The royal palace of the Yin Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, a scout has reported something." The eunuch presented the emperor with a box containing a letter.

"Hmm, you may leave." The emperor said calmly after receiving the letter.

"Yes, this servant takes his leave." The eunuch bowed and left, and the hall returned to silence.

The emperor slowly opened the box, took out the letter, glanced at it, and was stunned. He laughed angrily and said, "What a fine way to say he's left home! And my dear brother is still alive."

"Guards, prepare an imperial edict for me. Send the divorce papers to the capital."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the attendant outside the door replied upon hearing the emperor's command.

"Ah Ye, you should also go to Qingzhou. When you encounter him, kill him," the emperor said calmly, but his clenched hands betrayed his inner turmoil.

"Yes, Your Majesty," a voice replied from a corner of the palace.

"Haha ...

The person outside the door lowered their head even further, keeping their eyes and mouth closed.

——

"Wan'er, what's wrong? Why do you seem so restless?" Ji Mohan asked Yan Wan, who was sitting in front of him with a meal laid out but not eating, listlessly poking at the rice with her chopsticks.

"Huh? Did I disturb your thoughts?" Yan Wan asked, looking at Ji Mohan as she came back to her senses.

"No, it's just that you've seemed a bit absent-minded since this afternoon. What happened?" Ji Mohan asked worriedly.

"Hanhan, I have a feeling something bad is about to happen," Yan Wan hinted indirectly.

Upon hearing Yan Wan's words, Ji Mohan immediately became serious. Yan Wan's intuition was terrifyingly accurate; the two times she predicted trouble, it had come true.

He really wanted to ask Yan Wan if she knew anything, but since she wouldn't say, he couldn't force her.

Ji Mohan said in a deep voice, "What bad thing do you think will happen?"

Yan Wan was momentarily at a loss for words. She didn't know how to tell Ji Mohan that he would be injured and that Uncle An would raise an army in Huangzhou to rebel.

She tentatively said, "I... I recently had a nightmare. In the dream, you were seriously injured, it seemed to be on a battlefield, many people died, and I also saw Uncle An, that place was in Huangzhou."

Yan Wan didn't know what to say, so she could only use the dream as an excuse to tell Ji Mohan what she knew, hoping to help him, but she didn't know if he would believe her.

Ji Mohan looked at Yan Wan with a complicated expression in his eyes. Her words were very clear, telling him in a blatant way that Uncle An would raise an army in Huangzhou and fight against him, and that he was seriously injured.

He really wanted to ask Yan Wan how she knew all this. She was with him all the time, and all his undercover investigations had failed to uncover anything, yet Yan Wan knew about it beforehand, including the clues from Aunt Fang.

Ji Mohan sometimes wondered if Yan Wan was a fairy from heaven who saw him looking down on the mortal world and realized how lonely and pitiful he was, so she secretly descended to his side to save him.

Yan Wan looked at Ji Mohan staring at her with a complicated expression. She was a little afraid to meet Ji Mohan's gaze. Had she said too much? Only she knew this information. Would Ji Mohan suspect that she was a spy?

Seeing Yan Wan's unnatural expression, Ji Mohan said in a deep voice, "I understand, Yan Wan. I will send someone to Huangzhou." Ji Mohan paused and continued, "Yan Wan, I know you have secrets, and I also know that perhaps you don't trust me, so you don't tell me. But don't worry, I will never doubt you. I mean, never."

Hearing Ji Mohan's somewhat disappointed words, Yan Wan subconsciously shook her head, wanting to explain something, but she opened her mouth and then swallowed it all back.

Forget it, why give him hope only to disappoint him later?

Seeing Yan Wan's anxious yet disappointed expression, Ji Mohan's heart skipped a beat. Yan Wan hadn't offered any explanation! Where Yan Wan couldn't see him, he clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with disappointment, despair, and pain. If he stayed any longer, he was afraid he would lose control and do something terrible that would frighten Yan Wan.

He suddenly stood up and said, "You eat first. I'll go take care of what you mentioned. I'll sleep in the study tonight. You should get some rest. Don't wait for me." After saying that, Ji Mohan strode out.

Only Yan Wan was left with the food on the table. Yan Wan stared blankly at the still steaming food on the table. Was he angry? Ji Mohan must be very disappointed in her because she couldn't give him love in return.

What should she do? Yan Wan had lost her appetite and had no choice but to have the servants remove the food. She could reheat it the next morning. The Northwest was bitterly cold, and food was hard-won; it couldn't be wasted easily.

As Ji Mohan walked out of the courtyard, he couldn't help but stop and look at Yan Wan's back as she sat at the dining table. He felt depressed and uneasy, knowing that Yan Wan didn't believe him.

Ji Mohan clenched his fists even tighter, his nails digging into his palms, but he seemed oblivious. He kept telling himself not to do this, that it would frighten Yan Wan. But he just couldn't control his emotions. The thought that Yan Wan didn't believe him, or that she didn't love him, and that she might only be with him out of pity or sympathy, kept him in his thoughts.

He dared not look any longer and hurriedly lifted his leg to walk towards the study. After entering the study, Ji Mohan did not order anyone to light candles. He just stayed in the dark study, where the darkness could cover up all his dirty thoughts and ugly, resentful possessiveness and ideas.

Ji Mohan thought of what Yan Wan had said: if she could, she would like to stay by his side. Now, his mind was filled with the image of Yan Wan leaving him and abandoning him. He couldn't even imagine it, but that scene seemed to come alive, playing on repeat in his mind.

No, no, Ji Mohan slammed his fist into the pillar, blood instantly gushing from his joints. He seemed oblivious, continuing to punch the pillar again and again until his hands were a bloody mess, yet he still refused to stop.

Ji Mohan dared not reveal his terrifying side to Yan Wan. He was unwilling to admit it, but he had to admit that his mind was morbid, sinister, and paranoid. He usually deliberately hid this side of himself in front of Yan Wan, but now he couldn't help himself.

Ji Mohan finally stopped. The color on the pillar had darkened, and there was a faint smell of blood in the air. Drops of blood dripped from Ji Mohan's hands onto the ground, but he didn't care.

He slowly sat down on the ground, gently hugging himself with his bloodied and mangled hands. His body was trembling slightly. He desperately told himself that Yan Wan loved him, that she would not abandon him, that she would not abandon him like his mother did, and that she would not discard him like trash like his father did.

But Yan Wan never seemed to have said she loved him. Was she just pitying him?

Ji Mohan looked expectantly toward the door, hoping Yan Wan would come and coax him; he was actually very easy to coax.

When he was a child, he remembered that once he had a fight with his mother, and she only used a piece of candy to coax him back, so he forgave all of his mother's wrongdoings.

Wait, something's not right! How could he forgive his mother for so many wrongdoings? Why doesn't he remember what happened back then? In his memory, his mother loved him.

How come he remembers that he seems to have forgiven his mother for many wrongdoings?

Ji Mohan desperately tried to recall what happened back then, and the more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed. He curled up on the ground, like a puppy waiting for his owner to come and take him home.

Yan Wan will come, right? She won't abandon you, right?