After leaving the Heavenly Prison, Xiao Fenghua's thoughts churned all the way home.
She had no intention of dawdling. She did not even return to her bedroom to change out of the clothes tainted by the prison's ill fortune, but went straight to Prince Jing Xiao Jingfeng's study.
Prince Jing Xiao Jingfeng was in the prime of his life, with a steady bearing. His face bore some resemblance to Xiao Sheng's, but his brows held a deeper, more imposing air, honed by years of political intrigue.
He was reviewing official documents in his study when he saw his eldest daughter, who was usually so composed and capable, enter with a trace of shock still on her face.
Surprised, he set down his vermilion brush and smiled.
"Fenghua, what's the rush?
Did that little rascal Sheng'er upset you again?
Heh, I told you long ago to let him suffer a little in the Heavenly Prison and learn some discipline.
I never expected him to carry on even worse, making up such a gigantic lie about President Du visiting him in prison. He really does need a good scolding."
His voice held affection and helplessness. He had clearly already heard the "fantastical tale" Xiao Sheng had "made up" and, like his daughter earlier, had assumed his son was just being ridiculous.
But Xiao Fenghua's next words instantly froze the smile on his face.
"Father King,"
Xiao Fenghua drew a deep breath. "I went to the Heavenly Prison today, but it wasn't because Xiao Sheng upset me. Quite the opposite—I'm certain... what he wrote in his letter was no lie."
Xiao Jingfeng raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?
You actually believed those absurd claims in Sheng'er's letter?
Fenghua, that's unlike you."
"At first, I thought the same as you, Father King. I was certain he'd made it all up to deceive us and get himself out of trouble."
Xiao Fenghua gave a bitter smile, then turned utterly serious. "But I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. I had no choice but to believe it."
She then recounted everything she had seen and heard in the Heavenly Prison that day, exactly as it had happened.
She described it in painstaking detail, especially Chen Dongpeng's "infiltration" of the Heavenly Prison's grand formation and the "illusion formation," as well as the shocking sight of Zhang Yu breaking through in an instant, his aura surging like a boundless sea.
Even Prince Jing Xiao Jingfeng, who had weathered countless storms, was left dumbfounded by it all, disbelief written across his face.
"This... Fenghua, are you sure you weren't caught in some sophisticated illusion?
Or... could the strange conditions in the Heavenly Prison have affected your judgment?"
After hearing her out, Xiao Jingfeng's first instinct was still to doubt her.
The story sounded too fantastical, too bizarre, like some legendary tale spun by a teahouse storyteller.
A ninth-rank expert at twenty-three?
A Formation Grandmaster who could slip into the Heavenly Prison's grand formation without a trace?
And it all centered on a discarded son of a Marquis Estate with an ordinary background?
How could that be possible?
"Father King!"
Xiao Fenghua's voice was firm, her gaze clear.
"I wear the Eye of Delusion, and I also practice formations. I'm not easily affected by illusions.
Though the Heavenly Prison is unusual, it could never have made me hallucinate so vividly.
Besides, there was no faking the aura of a ninth-rank martial artist. I felt it myself; there was no mistaking it.
Nor could an illusion have imitated that voice transmission."
She paused, then added, "At first, I thought the same as you, Father King. I was certain Sheng'er was acting up. But after experiencing it myself, I realized how utterly wrong I'd been. That Zhang Yu... is unfathomable."
Seeing the unprecedented gravity and certainty on his daughter's face, the doubt in Xiao Jingfeng's expression gradually faded, replaced by deep shock and contemplation.
He knew his daughter was meticulous and shrewd, rarely mistaken—and she would never make careless claims about something like this.
"So it's true..."
Xiao Jingfeng murmured, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk as he tried to absorb this shocking news.
A moment later, he abruptly looked up.
"Send someone at once to investigate everything there is to know about Zhang Yu. I want every detail, no matter how small.
Everything from his birth until now: his experiences, the people he's met, the things he's done. Especially these three years since he returned to the Marquis Estate—don't miss a single thing!"
"Father King, there's no need."
Xiao Fenghua shook her head and took a neatly folded sheet of paper from her sleeve.
"After I received Sheng'er's message yesterday, I'd already set the estate's covert agents to work. They gathered all of Zhang Yu's public information, along with everything else they could find."
She handed the paper to Xiao Jingfeng as she spoke.
"Zhang Yu, the legitimate eldest son of Marquis Yong'an. Thirteen years ago, his younger brother Zhang Heng falsely accused him. His parents favored the younger boy and unhesitatingly cast Zhang Yu out to a manor, leaving him to fend for himself.
Three years ago, he was brought back to the Marquis Estate from the manor outside the city. After returning, his martial talent was assessed as the lowest of the low. He cultivated for three years, consuming countless resources, and barely reached the first rank. People called him a 'martial arts good-for-nothing.'
As for his personality... timid and submissive. He did everything he could to please his mother, Qin Xuehua, his younger brother, and his younger sister. He was even more obedient to his fiancée, Jiang Luohan, daughter of the Minister of Rites, earning himself the name 'lapdog.'
His standing in the Marquis Estate was low, and he was often looked down on and bullied."
As Xiao Jingfeng listened, he quickly scanned the notes on the paper, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.
These records and Zhang Yu's current image were worlds apart.
A timid, useless lapdog—and a mysterious prodigy who could earn Du Jun's respect, command a Formation Grandmaster, and reach the ninth rank at twenty-three?
They were practically two different people!
"What about his time at the manor before he returned to the estate?
Was there anything unusual?
A master?
A fortuitous encounter?"
Xiao Jingfeng pressed her.
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