Even women who travel through time can become prime ministers and nobles.

Chapter 447: Everything is a conspiracy

Wang Qinian's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, and he still tried to explain, "Lord Cui... this sinner does not understand your meaning... this sinner truly..."

"You do not understand?"

Choi Ji-ho interrupted him, his voice suddenly becoming stern.

"Then let me tell you! Yuan Xiaomiao may be lecherous and domineering, but he doesn't have the brains or the guts to spread the plague and murder the imperial envoy!"

"It's even more impossible for him to collude with the remnants of the previous dynasty on his own! There's someone else orchestrating all of this!"

"And you, Wang Qinian, seemingly forced, are actually acting on your own initiative!"

"You are using Yuan Xiaomiao's evil deeds and the reputation of the Yuan family of Runan as cover to secretly carry out a greater conspiracy! Am I right?"

Cui Zhihao's gaze seemed to see through the deepest darkness in people's hearts: "You are trying your best to steer the investigation towards Yuan Xiaomiao and the so-called 'corruption and coercion,' but you just want to sacrifice the pawn to save the king and protect your real master behind you."

"Or... preserve what you truly want to achieve!"

"Wang Qinian,"

Choi Ji-ho's voice was as cold as ice, "Whose side are you on? You're so willing to risk your sister's innocence and your whole family's lives for the person behind you. What is it that you're after?"

These words were like a thunderbolt, shattering Wang Qinian's soul!

The color drained from his face instantly, and his pitiful and aggrieved appearance froze completely, leaving only boundless terror and disbelief!

His performance, which he thought was flawless, was seen through by Choi Ji-ho at a glance!

Yuan Xiaomiao, who was standing to the side, was also stunned. He seemed to have never imagined that this "subordinate" whom he had always ordered around could have such deep scheming and purpose.

Cui Yu'an gasped, instantly snapping back to reality. A cold sweat broke out on his back, and his eyes were filled with lingering fear and shock as he looked at Wang Qinian.

Crown Prince Shen Yanzhou narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in them.

The entire interrogation room fell into a deathly silence, with only the crackling sound of the burning torches.

All the pressure was now focused on Wang Qinian, whose face was ashen.

Choi Ji-ho stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at him, and slowly uttered the last sentence: "Now, will you tell me yourself, or will I... continue to guess?"

Cui Zhihao's penetrating gaze and icy questioning were like the last straw, breaking down Wang Qinian's carefully constructed psychological defenses.

The pitiful and aggrieved look on his face peeled away like cheap paint, leaving only a bleak, lifeless desolation and a twisted madness.

He stopped kowtowing and crying, and slowly, very slowly, raised his head.

Those eyes, which had been trying to feign weakness, now surged with a chilling resentment, unwillingness, and an almost manic hatred.

The interrogation room was deathly silent; everyone held their breath and waited.

After a long silence, Wang Qinian let out an extremely strange sound, a mixture of crying and laughing, and spoke in a hoarse voice: "Cui Zhihao... the Cui family of Qinghe... truly lives up to its reputation... hehe... hahaha..."

His laughter echoed through the gloomy cell, sending chills down one's spine.

"That's right..."

He stopped laughing, his eyes becoming empty and sharp, as if he were lost in some painful memory.

“Yuan Xiaomiao…that beast! He had only been in Chuzhou for a short time when, relying on the power of the Yuan family of Runan, he forcibly took my wife, who had just given birth, after a banquet!”

Wang Qinian's voice suddenly rose, filled with deep-seated hatred: "My wife... was strong-willed and could not bear the humiliation. That very night... she hanged herself! Leaving behind my infant child!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiaomiao's expression changed drastically. She seemed to want to refute something, but under Wang Qinian's ruthless gaze, she was speechless for a moment.

"I'll report him? Haha!"

Wang Qinian laughed until tears streamed down his face. "He's the son of the Yuan family of Runan. Who am I? A lowly prefect with no connections? My superiors protect me, my colleagues keep silent. What can I do?! I don't even have a chance for revenge!"

His expression gradually turned cold and sinister: "Just when I was in despair... my 'good sister'..."

He suddenly looked at Wang Wan'er, whose face was deathly pale, his eyes filled with a complex mix of hatred, fear, and a strange connection.

"She found me."

"She told me that she was not a burden to me, but that she was there to help me."

"She said she had a way to ruin Yuan Xiaomiao's reputation and make him die without a burial place! But the condition was... I had to listen to her."

Cui Yu'an couldn't help but ask, "How can she help you? She's a woman..."

Wang Qinian smiled coldly: "A woman? Ha... You've all been fooled by her pitiful appearance."

"She is not at all my sister who was frail and sickly since childhood and was sent to another place for recuperation! Or rather, not entirely!"

"The real Wang Wan'er may have died of illness somewhere long ago."

“And she…” Wang Qinian pointed at the trembling Wang Wan’er,

She is a member of the most mysterious "Charm Division" under Rongyang King, and one of Rongyang King's remaining assassins!

She impersonated my sister and infiltrated Chuzhou, all in an attempt to find an opportunity to revive the power of her former master!

These words were like a thunderbolt from the blue! Even Choi Ji-ho's pupils contracted slightly.

Wang Wan'er suddenly looked up, her face no longer showing any weakness. Although she was still pale, her eyes had become sharp and cold.

With a fervent faith, she shouted, "You are not allowed to slander our lord! For the sake of our lord's cause, we are willing to sacrifice everything!"

Wang Qinian ignored her and continued, "She found me and revealed her identity."

"She told me that I would never be able to take revenge on my own in my lifetime."

"But with the help of the power behind her, I can not only kill Yuan Xiaomiao, but also gain unprecedented power and wealth, and even... perhaps become a marquis and prime minister in the future!"

"She's threatening me!"

Wang Qinian's voice was hoarse, "She knows all my weaknesses! She threatened me with my son's life, and with the safety of my entire Wang family!"

"If I don't comply, she and the people behind her can make my whole family die silently at any time!"

"Therefore, the so-called 'Yuan Xiaomiao forcibly taking Wang Wan'er' was actually a meticulously planned scheme!"

Cui Zhihao coldly replied, "It was you, or rather all of you, who used Yuan Xiaomiao's lust to send Wang Wan'er to his side."

"On the one hand, we gained his trust, and on the other hand, we seized his biggest weakness, so that he would have no choice but to be controlled by you in the future!"

"That's right!"

A crazed glint flashed in Wang Qinian's eyes.

"That idiot Yuan Xiaomiao! He really thinks he's just lucky to have gotten such a beautiful woman!"

"But little did he know that this beautiful woman was a venomous snake that could kill him at any moment! Those corrupt practices that he thought he had orchestrated, those evil deeds of forcibly taking women and framing wealthy merchants."

"At least half of it was orchestrated by my 'sister' and me behind the scenes, even exaggerating it, with the aim of accumulating wealth more quickly to support the remnants of the Rongyang King hiding in the shadows, while also constantly aggravating Yuan Xiaomiao's sins, making it impossible for him to turn back!"