Hua Mingqiao said earnestly, "Hua'er, I'm doing this for your own good. Uncle doesn't want you to know too much. I'm a desperate outlaw now, and I don't know where I'll end up tomorrow."

Hua Fushu sneered, "For my own good? Should you keep it secret from me just for my own good? It's too late! Uncle, if you had said this a few years ago, I might not have intervened in the Beiling affair. Do you think that if you didn't tell me, I wouldn't be able to find out about the Beiling affair? I'm not investigating this matter entirely for you, but because of my uncle. My beloved uncle can't be charged with treason. Why did Huo Qing's rebellion drag my uncle into it? Why should my uncle bear the same crime as him? Why should my uncle be unable to repay his family for ten years? Why? The Huo family owes my Hua family what they have to repay!"

Sai Yuhuan suddenly stood up and shouted angrily, "That's enough, Hua Fushu, what right do you have to accuse my father? What right do you have to say that my Huo family is a rebellion!"

Hua Fushu said: "Whether your Huo family rebels or not has nothing to do with me, and even less so with my uncle. Your Huo family is seeking death and shouldn't drag my uncle down with them."

Sai Yuhuan was furious, but because she was Hua Mingqiao's niece, she couldn't do anything to her!

Hua Mingqiao leaned against the chair, slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, his face solemn. "Hua'er, you can't say that about General Huo. General Huo is loyal and brave. He didn't drag me down. I followed General Huo of my own free will. He was wronged. He is innocent. He didn't rebel. No, he really didn't."

Hua Fushu was surprised. Since she started investigating the Beiling incident, she didn't care that Huo Qing didn't rebel. She just wanted to know the cause of her uncle's death and bring him home.

Ye Zelin was shocked for a moment. The blood letter left by Cai Yuanchang stated that General Huo Qing was innocent and was framed, but he himself had always been skeptical about this matter. He felt that Cai Yuanchang might have done it on purpose. It was Cai Yuanchang who personally testified that General Huo Qing was in rebellion, and King Qinghe abandoned him. It was hard not to suspect that Cai Yuanchang deliberately brought the matter of Huo Qing onto King Qinghe.

Of course, if Cai Yuanchang's suicide note could become evidence to overthrow King Qinghe, he would be happy to do so.

However, the matter of Huo Qing involved the reputation of the late emperor, and he, a small minister, could do nothing. So after much consideration, he handed Cai Yuanchang's suicide note to Your Majesty for Your Majesty to deal with.

Thinking of Sai Yuhuan and others' hatred for Cai Yuanchang, it became clear, "Is it Cai Yuanchang, the governor of Dongting?"

Hua Mingqiao nodded sadly, "Yes."

Ye Zelin asked again: "Did Cai Yuanchang frame General Huo Qing?"

Sai Yuhuan sat back on the wooden chair, eyes filled with hatred. "Cai Yuanchang was once a general trusted by my father. It was he and He Youdao who conspired to frame my father and brother. It was Cai Yuanchang who killed my brother personally. It was he and the Prince of Qinghe who massacred nearly 30,000 soldiers. Their hands are stained with the blood of my Huo family and tens of thousands of soldiers..."

Hua Fushu continued, "So, you lurked in Qingyun Mountain just to kill Cai Yuanchang?"

Sai Yuhuan said: "Yes!"

Hua Mingqiao said: "Cai Yuanchang is dead, but our work is not yet done."

Hua Fushu looked at Hua Mingqiao and said, "You are obviously still alive, why didn't you send a message to your family? Why didn't you let us know that you were still alive? Do you know how much we miss you? We miss you dead and become a wandering ghost."

Hua Mingqiao felt guilty. "I also thought about writing home, but I can't implicate our Hua family, nor can I expose our whereabouts. Hua'er, whether you blame me or hate me, there are some things I don't want you to know too much about. I don't want you to get involved in these things. This is the best way I can protect you."

Hua Fushu said disdainfully: "I don't need your protection."

Hua Mingqiao continued, "Hua'er, if you hadn't recognized the Flower-Eating Heartbreak Sword, and if it hadn't been for what happened next, I would never have recognized you. Back then, knowing your identity, I tried every possible way to drive you down the mountain, simply because I didn't want you to know our identities. But despite all my calculations, I never imagined you'd already begun investigating Beiling."

He pondered for a moment, then continued, "If you insist on knowing what happened back then, I can tell you, but you have to agree to one condition."

"Speak." Hua Fushu said readily, "I agree!"

Hua Mingqiao and Sai Yuhuan exchanged a glance, each understanding the other's intentions. Hua Mingqiao put forward a condition, saying, "Hua'er, from now on, no matter what your aunt and I do, don't interfere or get involved. Stay away from us and pretend you don't know us."

Hua Fushu looked at Hua Mingqiao intently, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache, but said without hesitation, "Okay."

Ye Zelin was a little puzzled. Considering Hua Fushu's persistence in Beiling affairs, why did he agree to Hua Mingqiao's request so readily without any hesitation?

This is so unlike her.

Bang!

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the teacup shattered, splashing the scalding hot tea onto the ground, with a few drops splashing onto Hua Mingqiao's shirt and boots.

Ye Zelin was frightened, Sai Yuhuan was frightened, and Hua Mingqiao was frightened. He didn't expect Huaer to react so strongly. She was so angry that she smashed the teacup!

Under the dim candlelight, her pretty, fair face was filled with anger, and her eyes reflected terrifying resentment.

Hua Mingqiao understood what his niece meant and why she was angry, but he didn't realize that Hua Fushu actually had a hint of disdain in his eyes.

The reason why Hua Fushu was disdainful was because her uncle looked down on her and always treated her as a little girl who needed protection.

However, she is not!

"Flowers." Hua Mingqiao said.

Hua Fushu's anger gradually faded, but her eyes slowly turned red. She said, "Uncle, I've grown up. I'm no longer that crying little girl. I don't need your so-called protection. Your protection is too cruel to me. I've been looking for you for ten years and finally found you, but you want me to disown you. I really can't do that."

She yelled at Hua Mingqiao, "How can you be so selfish? I want to take you and your brother home, why don't you give me any chance? Why!"

Two lines of clear tears slowly overflowed, wetting her cheeks.

It's pitiful and heartbreaking.

Hua Fushu continued, "You said you were doing this to protect me, but can't I protect myself, you, and my brother? Uncle, don't underestimate me anymore. I'm not that little girl anymore. I can protect myself, and I can protect you, too."

Hua Mingqiao hesitated to speak, "I just..."

Hua Fushu wiped away the tears and said, "Don't say it, I don't want to hear it anymore. I just want to know what happened in Beiling that year that made you not even go home."

Sai Yuhuan said, "Niece, if you insist on doing this, I'll tell you, don't blame your uncle, he did it all for me..."

Sai Yuhuan recounted what happened in Beiling ten years ago...