"Can you calm down?" Li Hua looked at Zhongli Zhengzhen, whose veins were bulging and who seemed completely irrational, and patted the back of Zhongli Zhengzhen's hand, saying, "You are the prince of Jinchuan, the future crown prince favored by the Jinchuan emperor, is this all the composure you have?"

When Zhongli Zhengzhen heard Li Hua say this, he sneered, shook his head, and said, "I don't understand, now that things have come to this, what else do you have to say?"

“I trust you, I respect you, I even thought of how to help you escape from Father Emperor… But no,” Zhongli Zhengzhen felt heartbroken. He closed his eyes. “You don’t need my protection at all. We all underestimated you. Father Emperor’s strategist once said that a person who can do business all over the country is not easily controlled.”

“At the time, none of us believed it. It seems that we…we trusted blood ties too much.”

"You've got some serious skills. You've managed to bribe everyone around me. Now I can't even leave this courtyard. I'm under house arrest here. Do I need to tell you what I'm planning to do?"

"Whatever you want to say, please tell me first, where did you put the Song Dynasty poems?"

"You wouldn't have killed him, would you..." Zhongli Zhengzhen had actually suspected this for a long time, but he just couldn't believe it.

Li Hua's seemingly calm but cold eyes watched Zhong Li Zhengzhen go mad without him even noticing that Zhong Li Zhengzhen had messed up his clothes.

Zhongli truly believed this was Li Hua's silent answer to him. He took a step back, somewhat devastated, and shook his head, saying, "Why are you so cruel! What have I done to wrong you? Father and Mother finally found you, and our family could have..."

“There has never been a family.” Li Hua suddenly interrupted.

After Li Hua's collar was loosened, he stretched out his pair of slender, jade-like fingers and slowly straightened his clothes, covering up the unsightly marks on his neck layer by layer.

Gan Qiongying had excellent teeth and enjoyed the sound of Li Hua groaning in pain. As a result, her fair neck was covered with tiny teeth marks. Li Hua had even worn a high-necked robe when he went out today, but it was only enough to barely cover them up.

As Li Hua was tidying her clothes, Zhong Li Zhengzhen also noticed the marks on Li Hua's neck. He laughed sarcastically, pointing at Li Hua's collar and saying, "Just for a woman like this... she doesn't even know how to cherish you!"

Li Hua had no intention of explaining anything about his relationship with Gan Qiongying to Zhong Li, let alone that the traces Gan Qiongying left behind were just playful banter between the couple.

Even if Gan Qiongying really had a problem with whipping others or humiliating her partner, Li Hua felt it didn't matter at all.

After slowly smoothing out his collar, Li Hua looked at Zhongli Zhengzhen, no longer intending to waste words with him, and said directly: "You and I were born twins, and twins are not allowed in the royal family."

"Father must choose one of us as his successor, because his previous sons were all foolish and stupid."

"He places great hopes on you and me, but there can only be one ruler of the world, and no other person can have the same face as the future emperor."

“You are the one chosen by Father and Mother, and I am the one who was abandoned.”

Zhongli frowned and said, "What do you mean? You still want to deceive me like this! How could Father and Mother abandon their own child! You were clearly stolen away by the palace maids that day!"

Li Hua looked at Zhongli Zhengzhen quietly, without refuting what he said, and continued, "I was born before you, but because I was weak in the womb, I looked much thinner than you, so Father Emperor personally lifted me up and threw me onto the bricks and stones of the palace."

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhongli Zhengzhen roared angrily.

Li Hua's voice was calm, yet every word struck Zhong Lizheng's heart like thunder and a heavy hammer.

"Why not? They only need one prince and one emperor. Twins have always been regarded as an omen of misfortune by the royal family and as the source of all disasters in the world."

"This must be put to an end by someone, and someone must bear the responsibility. The source of the disaster must also be nipped in the bud."

"Therefore, I, who was born weak, had no choice but to be thrown to my death."

"I'm lucky; I only broke my left leg."

"It is true that I was stolen away by a palace maid. That's because when the maid took me out and was about to dispose of me according to the emperor's orders, she found that I was still alive despite being covered in blood."

Zhongli retreated in complete disarray, his eyes bloodshot, shaking his head repeatedly.

His beliefs, his respected father, his loving and gentle mother... all seemed to crumble before his eyes, and he didn't want to believe Li Hua's words at all.

However, every word Li Hua uttered was far too calm, and the sorrow and obscurity in his eyes were far too real.

Zhongli Zhengzhen did have her doubts: why would a prince be stolen by a nanny?

Why has the prince, a prince of such high status, not been found all these years after he was stolen?

And once doubt is planted, it will immediately take root and sprout, growing into a towering tree in an instant, anywhere, even without water or soil.

“So you hate me…” Zhongli Zhengzhen seemed to finally realize that his brother had hated them from the very beginning.

"If what you're saying is true, then you hate us, yet you agreed to our request. Could it be... that you were only after our revenge from the very beginning?"

Li Hua shook her head amidst Zhong Li's truly hysterical questioning.

“I never intended to take revenge on you. It was your father who forced me to assist you, and it was your mother who threatened me with the life of the nanny who raised me, and with the lives of everyone around me, to pave the way for you.”

"Impossible... Mother is so gentle, and her eyes were filled with sorrow every time she mentioned you. How could Mother..."

"What's impossible? I wasn't raised by her side. I've always worn someone else's face. What else could your mother be to me but a stranger?"

"There might also be fear, an unkillable... ominous, mutilated monster."

"Do you know what the first thing your father said to me was when he met me?"

Li Hua said, "He asked me why I didn't die."

Zhongli Zhengzhen's lips moved, but he couldn't say anything because Li Hua's expression looked so sad and distressed.

It was so lonely and hopeless.

Even Zhongli Zhengzhen couldn't imagine how desperate and heartbroken he must have felt when his parents, who had abandoned him and tried to kill him, met him again after many years and asked him the first question, "Why didn't you die?"

However, Zhongli was born to be pampered and always thought himself superior. His pity was always condescending and limited in time.

He quickly snapped out of that state and regained his composure, saying, "Even if you hate Father and Mother, we are still bound by blood."

"Moreover, we are separated by two countries, Jinchuan and Nanzhao. Jinchuan has been oppressed by Nanzhao for many years, and the people have suffered terribly. You have also been doing business in Jinchuan for many years, and Jinchuan has also raised you. Are you really going to abandon Jinchuan for the sake of a woman?"