1242: Plea Bargain

Plea Bargain

Mu Feichi must have truly hated the strange smell that she had had on her. He had gone upstairs and changed into a new set of clothes. He changed into a casual outfit with a gray cotton shirt and dark gray sweatpants, a perfect ensemble for a cozy night in. 0

The chef and the butler had left the main estate after dinner had been prepared. Mu Feichi and Yun Xi had the giant house to themselves tonight.

The atmosphere between them was still a bit awkward. Mu Feichi looked at Yun Xi, who had changed out of her ragged attire and cleaned herself up, and a sense of annoyance stirred in him. Nevertheless, Mu Feichi maintained his gentlemanly manners and pulled out a chair for Yun Xi.

"Why are you still standing? Aren't you hungry?"

"Food..." Yun Xi mumbled as she walked over to the table. She took the chivalrous gesture from Mu Feichi as an olive branch and sat down in order to avoid ruining his mood even further. In return for his kind gesture, Yun Xi picked up the bowls and ladle that had been set up on the table and scooped a bowl of soup for Mu Feichi. Once that had been done, Yun Xi picked up her chopsticks and started to eat. "Look, I know you feel like beating me up right now"—she said between bites of food—"but you need to eat to have some energy for that, right?"

"You're the only person I know who, instead of running away, would approach me to be punished."

"Oh? Have you ever heard of a plea bargain? I'm hoping to exchange my honesty and sincerity for some leniency in my sentence."

"And where was this perspicacity of yours a few hours ago?"

"It wasn't my fault that I had bad luck." Yun Xi sighed and continued, "I've already suffered enough because of this incident. Who would have thought that Han Wanling would push the responsibility onto me. I'm the victim here."

"You're the victim? But you didn't run when you saw the bomb?"

"I wanted to run, but if I did that, more people would have been hurt. I had dragged them into this, and if I were to escape without helping them, I would be going against my principles. I believe this would be against your principles as well."

No one knew Yun Xi's principles as well as Mu Feichi did. He was certain that fleeing from a bomb threat was something that Yun Xi would never even consider. And he knew that her principles had less to do with the kindness in her heart and more to do with the soldier-like self-sacrificial attitude that she had gained from the time that she had spent around him. Mu Feichi noticed that the longer the two were together, the more Yun Xi's attitudes and beliefs were shifting into those of a solider.

What moved him the most was that Yun Xi had not even attempted to escape, but instead had placed the lives of others as her responsibility and had instinctively chosen to remain.

It moved him because he understood where she was coming from, and this shared understanding had awoken him to a revelation—it had been a mistake for him to guide her onto the path she was on today. A mistake that in the long run would only bring him pain...

In the face of death, Yun Xi's life came second to the welfare of the people who she felt responsible for. She had placed the safety of the civilians around her as her top priority.

The dedication and responsibility she had for Jun Country and its people were all that she was concerned about. Yun Xi definitely would have been willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of others.

The silence from Mu Feichi prompted Yun Xi to continue, "Am I wrong, Young Commander?" She asked him the question rhetorically with a small smile.

Mu Feichi could only sigh in response. He straightened up and changed the subject of their conversation. "Whatever you say... I've already arrested the culprit. What do you plan to do with him?"

"Easy. Eye for an eye," Yun Xi replied without any hesitation.

Not wishing to pursue the meaning behind Yun Xi's reply, Mu Feichi took a bite of his food and continued, "I see. By the way, I have some good news for you."

Hmmm? The sudden change in his mood left Yun Xi a little puzzled. She looked up from her food curiously and wondered what kind of good news could emerge in a time as turbulent as this week had been.

"Han Hongbin has been released. He was released this morning when you two left for A city."

"Oh? Was he? That's impossible. The Prime Minister hadn't even heard from me yet. How did he pick up on the crisis faced by the Han family? What made him decide to free Han Hongbin from jail?"

"I never said that the Prime Minister released him." Mu Feichi picked up a piece of potato with his chopsticks and shoved it into Yun Xi's mouth. He then slowly picked up a piece of eggplant for himself as he explained, "If he was able to have received a pardon without the help of the Prime Minister, this spells trouble. We cannot underestimate him."

"I've always thought that the voice recording and the tape of the car accident would not keep him in jail for long. But I never imagined that he would be able to get out this quickly considering the pressure from you and without any aid from the Prime Minister. This man has more power than we are aware of."

Yun Xi thought about her previous life when she had been Han Yaotian's girlfriend. She had only had a few encounters with Han Hongbin. Even from those few encounters, Yun Xi could tell that Han Hongbin was a man of many schemes and underground associates. However, the knowledge that there was an unknown power supporting him surprised Yun Xi even though she had always realized he was a strong man with lots of friends.

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