Chapter 154 Yes, it's his people.
When Li Xiao entered the house, he saw only Lan Yunzhi.
The young man sat quietly at the table, looking at Li Xiao who had barged into the room without the slightest surprise. It seemed as if he had been waiting for a long time.
"You've come, Ah Xiao."
At this moment, Lan Yunzhi's expression and tone of voice were just as they had been before.
Seeing this, Li Xiao felt no nostalgia whatsoever.
He had not forgotten who ordered him to be chained up like a dead dog in that dark underground place, and who ordered people to come and cut his flesh and bleed him regularly.
In the past, it was only because Li Xiao was blinded by greed that he thought Lan Yunzhi was an upright gentleman, pure and easy to deceive. Remembering Madam Lan's care before her death, he foolishly fawned over her and tried to please her.
Looking back now, I feel so angry that I want to throw up all the New Year's Eve dinners I ate over the years.
However, Li Xiao did not originally come to settle scores with Lan Yunzhi.
The accounts between the two were impossible to settle quickly.
Li Xiao had come for another matter, so he simply ignored Lan Yunzhi's deliberately offensive words and went straight to the point: "Where is he?"
Li Xiao did not reveal his name, but both people present knew exactly who it was.
But Lan Yunzhi insisted on pretending to be confused even though she knew the truth.
"Him?" Lan Yunzhi smiled slightly. "I wonder which 'him' A-Xiao is looking for?"
Li Xiao already harbored resentment towards Lan Yunzhi, and upon hearing this, he sneered.
"Stop calling me that so enthusiastically, it makes me sick."
"In that case, here are a few prescriptions for treating gastrointestinal issues. If you don't mind—"
With a loud bang.
This time, Li Xiao overturned the table in front of him, causing a loud crash. Books, pens, inkstones, paperweights, and other items scattered haphazardly across the floor.
Li Xiao took two steps forward, directly stepping over the overturned table, and viciously grabbed Lan Yunzhi by the throat.
"You think I'm joking?!" he gritted his teeth and said, "With all the old and new grudges combined, I wouldn't mind killing you ten or a hundred times over."
Lan Yunzhi remained nonchalant.
"Then you are welcome to try and kill me now. After all, Lan Yunzhi should have died long ago. Oh, speaking of which, it was you, A-Xiao, who arranged my funeral that year."
As she spoke, Lan Yunzhi even laughed out loud: "I heard that the funeral was well done. We should thank A-Xiao. It's just a pity that I was held up at the time and couldn't see it with my own eyes."
As he spoke, his face turned bright red, whether from being strangled or from laughing, it was hard to tell. Bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes, contrasting with the dark circles under them, and that inexplicable smile.
It was so horrifying that it sent chills down one's spine.
Li Xiao wasn't afraid; he just thought Lan Yunzhi had really gone mad.
This made them even more worried about the boy's safety.
Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of the other person, he let go in frustration.
Before Lan Yun could catch his breath, he punched the other man several more times. They say you shouldn't hit someone in the face, but he deliberately targeted that face and beat him hard.
It wasn't until people outside heard the commotion and rushed in to stop it.
The person who came was Ajiu.
Ah Jiu was shocked by the scene before her. No, this wasn't what was agreed upon... What happened to the peaceful negotiations, where they would just take the people out and leave?
Realizing what was happening, he quickly stepped forward and stopped Li Xiao.
Li Xiao regained some of his composure after being suddenly stopped like this.
At this moment, not only Lan Yunzhi's face, but also Li Xiao's hands were covered in blood.
He then shook his hand and began to look around on his own.
Soon, Li Xiao's attention was drawn to one of the walls.
With my palm pressed against the smooth wall, I could feel some kind of indescribable, wonderful connection.
Li Xiao turned his head.
At this moment, Lan Yunzhi had sat up again, and the bloodstains on her face were almost invisible after being wiped away. Her pale face was still the same as when she first appeared.
Apart from the scattered bruises on his lips and cheeks, he didn't look disheveled at all; instead, he exuded a strange sense of brokenness.
If this had happened in the past, when the other party was still the eldest son of the Lan family, countless young ladies would have been moved to tears.
Unfortunately, Li Xiao is not some delicate, lovestruck young girl.
He would only feel regret for not directly tearing that hypocritical face apart.
They clearly used excessive force.
He clenched his teeth so hard that a faint taste of blood lingered in his mouth, and his cheeks ached slightly.
“He’s behind the wall,” Li Xiao said, using a declarative sentence.
"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?"
Perhaps because he had been beaten so badly, Lan Yunzhi seemed to have completely given up. He leaned against the bookshelf behind him, turned his head slightly, and looked at Li Xiao with a half-smile.
It's like a silent provocation.
"you--"
Li Xiao felt a lump in his throat, wishing he could skin the other person alive.
But he hadn't forgotten what he had promised Ah Jiu.
Once this matter is settled, he will leave with the loquats and never return to this place.
Just like... just like he once promised the boy.
Thinking of this, Li Xiao strangely calmed down.
He suddenly realized that, for some reason, Lan Yunzhi had been intentionally or unintentionally provoking him ever since they met.
He tried to talk to the other person calmly.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through, but that’s none of my business, nor is it his. If the Li family wronged you in the past, you’ve already gotten your revenge. You’ve gained everything from the Li family—power, money… so why are you still holding onto him?”
Li Xiao felt he was being very polite by patiently reasoning with Lan Yunzhi like this.
After all, he had lost his family because of the other party.
Although strictly speaking, there weren't many survivors in the princess's residence to begin with, even if his parents' deaths weren't directly caused by the other party, his one eye, the scars left by the burns, and his more than five years of imprisonment were all real.
Lan Yunzhi seemed not to listen to anyone, instead staring at Li Xiao's face with a strange expression.
"Instead of asking me, shouldn't you be asking yourself this question?" he said slowly, his once clear eyes now shrouded in shadow, his dark pupils momentarily resembling those of Li Xiao's cheap cousin.
But there's nothing we can do about it, after all...
Although even Li Xiao himself sometimes finds it hard to remember, Lan Yunzhi, him, and Shen Yun were originally cousins with close blood ties.
Unlike herself and Shen Yun, Lan Yunzhi was not able to grow up with her biological parents.
—It's not because I don't want to, but because I can't.
For countless generations, this family has forbidden the birth of twins; if twins are discovered, the newborn child is immediately put to death.
Although the specific reason is unknown, this rule has been well passed down.
Lan Yunzhi's birth mother had heard similar stories before entering the palace, but she did not believe them until the woman actually became pregnant with the monarch's child.
It was originally a joyful thing.
But as her belly grew larger day by day, the monarch's gaze toward her stomach became increasingly strange, as if it contained not a living child, but some strange and intriguing object.
Sometimes, the monarch would jokingly ask her if she was carrying twins.
The woman always answered vaguely that, in any case, they were their own flesh and blood, a continuation of the Li family bloodline, and that was enough.
"Is that so? In that case, let me wait and see."
The monarch spoke these words in a joking tone, but the profound meaning in his eyes sent a chill down the woman's spine.
She suddenly remembered the legend she had heard before entering the palace.
She heard it from a nanny who took care of her when she was a child.
That old woman had worked in the palace for a few years when she was young. After leaving the palace, she was introduced to their family by an acquaintance.
She was very young when she heard about this; it was probably something her nanny told her to pass the time, thinking she wouldn't remember much.
Later, as she grew older, she never heard the other person mention it again.
Later, that old woman went to work in another place.
As she grew older, she entered the palace.
Because of her gentle nature and beautiful appearance, she enjoyed his favor for several days. As a result, she naturally became pregnant.
If the previous rumor was just a vague shadow in her mind, then her husband's subsequent attitude made her begin to suspect that it might be more than just a baseless rumor.
At that moment, she was so scared that she almost wanted to run away immediately.
But she knew she couldn't do that.
That risk is too great. Without absolute certainty, it could implicate the whole family.
In the end, she only gave birth to one child, because the other child died in the womb.
It seems to be due to overthinking.
The monarch looked at the remaining infant, who was as frail as a kitten wriggling in its swaddling clothes, and seemed somewhat disappointed, but said nothing. He gave it a name, told it to rest well, and then turned and left.
The woman who gave birth to the stillborn child was none other than Madam Lan's own younger sister.
The so-called stillborn child was actually Lan Yunzhi who had been switched at birth.
Although she successfully saved both children, the woman died shortly after giving birth, perhaps due to the damage to her body caused by excessive worry during her pregnancy.
The remaining child, though fortunate enough to grow up with his father, was never particularly liked by him.
That is, the rumored third prince who was always bedridden and almost never appeared in public.
Before she died, Madam Lan told Li Xiao about this secret past.
He earnestly pleaded with Li Xiao, whether for his own sake or for the sake of blood ties, to spare Lan Yunzhi's life.
Because that was the child her sister had protected with her life.
When Li Xiao heard Madam Lan's words, he was very surprised, but he still agreed immediately.
Both emotionally and logically, he felt he shouldn't go against Madam Lan's wishes.
When Madam Lan spoke of these things, she called Li Xiao to her side alone, which meant that she was avoiding Lan Yunzhi himself.
Therefore, Li Xiao naturally assumed that Lan Yunzhi knew nothing about her own background.
Until that year, the avalanche in the western suburbs.
Following A-Liu's directions, Li Xiao dug out the body from under the ice and snow.
The moment Li Xiao saw the corpse, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
Later, it was discovered that although the corpse's face looked extremely similar to Lan Yunzhi's, its limbs were noticeably weaker, especially the leg muscles, which had atrophied severely, making it look like someone who had been bedridden for many years...
In that instant, Li Xiao suddenly remembered Madam Lan's dying words and the Third Prince who never showed himself in public.
Li Xiao had never actually met the Third Prince.
But if everything Madam Lan said is true, then there should be no one else who matches the characteristics of the corpse in front of them better than the rumored Third Prince.
But this brought with it even more problems—
Why did the Third Prince, who should have been recuperating elsewhere, die here?
If this really is the Third Prince, then where did Lan Yunzhi go?
Is Lan Yunzhi still alive?
With these doubts in mind, Li Xiao hurriedly returned to the city and learned that the Third Prince had been sent to a Zen temple to recuperate half a month ago.
—And that Zen temple is also in the western suburbs.
A terrifying thought gradually surfaced in Li Xiao's mind.
He recalled that Madam Lan's sister had switched the newborn Lan Yunzhi with a stillborn baby to help her child escape.
So Lan Yunzhi might very well use the same trick of escaping unscathed.
This time, however, it was his own twin brother...
Upon discovering the truth, Li Xiao felt a chill run down his spine. What kind of person would do something so cold-blooded and cruel?
If the other party were a vicious butcher, a ruthless robber, or just a random stranger or an unrelated person, Li Xiao would not feel so uncomfortable.
But it was Lan Yunzhi, whom he had known for so long.
The person he had always regarded as an older brother...
The snow piled up deeper and deeper, and by the time Li Xiao came to her senses, she was already standing in front of the house.
The lanterns at the door were off, and Li Xiao knew that the people inside had probably already gone to sleep.
He then quietly pushed the door open and went inside.
The room was quiet. Listening to the breathing coming from the inner room, Li Xiao suddenly felt a sense of relief. At least it wasn't as cold as before.
Li Xiao didn't wake the other person, but instead sat at the table drinking by himself.
He used to drink very little.
Firstly, the wine tasted bitter, and he could never get used to drinking it.
Secondly, he gets confused when he drinks.
But that night, Li Xiao seemed to drink more and more, becoming more and more sober.
To hell with his dying words... to hell with his escape plan... to hell with him!
What a load of bullshit! From now on, none of this is his business.
He only wants... he only wants...
Li Xiao didn't know what he wanted, and just as he was having a headache, a voice rang out.
A soft voice, filled with surprise and drowsiness.
It reached Li Xiao's ears clearly.
Li Xiao turned his head and saw a teenager wearing a thin nightgown. It was strange that he could see him so clearly even though the room was so dark.
I even noticed the fleeting look of disappointment on the other person's face.
What the heck...
Seeing that it's me, young master, is it really such a disappointing thing?
—Clearly, I am far better than that murderer.
Thinking this, Li Xiao reached out and grabbed Pipa, who was about to leave, without hesitation. Upon asking, she confirmed that Pipa was indeed going to find Lan Yunzhi.
How infuriating! With such cold hands and feet, dressed so thinly, and in such cold weather, she still had to go out to look for some damn Young Master Lan.
I don't know what kind of spell they were cast on.
Li Xiao forbade him to go.
He held him in his arms, holding him tightly.
It doesn't matter if your hands and feet are cold. Li Xiao can warm them up slowly. Once they're warm, they'll naturally carry his scent... and that's what makes them his.
Yes, it's his people.
The dark clouds overhead dispersed, as if moonlight were shining into the pitch-black room, and into Li Xiao's heart.
Li Xiao suddenly understood what he wanted.
Forget about Lan Yunzhi, forget that heartless guy.
Li Xiao silently thought to himself: I know you can't do it right now, but it doesn't matter, I have plenty of patience to wait.
When you forget him someday, you're only allowed to think of me.
Of course, I only want you.
It's agreed, if you don't say anything after the countdown of three, it means you agree.
Li Xiao thought to himself, and then silently counted to three.
As expected, there was no objection from the other party.
Then... it's a deal.
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