Amor a través del tiempo

Capítulo 37

War is so cruel!

The Lan soldiers in the city had likely been mostly wiped out by Bei Chentian and his men. The battle on the river was now settled. Ouyang Xiao and Hong Yan each occupied a ship's bow, commanding two separate naval forces. Their combined strength was formidable, and taking down the remaining rebels was only a matter of time. Lin Feng quietly retreated to the back. Although the battle scenes were magnificent, she had seen too many and found them uninteresting. Her purpose was merely to secretly inform Ouyang and the others, and incidentally deal with Xi Caiqing. Now that the Ninth Princess was gone, she quietly slipped back into her house below the city walls to await news.

Feeling somewhat exhausted, Lin Feng went back inside and rested. Around dusk, he suddenly heard a noise outside. Alert, his killing intent surged, and he shouted, "Who's there!"

"Master Lin! It's us! We came with General Ouyang. His Highness said you weren't feeling well and specially sent us to serve you." As soon as the door opened, three beautiful young women walked in—the three sisters, Jin Yi, Jin Lan, and Jin Zi! It seems everyone's come to join in the fun on Bei Chentian's trip.

On second thought, this proves that these three women are no ordinary people, otherwise why would Bei Chentian take them with him everywhere?

Lin Feng suppressed his murderous intent, casually combed his hair, and asked, "Where's Chen Tian?"

"Your Highness just defeated the Xi Lan army, and General Ouyang and the others are celebrating their victory. It seems that Master Lin doesn't like lively scenes, so His Highness didn't invite you. But I heard that Bei Chen has a new extraordinary person this time, and he's quite handsome." Jinlan's infatuated nature hasn't changed at all; she keeps talking about how handsome this young master is.

Lin Feng found it amusing, knowing that Bei Chentian hadn't revealed her identity, and asked indifferently.

"Is that person really that powerful?"

"Of course! That man is very famous in Beichen. His name is An! He's an extraordinary person who comes and goes without a trace. Many soldiers admire him greatly. It's said that he can set rivers on fire, create fairylands, and even develop incredibly powerful weapons. He's quite the legend!" The little girl exclaimed with admiration.

Jin Zi laughed again: "Not only that, the paddy fields and river filling measures that Beichen has implemented in the past few months were all the work of that extraordinary person. It's a pity we came at the wrong time and didn't get to see him."

"We'll have a chance to meet again sometime," Lin Feng said casually, yawning.

Jin Yi's eyes flickered as she looked at Lin Feng: "Then, Master Lin, you saw it?"

"Hmm..." Lin Feng could only give a vague answer. Anyway, she saw him every day, so this wasn't exactly a lie, right?

Jin Yi whispered again, "Master Lin, you and His Highness must have met many experts this time, right? Why don't you tell us about them and broaden our horizons?"

Lin Feng's eyes darted around, sensing something was amiss.

"Now?"

“Yes.” The three women nodded, but this only made Lin Feng feel more awkward.

Why tell stories in broad daylight? Don't they know they don't like gossiping? Without another word, she stood up and walked out, but Jin Yi quickly blocked her way at the door.

"Master Lin, His Highness has ordered you not to go out!"

Lin Feng's gaze froze, then he suddenly sneered: "Can't I go out? You're putting me under house arrest?"

Anger surged up in an instant. What was this? Was this all the trust Bei Chentian had in her? Lin Feng suddenly realized that she had unknowingly trusted Bei Chentian. This was what it felt like to have trust betrayed!

“Anyway… His Highness said it’s best if you don’t go out for the time being.” Jinlan added, “Master Lin, it’s understandable that His Highness suspects you; they all say…”

"What did you say?" Lin Feng asked coldly, his eyes shifting slightly, his voice devoid of any warmth.

"You say...you are Tiancheng's Consort Lei Ran. Rumor has it that Consort Lei Ran is deeply in love with Lei Ran. So it's possible that you released Lei Ran. Therefore, you are the most likely person to be Tiancheng's spy!"

Having said all that, what else is there to say? Lin Feng glanced outside and saw that the defenses were indeed tight. His eyes were unfathomable, and he suddenly burst into laughter: "After believing for so long, this is the result? Bei Chen Tian, well done!"

Her face contorted horribly as she spoke, her teeth clenched tightly, but she knew she couldn't get out now. She didn't want to make things difficult for herself, so she gave a cold laugh and turned back to lie on the bed.

The three women dared not speak and could only stand in front of and behind the door. They did not notice that Lin Feng's expression had returned to normal, but the chill emanating from him was so cold it could freeze a person to death.

Before nightfall, Lin Feng threw most of the food out, saying, "I won't eat anything except braised duck." Jin Yi had no choice but to order someone to prepare it and bring it in.

The lights stayed on all night, and the guard outside always saw the shadow sitting on the edge of the bed, saying nothing.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Spies

After three days of chaos, Shen Mufeng officially ascended to the throne, taking the title of King of Tianlu, and formally submitted to Beichen, paying tribute every quarter and promising to help each other in times of trouble. However, Beichen Tian and others did not leave Tianlu in high spirits because of the "spy" rumors that were causing unrest in the army.

Bei Chentian has been keeping Lin Feng, the woman beside him, under house arrest for seven days. All the evidence found in the army points to Lin Feng, as well as her identity—the former Tiancheng Phoenix Consort.

A parchment bearing Tiancheng's mark was found in Lin Feng's room, detailing the release time and the transit time of Tiancheng's ships. Ironically, Lin Feng had indeed been absent during that period, feigning illness, making him the prime suspect.

The clues they were investigating remained unclear, and this alone couldn't prove anything. They couldn't rule out the possibility of someone framing them, which annoyed Bei Chentian. That day, he summoned the three Jin sisters and asked them:

"Has she been quiet these days?"

“Besides delivering meals, no one else is allowed to enter the room. My lord, although Master Lin is a strong suspect, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is maliciously framing her. Aren’t you going a bit too far?” Jin Yi said. There are few people who dare to speak boldly in front of Bei Chen Tian. If she hadn’t served His Highness for many years, she wouldn’t have dared to be so bold.

“Since she’s the prime suspect, we need to separate her from the case. Otherwise, how can we investigate? How can we convince the public? I don’t really suspect her either. We have no clue who the spy in Tiancheng is. What if the other party suddenly kills her, leaving no one to testify and pinning all the blame on her? That would not only get rid of the spy, but it would also put Feng herself in danger. It’s better to keep her from moving around for now; it’s much safer for her. Besides, things aren’t clear yet, so it’s always good to be cautious.” As Bei Chentian spoke, his long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowed, as if he were thinking about something.

Jinlan covered her mouth and laughed, "Your Highness, you actually wanted to protect Master Lin, didn't you? It seems she doesn't appreciate your good intentions."

Jin Yi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and smiled, "After all, it's not certain whether Master Lin is Lan Feng or not, and she herself is unwilling to reveal her identity, which is the most troublesome thing."

Bei Chentian nodded, seemingly also troubled by that eccentric woman.

The three women, Jin Yi and Lin Feng, dared not face the gloomy Lin Feng directly. They had hardly entered the house for several days. Lin Feng also remained silent, seemingly deeply affected by the situation.

With a sigh, Bei Chentian added, "There are no witnesses, only physical evidence. We don't even know if it's a setup, so it will be difficult to investigate."

Jin Yi smiled knowingly and said, "Didn't General Ouyang and the others also go to investigate? It's just that those generals probably don't like to investigate things."

Bei Chentian chuckled: "Asking them to investigate is like killing them. They're not killing the soldiers who are training, but the beauties who are looking at beauties. They expect me, the prince, to do everything. They have no conscience."

The three women laughed in unison: "Your Highness is very capable."

Bei Chentian shook his head. At this moment, Nangong Chuixue pushed open the door and entered. He waved his hand to dismiss the three women: "Go back and keep a close eye on things, so that nothing goes wrong."

The three women, sensing that there was likely some information involved, responded and went downstairs.

Seven more days passed quickly, but still no further evidence was found. Although Shen Mufeng assisted, he was too busy to do anything else and still came up empty-handed.