Li Qishang helped Empress Dowager Xin in from outside, and after taking good care of her and helping her sit down on a bench, he turned around, clenched his fist, and punched Li An.

"You bastard, I'll teach you to bully my mother, I'll teach you to be presumptuous, I'll teach you to be a pervert!" Li Qishang roared as he grabbed Li An's collar and punched him repeatedly in the face.

Almost every time he cursed, he was punched. Li An didn't know if he felt guilty or if he had already accepted that he had to face these things this way, but he didn't stop him and let Li Qishang hit him like that, and beat him up badly.

The three people standing to the side, Li Qiji and Guan Zhiyue, were looking at each other, but Empress Dowager Xin seemed to have lost her soul and was lost in thought for a long time.

Li Qishang felt that even slapping him in the face couldn't vent his anger, so he swung at him instead. Li Qiji quickly stopped him, saying, "Qishang, stop!"

Li Qishang raised his fist high, but before he could bring it down, he heard his elder brother's words. He turned to look at Li Qiji standing to the side, his face full of disbelief, and shouted in a trembling voice, "Brother, how can you stand idly by while he insults Mother?"

Li Qiji shook his head and said, "Let him go first, and I'll explain it to you slowly."

Li Qishang turned to look at Guan Zhiyue, who nodded slightly at him. Li An, who was pinned down, was spitting out blood, looking pitiful. He was nothing like the elegant young man he had been moments before. He was now like a defeated lion, so pitiful and helpless, as if he couldn't win this battle.

"Brother, what do you think we should do with this beast?" Li Qishang asked angrily as he walked towards Li Qiji.

Li Qiji was having a headache. How could he have such an unruly child? He wanted to hear his mother's opinion. If his mother still held the attitude that she didn't need to hurt him, or if she had other ideas, wouldn't making a decision here hurt her feelings?

"Qi Shang, don't get agitated. Let's see what Mother and he have to say." Li Qiji can no longer bring himself to call Li An "Imperial Uncle," given their relationship...

"Yue'er, this..." Li Qiji wanted to say something, but he felt he didn't know how to explain it, since this matter was disgraceful no matter how you looked at it.

Guan Zhiyue looked at the two of them and said, "Let Mother and Imperial Uncle have a good talk. Maybe then all our problems will be solved?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance. Li Qiji could understand Guan Zhiyue, but Li Qishang was just a blockhead. He couldn't understand her. All he knew was that his royal uncle had humiliated his mother, and he couldn't tolerate it!

"Seventh Imperial Uncle, I'm giving you this chance. You only have one chance, so seize it yourself!" Guan Zhiyue said, looking at Li An who was struggling to get up.

On the other side, Empress Dowager Xin slowly raised her head and looked at Li An sitting on the ground. Her eyes were already filled with tears. It was unclear whether it was the disbelief of knowing the truth or the tears of regret as she recalled the past when she looked at Li An in front of her.

Perhaps it's both, or perhaps neither. This is a grudge from the previous generation, and as the younger generation, they have no right to interfere. However, if their mother insists on exterminating Li An, they will not hesitate to act decisively.

"Peelin, shall we talk?" Li An crawled with great difficulty on his knees toward where Empress Dowager Xin was. His face was bruised and swollen, and he was no longer as handsome as before. His hair was disheveled and he looked as if he had been ravaged.

"Perrin, look at me!"

Li An knelt before Empress Dowager Xin, his hands dangling on her legs, gently shaking and calling out, as if he were begging or pleading for forgiveness.

Empress Dowager Xin slowly regained her senses, looked at the man kneeling before her, and said in a somewhat indifferent tone, "Get up first! We have nothing to talk about."

Upon hearing this, Li An refused to get up and instead hugged Empress Dowager Xin's legs, resting his head on them, just like in the old days when he would go to his sister-in-law if he was wronged. He would hug her legs and act coquettishly, and his sister-in-law would be like a goddess in heaven, solving everything for him.

He wanted to ensure that he would never be bullied by anyone again. However, he didn't know when he started to like his sister-in-law. Perhaps it was from her comforting words, her companionship, or even his brother's repeated neglect. Gradually, he began to feel sorry for her, wanting to cherish her, protect her, and safeguard her.

"Peilin, can you listen to my thoughts? Can you give me a chance to love you?" Li An's voice was incredibly firm when he said these words, but also incredibly apprehensive, because he didn't know how the Empress Dowager would react or what kind of answer she would give him if he said these words.

He was very scared and anxious.

The room fell silent upon hearing this. The three people standing to the side remained silent, while Li Qishang clenched his fists tightly, his face filled with disapproval! Was he about to get a stepfather?

How will he display his prestige in front of those young masters in the capital? Won't he become a laughingstock?

Li Qishang had forgotten that in this era, it was common for men to have multiple wives and concubines, and many would remarry after their first wife passed away. Even remarriage by widows was permitted in their country, so it was not a shameful thing.

“Li An, I have always regarded you as my younger brother, and I never thought that you would have such feelings for me. When you humiliated me like that, I thought you were avenging your queen. After all, it was your brother who wronged you and made a mistake. But I never expected that you were the one who planned this whole thing.”

"How can I forgive someone so calculating? I treated you with utmost sincerity back then, but all you did was think about was how to get what you wanted from me?"

"How can I forgive you? How can I view you?" Empress Xin's eyes were red and swollen, and tears were streaming down her face. She was still in shock. All of this was caused by the person in front of her!

"Perrin, I'm sorry, but my love for you has never changed. I had no choice but to do what I did!"

"Back then, you were my imperial brother's concubine. How could I possibly take you away from him? If I had done that, how miserable would you have become? I dare not!"

"Perrin, I beg you, please don't reject me, please forgive me, please? I really know I was wrong, it was my fault, I shouldn't have acted like that, I beg you."

At this moment, Li An was like a child who hadn't gotten candy, very sadly lying on Xin Peilin's lap, trying her best to act cute.

Guan Zhiyue, standing to the side, blinked her eyes as she watched the scene unfold, but she didn't say anything else. She simply reached out and tugged at Li Qiji's sleeve, as if she could find a little comfort in him.