Li Hua returned to the main courtyard, where Gan Qiongying was coming out of the house.

Seeing Li Hua, she happily greeted him. She had just confirmed that Li Hua wasn't the terrifying male lead. Gan Qiongying now wished she could straddle Li Hua, hug his neck tightly, cling to him, and keep kissing his cheek, saying, "I missed you so much! Why did you come back later than me..."

Li Hua's face was gentle and warm. He caught Gan Qiongying's body, lowered his head to kiss her, and said softly, "I have to take care of some business. Didn't I say I was leaving soon? I need to get her out as soon as possible."

"What happened to your hand again!" Gan Qiongying touched the dampness on Li Hua's sleeve, and upon closer inspection, she found it was blood!

"What... what happened? Full Moon, quickly go and call the royal physician!"

Manyue immediately turned around and left. Lihua looked down at Gan Qiongying's face, which was contorted with nervousness and heartache, and reached out to touch it.

Is this the expression I made for him?

Li Hua watched with a smile, but her heart was ice-cold.

He laughed and said, "I'm fine... I just accidentally stirred my tea while drinking it, and my hand, which was holding the teacup, broke and cut my hand, but it's nothing serious."

He spoke slowly and deliberately. Gan Qiongying had already untied the silk handkerchief from his hand and found that the wound was exceptionally deep, severing the lines on his palm. It had now become a bloody, horizontally creased palm.

"That serious!"

Gan Qiongying was extremely anxious. She held Li Hua's hand tenderly and blew on it repeatedly. "Is it because... your leg suddenly started hurting?"

Gan Qiongying was at a loss for what to do to protect him, and she was sweating profusely with anxiety. Only when the doctor arrived and properly bandaged and treated Li Hua did Gan Qiongying feel a little relieved.

The two ate something simple and were then helped to wash up by the maids.

Gan Qiongying helped Li Hua sit on the bed, then sat sideways herself, supporting Li Hua's injured leg on her own lap. She untied the bandages, pressing on the injured leg with her hands while asking him where it hurt.

Normally, Lihua would definitely say that she doesn't feel any pain anywhere.

But today, no matter where Gan Qiongying pressed, he said it hurt a lot.

In the end, Gan Qiongying had Manyue and the others heat up the medicine pack and personally applied it to Lihua's legs. Lihua's legs felt warm, and he leaned against the headboard looking at Gan Qiongying with a focused and deep gaze.

He was in Zhongli Zhengzhen's cubicle at the time, so he couldn't see Gan Qiongying's expression. He was very curious about what kind of expression she had when she said those words.

Li Hua knew he should not ask anything, and should act as if nothing had happened. At least for now, it seemed that she really liked him, both his face and his body.

But a nameless fire ignited in Li Hua's heart, burning him to the core. He couldn't help but ask, "What did you do during the day?"

Gan Qiongying moved the medicine packet to a different position and gently massaged Li Hua's calves, marveling at how long Li Hua's legs were. She said, "Oh, I went to the residence of the Grand Princess Huian today. My aunt hasn't been feeling well lately, and she lost her spirits after only a few words with me."

"In the afternoon, I also went to the Jinchuan hostage residence."

Li Hua's leg, which was resting on Gan Qiongying's knee, suddenly pulled back. Gan Qiongying grabbed it and asked, "What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

"A cramp?" she asked, turning the medicine packet over again and rubbing the reddened area where the medicine packet had been applied.

Remembering something, Gan Qiongying chided, "It's getting cold. Wear thicker pants when you go out. Don't always sacrifice warmth for style. You're not looking for a boyfriend anymore, so wear more pants. No young women or wives will laugh at you. Wearing only thin pants will make your legs hurt."

Li Hua should have laughed upon hearing this, but he couldn't laugh at all.

His legs were so hot, but that heat couldn't reach his heart.

He was like a gambler who had lost and wanted to win back his losses; once he was favored, he wanted to be favored for the rest of his life.

He heard himself ask Gan Qiongying in a tense voice, "What do you want with the Jinchuan hostage? What...did you talk about?"

Li Hua's back tensed up instinctively, and cold sweat broke out uncontrollably on his spine. He wished he could swallow back what he had just said.

He raised his hand to cover his ears, not daring to listen to Gan Qiongying's answer, afraid that she was lying to him.

He feared that she would use lies to shatter his last shred of dignity and hope.

However, Gan Qiongying paused for a moment and said, "I found some things in the Regent's Palace. Some of them were dirt on the ministers in the court, and some were things about spies in Jinchuan. I also made up some things and told Zhongli Zhengzhen a story that was a mix of truth and falsehood."

"I want him to help me cause trouble for the Regent, so that we can take advantage of the chaos."

Gan Qiongying had never seen Li Hua so angry before, and she was a little frightened by his gloomy gaze. However, she thought that Li Hua was just jealous, so she honestly confessed, "Of course I lied to him. Isn't he stupid? If I lied to him like this, his confidence would swell up. Otherwise, he would have no other reason to cooperate. As a princess of Nanzhao, why would I help a hostage from another country eliminate spies if not for personal reasons?"

"Didn't they say anything else?" Li Hua grabbed Gan Qiongying's arm so hard that Gan Qiongying cried out in pain, "Ah, it hurts!"

“Go easy on him, I really lied to him. I don’t like him, I never did. I just wanted to prevent him from forming an alliance with Wen Xueling. If they did, they would send troops to Nanzhao, and in the end, it would be my Ganlin who would suffer.”

"You really don't like it?" Li Hua asked obsessively, not giving up until Gan Qiongying repeatedly assured him.

Gan Qiongying raised one hand and swore, "I didn't like him. I told him I liked him, but everything else was just to deceive him."

"Jin Chuan forced you, didn't he? I revealed your identity to him, said I would kill you at any time, and used you as a substitute. It was all a lie to let Jin Chuan know that you were crippled so we could run away."

Gan Qiongying wasn't annoyed even though she was pinched hard. She rubbed Li Hua's hand with her fingers and said, "Alright, alright, your leg is almost done being treated. The Regent can't hold out for much longer. Let's decide where to run from. I'll go get the map!"

As Gan Qiongying spoke, she went to get the map. After Li Hua let go, she slowly leaned back against the bedside, closed her eyes, and the murderous aura in her eyes gradually faded away.

His back and fingers began to tremble imperceptibly, uncontrollably.

It was as if he had narrowly escaped death amidst Gan Qiongying's few casual words. He was so weak that he almost collapsed by the bedside.

She told the truth and didn't lie to him.

Li Hua's eyes were red, but she didn't want to cry; she only wanted to laugh.

With each word Li Hua heard, the mountains in his heart crumbled a little more. He knew that stopping at this point was the best course of action, so that he could deceive himself.

But then he heard his own voice ask, "Besides that, didn't you say anything else?"

His voice was even cold and hard, sounding like he was interrogating someone. He tried to force a smile, but couldn't manage it, and looked somewhat sinister.

Gan Qiongying originally wanted to keep the truth to herself, since Li Hua was known for his jealousy, but the words still came out: "I lied to him. I used to chase after him for a while to prevent him from joining forces with Jingxi. I lied and said I liked him."

"Have him cooperate with me."

Li Hua suddenly stood up, grabbed Gan Qiongying's wrist, and looked directly at her, saying, "Were you lying to him?"

Was liking him a lie?