Ma Xianglian heard Ye Wudao's words and felt the force restraining her. Her voice trembled. "Y-you want to talk about what?"
Ye Wudao barked, "What do you think? Isn't it obvious?"
Ma Xianglian hurriedly shook her head. Wang Cuihua said softly from the side, "Wudao, could there be some kind of misunderstanding?"
Ye Wudao turned around, narrowing his eyes as he gave a cold snort. "Hmph! Wang Cuihua, you knew I was framed and sent to prison, didn't you?"
"No wonder you told me back then that if I really had broken the law, I should just admit it openly and try to get a lenient sentence."
"I thought you were trying to encourage me!"
"I never imagined you were planting that idea in my head!"
Wang Cuihua's expression changed. She shook her head and said, "What framing? I don't know anything about that!"
Ye Wudao's lips curled into a cold smile. "It's fine if you don't know. I'll make sure you find out in a moment."
He glanced at the clock on the wall. "I only have two hours. If I haven't heard what I want by then, I'm afraid things won't end well for you!"
At those words, Wang Cuihua sprang to her feet and tried to run.
But the moment she stood, an invisible force pressed down on her.
Ye Wudao rolled his neck and said in a low voice, "I didn't want to use force on you. But if you refuse to cooperate, you'll have only yourself to blame!"
Wang Cuihua was thoroughly panicked now. She couldn't understand why Ye Wudao had gained this kind of power.
But she could feel the killing intent coming off him.
That killing intent had been built up in the Rift World, where Ye Wudao had slain hundreds of thousands of demon beasts.
Wang Cuihua shook her head frantically and shouted, "I don't know! I don't know!"
"Help! Somebody help!"
Ye Wudao furrowed his brows and slammed his spiritual power down on Wang Cuihua.
The next second, she was forced face-down onto the floor, unable even to catch her breath.
Before long, her face turned purplish, and her breathing grew faint.
"I'll talk...I'll talk..."
Wang Cuihua was truly terrified now. With all the strength she had left, she managed to get out those four words.
Ye Wudao released her from the pressure of his spiritual power. Wang Cuihua greedily gulped in several breaths of air.
His expression blank, he barked, "Talk!"
Wang Cuihua looked at Ye Wudao, then at Ma Xianglian, who was sprawled on the floor. Near tears, she said, "It was all Xianglian's idea."
"She said people from the Ye Family had come to her. If you took Ye Mingyuan's place in prison, they'd give us a large sum of money, help us bring in investors, and build us a new orphanage."
Hearing this, Ma Xianglian roared, "Wang Cuihua, you shameless bitch!"
"You were the one who came to me and asked me to commit perjury, and now you're turning around and putting all the blame on me?"
"The Ye Family paid ten million. You took three million, and I only got two million."
"You people split up all the money from the orphanage's demolition, and I didn't see a single cent."
"You're the one who's the director, while I'm stuck doing all the odd jobs!"
"And now you want me to take the fall?"
As Ye Wudao listened to the two of them turning on each other, he sensed something amiss in Ma Xianglian's words.
From what she said, it seemed a third person had been involved in framing him and sending him to prison!
He looked at Ma Xianglian and asked, "You said the money was split among you. Who do you mean by 'you'?"
"The Ye Family gave the two of you ten million to frame me. Wang Cuihua took three million, and you took two million. Where did the other five million go?"
At this, Ma Xianglian froze, realizing she'd let something slip.
She stammered, "N-nothing!"
Ye Wudao raised an eyebrow, his voice icy. "Looks like you want to find out what it feels like to suffocate, too!"
Remembering Wang Cuihua's ordeal, Ma Xianglian hurriedly said, "It was Wang Fu! Wang Fu brought the people from the Ye Family to the orphanage."
"He overheard them talking with Wang Cuihua and kept urging us to frame you."
"That way, we'd get a huge sum of money, and the children at the orphanage would have a better life."
Ma Xianglian didn't care about holding anything back now. She blurted out everything.
Seeing this, Wang Cuihua hurriedly added, "I didn't get any of the money from the orphanage's demolition, either. Wang Fu took it all."
"He had dirt on both of us and said he was getting old and needed more money for his retirement."
"Otherwise, he'd go to the Public Security Bureau and turn himself in, taking all three of us down with him."
"He stayed at the old orphanage because he wanted to watch it get demolished and collect the remaining payment as soon as it came through."
At this, Ye Wudao was taken aback.
He hadn't expected Wang Fu to be one of the ringleaders, too.
He remembered Wang Fu chatting with him just moments ago. That old fox had certainly put on a good act.
When Ye Wudao showed up in front of him, Wang Fu hadn't shown the slightest sign of surprise. He'd even acted as if he knew little about Ye Wudao's situation.
All he could say was that the old fox Wang Fu had nerves of steel.
He looked at Ma Xianglian and asked, "So the three of you were the ones who arranged everything to frame me and send me to prison?"
Ma Xianglian clamped her mouth shut and said nothing. Ye Wudao turned to Wang Cuihua and said sternly, "Director Wang, if she won't talk, you will!"
Wang Cuihua had just experienced what it was like to suffocate to death. She answered cautiously, "Y-yes!"
Then she hurriedly explained, "But we did all of this for the children."
"Ye Zhenshan promised us ten million. He said he'd build us a new orphanage and bring in investors so the children could live better."
"I...I was just confused for a moment. That's why I committed perjury."
Ye Zhenshan looked at Wang Cuihua, who wore an expression of righteous indignation, and sneered. "Good! 'It was all for the children'!"
"For the children, you could frame me, betray me, and send me to prison."
"If I hadn't been lucky enough to get out early, what do you think I'd be like after fifteen years?"
She looked at Ye Wudao and sobbed softly. "Ye Zhenshan promised us he'd pull strings and try to get your sentence reduced."
"I never thought you'd get fifteen years!"
Ye Wudao looked at Wang Cuihua and thought of how she'd cared for him over the past thirteen years.
To be honest, Wang Cuihua had treated him fairly well during those thirteen years, and she'd treated all the children well, too.
But when money tempted a person, they could lose every last shred of humanity.
Back at the old orphanage, there'd been no investors, and they'd survived on government subsidies. Even so, Wang Cuihua had carefully looked after every child.
Now, with investment pouring into the new orphanage and more children in its care, Wang Cuihua no longer had the heart to look after them.
All along the way, he'd seen only the caretakers tending to the children.
Wang Cuihua had even walked right past the children without a single one calling out to her.
At the old orphanage, the children had called her "Mom" whenever she passed by.
That alone showed how much money had changed Wang Cuihua.
He looked at her and said softly, "You keep saying you did it for the children!"
"I called you Mom for thirteen years at the orphanage. Wasn't I one of those children?"
"Out of respect for the thirteen years you raised me, I won't take your life today. I'll only take one finger."
"I'm severing this finger so you'll remember not to do things you shouldn't for money."
"You should understand that these children were either abandoned by their parents or lost them to some misfortune. The orphanage is all they have to rely on."
"I hope you won't use them as tools to line your pockets from now on."
"As for the money, you don't need to worry about it. I'll have someone transfer a sum into a supervised account later to cover the children's education and living expenses."
As soon as he finished speaking, a wisp of white mist formed into a blade and cut into the little finger of Wang Cuihua's left hand.
"Plop..."
Her little finger fell to the floor.
The excruciating pain made Wang Cuihua tremble all over.
But she didn't cry out. She only clamped her right hand over the severed finger.
She gritted her teeth and endured the agony, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
It was impossible to tell whether she was crying from the pain or from regret.
After dealing with Wang Cuihua, Ye Wudao looked at Ma Xianglian, sprawled on the floor. "You weren't the one who started it, but you committed perjury and got me sent to prison."
"I won't kill you, either. But I'm going to cut out your tongue so you can never run your mouth again."
"I want you to remember for the rest of your life what happens when you frame someone!"
Hearing this, Ma Xianglian shook her head frantically. "No! No! Wudao, I was wrong! Please spare me this once!"
Ye Wudao ignored her pleas. He used his spiritual power to pry open Ma Xianglian's mouth, then used a small blade of true qi to cut out her tongue.
"Ah..."
Her agonized scream rang through the entire office.
Ma Xianglian lay on the floor, clutching her mouth and rolling back and forth, trying to ease the pain.
But how could any amount of writhing ease the pain of a severed tongue?
Once it was done, Ye Wudao stood up and took one last look at Wang Cuihua. Then he stepped over Ma Xianglian, opened the door, and strode straight toward the orphanage's entrance.
On the way, he saw the children and called Li Huai. He told him to transfer money to the orphanage and investigate Wang Fu's whereabouts.
He knew the old fox Wang Fu wouldn't be waiting for him at the old orphanage.
Before you continue