sin
Chen Run's face instantly turned ashen, like the weather about to rain, and his eyes flashed with a dangerous cold light.
"Lord Xiao, I don't know where you got this information from, but I can tell you very clearly that I do not know the person you are talking about!"
"Is that so?" Xiao Yiqing's father smiled crookedly at Chen Run as if he knew everything. "Lord Chen, as long as you are willing to release my daughter, I will definitely send someone to help you find her. What do you say?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Lord Xiao."
Xiao Yiqing's father stood up slowly with confidence, looked at Chen Run, and said, "Young Master Chen, since I've said so, then I can give you her head, right?" He smiled contemptuously and turned to leave.
Chen Run's mind was in complete chaos, he couldn't think clearly about anything, but his mouth was faster than his brain, and he immediately blurted out.
I promise you.
Xiao Yiqing's father stopped with satisfaction, but did not turn to look at Chen Run. He said, "Lord Chen, you'd better get rid of your stubbornness as soon as possible." After saying that, he left with a smug look on his face.
Chen Run didn't believe that he would find "Liu Ruyi" before him, but he didn't dare to gamble with "Liu Ruyi's" life. After all, he couldn't bear the pain of losing Liu Ruyi again.
While taking the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician, Shangguan Zeyu was being ruthlessly tortured. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was living a life worse than death.
This day marked the fifth day since Emperor Shangguan Kangde had whipped him.
Early in the morning, two imperial physicians arrived, accompanied by four soldiers in black armor. They applied medicine to Shangguan Zeyu's wounds and fed him medicine, after which Shangguan Kangde appeared.
Today he wore a well-fitting maroon robe. The robe was embroidered with white crane patterns in silver thread. His long hair was still tied up in a bun, but it was secured with a black and gold hair crown.
His complexion was as fair as ever, but his lips were redder than they had been that day.
He was holding a black and gold folding fan. There were no paintings or words on the fan. He had his left hand behind his back, and was slowly walking up to Shangguan Zeyu while gently waving the fan with his right hand.
Shangguan Zeyu was exceptionally clear-headed and excited at this moment, but he only looked at Shangguan Kangde with a cold smile and did not utter a single word.
Shangguan Kangde raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "It seems that your health has recovered quite well, Your Highness! You look so energetic."
Shangguan Zeyu looked at him with cold eyes and a contemptuous smile, and said, "How does Your Majesty intend to torture this prisoner today?"
Shangguan Kangde chuckled, "Is my younger brother still blaming his elder brother? How could you presume to know his elder brother's thoughts like that?"
Shangguan Zeyu smiled disdainfully, slowly closed his eyes, and said, "Your Majesty, please do as you please."
The fake smile on Shangguan Kangde's face was instantly masked by hatred and jealousy.
He raised his left hand, which was not holding the folding fan, and waved it gently behind him. Everyone in the cell then quickly ran out.
“Brother, there are only the two of you in this cell right now, so there’s no need to pretend anymore!”
Shangguan Zeyu curled his lips in disdain.
Shangguan Kangde was so furious he wanted to rush forward and strangle him, but he suppressed his anger until his face was contorted. He said, "Brother, you are just jealous of your elder brother. You even misinterpret your elder brother's good intentions. Your elder brother doesn't blame you. Your elder brother knows you are suffering. But brother, this is not your elder brother's fault, it is your fault, you know? Otherwise, why would even Mother side with your elder brother and distance herself from you?"
Shangguan Zeyu slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes still held endless contempt and disdain. He looked quietly at Shangguan Kangde and said calmly, "Since that's the case, why does Your Majesty waste time on a sinner like me? Why not just kill me immediately?"
"Your Majesty, you can't bear it! Your Majesty truly cannot be as heartless and indifferent as you, my brother." Shangguan Kangde, with an air of self-importance, slowly waved his folding fan and looked down at Shangguan Zeyu.
Shangguan Zeyu didn't say anything more, but just watched his performance quietly.
Shangguan Kangde waved his folding fan for a while, then closed it and began pacing back and forth, constantly sighing under his breath.
"Your mother really misjudged you, my brother. Your mother loves you so much, spoils you, sews your battle robes by hand, cooks your favorite dishes, relieves your worries, rewards you with good things, and constantly praises you, saying how good you are in this and that. And what did you do? You turned out to be heartless and wanted to overthrow the rule of the Great Zhou! Fortunately, your brother couldn't bear to see your mother sad and kept it from you. Aren't you going to be extremely grateful to your brother?"
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Zeyu couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Shangguan Kangde panicked when he saw him laughing so hard he was shaking.
He opened his folding fan haphazardly, fanned himself randomly, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Shangguan Zeyu laughed until tears streamed down his face.
He looked at Shangguan Kangde and said, "Why do I sense your dissatisfaction when you say this? Is it that you, my brother, are jealous of me, or am I jealous of you, my brother?"
"How dare you! How dare you!!" Shangguan Kangde was so flustered that he didn't even close his folding fan, but just held it in his palm.
"Brother, why are you so agitated? I was just saying it casually, and you took it seriously?"
Shangguan Kangde was furious: "You are just like that! So filthy, so good at pretending." Then, like a chameleon, he slowly softened, adopting a self-pitying demeanor, and said, "Your Majesty is different from me. Your Majesty should pity you, not be angry because of you."
Shangguan Zeyu looked at him as if he were a fool and laughed, "Whatever Your Majesty thinks is what it is. In any case, facts speak louder than words."
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Kangde suddenly glared angrily, took two steps to stand in front of Shangguan Zeyu, and grabbed Shangguan Zeyu's neck tightly with his left hand, snarling, "You think your mother will still side with you? You think the world will still sing your praises? You're dreaming!!!"
Shangguan Zeyu looked at him with a slight smile. After a while, she suddenly spat at him and said, "The 'me' you're talking about is the real you!"
"No!" Shangguan Kangde roared, as if he had gone mad, tightening his grip on Shangguan Zeyu's neck with his right hand, causing Shangguan Zeyu's face to turn red in the blink of an eye.
"It's all because of you! If it weren't for you, would I have no mother's love? If you hadn't been so self-righteous in going to war, would I have been unable to achieve military merit? If it weren't for you, why would my mother always think I'm not good enough? If it weren't for you, why would the world not see me? I hate you! I wish you would go to the eighteenth level of hell and never be reincarnated!!!"
Shangguan Zeyu's eyes bulged out, his lips were dark purple, and when he blinked, his eyelids fluttered as if he was about to close his eyes.
With a twisted, perverted smile, Shangguan Kangde stared intently at Shangguan Zeyu's increasingly pained face.
The more pain Shangguan Zeyu was in, the more triumphant and excited he became, until Shangguan Zeyu rolled his eyes, at which point he slowly released his right hand.
Shangguan Zeyu coughed incessantly, and like a fish that was about to die of thirst suddenly finding water, he gasped for breath.
Seeing Shangguan Zeyu so disheveled and devoid of his former brilliance, Shangguan Kangde laughed wildly without any attempt to hide his laughter.
Shangguan Zeyu calmed down a little and glared at him angrily.
Shangguan Kangde could no longer tolerate Shangguan Zeyu. In his eyes, there was now only the king who looked down on all living beings and the servants whose throats were controlled by the king.
Xiao Yiqing's father brought her home. Ignoring everything else, Xiao Yiqing immediately inquired about Shangguan Zeyu's whereabouts.
Her father was so angry he almost slapped her, but she kept asking questions, grabbing anyone she could find, until no one knew how to answer her.
That day, her father returned from court with a terrible headache and was resting in his study when she went to ask him about Shangguan Zeyu.
She was still some distance away when her father could faintly hear her hurried footsteps and couldn't help but sigh.
Xiao Yiqing knocked on the door, then pushed it open and went inside.
"I didn't know Father was handling official business?"
Xiao Yiqing seemed not to hear what he said and hurriedly asked, "Father, what happened to Prince Duan? Where is he? I want to go see him!"
"Look at him? Do you think you've lived too long, or that your father has lived too long?"
"Father, Prince Duan is your son-in-law! You can't say that!!"
"Then what should I say? Should I stake my future and the entire Xiao family for this 'son-in-law' you speak of? Have you thought about me, or your other brothers and sisters?"
Xiao Yiqing's father was furious, but he kept it in check and refused to vent his anger on Xiao Yiqing.
“Father, how could I not think of you? I just don’t want Prince Duan to get hurt. Prince Duan has no intention of rebelling. He has devoted himself to the Great Zhou without the slightest complaint. You know that, Father, so why don’t you help him?”
Xiao Yiqing's father sighed helplessly, "My daughter, why don't you understand? This isn't a question of whether I should help or not; this is the Emperor's will!!!"
Xiao Yiqing was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Your Majesty? Your Majesty is Prince Duan's elder brother, why would he do this? Prince Duan was supposed to conquer the world for him! The Great Zhou's empire wouldn't have been possible without Prince Duan's blood and sweat!!! Your Majesty..."
"Alright, my daughter! Stop talking!"
"Why, Father? Is what your daughter said wrong?"
“Oh, my daughter, haven’t I told you before, ‘Your merits overshadow the emperor’? Haven’t I told you before, ‘Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger’? Even if we are brothers, it doesn’t change the fact that we are the emperor and his subjects. Do you understand?”
Xiao Yiqing snorted coldly: "Isn't this just a case of 'wanting to find fault, one can always find a pretext'? It's so unfair!!!"
“My daughter, what kind of fairness can we expect from the Emperor? We are all his subjects, and we have no choice but to bow down and submit!”
"I don't care! I must save Prince Duan!!!"
Xiao Yiqing's father suddenly flew into a rage, slamming his hand on the table and standing up.
"Xiao Yiqing! Don't you understand what your father is saying? Do you want your father and the entire Xiao family to be buried with you?"
With tears welling up in her eyes, Xiao Yiqing looked at her father with a wronged expression and said, "Father, don't worry, I won't implicate you or anyone else. I'll find a way myself." After saying that, she wiped away her tears and ran out quickly.
When Xiao Yiqing's father saw her like this, he was so angry that he could hardly breathe. He wanted to chase after her, but he was too weak to catch up.
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