Shocking! The actress was dragged to the regent's bedchamber every night.

Yu Chen ignored him and instead looked down at Yu Linxi.

Yu Linxi raised his head, his lips moved but no sound came out.

Yu Chen looked down at his pale face and at his eyes, which were exactly the same as his father's.

She tightened her grip on his hand a little more.

Yu Linxi grunted and turned her face away from him.

Yu Chen's voice wasn't loud, but everyone present could hear it.

"This throne was taken from my father by your father."

He didn't look at anyone when he said this; his eyes were fixed on Yu Linxi's pale face.

"When I was seven, he poisoned my father to death. When I was eight, he had my mother strangled with a white silk ribbon."

He paused, his fingers tightening slightly.

Yu Linxi's wrist made a very soft sound in his palm.

Yu Linxi struggled for a moment, leaning forward half an inch before Yu Chen pressed her back down.

His crown tassels hung down to the side of his face, obscuring half of it.

Only the reddened eye socket was visible.

"I fell into the lake and pretended to be stupid for eight years." Yu Chen's voice was so low that it sounded like he was talking to himself.

"On the anniversary of my mother's death, I sent him away using the same method he used to kill my mother."

Yu Linxi's face turned completely pale.

His fingers slowly loosened in Yu Chen's palm, and he stopped struggling.

Xiao Junyi's hand remained on the hilt of the knife, but he did not pull it out.

Shen Qiange watched as his lips moved slightly, and for a moment she didn't know what to do.

All the civil and military officials bowed their heads; no one dared to raise their heads.

No one dared to move; even their breathing was suppressed to the shallowest possible level.

"I won't kill you," Yu Chen said. "I want Yu Feng to watch from heaven as his son sits atop the empire he seized."

"Everything his son does has to go through my hands. I don't covet this throne, but I won't let his son sit on it comfortably either."

He loosened his grip on Yu Linxi's wrist and took a half step back.

Yu Linxi steadied himself by holding onto the stone pillar, and a red mark appeared around his wrist.

Yu Chen didn't look at him again, turned around and left.

But the next second, everything suddenly went dark.

It was as if something was falling from above, obscuring his vision into a blurry blackness.

His body swayed slightly.

My ears were buzzing, and all the sounds seemed very far away.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

When I opened my eyes again, the morning light was shining down.

He was riding a horse, holding the reins in his hand.

He reined in the horse, and it came to a stop with its hooves scraping the ground.

Yu Linxi stood in the center of the city gate, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.

Behind him stood civil and military officials.

Xiao Junyi stood to his right.

Shen Qiange stood next to Xiao Junyi.

Yu Linxi spoke, "Your Majesty, you've worked hard."

Yu Chen watched him from his horse.

The morning light fell on Yu Linxi's crown, making the beads shimmer with a delicate light.

Yu Chen tightened his grip on the reins slightly, then loosened it again.

He dismounted, his gaze sweeping across Yu Linxi's face before returning to his own.

Yu Linxi looked at him and waited for a while but received no reply.

His brow twitched slightly before returning to normal. "The Regent?"

Yu Chen raised his head and looked at the face that was exactly the same as his father's. Then he looked away from the face and fell on the eaves of the city tower.

The eaves gleamed with a bluish-gray light in the morning glow.

After watching for a while, I looked away.

"Hmm." The voice was soft, as if answering a very ordinary question.

Yu Linxi looked at him for a moment, then looked away.

The morning light fell on the ground, illuminating everything in a white glow.

Yu Chen stood there, neither taking another step nor speaking another word.

I stood there for a long time.

After a while, Yu Linxi glanced at him again.

Yu Chen turned his gaze from the eaves of the city tower to his feet.

His shadow shrank at his feet, becoming a dark patch in the sunlight.

He looked at it for a while, then looked away and mounted his horse.

The wind blew through the city tower, stirring his robes.

He didn't turn around, nor did he speak again.

The sunlight fell on his back, making his armor appear white, and he rode his horse into the city gate and disappeared into the shadows.

Behind him, Yu Linxi was still standing at the city gate.

The beads on his crown hung down, obscuring his face and making his expression impossible to see.

……

I haven't dreamt of anything for over a month.

That day, Su Wuli sat on the sofa, holding the physical copy of "Encountering Mountains and Rivers" in her hand.

She already knew the contents, but she still opened the book. It was still very new, with a faint smell of ink.

While turning the page, I was a little absent-minded, and my finger brushed against the edge of the paper, unexpectedly cutting my fingertip.

Su Wuli subconsciously withdrew her hand.

Looking down, it wasn't deep, but beads of blood were seeping from the wound.

It then fell onto the page, spreading a small patch of dark red.

Su Wuli looked down at the drop of blood, watching it slowly seep into the fibers of the paper, staining a small patch of the words.

She didn't wipe it; she simply closed the book and placed it on the coffee table, then put her finger in her mouth for a moment.

The taste of blood spread across the tip of her tongue.

He took his finger out after a moment and glanced at it.

The blood was still seeping out, so she put it back in her mouth and held it there for a moment.

My phone vibrated on the coffee table.

News of Su Yuan.

The car has arrived; I'm waiting for you downstairs.

[They've arrived.]

Today we have a charity photoshoot.

Su Wuli put her phone in her pocket, bent down to pick up the book on the coffee table, and placed it on the top shelf of the bookshelf.

Then I went to the entryway and changed my shoes.

Go out.

Inside the elevator, Su Wuli glanced at her finger; the wound had already dried.

A thin line, with slightly reddish edges.

As she stepped out of the building, the sunlight fell on her face, and she squinted slightly.

Su Yuan was standing next to the car. When she saw her get out, she quickly opened the car door.

Su Wuli sat down and leaned back in the chair.

Su Yuan got on the bus from the other side and glanced at her.

"Wu Li, you don't look well. Didn't you sleep well again last night?"

"No..." she said, turning her head to look out the window.

My fingers slowly curled up inside my pocket, and my nails touched the wound, causing a slight pain.

There were many other celebrities involved in this shoot, so Su Wuli stayed in the RV since it wasn't her turn yet.

When Wen Yan opened the RV door, she was holding two cups of coffee.

She bent down and crawled in, and saw Su Wuli leaning back in her chair.

He was half-asleep, his eyes half-closed.

Wen Yan placed a cup of coffee on the small table in front of Su Wuli.

The bottom of the cup touched the table with a soft sound.

Su Wuli opened her eyes and glanced at her.

"Sister Wen said you're not feeling well." Wen Yan sat down next to her, opened the lid of another cup of coffee, and took a sip.

"Let me come over and talk to you." She turned her head to look at Su Wuli.

His gaze fell on her reddened eyes, and his brows furrowed slightly. "You cried?"

"No, I didn't sleep well." Su Wuli picked up her coffee and took a sip.

Wen Yan looked at her but didn't ask any further questions.

Leaning back in his seat, he turned his head to look at the set outside the car window and talked for a while about things on set.

Su Wuli responded a few times.

Wen Yan stopped talking after a while, turned her head to look at her, and asked, "Have you not been eating much lately?"

Su Wuli shook her head. "I ate it."

"What did you eat?"

Su Wuli thought for a moment, but couldn't remember. "I forgot."

Wen Yan put down her coffee and turned to face her.

"Sister Lin told me some things."

She chose her words carefully, "You haven't been doing well lately, is it related to your boyfriend?"

Su Wuli didn't reply, but slowly circled her finger around the rim of the coffee cup.

Wen Yan waited a moment, then said, "If you want to talk, I'll listen; if you don't, I won't ask."

She paused for a moment, then said, "I just want to tell you that if you really like him, and he likes you too, there's always a way to make things work out between you two."

Su Wuli lowered her head, looking at the slightly swaying surface of the water in her coffee cup.

"He went back..." she said softly, "He lied to me."

Wen Yan's brow furrowed slightly as she listened. "Goed back? Goed home?"