romance earlier, could the title of this book literally be Blood-Colored Romance?!”
“Apologies. Completion of a journey permits a single inquiry, and your question quota for this session has already been expended.”
Had the system possessed a physical neck, Yu Xingliang would have happily given it a vigorous shaking.
“Zheng Lele, was he essentially just background cannon fodder in this book?” Yu Xingliang demanded. “If transmigrated characters are supposed to receive some kind of protagonist golden finger, Zheng Lele was entirely useless outside of having Mu Heng as a husband!”
The system concurred. “After all, he was merely a character who appeared for a single chapter.”