Chapter 75: Sorrow From the Heart
“Do you know, Hua Shan? You are actually very selfish.”
Hua Sang looked at Hua Shan with calm eyes, finally speaking the words he had wanted to say for years.
“From the day you saved me and brought me back to the clan, I should have known. I just didn’t think that far ahead back then.”
If he had known that repaying that life-saving grace would require him to constantly sacrifice himself to fulfill Hua Shanâs desires, he would rather have been driven out of the Crane Clan back then than accept the help.
Now, time had passed, and circumstances had changed.
Recalling the past, Hua Sangâs heart, riddled with a thousand holes, no longer held its former burning passion. All that remained was cold ice.
“Actually, you knew very well how I felt about you back then, didn’t you?”
When Hua Sang asked this, he didn’t know where he found the courage.
He had hidden it for too long. He was too tired.
In the past, whenever he wanted to mention it to Hua Shan, he would remember his own statusâa lowly Crane subject, once abandoned by his clan. Compared to a noble prince like Hua Shan, he was indeed humble.
But so what?
His love might not be enough to move the heavens, but he had believed that one day Hua Shan would understand.
He had simply overestimated the person he cherished. That was why he ended up bruised and battered all over.
Hua Shan felt complicated emotions and did not answer.
He had indeed been aware of Hua Sangâs feelings. But he had also never forgotten his responsibilities as a prince. That was why he chose to sacrifice Hua Sang to achieve his own ends.
He thought Hua Sang would bury those words in his heart forever and never reveal them. The fact that he did left Hua Shan unsure of how to respond.
Mockery filled Hua Sangâs eyes. Seeing Hua Shanâs grave expression, what was left to misunderstand?
Sure enough, in this battle of choices, he had lost again. And lost miserably.
“My guess was right,” Hua Sang said with a desolate sneer, his eyes moist and rimmed with red. “You knew everything in your heart; you just liked to play dumb in front of me.”
“No wonder you turned a blind eye when Li Feng made things difficult for me back then. You probably were mocking me in your heart for being stupid, weren’t you?”
The once gentle and jade-like youth had been washed away by time; his eyes no longer held the spirit of his younger days. All that remained were the scars ground in by the yearsâlonely and desolate.
His entire being radiated the aura of death.
Hua Shan frowned. He didn’t like the misery on Hua Sangâs face and explained in a deep voice, “I didn’t.”
But how could Hua Sang, whose heart was already steeped in sorrow, listen to a simple “I didn’t”?
His heart was now dead ashes. The meaning of persisting was gone.
“I agree to your request!”
Time seemed to freeze for a moment. He closed his hollow eyes. When he opened them again, the former joy was gone, leaving only tragic silence.
Hua Shan had still been thinking about how to persuade him. Hearing the words “I agree,” he was stunned for a moment before a layer of joy quickly coated his eyes.
“That’s wonderful, Sang-Sang! I knew you would agree.”
He excitedly reached out and hugged Hua Sang.
His joy was beyond words, blinding him to the deathly stillness on Hua Sangâs face.
When Li Xuanyue arrived, everyone in Xihe Hall seemed full of joy.
She frowned. Anyone who didn’t know better would think Xihe Hall was celebrating a joyous occasion.
“Father!”
Seeing Hua Shan sitting at the head of the room with a beaming smile, watching her, Li Xuanyue lowered her gaze and raised her hands in greeting.
“Come here, quickly!”
Hua Shan waved happily at Li Xuanyue, his every movement signaling that he had something good for her.
Although Li Xuanyue was puzzled, she obeyed and walked toward him.
“Does Father have something good for Yue’er?”
She sat down beside Hua Shan, smiling playfully as she massaged his shoulders.
Seeing her attentive manner, affection flashed in Hua Shanâs eyes. “You little girl, if I didn’t have something good, did you plan to ignore your Father?”
His fair, slender finger tapped lightly on the tip of her nose.
Though it sounded like a rebuke, every word was filled with a father’s doting love for his daughter.
Everyone in the Phoenix Clan knew that Hua Shan favored Li Xuanyue above all else. If she wanted the stars, he wouldn’t give her the moon; if she wanted the moon, he wouldn’t give her the stars. He would always work behind the scenes to get her whatever she desired.
Li Xuanyue tugged at Hua Shanâs arm and smiled sweetly. “How could that be? Father, since I was young, everything you’ve given me has been a treasure. I was just teasing you.”
“How could I ignore you?”
She could doubt anyone else’s love for her, but never Hua Shanâs.
In her previous life, Hua Shan had exhausted himself for her sake, only to meet a tragic end. Reborn, she naturally wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen again.
Hua Shanâs heart softened completely. “Alright, stop saying things that tug at my heartstrings.”
“I called you here because I have something to tell you.”
Saying this, Hua Shan pulled a white jade porcelain bottle from his wide, dark brocade sleeve and held it out to Li Xuanyue.
Curiosity filled Li Xuanyueâs eyes. “What is this, Father?”
Could it be the antidote for the poison in her body?
“What do you think?”
Seeing her take the bottle and sniff it, helplessness flashed in Hua Shanâs eyes.
He took the bottle back, opened it, poured out the golden pill inside, and held it up to her, teasing gently, “What are you sniffing for? You aren’t a dog.”
“Can you actually smell the ingredients in this bottle?”
Hua Shanâs words made Li Xuanyue blush. “Isn’t your child just curious?”
Although she felt embarrassed, the thought of the “Red Crown” suddenly struck her, and she froze.
“Father, when did you get the Red Crown?”
Li Xuanyue looked up at Hua Shan in shock. Her eyes held unspeakable curiosity and confusion.
The poison in her body couldn’t be cured casually. It required the Red Crown from a Crane Clan member. This concerned the donor’s life and safety. Ordinary people would never agree. Even if they did, they would likely lose half their life.
“Did Uncle give it willingly?”
Unaware of the truth, Li Xuanyue voiced the doubt in her heart right in front of Hua Shan.
Hua Shan had previously mentioned she had an uncleâa member of the Crane Clanâbut he had never appeared. Li Xuanyue had always been skeptical about this. She knew Hua Shan had sent people to invite him, but after nearly half a month, the man had never appeared in the Phoenix Clan.
Now that Hua Shan had personally delivered the antidote, did it mean her uncle had come and then left? Was she the only one kept in the dark?
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