Chapter 79: Were You Waiting for Me Specifically?
At this moment, Li Xuanyue realized just how impulsive and muddled her question had been.
Hua Shan was, after all, her father. Even if she harbored suspicions, she shouldn’t have questioned him directly to his face. How was that different from stabbing a knife straight into his heart?
Li Xuanyue felt annoyed with herself. She closed her eyes. She really felt like the more she lived, the more she regressed.
Hua Shan didn’t have time to keep bickering with her. His face was stern as he waved his hand coldly.
“Enough. I don’t want to hear so many explanations.”
He said coldly, “Do you have any other business? If not, leave immediately!”
Hua Shan’s impatience was visible to the naked eye. Li Xuanyue naturally sensed it. Given her earlier impulsiveness, she didn’t persist this time.
“Then… Father, rest well.” She clasped her hands and spoke hesitantly, “Your child will return now.”
Then, she quietly turned and retreated with Lang Hua.
Seeing them leave, Hua Shan finally heaved a sigh of relief.
But whenever he thought of Hua Sang lying on the bed, dying, pain pierced his eyes uncontrollably.
“Master, what should we do next?”
At that moment, Xiao Ce, who had been hiding in the dark, stepped out from behind a screen. Seeing the exhaustion and conflict on Hua Shan’s face, he proactively asked.
“How is he now?” Hua Shan asked, his voice hoarse.
Whenever he recalled the image of Hua Sang lying bloodied and lifeless on the bed last night, his heart ached unbearably.
He knew he was wrong. Drastically wrong. Yet, in the end, he hadn’t stood on Hua Sang’s side.
He had wronged him. He had truly wronged him deeply!
The heartache in Hua Shanās eyes was fully visible to Xiao Ce.
Xiao Ce lowered his gaze. “He is still alive, but… his injuries are too severe this time. Even with the life-preserving pill, I fear he can only live for another year.”
“Send people to keep searching!” Hua Shan said, his eyes cold. “We must find a way to let him live forever!”
Meanwhile, in Chaoren Hall.
After Li Qinghe learned of the events at Xihe Hall last night, she felt restless.
Intuition told her that Xihe Hall was currently hiding some unknown secret. But given her current situation, she couldn’t intervene personally. The only way was to have her people inquire secretly.
Although Li Qinghe had been demoted to a commoner, her power hadn’t been fully stripped away. Those she had recruited previously were still there. With one command, they would follow her through fire and water.
Regrettably, Ru Yue, who used to handle her messages, had been executed. Now, Li Qinghe had to write and send the letters herself.
When Jun Mo entered with his trusted aides, Li Qinghe was standing by the window, staring outside.
His dark eyes sank. “Planning something bad again?”
Hearing the voice behind her, Li Qinghe simply glanced back indifferently, not startled in the least.
“Has the Second Prince enjoyed his stroll?” she asked sarcastically.
Ever since Empress Lin left him a group of trusted aides and death warriors, Jun Moās life was practically the same as it had been in the Snake Clan. Except for when he was in a bad mood and vented on Li Qingheācursing her, choking her, saying a few cruel wordsāthe two got along fairly well. It was a relationship of mutual non-interference.
Provided, of course, that Li Qinghe didn’t make mistakes under his nose.
If she failed to act like a proper servant, he would inevitably lose his temper. At first, Li Qinghe had maintained a defiant spirit, but that only led to worse torture from Jun Mo.
Now, she had thought things through clearly. Nothing was more important than power and biding her time.
Since Jun Mo wanted her submission, she would grant his wish for now.
Wait until the day she regained the Princess’s powerāshe would not spare these sluts who humiliated her. Especially the father-daughter duo, Li Xuanyue and Hua Shan. Her current downfall was entirely their fault. They had better hope she didn’t catch hold of any leverage against them. Otherwise, she would make them pay.
“Are you still thinking of making a comeback?”
Having lived with her for these days, Jun Mo understood exactly what was going through Li Qingheās mind.
He suddenly reached out and choked Li Qinghe, constantly reminding her of the reality of her abandonment.
“Why can’t you just give it a rest?”
The fact that he had become this neither-man-nor-woman creature was all Li Qinghe’s fault. If he suffered, why would he let her have it easy?
“You’ve already been demoted to a commoner by the Phoenix Sovereign and abandoned. What sweet dreams are you still dreaming?”
He couldn’t help but mock her. “Go, bring this Prince a basin of footbath water.”
Li Qinghe stood up, suppressing the anger in her heart.
She was used to being tortured by Jun Mo daily. But in private, she couldn’t help but vent her rage.
“What kind of trash are they, worthy of my submission?”
“Just wait. I won’t let any of you have an easy life!”
Li Qinghe roared loudly in the kitchen.
On the other side, after leaving Xihe Hall, Li Xuanyue felt deeply uneasy. So much so that she stopped halfway before even reaching Fenghe Hall.
“Princess, would you like this subject to investigate for you?”
Lang Hua walked beside her, observing her expression as he spoke. Seeing her thoughtful look, he knew she still harbored suspicions about Hua Shan.
However… what surprised him was that Hua Shan, who usually doted on Li Xuanyue, had been so cold and distant today. He was nothing like the amiable figure in the rumors.
Could something really have happened in Xihe Hall last night?
When Li Xuanyue met Lang Hua’s scrutinizing gaze, she couldn’t help but frown.
“Were you waiting for me specifically just now?” she asked unhappily.
Langya Hall and Xihe Hall were separated by the distance of a whole palace. How could Lang Hua have appeared so coincidentally before her eyes?
Earlier, she had been anxious to get to Xihe Hall, worried about Hua Shan and the events of the previous night, so she hadn’t asked in detail. But thinking back on it now, something felt off no matter how she looked at it.
“Does the Princess think I can bring you surprises or the truth?”
Startled from his thoughts by Li Xuanyue’s sudden question, Lang Hua snapped back to reality and let out a faint laugh.
“The Princess worries too much,” he said sincerely. “I merely heard from the maids that the orchids and such were blooming well in this area, so I came specifically to take a look.”
“Who would have thought that on the way here, I would actually see you, Princess? So I happily came over to greet you.”
Lang Huaās words implied: I wasn’t really waiting for you here. It was all just a coincidence.
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