Chapter 116: Let Him Go
Li Xuanyue saw that even now, he still wanted to pretend as if nothing was wrong. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.
“Even at this point, how much longer does Fujun intend to deceive me?” Her calm eyes were fixed on Hua Shan. “I presume you have already sent people to my study, haven’t you?”
Hua Shanâs long eyelashes cast a shadow into his tea. “What are you saying? Yueâer, your father truly doesn’t know. Also, for no reason, why would your father send someone to your study?”
Li Xuanyue fell completely silent. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she truly didn’t understand Hua Shan at all. Did he say this because he truly believed she had no evidence or way to expose him?
“Fujun might as well take a look at these.”
Li Xuanyue pulled the evidence out of her sleeveâwhich she had sneakily switched and hidden earlierâand personally laid it on the table before Hua Shan.
The hand Hua Shan was using to hold his teacup paused when he saw the evidence placed on the table. His dark eyes subconsciously scanned Li Xuanyue.
“Did Fujun think this child was still the same as before, with no strategy or plans?”
Li Xuanyue spoke calmly, “From the moment Lang Hua disappeared, to the moment he and this child rescued Xiao Han from the secret room, this child already sensed that your people were monitoring me in the dark. The reason I didn’t come to question you personally was that I didn’t want to alert the enemy.”
“However, what this child didn’t expect was that you would actually move against Lang Hua.”
Ever since Lang Hua had told her that there was someone hidden in Hua Shanâs Xihe Palace, aside from shock, her main thought was that she didn’t want to involve him in this matter. Although she didn’t know Hua Shanâs methods of dealing with people, she remembered that in her previous life, he was never soft-hearted toward those he disliked. If he truly turned his gaze toward Lang Hua, the man would surely suffer greatly.
She just hadn’t expected that in the end, she still couldn’t stop it. Lang Hua had still fallen into his trap.
“Why did Fujun treat my biological father that way back then?”
The people she sent out had already found all the clues and learned the full truth. Caught between the grace of birth and the grace of upbringing, although Li Xuanyue felt conflicted, her heart had turned cold because of Hua Shanâs selfishness.
“Fujun loved you, didn’t he?”
Aside from this, Li Xuanyue couldn’t think of why Hua Sang would be willing to sacrifice so much for Hua Shan. Even if Hua Sangâs life had been saved by him back then, sparing him from banishment, his private agreement to take Hua Shanâs place in the Phoenix Sovereign’s bed to let her conceive should have been enough to repay the debt.
Yet Hua Shan was never satisfied. He still wanted to keep the man imprisoned by his side. In Li Xuanyueâs view, Hua Shanâs behavior could be described as pathological. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too; he wanted everything but didn’t want to pay the price.
“Do you think everything Fujun sacrificed for you was just a matter of course?”
Li Xuanyue said calmly, “You have never truly respected Fujun’s love for you, have you?”
This string of questions from Li Xuanyue made Hua Shan feel for a moment as if he were seeing Hua Sangâs shadow. Because back then, Hua Sang had questioned him just like this. How had he answered back then?
“Your life is mine. Besides repaying me and sacrificing for me, who else do you think you can repay?”
“Fujun, let him go.”
Hua Shanâs silence made Li Xuanyue feel incredibly distressed. She knew she had guessed right. Hua Shan had never respected Hua Sangâs love, nor had he ever considered things from his perspective. That was why they had reached this point today.
“Do you not feel disgusted?”
It was as if Hua Shan was truly meeting his daughter Li Xuanyue for the first time. Feelings between men were not accepted by the public. He had originally thought that once she knew the truth, she would look at them with eyes of disgust. Yet, she said nothing of the sort. Instead, she told him to let Hua Sang go. He was truly curious about what she was thinking.
“You and Fujun have been entangled for hundreds of years; this kind of emotion is not something ordinary people can understand,” Li Xuanyue said deeply. “Even if the world cannot tolerate it, it is your own business and has nothing to do with others. This child only hopes that Fujun can live a happy and peaceful life.”
How could Hua Shan not hear the double meaning in her words?
“In the end, you are still worried about him, am I right?”
He truly was of his seed. Even after hundreds of years of doting, the bond of blood could not be severed. In the end, her heart was still with him.
“Then do you hate your Fujun?”
Li Xuanyue lowered her eyes; it was a difficult question to answer. To say she didn’t hate him was clearly disrespectful to Hua Sang. But if she said she did, her heart still ached for everything Hua Sang had suffered.
Seeing her like this, Hua Shan understood everything.
“You truly have grown up!” He gave a long sigh and said, “You know right from wrong, and you know exactly how to act to make your father even more heartbroken. But you should know that your father will likely never let him leave.”
Li Xuanyue was stunned by these words. Her large dark eyes stared at him without blinking.
“Do not look at your father with such a shocked expression.” Hua Shan looked away and continued slowly, “Since youâve interfered in this matter, you should know your father’s character. Although your father and I are not from the same world and I cannot give him everything he wants, now that he has appeared, your father will not let him leave again.”
“But doing this will kill him!” Li Xuanyue could no longer suppress the fury in her heart and roared at Hua Shan. “You have already asked him to sacrifice so much for you again and again. Even his life is now… in a precarious state! You cannot be this selfish anymore. Fujun, let him leave. Otherwise, he will truly die here.”
“Impudence!”
Hua Shan slammed his palm down, and the pear-blossom wood table beside him instantly shattered into pieces under his rebuke. This was the first time Hua Shan had shown such a great temper in front of Li Xuanyue. He couldn’t even control his rage and vented it directly.
But Li Xuanyue was not frightened by his anger. On the contrary, she felt that this was Hua Shanâs true face. The elegant and generous persona he put on before everyone was just a surface phenomenon. This dark, sinister appearance was his true nature hidden beneath the skin.
“Although this Hou is not your biological father, it is not your place to lecture me here,” Hua Shan said irritably. “Yueâer, the matter between me and your father is not something you can interfere with. If you know what’s good for you, just do your own things and stop questioning these matters.”
Translator’s Note: “Switching the dragon for the phoenix” (ĺˇéžč˝Źĺ¤) is a clever idiom for a sneaky swap. Hua Shanâs true colors are finally showing! Heâs so possessive itâs scary. And the dynamic between the biological father and the step-father is getting so intense.
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