Chapter 259 How Can You Bear to Deceive Me

"Only by dying can I be considered as not betraying the Lin family?"

Yan Mu's words echoed in the empty room. Suddenly, Zhe Fei's eyes went dark and she fell backwards.

"Your Highness!" Nanny Gui quickly caught her mistress's falling body and advised with tears in her eyes, "Your Highness must have thought it over carefully before doing this. Please calm down..."

Yan Mu dug his nails into his palms, suppressing the urge to hug his mother. "I have said all I can. If you still hold a grudge against me, I have nothing to say."

After he finished speaking, Yan Mu turned and left.

"etc."

Yan Mu paused, looked back in surprise, his eyes full of confusion.

Concubine Zhe stroked her chest and looked at him intently, "Why didn't you say these words earlier?"

"My mother's ambition is growing. Even if I say these words, what will it do?"

Yan Mu lowered his eyes, a dull pain in his heart. "To be honest, my second brother had a meeting with my son long ago, promising that as long as my son helped him, he would keep the Lin family safe. The Lin family's plot has long been discovered. The crime of treason is more serious than heaven, but the Lin family was only exiled. My son has done his best to serve the Lin family, and even more so to mother and concubine."

"Mother, I'm a loser. I've been weak since childhood, and I can't read as well as my two older brothers, let alone hold a sword or a spear." Yan Mu closed his eyes, tears slowly falling. "But is it so difficult to admit and accept your son's mediocrity? I'm not a competent prince, but if I leave the palace, I will definitely be an excellent gardener or carpenter."

"I have never been greedy for power, and I have no intention of fighting for the throne. If I had a choice, I would never have been born into an imperial family."

Yan Mu took a deep breath. After all these years, he finally spoke out everything that was in his heart. "Since mother said that we have done our best, then I will not stay and be an eyesore. If you won't let me stay here, I will find another place to stay. Please take care of yourself."

“…I’m sorry.”

Yan Mu froze, and raised his eyes in a daze, only to see that the person in front of him was already in tears.

"I'm sorry for you." Concubine Zhe covered her face and cried, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "I imposed my own expectations on you, making you breathless. All of this is my fault."

"Mother..." Yan Mu's eyes flashed with emotion. The soft flesh in his palm had been pinched by his nails and bled. The resentment and resentment in his heart suddenly dissipated. "My son has never blamed you, nor has he ever been alienated from you."

"In the past twenty years, I have never done anything for you..." Zhe Fei lowered her head, her long eyelashes covering the regret in her eyes, "If I had agreed to you and Su Cheng at that time, perhaps we wouldn't be in this situation today."

Hearing this, Yan Mu gave a bitter smile, with self-mockery in his eyes, "Mother is right, Miss Zhao and I are two different people. She is the apple of Xie Suzhou's eye, and my son can't compete for her. I was wrong before, and I had thoughts that I shouldn't have had."

"Mother, don't be sad." Yan Mu squatted down and gently supported her shoulders. "Thanks to Yun Ya, who you left with your son, she has been taking care of me these days. Everything is fine in Pingyang Palace."

Concubine Zhe frowned, then immediately grasped the key point, "What...what Yun Ya?"

Yan Mu paused, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes, "How could mother forget? Xi Yunya, isn't she the secret guard that mother left by her son's side?"

The next moment, Concubine Zhe grabbed his hand, her eyes anxious. "How is that possible! I never ordered the secret guards to go to Pingyang Palace. At that time, I couldn't even protect myself, so how could I have the mind to send someone to your palace? Don't let anyone plot against you. That person is not mine at all!"

Yan Mu's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Concubine Zhe pursed her lips and whispered her suspicion, "Could it be that Yan Ci planted a spy next to you?"

"No." Yan Mu's body was cold, his face pale. "Today, I ran into the Second Royal Brother with Yun Ya, and he didn't show any abnormality at all. Besides, my son doesn't have any needs, and the Second Royal Brother has no other motives, so why would he plant spies?"

Concubine Zhe looked worried, "Then——"

"I will investigate this matter." Yan Mu patted the back of her hand gently to comfort her. "Don't worry too much, mother. Second brother has already promised me that he will ask father for mercy in the future. Even if he is demoted to a commoner, it is better than enduring the rest of his life in this cold palace. He can open a shop and live a peaceful life. One day, we will see grandfather again."

Concubine Zhe was stunned for a moment, then she pursed her lips and smiled, raising her hand to caress his red and swollen cheek, her eyes unable to hide the heartache and guilt, "I am sorry for you, you must be well."

"It will be good for our family." Yan Mu held her hand, his eyes gleaming. "As long as my son works hard enough, he will definitely be able to obtain pardon for the Lin family."

Concubine Zhe stared at him blankly and didn't say anything in response.

-

It was drizzling from the sky, and small puddles had accumulated on the floor tiles. When I stepped on them, the dirty water splashed onto my shoes.

Yan Mu walked alone under the palace wall. The rain fell along the eaves, soaking most of his body.

The little things he had experienced with Yun Ya over the past few days kept appearing in his mind. Yan Mu felt his eyes were a little sore, and drops of water were sliding down his cheeks. He couldn't tell whether they were rain or tears.

"Your Highness!"

A panicked voice of a woman came from the distance. Yan Mu blinked lightly and looked up hesitantly, only to see Yun Ya running towards him with an umbrella. The dirty rain on the ground wet the hem of her skirt, but she didn't care at all.

But in the blink of an eye, Yun Ya ran up to him and gave him most of the paper umbrella. "Where did you go, Your Highness? Why did you come back alone in the rain?"

"Yun...Ya?"

"It's me." She was so anxious that she even forgot to address herself as a servant.

Yun Ya didn't know what she was anxious about. She just saw it started to rain, so she rushed out in a panic with an umbrella.

Yan Mu was soaked by the rain and looked at her with his eyes downcast, feeling broken and pitiful. "My mother didn't even send secret guards to protect me. Who are you?"

Yun Ya froze, holding the umbrella stupidly, and forgot to argue for a moment.

"Has our time together these days been all fake?" Yan Mu twitched his lips in self-mockery, muttering, "I'm not even sure if this name is real or not. I consider you a close friend, but what's your intention in hiding in Pingyang Palace under an assumed name?"

"I..." Yun Ya paused, the words she wanted to explain stuck in her lips and she couldn't say them.

During these days, there were only the two of them in Pingyang Palace. Yun Ya lived and ate with the Daqi people whom she hated the most. Not only did she not sense any danger, she was even more relaxed than when she was with Somon.

She watched Yan Mu slowly transform from a soulless body into a cheerful person, and her heart unconsciously moved closer to him.

"How could you have the heart to deceive me..."

Yun Ya in front of him suddenly had many shadows, and the sky and the earth seemed to have turned upside down. Yan Mu closed his blurry and empty eyes, and leaned back weakly.

Yun Ya's eyes suddenly widened. She didn't even bother to hold the umbrella and reached out to catch him. "Yan Mu!"