This sort of deep anxiety and trembling fear had the power to make people empathize almost instantly. Xia Xingchi was suddenly wrapped up in this urgent emotion, and for some strange reason, he did not push Li Chengyuan away.

The kiss was wild and almost desperate, a venting of complex emotions that had been accumulating for many years.

It was Li Chengyuan, who had lost his mind and fallen into the chaos of madness, expressing his emotions and feeling this vibrant life brimming with vitality.

There were no beautiful, enchanting thoughts or distracting passion mixed in with it, only pure, warm emotional catharsis.

Xia Xingchi didn’t know how long it took, but he was kissed to the point that he was almost deprived of oxygen and his legs were limp before he was finally let go.

His frozen brain was dizzy and floating, and his whole body went limp and fell directly into Li Chengyuan’s arms. It took him a long time to realize what had happened.

It wasn’t until Li Chengyuan lowered his head and lightly licked the bleeding wound on his neck with the tip of his tongue that Xia Xingchi finally awoke in a burst of numbness and trembling, as if he had received an electric shock.

—  For god’s sake, what is Li Chengyuan doing?!

— What unbelievable horror movie scene did I just participate in?!

“Li Chengyuan! Let go, you……”

“Why didn’t you keep your word?” Li Chengyuan was unmoved, and even pressed Xia Xingchi firmly in his arms, gritting his teeth and saying, “You’re a liar.”

Xia Xingchi couldn’t escape. Leaning his face into Li Chengyuan’s arms, he was surrounded by the faint scent of his body. After booting up, his brain was filled with the sudden kiss just now, and his face instantly turned red and hot.

Not to mention that this was his first kiss, it could be said that this was a weird scene —

On a dark and windy night, kissing so fiercely and wildly in a cemetery?

Li Chengyuan was clearly not well. The big villain would certainly not do such outrageous things normally, but now there was no way to argue with the madman.

A person who could go crazy and nearly poison himself with antipyretics wouldn’t consider anything too outrageous.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and wanted to say something.

But the memories that were gradually returning became intertwined with some unbelievable facts, paralyzing him on the spot, and he didn’t know where to start with this mess.

Unexpectedly, the quiet atmosphere lasted less than a moment before Li Chengyuan suddenly lowered his head and made as if to bite Xia Xingchi’s neck fiercely!

Afraid of being bitten again, Xia Xingchi quickly began to struggle, and said: “It hurts! Li Chengyuan, sober up, let me go!”

He had originally joked that the big cat might bite his handler if he got annoyed, but who would have thought that he would actually bite after falling ill and going crazy?

Fortunately, as soon as Xia Xingchi struggled, the force that was about to chomp down on his neck suddenly loosened. Li Chengyuan’s low level of rationality made him reluctant to speak again.

Li Chengyuan didn’t say a word, just staring back at Xia Xingchi with a calm and terrifying expression while the other party eyed him warily.

After a long time, he spoke in a low voice with hints of paranoia and obsession: “Need to take you back and lock you in the house forever……make you pay for your lies.”

Coupled with his scary expression on this eerie occasion, it was quite the villainous act.

Xia Xingchi was alarmed. Fearing that he would actually be able to do such a crazy thing, he immediately stood up in fright with thorns all over his body.

Did this person always have so many dangerous thoughts in his mind?

But the biggest problem was, he was just a person sitting at home, whom the pot of blame had fallen on for no reason.

He obviously didn’t remember this behavior at all, so why did he become the “hateful White Moonlight who seeks wealth through murder” out of nowhere, and suddenly have to pay the price?

“No way! You can’t break the law — and I don’t even remember lying to you!”

Li Chengyuan wasn’t listening to his words. After a long silence, his expression suddenly went blank and he muttered to himself: 

“Don’t go……I have money for you now, why don’t you come back……”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback at the sight, and couldn’t help but paint a picture in his mind:

The little scumbag cheated the frail and sick little boy of all his money with sweet words, and when he saw that there was no profit to be made, he left the sick and dying person and walked away.

This mentally disturbed big kitty cat looked so pitiful that Xia Xingchi could practically see his invisible ears drooping due to grievances and sadness, and as a result, he immediately felt a bit of condemnation in his conscience.

Although he couldn’t figure out the situation and guessed that there had been some misunderstanding, Xia Xingchi still couldn’t help but hug Li Chengyuan and touch his head:

“Don’t be like this. I’m back, I’m not leaving. I promised to work for you for the rest of my life.” 

Li Chengyuan remained unmoved and reached out to grab his wrist with a cold expression, not letting go. He still looked quite aggrieved.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi could only slowly repeat the fact that he would not leave or lie to others, so as to appease this big crazy cat who had no sense of security.

After an unknown amount of time, the anxiety and fear in Li Chengyuan’s heart seemed to finally be completely appeased.

Or perhaps it was because his mind was finally clearing up a little that he at last slowly loosened his grip on Xia Xingchi.

Xia Xingchi was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the other party suddenly coughed. He had caught a cold after all.

Li Chengyuan coughed until he was out of breath. Xia Xingchi quickly patted him on the back and asked him softly as if coaxing a child: “It’s too cold at night, shall we go home first?”

After a long while, Li Chengyuan finally stopped coughing and sat there silently.

Then Xia Xingchi hugged him to keep warm like he did when he was a child, hoping he would feel better.

He heard him call him in a low voice: “Xia Xingchi.”

After Xia Xingchi heard this, he carefully discerned the difference and breathed out heavily —

His tone was almost the same as usual, and no more strange things came out of his mouth. Clearly, his sanity had recovered a lot.

But the atmosphere was quiet for half a second before Xia Xingchi promptly blushed with an unprecedented feeling of embarrassment.

When facing a Li Chengyuan who was like a confused child, of course he could hug and comfort him, and gently touch his head……he could even indulge his unhinged kisses.

But at this moment, facing someone who seemed to be a little sober, everything became rather ambiguous and strange.

Xia Xingchi quickly let go of him and jumped up, moving away.

Fortunately, under the cover of night, his thoroughly red face could not be seen.

“Then…..let’s go home, ba?” Xia Xingchi cleared his throat and made a show of indifference.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips, then nodded slightly. It seemed that he was able to communicate.

He had been sitting there for a whole day, and Xia Xingchi feared that his blood sugar would cause him to be dizzy if he stood up too quickly.

Thus, he took out a piece of candy from his pocket and stuffed it into the other’s mouth, waiting for a while before letting him get up slowly.

It stood to reason that this person had already come to his senses, but he hadn’t fully returned to normal, and still held Xia Xingchi’s wrist without letting go.

Li Chengyuan never spoke, nor did he ask any questions about the memory fragments.

Due to being under suspicion for being a scumbag, Xia Xingchi could only let him hold onto him.

Not rushing to leave immediately, Xia Xingchi turned around and earnestly bowed to the photo on the tombstone. Yin Huairou was smiling gently and softly.

He said silently: Your son will be taken care of by me in the future. Don’t worry about him.

If it was true that she could see them from the afterlife, he believed that Yin Huairou might feel guilty and regretful.

She used to love her child so deeply, and never disliked his frail, sick body at all. Instead, there was only worry and distress.

If she hadn’t had a nervous breakdown in the darkness of life, unable to control her twisted madness, maybe she wouldn’t have done such a terrible thing or treated her beloved child so cruelly.

That was why, as an innocent victim, Li Chengyuan had very complicated feelings toward her. Wanting to hate, but unable to do so entirely, and wanting to love but unable to move past a wound that would not heal.

After bowing, Xia Xingchi took the initiative to grab the cold paw of an insecure big cat.

As they walked out of the cemetery, he turned his head slightly to ask: “Boss, did you not eat anything today?”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly, staring straight at the warm hand holding his own, and only after a long moment did he come back to his senses and say, “En.”

“Then I have good news for you!” Xia Xingchi’s tone seemed very light-hearted, obviously hoping to make Li Chengyuan happy:

“I made a lot of money shooting an advertisement today, so I’ve decided to invite you out to dinner!”

As a little money grubber – not only did he cling to money, but he also clung to other people’s money. It was quite rare for Xia Xingchi to take the initiative to treat a guest.

Li Chenyguan then smiled very lightly, knowing that Xia Xingchi was trying to make him happy and let him escape his suffocating depression.

He was silent for a moment before finally speaking: “Xia Xingchi, you just said a lifetime…..can I trust you again?”

As long as this little liar said yes, even if he was deceived several times, he would still be willing to believe it again.

Xia Xingchi froze for a moment, and after thinking of something, his face turned red again.

After a long time, he pretended not to care and whispered: “W-well, that depends on what kind of relationship a lifetime entails. I’ll consider it.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere turned ambiguous, and Xia Xingchi regretted talking about it.

Could it be that his brain was starved for oxygen after being kissed, and he started talking nonsense?

Unexpectedly, his embarrassment and pounding heart only lasted for a moment. In addition to the sound of the night wind rustling the grass and trees, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

— Wait, if Li Chengyuan had been in the west area of the cemetery, who was the person he saw back then?

Xia Xingchi immediately became vigilant. His mind had been full of worry and anxiety just now, and when he saw that figure, he thought he had recognized the wrong person.

But now, after some consideration, how could someone pay respects in the cemetery on such a dark night?

The moment this idea occurred to him, a sense of crisis spontaneously emerged. Xia Xingchi immediately turned his head and said: “Li Chengyuan, I just saw……”

Before he could finish speaking, there was the sound of footsteps rushing forward behind them!

Immediately afterward, the sound of something flying through the air sounded, and before he could react, there was a loud “bang!”

Xia Xingchi realized that the cold fingers he was holding had pulled away, and turned his head to look in horror.

However, it was Li Chengyuan who quickly and violently threw that person to the ground, and then decisively stepped on the opponent’s wrist to dislocate it!

The iron rod in the man’s hand rolled away, and in the silence, there was an alarming sound.

Xia Xingchi reacted extremely quickly, instantly understanding what was going on, and promptly bent down to pick up the iron rod.

As soon as he stood up straight, he heard a disordered rush of footsteps. Clearly, there was more than one person coming!

His heart beat wildly as Xia Xingchi quickly turned around to pull Li Chengyuan up and ran toward the exit of the cemetery.

The other party had obviously come prepared, so there must be enough that the two of them couldn’t handle them.

What’s more, even if he knew that the big villain Li Chengyuan was much stronger than he looked and was capable of fighting, Xia Xingchi didn’t want him to.

After all, even if Li Chengyuan was lightly tapped with a stick, Xia Xingchi’s heart would be terribly distressed. Under these circumstances, how could there be a way to get out of the fight?

Judging from the current situation, the person Xia Xingchi saw just now who looked exactly like Li Chengyuan was probably that wicked bastard Li Shengrui.

The previous poisoning had failed to take him down in one hit. Now he dared to attack again, obviously because he knew that Li Chengyuan would appear here on this special day.

Running down the winding stairs in the west area of the cemetery, they could drive away safely once they rushed out the gate and reached the parking lot outside.

And it wasn’t as easy to stumble on the wide avenue under the stairs, so the group of people chasing after them would naturally be unable to catch up.

Seeing that it was safe to cross this flat path, Li Chengyuan suddenly tugged at Xia Xingchi: “Wait.”

“What is it!”

The people chasing them were very close, and Xia Xingchi was anxious.

“Don’t go down that path, let’s go this way.” After saying this, Li Chengyuan wanted to go deeper into the cemetery.

“But —”

Xia Xingchi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to put his unconditional trust in Li Chengyuan. Although he was puzzled, he followed him and changed direction.

He was wondering why they didn’t go outside when there was an unexpected “boom!” and the sound of a car engine revving!

The harsh noise pierced through the dark, and Xia Xingchi froze at once.

It took a moment to realize that this was the sound of someone violently smashing a car into the gate and breaking it open!

Xia Xingchi’s heart shuddered. If they had just hurriedly left along the flat path, it was obviously not just the gate that would have been hit.

At this time, Li Shengrui, who was watching the scene in the dark from the other side, saw that the fatal blow had missed and immediately gritted his teeth in fury.

Li Chengyuan’s react speed and instincts were terrifyingly fast.

Just by seeing that the opponent was holding an iron rod instead of a deadly knife, he could already deduce Li Shengrui’s true plan — 

If he really dared to commit blatant murder, he would stab him to death in this barren, dilapidated cemetery.

But the ill-intentioned people had come in such numbers and didn’t dare to use knives, so obviously they couldn’t use this method to kill him.

Just like when faking a heart attack using poison, this time was also supposed to look like an accident.

And a car accident was the best option.

Afterwards, there could be countless excuses such as brake failure, sudden impairment of the driver, and so on, to easily evade criminal responsibility.

Li Shengrui became increasingly furious and crazed. This was obviously the last chance, as there would never come a day when the mentally disordered Li Chengyuan would relax his vigilance.

Thinking of his inferiority complex because of his status as an illegitimate child all these years, and watching the always-excellent Li Chengyuan, Li Shengrui had become more and more distorted and hateful.

In addition, the most important thing was the huge inheritance of hundreds of billions —

With this money and assets, he would no longer watch everyone face Li Chengyuan with awe and respect but show indifference and disdain to this illegitimate child.

He gritted his teeth for a moment, and immediately made an even more insane decision.

Li Shengrui held down the button on the communicator and said eerily: “Kill him right here. The money will be increased by five times, and I will deal with the situation afterward.”

. . . . . . 

The terrain in the cemetery was rugged, and Xia Xingchi heard their pursuers’ footsteps getting closer and closer. He had a bad feeling, and then he heard the sound of something cutting through the air again!

Li Chengyuan yanked Xia Xingchi violently to make him dodge this ruthless killing move, and at the same time, his other hand moved like lightning to grip the iron rod. Then he simply raised his hand and hit the opponent hard on the head!

The whole bizarre movement was as fast as drifting clouds and flowing water. There was only a muffled sound of shock, and it was unknown whether the other person’s head was still intact or not.

“They plan to kill me,” Li Chengyuan said in a heavy voice. “Stay away and call the police. I’ll hold them back.”

Xia Xingchi frowned upon hearing this, but he didn’t act out the insipid plot of “I won’t leave, we’ll die together” at such a critical moment.

Although there were ten thousand disagreements in his heart, he turned around obediently and ran away —

This was the only solution to the crisis. He couldn’t foolishly call the police in front of them, otherwise he would become the target and he wouldn’t be able to dial successfully.

Their goal was to kill Li Chengyuan, so they didn’t pursue Xia Xingchi relentlessly.

Xia Xingchi was extremely nervous, and immediately took out his phone as soon as he ran to a temporary hiding spot. His fingers were shaking, and he quickly dialed the emergency number with the shortcut key.

Li Chengyuan swept his eyes across the seven or eight people in the other party.

If not for the fact that he hadn’t fully recovered after his poisoning, he would obviously have the strength to fight, but he knew at this moment that his body was reaching its limit.

Seeing him stop and turn around, everyone hesitated for a moment.

Ordinary people didn’t have such skills, and more importantly, they didn’t possess the ruthlessness to kill on the spot.

Even if it was in legitimate self-defense, killing would haunt a person for many years and be in conflict with their three views, so people would always be a little hesitant subconsciously.

But Li Chengyuan was simply a lunatic, and didn’t hesitate in the slightest when doing it.

The action was so fierce that one had to suspect that if the iron rod in his hand was a long, sharp knife, he would be able to bloodily behead someone on the spot without blinking an eye.

One of them was the first to bite the bullet and rush forward, smashing down viciously with the iron rod!

In the blink of an eye, Li Chengyuan dodged so strangely that the iron rod brushed past his shoulder but didn’t touch him at all.

He was already standing beside his opponent in an instant, and put them solidly on the ground with a skillful horizontal kick.

Then, when the other party roared angrily and tried to get up and pounce on him, an iron rod directly hit the man’s head!

It collided fiercely with his skull, and there was a chilling dull sound, like a skull breaking.

Everyone’s hearts trembled. They never imagined that there was such a person among the rich and extravagant people in their impressions, who should be inactive. What’s more, Li Chengyuan was notoriously in bad health.

After finally breaking out of their surprise, they were about to rush forward together to kill Li Chengyuan when they suddenly heard the voice of Xia Xingchi talking with the police.

The cemetery was silent. Although Xia Xingchi had hidden as far away as possible and lowered his voice, it still clearly echoed in everyone’s ears.

“Fuck! The one who ran away is calling the police?!” One person shouted immediately.

As he spoke, he immediately picked up his rod and followed the sound, leaving the rest of the people to deal with Li Chengyuan as he went to clean up Xia Xingchi.

Li Chengyuan immediately frowned and chased after the man without any reluctance to fight.

When it came to Xia Xingchi’s safety, it was obviously his greatest weakness. His sudden aura of hostility and murderous intent would make people think he was a gangster.

Xia Xingchi tried his best to make his call to the police as detailed as possible. He had just hung up the phone when he turned around to see a vicious man approaching.

Li Chengyuan watched as the man raised the iron bar and slammed it down viciously at Xia Xingchi, who was crouching down to call the police. But he was one step behind and couldn’t catch up, feeling as if his heartbeat was going to stop at once.

But with a “bang!”, the iron rod in the gangster’s hand fell to the ground, and the person staggered for several steps before finally sitting down on the ground —

Xia Xingchi had picked up a brick and thrown it at his face.

After all, Xia Xingchi was quite experienced with hooligans from the bottom rungs of society. Since he was a child, he had also been beaten by people from all walks of life.

When he knelt down to hide and call the police, he didn’t forget to leave a brick at hand that had been used to press down paper money during a memorial service, and use it in self-defense.

Xia Xingchi picked up the brick from the ground, wanting to finish him off.

But even seeing the other party trying to get up to attack, and this was justifiable self-defense, it was really difficult for him to go against his morality and be ruthless.

As he hesitated for half a second over smashing the opponent to death with a brick, Li Chengyuan made the decision for him and swung down with his iron rod.

Those people were not stupid. Seeing that they were not Li Chengyuan’s opponents in a duel, they looked at each other and rushed forward together!

Li Chengyuan immediately kicked the person closest to him to the ground, then pivoted and swung the iron bar in his hand, just barely able to block the whistling attack from behind!

There were already dots of white mist in front of his eyes, and his heart began to throb. His physical strength was obviously exhausted, and he had reached the end of his battle.

As soon as he blocked the rod behind him, he saw another person rushing forward from the left.

At the critical moment when he was at his wit’s end, Xia Xingchi knocked the man down viciously from behind with a brick!

Although Xia Xingchi had hesitated subconsciously to attack ruthlessly, when he saw that the other party was about to hurt Li Chengyuan, he couldn’t care less about other things. He was itching to smash in the opponent’s dog head with this brick.

Li Chengyuan took a deep breath, his heart throbbing more and more.

At this time, he saw a gangster who had originally targeted him change his target to Xia Xingchi, wanting to kill the one sniping from the side first.

Xia Xingchi also felt that something was wrong. He was not made of the material to fight head-on, and the brick was even more of a disadvantage than the long rods.

He made a quick decision and swung his arm with all his strength. The brick flew from his hand, and the criminal closest to him was immediately knocked down!

But at the same time, he saw another black shadow approaching from the side, and the sound of the air splitting hit his ears!

Xia Xingchi suddenly felt a strong intuition and fear of death, but he couldn’t escape.

The moment he gritted his teeth with a numb scalp and was about to be beaten, he was suddenly protected by a familiar embrace!

“Bam!” There was a terrifying loud noise as Li Chengyuan grunted and abruptly caught the devastating blow with his back. There was an unprecedented sharp pain in his heart at this violent impact. His vision went dark, and he couldn’t even breathe for a few seconds.

“Li Chengyuan!” Xia Xingchi was so frightened that his voice almost broke.

He felt the arm that was holding him sink down, and it was obvious that Li Chengyuan had lost his balance and fell on him. After a moment, he managed to stand up on his own.

At the same time he cried out, the earth-shattering sound of sirens far and near pierced the night sky, echoing in this dead and silent cemetery. 

“Fuck!” A gangster promptly cursed, moving to kill them quickly and leave quickly.

The man kicked Xia Xingchi to the ground mercilessly, planning to deal with the easy one first.

Li Chengyuan gritted his teeth, forcing back the rusty taste of blood in his throat. The moment he witnessed this scene, he almost went insane, and with a final burst of strength, he knocked that person down with his iron rod!

Then, moments before another attack, he rushed directly to Xia Xingchi and firmly protected him under his body.

Xia Xingchi heard another dull sound as an iron rod hit Li Chengyuan squarely.

And then a second sound……

Li Chengyuan was in so much pain that he almost passed out, and immediately turned his head to vomit a mouthful of blood. At this time, Xia Xingchi was already bursting into tears.

Li Chengyuan whispered: “Don’t’ cry……it’s okay……”

At this critical moment, there was finally the sound of hurried running followed by a loud roar: 

“Police! Hands up! Don’t move!”

Although with the exorbitant remuneration, “with the promise of a reward, there will always be a brave man,” committing murder in front of the police was obviously courting death, and they might even be killed on the spot.

Several people had no choice but to throw down their weapons and raise their hands one after another.

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan’s tense mind and body finally relaxed.

The severe cramps in his heart almost made him unable to breathe at all.

He breathed hard, grabbed Xia Xingchi’s wrist with all his strength, and said: “Of course my loved one is……”

Xia Xingchi was crying uncontrollably, and was confused by his unfinished sentence.

Then he suddenly realized that Li Chengyuan was continuing the conversation between the two just now —

As lovers, they would be together for a lifetime.

---

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Chapter Forty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Two

T/N: Thanks for the Kofi, Soln2Red! Here’s your double update.

Xia Xingchi pinched the bracelet with his fingers. The slightly childish and clumsy weaving technique and faded red color struck him like a thunderbolt.

The flood of unsealed memories made him involuntarily tremble, and the dream that was silently erased and buried deep in his memory suddenly became clear.

— In the dream, I gave Li Chengyuan a bracelet when I was a child.

Perhaps it would not be surprising if it were simply a dream.

After all, it was possible to come up with any sort of whimsical fantasies in a dream.

Having heard the story of the White Moonlight, he subconsciously weaved a scene and then secretly substituted himself as the White Moonlight because of his sour feelings. This could also be explained.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath. But what explanation could there be for the things in the dream to appear in reality? Li Chengyuan actually had a red string bracelet that he wove?!

His whole world was a chaotic mess. Xia Xingchi had no time to think before another memory fragment emerged in his mind.

Following the red string all the way to the source, more trivial memories that hadn’t been in the dream appeared —

The rain was followed by cloudless sunny weather, but the temperature dropped even lower.

The old, dilapidated factory building was ventilated on all sides, and the cold wind penetrated through every opening.

Little Xia Xingchi took off his coat and covered Li Chengyuan, but Li Chengyuan still shivered uncontrollably from the cold. His lips were pale, and his dark amber eyes were dull and unfocused.

“……Put on your clothes,” Li Chengyuan said with difficulty, his voice weak. “Leave me alone.”

Xia Xingchi reached out his small hands to warm the other party’s cold ones: “It’s okay, I’m not cold. I’m afraid you’ll vomit blood again if you catch a cold.”

After observing him for a period of time, Xia Xingchi found that this frail and sickly porcelain doll could not even drink cold water.

After drinking a sip of cool room temperature water, his stomach would hurt, his face would turn pale, and his uncontrollable vomiting was sometimes even mixed with light red blood.

But the conditions here were limited, and there was no hot water to be found. Xia Xingchi had no choice but to hold the plastic bottle in his arms to warm it up a little, and then give him a drink.

Li Chengyuan knew that he had developed a high fever. Even though Xia Xingchi had given him his clothes, he was still shivering from the cold.

He didn’t want to drag Xia Xingchi down by having a cold.

Unexpectedly, the little money-grubber thought for a while and then continued to take off his clothes.

Li Chengyuan immediately frowned and scolded: “Don’t mess around! Put on your clothes……cough cough.”

“Maybe it won’t be so cold if we hug each other.”

Xia Xingchi continued to strip, then went to Li Chengyuan’s side and hugged him, saying seriously: “I’ve seen two stray cats huddling together to keep warm!”

Li Chengyuan coughed so heavily that his lungs hurt, and there was a faint taste of blood in his mouth.

He covered his lips with one hand and felt a heat on his palm. He had probably coughed up blood, but he closed his fist and withdrew his hand calmly, so as not to scare this little money-grubber again.

When he finally stopped coughing, Li Chengyuan’s voice was low and hoarse. There was none of the childishness he should have at this age in his tone, only lifelessness: 

“Xia Xingchi……don’t you hate me being sick all the time? Leave me alone and let me fend for myself.”

Taken aback by these words, Xia Xingchi immediately replied: “Of course not! You’re sick and uncomfortable, and I just want to make you happy. I’ll take good care of you!”

Li Chengyuan gave a cold sneer: “Everyone loses patience over time…..I’m a burden.”

If there was anything more terrifying than the image of his mother hanging herself, it was being tormented day and night by dreams of a ferocious corpse hanging in the air, its long tongue drooping out as it screamed: “I was driven to my death by you! You’re a disappointment! It’s you who killed me!”

Li Chengyuan had been weak since he was a child, and almost died of a high fever several times when he was still learning to walk.

His mother feared that his breathing would suddenly stop, and sometimes didn’t even dare to sleep at night. She held his little self in her arms and kept an eye on his condition, patiently coaxing him to take medicine and studying recipes to cook for him.

Her hard work and maternal love were obvious to all.

Yin Huairou, a loving mother who lived up to her name, was eternally gentle and meticulous. A loving mother who worked hard and bore no complaints, she would gradually become hot-tempered and terrifying, as if she was a completely different person.

When Li Chengyuan was feeling unwell and couldn’t finish his food, Yin Huairou would pick up the bowl and smash it on the ground or even on his body, screaming hysterically.

In addition, when he was nauseated and vomited due to the bitter medicine, she would force-feed him bowl after bowl, pouring another every time he vomited until her purpose of getting the medicine into him was achieved.

Such was the case that when Li Chengyuan had a stomach bleed and vomited blood for the first time, although he was young and fearful of the unknown, he didn’t dare to tell Yin Huairou or let anyone know.

Alone, he silently endured the severe stomach pain with gritted teeth and didn’t say a word, suspecting he was about to die. The torturous suffering didn’t end until he fainted due to excessive blood loss.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes. On that rainy night when Yin Huairou committed suicide, which was forever engraved in his mind, he had suddenly developed a high fever like this.

He had shivered from the cold in his sleep, his bones aching. Although he didn’t realize he had a fever, he instinctively gritted his teeth and kept silent to prevent others from knowing that he was sick.

In a drowsy state of illness, he was suddenly pulled up from the bed by his collar, and a loud slap landed viciously on his face!

The weak Li Chengyuan was slapped so hard that he unexpectedly fainted on the spot, only to be woken up by the following more severe slap.

He opened his eyes to the sight of Yin Huairou’s expression of hatred and fuming rage.

She was still wearing a white nightgown. To the young Li Chengyuan, when his mother held him in her arms, the faint fragrance and warmth of this nightgown were like a lighthouse and a safe haven, a symbol of tenderness and peace of mind.

But now she just looked like a malicious ghost.

Yin Huairou said word by word, coldly and full of loathing: “You. Have. A. Fever.”

Under the high fever and drowsiness, Li Chengyuan could barely feel the burning pain in his swollen cheeks from being slapped.

He was suddenly overwhelmed by the fear and self-loathing of being sick again, and didn’t know why she had appeared in his room in the middle of the night.

At this moment, Yin Huairou began to cry and scream, throwing things around the room hysterically.

And everyone in the villa had long been used to her madness, so they were not surprised and didn’t bother to check on what was happening.

Li Chengyuan tried to get up, but suddenly had a severe headache.

The high fever caused a sudden onset of his unexplainable dizziness, and he fell back on the bed weakly, unable to move at all.

When the vertigo happened this time, his consciousness happened to be awake, and his eyes were even open.

Yin Huairou wept and howled: “It’s all your fault! It’s because you’re not good enough! Her son is so healthy, why are you like this!”

“It’s not my fault….not me, I have a clear conscience! Why are you doing this to me?”

“It’s because of you that he will have children with other women, it must be because he doesn’t like you!”

Yin Huairou suddenly laughed as she spoke, horrifically and mournfully.

Lightning and thunder flashed in the dark night as rain hit the window panes. Li Chengyuan’s vision spun. Unable to move, he could only silently watch as she went mad.

Then, he watched as she took out the rope she had prepared long ago and hung it on the solid decorative pendant on the ceiling of his room.

Although Li Chengyuan was still young at the time, he still vaguely knew what she was going to do, so he gritted his teeth and tried to get up to stop her.

But his useless, garbage body was still extremely dizzy. He had a splitting headache and couldn’t move at all or even speak – only his eyes could see clearly.

Her despair, her madness, her hideous death.

Watching the mother who was once gentle and loving become a lunatic, and then a corpse, he stared at her for the whole night.

In the dilapidated factory building, Xia Xingchi stretched out his short arms and hugged Li Chengyuan tightly, hoping that his body temperature would drop soon.

He seemed to be delirious from fever, and the little porcelain doll who was always quiet actually talked so much intermittently.

Maybe it was because he had no one to confide in, and when the pain overwhelmed the defenses of his reason, he could finally do whatever he wanted.

Xia Xingchi silently listened to him. As a child with no relatives and no friends, this was the first time he felt so distressed for someone.

Xia Xingchi said earnestly: “Although you don’t want to call me Xiao Xia-gege, I will never hold that against you. If you are sick, I am willing to take care of you anytime, anywhere, I promise!”

After saying so, Xia Xingchi thought for a while. He really couldn’t figure out how a mother could go to her son’s room to commit suicide.

After all, the mothers he watched enviously on the street loved their children very much. Even if they didn’t love them, there was no need for such tragedy and bloodshed.

After some thought, he carefully poked Li Chengyuan’s white cheeks that seemed to be almost transparent: 

“You did nothing wrong. Your mother’s head might have been temporarily sick, like the uncle in our orphanage, so she seemed like a different person.”

“She definitely didn’t mean to blame you, so stop blaming yourself.”

Li Chengyuan shook his head indifferently and said in a calm, hoarse voice: “It’s my fault she hated me.”

“If I could be healthy……if I could get up and grab her, if I could call someone over……why am I not dead yet?”

. . . . . .

When Xia Xingchi regained his senses, he saw that he was still standing in the empty study, and the memory fragments in his mind became extremely clear.

He suddenly knew why Li Chengyuan awfully and indifferently chewed through a whole board of antipyretics when he went crazy that day.

Because this memory ended with the young Li Chengyuan suddenly going crazy in Xia Xingchi’s arms —

He was so afraid of getting sick that he lost his mind.

This idea had been imprinted in his heart, like a maggot attached to the bone, like a shadow.

Like a madman, Li Chengyuan deceived himself and others in various ways, swallowing numerous painkillers and antipyretics to brutally mask the guilt, despair, and powerlessness deep in his heart.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath, and there was suddenly filled with immense distress.

His thoughts were in chaos, and his memories related to Li Chengyuan were still incomplete.

He couldn’t figure out how such a clear, true memory could suddenly appear when he hadn’t felt like he was missing any, but the red string bracelet was the best proof that this wasn’t all a fantasy.

So where did Li Chengyuan go?

Although the memories stretched time infinitely, only a moment had actually passed.

Aunt Li came up from downstairs and finally said what she had wanted to say:

“Young Master, today is the anniversary of the lady’s death. It’s so late and Sir hasn’t come back. I’m worried…..”

Xia Xingchi’s eyes widened when he heard this, and the instant the words “anniversary of death” hit him, there was a loud boom! in his head.

He didn’t know how Li Chengyuan felt about his mother, but he seemed to have an intuition telling him that Li Chengyuan would easily fall ill and go crazy near this time.

“I’m going to find him!” Xia Xingchi said urgently, “Where did he go?”

Aunt Li shook her head. She had never dared to ask during these years. No matter how indifferent and tolerant Li Chengyuan was toward his servants, she still couldn’t touch his inverse scale.

Xia Xingchi frowned, and had no choice but to run down the stairs while making a phone call. He grabbed a car key as the phone connected.

“Doctor Zhao, do you know where Li Chengyuan has gone?”

On the other end, Zhao Yelan froze for a moment, and then asked: “He hasn’t come back yet?”

After receiving Xia Xingchi’s affirmative reply, Zhao Yinhe remained silent, as if hesitating over whether to tell him the address.

This matter was indeed one of Li Chengyuan’s inverse scales. Even though he and Zhao Yinhe were best friends since childhood, he never dared to test this bottom line.

Xia Xingchi started the car and drove out of the garage while pressing: “Hurry up, ah, where did he go!”

Among the memory fragments, Li Chengyuan’s appearance when he fell ill and went mad as a child was far more terrifying than what he had seen last night.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t stop himself from trembling, fearing that something would happen to him if no one was looking after him.

The flood of memories left Xia Xingchi at a loss. There were so many questions he wanted to ask him about those years.

At the same time, if not for the fact that this was not a time for happiness, Xia Xingchi might have been overwhelmed by the ecstasy of  “I might really be his White Moonlight.”

“I won’t let him know you said anything. Tell me!” Xia Xingchi urged while turning on the hands-free phone and stepping on the accelerator.

Zhao Yinhe was also naturally worried about his friend, so after hesitating for a long time, he had to truthfully say: “He’s probably at Aunt Yin’s grave…..don’t worry, he usually just sits and looks at it. Nothing will happen.”

When he was sick and acting abnormally, he might hurt himself.

Zhao Yinhe didn’t know that Xia Xingchi’s “red string bracelet” had reminded Li Chengyuan of those things again, and only knew that as long as the other deliberately didn’t let himself think of it, he usually wouldn’t lose his mind.

. . . . . .

Following Zhao Yinhe’s directions, Xia Xingchi finally located the cemetery.

Yin Huairou was not buried with the Li family, but was hastily interred in this remote and somewhat ramshackle cemetery by her disgusting cheating husband.

Thinking that this was to make room for the mistress and let the wife who had been pushed to madness end up in such a miserable place, Xia Xingchi felt disgusted and wanted to slap that man.

It was a pity that the old clapper died early, otherwise Xia Xingchi would have rushed up and given him a piece of his mind.

It was completely dark, and the remote and desolate cemetery on the outskirts of the city was inaccessible. Even the street lights were not up to standards, and were extremely dim, making it difficult to see the road clearly.

Xia Xingchi got out of the car. Before his eyes could adapt to the dim environment, a chilly breeze suddenly blew past his face.

But he couldn’t bother to imagine ghost stories to scare himself. When he thought about how his surroundings were so cold, he immediately became very worried that Li Chengyuan would fall ill.

Xia Xingchi held a coat for Li Chengyuan in his hands and wanted to find him quickly. Firstly because he feared he would freeze, and more importantly because he was afraid he would get sick and lost his mind.

No matter how tough and rational the character, human beings were unable to hold up under huge mental trauma and physical instinct. This was not something that Li Chengyuan could control.

Xia Xingchi clenched his fists and became continuously more distressed the more he thought about it. He just wanted to find him as soon as possible.

. . . . . .

As soon as he stepped through the cemetery gates, Xia Xingchi was about to climb up the stairs when he saw a figure suddenly flash past.

In the darkness, the man looked very familiar as he turned at the stop of the stairs in the eastern part of the cemetery.

When Xia Xingchi opened his mouth and called, “Li Chengyuan,” the other party had already disappeared from sight.

Xia Xingchi hurriedly picked up his feet to chase him, but after running two steps, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

In his lurking memories, he seemed to have been here before, and Li Chengyuan’s mother’s tomb seemed to be on the west side?

However, the person just now seemed to be Li Chengyuan……?

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but hesitate, not sure whether he believed his dark, blurred vision or the mysterious and baseless memories.

After hesitating for two seconds, he still believed the latter.

His intuition told him that Li Chengyuan would not be wandering around the cemetery at this time, and hadn’t stopped when he called him. Maybe he had recognized the wrong person.

Xia Xingchi turned and climbed the stairs. His eyes finally became accustomed to the darkness, and he was able to see clearly.

This suburban cemetery lacked management and maintenance, and was rather disorganized. Xia Xingchi stumbled as he walked.

Nobody knew what complicated feelings Li Cheyngyuan had, or what he thought of this tomb and the person inside it.

He had never moved her grave to a place with a better environment, and everything here was a reminder of the powerlessness and pain of the past. 

After turning around and seeing no one, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but suspect that the figure just now had been Li Chengyuan.

Just as he was about to go to the east side to look for him again, he suddenly saw a vague figure not far away. They were sitting motionless at the side of a tombstone, blending in well, and he almost didn’t see it.

At this sight, Xia Xingchi hurriedly strode forward, and when he got closer, it turned out to be Li Chengyuan.

There was no mourning or sadness on his face as he sat there very calmly.

His whole person seemed quite indifferent, even a little…..well-behaved.

But it was this state that worried Xia Xingchi even more.

Xia Xingchi took off his coat, the same as Li Chengyuan had done at the fashion soiree, and put the warm coat on him before donning the one in his hands.

Li Chengyuan’s eyes were a little dazed, but fortunately, he wasn’t that desperate and crazy little lunatic that Xia Xingchi remembered when he was a child.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath, and said as firmly and earnestly as before: 

“Li Chengyuan, it was not your fault. Not even a little bit.”

Li Chengyuan turned his head slowly, and eyes like a silent old well looked at him quietly.

This time, Xia Xingchi was not afraid, nor did he avoid the villain’s gaze. He looked directly at him, holding Li Chengyuan’s face as if he had done so countless times: 

“You have to understand, a cheater is a scumbag and an idiot. There is no excuse to make, and it had nothing to do with whether you were sick or not.”

“What’s more, Li Shengrui is older than you. How can such a smart person like you not understand such a thing?”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips, as if he had something to say.

Xia Xingchi knew that what he couldn’t let go of was not only his mother’s groundless accusations after becoming depressed and twisted, but also his helplessness as he watched her die in front of him.

“Everyone says that death is like a lamp going out, so why can’t you let yourself off? These things are over.”

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and pressed a light, unambiguous kiss onto Li Chengyuan’s forehead: 

“Let’s go home, ba. It’s too cold, you might get sick…..and I have something to ask you – can I still get paid for braiding your bracelet?”

Li Chengyuan finally reacted when he heard these words, his eyes lighting up with sudden focus.

Xia Xingchi was relieved to see that he could still communicate.

He thought that maybe he wasn’t sick after all, that Zhao Yinhe was right and he might really just be sitting here.

Xia Xingchi was reaching out to pull the big introverted cat up, but Li Chengyuan suddenly yanked him down!

Unsteady on his feet, Xia Xingchi immediately fell into his arms, where he was held down firmly.

He gripped Xia Xingchi’s wrists painfully, gritting his teeth as he said angrily: 

“Didn’t you leave? Didn’t you completely disappear?!”

“Little liar, you finally know to come back……” Li Chengyuan’s voice was a little hoarse, and he said in a whisper, “Do you also think that I’m a burden and don’t want me anymore?”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback. For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether the other was sober or confused, and vaguely felt that Li Chengyuan’s mind wasn’t right.

Just as he was thinking, there was a sharp pain in his neck as Li Chengyuan bit down vengefully!

“Li Chengyuan!”

Xia Xingchi gasped at the raw pain of being bitten by him. This time, he no longer doubted his mental state. A normal person obviously wouldn’t do such a thing.

Xia Xingchi now only wondered if he would be bitten to the point of bleeding: “You wake up quickly, don’t do that, ah!”

The tension on his neck suddenly loosened, and before Xia Xingchi could heave a sigh of relief, there was a sudden heat on his lips.

He was so dazed that Li Chengyuan directly pried his teeth open and marched straight in unchallenged.

The kiss was intense and wild, but didn’t contain much lust.

While lips and teeth intermingled, Xia Xingchi seemed to clearly feel his emotions —

Madness, terror and anxiety, desperation to take possession and to own……

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Chapter Thirty-Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-One

Cheng Suyue had originally wanted to go to Baihe City, and went there according to orders. The emperor may have thought that his younger brother was surrounded by bachelors in the military camp, which was not conducive to promoting a good marriage, so he specially ordered her to help. At least a few words could be exchanged between girls, right?

As a result, as soon as she arrived at Fuhu Mountain, she met this group of fools.

At that time, Cheng-guniang thought that it would be fine to get herself kidnapped and just light a fire to burn down the old nest, so that she could get rid of a hindrance for the people. Who knew that as soon as she entered the mountain cottage, she would first see a big golden redwood box. The lock was made of jade, which was inlaid with an exquisite gold-threaded lotus flower. No matter how she looked at it, it appeared to be the batch of supplies escorted by Tan-daren more than ten years ago.

Going further inside, she found that the bandit who was in charge of guarding her was dressed in rags, but his saber was not a tawdry product. Even though the gems on the scabbard had been picked to pieces, it could be seen that it was a masterwork. So Cheng Suyue talked in a delicate voice. The other party may have never seen many beautiful girls in his life, and immediately told her the story of the blade in a daze.

The group of bandits had been operating in the southeast of Dacang Mountain. Because of the family’s wealth, they didn’t do much except eat, drink, and gamble all day long. They played until there was no money left in the treasury, setting an example for what it meant to idle one’s family fortune away.

And when the money was gone, conflicts would arise. The large group of people eyed one another with distaste and ultimately separated amidst turmoil. Jiang Gui also led his men to grab a batch of property, chose Fuhu Mountain out of all available choices, and traveled all the way north to prepare to reign supreme again.

Cheng Suyue asked: “Is this sword the last thing you snatched?”

The guard nodded: “In the end, there was nothing valuable left in the warehouse, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Where did the property in the warehouse come from?”

“It was also robbed ten years ago, and I didn’t see it with my own eyes. It is said that someone robbed a high-ranking official, tsk.”

When Cheng Suyue heard this, she didn’t dare to take it lightly, and immediately wrote that letter and sent it to Baihe City.

“Robbed a high official.” Liang Shu sat on the tiger skin chair, staring at the bandit leader shaking like chaff on the ground. “Which high official?”

Jiang Gui braced himself and replied: “Yes, it was an official surnamed Tan. He seemed to be going somewhere to provide disaster relief.”

As soon as these words were spoken, his face burned with pain. There was a buzzing sound in his ears and a fishy heat flowed down from his nose, as if his brain had been blown out by this sharp blast of wind from a palm.

“At that time, there was a famine in the Baijiang area, and the people fought desperately for roots and bark to eat. The Imperial Court worked very hard to collect the relief supplies.” Liang Shu’s eyes were cold, his words like knives. “The lives of thousands of disaster victims, the lives of reinforcements, and the lives of Tan-daren’s entire family – you stole them all.”

“No, no, no, I didn’t steal them,” Jiang Gui defended in a panic. “I was only doing odd jobs at the time. The things were stolen by Feng Xiaojin and the Village Head together. Feng Xiaojin seemed to have a bloody feud with that high official. Not only did he steal the money, but he even went to Wangcheng to kill people!”

The Imperial Court had pursued the unsolved case for more than ten years, and just like that, the clues were shouted out. Gao Lin asked: “Who is Feng Xiaojin?”

“He is the adopted son of the Village Head. Although he was only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time, he was already a first-class master and was highly regarded. This person usually talked very little. He was the silent type and never made friends, and he disappeared completely not long after he stole the batch of money.”

A few months later, news came from Wangcheng that Feng Xiaojin had killed the whole family of a senior official and there was a reward offered for his arrest. Since then, alive or dead, no one had seen him again.

Gao Lin continued to ask: “Where are all the participants in the robbery back then?”

“The Village Head died of illness a long time ago, and the rest of the family also separated and left during the internal strife two years ago,” Jiang Gui recalled haltingly. In the middle, he inadvertently raised his head and met Liang Shu’s eyes. He was frightened again and instantly sped up his speech, “But there is one person who must be named: He Rao. She originally served the Village Head for many years, and knew a lot of inside information. Now she has changed her identity and married the Chief Escort of the Wanli Escort Bureau. She came to us a while ago and paid a lot of money to buy the lives of two people.”

“Have you carried it out yet?”

Jiang Gui trembled instinctively: “No……no, that person is very skillful, and we failed to succeed.”

He Rao was cruel by nature and greedy for money. After the Village Head died of illness, she also packed her belongings and went north alone, disappearing like Feng Xiaojin. At that time, bandits were rampant in the southeast area, and Jiang Gui always thought she was dead. It wasn’t until He Rao took the initiative to find him a while ago that he realized that the tricky little maidservant had transformed herself into the mistress of the Wanli Escort Bureau.

Liu Xian’an stood to the side, listening indifferently. He was not interested in this old case, and his thoughts had already flown halfway to the sky. It wasn’t until the word “plague” drifted into his ears that he drew his attention back out of instinct due to living in a family of doctors.

Gao Lin frowned: “Plague?”

“Yes.” Jiang Gui suggested subserviently, with the mentality of atoning for his crimes through meritorious service, “If the prince wants to go to the Wanli Escort Bureau to take her, he must go through Chixia City according to the general route, but there was a famine a while ago and many people died of starvation. Later, when the weather became hot, rats and plague appeared and the city became even more chaotic. You must not go there, you need to go around to Qingyun City first and then take the waterway. This is the safest and most secure route.”

Gao Lin and Cheng Suyue exchanged glances. Chixia City was located in the middle reaches of the Baijiang River, so it was indeed vulnerable to floods. But at the beginning of the year, the Imperial Court had already allocated a large amount of food, and it stood to reason that there should not be “many people starved to death.” What’s more, the governor of Chixia City had just published an official memorial to the emperor, eloquently boasting that the county prospered and the people were at peace, without mentioning a word of famine or plague from beginning to end. He was beaten down by the emperor on the grounds of “do more things if you have free time and stop talking nonsense,” and it became a joke in the court.

But although they laughed, they still bore him goodwill. After all, who didn’t like prosperity and peace?

Liang Shu asked: “What is the name of the official in Chixia City?”

Gao Lin replied: “Shi Hanhai. He is in his forties, and before this, I always thought he was a mediocre fool with no achievements.”

Now it seemed that he had been underestimated as an idiot who couldn’t do anything to deceive the emperor – he was at least a daring idiot.

Liang Shu looked to his side again.

Liu Xian’an said: “In Chang’an City near Chixia City, there is a medical hall opened by Bahe Mountain Village. There are at least two hundred disciples there. If necessary, the prince can send for them at will.”

As for whether he should go with him or not, as usual, Second Young Master Liu gave it no thought. Because one person more or one person less would not have any major impact on the plague in Chixia City. Since going or not going amounted to the same, it didn’t matter where he ended up.

However, considering that the mission of this trip was incomplete, Liu Xian’an followed Liang Shu in the end and embarked on the road to Chixia City.

A-Ning was confused at first, not knowing why they suppressed bandits and then wanted to go to Chixia City. But later, when he heard that the prince was going to investigate famine and plague, his attitude immediately became serious. First, he wrote down the entire incident and sent it to Baihe Mountain Village, then he wrote down all the cities they would pass along the way and which medicine could be purchased where. He gave this to Cheng Suyue and carefully instructed her two or three times to be sure to buy them in batches by city.

The guard next to him didn’t understand: “It’s so troublesome, why can’t we buy them all in the same place?”

Cheng Suyue said: “Firstly, it is not easy to store. Secondly, if we buy out all the pharmacies in a city, what will the local people do if they become sick?” After saying this, she turned to A-Ning and said, “Don’t worry, little brother, I will purchase it according to what you wrote.”

A-Ning nodded, took a few bottles of prepared cooling medicinal oil from his sleeve, and gave them to Cheng Suyue before turning to run back to the carriage. He was thin and small, and his face was tender, but when talking about medicinal materials, he was neither humble nor overbearing. Clear and logical, he predicted all possible situations in the event of a plague. Baihe Mountain Village was truly an impressive place.

At this thought, Cheng Suyue couldn’t help but glance at the carriage again. The curtain was still hanging down. Over the past few days, she rarely saw Liu Xian’an out for a stroll. To be honest, this was the first time in her life that Cheng-guniang saw such a man who was not afraid of being shut indoors or sitting. So she turned her horse’s head to search for Gao Lin, and asked in a low voice: “Ge, why doesn’t Second Young Master Liu have dinner with us?”

“Why do you care?” Gao Lin warned her vigilantly, “He is the one in the princess’s eyes, so don’t make trouble.”

“Aiya, I’m not making trouble, I’m just curious.” Cheng Suyue bumped him with her elbow, “Ge, you said that Second Young Master Liu is so good-looking that his younger sister must be as beautiful as a fairy. Our prince actually looks down on her?”

When this matter was mentioned, Lieutenant General Gao immediately remembered Miss Liu’s grand, powerful, and resonating plan of jumping into the lake, and then he began to have a toothache, a headache, and pain all over his body: “That’s enough, don’t worry about things you shouldn’t care about. This trip is for the plague of Chixia City and the Wanli Escort Bureau, isn’t that enough for you and me?”

Cheng Suyue let out an “oh,” and temporarily put away her curiosity. She knew Tan-daren’s position in the prince’s heart. He was half a teacher to him when he was a child, and she heard that one month before the tragedy, he was still eating and drinking with a few young masters in Tan Manor. They made an appointment to go to the hunting grounds to practice archery together when the pear blossoms on the mountains piled up like snow. Who would have thought that it would not take long to hear news of the entire Tan family’s deaths and the long, blood-stained street.

At that time, the entire Imperial City was in an uproar. All kinds of rumors were raging, and some even said that the hand behind the scene was the emperor’s, and that the Tan family members had turned into wandering ghosts. The people panicked, wishing they could stick evil spirit charms on themselves from head to toe. The originally splendid, bustling capital seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds in an instant.

And Liang Shu was also caught in this heavy and persistent black shadow. He was not yet ten years old at the time, and had never experienced the death of a relative or friend before. At first, when he heard that Tan-daren was going to be thrown in the sky prison, he was already very anxious. Little did he know that a more tragic reality was still to come. On the day of the funeral, the dark coffins were carried out of the Tan Manor one by one, but there was not a single person crying.

Liang Shu was only allowed to climb the city wall and watch from a distance as Tan-daren and his playmates made their final journey. When the funeral procession left the city, a gust of wind happened to blow away the stack of paper money he was holding.

Fluttering like a pear blossom snow in spring.

. . . . . .

After receiving news from A-Ning, Baihe Mountain Village quickly replied to the letter. In addition to asking them to obey His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s arrangements, they also sent many silver notes to facilitate the purchase of medicinal materials along the way.

In addition, Liu Fushu did not forget to send his son a separate thick exhortation, telling him that it was fine for him to be lazy and doze off on normal days, but plague and rats were nothing to scoff at. As a person of Baihe Mountain Village, even if he had no medical skills, he should help as much as possible.

When he received this letter from home, Liu Xian’an was sorting the newly bought medical herbs under the scorching sun, and his whole body was about to melt from the heat. He felt that his father would not be able to tell the difference between “I don’t want to do it because I’m lazy” and “I don’t need to do it because it’s unnecessary,” so he didn’t make any excuses. He only answered with a big, concise “Okay,” which achieved the inverse effect that the moment his father opened the letter, he was so angry that the qi and blood flowed to his brain and he almost passed on.

This night, they slept in the forest again.

Running around for days made everyone exhausted, especially Liu Xian’an. He had never been on such a wild journey since he was born. There was no place where the shoulders, neck, waist, and legs were not sore, but the soreness was just right, and he could use it to practice the cupping acupuncture technique.

“Young Master!” A-Ning screamed, having been scalded by the moxibustion.^[1]

“Don’t move!” Liu Xian’an held him down with a smile.

Beside the fire on the other side, Lian Shu was wearing a big cloak. To others, it looked like he was closing his eyes to meditate, but Gao Lin noticed at a glance that his hand was tightly pressed to his heart, so he stepped forward to express concern: “Prince, another old injury?”

“It’s fine.” Liang Shu frowned slightly and let out a soft breath. “I can make it through.”

“……Why don’t I invite Second Young Master Liu to come over and have a look?” Gao Lin suggested. “Seeing that he was a good hand when he detoxified Chang Xiaoqiu earlier, maybe he can also heal this injury.”

Liang Shu opened his eyes and looked across.

Liu Xian’an was presently half-loosening his clothes, and asked A-Ning to help use moxibustion on his arm. It may be because he was idle all year round and didn’t move much, so his skin was very white. It was the kind of fine white that could not be found among all the rough men in the Northeast Military Camp. The two thin shoulder blades were wrapped in the inner shirt, seeming as if they would shatter if squeezed hard.

Cheng Suyue was also peeping, and was heartbroken when Gao Lin blocked her line of sight. He stretched out a hand to twist her head to the side and reprimanded: “You are a girl, what are you doing staring at a half-dressed man!”

Cheng Suyue didn’t think it was a big deal: “It’s not like I haven’t seen a man without clothes before.”

Gao Lin glared at her: “Changing a wounded soldier’s dressings is the same as this?”

Cheng Suyue’s lips curled: “What’s the difference? Men don’t all grow–”

“Grandma!” Gao Lin covered his mouth, his brain shocked to bursting. “Don’t worry about what the man looks like, just stay here and take care of the prince, and I’ll invite Second Young Master Liu.”

Liu Xian’an tidied up his clothes, and after listening to Gao Lin’s explanation of his intentions, he felt a little embarrassed, because he was really not good at this. Of course Gao Lin was aware, but when he saw a doctor, he just wanted to ask a few more questions. Anway, his prince’s injury had been delayed for many years, and it was not an urgent or fatal problem. There was no harm in having a few more people take a look.

Hearing what he said, Liu Xian’an had no choice but to go along with him. Liang Shu also cooperated, extending his wrist so that the other party could check his pulse. Liu Xian’an placed two fingers on it and felt it for a long time, but didn’t notice any movement.

Frowning, he changed positions again.

He still couldn’t feel a pulse.

Liang Shu used his internal strength to suppress his pulse, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at him indolently: “How is it?”

Liu Xian’an was in disbelief. He raised his head and glanced at Liang Shu. Seeing that his expression was not abnormal, it was even more puzzling. How could there be a living person in the world without a pulse?

Not bothering to answer, Liu Xian’an removed his fingers, crouched down, and took half a step forward. He grasped Liang Shu’s arms with both hands and leaned sideways to place his ear against the other’s chest.

Both Gao Lin and Cheng Suyue were shocked. How could there be such an embrace during a visit with a doctor?

Liang Shu glanced down slightly from the corner of his eye, but didn’t move.

At the same time, he also hid his heartbeat.

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[1] Moxibustion is an ancient Chinese medical technique where the acupuncture point is stimulated by burned mugwort. ⮐

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Chapter Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eight

According to the escorts’ statements, they expected that Chang Xiaohan’s internal strength would be damaged after being fumed all the way by the red goose vine, and He Rao had arranged for killers in Fuhu Mountain to attack him twice. Was she afraid that they would be unable to subdue him?

As a result, there was no surrender.

On that day, as soon as the escorts arrived at Fuhu Mountain, they found an excuse to fetch water and left Chang Xiaohan and Chang Xiaoqiu alone. They first pretended to circle around the stream and then snuck back along a small path, expecting to see two corpses. But they happened to witness Chang Xiaohan dragging along a bloodied Chang Xiaoqiu as he rushed down the hillside, killing the last three bandits with one sword.

Heads flew into the air in a mist of blood, and the escorts’ legs became weak in horror. Only then did they realize that Chang Xiaohan was not affected by the poisonous fumes at all. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to realize that there were traitors in the team, telling everyone to pack up and leave quickly. So the escorts took advantage of the situation to conceal the truth and planned to find new opportunities along the way.

They continued adding poison to Chang Xiaoqiu’s wound medicine, calculating that he would die on the eve of arriving at Baihe Mountain Village. As for how to deal with Chang Xiaohan, because they mostly stayed in the forest at night while on the road, they couldn’t find any chance to continue poisoning him, and were not sure they could win a head-to-head battle, so they decided to bide their time for now – it was only that they didn’t expect Liu Xian’an to say that the wound medicine was poisoned. Seeing that their evil deeds were about to be exposed, in order to protect themselves, they had no choice but to take a risk.

“So they don’t know anything about the situation in Fuhu Mountain.” Liang Shu took a wet handkerchief from a guard. His eyes lowered slightly as he slowly wiped his palms. “Now that they have no use, clean them up. As for He-furen from the Wanli Escort Bureau, if she had a pearl in her hand, she may have other good things, so keep an eye on her and don’t allow her to flee.”

Gao Lin nodded, and probed again: “Those pearls are really rare. According to what the prince saw, could they be related to the unsolved case of the previous dynasty?”

“That is why I told you to keep an eye on her.” Liang Shu rubbed his sore neck. “Rest, we’ll get up early and go on our way.”

Gao Lin beckoned to five guards, and dragged the group of escorts, still struggling and screaming, into the depths of the mountain. Sharp blades unsheathed together gleamed with cold light, and in just a moment, all sounds vanished.

Eyes rolling back, the single lucky one who was left alive fainted under a tree. But senseless or not, it didn’t take long for two guards to tie him up and throw him on a horse, galloping all the way to the Wanli Escort Bureau.

A-Ning quietly wrapped himself up tight in a blanket. Although he was used to seeing life and death in Baihe Mountain Village, there was still a huge difference between someone dying of illness and killing someone with a knife. As for Liu Xian’an beside him, as always, he remained unresponsive. There was no telling whether he was indifferent to this kind of deathly scene, or if he was simply wandering the spiritual realm.

So passed the night. In the early morning of the next day, the guards began to move with a rustle. Liu Xian’an yawned, and stood up to stretch his muscles and bones a few times. His eyes were still closed, and he only managed to open them a small slit to identify the direction of the carriage, then “floated” over with one kick.

It was impossible to sleep well in the wild forest by a bright fire, so he was truly sleepy at this time, so sleepy that he crawled into the carriage with his hands and feet. As soon as the curtain was lifted, he slanted toward the corner where he usually sat, but instead of leaning into the comfortable cotton cushion, he sat straight in the firm arms of His Royal Highness.

“Hiss!” Liu Xian’an stood up in shock, but in his inattention, his head hit the roof with a bang. The buzzing sounded in his ears for a long time, making him even more dizzy.

A-Ning stood outside the carriage and gave a quiet sigh, deeply puzzled as to why the prince always ran inside. If he really loved riding in carriages so much, why didn’t Lieutenant General Gao prepare one in advance? His young master’s carriage was not spacious, and the prince was so tall, wasn’t it crowded to sit in there?

Taking into consideration that everyone still had to travel together for many days, A-Ning couldn’t hold back in the end and went to Gao Lin, asking politely if they could buy a big carriage for the prince or a pony for his young master when they got to the next city.

Gao Lin understood his current mood very well, but no matter how much he understood, he could only hide his conscience and continue to be perfunctory. At the same time, he hoped that his lord could find a new way to relieve his boredom as soon as possible, and stop harassing Second Young Master Liu for no reason.

Liu Xian’an sat on the other side of the carriage, rubbing his aching head. He still didn’t understand why the other party had appeared here. Taking a closer look, his padded pillows had all been requisitioned, and the sachet embroidered with silver silk was hooked on the fingertips of the other party, swaying slowly with the bumps of the wheels. 

“…….”

Liang Shu said: “When I got up early, I felt a headache, so I thought of borrowing the carriage to rest for a while. I hope I didn’t disturb Young Master Liu?”

“No.” Liu Xian’an shook his head lightly and spoke again: “The sachet is filled with many calming flowers and herbs, which can relieve headaches a bit. If the prince doesn’t dislike it, he can wear it close to his body in the future. It is also good for sleep.”

“Since that is the case, this lord will not be polite.” Liang Shu put the sachet into his sleeve with poise, but didn’t intend to go out, as if he was addicted to it. Naturally, Liu Xian’an couldn’t drive him away. In fact, logically speaking, it was not impossible to lie down where he was now, but it was only suitable for young boys like A-Ning who were not fully grown to lie down. For a slightly taller person such as Liu Xian’an, he could only straighten his back and feel sore all over. When they arrived at the next village, he had to stand in an open space and move his hands and feet for a long time.

Gao Lin carried two big pots of water to the tea shack, and didn’t need to look closely to know that his prince should be in a good mood at the moment.

He just snatched the carriage of Second Young Master Liu once, and it was like he was enjoying a spring breeze. Then if there was another chance in the future to pull a certain person’s hair, wouldn’t he soar into the air on the spot?

Thinking of this, the corners of Gao Lin’s mouth twitched. Must not ask, asking is embarrassing.

So, for the rest of the journey, Liang Shu lay comfortably in the carriage. Liu Xian’an didn’t care much about this, but only wondered if he could find a way to continue talking about his sister since they had such a long time alone. But Liang Shu knew what was going on in his mind, so he didn’t cooperate, closing his eyes every time he entered the carriage like a peerless sleeping immortal.

Until A-Ning bought a horse in the next town, Second Young Master Liu didn’t find a chance to speak.

“My lord.” On this day, while Liu Xian’an was riding a horse on the mountain road, Gao Lin also squeezed into the carriage. “We will be entering Fuhu Mountain in three days. Everything that should be disguised has been disguised, but Chang Xiaohan killed a group of their accomplices a few days ago and there is no telling if they will still have the courage to show up again.”

Liang Shu said: “People will die for riches. As long as we carry the gold to redeem someone, they have no reason not to dare.”

Gao Lin asked again: “What about Second Young Master Liu? Do you want him to stay temporarily in town at the foot of the mountain?”

“No need.” Liang Shu closed his eyes again. “We will take him into the mountain with us.”

Gao Lin: “…….”

There is no need for this.

He glanced out the window and saw that Liu Xian’an was still unskillfully riding the little mare, walking slowly. He used this kind of posture even on the flat official road, which was not as dangerous as the road on Fuhu Mountain. With these skills, he was obviously unable to participate in the suppression of bandits, so for the prince to insist on taking this person into the mountains, there may be only one purpose – to first toss him around, and then scare him.

Ai, how could he put it, people could be so wicked.

In this way, they traveled all the way to Fuhu Mountain.

Before entering the mountain, His Royal Highness Xiao-wang still left most of the troops and A-Ning in a nearby village on the grounds that “it is inappropriate to be too ostentatious. He was accompanied only by Gao Lin, several guards carrying the ransom, and Second Young Master Liu, “in case the hostage is injured and needs quick treatment from a doctor.”

Oh, there was also the coachman. He was driving the carriage on the mountain at this time, and inside the carriage was the luxurious and indolent Royal Highness Xiao-wang. 

Gao Lin: “…….”

He committed a big sin.

Riding his horse closely two steps away, he protected Liu Xian’an’s side so that he would not roll down the mountain.

After these days of practice, Liu Xian’an’s riding skills had actually improved by leaps and bounds, but no matter how much progress was made, the mountain road was really rugged. It was wide at first, but then became narrower and steeper. The little mare carried the person on its back, stepping one hoof after another in an alarming and difficult way, but fortunately it did not kick out and quit at the end.

The entire mountain was bathed in golden sunlight. Looking up, one could see the green and blue shadows of the clouds, and there was a kind of deep, majestic silence.

Liu Xian’an seldom went out, so he naturally had never seen this magnificent scenery, but at the moment, he was really not in the mood to carefully appreciate the sounds of nature. He was too sunburned and too tired, so tired that his waist could not straighten, his legs and feet were weak, and he almost fell prone on the horse’s back.

Gao Lin had no choice but to get into the carriage again: “My lord, I think Liu –”

Liang Shu interrupted: “They’ve come.”

“Come?” Gao Lin lifted the curtain of the carriage to look out, and sure enough, he saw a group of dark figures appearing on the high ground of the cliff. At first glance, there were about twenty or thirty people.

At the same time, those twenty or thirty people were also observing the foot of the mountain. As Liang Shu said before, people would die for riches. The group of bandits had suffered heavy losses because of Chang Xiaohan and were like frightened birds, even wanting to shrink their necks to hide, but in the end they couldn’t resist the generous ransom promised by Cheng Suyue.

They had been lying in ambush for a long time to observe, and saw that the young man in charge couldn’t even ride a horse well, his whole person trembling and half–prone, and his half-length hair blown by the wind to cover his face. Extremely shameful. Setting aside most of his worries, the leader waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to open the mountain gate, and then unsheathed his sword for a fierce battle.

After finally reaching the top of the mountain, Liu Xian’an panted as he climbed off his horse. His mind was still focused on the dangerous road that led almost up to the sky, and his knees were weak. Fortunately, Gao Lin was there to support him so that he would not sit on the ground.

The bandits naturally took this as a frightened reaction. They laughed and walked forward, using the points of their swords to pick off the cloth covering the cart and look at the four or five boxes of gold and silver underneath. Their eyes practically glowed green. At first they had just wanted to snatch a woman, but didn’t expect to get a fat sheep.

Gao Lin asked: “Where is my little sister?”

“Don’t worry, she is very popular in our village, he –” The bandit leader stopped speaking abruptly, because Liu Xian’an had just finished arranging his clothes and raised his head. The paleness of his face had not been completely lost. His lips were not even a little ruddy, and his neck was even whiter. The whole person was basking in the sun, his plain robe blown up by the wind like the statue of a god with lotus cuffs carved from jade , delicate and pure.

The bandit leader froze on the spot. Since he was born, he had never seen such an outstanding appearance, and his mind was a bit dazed for a moment. With some covetous and wicked thoughts in his heart, and a bit of apprehension and piety that came out of nowhere, he took two steps forward. As he lifted his hand to raise that person’s chin with his scabbard, he felt a sudden chill on his shoulders before something slammed into his side.

Liu Xian’an frowned and took two steps back, but couldn’t dodge. His clothes were splashed bright red and dripping, exuding the smell of rust.

“…….”

And the bandits on the opposite side had already reacted with alarm, but none of them could see who made the move. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, one arm of the deputy village head had just flown into the sky.

Screams, accompanied by the sound of weapons being unsheathed, echoed through the originally silent mountains. It was obvious that the visitor from the opposite side was not friendly, and the bandits raised their swords with fierce expressions, rushing forward without hesitation. They had originally wanted to make a preemptive strike, but never thought that before they took two steps, they would be thrown back by a huge internal force, crash, crash, landing one after another like crows and sparrows with broken feathers with blood overflowing from their mouths.

They all struggled to get up, but all the bones in their bodies seemed to be broken. Though their eyes were blurred by wind and sand, they could vaguely see a person slowly emerging from the carriage not far away. The hem of the black robes were embroidered with golden patterns. The soles of those boots first stepped on the tips of the blades of grass, then on the winding blood on the ground, and finally stopped in front of them.

They struggled to raise their heads, but couldn’t see anything clearly. The sky was dazzling, and the surrounding grass was covered in a layer of red mist. There was nothing but shock and terror in their hearts as they thought in agony, first there was a bodhisattva clothed in white like an immortal, and then there was a demon in black robes. This…….various strange scenes intertwined with one another, and even life and death or time and space could not be distinguished.

Liang Shu stepped through the blood and continued to walk into the village, Gao Lin and Liu Xian’an following behind him. Along the way, they saw scattered timber piled up everywhere, as well as unfinished houses. A few men in work clothes should be craftsmen. When they saw this group of people walking in, first they were taken aback, and then they noticed the wet blood on Liu Xian’an’s body. Even a fool could guess that this was not a good person, so they quickly threw away the wood in their arms and fled.

Gao Lin was not surprised by the craftsmen’s reaction. After all, even the wolves in the desert wanted to take a detour when they saw His Highness Xiao-wang. Comparatively, he was more surprised by Liu Xian’an’s calmness. Apart from being a bit tired, this pampered young master did not seem to be frightened by the killing and bloodshed at all. Even the expression on his face didn’t change, as if he was watching a dull play from a distance and his emotions were always outside the plot, neither happy nor sad. 

Tsk……the people who came out of Baihe Mountain Village really shouldn’t be underestimated.

After walking a ways in, a new house appeared in front of them, hung with a large plaque that said “Juyi Hall.” This was the den of thieves.

Gao Lin raised his foot and kicked open the wooden door with a loud sound. Dust flew up, and a group of people inside who were still in discussion about the money were startled, jumping up on the spot.

Gao Lin asked again: “Where is my little sister?”

The blood on Liu Xian’an’s clothes already showed the outcome of the fight at the gate of the mountain. The bandits did not dare to act rashly, but took two slow steps back and gripped the handles of their knives tighter.

The man sitting on the tiger leather chair was Jiang Gui, the leader of the bandits. He claimed to be a great villain who had killed, burned, and looted for decades. A man’s ambition never died in middle age, so out of countless choices, he chose Fuhu Mountain, a treasured land of Feng Shui. He planned to expand the new business, but never thought that several brothers would be killed by the escort first. He still hadn’t gotten over it, and now because he caused trouble by snatching “the mistress of the fortress,” its start was so unfavorable that he had to wonder if he had found a fake Feng Shui master.

Gao Lin was impatient: “Bring her out for laozi!”

“…….” Jiang Gui was in such shock that he couldn’t speak. He gestured with his eyes for his subordinates to go to the backyard, and after a while, a girl in red clothing came out. It was Cheng Suyue.

Miss Cheng didn’t know what it meant to be reserved and dignified in the military camp, and it was uncomfortable to pretend to be a lady in the bandit’s den. So when she saw the prince and her adoptive brother at this time, she regained her nature of being able to kill wolves with her bare hands, and rolled up her sleeves: “Ge…….ge.”

Her eyes fell on Liu Xian’an and she immediately put down her sleeves again, straightened her feet, and even lowered her voice.

Evidently, it was not impossible for her to be a lady. It just depended on who was standing opposite her.

Gao Lin was amazed at this bewitched reaction.

“E-everyone, my lords,” Jiang Gui said nervously after observing for a long time. “We failed to recognize Mount Tai^[1] earlier, and offended this aunt. Now that she has been returned, can this matter be settled?”

Liang Shu said: “Speak.”

“Speak……ah?” Jiang Gui didn’t understand. What else could he say? He raised his head but saw that the other party was not asking him.

Cheng Suyue stepped forward and said: “My prince, there are many old things hidden in this cottage, and it seems that they are all related to the Tan-daren case from more than ten years ago.”

As soon as she said “prince,” Jiang Gui was almost frightened out of his wits. Even though he had not seen much of the world, he still knew that for a prince of this age, Liang Shu was the only one who was part of all levels of society. Thinking of His Highness Xiao Wang’s reputation of killing a few people for fun, Jiang Gui’s vision darkened and he tumbled heavily from the tiger leather chair.

Liu Xian’an had also heard of the “Tan-daren” case that Cheng Suyue mentioned. Tan-daren’s name was Tan Xiaozhong, and he was once a member of the late emperor’s court. Thirteen years ago, he was ordered to escort a shipment of gold, silver, and grain to the south for disaster relief, but unexpectedly, he was robbed along the way and everything was stolen.

The late emperor was furious because of this and ordered Tan Xiaozhong to be thrown into prison. On a rainy night, the Imperial Army went to the Tan Manor to fetch him. When they pushed open the door, they saw corpses strewn all over the courtyard. The sky was filled with thunder and lightning, and a steady stream of blood was washed down the steps, dying the entire long street red, as if it were hell.

This tragedy of a family’s extermination became the first unsolved case of the Dayan Dynasty, and the murderer had not been caught even to this day.

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[1] To “fail to recognize Mount Tai” is to not recognize a person of great importance. ⮐

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Chapter Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seven

Zhao Yelan loathed the brand mark on his back, but he didn’t want to have a poem tattooed on it. He couldn’t tell which one he detested more.

Picking up a brush and paper, he sat down at the table. He drew out the strokes of the slave character to form a unique pattern and asked: “Can you tattoo this sort of character?”

Yan Mingting took it and studied it for a while. Probably in deference to his not-so-good painting skills, the pattern was not complicated, but more like an unreadable font. “I can,” he said.

“Then do this one, ba.”

After the two discussed it, they heard Xiao Gao’s knock on the door: “My lord, it’s time for dinner.”

“Let’s eat first.” Yan Mingting closed the drawing paper. “This will be time-consuming, so let’s finish the meal and then proceed slowly.”

Zhao Yelan nodded in agreement. After putting on his clothes, he opened the door and looked at Xiao Gao, but he didn’t have a good expression on his face as he asked in a whisper: “Who asked you to tell him that I went to Hongxiu House?”

“Ah? Can’t I say this?” Xiao Gao remembered that General Yan had already met Gu Niaoniao, and knew that Gu-jiejie was a friend of his lord, so he thought it was fine to say it directly.

“Then I made a mistake again.” Xia Gao scratched his head dejectedly. “I thought you had no secrets from the General, My Lord. You punish me, ba.”

Zhao Yelan choked. It was no good to punish him.

“Hmph, see, Xiao Gao is more sensible than you.” Yan Mingting whispered in his ear, “If you keep secrets here and there all day long, are you a riddler?”

Zhao Yelan turned around and vented all his frustration on him, kicking and beating with his hands: “You’re so annoying! Who are you talking about in such a deliberately ambiguous way!”

Housekeeper Qin had just set the dishes when Yan Mingting rushed to the table and sat down. Following close behind, Zhao Yelan slowed down his pace, but his breathing was uneven and he appeared to have just been exerting himself.

He had become accustomed to such things, so Housekeeper Qin was not surprised, and even had the illusion that even with his own general, to spare the rod was to spoil the child. At first, he had felt that Zhao-daren was too sensitive, but after some observation, it was always the General who provoked him and got him started.

The General’s skin was thick and tough, how could he fear the pampered fist of this man?

Housekeeper Qin also understood that this was clearly just a young man’s flirting technique. Hmph.

The General’s Mansion was finally bustling again.

After eating, Zhao Yelan followed Yan Mingting to the courtyard for half an hour to digest their food, and offered to follow him in exercising. Yan Mingting was overjoyed, and immediately began devising a step-by-step plan for him.

Once they returned to the room, Yan Mingting noticed the drawer beside the table and suddenly asked: “Is there any poison in your other sachets?”

“No, only the sweetgrass had a problem.”

Only then did Yan Mingting feel relieved, and while the other was taking a bath, he went out and took the initiative to find Yao Muze’s house.

Yao Muze had already passed the Imperial Hospital examination, and was now an Imperial physician. Seeing Yan Mingting coming to visit, he warmly greeted him and wanted to invite him to dinner, but was rejected.

“I just wanted to ask, did you examine that sachet I asked you to study before I left Beijing?” Yan Mingting asked.

“I examined it thoroughly.”

Yao Muze’s answer was exactly the same as Zhao Yelan’s, and Yan Mingting heaved a sigh of relief. He had feared that Zhao Yelan might have used a more vicious type of medicine.

“If the poisoning is stopped, it will be fine, right?”

“Avoid it as much as you can. If used for a long time, you may need to recuperate for three to five years. You should sweat more, and eat some detoxifying herbs and food to force out the toxins in the body.”

“Okay, I’ll leave the medicine to you.”

“Of course.”

Yan Mingting returned to the mansion, and ordered the kitchen staff to use more detoxifying ingredients before going to the bedroom.

Zhao Yelan had already finished his bath and was watering the bonsai in the room. Seeing him return, he wanted to get right down to business, but Yan Mingting stopped and said: “It’s time for me to bathe.”

Yan Mingting bathed on the other side of a screen, waiting for the other party to come and watch. But Zhao Yelan didn’t come over to take a peek at all. He just picked up the ledger and began to settle accounts.

The sound of the abacus clacking mad Yan Mingting’s brain ache. He quickly finished bathing and walked out from behind the screen: “Didn’t you leave all these things to Yin Pinglu? Why are you taking the trouble?”

“I’ll summarize it first, then hand it over to her tomorrow.” Although Zhao-Yelan wanted to be a hands-off shopkeeper, he still had to be aware of these things. It was impossible to leave such important matters to others without even looking at them. Not to mention that he had embezzled a lot of his own private money this time, so he must see how much property was left, right?

Yan Mingting didn’t bother him further. After a long while, Zhao Yelan finally finished reconciling the accounts while the other party sat quietly opposite him, burying himself in writing. Leaning forward, he saw that it was an exercise plan.

He turned around and put away the ledger, then walked to the bed.

Yan Mingting inadvertently raised his head and was taken aback, staring blankly as the other took off his layers of clothes. With black hair hanging down his smooth, white back, he lay obediently on the bed and turned to look at him. His voice was usually soft against the cushioning of the pillow: “Are you done? Is it time to get to business?”

What business, ah.

My business is different from yours, Yan Mingting silently criticized.

After picking up the tools, Yan Mingting sat on the side of the bed. Just as he selected a needle, he saw that the other’s eyes were tightly closed, his face almost wrinkled up, and comforted him: “Don’t worry, ba, my technique is very good. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Zhao Yelan opened his eyes doubtfully.

“If you don’t believe me, look.”

Yan Mingting scratched his back with the needle. He felt the friction of a sharp, hard object, but it really didn’t hurt. Zhao Yelan relaxed a little and said: “Will it work?”

“Certainly. I’m going to begin.”

There was silence in the room for a while.

Zhao Yelan could feel the needles sliding across his back and didn’t speak for a long time. He glanced back at Yan Mingting, who looked as serious as if he were performing a prayer ceremony, silent and devout.

Zhao Yelan took in his facial features meticulously. He had sword-like eyebrows and eyes like bright stars. The heroic spirit in his countenance and the contours of his profile were of the highest quality. Those clear, bright eyes were like his heart, without a trace of hidden filth, and like a mirror, they seemed to be able to see through people’s hearts.

Yan Mingting must have had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn’t, because he had been waiting for him to offer him the answers.

If he didn’t say anything, Yan Mingting wouldn’t ask, until today’s question appeared and almost made Yan Mingting doubt his sincerity.

“Don’t you want to know where my brand came from?” Zhao Yelan asked proactively.

“I’m going crazy thinking about it,” Yan Mingting said in a heavy voice.

Sure enough.

Zhao Yelan was silent. Feeling that the other party had changed the needle, he stared blankly ahead. He had thought that those past events would never come out of his mouth again, but he heard his own wan and broken voice:

“It was because of the Marquis of Anqing’s rebellion.”

Yan Mingting paused. This was something he knew about.

There was a lot of trouble back then because of the first emperor. The common people openly voiced their discontent, and the Marquis of Anquing raised the flag of rebellion. But because some insiders defected, the matter was exposed as soon as the uprising took place. After the emperor sent people to suppress it, he ordered the execution of all relevant personnel, involving more than 20,000 people. It was said that even all the prison cells in the capital couldn’t fit them all.

“You are one of the Marquis of Anqing’s people?” Yan Mingting asked in surprise.

“That would be great.” The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he said with a wry smile, “Our family never met him. My father was just a weak, gentle scholar, and his greatest wish was to be able to pass the exams and achieve scholarly honor in order to realize his ambitions of governing the country and bringing peace to all. My mother was an embroiderer, and she worked with thread until late at night before resting. Apart from family, we had nothing else.”

“Only, the Marquis of Anqing was injured and fell by the side of the road. My parents kindly brought him home for treatment, and the Marquis was picked up by his people two days later.”

“The Marquis of Anqing was kind-hearted. When he left, he saw that our family was poor, so he gave us a jade pendant to repay our kindness.”

“But this jade pendant killed my parents.”

“After the Anqing manor was seized, the Imperial court thoroughly investigated the people connected to him. They found the jade pendant in my house and determined that we were in league with him. They would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go, and my home was burned down. It was raining that day, but the fire could not be extinguished. My parents and I were taken into the dungeons for rigorous interrogation……”

Zhao Yelan clenched the pillow with one hand, the veins on it bulging. His eyes were dark, and his voice was as cold as the snow in winter: “It is said that good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil, but nothing is as important as power. A high-ranking person can destroy countless families with a single sentence.”

A palm covered the back of his hand at this time, hot enough to warm his cold hand.

Zhao Yelan looked to the side and stared at that big hand for a long time, and the snow in his eyes gradually melted, forming a thin layer of mist: “Yan Mingting, why couldn’t my parents meet you? If there were people like you in the Imperial court at that time, they definitely wouldn’t have suffered, right?”

The evidence of the Marquis of Anqing’s rebellion was conclusive. In order to show off their political achievements to please the late emperor, the officials tortured the prisoners one by one and beat them into confessing. Regardless, the first emperor didn’t care if there were innocent people in there, and just needed a reason to execute them.

“En. Sorry, I’m late.” Yan Mingting held his hand and lay down beside him, hugging him into his arms. He inadvertently touched some water stains, and his heart felt as if it had been stabbed with a knife. Slowly and solemnly, he kissed away the teardrops at the ends of the other’s eyes.

“Mengting…..”

Zhao Yelan shed tears silently. Since he became Zhao Yelan, he had not shed a single tear.

But now he was Zhao Mengting, ah.

The accumulated secrets poured out like a flood, and the details he had hidden for a long time now appeared clearly before his eyes.

The dungeon was full of people. Their prison clothes were obviously white, but their bodies were filthy and smelly, and there were voices of grievances all around as they were dragged out one by one for interrogation.

Hearing the screams of those people, he sat trembling in a dark corner. Father sat in front of him, blocking his sight. He asked Father when they could leave.

Father said soon, justice is in the hearts of the people, and we will be able to redress our grievances soon.

But within a few days, Father was dragged out and spoke loudly about his grievances. Yu Junliang, who was in charge of interrogation at the time, just dropped a sentence and continued writing. The prison head tied Father up and flogged him with a horse whip dipped in salt in order to force him to confess his crime. Father refused to confess, so more cruel punishments were used. The screams of pain often sounded in his dreams.

Mother covered his eyes, and he wept and asked her, where is the justice?

Mother said she didn’t know.

More and more people were forced to confess their crimes. There were finally no more men in the prison, and they began to attack the women.

The prison head pulled Mother out and saw that she refused to speak, so he took off her outer clothing under everyone’s watchful eyes and spoke filthy words. Father was still tied to the stake, with blood and tears on his face, and shouted in a hoarse voice: “Mengting, close your eyes and don’t look.”

However, in the next moment, Mother slammed onto the stake: “Husband, I will marry you in my next life.”

“Don’t!!” Father was overcome, and the punishment he had received in the past few days had already consumed most of his strength. He spat out a big mouthful of blood, and then closed his eyes heavily.

No one came to cover his eyes anymore. He saw all kinds of torture and heard the most disgusting and ugly words in that dark hell. After staying in the dark for more than a month, there was no light in his eyes, only hatred and malice that spread and grew in his heart.

“Mengting, Menting……I’m sorry, I was still late…..” Yan Mingting kissed his eyes over and over again and tasted the bitter, salty tears. He wanted to knead this person into his own bones, to dedicate everything to him, as long as he was happy.

Zhao Yelan gradually withdrew from his memories. Hearing Yan Mingting’s apologies, he rubbed the other person’s head, then leaned forward and nipped his lips: “You say you’re sorry? How old were you……damn the others, those people are all dead.”

“En, it’s best that they’re dead. If they weren’t dead, I would kill them for you,” Yan Mingting said.

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth hooked up and he licked his lips, asking softly: “What else do you want to know?”

The two gazed at each other for a long time, and Yan Mingting looked into his eyes. They were such beautiful eyes, but they were red, and the tips were still moist.

At this moment, the hedgehog covered in thorns slowly revealed his softest insides to him, wanting to show him his heart and belly. But how could Yan Mingting be willing to do so?

He had talked so much, but it always revolved around his parents. He never mentioned how he escaped the dungeons, let alone what punishments he suffered. Just thinking about it, Yan Mingting felt unbearable heartache. How could he bear to ask him to continue?

“I also want to know when you plan to take me to meet your parents.” Yan Mingting gently kissed his eyes. “We’ve returned to Beijing, don’t forget what you said before.”

Zhao Yelan stared at him blankly. Realizing that he was soothing his emotions, his heart felt a little peaceful. Those scars that had never been uncovered were all but torn away, and apart from the pain at the beginning, he actually felt much better afterwards. Maybe it was the release of built-up emotions, maybe it was because someone was wiping his tears, or maybe he realized that someone had appeared in his world again who would cover his eyes to block out all the darkness.

Zhao Yelan stroked his cheek softly: “We’ll go in two days.”

“Okay.”

Autumn in the capital was a bit chilly. The wind blew leaves that rustled and tapped lightly on the doors and windows, as if eavesdropping on their conversation.

Due to being embraced by Yan Mingting, Zhao Yelan’s chest was warm, but his back was a bit cold. He pushed that person away and got up to walk to the bronze mirror. He looked at his back in the mirror, but found that there was no change.

“What happened?”

Yan Mingting stepped forward and confessed: “I don’t know how to do tattoos.”

“Then what did you lie to me for?”

“Because I don’t mind.” Yan Mingting put his arms around his back. “No matter what your origin is, you are now mine. No matter what you experienced before, I will treat you well in the future, so you don’t need to be ashamed at all. Tattoos can only cover up the scars on the surface. The most important thing is here……”

Yan Mingting pointed to his heart: “You have to look straight into it.”

“You are now a hero admired by many people, and they will not look at your back. Only I can, and being the only one makes me feel lucky. I also don’t think it’s ugly, it just reminds me of how amazing you are. There were thousands of criminal slaves, but you are the only one who became Zhao Yelan.”

Zhao Yelan lowered his head to look at his finger, pointing at his heart that was beating faster. Then he lifted his eyes. There was still a trace of redness that had not subsided. Then he hooked Yan Mingting’s neck with a slight smile, rubbed the other’s ear with his other hand, and stood on tiptoe to bite the ear that was starting to turn red: “Yan Fangli, do you want me?”

As if he hadn’t been thinking about it for a day or two!

In the autumn wind, accompanied by the sound of interlaced breathing, their ears and temples rubbed together, and a thin sheen of sweat dispelled the autumn chill.

Yan Mingting passed through this place for the first time like a fisherman from Wuling. After finding the entrance, he stepped into a peach blossom garden. The land was warm and humid, the water was gurgling, and the air was filled with an unusual smell. He was a little dazed by the surrounding scene, and caught a glimpse of a slender white hand from the corner of his eye, like a lone boat floating on the water. Holding fast to the mast, the veins in his hands were bulging and the joints were distinct. Yan Mingting held it down and interlocked their fingers, and they continued on their way together.

However, he didn’t know if he was too impassioned or what, but when reaching the end of the river, hearing the other’s high-pitched voice overflow like a clarion and also like graceful music, seductive and full of emotion, in his excitement, he simply abandoned his oars and surrendered.

Yan Mingting froze abruptly.

Zhao Yelan was also stunned for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes. His brows that were about to knot up slowly relaxed, and he stared at him blankly.

Yan Mingting was struck dumb.

“Done?” Zhao Yelan tugged the blanket. “Okay, just go to sleep, ba.”

No, it shouldn’t be like this!

Yan Mingting stiffly lowered his head, even the strands of his hair exuding shock and bewilderment.

T/N: I swear these two have the most realistic sex life in damei history.

---

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Chapter Seventy <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Two

Xia Xingchi was taken aback by the question, and looked around to find that there were no dilapidated factories or warehouses, let alone the biting wind and rain.

Dawn had just arrived, and the villa’s temperature system maintained a comfortable level of warmth and humidity. The soft blanket was light and warm, and exuded a faint fragrance of washing detergent.

Li Chengyuan sat up after him and saw that Xia Xingchi’s expression was dazed and fearful, as if he had been about to grab something and failed.

He had no choice but to put aside the urgency in his heart for the time being, and lightly patted Xia Xingchi’s head as he said: “Don’t be afraid, tell me what sort of nightmare you had.”

“I don’t know.” Xia Xingchi opened his eyes wide, and suddenly grabbed Li Chengyuan’s hand to touch it. “Do you have any discomfort? I dreamed that you were dead.”

Although that hand was cold to the touch, the palm was a little warm, devoid of cold sweat.

Xia Xingchi heaved a sigh of relief and finally awoke from his panic. He thought to himself that this dream was too scary. A person who was just fine could instantly vomit blood without any signs at all. It was frightening to death.

“Did you remember something?”

Li Chengyuan was helpless, and was in no mood to correct him again that he really hadn’t died at the time.

Back then, a certain child failed to feel his weak heartbeat and breath in his panic, and while crying, he wanted to go out and bury him when the rain stopped…..but the money could not be buried with him, as he would not be able to spend it.

Perhaps due to his uneasy conscience, the little money-grubber felt that it was not good to take other people’s money, so he sat next to Li Chengyuan’s “corpse” and tried to discuss it with him, whispering that he would buy him paper money to burn later.

After some thought, of course a dead person couldn’t answer. Xia Xingchi wiped his tears and pretended that he had agreed, and was stretching out his little hand to wipe the blood from the corner of the other’s mouth when he saw his eyes open.

In the middle of a stormy night, the corpse suddenly opened its eyes. This scene was as horrifying as it could be. Little Xia Xingchi was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, thinking that the other had disagreed with the distribution of the “inheritance.”

Xia Xingchi quickly changed his words: “I’m sorry! I’ll buy paper money for you! I’ll give it all to you, I don’t want it!”

Li Chengyuan couldn’t care about his stomachache. Seeing his wrinkled little sad face, scared and full of tears, he was finally amused by this little fool’s comedy act.

It was the first time he smiled since his mother died.

Xia Xingchi blinked and stopped sobbing.

He had been overwhelmed by the terrifying atmosphere created when Li Chengyuan suddenly vomited blood and died, and then in shock when the corpse suddenly moved.

But obviously a ghost couldn’t smile so nicely. Xia Xingchi wanted to take a bite of this porcelain doll’s cheek to see if it tasted like ice cream.

“You vomited blood,” Xia Xingchi said hesitantly. “You have to go to the hospital if you’re sick, or you’ll die.”

Li Chengyuan’s vision darkened from the pain. He didn’t want to move or speak, but couldn’t do anything about those big eyes blinking at him, so he calmly said: “Then I’ll die, ba.”

“No way! I told you that you can’t die, you —”

Seeing that he was about to cry again, Li Chengyuan could only frown and say: “Don’t cry…..I won’t die, it’s okay.”

Unexpectedly, after so many years, Xia Xingchi’s vision of his “death” was still so deeply rooted.

At that time, Li Chengyuan had explained to him that he had only fainted from the pain, and told him to watch less messy TV.

It wasn’t that he would die because of vomiting blood. He just had stomach bleeding again, and hadn’t ever died from it before.

Xia Xingchi looked around the room again, but found that the memory of the dream quickly faded after he woke up, the details becoming blurry.

“I dreamed that you turned into a child. You looked really good, like a porcelain doll, very expensive and high-end.”

Li Chengyuan was even more helpless. He had said the same thing back then.

“Anything else?”

Xia Xingchi shook his head blankly.

He himself also felt that something was wrong. The memory erasure speed of this dream was a little too fast. Usually it would take at least until he got up and washed for him to forget what he dreamed about, but now he couldn’t remember the specific content in the blink of an eye.

Watching him thinking hard for a long time without being able to remember, the sudden ups and downs of his emotions caused Li Chengyuan’s heart to beat tfast.

He lay down slowly, and said as if nothing had happened: “Sleep, ba.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, thinking that he was not interested in this boring dream. He also got under the covers and decided to go back to sleep.

It was still early, and this migrant worker happened to be on vacation, making it perfectly suitable for a thoughtless sleep.

– – –

When he woke up again, the sun was already shining on his ass. Xia Xingchi turned over and found that he was holding a pillow in his arms. Li Chengyuan had already gotten up from beside him and gone to work —

To fight for his money-grubber White Moonlight’s money again.

Xia Xingchi stretched out his head to peer into the study, where Li Chengyuan was staring at the computer expressionlessly.

The moment the two looked at each other, he suddenly felt that Li Chengyuan seemed to be in a bad mood. There were some strange negative emotions mixed in the gloominess, but this person had always been moody and irritable, so he couldn’t tell what had happened.

Xia Xingchi withdrew his head from the crack in the door. It would probably be useless to ask why he was unhappy. The answer he received would just be silence or denial.

When he went downstairs to have breakfast, he caught sight of Aunt Li coming in from the back door of the villa with a medicine bowl —

The smell of traditional Chinese medicine was too strong, and decocting it in the house would fill the whole place with its smell. If a big cat with a sensitive nose breathed it in, he would probably feel uncomfortable the whole time.

Aunt Li saw that Xia Xingchi had woken up to eat, and immediately went to the kitchen with a smile to serve up hot beef noodles. The chef was naturally quite happy to see the diner’s enthusiasm for the food.

“Aunt Li, put the medicine aside to cool down first, and I’ll serve it to Li Chengyuan after I finish eating,” Xia Xingchi said.

“Okay.” Aunt Li put the lid on the medicine bowl and set it aside: “Speaking of which, when will you and your husband have the wedding, ah? It looks like the house needs to be refurbished, and I saw that Lao Ding started to write a shopping list yesterday.”

As a competent and responsible housekeeper, Uncle Ding had begun to draw up various plans and ideas for the villa after seeing Xia Xingchi and Li Chengyuan sharing the same bed.

This momentum immediately stirred up all the servants, as if the wedding could be held tomorrow.

Xia Xingchi was picking up a piece of beef and froze for a moment, saying dryly after a while: “We, we’re not in a hurry.”

According to the original plan, it was naturally better to get married as soon as possible. After all, taking into consideration that the villain’s life may not be long, he should marry early to happily obtain the inheritance.

But judging by the current situation……it seemed that Li Chengyuan had been saved by him?

It didn’t matter if he married a dead person, but if the other party was still living, then the situation was completely different.

Xia Xingchi wasn’t quite certain if he had successfully changed the villain’s inevitable ending, but if he really had, this would be a “lifetime event” that would bind them together forever.

Not to mention how complicated it was to marry someone of such worth, but assuming that Li Chengyuan was willing, who did he think Xia Xingchi was?

At this thought, Xia Xingchi suddenly felt that the noodles in his mouth were no longer tasty.

Li Chengyuan had mistook him, a transmigrating outsider, for his White Moonlight. If they really got the certificate in this way, wouldn’t he be no different from Xia Yu, who occupied the magpie’s nest?

Aunt Li saw that he was stupefied, as if he was a bit disappointed, and thought it was Li Chengyuan who was unwilling. She quickly made amends: “I was just speaking casually. Anway, the relationship between you and your husband doesn’t need to be proven by wearing a little red! In fact, there’s no rush!”

Xia Xingchi lowered his head and took a sip of the beef soup, comforting himself that it was meaningless to think about it now, and his bad mood would also affect his enjoyment of the meal.

Looking on the bright side, maybe everything would work out. For example, if his White Moonlight suddenly came back or something —

Okay, this idea was even worse. On that three-person battlefield, maybe Li Chengyuan would slaughter him himself and feed him to the sharks in a rage, and then fall in love with the despicable White Moonlight who wanted to kill him.

Just as he was thinking about this, the phone on the table began to vibrate incessantly, as if something big had happened.

While Xia Xingchi lowered his head to look at the screen, Xia Yu, who was huddled in his room, listened in horror to the message notification tones from his phone, as if they were signaling his death.

Since the reality show, Xia Yu had been unable to sleep for five or six consecutive days.

Whenever he dozed off, he would be awoken by all kinds of nightmares about his reputation being ruined. All the sinful things he had done over the years were like vengeful ghosts hungry for his life, whispering his evil deeds into his ear in the middle of the night.

The guillotine hanging over his head never fell, and the process of waiting for death seemed to constantly grind down his spirit.

He couldn’t distinguish between fantasy and reality. He always took the horror of being exposed and thrown in prison in his nightmares as real, and then screamed and howled, shutting himself in his room without coming out.

At this moment, Xia Yu opened his bloodshot eyes wide, not daring to look where the guillotine had fallen. He just neurotically covered his ears and refused to listen to the phone’s notifications.

But the mechanical, repeating tone still pierced his ears and hit his brain directly, making him tremble even more, and he finally jumped up with a scream and slammed the phone against the wall!

But although the screen was smashed to pieces, the phone continued to make that life-threatening sound.

Xia Yu took a deep breath, and finally opened the phone tremblingly, clicking several times on the broken, distorted screen before succeeding in opening Weibo.

His name immediately appeared on the screen:

#Xia Yu’s real identity exposed#

#Xia Yu’s character design collapses, proven to be the adopted son of the Xia family#

#Xia Xingchi, the long-neglected real young master#

#Xia Yu has no bottom line, showing off his wealth#

. . . . . .

The evidence and timeline were sufficiently clear, and various marketing accounts were scrambling to release the news at the same time, almost violently tearing off the last of Xia Yu’s disguise so that everyone could see his face clearly.

[I’m so disgusted. Xia Yu has robbed someone of their life for so many years. The fucking only son of a wealthy family?]

[His fans ridicule everyone’s background all day, especially Xia Xingchi. In fact, in terms of background, he is the vegetable seller from the valley!]

[Xia Yu is a thief, stealing the life of others so arrogantly. Don’t call him Xia Yu, call him Xia Thief, hahaha. Idiot.]^[1]

[Are you not listening to reason? You think Xia Yu wanted to steal someone else’s life? He is so innocent and kind, he definitely wouldn’t want to do that!]

[Ah, this? He’s “innocent and kind?” This is the joke of the year, I couldn’t tell if you were being sarcastic for a while. Have you fans gone crazy?]

[Even if Xia Yu didn’t choose to be an illegitimate child, how did he compensate Xia Xingchi for occupying his life for so many years? Hiding in the snow, splashing dirty water, and wanting to snatch someone’s fiance?]

[I’m really going to vomit. Xia Yu overwhelmingly marketed himself as a wealthy young master and ridiculed Xia Xingchi’s background, but the title belongs to Xia Xingchi. How does he have the face to show it off in front of him!]

[Get lost, green tea! You shameless thing, why haven’t you died yet, ah?]

[Fuck, the house has collapsed, what the hell did I like about him before? @Xia Yu, you ugly-hearted person, make amends for my feelings, ah!]

. . . . . . .

Xia Yu flicked the screen like crazy, and immediately screamed.

He had made Xia Xingchi bear all this overwhelming malice, never thinking that one day, the knife would stab him deeply.

He paid the most attention to how people looked at him, and every comment made him tremble, but he continued to read them one by one as if in a daze.

Xia Yu didn’t understand how this “proven truth” had come out. After all, he had been working hard to destroy all evidence that could be made public, and even the paternity test had been completely destroyed by him.

The shattered screen failed to operate, and when he swiped, he inadvertently clicked on a video.

He never expected that Xia Pingjian’s voice would sound from it:

“It is me who apologizes to Xingchi for all these years. He is my only son, but I have missed more than twenty years of his life and mistook Xia Yu for my son…..”

“……It was my negligence. I never knew that Xia Yu did so many despicable and shameless things to Xingchi. My careful teaching did not change Xia Yu’s bad genes at all.”

Xia Yu’s mind went blank for a moment.

How could that old man Xia Pingjian do this?!

Obviously everything had happened with his acquiescence, obviously he was the mastermind behind treating Xia Xingchi harshly, and obviously Xia Xingchi was just a waste in his eyes!

But Xia Pingjian just now mercilessly betrayed his worthless self, and turned to that bastard Xia Xingchi as a treasure.

Xia Yu began to madly howl, as if he had been completely abandoned by the whole world.

He desperately smashed the phone in his hand until it was finally smashed to pieces.

As if in this way, he could deceive his ears and ignore the truth, pretending nothing had happened.

– – –

At the table, Xia Xingchi drank the last sip of beef soup, ate a large bowl of noodles, and finished watching the video sent by Xia Pingjian.

It was really inexplicable. Was the original owner’s cheap father under a spell?

It must be mentioned that during the original plot, Xia Pingjian had been watching the original owner struggling with the identity of “illegitimate child” and “adopted son” in the vortex of public opinion.

Even later, the original owner completely collapsed and disregarded the attempts of his cheap parents to keep him silent, directly revealing his life experience.

It was a pity that Xia Pingjian categorically denied it, because baby Xia Yu’s stardom was the most valuable and important thing.

The small bit of evidence and the paternity test report that the original owner had kept so desperately became evidence of his lying, and he was insulted overwhelmingly.

“How can you lie so straightforwardly? It’s disgusting!”

“Shameless Xia Yu copycat, have you been slapped in the face?”

“Is the pheasant so crazy about wanting to be a phoenix?”

After Xia Xingchi thought about it, Xia Pingjian’s behavior was unexpected, but quite reasonable.

From this person’s point of view, there was no morality and no blood relationship. Xia Yu was a hundred times better than the original owner, so the original owner was just a rubbish stepping stone in his eyes.

But now that everything was reversed, it was not surprising that he could directly tread on Xia Yu, who was no longer worth anything, in order to please Xia Xingchi.

Just as he was thinking, a call came in from an unknown person. Xia Xingchi picked it up casually, and found that it was that lowlife Xia Pingjian on the other end of the line.

Knowing how disgusting this cheap scumbag was, Xia Xingchi had blocked all contact from him since the engagement banquet.

But this didn’t stop him from giving gifts like a dog begging for favor, and now that he had changed his number to give him a polite call, he was completely different from the scum who had wanted to trample “Xia Xingchi” to death.

“Xingchi, do you like the gifts Dad prepared for you?” The Xia Pingjian on the other end of the phone was very loving.

“I really like them,” Xia Xingchi said nonchalantly.

This was the truth. A little money-grubber liked all expensive things, and he wasn’t foolish enough to pass up money.

“Dad wants to hold the biggest birthday party for you this year. I owe you so much these years, I —”

“No.” Xia Xingchi said categorically and politely in his customer service voice, “Hello, I suggest that you stick with Xia Yu, don’t bother me.”

However, Xia Pingjian was not angry at all. He had changed from the way he used to slap Xia Xingchi every now and then.

He said emotionally: “Xingchi, your birthday last year was my negligence, I will never forget it again……because you are my son, ah!”

Xia Xingchi couldn’t be bothered to speak with him, and directly hung up the phone.

This reminded him, it seemed that his birthday was really approaching.

The original owner had the same birthday as him, but unfortunately, neither he nor the poor original owner had ever had a good birthday.

The poor little money-grubber would be happy if he could eat a small dish of braised pork on his birthday. He’d never had a birthday cake.

The Chinese medicine set aside had cooled to a moderate temperature. Xia Xingchi picked it up and delivered it to the study.

As he gradually became acquainted with a certain big cat who was afraid of bitterness, he had upgraded to pushing the door open and entering without knocking.

Because as long as Li Chengyuan knew that he was delivering medicine, he would pretend not to hear him and wouldn’t let him in, thinking of various ways to secretly avoid drinking it.

If he wasn’t watched, the innocent potted plants in the study may wilt the next day —

Ruined after someone watered them with medicine.

Li Chengyuan looked ill today and was in a bad mood. Seeing him come in with the medicine, he didn’t resist the difficult task of drinking it.

Instead, he picked up the bowl casually and drank it all in one gulp, as if he were drowning his sorrows in wine.

“What’s the matter?” Xia Xingchi handed over a candy. “Is there something wrong?”

Li Chengyuan was silent, and he said calmly after a moment: “I’m fine.”

He knew he would be like this. No matter how much he asked him, he wouldn’t answer if he didn’t want to. Xia Xingchi had no choice but to say: “The more troublesome things there are in your heart, the more uncomfortable you will be. I’m willing to lend an ear to the beauty once for free!”

Li Chengyuan smiled lightly then, but his smile was more to coax Xia Xingchi, rather than a smile from the heart.

– – –

Although the big villain was often fierce and terrible, Xia Xingchi still felt that he was particularly passive and gloomy today.

Li Chengyuan was doing his best to pretend, trying to act the same and leave no clues.

But this was his own big cat, after all, and Xia Xingchi would immediately notice if he was in a bad mood.

So in the dead of night, he took the rare initiative to roll to Li Chengyuan’s side and cling to him, using the winning formula of “sticking together can make you feel better.”

Li Chengyuan was lying on his side with his back facing Xia Xingchi when he felt a warm object hug him from behind.

“Boss, are you unhappy? You haven’t eaten much today.”

As Xia Xingchi spoke, he reached out and touched the reticent cat’s paw.

It stood to reason that money could buy happiness. If not, then there was just not enough money. He was so rich, but there was still something that could make him unhappy all day long?

He thought that Li Chengyuan would keep silent or pretend nothing had happened like he usually did, but this time he suddenly spoke in a calm voice: “Xia Xingchi, you will also get tired of me being sick all the time.”

“Huh……?”

Xia Xingchi’s voice dragged out. He couldn’t figure out who the “also” was referring to, let alone how this negative thought came so suddenly.

But regardless, he answered him firmly first: “Of course I won’t! And I’ll help you take care of your body. It’s getting better every day now, ah, and it will get even better in the future.”

This was the truth. In this matter, Li Chengyuan was very much like a cat, very good at enduring and never making a sound.

He would always bear the pain silently by himself, and never bother anyone around him until he couldn’t hold on any longer.

But Xia Xingchi didn’t want him to suffer in silence like this, and was willing to take care of him and share some of the burden for him.

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak for a long time, as if he was deep in thought.

He touched Xia Xingchi’s wrist, which he had taken the initiative to wrap around him, and felt the slightly raised crescent-shaped scar there. At last, he smiled warmly.

“Li Chengyuan, why did you suddenly—”

“Just speaking casually, go to sleep, ba.”

– – –

Early the next morning, Xia Xingchi was awakened by Lin Meng’s phone call.

There was an ad that needed to be shot quickly, and because it was very urgent, the salary was extremely high. The contract would be signed on the spot, and the money would be paid immediately after the shooting.

The little money-grubber immediately pricked up his ears. Of course he couldn’t miss this kind of thing.

Li Chengyuan was no longer beside him, and he didn’t know where he had gone. Thinking that he might be having breakfast downstairs or working in the study, he searched around but didn’t find him.

Xia Xingchi was in a hurry and quickly called driver Xiao Wu to take him to the ad shooting.

He casually picked up the meat pie that Aunt Li had just baked and shoved it in his mouth, then rushed out.

After getting in the car, he freed his hands to wipe off the oil on his fingertips with a wet towel, and wanted to report to his dear boss.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengyuan’s cell phone was turned off.

Xia Xingchi was puzzled. Mr. Li, who had a lot of things to do every day, was on the phone all the time. Did he go somewhere without charging his phone?

When he went out, he glanced at the decorative tree where the car keys hung. It seemed that a key for a supercar was missing. It was clear that Li Chengyuan had driven out by himself.

If he couldn’t get through, he had to give up. Xia Xingchi instructed Xiao Wu to let him know when he could get in touch with him.

Lest he go mad again after losing sight of a certain person for a while.

– – –

This commercial was a short one, and Xia Xingchi who had been thrown in halfway to save it, was actually asked to play the main character.

While the others were filming first, he took the opportunity to frantically memorize the script lest he get stuck at some point.

Fortunately, it was just an advertisement and not a big test of acting skills, so Xia Xingchi could handle it with ease. This sort of crafty male character was also suitable for him and easier to act. After memorizing the lines, it was very easy to act while displaying his true colors.

He didn’t finish work until dinner time, and the salary was hundreds of times higher than the previous “huge sum” of 20,000 yuan. This time it was truly a huge sum.

Xia Xingchi became excited just thinking about it, and after gleefully counting the zeroes, he found that the crew was still in charge of dinner.

But this time, the little money-grubber didn’t take a free box lunch rich with fish and meat. Instead, he said with a wave of his hand that he would go home first.

Everyone immediately jeered in a friendly and teasing way:

“Mr. Xia is really so reluctant to part with President Li for a while?”

“This is really throwing dog food everywhere and slapping us in the face with it!”

Xia Xingchi gave a “Hehe” with a playful smile. In fact, it was indeed because of Li Chengyuan.

This person’s cell phone hadn’t been connected all day. Combined with his weird mood yesterday, Xia Xingchi was very worried about what he was doing, to be acting so abnormal.

As soon as the car stopped at the entrance of the villa, Xia Xingchi jogged all the way back.

After hastily changing his shoes, he quickly looked around the first floor, where Li Chengyuan usually was. It was empty.

Aunt Li came out of the kitchen, seeming to have something to say.

But before she had time to speak, Xia Xingchi rushed up to the second floor like a bolt of lightning.

The second floor was even more silent. Xia Xingchi stretched out his head and glanced into the bedroom. There was no sign that anyone had come in during the day after he left.

The sun set early in early winter, and night had dyed most of the sky at this moment.

Xia Xingchi entered the study, turned on the light, and saw that there was nobody there.

Only then did he realize how foolish he was. He had completely forgotten to check if there was an extra car key at the door.

This person couldn’t walk back, so if the car wasn’t there, it meant he was not at home.

Xia Xingchi shook his stupid head, wanting to leave the room and go downstairs to ask Aunt Li if she knew anything.

But suddenly, he glimpsed a familiar red rope on Li Chengyuan’s desk.

It stood to reason that flipping through the boss’s things and prying into his privacy was not proper conduct.

But that rope was really familiar, and it was placed on the desk surface, so there was no need to search for it.

Xia Xingchi paused for a moment and was about to retreat, but decided in the end to step forward and sate his curiosity.

This red rope was hand-woven. Xia Xingchi frowned the more he looked at it – this was his original weaving method from when he was a child.

When he was young and naive, he always thought he could get rich by inventing something unique, so he thought hard and came up with this very beautiful weaving method.

It was a pity that nobody cared about his street stall, and he was chased off by urban management.

But how could Li Chengyuan have such a red string bracelet here?

Did someone else coincidentally come up with the same method, or was it really made by him?

Xia Xingchi frowned, and a tenuous feeling crept into his heart.

It was familiar and unfamiliar, as if there was some memory that wanted to break free from the shackles that had been holding it back!

Suddenly, like a pot of hot water soaking him from head to toe, the dream he had forgotten became crystal clear without warning!

 — This is the same one I gave him when I was a child!

T/N: It’s getting closer to the end of this story, so I’m going to pose this question: Does anyone have an untranslated story that they want to see translated? I can’t promise anything, since I’m super picky about what I read, but it’s nice to have options! I’m also open to novels that have been dropped by previous translators.

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[1] This makes more sense when you see that the characters for “Yu” (喻) and “Thief” (偷) are so similar. ⮐

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Chapter Thirty-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty

T/N: Thank you to VC3 for the Kofi! You made my day! Also, I’m posting two chapters today. I don’t like when translators require a certain amount of donations before posting the next chapter, so I figure I’ll just post two chapters for every donation from now on, whatever the amount.

The bottle of bath salt rolled to the ground. Xia Xingchi sat up stiffly as it rolled away, completely forgetting to bend down and pick it up.

It was very quiet for a while. Li Chengyuan observed him patiently and expressionlessly, as if wondering what lies he would come up with this time.

Xia Xingchi finally came back to his senses and jumped up at once, thinking that escaping would be the best plan, but Li Chengyuan grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to the chair.

Li Chengyuan said somberly: “Speak.”

He had finally revealed this terrifying truth in front of Xia Xingchi, and at this word, he couldn’t help but flinch.

“I…..what can I say?” Xia Xingchi asked dryly with a guilty conscience. “What modified memories, ah? Are you sleepy and telling fairy tales?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t say a word, and the more expressionless he was, the more frightening he became.

Feeling increasingly terrified, Xia Xingchi outwardly pursued victory with an earnest appearance: “I’ve heard that near-death experiences can cause hallucinations, you must be mistaken……anyway, don’t think about these messy things!”

Li Chengyuan’s expression shifted.

After a long silence, he said in a heavy voice: “Xia Xingchi, do you also want to say that I’m mentally ill, that these are all figments of my imagination —”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly covered his mouth and coughed.

His face, which was slightly ruddy from soaking in hot water, turned pale again. His lungs had not yet healed from being damaged by the toxin, and at this moment, he coughed up a trace of blood.

Li Chengyuan swallowed the blood in his throat and smiled self-mockingly: “Yes, maybe I am crazy.”

Xia Xingchi had never witnessed such a scene before, and was at a loss for what to do.

He suddenly remembered that Li Chengyuan was convinced of the existence of that little liar, and that because of his tenacity, the mistress had forced him to take countless psychotropic drugs.

— He had accidentally poked this wound while looking for excuses in a panic.

It was hard to say whether that little liar existed or not, but what Li Chengyuan said about the memory change a year ago was indeed true.

Feeling extremely guilty, Xia Xingchi said: “No! I believe you! I mean……actually, I……uh, I actually had plastic surgery! So you didn’t recognize me then!”

Li Chengyuan: “………”

He was actually not so fragile and glass-hearted, not to mention being saddened because of such an inconspicuous little thing. 

He wanted to use this to test Xia Xingchi. However, it seemed that he had overacted the performance and had accidentally coughed up a little blood, which forced the little hedgehog to tell such untrustworthy lies without hesitation.

Xia Xingchi continued to lie with a hushed voice and a guilty conscience: “Of, of course things like plastic surgery should be kept secret! I was afraid you would dislike me, so it was normal for me to want to hide it – right!”

Li Chengyuan was helpless. He estimated that if he pushed this person too hard, he would bite people, so he reached out and pinched the tip of Xia Xingchi’s nose: “Stop fabricating things, why can’t you even tell a whole lie now?”

He wasn’t as good as when he was a child.

Although the ins and out were not clear yet, Li Chengyuan had already obtained the answer he was looking for: 

It was quite a standard cover-up. If Xia Xingchi didn’t know anything, then naturally he wouldn’t have to lie, let alone feel so guilty.

It seemed that this little liar knew something, but just wouldn’t say it.

“Help me up.” Li Chengyuan let him off temporarily, and stretched out his arms instead.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Xingchi saw that he seemed to be unable to stand, and asked anxiously, “Are you dizzy or uncomfortable?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t say anything. As if he were really dizzy, he let Xia Xingchi help him up.

This little part-time worker was very service-oriented, so he picked up a bath towel and dried him off.

In fact, when Xia Xingchi was wiping him, he did it with the attitude of bathing and brushing a wet cat. He didn’t think much of it, and was about to wipe lower when he heard a voice in his ear saying: “Do you dare to look at me?”

Xia Xingchi: “……”

With such a reminder, he seemed to have accidentally seen something.

At this moment, he had finished casually wiping Li Chengyuan’s upper body, and was about to wipe all the way down. The position was very awkward and unfortunate, and a certain part could be seen clearly and in detail.

The image was shocking. He hadn’t stared at it before, and this was the first time he had beheld it in such a way……the dimensions were impressive.

“Shit!”

Thorns immediately exploded all over Xia Xingchi’s body. While jumping three feet high, he threw the towel directly onto Li Chengyuan: “Wipe yourself quickly!”

This person’s skill at acting weak was too extreme. Whenever Xia Xingchi was distracted, he would always classify him as weak and unable to take care of himself, and want to lift him out of the wheelchair again or dry him off and put him in a bathrobe.

. . . . . . 

The impact of the image was too great. Xia Xingchi tossed and turned at night, finally remembering that besides liking money, he had other hobbies, such as liking men.

He usually thought nothing of sleeping with Li Chengyuan. Even hugging his waist and sticking to Li Chengyuan was like a small animal huddling together for warmth, with no extraneous thoughts.

But tonight, somehow, something was wrong. The villain’s perpetually cold body temperature seemed to roast him, making Xia Xingchi shrink to the side of the bed to be as far away from him as possible.

But no matter how far away he could get, it was still a bed. His nose was still full of a certain person’s light fragrance, gently scratching the tip of his heart like a small paw.

Seeing him rolling around like a small pancake without sleeping, and so far away, Li Chengyuan said helplessly: “What are you doing?”

“I’m hot. Don’t get close to me.”

Li Chengyuan was even more helpless.

Fortunately, Xia Xingchi fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. After waiting for a while, he saw that the pancake would not turn over again and was snoring comfortably and contentedly while lying on the pillow. Only then did Li Chengyuan reach out to pull him into his arms.

. . . . . . 

When the doctor knocked on the door in the morning to make his rounds, Xia Xinchi had already changed his position to actively cling to Li Chengyuan’s body, soundly asleep.

He heard a weak voice talking next to his ear: “Mr. Li, your inspection results……”

Xia Xingchi immediately pricked up his ears and peeked out from under the blanket, listening to the doctor’s words with sleepy eyes.

When the doctor walked through the door, he noticed that something was bulging under the bedding. Just as he was thinking that it was a pillow or something else, he saw a bright and handsome young man emerge.

Li Chengyuan stuffed Xia Xingchi back in casually: “You sleep tight.”

Xia Xingchi declined. Yawning, he unceremoniously rubbed his head against Li Chengyuan’s clothes and put his arms around his waist, refusing to let go.

Maybe it was because he’d had little intimate physical contact since he was a child, but when Xia Xingchi was in a daze, he would instinctively stick to someone he knew and liked.

The doctor was suddenly stuffed with dog food, and it took him a long time to regain his senses and continue: “Overall, there are no big issues. However, lung and myocardial damage still require rest for a period of time, and the problems of hypotension and anemia still require medication.”

“If you want to get rid of your stomach problems, don’t make a habit of staying up late. You also must balance work and rest. Working too much can hurt your body.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head. It suddenly occurred to him that the other party wanted to make money so desperately because of his money-grubber White Moonlight, and suddenly felt that the person he was holding in his arms was unpalatable.

He finally remembered how hard he had tried to distance himself from him last night. Why did he embrace him as soon as he opened his eyes today?

Li Chengyuan found the hands around his waist loosen. The little hedgehog who had just woken up felt inexplicably depressed, slowly retracting his head into the bedding and turning away from him as he silently rolled himself into a little hedgehog ball.

Li Chengyuan: ?

Even a business legend with incredible foresight couldn’t figure this out. After pondering for a long time, he couldn’t figure out which sentence had offended Xia Xingchi.

. . . . . .

Li Chengyuan only stayed in the hospital for a few days. After finishing the necessary injections, he decided to go through the formalities and leave the hospital. After all, he could also rest at home.

His decision was very firm, and he didn’t take into consideration his physical condition at all. Even though the doctor advised him to rest and stay a few days for observation, he refused to comply, and the remaining IVs and medications were taken home.

Xia Xingchi was baffled, and didn’t understand why he wanted to go back all of a sudden.

He’d originally wanted to persuade him, but was easily defeated by the sentence, “I’m in a bad mood here.”

This was a moody and bad-tempered big cat. A disagreement would make him so angry that his stomach hurt. It was best not to provoke him, so that a negative attitude would not affect the recovery of his body.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, vaguely feeling that Li Chengyuan didn’t want to leave the ward just because he didn’t want to stay here.

Maybe there was another reason that he didn’t want to talk about……and it wasn’t a good thing.

After not visiting home for a long time, Xia Xingchi was shocked when he passed by the open storage room just after entering the house and changing his shoes.

The entire storage room was packed to the brim. There were so many gift boxes, containing food, drink, entertainment, and all aspects of daily life.

Xia Xingchi casually picked up an expensive and beautiful watch and held it to his wrist, feeling that this youthful style suited him quite well. 

“Oh my god, Aunt Li, did I win the lottery?”

Aunt Li was watering the plants in the living room, and said: “A lot of people have come to give gifts recently. Your agency and your father have delivered a lot of things to your door.”

Not long ago, his agency had casually suppressed him, but since he and Li Chengyuan had made an official announcement, they not only found that they had treated the young master of the Xia family badly, but this was also the lover that Mr. Li held in his palm.

The degree of their shock and fear was no less than five thunderbolts, and they regretted all of their actions from the beginning. So after slipping to their knees, they began to give gifts attentively. It was obviously a sincere apology and an attempt to improve their relationship.

As for Xia Pingjian, he was so thick-skinned that he didn’t feel any degree of shame as he favored a different person.

Seeing that his son’s value had skyrocketed, he hastened to restore their relationship, forgetting the time when he scorned and beat him whenever he wanted to.

Xia Xingchi’s thoughts on the “gift giving” were still stuck at the cognitive level of a poverty-stricken worker. When Aunt Li called to ask if he would accept them, the little money-grubber simply nodded and said that of course he would accept them if they were offered at no charge.

It turned out that there was an entire storage room full of them, which was honestly too ostentatious.

Likely because he was afraid that cheap things would not catch the eye of “Mrs. Li,” he had bought the most expensive and best of everything. 

Xia Xingchi was delighted by this windfall from the sky, and turned around happily to say as if sharing the spoils: “This is all for your sake. You pick first, and I’ll take the leftovers.”

At this moment, Summer flew down the stairs, short legs slipping as it rushed down as if it was about to drift.

It had been a long time since it last saw these two people, and the seemingly non-sticky kitty cat couldn’t help but directly swoop upon them, obviously lonely.

Li Chengyuan immediately dodged the impact of the giant fluffy cannonball.

The big white dumpling missed its target and let out a dissatisfied “meow!” Then it turned to grab Xia Xingchi’s trousers and rubbed its head against him, as if beseeching him to uphold justice.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment, shocked by the surprising intimacy, and a sense of happiness burst within him.

He hit Li Chengyuan with a mallet in his mind, and said what he didn’t dare to say back when he was afraid of the big villain: “You really don’t know how to recognize a blessing! Do you know how wonderful it is to have such a sticky kitty cat? You don’t even know how many years I’ve wanted such a cat!”

Li Chengyuan said lightly: “I know.”

He didn’t have much interest in this kind of small animal. He had just thought of the cute expression on that person’s face when he stared at a kitten back then, so he specially raised one after leaving the Li Residence and stabilizing the company.

He normally didn’t have time to deal with this sort of affair, and had a dedicated servant to raise the cat, but he often fed Summer cat treats himself.

While feeding it, he recalled that the little liar was penniless and couldn’t even eat food himself, yet he was still able to feed half of the last bit of food to the stray kitten and half to Li Chengyuan with a smile.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, and was about to retort, “It’s really weird that you know,” when Li Chengyuan continued:

“I got it for you. You said you like the pure white long-haired ones…..it has the same surname as you.”

“Huh? How could —”

Xia Xingchi was stunned, and suddenly realized that the name “Summer” really had the character “Xia” in it.

Li Chengyuan’s tranquil and serious expression didn’t look like he was joking at all. This big white dumpling had been raised for more than a year and was named early, far earlier than Xia Xingchi’s marriage.

This series of occurrences……how could there be such a coincidence?

Li Chengyuan didn’t say anything more, and deliberately let Xia Xingchi think about it for himself. Taking off his coat, he turned around and went upstairs to the study.

Leaving Xia Xingchi and Summer to stare blankly at each other, each in a daze.

– – –

The next day, Xia Xingchi had his own get-rich-quickly job. It seemed that Lin Meng had selected the best few from countless high-quality resources.

Considering that the most important thing was the young lovers, in the face of hundreds of billions of net worth, working in the entertainment industry was indeed just for entertainment.

A simple variety show that could be recorded within a day wouldn’t affect the love and sugar between the two of them.

In the past, Xia Xinghchi had felt helpless idling away at home without being able to make money, but now he could easily fill his money-making itinerary, which made him as happy as winning the lottery.

He glanced at the big villain who was haughtily eating breakfast at the dining table, and suddenly couldn’t bear to go out.

Li Chengyuan was also dissatisfied with these plans. His clingy character was faintly revealed again through his illness, and it was obvious that he wanted to pick Xia Xingchi up himself so as not to lose him.

“It’s fine, you have a good rest, I really won’t run away.” Xia Xingchi said sourly, “I’m not the same as a liar who kills for money, don’t be so nervous all the time!”

Li Chengyuan took a deep breath. He was very self-aware of his paranoid character, and in order not to scare this person, he finally compromised.

Xia Xingchi instructed: “Eat a good lunch and dinner, ah. I’ll be back late, so I can’t supervise you today. Go to bed early and don’t stay up late to work.”

This variety show was being recorded in Beijing, and it would be the first time he appeared in front of everyone after he became a focus of attention.

There was no need to work hard like Xia Yu to establish a persona of “playing casually in the entertainment industry.” When Xia Xingchi was asked this question, he only told the truth, and sincerely emphasized in front of the camera that he was really here to make money.

It was a pity that everyone only thought he was being low-key humorous. After all, as long as he wanted it, Li Chengyuan could directly buy the entire TV station.

No one could come to play for fun more confidently than him.

It took a whole day to record the entire variety show.

Xia Xingchi thought that he would be able to grab a free meat-filled lunchbox, but the driver Xiao Wu brought a sumptuous meal prepared by Aunt Li – and at the same time, checked for Mr. Li to see if this person was still here.

The meal from home was healthier and more nutritious than the box lunches, and the pork rib soup was so fragrant that everyone couldn’t help but sigh with lament.

Although Xia Xingchi tried to share food so that he wouldn’t be eating it alone, everyone was too embarrassed to take advantage of the love bento specially prepared by the boss for his lover. So in the end, he was the only one who managed to fill himself to bursting.

– – –

Because he recorded a few additional promotion videos, it was already midnight when he returned home.

Xia Xingchi tiptoed upstairs. He’d told Li Chengyuan to go to sleep early, and the latter had replied with a brief and indifferent “En.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he climbed to the second floor, he saw that person sleeping on the sofa.

Li Chengyuan was dressed in pure white house clothes. With such long legs, it was a bit difficult for him to squeeze onto the sofa, and he had to curl up on his side. It didn’t look very comfortable.

Summer was also curled up into a kitty cat ball, sleeping next to him. Xia Xingchi felt at once like he was raising two white cats, one big and one small. Even after his night shift was over, there were still people waiting for him.

However, even as his heart became warm, he simultaneously grew angry. It was fine if Summer didn’t go to bed, but why was this big cat so disobedient?

Not to mention the awkward and uncomfortable sleeping position, but if he accidentally caught a cold, he was guaranteed to have a stomach attack and a high fever.

Although Xia Xingchi had lightened his steps, Li Chengyuan opened his eyes immediately.

“Dear boss, didn’t you promise me you’d go to bed early?” Xia Xingchi reproached him with distress, “Why are you sleeping here? What should you do if you catch a cold?”

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes. Since he had found Xia Xingchi, his original difficulty in falling asleep had indeed recovered a lot, and the subconscious idea of “I can’t sleep or I’ll never find him again” had gradually weakened.

He had originally wanted to wait for him here, but accidentally fell asleep.

Seeing that he was silent, Xia Xingchi thought he wasn’t feeling well, so he hurriedly stepped forward and touched his forehead, only to be relieved upon seeing no fever or cold sweat.

“Don’t wait up for me in the future, go back to your room and sleep early.”

Li Chengyuan sat side by side with Summer on the sofa, his indifferent expression clearly conveying that he refused to admit he was waiting for someone.

“Okay, okay, you weren’t waiting. Mister, if you refuse to sleep again, I will knock you unconscious and throw you on the bed to smother to death.”

But when Li Chengyuan took the documents on the coffee table back to the study and returned, he saw that a certain person had already fallen asleep on the pillow.

It didn’t look like he could smother anyone at all.

Li Chengyuan smiled helplessly, turning the sleeping Xia Xingchi so that he wouldn’t suffocate while sleeping on his stomach.

Xia Xingchi crooned softly.

Perhaps something deep within his memory had been touched by the way Li Chengyuan lay curled up into a ball, because he actually dreamed of a little child version of Li Chengyuan who was also wearing a white shirt.

In the dream, he was similarly curled up like this, shivering uncomfortably as he pressed against his heart in a cold corner.

“Are you sick?” A little Xia Xingchi squatted down. “Is there something wrong with you, ah?”

Li Chengyuan ignored him. Seeing him leaning over to check, he just coldly slapped his hand away and leaned against the wall, using it to stand up with difficulty. He staggered as he tried to leave.

Unexpectedly, just after taking two steps, a burst of dizziness accompanied by a splitting headache made him fall down.

Xia Xingchi quickly caught him, and said with decisive judgment: “You’ll die like this!”

Li Chengyuan finally reacted. An odd smile different from those of normal children appeared on his cold face: “Then I’ll die, ba —”

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Xingchi directly hugged him.

Although Xia Xingchi was a few years older than him, he was only slightly taller. But Li Chengyuan was dying of illness at that time, and was so emaciated that it was hard for Xia Xingchi to hug him.

“You can’t just die like this,” Xia Xingchi said breathlessly. “By the looks of you, you’re very rich. How can you be willing to die, ah? What a waste of money!”

Li Chengyuan was dumbfounded.

He had obviously never heard such an outrageous reason for living. It sounded like black humor.

But Xia Xingchi’s solemn attitude didn’t seem like a joke. He took him all the way to a remote abandoned factory that could shelter him from the cold wind, and boldly squeezed the face of the golden and precious Second Young Master.

“Be honest, are you a young master who ran away from home?” 

“Drink some water, ba. Your lips are so dry and white, are you thirsty?”

“When your parents come to get you, can you tip me some food money? Otherwise, I’ll starve to death before you die.”

The scene changed, and it was soon a cold and wet rainy night.

Li Chengyuan’s sensitive and fragile stomach was throbbing, but he endured it soundlessly. He sat to the side and watched Xia Xingchi’s dexterous little hands quickly weave a red rope:

“Thank you for the meal money you lent me……although I have no money for the time being, can this be considered an IOU? I’ll pay you back when I make money!”

Li Chengyuan wanted to say that there was no need to pay back the money. Anyway, he would be murdered or die of illness before he could live until then.

But after thinking about it, he hoped that Xia Xingchi would still be around, so he nodded expressionlessly.

“Why do you have such a bad face? Don’t you want to eat something? The steamed buns are really delicious!”

Li Chengyuan shook his head, and continued to endure the severe pain in his stomach without saying a word.

His vision gradually darkened, and he hoped that he would pass out from the pain soon, so that he wouldn’t have to continue to suffer.

But at this time, he was caught off guard by a sweet taste in his throat, and promptly vomited out a mouthful of dark blood.

Xia Xingchi was lowering his head to put the bracelet on for him, but upon seeing this, he froze in place with fright.

To him, a child who vomited blood must be near death. Seeing his body tilt as he passed out with a pale face, Xia Xingchi was frightened out of his wits and thought that he had suddenly died.

“Li Chengyuan!!”

Xia Xingchi sat up suddenly as he woke up from the dream in terror.

Li Chengyuan was in a light doze, and was woken up by his loud voice. He noticed that the other was trembling and that the fear on his face had not completely faded, so he stretched out his hand and rubbed his head: “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Xia Xingchi seemed to be sleepwalking and hadn’t fully woken up from the dream. He was in a daze for a while and couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.

Grabbing Li Chengyuan’s hand, he said with certainty: “You can’t die! I made you a bracelet……I haven’t paid you back yet!”

Li Chengyuan had just thought he was having an ordinary nightmare, and that after coaxing him, he would be able to sleep unafraid.

But as soon as the word “bracelet” came out, he suddenly frowned and said incredulously: “Xia Xingchi, what did you remember?”

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Chapter Thirty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Nine

The night wind in the forest was frigid, blowing ice cold all over the surrounding wilderness. A-Ning took out a blanket from the luggage and spread it under a tree near the fire. He wanted his young master to rest early, but the group of injured people on the opposite side was too noisy as they woke up drowsily and groaned at the top of their lungs like an overturned basket of clamoring ghosts and cicadas.

Gao Lin paced to Liang Shu’s side with his hands clasped and whispered in a breathless voice: “Your Highness, just stop it, that’s enough.” What is this business of always staring at Second Young Master Liu? If the other party was an unmarried girl, her reputation and integrity would be stared clean away by you.

On the other side, A-Ning also noticed that His Royal Highness was looking over, so he whispered to Liu Xian’an: “Young Master, it seems that the prince has something to say to you.

Liu Xian’an wiped the snack crumbs from his fingers and looked in Liang Shu’s direction.

At this time, Liang Shu had already withdrawn his gaze and was conversing with Gao Lin. 

The wilderness campfire and the bright moon cast a glow over his whole body. His features were bold, his nose high and straight, and the hem of his robes seemed to swirl up like a shimmering lake of broken gold. With an indolent expression and a luxurious presence, he did not match up with the rumored murderous madman.

But there was always some truth and some falsity to rumors. Thinking of this, Liu Xian’an wrapped up in a blanket and sat back under the tree, closing his eyes to wander again. He didn’t really care whether the world was quiet or noisy. Even if there really was a shrieking ghost, as long as his mood was calm, the only thing that would fall into his ears was the breeze piercing through the forest.

“Ah!” A wailing voice came out of nowhere, startling a flock of birds in the forest, but it did not startle Second Young Master Liu away from his three thousand avenues.

A-Ning was unable to fall asleep anyway, so he sat next to Liu Xian’an, stretching his neck out to watch the excitement. A limp escort was carried before Liang Shu by the soldiers, his wounded leg dragging across the muddy ground, still dripping blood. He looked miserable.

Perhaps he was truly scared to death, because coupled with the stimulation of severe pain, before Gao Lin could ask any questions, he poured it all out by himself.

The chief escort of Wanli Escort Bureau was named Chang Wanli. While not well-known in the jianghu, the escort business was booming. Three years ago, Chang Wanli’s first wife passed away due to illness. It did not take long for him to marry a new wife. Her name was He Rao, and she had a charming appearance, but her temper was the exact opposite.

Chang Xiaoqiu didn’t like his stepmother. He was only twelve or thirteen years old at the time, and due to his young age, he often spoke rudely to her. The relationship between the two of them was never very good. As for Chang Xiaohan, he was the number two figure in the escort bureau after Chang Wanli, and had been silently protecting the young master all these years.

Gao Lin asked: “So the new wife ordered you to find a chance to deal with Chang Xiaohan and Chang Xiaoqiu when you went out this time?”

“Yes.” The escort said, “She gave us a pearl first, and said she will give us another box after the thing is done.” As he spoke, he took it out of his sleeve. “This is it.”

Not gold or silver, but pearls. Liang Shu took a glance: “What kind of family background does she have?”

“There is no family background. She was a refugee fleeing disaster in the south. When she first entered the city, she was smelly and filthy, and for some reason she was spotted by the head guard.”

Gao Lin crouched in front of the escort, took the pearl, and examined it slowly in the firelight: “Escorts usually do business with gold and silver. Even if the new lady wanted to tamper with the accounts and save some private money, she should get gold and silver. It would be difficult to save ten East China Sea Pearls of this size, let alone a whole box. Since she worked so hard to save them, why should she take it out for bribery……or do you not accept silver?”

“Accept, of course we accept, we want to convert it to silver, even if it is less than one or two percent. Because although this pearl is valuable, it is not easy to sell, but the wife said that this was all she had.”

A-Ning clicked his tongue while listening, and whispered to Liu Xian’an: “My lord, the old lady wanted two pearls to make earrings last time, but the master of the estate has not been able to buy the right ones. They actually have a box full of them, opening an escort agency really brings a wide range of connections.”

“It has nothing to do with the escort bureau.” Still wrapped in a blanket, Liu Xian’an yawned. “The pearl should have been owned by her before she got married.”

“Why?” A-Ning leaned towards him and lowered his voice. “Young Master was sleeping just now and didn’t hear the prince’s question. That He Rao has no family background and was a refugee fleeing disaster.”

“Leaving aside whether her status as a refugee is true or false, even if it is true, she was able to hide her belongings before fleeing disaster.” Liu Xian’an said, “After she married, no matter how prosperous the Wanli Escort Bureau’s business is, it would take three years to save enough for a box of pearls. Firstly, the money is difficult to move, and secondly, it would be impossible for no one to notice. If she wanted to have someone murdered cleanly, no matter what, she shouldn’t include pearls that could let others get a handle on her.”

Therefore, the only reasonable explanation was that the pearls were not obtained by her after she married into the Wanli Escort Bureau. In this way, even if the plot was exposed, she would not be implicated. On the contrary, she could also help clear up the suspicion in reverse – after all, only a fool would exchange easily exposed pearls worth tens of thousands of gold for something that cost one thousand silver. It really sounded sick in the head.

A-Ning understood, asking again: “Then shall we tell Lieutenant General Gao?”

“No need. If we can see it, His Royal Highness can see it, as well as Lieutenant General Gao.” Liu Xian’an said, “If you really want to help, then send some wound medicine to relieve the bleeding and pain, otherwise the escort won’t be able to last a few more words.”

The conversation between master and servant under the tree was sent to Liang Shu’s ears verbatim by the wind. After a while, A-Ning ran over with the medicine and Gao Lin nodded to him: “Thank you.”

A-Ning saw that the escort was covered with injuries, and there was not enough time to deal with all of them, so he simply bandaged the two major injuries and fed him a few more painkillers. The entire set of techniques was swift and steady. His expression didn’t even change when blood splashed on his face, which made Lieutenant General Gao take another look at Baihe Mountain Village on the spot

Liang Shu’s attention was not on this side.

Gao Lin felt that his prince’s behavior, if he stared at Miss Liu herself, could be explained as uncontrollable admiration when the emperor asked about it in the future. But at this time, at the end of his line of sight was Second Young Master Liu. No matter how it looked like a prelude to provocation, the palace spies were standing five steps away. Could we focus on business and engage in fewer such displays?

But His Royal Highness clearly didn’t have the consciousness to perform well. Not only did he fail to do so, but he casually and indifferently said: “Ask all the questions that should be asked clearly,” and then walked not far from Liu Xian’an, lifted the hem of his robes, and sat down as well.

Gao Lin: “……”

A-Ning became nervous again: “Lieutenant General Gao!”

Gao Lin had no choice but to continue to comfort him: “It’s fine, His Highness probably wants to ask about some detoxification medical theory.”

Thinking about it carefully, during the half-day of traveling together, the master and servant of Baihe Mountain Village had been helping, but the prince had been making trouble and telling lies. Lieutenant General Gao’s heart ached. How could there be such a difference in morality between people?

The campfire crackled and burned merrily.

Liu Xian’an continued to rest with his eyes closed.

Liang Shu tossed a stone into the fire.

With a whoosh, the flames blew up more than a third of a meter, and flew on the wind towards the tree. Liu Xian’an’s eyelashes fluttered, and he was finally forced to open his eyes due to the heat on his face. Last time in the carriage, he saw Liang Shu at the end of a wild and beautiful dream, and this time His Royal Highness was mixed into the flurry of flames. Both times were real and illusory, uneasy and startling. In the interweaving light and darkness, he was frightened and didn’t know where he was.

He stabilized his heartbeat a little and looked nearby, seeing that Gao Lin was still asking questions and the interrogation was obviously not over.

“Tell me.” Lian Shu held the pearl in his hand. “Why did the new wife insist on this as a reward?”

Liu Xian’an didn’t expect that the other party would come to discuss this issue with him. He forced his thoughts back to reality and said: “Perhaps the private money she saved in the past three years was not enough to buy escorts, or maybe she didn’t really intend to give the pearls away. I don’t know much about Wanli Escort Bureau, but according to common sense, unless Chang Xiaoqiu had already threatened He Rao’s status, there was no need for her to rush into it when she didn’t have the funds.”

“So you think it is the second possibility. She didn’t intend to give away the pearls, but just used one as bait to make the escorts work for her?”

“The premise is that the bandits in Fuhu Mountain have long been in league with her.” Liu Xian’an said, “I figure the ending He Rao wanted most was for the bandits to wipe out the escort team, so that she could recover the pearl, remove the thorn in her side, and keep the secret forever. The reason she bothered to buy escorts was actually just to poison Chang Xiaohan along the way, so that the only master who could really protect Chang Xiaoqiu would fall early and aid her plan.”

But unexpectedly, things still didn’t develop according to her arrangements. Chang Xiaohan’s body was strong, and although he was smoked by the poisonous fumes, his skills did not decrease too much. On the contrary, he led Chang Xiaoqiu out of the encirclement and escaped with his life.

Liang Shu’s judgment was similar to his.

So Liu Xian’an was not a complete layabout. He should have a lot of brains, but if that was the case, why was he being rumored by the outside world as a beautiful idiot?

If Lian Shu were to speculate, according to his past twenty years of survival of the fittest, it could only be that the other party was deliberately showing weakness, pretending to be senseless in order to protect himself in a big family.

But in fact, the family style of Baihe Mountain Village was very upright. Everyone was busy with their own affairs, and there was no internal intrigue. If one were to ask Second Young Master Liu if he had heard of his reputation in the world, he had vaguely heard some of it. But he had already half-stepped out of the world of mortals, traveling everywhere under the sun and wandering around the nine provinces. Riding the strong winds was very pleasant, and he sought absolute spiritual freedom in the heavens. How could he be affected by the small rumors of the secular world?

So he didn’t care. He truly didn’t care.

But Liang Shu didn’t understand his state of mind, at least for now.

He looked at Liu Xian’an, and after a while, he suddenly asked: “Did Young Master Liu mention this lord before to his younger sister?”

Hearing this, Liu Xian’an unconsciously straightened his back. He had not forgotten his mission to quietly spoil this marriage. 

Her interminable wailing had surely been mentioned. Liu Xian’an didn’t know that His Royal Highness had heard the whole plan about jumping into the lake in the teahouse, so he proceeded to lie without any psychological burden: “No, A-Yuan is naturally introverted and shy. She usually doesn’t talk much. My parents often suffer headaches because of her dull temperament. By the way, what sort of person does the prince like?”

Liang Shu replied: “Personality is not important, as long as they are beautiful.”

Liu Xian’an paused slightly, because his original idea was to reverse his younger sister’s personality, but he didn’t expect that the other party’s requirements for choosing a partner would be so straightforward and superficial. There was no depth. As long as they were beautiful……this gave no leeway to him at all.

He pondered for a moment and continued to hypothesize: “If they are beautiful but have a bad personality, and when dissatisfied will make a scene and throw bowls, plates, and cups, causing the whole family to be distressed, or if she simply commits suicide, is this okay too?”

“Naturally.” Liang Shu revealed an unprecedented good temper. “If they cry, I will coax them, and continue to buy bowls, plates, and cups after they are broken. As for suicide, if the beauty must die, then this lord can only join her. If I die under a peony flower, a ghost can also be romantic.”

“…….”

Liu Xian’an looked at Liang Shu, trying to find some indication in his expression that he was making this up, but there was none. His Royal Highness didn’t want to act in front of his spies, but in front of Second Young Master Liu, it was just the opposite. Before the stage could be set up, he was already addicted to drama.

In the distance, Lieutenant General Gao sighed.

Although Liu Xian’an had long been indifferent to life and death, that was the conclusion drawn from looking down upon everything from the height of the Dao of Heaven, which was completely different from Liang Shu’s “a ghost can also be romantic.” They belonged to two separate schools of indifference.

However, His Royal Highness seemed to be far from the words “ladies’ man,” so Liu Xian’an was a unavoidably a little surprised when he first heard it. But after thinking about it, since some people died for profit, some for fame, and some for family and country, why couldn’t some people sacrifice their lives for romance? Since they could, why couldn’t such a person be Liang Shu?

At this thought, Liu Xian’an nodded slightly and successfully accepted that the first commander of Dayan might run off to die for love at any time, which was actually a terrifying prospect. But since the other party was so obsessed with lust, then his previous method would not work. His sister was really beautiful, so he needed to change his angle of persuasion.

Not half of his series of mental activities showed on his face. Liang Shu thought he had seen no small number of people, and among them, it was not uncommon for them to remain calm and unaffected when Mount Tai collapsed before their eyes. But Liu Xian’an’s tranquility could not be roughly classified into this category. He was not the same as them, or to be more precise, he was not even in the same space as others.

There was an independent and indestructible barrier that firmly isolated him in another world.

Liang Shu was the first to discover this.

Thus, His Royal Highness’s new interest immediately turned toward finding a way to break this barrier.

As for why it should be broken and what to do after it was broken, that was beyond his consideration. The so-called making trouble out of nothing went roughly something like this.

Gao Lin was worried and came over to interrupt before too long: “The group of escorts seem to be unfamiliar with the bandits in Fuhu Mountain.”

Liang Shu glanced at him: “After interrogating them for such a long time, you came to such a conclusion?”

Gao Lin: “……”

Gao Lin: “No, there is more.”

Liang Shu walked under the tree on the other side: “Tell me.”

Gao Lin spoke, but couldn’t help casting another glance behind him, and saw that Liu Xian’an had wrapped himself in the blanket again, hugging his knees as he gazed up at the black sky. Although his eyes were filled with dancing flames, for some reason, they still seemed as quiet as a cold, bottomless pool.

He also faintly noticed the innate sense of alienation and distance in Liu Xian’an, but not the existence of the barrier. Instead, from another angle, he found a plausible reason – this was normal, after all, the prince was really annoying.

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Chapter Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Six

When Zhao Yelan went out, Xia Gao had subconsciously followed him. He said he was going to look for Gu Niaonaio, and after sending Xiao Gao away, he went alone. Instead of going to the Hongxiu Building openly, he walked into the small house used for communication, then walked through the tunnel and knocked on the door.

After a while, it opened to reveal Gu Niaonaio wearing a thin robe with her shoulders exposed, yawning as she stood there: “Is it good for you to run to me right after returning to Beijing?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at the scene inside the house.

“Come in, ba, there’s no one else.” After waiting for him to enter, Gu Niaoniao closed the secret door and told the surrounding maids and servants to retreat, then went back to the room to pour a cup of tea and light a stick of incense. “I haven’t seen you in a few months, but you still came back alive. You have good fortune, ah.”

Zhao Yelan took a sip of tea, then took out a bag of spices and a pearl hairpin, setting them on the table.

“You still know to bring me something? Then I won’t be polite.” Gu Niaoniao sat down with a smile and picked up the hairpin. She examined it for a while, then said, “It’s very unique, you even know women’s styles so well?”

“I found it in passing.”

Seeing Yin Pinglu stare at this hairpin for a long time, Zhao Yelan asked Yan Mingting to buy it for her, and bought a second one while they were there.

“You just don’t want to admit it, ba.” Gu Niaonaio smiled and inserted the hairpin into her hair, looking into the bronze mirror with great satisfaction. She picked up the spice packet and smelled it: “This is nice. We can put it in Qingyan’s room, the patrons will like it.”

Zhao Yelan twirled his fingers and remained silent.

After a long while, Gu Niaoniao put away these things with a sigh, and her expression gradually sank: “You don’t think this will placate me, do you?”

Zhao Yelan looked at her.

“You’ve been preparing to fake your death for so long, and I almost snuck in to collect the corpse. You just suddenly canceled your plans, and the next day, you slipped away to Jiangnan by yourself to be lovebirds with Yan Mingting. Such a happy thing,” Gu Niaoniao said angrily.

“Sorry, it happened suddenly.”

Gu Niaoniao looked at him for a while, then waved her hand: “Well, since it’s your own choice, what can I say? How are you two doing now?”

“Fairly well.” Zhao Yelan took another sip of tea.

“Your fairly well should mean extremely well.” Gu Niaoniao observed his expression. “Tell me, you came to the door in person as soon as you returned, so what do you need me for?”

“The tattoos on Qingyan’s body, did you do them?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Some of the girls in the building wore flirtatious tattoos to tease the guests, and others had scars on their bodies that could be covered with tattoos. Of course, there were some who simply enjoyed them.

“Yes, ah, I did the tattoos on all the girls. It’s a special skill that I learned.” As Gu Niaoniao spoke, she glanced at him in surprise and her expression turned strange. “Are you thinking about getting a tattoo as well?”

Zhao Yelan nodded calmly.

“You two…..are progressing very fast,” Gu Niaoniao teased. She paused again, shook her head, and said, “No, no. Does that mean that he hasn’t seen your back yet?”

“En.”

Gu Niaoniao was suddenly in awe of Yan Mingting, and sighed: “Wait a minute, I’ll go get some tools.”

About a quarter of an hour later, Gu Niaoniao came in with a big box: “Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed.”

Zhao Yelan watched as she unfolded a cloth bag with practiced movements. Inside were silver needles of varying thickness, and there were several boxes of paint next to her. She lit a candle, took out a needle, and heated it on the flame.

Gu Niaoniao noticed his gaze lingering on the needle, and said: “The process is quite painful, aren’t you most afraid of pain? How about I get you a sleeping draught? By the time you wake up, it will be over.”

Zhao Yelan thought for a moment before agreeing. Then he slowly removed his shirt, lay down on the bed, and asked: “How long will it take?”

“If you take the medicine, you won’t feel the pain, and I’ll be able to work faster. About half an hour,” Gu Niaoniao said.

“Try to be as quick as possible.” Zhao Yelan glanced at the sky outside. If he stayed too long, Yan Mingting would definitely look for him everywhere.

Gu Niaoniao put down the needle, ready to go prepare the sleeping draught. Unexpectedly, she was stunned as soon as she opened the door, and slowly retreated back into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Yan Mingting appear in the doorway, walking in step by step. He gave Gu Niaoniao a sharp look, then turned his head to look straight at him.

Zhao Yelan was startled, and suddenly realized that he had taken off his shirt. This scene seemed easy to misunderstand. He immediately sat up and donned his clothes, frantically tying his belt, but after a long time, he failed to do so and asked self-deprecatingly: “Why did you come?”

Yan Mingting passed by the table and glanced at the tools on it, then walked to the bed, his face darkening: “Come back with me.”

Zhao Yelan looked up at him. Those eyes that were always smiling were frosted over, frozen into ice. There was even an undercurrent of force in his tone, which was quite different from the usual Yan Mingting, and made him feel a little flustered.

He awkwardly explained: “This isn’t what it looks like, I just……I just have some business with her.”

“What business requires you to strip naked?” Yan Mingting asked.

“I didn’t strip naked…..” Zhao Yelan muttered. There was a sudden pain at his waist as Yan Mingting grabbed his belt and fastened it tightly.

He grunted at the suffocating pain. Yan Mingting looked up at him and relaxed his grip.

“Take your time talking, I’ll leave first.” Gu Niaoniao didn’t want to get involved in this, so as not to make the scene more complicated. After closing the door for them, she asked someone to conceal the news of Yan Mingting’s visit to the brothel.

Zhao Yelan glanced at this person who was still seething, and slowly held the other’s hand. He raised his head and said: “I really have nothing to do with her.”

“Then why were you undressed? You’ve never undressed so easily in front of me.” Yan Mingting looked down at him, sullen and jealous. “Is your heart on her instead of me?”

“How could this be?” Zhao Yelan stood up and kissed his lips. “How can she compare with you?”

Normally, whenever Zhao Yelan took the initiative, Yan Mingting would be as excited as a dog in heat. But at this moment, he was cold and unmoved.

Zhao Yelan kissed him several times in succession, then kissed his cheek and neck, but the other party didn’t respond. Frowning imperceptibly, he knew that this was not ordinary anger.

“What do I need to do for you to believe me?”

“Take off your clothes and show me.” Yan Mingting looked at him coolly.

Zhao Yelan gazed at the other silently for a long while, then pulled off his belt, taking off his outer  and middle layers. When he hooked up the belt of his inner layer, he couldn’t move his hands for a long time. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and there was a broken light in his eyes: “Can we stop here?”

“We can.”

Zhao Yelan was stunned, a little in disbelief. He couldn’t conceive that the other party had compromised so quickly, and was even more flustered. But after careful study, he realized that there was a feeling of disappointment.

Yan Mingting was disappointed in him.

“You can stop whenever you want. If you don’t want me to look, then I won’t look. You can always do whatever you want with me. I, who was tempted first, will admit defeat first.” Yan Mingting gave a self-deprecating smile, but it was a little wan and weak, and didn’t reach his eyes.

Zhao Yelan’s heart trembled. He pulled hard, and the last layer of clothing fell to the ground. His skin was white like jade porcelain, and his waist was as thin as an easily-broken willow branch. The only small imperfections were a finger-long scar on his right breast, as well as a shallow mark on the waist and abdomen that was very long and wrapped around to the back.

“Turn around,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan’s face immediately turned pale. He took two steps back unconsciously, shaking his head over and over: “No, I can’t, how about in a few days?”

Yan Mingting took a step closer and stood in front of him, lowering his head. He stroked his cheek and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument: “Mengting, show me your back.”

Zhao Yelan hugged his neck helplessly, kissing and biting at his lips with abandon: “Next time? I’ll show you next time…..”

Just when Zhao Yelan thought he was trying in vain, Yan Mingting finally responded. He hugged his waist and kissed him hard, leaving marks on his lips aggressively and vindictively. Zhao Yelan tasted a bit of rust, but didn’t say anything. He even felt a sense of relief, and thought it would be nice if this could help him vent some of his anger.

At this moment, he suddenly noticed that the other party kept rubbing his thumbs on his back. Then he heard Yan Mingting ask in a hoarse voice: “Is it because of this? The word ‘slave?’”

Zhao Yelan seemed to be drenched in a basin of ice water. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He froze, and even the sound of his heartbeat seemed to have stopped. His eyes were vacant, staring in the direction of the void as the past suddenly appeared in front of him.

He faintly heard Yan Mingting’s voice: “I saw the word when I bathed you. I didn’t say anything, because I was waiting for you to take the initiative to tell me. I’ve been waiting, but you would rather undress in front of others than show it to me.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him blankly.

“I believe that you and her are innocent, but I just can’t figure it out. Why would you rather trust her than me? Am I not the person you trust most? Are all the things you said before false?” Yan Mingting asked in a rough voice.

After a while, Zhao Yelan’s eyes refocused and he slowly looked at him, only to find that the other’s eyes were a little red, as if he had been wronged to the breaking point.

It was the first time Zhao Yelan had seen him wear such an expression, and his heart seemed to have been tightly grasped. He was a little out of breath, and soreness filled his chest, gradually spreading to his eyes. He shook his head: “No, it’s not like that.”

“Then why?”

Zhao Yelan stroked his cheeks with trembling hands and said: “Because you are Yan Mingting, ah, you were born different from others.”

You have been blessed by the world since you were born. The most heroic person was your father, and the most virtuous and kind lady was your mother. Every step you take along the way is a solid step, an admirable step. You are free and easy, bright and radiant, with righteousness in your mind and the nation in your heart. You deserve to be praised by all people, and your name will go down in history.

How can I be compared with you?

Even my name is false, and my past cannot be mentioned. Even though I now have power and countless gold and silver, the brand on my back always reminds me that I crawled out of the darkest and filthiest place, and I am not even comparable to the common people. I am nothing more than a slave.

Under the surface of his lofty public appearance lay the deepest inferiority complex. He could usually deceive himself and everyone else, but once someone cared, a needle stuck into his heart, slowly torturing him.

The more they got along, the more he wanted to show a perfect version of himself. He didn’t want Yan Mingting to see the scars and brand marks on his body, and didn’t want him to know about his past.

However, Yan Mingting had already discovered it, and never said anything. 

Perhaps he had guessed his inner thoughts, but it seemed like he didn’t care about the brand, and that these results made him far less upset than the fact that he had asked Gu Niaoniao to tattoo him.

“Aren’t you curious about how Gu Niaoniao and I met?” Zhao Yelan said shakily, “We…..met in a prison cell.”

Yan Mingting froze, then pulled him into his arms and took a deep breath, the gloom in his heart disappearing instantly. As long as the other party gave him an explanation, he would believe him unconditionally.

He naturally knew how unspeakable this brand was for someone as proud as Zhao Yelan. No matter how deliberately arrogant and self-reliant he was, it was all to cover up the humbleness in his bones.

For this reason, he didn’t take the initiative to expose it. But when he found that Zhao Yelan would rather take his clothes off in front of an outsider and let them see, only then was every bit of him in a mess. Waves of jealousy spread from his heart, almost immersing him in a twisted desire for control, to take him back and imprison him in the mansion where no one else could see him. But this was only a fleeting thought, because he could never treat Zhao Yelan cruelly.

He loved him so dearly, how could he bear to hurt him?

“All right, I understand.” Yan Mingting looked up at the things on the table. “Are you getting a tattoo? I can also do this, let me tattoo you.”

Zhao Yelan was surprised: “You can?”

“En, I have tattooed many soldiers loyally serving the country.” Yan Mingting packed those things away. “Let’s go home first. It will be night soon, and guests will come here.”

Before Zhao Yelan had time to sort out his feelings, he was dragged to the door by him. He hurriedly called for him to stop, and led him out through the secret door.

The hidden passage was dark and damp, full of rot and mold. Zhao Yelan covered his nose with one hand, leading Yan Mingting with the other, and felt for the first time that walking this distance was not so difficult.

After returning to the General’s Mansion, the two headed straight to the bedroom. Zhao Yelan watched him carefully choose the needles, and then fully believed that he really knew how to give tattoos.

“Why didn’t you mention you can do this?”

“You didn’t tell me you had a brand, ah,” Yan Mingting said self-righteously.

Only now was Zhao Yelan free to settle an old score with him: “You peeked when I was in the bath.”

“You took advantage of me when you were drunk and ate my tofu.”

“……”

“All right, take off your clothes,” Yan Mingting said.

It wasn’t until he lay down on the bed that Zhao Yelan actually came to his senses. Unexpectedly, he had actually exposed the brand on his back in front of him. However, when the other party approached, he still inevitably flinched and buried his head, not wanting to face the other person.

But emotions were contagious. Yan Mingting didn’t seem to care, and only teased that he had a good-looking back and wanted to kiss it.

Zhao Yelan relaxed a little, and just ignored him.

A kiss fell on his back. Hot and humid breath hit his skin, and Zhao Yelan felt shivery, his skin trembling. He looked back, only to be kissed again, this time right on the brand mark.

“What pattern do you want?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan was taken aback by this question. He didn’t think about these details before he went, just thinking that Gu Niaoniao had a lot of experience and should be able to tattoo him straightaway.

“Don’t you have experience? What do you recommend?”

“Let me see, ah.” Yan Mingting repeatedly rubbed and examined the brand mark. The heat from his fingertips spread to Zhao Yelan’s skin, making him nervous as well as restless, as if deliberately provoking his desire. But when he looked back, Yan Mingting had an upright expression. It seemed that he was just thinking too much.

“I’m not very familiar with patterns such as flowers and plants. I’m better at tattooing words,” Yan Mingting said.

“Tattooing words?”

“En.” How about we add a character before and after this one?” Yan Mingting suggested. “Nian (念) in front and Jiao (娇) in the back?”

“…….Nian Nujiao?”^[1]

“Yes, if you like, I can also tattoo the whole poem on your back. Wouldn’t it be fierce?”

“… … … …”

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[1] Combining these two characters with the character for slave (奴) forms the name of the songstress in Yuan Zhen’s “Poem of Lianchang Palace.” ⮐

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Chapter Sixty-Nine <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-One

When the private plane landed at the Beijing Airport, Zhao Yinhe was already waiting outside.

All transfer procedures were completed and experts were waiting at the hospital. Li Chengyuan was directly snatched from the airport for a checkup, and couldn’t even go back to his house.

As soon as Zhao Yinhe saw him, he said like rapid gunfire: 

“I almost thought I wouldn’t see you again, how dare you fucking scare me like that!”

“It’s good thing your little ChiChi is so amazing, his CPR was comparable to a professional’s!”

“I didn’t dare tell Mom about it, but she saw the news this morning and insisted on buying a plane ticket to find you. I said you’d be back soon, so she’s waiting at the hospital.”

After a pause, Zhao Yinhe finally slowed down and asked in a whisper: “Was it poison? Although the test results haven’t come back, I think your symptoms are similar to aconitine poisoning……don’t tell my mom, she’s faint-hearted.”

Li Chengyuan gave a slight nod.

Liu Xian had bombarded him on WeChat a while ago, asking why he had suddenly fallen ill. He only vaguely replied that he had not been feeling well.

As a result, he was inevitably given a worried scolding and told not to procrastinate the next time he felt unwell, and go to the hospital for an examination.

When he was poisoned as a child, Liu Xian had been terrified, and for a long time she had looked at everyone as if they wanted to kill this poor boy. Seeing that Li Chengyuan was sick, she suspected that he had been poisoned again.

As soon as he stepped through the doors of the hospital, Liu Xian, who had been waiting for a long time, came up anxiously.

First, she looked Li Chengyuan up and down. Seeing that although his face was pale, he was still in good spirits, she felt relieved. Then she turned around and joyfully hugged a dazed Xia Xingchi.

“Thank you for being there, Xiao Chi.” Liu Xian rubbed Xia Xingchi’s head fiercely. “Were you scared? My eyes are still swollen from crying, I’m not afraid to pat your head.”

Xia Xingchi had never been comforted like a child by an elder before, and instantly felt embarrassed. This was a rare moment when the thick-skinned person blushed and bowed his head.

But he was happy, and very willing to have his hair messed up.

Liu Xian comforted him for a while, then turned her head and said: “Xiao Yuan, you have to be good to Xiao Chi for the rest of your life. If you lose him, you will never find another child as good as him!”

Li Chengyuan smiled faintly and gazed down at Xia Xingchi for a moment, then nodded slightly. Xia Xingchi was even more embarrassed by his gaze, so he hurriedly looked away and pretended not to see it.

. . . . . . .

There were enough physical examination items to make a person dizzy. Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being dumbfounded by the sight of a whole stack of medical examinations that needed to be done, thinking that this was true manual labor.

He thought of what the doctor had told him before. Li Chengyuan couldn’t tire himself out walking around and needed to stay in bed to recuperate, so Zhao Yinhe had a certain person push him in a wheelchair.

Xia Xingchi immediately agreed, and took the initiative to grab the wheelchair and gesture for the villain to sit down quickly. It was worrying to see him standing.

Li Chengyuan was already long-suffering upon seeing those complicated physical examinations, but seeing that there were even more outrageous battles to fight, he couldn’t help but frown: “It wasn’t really a heart attack —”

Before he could finish, Xia Xingchi pushed him down into the wheelchair without warning: “Boss, if you don’t want to sit on this, I think the stretcher bed over there is also good? As long as you don’t find it embarrassing, I’m willing to borrow one to push you. Lying down is also a good thing!”

Li Chengyuan: “…….”

Zhao Yinhe nodded in agreement, and almost couldn’t help laughing when he saw Li Chengyuan’s helpless and resigned expression.

As expected, everyone had a weakness. There was finally someone who could control a certain person.

Furthermore, this was really not a big deal. Although Li Chengyuan’s heart was not so bad that he had serious arrhythmia, after walking through the gates of Hell, his heart may hurt temporarily.

A full set of reception staff were responsible for all the examinations. Li Chengyuan didn’t let Xia Xingchi follow him, and asked him to go back to the ward to unpack his luggage. Aunt Li would bring their dinner later.

As soon as Xia Xingchi entered the ward, he was stunned by the luxury. This was indeed the best private hospital in Beijing, and the ward was comparable to a five-star hotel.

Not only was it not a lifeless white, but it also came fully furnished. There was an independent bathroom and even large French windows with a panoramic view.

Simple daily necessities had already been prepared on the table. Xia Xingchi picked up a bottle and a can, and found that they were the mint candy that Li Chengyuan often ate, along with his favorite black tea.

This was such meticulous and thoughtful service. What was even more meticulous was that when he opened the closet, his shirts were actually hanging inside, and even the shower gel in the bathroom was the brand he usually used.

Zhao Yinhe stuck his head in, and seeing Xia Xingchi’s surprise, he explained: “This ward is reserved for Li Chengyuan, and no one else is allowed to stay in it except him – he used to be in poor health and spent most of the year in the hospital.”

Those years at the Li residence had broken down his already frail and sick body.

Moreover, when he successfully seized power, the entire Li Group was already in turmoil, and he had to deal with various affairs almost without sleep.

Once, he really couldn’t spare the time and had to have an IV drip while he was holding a meeting. As soon as he finished work, he fainted to the ground the moment he stood up.

Not to mention that his mental state was not very good at the time, and he had to take psychotropic drugs with severe side effects in order to stabilize his mood.

But it was this kind of desperate effort that finally saved the Li Group from going bankrupt and brought it back to life.

The more Xia Xingchi heard, the more distressed he became. He’d never thought that Li Chengyuan had been through such a difficult time before, and wished he could rush over to him and hug him hard.

After thinking about it, he couldn’t help asking: “Isn’t that too much? Treating money like it’s more important than his own life……from what I’ve seen, he’s not really a money-lover, ah?”

Hearing this, Zhao Yinghe immediately showed a strange and complicated expression.

He hesitated to speak for a long moment, and finally said: “Li Chengyuan left the Li residence once when he was a child. Have you heard about it?”

Xia Xingchi nodded. He’d heard it while that idiot Xia Yu was revealing Li Chengyuan’s private information in front of the camera. He had mentioned that he ran away from home.

“It wasn’t that he wanted to leave.” Zhao Yinhe shook his head. “He was in a stupor after being stimulated, and the vicious mother and son threw him out and pretended he had run away from home.”

At that time, Li Chengyuan had just witnessed his mother’s suicide. So day and night, he was tortured by the horrible scene of her frantically writhing as she hung from the ceiling, and lost his mind.

No matter how mature he was, he was still a mentally disturbed child, and was easily induced by the vicious new mistress to “run away from home” in the hopes that he would die of illness in some corner.

At that time, Li Chengyuan had a weak physique and could cough up blood even when the wind blew, and often fainted suddenly. But miraculously, not only did he fail to die, he survived until the countless people sent out by Liu Xian found him —

No one in the Li family actively looked for him, and didn’t even care about him as much as outsiders.

Liu Xian and Li Chengyuan’s mother were as close as sisters, and she had a heart for the only son left behind by her dead best friend.

In addition, since Li Chengyuan had been quiet and forbearing since childhood, Liu Xian always treated him like her own son.

“After coming back, Li Chengyuan’s spirit suddenly recovered a lot. He no longer acted mindless and dazed, but ever since, he was always thinking about finding someone.”

Xia Xingchi pricked up his ears when he heard these words. It appeared that Li Chengyuan had met his White Moonlight during that time.

Zhao Yinhe went on to say unexpectedly: “But this person……is probably someone he imagined, and doesn’t exist at all.”

In order to stabilize Li Chengyuan’s spirit and alleviate his condition, Liu Xian had worked very hard to find that person for him.

Back then, the Zhao family had the largest film and television group in the country, and had a wide network of contacts and financial resources. But after searching high and low, they couldn’t find the person Li Chengyuan was obsessed with. “He” seemed to have disappeared from the world.

In the end, Li Chengyuan was so sick that he barely had one breath left, and was in a stupor at that time. Everything was more like a dream woven by his brain to escape the reality of his torment and despair.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback upon hearing this. He never thought that he would be a substitute for a non-existent person, and it had never occurred to him that everything could just be a fantasy.

Zhao Yinhe: “But I kind of believe that such a child really existed.”

In order to fake that he ran away from home, the Li Shengrui mother and son had deliberately given him a lot of money. In any case, he didn’t have much desire to survive, and this crazy person was barely aware. He certainly wouldn’t spend money on medicine and treatment.

When Liu Xian found Li Chengyuan, he was already unconscious with a high fever, and didn’t have a penny on his body —

It really seemed that after someone cheated him of all his money, he was thrown into a small abandoned warehouse upon seeing that he was too sick to survive.

“Oh, but I’m getting off track! Getting back to the topic, the conclusion is that – Li Chengyuan doesn’t care about money, but the person he was looking for was very fond of it. He said that the person’s mind and eyes were full of money, and he wanted to use this method to catch the liar back.”

Xia Xingchi was utterly shaken.

Assuming that the White Moonlight existed, there were thousands of people who loved money in the world. He couldn’t assume that he was the right person just because of this common hobby, right?

What’s more, he was incapable of vicious things such as killing for money…..the one Li Chengyuan had been obsessed with for so many years was this kind of person?

As if he had learned some shocking secret, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but feel uncomfortably sour, and didn’t speak for a long time after hearing those words.

Seeing the change in his expression, Zhao Yinhe immediately felt strange and sensed that he had said something wrong, but didn’t know what it could be.

Every time Li Chengyuan mentioned the “little liar” over the years, he gritted his teeth with a paranoid attitude, as if that person was his sworn enemy, and he wished to bring him back and imprison him and torture him severely.

Was Xia Xingchi…..jealous?

. . . . . .

When Li Chengyuan returned to the ward after completing various examinations, he noticed that Xia Xingchi’s mood was very strange.

This was a little hedgehog whose face couldn’t hide anything. Although it could be seen that he was trying hard to cover it up, there were still clues.

Xia Xingchi shook his head and took the wheelchair from the medical staff, saying nonchalantly: “How was it? Are the test results okay?”

Li Chengyuan nodded slightly and only continued to stare at him.

Xia Xingchi was already used to being stared at like this by the kitty cat, but at the thought that he had actually replaced a despicable little liar who might not even exist, he couldn’t help feeling even more sour.

“Aunt Li made some shredded chicken porridge for you.” Xia Xingchi pushed the wheelchair to the bed. “Does your stomach hurt? The nurse just brought your stomach medicine.”

Because his mind was still obsessing over the White Moonlight, his short-circuiting brain wasn’t functioning at all as he bent over and tried to figure out how to carry Li Chengyuan from the wheelchair to the bed.

Li Chengyuan gave him a mystified look. After a while, he pursed his lips and teased him by remaining silent, watching Xia Xingchi trying to lift him as if pulling up a radish.

Although Li Chengyuan looked thin, he was tall and heavy-framed. Coupled with his self-discipline in maintaining a good figure over the years, his muscled body was inevitably extra heavy.

Xia Xingchi tried a few times from various angles, but all of his attempts failed.

Feeling flustered, he couldn’t help but get distracted again, thinking that Li Chengyuan must have been easy to carry when he was a child. He must have been delicate and beautiful, like a porcelain doll.

It was a pity that he didn’t meet Xia Xingchi, but met a little liar with a bad character.

Thinking of Li Chengyuan being so young at that time, trembling and unconscious in a cold abandoned warehouse, waiting for a person who would never come back, Xia Xingchi felt very distressed.

And he felt even more sour, regretting that he couldn’t be the one who had met Li Chengyuan.

It wasn’t until Li Chengyuan was almost thrown from the wheelchair onto the ground by the absent-minded Xia Xingchi that he finally couldn’t endure it any longer. While Xia Xingchi was leaning over, he raised a hand to touch his furry head —

Then he stood up and sat on the bed.

Xia Xingchi: “…….”

Shit, he seemed to have forgotten that this person didn’t have a leg problem, he just had a weak heart and needed to walk less for the time being.

His reflexes were stunted, and it took Xia Xingchi a long time to remember to be angry:

“Li Chengyuan, how dare you play tricks on me! Believe it or not, I’ll take your food and let you starve to death here!”

Li Chengyuan’s face was expressionless when he heard these words, but a faint smile flashed in his eyes. He knew that Xia Xingchi couldn’t bear to starve him. After all, he would suffer from stomach pain and hypoglycemia when he was hungry.

Xia Xingchi also realized that he was being manipulated to death by this black-hearted capitalist, so he made a gesture like a sugar glider that was about to pounce on him.

Li Chengyuan had seen the depressed look on his face just now and purposely teased him, raising his arms to indicate that Xia Xingchi could throw himself into them.

While they were horseplaying, the phone suddenly rang. Xia Xingchi reached for it and found that it was the police calling.

Killing someone with poison was a major event, not to mention that the witnesses and suspects involved in the case were all public figures with great fame.

For this reason, the case immediately alarmed the upper echelons, and it only took a day for the report to be done. The hospital had already issued the test results, and jointly determined that this was deliberate poisoning.

The poison used was exactly the same as Zhao Yinhe had guessed, pure, highly-toxic aconitine.

While Li Chengyuan answered the police call, Xia Xingchi playfully sat in his wheelchair and looked down to see what was brewing on Weibo.

The big villain’s bad character was like a cat. After catching their prey, they didn’t kill it with one bite, but intentionally tortured it, constantly frightening it and destroying the opponent’s mentality to their heart’s content.

When he opened it, the hot search item of the young master of the Xia family being exposed was ridiculously popular.

Because it was filled with onlookers and abuse after Xia Yu completely collapsed in just a few days, it could be said to be quite lively.

What he didn’t expect was that when Xia Xingchi refreshed it casually, there was new shocking content on the hot search list:

#The Truth About Mr. Li’s Heart Attack#

#Police Confirm Deliberate Poisoning#

. . . . . .

[Oh my god, Mr. Li was actually poisoned, no wonder it was so serious all of a sudden]

[Thinking carefully, the suspect is either a celebrity or a staff member of the program team. Is a suspenseful case going to play out?]

[I have a wild guess – At that time, Xia Yu deliberately obstructed the first aid, and suddenly cooked porridge for Mr. Li. That was his brother’s fiance, he’s very strange]

[Bullshit! Li Chengyuan didn’t drink Xia Yu’s porridge at all! Are you framing and slandering him?!]

[That’s right, ah. Li Chengyuan himself said that he only eats food cooked by Xia Xingchi. He got poisoned because he drank Xia Xingchi’s porridge!]

[A pure passer-by. It is impossible for a person to poison the porridge he cooked, otherwise wouldn’t “I’m a murderer” be written on his face?]

[Maybe he thought the most obvious way was the safest, and he was just waiting for you to say that?]

The fans and anti-fans soon scuffled again. Previously, Xia Yu’s fans were numerous and had an overwhelming advantage.

But in just two days, his house had completely collapsed and he lost countless fans. On the contrary, Xia Xingchi had more and more fans, occupying an unprecedented dominant position with great momentum.

In the melee between the two sides, there were also passers-by who analyzed the situation rationally:

[There must be a motive for hurting someone. Such a meticulous and unnoticed poisoning plan can’t be someone suddenly wanting to kill a rich person.]

[Who is the beneficiary when Mr. Li dies? He and Xia Xingchi aren’t married yet and don’t share any property. He is only twenty-five years old, and it isn’t likely that he would make a will so young]

[I just went to patrol around the gossip squads and found that Mr. Li actually has an older brother! Informed sources broke the news that they are half-brothers]

[Pricking up ears to listen to the gossip of the rich and powerful, hurry up and talk, upstairs!]

[Wait, how do I remember that Mr. Li’s mother died young, and his father remarried……shouldn’t that be the younger brother?]

[The hell?!  How is the mistress in the top position, and the child of the mistress is older than the child of the original spouse?]

[Mr. Li was originally the first young master, but as soon as the mistress brought her illegitimate child into the home, he became the second young master. At that time, anyone who didn’t change their form of address was fired. A driver who made a mistake and got fired broke the news]

[But there’s still a problem with that, the illegitimate child didn’t participate in the show, ah, how could he poison him from thousands of miles away?]

[He must have bribed someone or had an insider]

. . . . . .

Xia Yu hadn’t closed his eyes and slept for two days and two nights. He fearfully read the analyses of everyone online, trembling with panic when the crime was revealed.

He wanted to call Li Shengrui, but after receiving the message, “We won’t have contact for now,” he was directly blocked by him.

Li Shengrui also had trouble protecting himself. While fearing that his crimes would be exposed, he was furious at being torn down by public opinion.

Just the words “illegitimate child” online pierced his sensitive and self-conscious heart, and his anger flared.

Xia Yu was clutching his cell phone, and panicked at the sound of a servant knocking twice on the door, trembling violently.

The servant said: “Young Master, why don’t you go downstairs and have something to eat?”

Xia Yu had no choice but to crawl downstairs with weak limbs, hoping to get some comfort from his cheap parents.

Unexpectedly, Xia Pingjian was looking at his phone with some admiration, and said to his wife delightedly:

“This kid Xingchi is really promising and determined not to fall short, ah! He’s actually so favored by Mr. Li, and became a big star.”

“I see that Mr. Li seems to want to get a marriage certificate, but Xia Xingchi doesn’t……this is playing hard to get, what a good boy! As expected of my genes!”

When he heard these words, Xia Yu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Ever since Li Chengyuan let everyone know of his affection in a high-profile way, Xia Pingjian liked Xia Xingchi more and more —

Even though he had been blocked and was never contacted, Xia Pingjian firmly believed that this timid son who would shine when given a little sunlight would definitely change his mind after a period of being angry.

He diligently bought a lot of gifts for Xia Xingchi, and sent them all to Li Chengyuan’s villa like a loving father.

However, his attitude toward Xia Yu became increasingly indifferent.

After all, Xia Yu failed to “marry” into a top wealthy family, and his only outstanding quality was that he was a popular idol – but now half of his future as a celebrity had been destroyed.

Xia Pingjian had always set a clear price for his fatherly love.

Just like how the original worthless “Xia Xingchi” never received any love and care at all, it was as if the current Xia Yu had no value anymore.

Xia Pingjian made an impulsive decision: “Xia Xingchi’s birthday is coming soon, and I plan to hold the biggest birthday party for him. It would be even better if Mr. Li can also come and honor him!”

Xia Yu almost broke the spoon in his hand when he heard this.

The two of them were born on the same day of the same year. Last year on his birthday, he received an unparalleled luxurious banquet with the banner “Happy Birthday to our baby Xia Yu.”

And Xia Xingchi, that bastard who couldn’t make the cut and was only worthy of watching from the sidelines, what qualifications did he have for his birthday to be celebrated?

. . . . . .

In the ward, Li Chengyuan ate half a bowl of porridge before shaking his head.

Xia Xingchi sat beside him and reached out to touch his upper abdomen: “Is your stomach uncomfortable? Shall I rub it for you?”

Li Chengyuan grabbed his wrist and sat up, saying lightly: “I’m going to take a bath.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Xingchi immediately refused: “No way! You’re not well now, what if you get dizzy again?”

It was a pity that these words couldn’t overcome a clean freak’s determination to take a bath. Xia Xinchi knew that Li Chengyuan usually took a bath or shower once a day, and sometimes washed up in both the morning and evening.

But he hadn’t showered since the accident two days ago, and the big cat who loved cleanliness had restrained his temper without getting immediately irritated.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Xia Xingchi couldn’t convince the domineering and rebellious boss, so he had no choice but to simply turn around and clean the bathtub before filling it with water of a suitable temperature.

At the same time, he voiced a condition: “I have to keep an eye on you in here. If you faint, I can fish you out in time.”

Anyway, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already seen everything, or fished it out or touched it.

The idea was fine, but the reality was completely different.

Watching Li Chengyuan undo the buttons with one hand, revealing beautiful collarbones and the pleasing lines of his chest and abdomen —

Xia Xingchi suddenly felt that this matter was not only something he wasn’t accustomed to, but also more and more ambiguous and strange.

“Wait!” Xia Xingchi promptly stopped him. “You, you……”

Li Chengyuan frowned slightly, and turned to look at him with a little puzzlement.

Xia Xingchi could only say awkwardly: “Go on. I’ll bring a chair and sit down.”

Originally, the little part-time worker had planned to wash the hair of the big cat in person, but it really took actual combat to realize that he didn’t dare take a look, and blushed at the sight.

Xia Xingchi could only stare “soulfully” at the bottle of hand sanitizer on the sink, not daring to look away.

At this time, he heard Li Chengyuan say calmly: “I was awake that night and just couldn’t move.”

Xia Xingchi gave a hesitant “Huh?” but didn’t know which time he was talking about.

A few seconds later, he suddenly remembered that Zhao Yinhe had told him that Li Chengyuan had an incurable undiagnosed condition since childhood. He would faint suddenly and frequently, sometimes accompanied by severe dizziness and a headache.

Xia Xingchi had witnessed this matter with his own eyes. It was just like when he passed out in the bathtub the night he transmigrated, and then passed out again after being sober for a short time.

But the frightening thing was that he didn’t lose consciousness every time. Sometimes he simply couldn’t move his body, but his consciousness and perception were still functional.

After Xia Xingchi heard this, his hair stood on end. He was deeply suspicious of whether or not Li Chengyuan had been conscious the night he transmigrated. Did he know about the mysterious and supernatural process of him appearing out of thin air?

And now this person suddenly said that he was awake?!

Xia Xingchi suddenly became alert. He pricked up his ears to hear why Li Chengyuan had brought up this matter, but heard his train of thought take a leap as he said: “You didn’t recognize me on the day of the engagement party.”

He didn’t know what the other party had up his sleeve, but Xia Xingchi had a vague premonition, and had no choice but to bite the bullet and make excuses: “I have poor eyesight……I wanted to play hard to get and pretend I didn’t know you to draw your attention!”

Li Chengyuan spoke again: “A year ago, I met ‘Xia Xingchi,’ and he also met me.”

Xia Xingchi’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and his intuition of “something bad is going to happen” immediately reached its peak.

He just listened as Li Chengyuan continued: “He was not the man I was looking for. But now when I think about it again, the memory has changed – you know the reason for this, right?”

Something somewhere had tampered with everyone’s memories. Others had never seen the current Xia Xingchi, so the change of appearance in their memories would naturally not be noticed.

But the only variable was Li Chengyuan. Not only had he seen his appearance, but he had imprinted it in his mind. A year ago, he definitely hadn’t seen the person he was thinking about.

When Xia Xingchi heard Li Chengyuan’s straightforward statement, devoid of doubt, his hands shook involuntarily as if he had been struck by lightning again.

The bottle of bath salt that he was fiddling with in his hand fell to the floor with a bang, after which silence reigned.

---

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Chapter Thirty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Eight