Chapter 97

"Fourth Uncle?" Qin Sang asked, her voice a little hoarse.

They must have slept for ages; it's already dawn. I don't know if it's morning or afternoon; they boarded the ship in the middle of the night last night…

As soon as she finished speaking, the person sitting on the shore feeding the fish remained silent, so Qin Sang had no choice but to get off the bed barefoot and cautiously look around.

"I'm curious, how did you recognize me?" After a long pause, the person by the lake suddenly continued the previous sentence.

Qin Sang: "..."

"Is it hard to recognize you? You're just wearing a mask." She said as she walked outside. The sunlight made the ground slightly hot, but she stood in the shadows and didn't go any further.

A person can be defined by their body language and habits. How could they possibly deceive those close to them just by covering their face?

The other person seemed to chuckle. Qin Sang looked up and saw a group of small red fish swarming around him, scrambling for food.

This is that lake, I saw it before. There are many similar small houses standing along the lake shore, where many men and women are indulging in sensual pleasures.

Nearby, a tree-shaped structure stood beside the platform, with a hemp rope tied to it. At the other end of the rope was a slender awning boat, with an oar tilted across its bow.

"Come sit down, don't stand." Xie Xiao was still wearing a mask, his voice coming from behind it, languid and slightly tired.

Qin Sang thought for a moment, then turned around and went back into the house, where she found a pair of socks and put them on.

After coming out again, she bent down and peeked inside, saying, "Since I've already been recognized, let's take off the mask. Isn't it tiring to wear it?"

"Not tired," Xie Xiao answered readily. "It's only tiring when you take off the mask. You have to put on a smiling face, pretend to be innocent, pretend to be naive, pretend to be indifferent to the world." He looked up at him. "Aren't you tired?"

Qin Sang sat down next to him: "I'm not pretending, I'm not tired."

The white-masked man stared at her for a moment, then said, "Lying."

Qin Sang: "..."

"I heard you're going to be the Princess of Ning'an," Xie Xiao said, picking up a few fish food pellets and scattering them. The little fish scrambled for them with their soft white mouths, and ripples spread across the water. "But I also heard that you're going to be betrothed to Tan Bi, and be passed around like an object. Aren't you angry?"

Qin Sang thought for a moment, her face slightly flushed. It wasn't because she was being passed around like an object, but because she remembered the outrageous thing she and Xie Sui'an had done before.

Alas, what a tragedy.

She sighed, "What's there to be angry about? As long as the other person isn't too ugly, it doesn't matter who I marry." She wasn't expecting to have children with anyone and spend the rest of her life with them anyway.

Xie Xiao sneered, "My mother was in the same situation back then, being passed around from one person to another. However, she was even less free than you; she was a slave of a conquered nation." He paused before continuing, "But when she was young, she was a princess. She originally had a good marriage and could have happily married the man she loved. Unfortunately, their country was defeated on the battlefield, and all the good men died on the battlefield. So, she could only end up like that, like an object."

Qin Sang frowned: "But those things happened before you were born, right? How can you feel such hatred so deeply?"

“Good question,” Xie Xiao said. “I also want to ask, what does it have to do with me? I wasn’t even born when the Night Owl Kingdom was destroyed, yet I’m expected to shoulder such a heavy burden. Half of my blood is from the Southern Kingdom, so how can they say I’m the only hope for the restoration of the kingdom? Do you think they’re out of their minds?”

For once, he raised his voice slightly, and his emotions finally showed some fluctuation.

Qin Sang: "..." So that's the reason. She felt a chill run down her spine. How did this bring up the grudges of national subjugation and the matter of national restoration?

Then, instinctively, he grabbed the finish line and asked, "Who are they?"

Behind Xie Xiao, there are actually Night Owl Kingdom people waiting to restore their kingdom? How many are there? What is their influence in the current chaotic political situation?

In this light, Aunt Jiang's poisoning of Xie Zhongxu suddenly becomes quite plausible.

As a princess of a fallen kingdom, she wasn't considered extreme in anything she did.

But why this particular time? Is the imperial court planning something big at this time? Or has the Night Owl Kingdom secretly grown strong enough to launch a rebellion?

Xie Xiao didn't answer, but instead glanced at her again through his mask: "And you, how many people are behind you? You're targeting me relentlessly, is it also to avenge your family? Heh... I haven't done anything to your family."

“I had no one behind me, otherwise why would I be running around like a headless fly?” Qin Sang was a little speechless. “But the Prime Minister is dead, my backer is gone, so they have to investigate, right? Who told you to suddenly run away at a time like this? If you weren’t feeling guilty…”

Before he could finish speaking, a blissful groan suddenly came from far away on the lake.

Qin Sang paused, and for a moment, she felt that her ear was injured.

But then she thought of something and looked at the shadowy houses in the distance—if Xie Xiao wanted to restore his kingdom, then all the guests on this carefree island were now under his control and would become his help!

What an enormous force this is!

So, is he the very monster he sought out, the one causing so much suffering among the people of Namo? Is it really that simple?

Qin Sang asked, "Speaking of which, was it really your mother who killed Prime Minister Xie, in order to restore the kingdom?"

At this moment, Xie Xiao finished feeding the fish, put the disk aside, clapped his hands, picked it up, and took off his mask.

Qin Sang stared at him until he turned his head and raised it, only then could she see his face clearly again.

The face was still Xie Xiao's face, but the eyes were completely different.

Before, I was free of distractions, always smiling, and as peaceful as still water; now, I am dark and deep, and my mind is constantly changing.

Qin Sang saw him squinting slightly, probably thinking about how to start a conversation, but in the end he didn't say anything. Instead, he propped himself up and went to the wooden stake next to him to untie the rope.

“Come with me to a place, and I’ll tell you the truth.” He untied the rope, pulled the slender, bamboo-leaf-like boat to the shore, and gestured for Qin Sang to get on first.

Qin Sang couldn't swim, but she felt that if the other party wanted her to die, they probably wouldn't choose this way of dying.

Curiosity overcame her wariness, and she pretended to be calm and composed as she boarded the awning boat.

The boat rocked, and she held onto the awning as she entered the cabin. Before she could even sit down, the boat sank again.

Qin Sang watched Xie Xiao warily. Xie Xiao raised his sleeve, expressionless, picked up the oar, and gently poked the shore. The boat immediately left the shore.

Qin Sang didn't know where the boat was going. The lake was only so big, though not boundless, and she didn't want to witness a live sex show along the shore...

"Do you believe in the saying 'beauty is fleeting'?" The boat slowly swayed, creating ripples, and Xie Xiao spoke again.

Qin Sang: "Hmm?"

“I am not actually a member of the Xie family. My mother was already pregnant with me before she was sent to the Prime Minister’s residence. My mother said she didn’t know whose child I was.” He smiled faintly, but his eyes were as cold as ice. “But my mother thought it didn’t matter whose child I was, as long as I had the blood of the Night Owl King’s royal family.”

"Xie Zhongxu is a good man. He actually accepted my mother and me. Isn't it ridiculous? Everyone says that Prime Minister Xie and Madam Xie were childhood sweethearts with a deep affection for each other, but even he, who lost his wife in middle age and was at the height of his power, couldn't resist the allure of beauty. It wasn't for any other reason; he simply fell in love with my mother."

Xie Xiao smiled and said, "My mother was truly beautiful when she was young, even more beautiful than you. The destruction of the Night Owl Kingdom was also caused by her. When my mother was young, she once came to Namo with an envoy. It was during that mission that she gained the favor of a noble person in Namo."

"The nobleman requested the late emperor to facilitate this marriage, but as you know, in matters of marriage, the weak have no choice. When my mother learned of this, she refused to comply even at the cost of her life. The old king of Night Owl Kingdom overestimated his own strength and favored my mother, so he was willing to go to war with the Kingdom of Nanwu for this reason."

"I never thought we could win. Who would have thought that we would be attacked so easily and our country would be destroyed?" Xie Xiao smiled faintly. "The late emperor probably didn't expect that the Night Owl Kingdom would be so weak and destroyed in one battle. He even had to go through the trouble of sending people to take over."

"What's even more ridiculous is that after the Night Owl Kingdom was destroyed, the nobleman who had originally insisted on marrying my mother suddenly lost interest and changed his mind. He no longer wanted my mother."

Qin Sang couldn't help but interject, "Could it be that he originally wanted to marry your mother because he valued the background of Night Owl Kingdom?"

"Yes and no, there are many reasons."

The small boat moved silently, gliding along the high mountains beside the lake. Qin Sang listened and looked, guessing that there might be a cave at the foot of the mountain, and perhaps something hidden inside.

Xie Xiao gently rowed the oar: "The nobleman truly loved my mother, but before he arrived, when the army of Nanwu Kingdom reached the capital of Yexiao Kingdom, my mother had already given herself wholeheartedly to her beloved. Moreover, knowing that she was deeply sinful, she had already taken poison."

"Then what..."

"How come you're not dead? How come I'm still here?" Xie Xiao smiled knowingly. "Because although Night Owl Kingdom is small, it also has royal physicians with superb medical skills. At that time, the Crown Prince of Night Owl Kingdom knew that the country was about to perish, and he vented his anger on the culprit—his sister, who is my mother. In order to save the country and his own throne, he ordered someone to revive my mother, and then presented her to a nobleman with a smile. But he didn't expect the nobleman to wave his hand and say he didn't want her."

"Irony, isn't it?" Xie Xiao laughed sinisterly. "Because of a strange encounter, because of a relationship that ended without a trace, a country was destroyed, the army slaughtered each other, countless civilians died, and the wronged souls piled up like withered bones."

"But that's how things are in this world. Because of a few people's absurd ideas, tens of thousands of people risk their lives for them. But in the end, they just wave their hands, dust off their sleeves, and nothing happens."

Qin Sang couldn't help but wonder, "That noble person is the current emperor?"

Xie Xiao stopped rowing, but the small boat continued to glide slowly forward.

“He’s a man who starts relationships and then abandons them without a shred of loyalty, yet Xie Zhongxu single-handedly helped him rise to power,” Xie Xiao said, his hands tucked into his sleeves as he leaned against the ship. “Now he’s reaping what he sowed, a fitting end to his karma.”

Qin Sang frowned.

Xie Xiao reached out and poked at the water on the side of the ship outside: "He wasn't poisoned by my mother, but by the emperor. He didn't want to start another battle for the throne, and in order to maintain his imperial power, he sent someone to poison him. But of course, he couldn't admit to poisoning an important minister, so the case ultimately fell on my mother, the princess who destroyed the country."