Tao Zhan could hardly wait to open his mental landscape.
The smile in Yunyang’s eyes deepened.
The strand of spiritual energy she had separated slipped into Tao Zhan’s mental landscape and quickly found the spotted rattlesnake hiding in a crack between the rocks.
Sensing the gentle spiritual energy, the spotted rattlesnake voluntarily crawled out from between the rocks.
Aside from Yunyang, no one else could see what was happening inside the mental landscape.
Normally, when a female performed a purification, all outsiders could see was the female and the male standing there.
But today was different.
Because she had only separated a single strand of spiritual energy, Yunyang could split her attention and do two things at once.
The strand of spiritual energy lashed viciously at the spotted rattlesnake inside the mental landscape. At the same time, Yunyang pretended to be occupied for a while before suddenly asking Tao Zhan again, “You said the person who sold you the mining rights before was Pei Wenye?”
The fact that spiritual energy could attack a male’s spiritual entity was not recorded in any federal materials. Yunyang and Lulu had only confirmed it after trying it themselves.
Other than the beastmen they had attacked, Lulu had only mentioned it once while they were on T01.
There was no way Tao Zhan could know about it, so he was completely off guard.
Once a female’s spiritual energy entered a male’s mental landscape, the male could not drive it out unless his ability level was higher than the female’s spiritual level.
That was why Yunyang felt comfortable using this trick.
As long as Tao Zhan refused to tell the truth, she would not withdraw her spiritual energy.
Torturing someone into confessing was immoral, but it worked.
She was not some great saint, and she was not willing to waste time investigating the truth herself.
Besides, all she was doing was attacking his spiritual entity. Apart from making him uncomfortable, it would not leave any wounds or lasting aftereffects.
She had even accidentally dispersed a few clusters of black mist for him~
Tao Zhan was still somewhat bewildered.
He could indeed feel his contamination level decreasing, but why was Lady Yunyang constantly attacking his spiritual entity?
The sensation of having his spiritual entity attacked was not pleasant. In fact, it was even more unbearable than having an excessively high contamination level.
When he failed to answer, Yunyang added another strand of spiritual energy.
Faced with the assault of two strands, even Tao Zhan, foolish as he was, finally understood.
Lady Yunyang had never intended to help purify his contamination. She was trying to force him to reveal the truth!
Tao Zhan, whose hopes had just been dashed, struggled to speak. “It was Pei Wen—”
Before he could finish the last character, the two strands of spiritual energy lashed fiercely against his spiritual entity again.
Inside his mental landscape, the spotted rattlesnake fled wildly as it was whipped, but no matter how hard it tried, it could not escape Yunyang’s spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy that usually felt like salvation to males now seemed even more terrifying than contamination to him.
The crucial point was that when a male’s contamination level was too high, outsiders could tell.
But at that moment, not a single person present had any idea what he was going through.
Tao Zhan’s entire body hurt, and his head hurt even more.
If he had not still remembered to maintain his composure in front of a female, he would have rolled around on the floor a few times to see if that could ease the pain.
The culprit wore a faint smile and asked in a gentle voice, “Why did you stop?”
With her innocent, harmless expression, Yunyang gave no one any reason to suspect that she had done anything—including Pei Fangying.
Tao Zhan was suffering in silence.
Under the threat of the spiritual energy, he did not dare say what Yunyang had done to him.
But if he revealed the truth about the matter, he would not fare any better. After all, he had joined forces with Pei Qingyang to frame Pei Wenye.
Tao Zhan pressed his lips tightly together, caught between speaking and remaining silent.
Yunyang had a pretty good idea what he was worried about.
“Go ahead and tell the truth. You were only the buyer, not the mastermind. The Pei family head won’t pursue your responsibility.”
What she said was that Pei Fangying would not pursue the matter, but Tao Zhan understood what she really meant.
Since he was not the mastermind, and if Lady Yunyang was willing to vouch for him, perhaps he could avoid punishment.
With that thought, Tao Zhan gave in.
“It was Pei Qingyang!”
“He told me to frame Pei Wenye. I still have the transaction records between us in my optical computer!”
After obtaining the answer she wanted, Yunyang magnanimously withdrew her spiritual energy.
Because she had accidentally dispersed a few clusters of black mist, Tao Zhan’s contamination level really had decreased.
Of course, it had only decreased by three points.
She would consider that a “reward” for Tao Zhan telling the truth.
Yunyang did not continue pressing the matter. She merely looked at him in surprise. “Didn’t you just say that A-Ye had sold the mining rights to you without authorization?”
Tao Zhan noticed the way Yunyang addressed Pei Wenye.
He abruptly turned to look at Pei Wenye.
Such an intimate form of address was enough to prove how much Lady Yunyang doted on Pei Wenye.
So from the very beginning, Lady Yunyang had not believed what he said.
But realizing that now was too late.
Pei Fangying frowned. “Tao Zhan, do you know what you’re saying?”
The words had already been spoken, so Tao Zhan gave up struggling. He opened his optical computer, brought up the transaction records between himself and Pei Qingyang, and enlarged the projection before them so that everyone could see it clearly.
Compared to the transaction details that did not even bear a genetic seal, the records Tao Zhan produced were naturally far more convincing.
Pei Fangying stared blankly at the projection.
Then, almost instinctively, she looked toward Felicity, Pei Qingyang’s female spouse.
Although she had long known that Pei Qingyang had concealed something from her, Felicity still found it difficult to hide her disappointment.
She rose to her feet and bowed to Yunyang.
“Lady Yunyang, I had no idea about this. I’m very sorry.”
“Please rest assured. I will report this to the Marriage Bureau and divorce Pei Qingyang, ensuring that he receives the punishment he deserves.”
Being divorced by a female was far more serious than any other punishment.
Yunyang shook her head. “This was not your fault. You don’t need to apologize to me.”
Those responsible should answer for their own crimes; innocent people should not be dragged into it.
Of course, Pei Fangying was an exception.
Although she had not known the truth either, her judgment had been far too biased.
Felicity looked at Pei Fangying again. “Auntie Pei, now that everything has been cleared up, I’ll take my leave.”
Watching Felicity leave with her male spouses, Pei Fangying finally turned toward Pei Wenye.
The disappointment in her eyes from earlier was gone, replaced by nothing but guilt.
“A-Ye, I’m sorry. Your mother wronged you without finding out the truth first.”
It was not only this matter concerning the mining rights.
The things that had happened in the past had probably also been orchestrated by her eldest son.
Her younger son had tried to explain, but at the time, she had believed that her eldest son would never harm his own younger brother. She had never believed A-Ye’s words.
Now, it seemed she had been completely wrong.
Pei Wenye showed little reaction at first, but soon, he seemed to think of something.
He glanced at Yunyang, then spoke stiffly. “Mother, you don’t need to blame yourself. This was Pei Qingyang’s fault.”
Xuan Yu, who was standing beside him, suddenly drew in a sharp breath. He asked in disbelief, “Pei Wenye, could your being stranded on that desolate planet also have been Pei Qingyang’s doing?”
Qin Mo understood what Xuan Yu meant. He casually adjusted the shoulder insignia he had put on at some point.
“I heard from the First Army that if they hadn’t gone to that desolate planet to rescue Lord Yulu, Pei Wenye would probably have completely lost control and turned into a beast by now.”
Rong Jin wore a look of disbelief. “Something like that happened?”
Fu Shiyi and Fuyuan also turned to look at Xuan Yu in coordination.
The Pei family knew nothing about this.
Because Pei Fangying had never trusted him in the past, Pei Wenye had never brought it up.
But the few love rivals weren’t about to let the matter slide so easily.
Love rivals or not, they were still family.
