Meng Mingshu looked around. He could no longer find a single friend. Everyone had betrayed him, and he had betrayed everyone, like a starving stray dog. He groveled before the first person to beckon him, even if that person had just toyed with him and concealed malice behind a smile.
Pang Jing of the Central Plains was the mastermind behind the plot. Meng Mingshu wanted nothing more than to grab him by the collar and demand, "I've never wronged you. Why frame me?"
But he didn't dare. When word arrived that Mo Chu had returned to the city and seized the City Governor's residence, a flash of inspiration struck him instead. In front of everyone, he invited his enemy to stay at his home. When Pang Jing agreed, Meng Mingshu even fawned over him with tearful gratitude.
The Central Plains was too powerful, like the Tianshan Mountains stretching across the north. No matter how many evil deeds it committed, nobody could seek revenge against it. Meng Mingshu's resentment circled around Pang Jing, but he couldn't bear to turn it on himself, so he shifted it all onto Xiao Fengchai.
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The people of the Central Plains had devised the plan, and Lu Qiying had come to persuade him, but the only reason he'd been deceived was that he trusted Xiao Fengchai. He loved that woman. Over the years, he'd paid enough to marry a princess from a small kingdom, yet all he'd gotten in return was exploitation and betrayal.
Shameless! Meng Mingshu trembled with fury. He set down the letter and told the visitor, "Fine. Tell your master I'll be there on time."
Lu Qiying's letter had politely invited him to discuss a few matters, hinting that others would be