SBCEJM -Chapter 205 Three Fires of a New Official? No — the Flames of Revenge!

The system’s voice suddenly turned grave, like a bucket of ice water dumped over everyone’s head.

【Host, danger target detected!】

【Right behind your brother — the one in the teal-green official robe!】

Feng Zexuan swept her gaze over.

The man looked around twenty-five or twenty-six. His features were upright and proper, his posture straight as a spear.

At first glance, he looked no different from any ordinary official.

But his eyes were locked onto the back of Feng Huai’an’s head with near-obsessive focus.

The hands hidden inside his sleeves had clenched so tightly that the knuckles had gone white.

Feng Zexuan narrowed her eyes.

【Who’s that? Why’s he staring so creepily?】

【Don’t tell me he’s a relative of some corrupt official my dad impeached before?】

Zhao Rui stood at the end of the court ranks, outwardly obedient and proper.

But every muscle in his body was taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

This was his first time attending court. He should have been excited.

Yet he had run into something like this—

The Northern Suppression Prince’s inner thoughts could actually be heard by everyone!

What cruel irony from heaven.

He had endured for more than ten years, planned for more than ten years. His revenge was finally about to begin.

But now everyone could hear the Northern Suppression Prince’s thoughts…

Wouldn’t that expose everything he had painstakingly arranged?

When his eyes landed on Feng Huai’an’s back again, the hatred he had suppressed for years could no longer stay hidden.

Feng Zekai sharply sensed the poisonous stare from behind him, so intense it almost felt tangible.

Without drawing attention, he shifted slightly, blocking most of the line of sight.

His brows furrowed faintly.

The instant Feng Huai’an heard the inner thoughts, his body stiffened ever so slightly.

Under the pretense of adjusting his collar, he cast a subtle glance backward.

Zhao Rui?

That surname…

That somewhat familiar face…

A dusty old case file buried deep in his memories surfaced instantly.

His eyes darkened at once, his brows knitting tightly together.

Upon the dragon throne, Xiao Juechen lightly tapped the armrest with his fingers.

Oh?

So the newly appointed Zhao Rui had come for Minister Feng?

His gaze moved back and forth between the three members of the Feng family, each with different expressions, and the unreadable Zhao Rui.

Interesting.

Today’s court session was becoming more and more interesting.

【System, hurry! Dig deeper!】

Feng Zexuan urged.

【What kind of grudge is this? He just took office and already wants to go after my dad?】

The system sighed.

【This hatred… runs deep.】

【It started fifteen years ago.】

【Back then, your father was only a minor supervisory censor responsible for investigations.】

【One day, he received a secret report that Zhao Wenxuan, a Ministry of War official, had embezzled military funds and sold military equipment illegally.】

【Your father led a nighttime raid on the Zhao residence and uncovered a huge number of account books and pieces of evidence.】

【Zhao Wenxuan was arrested on the spot. The evidence was ironclad, and he was sentenced to immediate execution.】

【And that Zhao Wenxuan… was Zhao Rui’s father.】

Feng Zexuan sucked in a cold breath.

【Holy crap! No wonder he hates my dad!】

【But did my dad do anything wrong investigating a corrupt official? If someone deserves death, then they deserve death!】

Feng Huai’an’s heart sank.

Zhao Wenxuan…

He remembered that case clearly.

That man had been insatiably greedy and caused the deaths of countless border soldiers!

He deserved execution!

Zhao Rui’s whole body stiffened, his fingernails nearly digging into his palms.

That’s right…

It was him!

It was Feng Huai’an, that hypocrite, who caused his father to die on the execution grounds!

Who drove his mother insane and ruined the Zhao family forever!

For all these years, every sleepless night, he saw the same scene in his mind—

His father’s head falling to the ground.

But now…

The Northern Suppression Prince’s inner voice exploded inside his mind.

【But Host, there’s something suspicious about this.】

The system’s tone became heavy.

【Since childhood, Zhao Rui was taught by his family that his father had been framed by Feng Huai’an.】

【They said your father fabricated charges to earn merit.】

【They claimed Zhao Wenxuan never embezzled anything, and that all the account books were forged.】

【But the truth is…】

The system paused.

【Zhao Wenxuan really did embezzle the money — and a lot of it.】

【The account books were genuine. He swallowed the military funds and sold the military equipment himself!】

【Your father investigated correctly, and the sentence was justified!】

Zhao Rui’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

His ears rang violently, as though someone had smashed a hammer into his skull.

No…

That couldn’t be true…

Mother said Father was innocent.

Second Uncle said Father had been framed.

Everyone said so…

But if…

If Father really had embezzled the funds…

Then what had these ten-plus years of persistence meant?

What was his proud revenge mission supposed to be?

Around the court, the ministers all reacted differently.

Minister of Revenue Chu Heng frowned deeply.

Another wrongful case? Or was there more hidden beneath the surface?

A Ministry of Works official stared at Zhao Rui with a complicated expression. This young man had probably been manipulated.

Prime Minister Lin Chengxiang stroked his beard thoughtfully.

The Zhao family… truly had sinister intentions.

Chu Tiankuo clenched his fists.

If Zhao Wenxuan really had been corrupt, then Lord Feng had been carrying out justice on heaven’s behalf! Whoever dared seek revenge, he would be the first to object!

Feng Zexuan felt alarmed.

【System, are you sure?】

【My dad really didn’t wrong him?】

The system answered decisively.

【One hundred percent sure!】

【Back then, Zhao Wenxuan embezzled thirty thousand taels of military funds and sold off five hundred sets of armor and two thousand swords.】

【Who knows how many border soldiers died because of that? He knew it perfectly well!】

【Your father investigating him was an act of justice!】

Feng Zexuan finally relaxed.

Thank goodness it wasn’t a wrongful case.

But Zhao Rui’s mind was in complete chaos.

Thirty thousand taels…

Five hundred sets of armor…

Two thousand swords…

Each number stabbed into his heart like a blade.

No…

That couldn’t be true…

Father couldn’t possibly…

He had been raised to believe this his whole life…

【But here’s the problem.】

The system suddenly changed tone.

【If Zhao Wenxuan was truly guilty, then why did the Zhao family lie to Zhao Rui?】

【Why make him believe his father had been framed?】

【Why force him to live in hatred for over ten years?】

Feng Zexuan froze.

【Yeah! Why lie to him?】

【Because…】

The system lowered its voice further.

【The Zhao family wanted to use Zhao Rui’s obsession with revenge to achieve their own goals!】

【What goals?】

Feng Zexuan’s heart tightened.

【Zhao Rui was eleven years old when his father was executed.】

【His mother went insane on the spot, muttering every day about revenge.】

【His second uncle, Zhao Wenyuan, brought Zhao Rui home and raised him.】

【On the surface, he looked like a caring uncle, but in reality…】

The system sneered.

【Zhao Wenyuan brainwashed Zhao Rui from childhood onward.】

【Every year on his father’s death anniversary, he would force Zhao Rui to kneel before the ancestral tablet and repeat again and again: ‘Your father was murdered by that hypocrite Feng Huai’an! The Feng family owes the Zhao family a life! When you grow up, you must avenge your father!’】

【The young Zhao Rui knelt on the freezing floor tiles, tears streaming down his cheeks as he answered word by word: ‘This nephew understands… I will definitely avenge Father…’】

【Zhao Rui believed it.】

【For over ten years, he studied desperately for one purpose only — to one day get close to Feng Huai’an and personally kill his enemy!】

【But in reality…】