Qingying looked at him with disappointment in her eyes.
Even though he achieved the effect he wanted, for some reason he couldn't feel happy at all.
The marriage couldn't be called off so easily; he was knocked unconscious and sent back to the East Palace.
No matter how powerful he was, he was still a mortal with flesh and blood. After kneeling for so long and getting soaked in the rain, he developed a high fever.
In his dream, he seemed to return to those painful days in the Shadow Guard Camp, where whips soaked in salt water lashed his body again and again. It hurt terribly, but he could only endure it. If he cried out, he would only be whipped more severely.
They were all like tamed beasts, their sharp teeth plucked out one by one, thorns growing from their wounds. To survive, they became numb, cruel, and only knew how to tear each other apart and obey orders.
He endured those days without seeing the sun for many years, so long that he could no longer feel the passage of time; every day was torture.
Pain and despair filled him.
"Your Highness, Your Highness..." The woman's anxious voice came over and over again.
He slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view was Meng Shushu's pale face covered in tears.
"You're finally awake... I thought..." She didn't finish her sentence, her voice already choked with sobs.
Yin Shuli understood her meaning and helplessly tugged at the corner of his lips, "You're spineless." He raised his hand and wiped away the tears streaming from the corner of her eyes with a gesture that was far from gentle.
She pouted, her words betraying her true feelings: "What will I do if you die? I'm counting on you to help me achieve great things. You can't abandon me."
"Okay." He turned his head away. "You're giving me a headache."
"I even saved you, and you repay kindness with enmity." Meng Shushu slapped him irritably, then got up and walked outside.
She went to the small kitchen to brew the medicine.
While Meng Shushu was out, he summoned his guard Chang An and gave him some instructions.
Soon, a dark figure flashed in through the window and knelt beside his bed, bowing respectfully: "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
"Let's go and take a look at the Liu residence."
The shadowy figure glanced at him suspiciously, but wisely refrained from asking further questions and replied, "Yes."
"Also, if he asks about Ashu, just tell him the truth. As for the cause of death... just make one up."
"Yes." He immediately went to do as instructed.
This person did not come from the Shadow Guard Camp, but was from another group trained by the late emperor, with the same duties as the Shadow Guard. The late emperor was a suspicious man and could not completely trust the Han family, so he naturally had to make preparations for both possibilities.
Yin Shuli had worked with him before, and while he wouldn't say he knew him completely, he knew at least seven or eight parts of him, which was enough for him to use.
He needs to retrieve the jade token from Qingying.
Although he was not the real Wei Huaixu who replaced him, there were some things he was not fully aware of, so he needed to rely on the jade token.
However, he did not expect that this matter would not be as easy as he had imagined. Qingying was unwilling to hand over the jade token, so he had to go there in person to ask for it back.
The next day, he arrived at the Liu residence and was taken aback to see Qingying squatting there burning paper money.
He heard her say, “If you go to the underworld, I will burn some paper money for you as travel expenses on your journey to the Yellow Springs. After crossing the Bridge of Helplessness and drinking Meng Po's soup, may you be reborn into a good family in your next life. Don’t be a shadow guard working for others anymore. If you are lucky enough to still be alive in this world, leave the capital and live the life you want. Don’t come back.”
He walked over, pretending he had just arrived, and asked, "Who are you mourning?"
It successfully startled her.
Qingying's subconscious actions were quite adorable, and her panic was clearly visible on her face.
Yin Shuli approached and saw the character "Shu" on the paper money, and was shocked.
It turned out that she was burning paper money for herself, and even signed it in case he didn't receive it. Yin Shuli found it funny, but a feeling of being touched also arose in his heart. It was rare for someone to still care about him.
That "dead" him.
Yin Shuli suddenly felt a pang of reluctance to continue hurting her.
But……
Thinking about what he was about to do, he had to force himself to harden his heart. No matter what, he couldn't let Qingying get involved in this power struggle. As long as he distanced himself from her, even if he failed in the future, it wouldn't implicate her.
But seeing her tears, he still softened.
"Don't cry..." He subconsciously reached out his hand, but stopped just before touching her cheek.
What is he doing?
Fortunately, Qingying didn't suspect anything and had already turned around and gone inside to get the jade token.
He looked at his hands, his eyes filled with confusion, bewilderment, and helplessness.
After leaving Qingying's courtyard, he sat on the tree where he used to often stay, gently stroking the jade in his hand. The jade was delicate and smooth, with exquisite carvings, and it seemed to still retain the warmth of her palm.
At that moment, his resolve suddenly hardened.
"I won't keep you waiting too long."
——
He secretly revealed Meng Shushu's information to Liu Chenglin.
The other party did not disappoint him. Soon, Meng Shushu transformed into the legitimate daughter of the Liu family and changed her name to Liu Shushu.
"So, you knew my identity from the very beginning?" Liu Shushu asked, looking at him.
He slowly sipped his tea and nodded.
"I see... If you want the Liu family's help, just marry Liu Qingying directly. Why do you still need to use me?"
“You are smarter than her, and you are more obedient than her.”
"Really?" Liu Shushu wasn't sure if he meant it as a compliment.
"yes."
Receiving his affirmative answer did not ease the knot in her heart at all. In fact, she had already vaguely guessed it, but she was just unwilling to admit it.
After returning to the Liu family, everyone treated her very well, especially her mother, Madam Pan, who gave her the best of everything and tried her best to make up for the maternal love she had missed for the past ten years.
She wasn't originally that averse to Liu Qingying, but the more they acted this way, for some reason, she grew to dislike Liu Qingying even more.
So she deliberately made things difficult for Qingying time and time again, trying to take away everyone and everything around her.
She convinced herself that she was simply taking back everything that belonged to her.
Look, even Liu Qingying's nickname was given to her because of him.
Shushu and Shushu, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that who is the real person.
If she hadn't been orphaned at a young age, all these things would naturally have been hers. She would have been the legitimate daughter of the Liu family, while Liu Qingying would have been nothing more than a lowly maid born to a concubine.
Thinking this way, all the subtle guilt she felt towards Liu Qingying vanished completely.
Unexpectedly, at Princess Kanghe's banquet, she deliberately made things difficult for Liu Qingying, but instead, she was outmaneuvered by her, leaving her in a very embarrassing situation.
To avoid playing the zither, Liu Qingying deliberately cut her hand with a hairpin in public. Having just arrived in the capital, her very first banquet had already given her a reputation for being aggressive and mean-spirited towards her half-sister—how could she not be angry?
So she returned to the mansion ahead of time and poured out her heart to Madam Pan.
The result was truly beyond her expectations.
Pan was so ruthless that she severed Liu Qingying's tendons!
She trembled with fear when she heard the news, only then realizing that Pan had also tried to kill her.
When she was still Ayan.
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