The Moon Watching Pavilion, at this moment the gate is wide open, all the tables are filled with people, but unlike the usual guests, everyone is wearing black clothes and has a gloomy expression.

  Backyard.

  Wen Lang was sweating profusely as he brought out the wine from the cellar in the backyard, holding it in his arms, and felt a pair of gentle hands helping him take over the wine.

  "Daughter?" Wen Lang stared blankly at the gentle beauty in front of him.

  Zi Yan'er lovingly gazed at her husband and softly said: "Let me take care of the guests for you."

  In daily life at the wine house, Zilian was also responsible for receiving guests. As the owner of the wine house, Wenlang was more focused on rushing to purchase goods early in the morning.

  Wen Lang felt that his wife today was different from usual, more gentle and reserved than before.

  "That old man outside seems to be up to no good, and if we don't treat him well, maybe it's because of our wine shop..." Wen Lang muttered to himself.

  Zi Yan'er gently covered Wen Lang's mouth, preventing him from continuing to speak. A faint smile played on her lips as she said, "It's alright."

  These three words suppressed Wen Lang's inner unease.

  He gazed at his wife's familiar smile until Zilian hugged the wine jug and silently walked into the wine building. He suddenly realized that for so long, he had been relying on this gentle and tolerant woman, and by her side, he unconsciously put down the responsibilities of being a man.

  Zi'an'er placed the wine in front of Zong Chuke, and the fine wine from the cellar emitted a refreshing fragrance, which moved the expression of the black-clothed man standing beside him.

  "Please use it, sir."

  Zong Chuke didn't move, staring at Zi Yaner. The owner of a dilapidated hotel dared to harbor an escaped palace slave and do such a thing, truly having the audacity to defy heaven.

  But at this moment, this gentle woman still carries a kind of frailty all over her body, and it really doesn't seem like the kind of person who would commit a capital offense.

  Zong Chuke picked up the wine in front of him and slowly drank it all down, tilting his head back.

  "Someone has secretly reported that your wine shop is hiding a runaway palace slave. I have been ordered by Princess Wei to come and capture them."

  The empty wine cup was dropped to the ground by Zong Chuke, and then he lifted his left foot and slowly crushed the cup under his sole.

  Wen Lang's heart was racing, but he saw Zi Cui'er's expression unchanged, still smiling and saying: "Sir is joking. ... The small building is doing a small business, it will not come to someone with such a noble status as the adult in a year or two, let alone be able to touch the high palace wall inside, we ordinary people, are afraid that one can hardly seek for a lifetime."

  Zong Chuke looked at Zi An'er with a cold and stern expression: "Is that so?"

  Zi Yan'er smiled faintly, seeming somewhat uneasy, and lowered her head.

  Zong Chuke looked at her, and the coldness in his eyes did not fade away, but instead froze together like a glacier.

  "Take this woman down for me!"

  Suddenly, the black-clad men sitting in the wine house did not hesitate at all. They quickly patted the table and stood up. The two black-clad men closest to Ziyue immediately flashed out of their hands, one on the left and one on the right, violently holding onto Ziyue and pressing her entire body towards the table in front of Zong Chuke.

  "Good heavens!" Wen Lang was shocked and pale, his legs went soft as he rushed forward, and he fell onto the feet of a man in black, who had just stepped on his back.

  "What are you people... what do you want to do..." Wen Lang said with a torn heart.

  Zong Chuke slowly stood up from the chair in front of him, his icy gaze sweeping over the couple's faces.

  "I'm running out of patience, hand over Jing Wanyan now and I'll spare your lives."

  Zi Yan'er was pinned down by the black-clothed man, but her hands in her sleeves were clenched even tighter. A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

  Zong Chuke's words are enough to show that... he doesn't even know that the Zi Yan'er in front of him is actually the "palace runaway slave" he was talking about.

  "We don't even know who Jing Yuanyu is, let alone have seen her before. You are wise to see through this, sir." Wen Lang was still struggling, looking at his wife's slightly trembling body, and felt utterly defeated.

  A trace of venom flashed in Zong Chuke's eyes. In his life, he would not show mercy to anyone except his own son. This couple thought they could play tricks under his nose, how naive.

  "First, remove one of the man's arms. If he still doesn't speak, then remove his limbs one by one." He realized that this man was useless, while a woman, no matter how useless she was, would always be soft-hearted towards her own man.

  The black-clad man who was trampling Wen Lang's body had a cruel gaze that fell on Wen Lang's right hand. He saw him step heavily on Wen Lang's shoulder, and after Wen Lang let out a terrifying scream, his arm was still severed.

  "Master!!!!!" Zi Cui'er couldn't believe it and burst into tears, her usually gentle face finally showing resentment: "You beasts."

  Zong Chuke remained unmoved: "Will you say it or not?"

  In Zixuan's beautiful eyes, apart from tears, there was only a silent endurance.

  Zong Chuke didn't say much either, and he simply raised his hand slightly towards his subordinates.

  The man in black immediately kicked and broke Wang Lang's other arm, and Wang Lang struggled and twisted in agony as if he was in hell.

  "Just because you're an official, can you trample on people's lives?" Zi Cui'er gazed at Zong Chuke with tears in her eyes, this devilish face, she would never forget for the rest of her life.

  The men in black who were responsible for searching the wine house had now gathered in the first floor hall from various places such as the backyard and second floor. They looked at each other, then turned to Zong Chuke: "Sir, we've searched everywhere, nothing's been found."

  Zong Chuke slowly walked to the side of Zi Cui'er, turned his head and looked at this beautiful woman: "Where is Jing Wanyan being hidden by you?"

  The black-clad man's foot was still stepping on Wen Lang's right leg.

  Zi'an'er shed clear tears: "Whatever you have, just say it to me, don't make things difficult for my husband."

  "She's really a good woman." Zong Chuke commented without any expression.

  Zi Yan'er looked at him: "I know who you are. Your son was dragged to the Meridian Gate and executed last month."

  Zong Ho's death shocked Chang'an, as never before had a first-class secretary's family member been executed.

  Zong Chuke looked at Zilian: "I was wrong, sometimes a woman's heart is harder than a man's."

  Zi Cui'er has been carrying it until now without saying a word, and even Wen Lang is about to have both legs amputated.

  At this time, Zong Chuke signaled the black-clothed man to release Wen Lang. His eagle-like eyes stared at Zi Cui'er's face: "Strip off this woman's clothes and throw her onto the street."

  Zi Yan'er's face turned pale, and Wen Lang looked over in incredulity.

  The man in black put away his knife and said expressionlessly: "Your subordinate obeys orders."

  "Let me go..." Zi Cui'er had just said a sentence.

  With a ripping sound, her outer garment had been torn off.

  Her face was completely pale.

  Wen Lang's two arms were broken, and he was now frantically crawling on the ground, but he couldn't move forward: "Let my wife go... let my wife go..."

  Zi Yan'er screamed and desperately pushed the black-clad man beside her, but she was just a weak woman who had never practiced martial arts, how could she possibly be a match for these people.

  Wen Lang finally collapsed on the ground with a broken heart: "Even as a ghost, I will never let you off..."

  There's nothing more desperate than seeing someone you hold dear being humiliated and bullied by others.

  Zi Yan'er seemed to have really given up hope, and after the black-clothed man tore her inner garment, a resolute glint flashed in her eyes as she stared at the table in front of her and violently smashed her head against it!

  "Don't!" Wenlang could only shout loudly.

  Zi Yan'er smiled at him, perhaps this man was completely unaware of his role, but for Zi Yan'er, from the day she met him, she wanted to spend a lifetime with this man in a clean and simple way.

  The men in black had already seen it and with their skills, they could completely stop Ziyue from taking her own life.

  However, they and Zong Chuke were both watching with cold eyes.

  Zi Yan'er used all her strength to avoid being humiliated, so she chose to die. Just as Wen Lang's hands were covered in blood, using all his strength to crawl towards his wife.

  Zi Yan'er suddenly let out a sharp cry, her shoulder was hit by something heavy, causing her whole body to lose balance and fall to the ground.

  Outside the door, a pair of feet wearing silver silk cloud boots slowly stepped across the threshold.

  Pei Tan's eyebrows and eyes were warm and calm, wearing the robes of the Dali Temple Master, with only one servant following behind him, his head bowed in silence.

  "Zong Shangshu." The voice was soft and warm.

  Zong Chuke glared at him with an unpleasant expression, "As expected, Lord Pei wouldn't stoop to staying in the Great Li Temple."

  A useless Xing Zhubu, can he really keep an eye on things?

  Looking at Pei Tan, the young man who was lowering his head and being silent behind him, his attire clearly showed that he was a dark guard from the Pei family. The slap on Zi Yan's body just now must have come from this person's hand.

  "Pei didn't stay at the Dali Temple, so why wasn't Zong Shangshu at the Shangshu Mansion?" Pei Tan asked seemingly casually.

  Zong Chuke's gaze slowly swept over Ziyuan'er, "This couple just admitted to me that they only opened an ordinary wine tower, but this poor building has even attracted the attention of Dalisi Temple now."

  "Pei said casually, 'I came here because this morning some common people went to the government office to report a case. They said that on Changsheng Street, a group of black-clad knife-wielding men appeared and chased away passing pedestrians.'"

  At this moment, all the men in black clothes with knives were sitting gloomily in the wine building, in front of Pei Tan.

  Zong Chuke let out a cold hum.

  The black-clad men inside the building suddenly began to slowly approach Pei Tan and his dark guards, until they silently formed a circle around them.

  Pei Tan had brought only one of the Pei family's secret guards, and it was impossible for them to confront so many black-clad men head-on.

  But Pei Tan still had a calm and serene expression on his face as he looked at Zong Chuke: "Lord Shang, what do you want to do by coming here?"

  Zong Chuke gazed at him with a gloomy expression, having no interest in talking to this youngster. Moreover, he noticed that the dark guard brought by Pei Tan was not his usual one, Pei Xian. This youngster would never replace his dark guard without reason, so where was Pei Xian now?

  "When you are blocked by a single leaf in front of you, you often can't see the whole situation." Pei Tan surprisingly sat down at a table.

  He looked relaxed, as if he were about the same as usual.