chapter 2

Rain fell at midnight.

When I returned, the bloodstains on the jade steps were still vivid.

No matter how I tried, they could not be washed away.

There were candles lit in the hall. I loosened a bit of the window paper to peek inside.

Xiao Qi seemed to sense something. He looked up and caught me red-handed.

I entered the hall, lowering my head obediently.

“I threw him into the slums and found dozens of beggars.”

“I promise I won’t kill him, truly. Tomorrow I’ll drag him back for Your Majesty to execute.”

“He absolutely cannot die so easily.”

My voice grew quieter and quieter.

After a while, I heard a sigh.

He asked, “Then why are you crying?”

Startled, I raised my brows, tears falling uncontrollably.

In the candlelight, his cheeks were thin and pale, without a trace of color.

He had endured humiliation and hardship for ten years.

Now, his body was frail, like a lamp running out of oil.

Of all the filthy words spoken in the Golden Luan Hall, only one was not wrong.

After today, Xiao Qi’s past would spread throughout Shangjing.

Everyone would know.

There was once a young courtesan named Feng Ling in Chunfeng Pavilion.

He was the former Crown Prince, and now, the New Emperor.