Having exposed the truth that he had tried so hard to cover up, Li Huaiyin decided to give up entirely and walked out of the gates of Kunning Palace under the shocked and regretful gaze of Empress Zhao.
Since he was already destined not to reach that position, he would do anything to bring Yun Qing down.
As the saying goes, the higher you climb, the harder you fall. Only in this way can she truly empathize with him and understand his past pain.
He was determined to make her experience the same feeling of discovering that everything she saw was nothing but a mirage during her happiest moments.
Only then will Yun Qing realize that without status and position, she is nothing, and only he is the one who doesn't care about these things and is truly good to her. Unfortunately, she has already discarded that sincerity herself.
Thinking of this, Li Huaiyin's eyes shone brightly, as if he could already see Yun Qing kneeling in front of him, weeping bitterly and full of regret.
Over the years, he has collected a lot of evidence of Yun Qing’s close relationship with court officials. He even used the money he made from doing business with Liu Chengxi to raise private soldiers outside of Shengjing.
As long as he hands the former over to Li Weiyi, she will definitely temporarily give up the idea of making Li Yunqing the crown prince. At that time, when he supports another girl from the royal family to rise to power, he will still be able to hold great power and crush that person under his feet.
So, after leaving the palace, Li Huaiyin made a long-awaited visit to the Zhang family. After Zhang Yi died of illness, no one lived in the courtyard, but he would often send people to clean it.
Open the hidden compartment in the study; it was filled with evidence that could bring down Yun Qing.
"I don't believe that after seeing all this, Mother Queen won't harbor resentment towards you."
"Cousin, you're so naive." A voice suddenly came from the roof beam, startling Li Huaiyin.
"You, how did you get here? How long have you been here?"
"Soon, I arrived just a step ahead of you." Yun Qing spun around and landed in front of him.
"If I hadn't come today, I probably wouldn't have known that my cousin harbored such a deep resentment towards me."
As she spoke, she approached step by step, her amber eyes carrying a hint of aggression.
"What, what are you going to do?" Li Huaiyin was forced to retreat step by step, his body gradually pressed against the wall.
Seeing the soft couch against the wall, Yun Qing suddenly remembered something and gently tugged at his collar.
"My cousin's mouth is so tough, but his body is so soft. Two years have passed, how come he's still so easily provoked?"
She stretched out her slender fingers and deftly flicked them a few times, causing Li Huaiyin's shirt to slip off his shoulders.
“Do you remember, cousin? Two years ago, we were sitting on this very tatami mat.”
"Shut up!" Upon hearing her mention this, Li Huaiyin's face instantly flushed red with shame and indignation.
Although he had given up hope for her, he was still shocked by her shamelessness.
"Since my cousin won't let me say it, I'll just do it."
"Ugh—, no—"
Realizing her intentions, Li Huaiyin tried his best to resist, but his body was truly uncooperative. Yun Qing only used a little trick, and he collapsed on the bed, panting, and could only let her do as she pleased.
During their most intense moment of intimacy, Li Huaiyin's mind went blank, and he could faintly hear Yun Qing say, "Cousin, you are destined to never escape my grasp in this lifetime."
His eyes were wide open, vacant, as if his thoughts had drifted back to a long time ago...
Three years ago, Yun Qing and Liu Chengxi got engaged, and soon after, he married Zhang Yi.
However, because he couldn't get over his own conscience, he never consummated the marriage with her.
Li Huaiyin originally thought that even if there was no affection between them, they could still live together in mutual respect.
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Yi, despite her seemingly virtuous appearance, was actually quite promiscuous. She not only had several maids by her side, but more importantly, she also had a penchant for women and was often the one being dominated by them.
When he first learned of this, besides being shocked, Li Huaiyin felt a faint sense of relief.
In that case, even if he never becomes Zhang Yi's legal wife, he won't feel guilty, since she doesn't truly love him anyway.
But then, something suddenly happened that shocked and enraged Li Huaiyin.
In Zhang Yi's study, he discovered a portrait of a woman. He would never mistake her even if she were reduced to ashes; it was none other than Yun Qing.
It's strange that a compiler in the Hanlin Academy would have a portrait of another woman hanging in his study.
He even discovered that Zhang Yi and Yun Qing were getting closer and closer, and the two often met up for drinks during their days off.
What kind of good place could Zhang Yi have gone to? Li Huaiyin was shocked and furious, as if he could already see the not-too-distant future. The two of them held hands and lay on the bed in the brothel, surrounded by all sorts of shady characters.
No, this can't happen. He had to find a way to stop it. After all, Yun Qing had half the blood of the Li family flowing through her veins. If she picked up those bad habits and fell in love with women, his uncle would have no bloodline to carry on.
So, when Zhang Yi invited Yun Qing to his house for drinks for the first time, Li Huaiyin took advantage of everyone else being drunk and called her to the study.
Yun Qing followed Li Huaiyin's personal attendant to the study. Upon seeing the figure inside, a smile flashed in her eyes.
"I wonder why you summoned me here, cousin?"
Having not seen this person for a long time, Li Huaiyin bitterly discovered that after leaving him, she was even more radiant and showed no signs of being stuck in the past.
Indeed, with a beautiful woman by her side and a bright future ahead, how could she possibly be disappointed? Only he remains trapped in the past romances.
"Should you stay away from Zhang Yi from now on?"
The female protagonist of this world is an ambitious woman and a complete scumbag. Several male protagonists can only be abused by her, and their respective scripts are: the abandoned white moonlight (Li Huaiyin), the heartbroken substitute (Qi Xiao), the infamous high-ranking husband (the time-traveling version of Liu Chengxi), and the male general who abandons his ideals and is confined to his mansion (Zhao Shuyu).
Li Huaiyin is arguably the main male lead, even though he's also given a villainous role. However, in reality, he only experiences impotent rage in private, and when facing Yun Qing, he's only good for coldly washing her underwear. The characters of these two are actually based on some historical figures, which some readers may have noticed.
In their relationship, Yun Qing is absolutely dominant. If she were willing to make amends, Li Huaiyin would definitely forgive her. However, for various reasons, the two have never been able to resolve their misunderstandings. This isn't just cruel torture; Yun Qing genuinely doesn't want to stay with only him, and Li Huaiyin, her "white moonlight," certainly can't accept that, so he continues to live in the shadows.
He was on edge when Yun Qing married Liu Chengxi, when she played around with Zhang Yi, when she found a substitute, and when she married her simp cousin. In short, as long as Yun Qing wasn't with him, Li Huaiyin would feel on edge just from breathing her.
After all that, which male lead do you prefer? Between Liu Chengxi and Li Huaiyin, who would you rather have as the main heroine?
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