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Mu Siyan became Xu Zixie, or perhaps they were the same person all along. They both wanted to protect the people they loved. Jiang Yi took Mu Siyan from the clinic back to her residence and sent someone to inform Shen Muchen.
"The pieces are in their places, the game is complete!" Jiang Yi said to Mu Siyan, who was still unconscious. Shen Muchen rushed over, and Jiang Yi welcomed him into the room. Shen Muchen immediately saw Mu Siyan lying on the bed, his face pale. He looked at Jiang Yi with disbelief, and Jiang Yi said seriously to Shen Muchen, "He was attacked and injured, and was unconscious in a corner not far from the inn's entrance. If someone hadn't passed by, seen him, and kindly taken him to the clinic, his life would have been in danger!"
After a long while, Shen Muchen sat down by Mu Siyan's bedside, looking at Mu Siyan with mixed feelings. He recalled what Jiang Yi had told him, and looking at Mu Siyan in his current state, he had thought that Mu Siyan would be as hard as iron, especially towards those who had betrayed him. But at this moment, his heart ached...
In his youth, Shen Muchen met him. At that time, Xu Zixie was a homeless orphan, while he was the pampered Crown Prince. It was springtime that year, and the young Crown Prince was taken out of the palace by the Emperor to experience the customs of the common people. Having lived in the palace for so long, the young Crown Prince had never seen such a bustling and lively market. He was immediately seized by a playful mood. The market was crowded, and the palace servants lost track of the young Crown Prince. At this moment, Shen Muchen saw Mu Siyan hiding in a corner, covered in dust and dirt, but his eyes were fixed on the steamed bun shop across the street. Seeing that the shop owner was not there, he ran over and grabbed a steamed bun from the steamer, completely ignoring the fact that it was hot. By the time the shop owner realized what was happening, the boy had already run far away. He couldn't help but curse, "This child, doesn't he know it's hot? He grabbed it and ran away. It's not like I didn't want to give it to him. Sigh, so pitiful!"
At that time, Shen Muchen didn't understand what the hardships of ordinary people were, but he knew that stealing was wrong. So, almost unconsciously, he went over and paid for Xu Zixie. The shopkeeper was a little surprised: "Who are you to that kid? Paying for him? I've always known that he's a loner and has been keeping an eye on my shop. How could you possibly know anyone here?"
In his childish voice, Shen Muchen said to the steamed bun shop owner, "I'm his friend, but I know it's wrong for him to steal, so I paid for it..." The shop owner glanced at Shen Muchen but didn't say anything. Shen Muchen turned around and continued browsing the market, where he ran into Xu Zixie again. Xu Zixie was being beaten on the ground, all because of those steamed buns. The people beating him were just like Xu Zixie. "Hey, is it fair that so many of you are bullying someone who's smaller than all of you?"
As soon as Shen Muchen spoke, everyone turned to look at him, their eyes filled with greed and desire. They had never seen such a refined young master before. Xu Zixie frowned as he looked at them. He was disgusted by them, but the young master didn't seem very old, so it was best not to get involved. The group slowly approached Shen Muchen with ambiguous expressions. Seeing this, Xu Zixie blocked their way. The leader smiled contemptuously and kicked Xu Zixie aside. "You're really in the way!" Just as he was about to touch Shen Muchen's face, his hand was grabbed and his arm was forcibly twisted. Unsurprisingly, his hand was broken.
The other henchmen saw this and immediately attacked, resulting in them all lying on the ground. Xu Zixie stared in shock at the person before him. Shen Muchen helped him up and took him to the clinic. Shen Muchen then bought Xu Zixie a lot of delicious food. Xu Zixie didn't understand why he was being so kind to him; what was his purpose? Shen Muchen simply felt sorry for him and wanted to be kind to him. Unfortunately, the Emperor arrived with his entourage. The clinic staff, unaccustomed to such a scene, immediately knelt down. The Emperor didn't even glance at him, going straight to Shen Muchen. Finding him unharmed, he was relieved and quickly asked, "You're not sick, what are you doing here?" Shen Muchen glanced at Mu Siyan beside him. The Emperor noticed and understood why Shen Muchen had come…
From having nothing to say to each other, Shen Muchen and Xu Zixie eventually developed a tacit understanding and trust. Before the emperor left, he asked Xu Zixie if he was willing to return with them. Xu Zixie looked at Shen Muchen and said, "I am willing. As long as I can stay by the young master's side, I can accept any status." From then on, Xu Zixie learned martial arts and stayed by Shen Muchen's side as his personal guard. During this process, Shen Muchen also fell in love with Xu Zixie.
He never imagined that Xu Zixie would betray him. It was the same person, but he never felt that Xu Zixie had any affection for him. Instead, he was just toying with and humiliating him. He never revealed his feelings to Xu Zixie because he knew that if Xu Zixie found out, he would be doomed and suffer for the rest of his life!
Shen Muchen changed Mu Siyan's dressing and wiped her wounds. Looking at Mu Siyan's injuries and the fact that Mu Siyan was still unconscious, he could only suppress his doubts and heartache. Jiang Yi watched everything from outside the house for a long time before silently leaving.
Inside the palace, the emperor, shrouded in mist, sat atop his dragon mount, gazing at the surviving guards beneath his throne. They bore the brunt of his wrath. "So many people, and he alone survived the attack! You bunch of useless trash, what use are you to me?"
Jiang Chuan watched the emperor's fury, a flash of disdain in his eyes that quickly disappeared unnoticed. He rushed forward and hurriedly tried to appease him, saying, "Your Majesty, why bother with them? They are just ordinary people, while Mu Siyan's status is clear to you, Your Majesty."
Upon hearing Jiang Chuan's words, the emperor asked in a deep voice, "According to what you have said, what brilliant idea do you have?" Jiang Chuan retorted, "As for how this humble subject should act, there is no need for Your Majesty to trouble yourself." After saying this, he walked out gracefully. The emperor watched his departing figure, lost in thought.
He returned to his desk, looked at the imperial edict before him, and summoned the old eunuch beside him, ordering him to go to Mo Liangcheng's residence to read the edict aloud.
Mo Liangcheng was practicing his swordplay in his courtyard when he heard a servant summoning him. He imitated a scene from a TV drama and bowed to the old eunuch. The old eunuch glanced at him, picked up the imperial edict, and began to read aloud: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Prime Minister's son, Ling Jingxia, is skilled, generous, gentle, kind, and of outstanding character and appearance. I am greatly pleased to hear of her. She and General Mo are a match made in heaven. To bring this beautiful union to fruition, I hereby betroth the Prime Minister's son, Ling Jingxia, to General Mo. All ceremonies shall be jointly handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Director of the Imperial Observatory. The wedding shall be held on an auspicious day. So be it!"
Mo Liangcheng was caught off guard by this imperial decree. He couldn't understand what Ling Jingxia liked about him that made him beg the emperor for such a thing. As Mo Liangcheng pondered this, Ling Jingxia walked into the palace hall. His eyes were lifeless as he looked at the emperor. He was a puppet created by the emperor himself. His orders to him were to make Mo Liangcheng fall in love with him, and then kill him the moment he did...
The rainy season in Yudu is becoming more and more frequent. Shen Muchen sighed by the window, noticing that Mu Siyan's complexion had improved considerably. The doctor also said that he was expected to wake up today, but it was unclear when. Jiang Yi came over and saw Shen Muchen's worried expression, so she told him to go back to his room and rest first. "I'm here. Go and rest for a while. Don't let one of them get better before you collapse. Go back!" Shen Muchen wasn't one to be sentimental, so he went back to his room to rest. Jiang Yi glanced at Mu Siyan and then sat down beside him. The two souls were originally one, and now they should have merged quite well and would wake up soon.
When Mu Siyan woke up, it was already dark. Jiang Yi hurriedly went to inform Shen Muchen. While informing him, Jiang Yi quickly asked, "Do you know who harmed you?" Mu Siyan gave him a cold look. In her memory, Mu Siyan saw Jiang Yi and Shen Muchen walking very close together, while she could only watch helplessly from the sidelines. Naturally, she didn't have a good impression of Jiang Yi...
Jiang Yi shrugged innocently and told him that Shen Muchen was the one who had been taking care of him day and night. Shen Muchen arrived quickly, and seeing that Mu Siyan had woken up, he could finally relax. Mu Siyan spoke up, saying, "I was unconscious for a few days." Jiang Yi held up five fingers in front of Mu Siyan, who nodded and looked at Shen Muchen, "Thank you for taking care of me for so many days. It's really been a lot of trouble..." Shen Muchen found it unbelievable; he felt that Mu Siyan had returned to the boy he first met.
Just then, Jiang Yi suddenly sensed something was wrong. He looked at Mu Siyan and Shen Muchen. Mu Siyan felt Jiang Yi's gaze and knew what he was thinking. With a glance, Jiang Yi immediately ran out. Shen Muchen didn't know what had happened, but Mu Siyan did. He didn't intend to tell him.
Following the trail left by that person, Jiang Yi found him. "Why did you do this?" Jiang Yi questioned.
Jiang Chuan, however, evaded Jiang Yi's question by giving an irrelevant answer, saying, "My dearest brother, what do you want here?" Jiang Chuan looked at Jiang Yi and said with a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
"Why did you do this? What happened to your face!" Jiang Yi questioned him again, staring at his face. "You don't need to know. Think about how to get out of here alive. It might be too late, because..." Jiang Chuan whispered in his ear. Jiang Yi looked at him in shock and stammered, "You're really out of your mind. You know why I did this, so why did you stop me?" Jiang Chuan looked at him contemptuously, left with a "Take care of him" message, and then walked away.
Jiang Yi thought of what Jiang Chuan had said: he had to survive, otherwise the game he had set up would be overturned again. Jiang Yi thought of Jiang Chuan's face and felt a little troubled. "Transforming into Mu Siyan's appearance only disrupted my plans. He's really a madman."
Jiang Chuan had longed for Jiang Yi for a long time. He knew how much Jiang Yi yearned to escape his constraints, and he also understood that once Jiang Yi broke free, she would definitely leave him. He chose to join forces with that person, and at the moment when he was about to succeed, he dealt him a fatal blow. During that period, he imprisoned Jiang Yi. Of course, he didn't care how much Jiang Yi hated him, because he knew that Jiang Yi couldn't escape...
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