I suppressed the shock that surged in my head and tried to force out a smile that was uglier than crying: "Your Majesty, I really don't know what you are talking about..."

With a cold snort, her deep eyes stared at me like a hawk, as if she could see through me: "Lin Qingya, you are playing dumb in front of me! Do you think your tricks can be hidden from my eyes?"

My heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? Did he already know that I was not the real "Lin Qingya"?

I pretended to be calm and retorted: "Your Majesty, I am stupid and don't understand what you mean. I am loyal to Your Majesty, and God can see that. How could I do something to deceive you?"

"Loyal?" Li Heng seemed to have heard some ridiculous joke, and laughed in anger, "If you are really loyal to me, why do you deliberately hide the fact that you can hear my voice?"

I was struck by lightning and froze in place.

놛……놛 already know everything? !

My mind raced, desperately trying to come up with a plan. At this point, resistance was clearly no longer an option, and I could only try my best to fight for a glimmer of hope for myself.

I took a deep breath, slowly knelt down, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, I did not intend to deceive you. It is really...it is really that this matter is too unbelievable. I am afraid..."

"What are you worried about?" Li Heng raised his eyebrows, with a hint of amusement in his tone.

"I am worried that if this matter gets out, it will cause unnecessary panic and even destabilize the country!" I gritted my teeth and simply crossed my arms, pretending to be concerned about the country and the people. "I am just a woman, and my life is insignificant, but for the safety of the Great Zhou, I am willing to bear all the blame!"

I secretly looked up to observe Li Heng's reaction, but found that there was no sign of anger on his face. Instead, he looked thoughtful.

"Oh? So, you have been hiding this matter for me and for the sake of the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

I nodded quickly, "That's right! Your Majesty's loyalty is evident to all!"

"Heh..." Li Heng suddenly sneered, stood up abruptly, and looked down at me, "Lin Qingya, who do you think you are? Do you think your cleverness can really fool me?"

My head sank and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

Don't you still not believe me?

Just when I was in a state of confusion, Li Heng suddenly bent down, lifted my chin with his slender fingers, and forced me to look him in the eye.

"Lin Qingya, you'd better pray that what you said is true, otherwise..." His tone was cold and contained a hint of warning, "The crime of deceiving the emperor is punishable by the extermination of all nine clans."

I shuddered all over, and a chill ran up from my feet to my head.

Of course I know the consequences of deceiving the emperor, but I know even more clearly that Li Heng is not an easy person to deal with. Now that he has made this matter clear today, he will never let me off easily.

I took a deep breath and tried to look calmer: "Your Majesty, your humble servant..."

"That's enough," Li Heng interrupted me impatiently, "I don't want to listen to your high-sounding explanations anymore. Just remember that from now on, your life belongs to me."

놛's tone was overbearing and unquestionable, carrying an irresistible majesty.

My head sank, realizing that I was completely under his control.

Seeing that I was silent, Li Heng thought that I was frightened by 놛's power, and a smug smile appeared on his lips. 놛 let go of my chin, turned around and walked to the dragon chair to sit down, leaning lazily on the back of the chair, and said with a hint of teasing in his tone: "What? Why don't you talk? Aren't you always eloquent?"

I took a deep breath, suppressed my fear and anger, raised my head, looked directly into your eyes, and said word by word: "Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?"

Li Heng's smile deepened, and a gleam of admiration flashed in his eyes: "That's good." He paused, and his tone suddenly became serious, "Lin Qingya, I can let you go without pursuing the crime you concealed, but you must agree to one condition of mine."

My inner alarm bells were ringing, but I remained calm and asked, "What are the conditions?"

Li Heng raised a meaningful smile and slowly uttered two words: "Help me."