Late into the night, somewhere inside a dark enclosed space that looked like an underground dungeon, a man had his elbow positioned on the handrest of a chair where the side of his face was lazily propped on the back of his hand. The clean long fingers with slightly bony knuckles made it look like it was carved with attention to details.

But the alluring face resting on those fingers was no less than an incarnation of the Devil himself which can suck soul out of a person but they would still be unable to look away from the bewitching Devil.

Lu Tong Xiao had both of his eyes closed as if he was taking a rest but the person kneeling before him on the ground could not stop herself from trembling like a dry leaf in the wind. In the quiet dungeon lit with the fires anchored at the murky looking wall, the woman did not dare to breathe loudly, afraid that the man in front would open his eyes and have her head roll on the ground.

The woman was none other than Zhang Song, whom Bai Yu Yan had given an opportunity to work in Silver Closet when she first took over the shop from the clutches of the Bai family. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Zhang Song was the first person that Bai Yu Yan had hired to work in her shop. In fact, even when the shop had no profit in the beginning, she had taken away Manager Gao’s salary in order to pay this person.

As soon as Gu Sheng had told him about the fake dress, Lu Tong Xiao had sent his men to investigate this matter and find out the truth behind the incident. He could not stand by and watch as his wife was humiliated by the crowd in the banquet. Just the thought about it made his blood boil with fury.

The end point of the investigation led them to the seemingly quiet woman who was right now lying on the cold ground, unable to let out the whimper of her muffled cry with the fear of disturbing the man.

After a moment, Lu Tong Xiao slowly opened his eyes, the shadow from the flickering fire fell on his face, making others unable to see his features apart from the deep eyes.

Seeing his master open his eyes, Xuyi came forward and stood at the side. He looked at the woman on the ground and asked, “There is no use crying now. Speak! Who ordered you to swap Matriarch Gu’s dress with the fake one?”

When Zhang Song heard it, she hurriedly lowered her eyes to look at the ground and profusely shook her head while pleading, “I_I don’t know what you are saying. It was not me...not me. I swear to the god that I didn’t do anything with the dress,” saying she banged her head on the floor until it bruised and split to have blood trickle down her forehead, “Madame Lu was kind enough to take me in her shop when I had nowhere to go. She is my savior. I can never imagine doing such a thing to her.”

Lu Tong Xiao’s expression did not change even a bit as his cold eyes took in the sight before him. Even in a dangerous place like this which is used to cruelly torture people, not a single hair on his head was out of place, as if it was simple as having breakfast for him to be here.

Xuyi’s boot stepped on the woman’s hand, making her yelp in pain and jerk her head up to look at his face which was expressionless like his master and she heard him say, “Drop this act. Finding you was no difficult task for us. Even Madame could have easily found out that you were the one doing this, so there is no use lying. Don’t waste Master’s time anymore and speak unless you aren’t fond of living,” the bottom of this boot slightly rotated to make the woman’s face contort in pain.

While searching the woman’s living quarters, they had found boxes of gold taels which were ready to be transferred to her hometown. The amount of gold taels was well above what a normal working servant like her could make in ten years so it was easy for them to catch the culprit.

“It looks like the woman can’t talk. Xuyi, cut off her tongue. There seems to be no use for it,” Lu Tong Xiao’s low voice reverberated in the quiet dungeon.

Hearing what he said, Zhang Song’s head whipped towards the man but the eyes she saw were so dark and scary that she didn’t dare to maintain eye contact for even a second before she hastily dropped her gaze and shook her head in fear. She tightly shut her eyes, knowing well the man was not joking and finally opened her mouth, “No...n_no..this servant will speak...will speak. It was M_Miss Song, yes, it was Miss Song who had told me to do that. She had first asked me to steal the design so that she can prepare a fake dress beforehand and it can be switched at the last moment.”

Zhang Song terribly regretted it at this moment. Song Mei Lin had offered her a very good amount, which blinded her with greed. But now, all she wanted was to return back to that day and refuse the woman

Lu Tong Xiao’s eyes did not hold a hint of surprise as he had already expected it from the start and was only trying to confirm his suspicion. The Song family was a first rated noble family in the capital because Master Song held the title of Minister in the Ministry of Justice. He is one of the trusted ministers of the Emperor and his position in the court was no less important.

However, the higher the position a man held in the palace, the more the enemies there were vying for his title and waiting to bring him down. One wrong move and the man could be easily kicked out of his place and filled by someone else.

As such, Lu Tong Xiao did not think Song Mei Lin would be so stupid to go after his wife knowing what he can do to her and her family. So he suspected there was someone playing her as a pawn from the dark without letting their shadow be seen.

Finding what he came for, Lu Tong Xiao stood up from the lone chair in the dungeon ready to leave, his tall figure casting a long shadow on the ground.

Seeing this Xuyi turned his body towards his master and slightly bowed, “Master, what should this servant do with this woman?”

Lu Tong Xiao’s eyes did not shift to look at the woman sprawled on the ground as it looked straight ahead and he said, “Take care of it!”

For him, his wife was kind and gullible who had not raised her hands even to a servant. If this matter was left for her to handle, the most she would do was probably fire the woman from the shop. It was the reason why he had to personally see to this matter. He was perfectly fine with her being merciful because he would always be there to paint his hands red on her behalf. No trouble in that.

Moreover, he could find another person so that her shop would not be short on staff.

“This servant will oblige!” responded Xuyi respectfully.

This small exchange of words between the master and the servant had Zhang Song widen her eyes in horror. She understood what it meant and what was waiting for her in just a moment. Her life was slipping out of her hands.

Just as Lu Tong Xiao was about to turn to leave, Zhang Song hurriedly shouted, “Your Excellency! P_Please don’t kill me. This servant will tell Your Excellency one more thing which this servant has not told anyone. I beg Your Excellency, please...i_it’s something that Your Excellency should know about,” her bruised hands were pressed together as she beseeched in desperation.

Lu Tong Xiao’s steps stopped and his eyes fell on the woman to see if she was speaking the truth or just wasting his time. During this time, the woman did not dare to let out a sound. After a second, he commanded, “Speak!”

In the moment of courage for her life, Zhang Song did not dare to waste a moment before saying, “When this servant first met Madame Lu in front of her shop, i_it was not by a mere coincidence. T_This servant was told to be there by someone so that Madame will hire me.”

Hearing it, Lu Tong Xiao’s brow slightly raised in interest knowing it concerned his wife. He did not think that she would have any enemies to have a spy planted in her shop. His eyes were unreadable as he asked, “Who is it?”

Zhang Song inhaled the cold air of the damp dungeon and slowly gulped before opening her mouth to say, “Consort Shu!”