Chapter 36 The Truth: Mengmeng didn't like him at all, because she was afraid of him...

When Mu Qingheng entered, he was initially cold and serious, but the moment he saw Mu Meng, his gaze softened instinctively.

But beneath her gentle demeanor, a hint of nervousness crept in.

"Mengmeng's here too," he said, seemingly forgetting why he'd come. He took two steps toward Mu Meng and asked with a smile, "Why do you look so listless?"

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze seemingly warm as he caressed Mengmeng's face, his voice low and soft, sounding somewhat cautious.

The Heavenly Emperor tapped the table, scolding her verbally but smiling broadly. "Heng'er, I knew you spoiled Mengmeng too much. You didn't even answer me when you came in, only caring about your sister. Look at you now, what kind of Heavenly Prince's demeanor do you have in front of Mengmeng? Anyone who didn't know better would think Mengmeng was bullying you."

Mu Meng also felt something was off. Mu Qingheng's attitude towards her today was excessively gentle; she had never seen him like this in either of her two lifetimes.

To fawn over. She thought, though the word wasn't quite right, it was a fitting description.

Mu Qingheng was taken aback, realizing that his behavior had been so inappropriate. He bowed his head respectfully and said, "Greetings, Father Emperor. Just now, your son... was momentarily distracted."

"Isn't it just that you're distracted? You're happy as soon as you see Mengmeng, and you can't even pay attention to important matters," the Heavenly Emperor said, pointing to Mengmeng twice in the air and laughing, "You'll spoil her sooner or later."

Mu Qingheng smiled: "That's nothing."

The Heavenly Emperor hummed in agreement. "By the way, now that Luo Luo's spiritual power has returned to its original state, she is free again. You should take better care of her from now on. They are both your sisters, so don't show favoritism."

Mu Qingheng nodded in agreement.

The Heavenly Emperor was in a very good mood and waved his hand cheerfully: "Don't stand on ceremony. What's the situation with the demon race?"

Mu Qingheng pondered for a moment and glanced at Mu Meng.

Is it that you don't want her to hear it?

Originally, Mu Meng was about to get up and leave when she saw that the two of them were about to talk about serious business, but now that she saw Mu Qingheng hesitate, she didn't want to leave anymore.

It's just internal strife within the demon race, so why would he want me to avoid it?

The Heavenly Emperor noticed Mu Qingheng's gaze, followed it, and casually smiled, "It's nothing important. In truth, it's just a matter of the demon race's internal affairs. It's alright for Mengmeng to listen."

Mu Qingheng lowered his eyes slightly and said, "Yes. The internal strife among the demon race has been quelled, and the rebels have all been wiped out. The remaining minor matters are more than enough for Crown Prince Yue to handle. As for matters involving the imperial clan, I did not get involved and returned ahead of schedule."

Tiandi raised an eyebrow, then smiled with satisfaction: "It went so smoothly. In the past, the demon race was always the most cumbersome in dealing with these matters. This is truly rare. However, you should not be too careless. That demon race's third young master, Yue Chengxuan, is no pushover. He wants the celestial race to submit to the demon race and is also favored by the old demon emperor. Who knows, he might have a wicked idea one day and cause trouble again."

Mu Qingheng listened quietly and said calmly, "Father, rest assured, he will have no chance to cause trouble again."

"Oh? How can you be so sure?"

Mu Qingheng's long eyelashes trembled slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he raised his eyes and said, "In this pacification of the rebellion, I killed him."

Mu Meng turned to look at him immediately.

The Heavenly Emperor reacted even more strongly than she did, immediately standing up from his chair: "What did you say? You killed Yue Chengxuan, the Third Prince of the Demon Clan?"

"Are you... are you alright? Did the Demon Emperor give you any trouble?"

"The Third Young Master has always been disrespectful to the Celestial Clan, and his words and actions have been offensive. Your subject has long wanted to teach him a lesson. The Demon Emperor knows that this boy has committed many unjust acts and has been disrespectful since the beginning, so he has nothing to say and will no longer dare to turn a blind eye to his recklessness. Moreover, after this battle, he has realized that he is powerless to fight against the Celestial Clan, which will save him a lot of trouble in the future."

After Mu Qingheng finished speaking calmly and composedly, he paused slightly and added, "Your subject is fine."

"Oh... so what if he's killed? It's nothing," the Heavenly Emperor said thoughtfully, tilting his head as he slowly sat down, holding onto the armrest of his chair. "A hundred years ago, the demon race was originally a subordinate race of the Heavenly Clan. In the last hundred years, they have gradually become independent, which was fine. But who knew that the clan would raise such a treacherous person? It's good to take this opportunity to teach them a lesson, so as to avoid constant internal strife and trouble for you."

After realizing what he meant, he smiled and pointed at Mu Meng: "So that's why you hesitated before reporting earlier. You didn't want Mengmeng to hear about it. Don't worry, as the Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan, it's perfectly reasonable for you to be decisive in killing. Would Mengmeng be afraid of you or distance herself from you because of this?"

After saying that, he turned to Mu Meng and chuckled twice, "Daddy wasn't wrong, was he? Why don't you try to persuade your brother?"

Mu Meng recovered from her initial shock and smiled when she heard the Heavenly Emperor asking her: "Of course. Although I know little about the outside world, I have heard of the infamous reputation of the Third Prince of the Demon Clan. It is my duty, brother, to eliminate evil and punish the wicked."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mu Qingheng smiled slightly.

His expression relaxed, as if he had just been holding his breath.

Mu Meng looked at him and smiled back, but her mood was not as relaxed as it appeared.

From childhood to adulthood, she had indeed heard people mention the Third Young Master's bad reputation, but what she remembered most vividly was the death of Sheng Yuanting in her previous life.

According to Mu Qingheng, Brother Sheng colluded with the Third Prince of the Demon Clan in an attempt to rebel, but was ultimately killed by him.

When everyone arrived, Sheng Yuanting had already been killed by Mu Qingheng on charges of being a traitor. Only when she was trapped in the demon's lair did she realize that it was all a conspiracy by Mu Qingheng to return to the demon's lair. Since it was a conspiracy, Sheng Yuanting's crime must be unjust.

Since Brother Sheng is innocent, whose solid evidence of communication is it?

Who exactly colluded with the third prince of the demon race?

Moreover, this unfortunate third young master is dead in both his past and present lives...

Mu Meng slowly lowered her eyelashes, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes, gradually tightening her grip: This Third Young Master has probably been working for Mu Qingheng all along. The internal strife within the demon race over the years may also have been instigated by Mu Qingheng.

However… although Mu Qingheng’s reasons were flawless, she felt that there was another benefit for him: letting the Third Young Master die with a secret could wash away his past sins. If Yue Chengxuan were alive, their conspiracy might be exposed; if he were dead, some things would never be brought to light.

The demon race had been peaceful for so long, but suddenly a rebellion broke out; Mu Qingheng naturally received the demon race's request to go and help them, and ultimately killed them.

He appears to be the passive one, but such underhanded tactics and the way he tries to absolve himself completely are very much in line with his style.

But what was his motivation?

He spared his sister and the King of the East Sea.

They also killed the third prince of the demon race.

It seems that he is gradually putting the pieces he has played back in their original positions, slowly restoring everything to the state it should have been in before his intervention.

Why do this?

Mu Meng felt that something was about to emerge, and he seemed to be about to grasp the true outline of things.

“Your Majesty, there is one more thing,” Mu Qingheng suddenly spoke in a deep voice, interrupting Mu Meng’s thoughts, “After this battle, Crown Prince Yue’s prestige among the demon race has deepened, and his foundation is now solid. Therefore, he has come to see you to express his gratitude.”

The Heavenly Emperor was surprised for a moment. "Is the Crown Prince of the Moon also outside? He is quite disciplined, going to announce..." He raised his hand to instruct his attendant, but shook his head after only saying half of his sentence. He said to Mu Qingheng, "You should personally bring him in. At this time, we cannot appear too arrogant."

Mu Qingheng naturally accepted the order and left.

After he left, the Heavenly Emperor shook his head and smiled wryly, "What can I say about this Heng'er? Although the death of the Third Prince of the Demon Clan is not a pity, his actions make it extremely inappropriate to try to arrange a marriage between you and the Moon Prince of the Demon Clan."

Mu Meng was surprised that her father had suddenly become concerned about this matter. "Father, how did the person you're arranging a marriage for me get involved with Brother Yue?" Isn't it a tacit understanding between you and Yun Zejing, just short of an official announcement?

"Hmph, it's all because of that good brother who protects you like the apple of his eye. He's vehemently opposed to you marrying into Yunze Realm," the Heavenly Emperor said, getting animated as he counted on his fingers. "He said that Jiu Yan is young and impetuous, impulsive and reckless, and doesn't know how to take care of people. He's really not a good match for you. Since he's so strongly opposed and there's evidence to back it up, I can't just go my own way because our families are close."

“I originally thought that he was close to the Moon Prince of the Demon Clan because he had taken a liking to him. I was also secretly worried about the internal strife and infighting within the Demon Clan, and I was not comfortable marrying you off to him. But who knew—” The Heavenly Emperor spread his hands, “Now I don’t have to worry anymore. Heng’er killed the Demon Emperor’s own son. Even if the Demon Clan were willing to accept you, I would still not feel comfortable marrying you off to him.”

That's true. Although Mu Qingheng helped the demon race quell the chaos, he still killed the son of the demon emperor. How could his sister possibly marry into that family?

Thinking about his feelings for her, Mu Meng had a new perspective on Mu Qingheng's attempt to kill him—he could point out Mu Qingheng's faults when he disagreed with her marrying Brother Jiu Yan, forcing their father to give up. But there were other people besides Brother Jiu Yan, and he couldn't use this method to stop everyone. So he came up with this plan. After this incident, Brother Yue was no longer a threat to him.

Mu Qingheng's actions were multifaceted, achieving three goals at once. With such meticulous planning, if he hadn't been reborn and learned of his true nature, the Six Realms would truly have been manipulated by him.

Mu Meng felt her fingertips were a little cold. She calmed herself down and said, "Father, don't worry. We can take our time to choose. There's no rush. Besides, I really don't like Brother Jiu Yan or Brother Yue. After all, I'll be your husband in the future, and I should wait for the right person. Anyway, I've just come of age, so there's plenty of time."

She really wanted her father to temporarily give up the idea of ​​arranging a marriage for her. Firstly, she was currently preoccupied with other matters and had no time to worry about such things. Secondly, Mu Qingheng was shrewd and capable. He had already used his exceptional methods to exclude Brother Jiu Yan and Brother Yue. If someone else came along, he would be ruthless and cold-hearted, and he might even harm innocent lives in order to eliminate them. Wouldn't that implicate her?

"So you neither like Jiu Yan nor Yue Liutian? Excluding those two, there really aren't any outstanding young talents worthy of my Mengmeng right now," the Heavenly Emperor, unaware of Mu Meng's worries, clearly hadn't listened to her words. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Chao Yu has a beloved disciple; that old man has praised him to me quite clumsily and awkwardly. It seems that the boy has feelings for you. His disciple is named Sheng Yuanting, the eldest son of Yu Rujing, and holds the position of Xuan Tian General in the Heavenly Clan..."

Compared to the previous two, Mu Meng was more afraid of causing Brother Sheng's life again and making him suffer such a miserable end, so he refused against his will: "Father, I have met this General Xuantian twice. He is a dull and boring person, so... let's forget about it."

“Alright, he is a bit older, even older than Heng’er, so I’m not entirely satisfied,” the Heavenly Emperor waved his hand. “Well, there’s no rush, we can take our time choosing.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Mu Meng to carefully instruct him: "By the way, Mengmeng, the matter of the demon clan has come to an end, and Heng'er can finally rest. When you have time, you should take good care of him. I heard from someone that Heng'er has been unwell recently. He never takes himself seriously, and he only listens to you to some extent."

Is Mu Qingheng unwell? He seemed fine just now. Mu Meng's eyes darted around, not daring to ask too directly: "Brother, is something wrong? Is it... a recurrence of the old injury in your chest?"

Could it be that Mu Qingheng's heart pain has other underlying causes?

"No, does he have a serious old injury?" The Heavenly Emperor looked bewildered, then showed some self-reproach, frowning and saying with worry, "I neglected him, I didn't know. His guard said that there seemed to be bloodstains in the waste paper he threw away a couple of days ago, as if he had coughed up blood. The guard was careful and felt something was wrong, so he picked it up to check. The bloodstains were dark in color and very unusual, like bruises."

"how so?"

"Don't worry, the physician examined him and found that Heng'er is in good health and there was nothing wrong. I asked him before he went to the demon clan, and he said the guard was making a fuss over nothing. At the time, he looked very healthy and energetic, so there was definitely nothing wrong with him. But this matter... I just feel like something is not right. If you pay attention to him and show him concern, he will eventually listen."

Mu Meng wasn't in a hurry; he just thought Mu Qingheng was really mysterious. He had a heart ailment before, and now he was coughing up blood. "I understand, Father. I will take it to heart."

...

After thanking the Heavenly Emperor, Yue Liutian had to return to the Demon Clan to handle some internal affairs, so he did not stay any longer.

Mu Qingheng saw him out, and Mu Meng followed him out.

This was the first time she had met Brother Yue since her rebirth. In the past, he was always cheerful and composed, and he would tease her whenever he saw her. But today, he only gave her a polite greeting, glanced at her deeply, and didn't say anything more.

However, his eyes seemed to hold a thousand words—Mu Meng recalled that in her previous life, before she went to the desolate tomb, Yue Liutian saw her off, and that was the first time she felt someone's straightforward affection.

Under the night sky that night, his smile was warm, and his eyes shone like stars. "I will clear away all obstacles as soon as possible, eliminate all possible dangers around me, and leave no future troubles. When that time comes, can you... reconsider me?"

"Just answer me in your heart. You don't have to answer right away. Take your time to think, you can answer anytime. I'll be waiting."

She didn't answer him, and perhaps she never will.

Yue Liutian paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Mengmeng, why do you look at me like that? You look so aggrieved, like you've wronged me somehow."

"Mengmeng, you've heard about the internal strife among the demon race, haven't you? Don't let your imagination run wild," he glanced at Mu Qingheng, then turned back to Mu Meng with a smile, "The Crown Prince Mu killed wicked people, not my brothers. Let's be the same as before, don't be distant with me."

Mu Meng's eyebrows curved slightly, and she said gently, "I know, Brother Yue, you're overthinking it."

She felt somewhat guilty towards him, but not for the reason he thought. She was grateful for his affection, but in this life, it ended before he could even speak, so naturally she felt a little guilty.

Brother Yue was a very intelligent person. He naturally understood what his father had seen through. He knew that the demon race would not accept her, and he could never marry her.

Yue Liutian looked at Mengmeng carefully for a second before feeling relieved: "Okay, after I get home and finish everything, I'll find you some new and interesting things to play with, okay?"

Mu Qingheng interjected at the right moment: "Crown Prince Yue, managing the internal affairs of the demon race is not an easy task. You have to appease your relatives under the pressure of the Demon Emperor, and you also have to win over the other brothers who are still observing. There are many things to do, and you won't be able to get away for a while. It's best not to get distracted."

Yue Liutian nodded and said, "I know." After that, he didn't speak again.

He now felt a bit complicated looking at Mu Qingheng. He had thought he was a lifelong friend, but now he was caught in a dilemma. He was here to help the demon race, so even if he made a mistake, he shouldn't be criticized, let alone handle things so well. However, he could have avoided being so harsh... Now he was letting himself miss out on the love of his life.

And for some reason, he now seems quite hostile towards me.

Yue Liutian stopped and cupped his hands in greeting: "Crown Prince Mu, Mengmeng, let's leave it here. It's chilly here, you should go back quickly. Especially since His Highness the Crown Prince still has fresh injuries, he should rest more and not move around too much."

Mu Qingheng didn't stand on ceremony and skipped the pleasantries. "Alright, Crown Prince Yue, take care."

Mu Meng wanted to walk a few more steps, but neither of them wanted to, so he said with concern, "Brother Yue, we'll leave you here. Be careful on your journey. No matter how much work you have, don't rush things. Remember to take good care of yourself."

Her voice was sweet and gentle as she earnestly gave her instructions.

Mu Qingheng listened to each sentence, his blinking gradually slowing down, and he unconsciously softened his breathing. He slowly turned his head to look at the little girl beside him, feeling a metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.

"I know." No one noticed his unusual behavior, and Yue Liutian even responded gently to Mu Meng before leaving.

As the two whispered their farewells, Mu Qingheng felt a sharp pain slowly creeping into his heart.

He finally realized something very serious.

When Mengmeng was with him, she was still gentle and caring. He was experiencing love for the first time and felt only joy. But now, standing side by side with Yue Liutian in front of her, he realized that her gentleness was vastly different.

When those clear, clean eyes looked at Yue Liutian, there was genuine warmth and concern. But when her gaze shifted to him, the smile remained, but behind her beautiful, soft eyebrows and eyes lay an emptiness.

Perhaps his previous speculation was correct.

It felt as if thousands of steel needles were piercing my heart at the same time, relentlessly piercing back and forth, leaving it riddled with holes in an instant.

In fact, Mengmeng doesn't like him at all, and she never will.

As countless sharp knives sliced ​​him to pieces, he could almost hear the sound of blood gushing from his body, his heart being torn to shreds, and his bones being broken inch by inch and crushed into dust.

Because she was afraid of him.

I hate him.

I hate him.

Mu Qingheng's face was ashen, pale as a ghost, and his lips were almost purplish-black. He tried desperately to suppress and endure, but in the end he could not resist his body's instincts. He knelt heavily on one knee, lowered his head and coughed up a mouthful of blood.