Chapter 54

“…That depends on whether my husband is willing to believe it.” Si Yunyun turned around, her eyes revealing sorrow. “More than anyone else, I want us sisters to stand together.”

Upon hearing this, Si Yanmo stood up, walked to her sister's side, took her hand, and said sincerely, "We are already on the same side."

After seeing her sister off, Si Yanmo thought about Qi Muchen. Perhaps Lin Niang also knew something about what happened back then.

She arrived at Lin Niang's room and was about to knock on the door when she heard a man and a woman talking inside.

The woman's voice was filled with anger; she recognized it as Lin Niang's voice.

"Did you do this? Speak up!"

"Yes. Shouldn't a treacherous and wicked person die?"

With a "slap," Si Yanmo guessed that it must have been Lin Niang who slapped the man. Before Lin Niang could speak, the man said, "I know, I've caused you trouble. I'll leave."

"Where are you going? You..."

Just as Si Yanmo was about to hear the crucial part, she was suddenly slapped on the back by a fan, which startled her and made her scream, disturbing the people inside the room.

"Little Mo'er, what are you doing?"

It was indeed Zhong Zihe who caused this trouble.

"Shut up!" She hurriedly raised her hand to cover the man's mouth, wanting to continue listening, but when she turned around, she bumped into Lin Niang opening the door.

"What's going on?" As if nothing had happened, she raised an eyebrow at the two people in front of her. "Xiao Mo, do you... does Yan Qing know about this?"

Si Yanmo pushed Zhong Zihe aside and looked into the house. The house was empty.

"What's wrong?" Lin Niang smiled, her smile flawless, just like always. "Don't worry, I won't tell that boy."

Si Yanmo found the smile strange; just how many secrets did she hold?

At this moment, Zhong Zihe's words interrupted her thoughts: "Boss Lin, don't talk nonsense! I still want to live a few more days!"

He was genuinely terrified of Zhou Yanqing; the punch he received from him last time still hurt!

Seeing that Lin Niang was chatting and laughing freely, Si Yanmo suppressed her doubts and told Lin Niang the purpose of her visit.

When Tan Yin's name was mentioned, Lin Niang's smile clearly froze.

Suspicion resurfaced, and she dismissed Zhong Zihe, saying, "Go back first."

“I…” Zhong Zihe naturally didn’t see anything amiss and wanted to ask how her injury was, but was interrupted, “Get lost.”

All right……

He had no choice but to slink away.

Honestly, she's starting to look more and more like her husband!

Unfortunately, Si Yanmo didn't get anything useful from Lin Niang, but her intuition told her that Lin Niang was involved in this matter.

She returned to her residence, her mind preoccupied with the matter, so much so that she didn't respond when Wu Guan called her.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Si Yanmo suddenly came to her senses and realized that she had broken the pen in her hand at some point.

She looked at Wu Guan, "What's wrong?"

"Wei Lishi has arrived."

Wei Jingzhong?

Why did this person suddenly come here?

She looked at Zhao Wan beside her and said, "Go behind the screen first."

She didn't know if Wei Jingzhong had discovered Zhao Wan's presence, so she decided to let her hide first.

It must have been discovered that the man brought a newly appointed official in charge of rites to inquire about the Summer Solstice sacrifice.

In previous years, the sacrificial ceremony involved offering human sacrifices to Heaven, but now that human sacrifices have been abolished, the way of the ceremony has to change.

"In addition, the climate has been volatile this year. Summer is approaching, but Sak has suffered from a frost disaster. The two countries are close to each other, which may endanger the Qin region."

Wei Jingzhong reported the matter word by word, exaggerating the seriousness of the situation, but his meaning was simply to restore the human sacrifice.

Si Yanmo was still unaware of his ulterior motives and coldly said, "The abolition of human sacrifice was agreed upon by Emperor Gu. Wei Lishi has mentioned it many times, which is disrespectful to Emperor Gu?"

Wei Jingzhong dared not speak further and was dismissed by Si Yanmo, who said, "I will discuss this matter with His Highness."

The man smiled ingratiatingly, and as he looked down, he caught a glimpse of the shoes under the screen; the pattern on the shoes was a style unique to his household.

She's here... It seems this woman can't be allowed to live.

A fierce glint flashed in the man's eyes, but his face remained humble as he led the official away.

After he left, Zhao Wan dared to emerge from behind the screen, her eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and resentment.

"What's wrong?" Si Yanmo quickly took her hand, thinking she was still afraid of Wei Jingzhong, and comforted her, "It's okay, don't be afraid. You're with me now, even if he finds out, he can't do anything to you."

Zhao Wan shook her head.

Si Yanmo noticed her hesitation and patted the seat next to her, signaling her to sit down.

Zhao Wan was a year younger than her, so she was considered an older sister. So she tried to comfort her like her older sister used to when they were little, and said, "Don't keep things to yourself, tell me."

After a long pause, Zhao Wan finally spoke. It wasn't Wei Jingzhong who addressed her like that, but the official in charge of ceremonies beside the man.

It turns out that when Zhao Wan was still Wei Jingzhong's bodyguard, she and Wang Tianchuan, who was studying at the Imperial Academy, fell in love and secretly pledged their lives to each other.

She had initially tried to escape Wei Jingzhong's control by faking her death during a mission, hoping to elope with a man. However, she was discovered by Wei Jingzhong's men and was sent to be sacrificed.

After being rescued by Si Yanmo and the other woman, she secretly went to find Wang Tianchuan, only to find that he was already engaged to a merchant's daughter.

When she pressed him for an answer, he said that the man was only with her so that he could get in touch with Wei Jingzhong, and that he actually already had someone he liked and had always felt disgusted by being with her.

Her faked death was exposed, and it was also the man's doing.

Now, the man has risen to power by stepping on her, becoming a ceremonial official, and his family is happy.

However, she impulsively went to find a man and almost got caught by Wei Jingzhong's men again. Fortunately, she met Si Yanmo that day.

Si Yanmo listened with heartache in her eyes. She didn't know how many similar stories she had heard at He Chunlou.

Many of the musicians at Hechunlou were redeemed from brothels by Zhong Zihe. Among them were men who had made vows of eternal love to them, but in the end, they only saw those men marry and have children, and then turn around and say they were disgusted.

At that time, Si Yanmo knew that there was no one in this world who was truly reliable. The person who promised you forever could turn the other way around and stab you in the back the next second.

When they love you, they don't care about your past; when they stop loving you, they find you disgusting.

She held Zhao Wan, who was crying her eyes out, and gently patted her back.

She knew that Zhao Wan didn't need comfort, just companionship and a listening ear.

But what she needs is... for the unfaithful man to go to hell.

——

At dusk, when Zhou Yanqing returned, he saw a sullen "little madman" who kept poking at a soft cushion in his hand, puffing up his cheeks, which he found extremely cute.

"What's wrong?" He sat down next to the woman, silently pulled out the poor cushion, and put it aside. "Don't poke it anymore, it's going to break!"

The cushion was taken away, and Si Yanmo crossed her legs and looked at him, "Can I ask you a question?"

"you say."

"How did you feel when you found out he was your father?"

Zhou Yanqing was surprised that she would suddenly ask this question and fell into memories.

When he was adopted by Qin Zixiu, Qin Zixiu helped him find his mother and uncover his little-known past.

Having experienced the Tan Yin incident, he did not report it to the Southern Emperor. He knew that if he did, Zhou Yanqing and her son would only face certain death.

Thus, all of this was kept secret until Zhou Yanqing ascended the throne of the King of Qin.

That was not a good position. The moment he sat down, everyone was eyeing him covetously. Some were dissatisfied, some wanted to seize the throne, and most importantly, it alarmed the Southern Emperor.

Zhou Yanqing didn't know how he found out her identity. She only knew that a group of people came to Nandu that day to take her mother to the palace. Her mother was so happy for the first time and talked to him so much for the first time.

He then learned that he actually had royal blood.

But he didn't want it at all. What use was that bloodline? Was it to keep his mother company when she was pregnant alone, or to give him a bite to eat when he was about to die?

There was nothing there, only a moment of suspicion and an obvious threat.

The sunlight dimmed further, and the man in the memory had bloodshot eyes. He uttered only one word: "Hate."

He hates him, and that hatred will never fade.

He despised his mother, yet still forced her into the palace, calling her "Qingqing," all to trap the child who loved his mother.

Si Yanmo raised her hand to soothe his clenched fist, "I hate him too."

The floral scent emanating from the girl in his arms seemed to have a soothing effect. He suddenly stopped caring, lifted her chin, and teased, "What? Standing up for me?"

Si Yanmo didn't understand the ambiguity in his words. She wanted to push his hand away, but for some reason, she didn't move. "I think unfaithful people should die."

Zhou Yanqing's smile widened, her fingertips tightening slightly. "Why do you make it sound like you have a deep-seated hatred?"

It was meant as a joke, but Si Yanmo's fleeting glance startled the little dog. "You've really been hurt by someone? Who? That Zhong Zihe?"

Zhou Yanqing felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he was angry that someone dared to hurt his Amo's feelings, and on the other hand, he felt wronged that she had really liked someone else.

Si Yanmo didn't expect him to get so agitated. "How come you can bring up Zihe-ge in everything? It's not him, and it's not... I've been heartbroken."

The events of her past life shouldn't count, and besides, she didn't like Zhou Junsong. It's just that whenever she thinks about how she once had a heart that was respectful and devoted to him for life, only to have it gradually torn apart by him, leaving her with nothing but exploitation.

She wasn't stupid. If the other person liked her or had even a little bit of pity for her, they wouldn't have let her be killed like that. It was precisely because they didn't like her or didn't care that they didn't care about her life or death.

In this respect, she was much luckier than in her previous life. She had leverage to negotiate, and even if she was about to die, others would still pull her back onto the chessboard.

Zhou Yanqing knew nothing of his past life, nor of what the woman was thinking. A surge of anger welled up inside him, and the emotion in his eyes turned dangerous.

He pinched Si Yanmo's chin, the pressure light, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly, "Who is that? Tell me."

Their eyes met, and Si Yanmo did not look away; in fact, she wanted to meet her gaze.

She raised her hand to touch the man's brow, and wondered why his eyebrows and eyes seemed particularly handsome today.

“Zhou Yanqing, you…”

"I am here……"

He took the girl's hand, and gently stroked her cheek with his other hand. At that moment, even her breath seemed to possess an alluring magic, making him unable to resist moving closer and closer...