Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

Tao Yao raised her head, her eyes revealing an unprecedented determination. She said firmly, "Since that's the case, I hope Father will grant my consent to remove my name from the Shi Mansion family tree and expel me from the mansion."

It’s just right. If I can take this opportunity to leave Shi Mansion, maybe I can avoid Chu Huanjun.

As long as she completely disappears from this group of people's network, she will be of no use to Chu Huanjun.

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the room was shocked. Shi Yiqian's expression turned from anger to disbelief, and he said in a stern voice, "Shi Taoyao, what did you say?"

Tao Yao's tone remained firm: "I hope father will help me remove Tao Yao from the Shi family tree. From now on, even if Tao Yao dies on the street, it will have nothing to do with the Shi family."

Shi Yiqian was furious: "You...are so bold! Do you want to piss me off to death?"

Shi Lanxin's face was also a little panicked, and she hurriedly said, "Shi Taoyao, what did you say? The Shi family has raised you for so many years, and even if you don't talk about repaying them, you should at least have the conscience to abide by your duties. How can you say such outrageous words today!"

Seeing this, Zhu Fengsheng stopped talking and continued to pick up the cup of tea and took a sip.

Huai Ling, who was still being tortured nearby, said in her dying voice, "Second Miss... don't be silly..."

The atmosphere was stagnant, no one dared to speak, but Shi Lanxin was very agitated——

She was not nice to Shi Taoyao because she had resented the years when she had taken away her identity.

But she had already returned to the Shi Mansion and had always been favored by her father. Her jealousy had long faded. She had still been targeting and bullying Shi Taoyao all these years, but it was simply because she was bored at home and wanted to have some fun...

If Shi Taoyao really left the Shi Mansion, where would she find fun?

So, Shi Lanxin hurriedly said, "Shi Taoyao, it's not too late for you to admit your mistake now. Daddy is magnanimous and will definitely forgive you."

Tao Yao was holding back her anger but remained silent.

Shi Yiqian's face was flushed red and his brows were furrowed. No one had ever seen Shi Yiqian look so ugly.

In Shi Yiqian's eyes, Shi Taoyao is still the baby girl he brought home that year. He only now realizes that Shi Taoyao has grown up a long time ago.

She also has a temper, self-esteem, and the ability to be independent.

In recent years, he has been busy with border wars and has actually had very little time to stay in the Shi Mansion. Ever since his biological daughter came back, he has not seen Tao Yao in his eyes.

He always thought that Taoyao was still the same as when she was a child, obedient, sensible, and silent. She was willing to accept his punishment even if she did not commit any mistakes. Every day she just waited eagerly for her father to bring back a candy for her to eat.

He always thought that an orphan like Taoyao, who was abandoned since childhood, would want to rely on him for the rest of her life, so every year he thought about how to find a suitable in-law to marry her off.

But when Tao Yao said in person that she wanted to leave the Shi Mansion and asked him to agree, his heart suddenly became a mess.

He suddenly remembered that spring long ago when Princess Jin Shen took his hand and said in a voice as gentle as the spring breeze, "My dear husband, let's stay like this and grow old together forever."

At that time, Shi Lanxin had not yet left, and their life was so happy that even if his life came to an end at that moment, he would be content.

But what is forever in this world? Princess Jin Shen will never come back to him, and now Tao Yao is also leaving this home.

He suppressed the slight pain in his eyes, sighed deeply, and said, "Taoyao, if you are willing to admit the mistake you made today and explain everything clearly, I will not punish you. I will pretend that I didn't hear your childish temper just now. From now on, I will still be your Second Miss of the Shi family."

Hearing his father say this, Shi Lanxin beside him seemed to be relieved and joined in: "Shi Taoyao, Daddy has spoken, you should admit your mistake quickly!"

Tao Yao lowered her head, her face gloomy. Huai Ling seemed to have anticipated something and whispered, "Second Miss, stop talking and listen to the master..."

At this time, snow suddenly began to fall outside. Snow was common in the cold winter, but today's snow was even more desolate and cold.

Shi Yiqian sighed deeply again and said, "Taoyao, you don't remember. When I first brought you home, it was also snowing like this. It's been almost fifteen years..."

Tao Yao just lowered her head and said nothing. No one knew what she was thinking.

Suddenly, Tao Yao raised her arm, lowered her head, and bit her wrist fiercely. Suddenly, bright red blood spurted out from her wrist, dripping into the cracks between the stone slabs on the ground.

She raised her pale face, her lips and teeth turning red from the blood: "I don't want to be the Second Miss of the Shi family anymore. I hope father will grant my wish."

Shi Yiqian's face changed drastically. In order to break with the Shi family, she wanted to express her determination with blood.

Seeing Shi Yiqian's eyes closed and silent, Tao Yao was about to bite the wound again. Shi Yiqian shouted, "What are you standing there for! Tie her hands and feet!"

At his command, several strong men nearby immediately came close to Tao Yao and tied her limbs tightly.

Shi Yiqian closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer, but kept saying, "Beat her! Beat her! Beat her until she wakes up!"

Then, Tao Yao felt a dull pain in her back. Two strong men stood on either side of her, each holding a huge bamboo board, and took turns hitting her on the back.

The clothes Tao Yao was wearing were already old, and the fabric had long been worn thin and translucent. After a few hits from the board, a big hole was made in the clothes on her back.

The next blow from the board hit her skin hard.

The excruciating pain of her skin being torn apart made Tao Yao's expression distorted, but she was stubborn and didn't make a single moan.

Taoyao's body had been starving for so long that there wasn't much flesh left to withstand such punishment. As the board struck her again and again, she could almost hear the crackling of the bones in her back being struck by the bamboo board. It made her head spin and her eyes flash with white sparks.

In the white sparks, she seemed to see Shi Taoyao's childhood.

Xiao Taoyao always followed Shi Yiqian with eager eyes, hoping that he would take out a candy from his pocket and give it to her.

There aren't many things that Xiao Taoyao likes, and her favorite is her daddy's pocket.

That pocket was incredibly magical, always able to pull out cakes of varying flavors. Sometimes it was sweet osmanthus candy, sometimes it was butterfly cakes, and the best was the milk cake. This rare treat was what Daddy brought back from every battle in Xise, and you wouldn't normally see it.

In fact, this milk cake was brought back by Daddy specially for Mommy. Mommy's hometown is in the north of the western desert, but little Taoyao is a little afraid of Mommy because she is always crying and won't let Taoyao enter her room. But when Mommy is in a good mood, she will give little Taoyao a piece of milk cake.

Xiao Taoyao could not imagine how her mother died in such a confused manner, and her life would change drastically after her mother's death.

A strange stepmother came to the house, and then a strange sister came. From then on, her father never gave her a piece of candy again.

Children are simple-minded and don't know what the disappearance of the cakes means. Little Taoyao still goes to her father to ask for cakes from time to time, but her sister always throws pebbles at her head from a distance.

Over time, Tao Yao no longer dared to look for her father.

Later, at a family dinner, Taoyao accidentally discovered that her sister's small package was filled with all kinds of candies and cakes, and she finally understood -

The sugar cake did not disappear, but went to my sister's place.

In this way, Xiao Taoyao had her first clear understanding of her identity.

In the midst of a chaotic dream, Tao Yao seemed to have arrived in another place.

There was a wasteland, crows circling in the sky, and the ground was an endless expanse of dry, cracked earth. A dark arm stretched out in front of her, pulling her forward with all its might.

The place was very windy and dusty, and the strong wind made it impossible for her to open her eyes, but she could clearly hear herself calling the person in front of her in an unfamiliar language.

The man turned his head. Although his face was obscured by his messy hair, his pair of glowing green eyes were surprisingly bright.

He fumbled in his arms, found half a dry and hard naan, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The naan was as hard as a rock. When it was stuffed into her mouth, it seemed to have knocked out several of her teeth, and her mouth was instantly filled with a fishy smell.

She swallowed quickly instinctively, swallowing the blood and naan together. She was very hungry.

The man pulled her and crawled in the yellow sand for a long time. When dusk fell, they finally found an oasis not far away.

But when they got closer, they realized that the oasis was a mirage. The man she was traveling with knelt on the ground and cried in despair, speaking a language she couldn't understand, but she seemed to understand what he meant. He kept calling out "Father, Father..."

Suddenly, the dream came to an abrupt end.

Tao Yao suddenly opened her eyes and returned to Zhuzheng Hall. In front of her was still the stone floor that was stained with the blood from her wrist. The tip of Shi Yiqian's shoe was still in front of her, stained with blood and mud, perhaps a little of it belonged to her.

However, lucidity soon disappeared again.

This time there was no dream. She felt her body falling straight down into the endless darkness.

In her final moments of consciousness, she only heard Shi Yiqian's voice ringing in her ears: "Beat her! Keep beating her! Beat her until she admits her mistake!"