Cut off my tendons in my hands and feet to make me marry? Prepare to die!

Deep in the Dali Temple dungeon, faint torches flickered with dim light, illuminating the surrounding cold and damp stone walls with mottled colors.

The air was filled with a dull smell mixed with mildew and rust, and it seemed as if the air in one's chest and lungs was moldy.

The slight clash of iron chains and the faint humming sounds coming from all around create a unique gloomy picture here.

Yue Ziyu pursed his lips and followed Yue Ran forward step by step.

The footsteps of the two people seemed particularly heavy in the claustrophobic space, and each step stepped on the wet stone slabs, making a dull echo.

Yue Ziyu's eyes searched in the darkness, with a complex array of emotions on his face - a desire to see his brother soon, as well as unspeakable fear and uneasiness.

His face was pale, and looked even more haggard in the flickering light.

He hoped in his heart that all this was just a nightmare, and hoped that when he woke up, his mother would still be waiting for him in the courtyard and his brother would still be painting in the study.

The boy's hands clenched unconsciously, his nails almost digging into his palms, bringing silent pain and helplessness.

Yue Ran walked all the way to the deepest part of the dungeon before he stopped.

Yue Ziyu walked step by step to his brother's cell and looked inside through the gap in the iron bars.

In the dim and narrow space, Yue Zihuan sat in an unusually clean corner covered with soft cushions, which was out of tune with the gloomy environment around him.

His furrowed brow and unwilling eyes showed dissatisfaction and resentment that could not be concealed even though he was being treated preferentially.

He was thin but tall, his prison uniform was old but neat, and his messy black hair could not hide his once handsome features.

When Yue Ran and Yue Ziyu appeared in the dark passage of the dungeon, a complex emotion flashed across Yue Zihuan's originally cold and arrogant face, and then he slowly stood up, with his habitual reserve in his movements.

He walked to the iron fence, placed his hands casually on the cold iron bars, and looked deeply at Yue Ran:

"You are so scheming that you actually found a way to trick Zi Yu back to the capital!"

As he spoke, his eyes flickered in the light of the fire, with sparks of provocation.

Yue Ran raised his eyebrows and sneered:

"Yue Zihuan, not only have you overestimated yourself, you have also overestimated Yue Ziyu. I don't need to bother setting up a scam for him."

There was a strong sense of mockery in her eyes:

"If you had this kind of brain when facing Feng Xiaolou, you wouldn't have fallen to this point."

Yue Zihuan's eyes flashed coldly when he heard Feng Xiaolou's name:

"Don't involve innocent people! I'm in this situation because of you!"

Yue Ran crossed her arms slowly:

"is it?"

"Why do you blame me? Do you blame me for blocking you and those men in black in the ancestral temple? Or do you blame me for exposing your ugly face in falsely accusing your father?"

"Or..." Yue Ran raised his voice and took a step forward:

"Is it your fault that I didn't die earlier to make way for your beloved Feng Xiaolou?"

"Or is it because father didn't recognize Feng Xiaolou, a woman whose biological father is unknown, as his adopted daughter, and failed to give Feng Xiaolou a distinguished background, so that she couldn't become the crown prince's principal wife?"

As Yue Ran questioned him, Yue Zihuan opened his mouth several times, but was unable to close it several times. Just as he was about to counterattack the first question, he was blocked by the next question.

Yue Ziyu stood aside and listened quietly. His eyes were gradually filled with disappointment as he looked at his brother, and his eyes turned red.

He finally couldn't help but grab Yue Zihuan's hand that was holding the railing, and cried and said:

"Why, big brother? I know you don't like Yue Ran, but why did you falsely accuse father?"

"Tell me, who was responsible for my mother's death?"

"What on earth do you want to achieve by committing such a heinous crime?"

Yue Zihuan glared at Yue Ran fiercely, and after a while he shifted his gaze to his brother's face.

He sighed and patted Yue Ziyu's shoulder across the railing:

"You are still young, so you don't understand. Big brother does this for our palace!"

Yue Ziyu raised his sleeves to wipe away his tears, and pushed Yue Zihuan away fiercely:

"I'm seventeen! I'm not a child! Yue Ran had already won many wars in the North when he was seventeen!"

"Tell me the reason. I want to know your difficulties now!"

Yue Zihuan involuntarily took several steps back, a look of surprise in his eyes.

He didn't expect that his second brother, who had been at Xilu Academy for two years, was not as obedient to him as before.

Even the second brother praised Yue Ran in his words!

In two years, his opinion of Yue Ran has completely changed.

"Zi Yu, are you crazy? You're actually standing on Yue Ran's side?"

The muscles on Yue Zihuan's face twitched slightly, and bloodshot eyes filled his eyes. He took a few steps forward and desperately stretched out his hand to grab Yue Ziyu's arm:

"Look carefully, I am your brother! Yue Ran whipped you twenty times with a whip. She has no humanity at all!"

Yue Ran rolled her eyes when she heard this:

"Yes, I was inhumane and whipped my brother twenty times, but you were humane and falsely accused my father of regicide and treason, and even wanted to take everything from me and give it to Feng Xiaolou. Even if your mother died at the hands of the other party, you would have no regrets."

The tears on Yue Ziyu's face gradually dried up. He slowly raised his eyes and looked directly at the big brother he had admired since childhood. His voice was low and calm:

"Tell me, is what Yue Ran said true?"

"Who killed my mother? Was it Feng Xiaolou?"

Yue Zihuan became even more anxious after hearing this. He growled:

"Don't listen to Yue Ran's nonsense! That night was actually a misunderstanding! You have to believe me, and you have to believe Feng Xiaolou even more. That's Sister Xiaolou who worked as a purse for you!"

He looked at Yue Ziyu eagerly, his voice even a little hoarse:

"Do you still remember? When you were little, you said you would marry Sister Xiaolou when you grew up. She is so beautiful, how could she possibly hurt Mother?"

"You can't doubt Xiaolou! If big brother is gone in the future, you have to stay by Xiaolou's side and not let Yue Ran bully her! You have to protect Xiaolou for me, do you hear me?"

The absurd remarks floated into Yue Ran's ears. Her delicate eyebrows raised slightly, and then the corners of her mouth outlined an arc mixed with surprise and sarcasm.

Yue Ziyu stared at Yue Zihuan, then turned and left without saying a word.

Yue Zihuan's screams echoed in the dungeon passage.

Yue Ran stood in front of the cell and suddenly asked a question he had always wanted to ask:

"If one day Feng Xiaolou admits that she has been using you, what will you do?"

Yue Zihuan was like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and he suddenly exploded and growled:

"That's enough, Yue Ran! You can fool Zi Yu, but you can't fool me! You're just jealous of Xiao Lou, you can't stand her living better than you!"

His voice was almost deafening, as if the louder he spoke, the less likely it was that what Yue Ran said would happen.

"Give up on this idea. Don't try to sow discord between us. As long as I'm alive, you won't succeed!"