Chapter 465 - Stories of the Past

Emperor Jiawen suddenly paused in his actions as he turned around.

A large and tall figure stood before the crowd. He slowly moved over, and his handsome face had a nonchalant smile as his eyes sparkled like the night sky. He was surrounded by an unspeakable aura as if he had nothing to do with the mortal world.

It was Prince Li—Rong Xiu!

Chu Liuyue widened her eyes. This was because Rong Xiu’s bodily aura strengthened by a bit with every step he took.

The crowd who saw this scene gasped in shock. “T-that’s Prince Li?!”

“I thought that Prince Li was frail and that he’s always sick. What is this situation—”

“He actually broke through and became a stage-three—no, stage-four warrior?!”

Facing this sudden change, everyone was dazed.

Chu Liuyue’s heart skipped a beat. Rong Xiu is planning to… show off his true strength?!

“Y-you…” Emperor Jiawen stared at Rong Xiu closely, and his face changed. “Rong Xiu, you’re not sick!”

Rong Xiu didn’t immediately answer his question as he walked to Chu Liuyue and stood still. His gaze drooped down, and he grabbed her hand as his fingers glided past her broken wrist.

Warm and immense strength immediately entered her body.

“Your Highness, actually you don’t have to—” Chu Liuyue originally wanted to tell him not to worry about her wounds as she was a heavenly doctor herself and had already briefly handled them earlier, so they would get better on their own after a while. But after meeting with Rong Xiu’s warm and gentle gaze, her heart tingled, and she swallowed back her words.

“Sorry, I came late.”

Chu Liuyue gently shook her head.

This caused the gaze of Qi Han—who was hiding in the dark—to grow cold.

“Leave the remaining things to me.”

Hearing what Rong Xiu said, Chu Liuyue felt even more uneasy. “What… are you planning to do?”

He spent so much effort to hide himself for so many years. Why does he want to reveal everything today?!

Rong Xiu’s lips curved up slightly. “I’m just putting an end to things.”

Chu Liuyue’s heart faltered as she subconsciously looked up and saw Emperor Jiawen in midair. Then, she lightly held his hand. “Sure.”

When the two of them were talking, Rong Xiu’s aura had broken through and became that of a stage-five warrior.

After confirming that Chu Liuyue wasn’t severely injured, Rong Xiu turned back to look at his father.

If Emperor Jiawen couldn’t tell what was going on at this point, he would’ve sat on the throne for so many years in vain. “Rong Xiu, y-you were lying to me earlier on?!”

Not only is he not sick, but he is also very talented in cultivation! If not, he wouldn’t have reached this cultivation level at this age.

No!

Rong Xiu did not seem to stop. He had already broken through to become an intermediate stage-five warrior.

Rong Xiu smiled slightly and asked, “I’m just learning from you, Father. Weren’t you like this all these years?”

Emperor Jiawen was taken aback, and he suddenly realized something as shock flashed across his eyes. “Y-you knew about it earlier on?!”

Rong Xiu smiled and didn’t say anything, obviously admitting to it silently.

Emperor Jiawen instantly became flustered as his surrounding aura became messy. Even the nearing Heaven’s Canopy became vague.

“W-when?! What else do you know?” Rare panic and anxiety were seen on Emperor Jiawen’s face.

Chu Liuyue squinted her eyes. I have never seen such an expression on Emperor Jiawen’s face before. It’s as if his secret of many years had suddenly been discovered. His face is filled with shock, but that’s logical. When the surrounding people saw the current Rong Xiu, they had the same reaction. But where did this panic and anxiety come from?

“Mother has already passed on for many years. Father, you don’t have to be this worried.” Rong Xiu’s tone was calm as if he were narrating someone else’s story.

Emperor Jiawen was as if thunderstruck. Rong Xiu… he must’ve known everything!

The previous anger of being deceived instantly dissipated as regret and vengeance overwhelmed Emperor Jiawen’s heart. “Rong Xiu, things back then didn’t happen like you imagine… I have my own difficulties too!”

If he wasn’t guilty, why would he spend his years like this? For over 20 years, he converted all his apologetic feelings and regret into love for Rong Xiu. Even when Rong Xiu had long been sent to Mingyue Tianshan and wasn’t raised by his side, he thought very highly of him.

He really wanted to leave all the best things in the world for him.

When Rong Xiu didn’t want to return to the Imperial City, he allowed him to stay at Mingyue Tianshan.

When Rong Xiu didn’t want to step out of his mansion, he commanded everyone not to disturb him.

When Rong Xiu wanted to marry Chu Liuyue as his wife, he still agreed even though she used to be the Crown Prince’s fiancée and had broken all ties with the Chu family.

Does all of this seem like a joke and is worthless in Rong Xiu’s eyes?!

It seemed like he wanted to explain, but Rong Xiu wasn’t interested in listening.

He still smiled gently as usual, and his eyes seemed to have a frozen layer of ice above them. “Things in the past have passed. Even if you say all of this now, Mother won’t hear it. As for me, I just want to fulfill Mother’s last wish.”

As he spoke, his cold gaze landed on something hanging around Emperor Jiawen’s neck, and he smiled with deep meaning. “After all, you still activated that thing, right?”

Emperor Jiawen quickly looked defeated as his entire person aged a few decades at that moment. “No… No… I was forced…”

He clenched his fists, and his face was filled with conflict and pain. First, it was the Empress; then, it was Rong Jiu. Everyone is betraying me! If I don’t retaliate, I will be trapped in this palace until my death! It will waste my efforts from all these years! How can I accept this?! If these people didn’t force me, why would I take this step? All these years, I’ve always been living in guilt, and I’m restless day and night. Aren’t these punishments enough?!

Faint mockery flashed across Rong Xiu’s face. Some people are best at giving themselves excuses.

“Nobody forced you, Father. Since you made this decision earlier on, you should’ve known this was coming.”

What was supposed to come would come. It was just a matter of time.

Emperor Jiawen suddenly thought of something and anxiously said, “No, I wanted to make it up to her all along! Didn’t you say that you wanted to fulfill her last wish?! What was it? If I can do it, I’ll do my best.”

“Do you really mean that?” Rong Xiu raised his brows and seemed to falter.

Emperor Jiawen nodded readily. “I wronged her… It’s my fault! If I can’t do anything to make up for—”

“Mother said that she doesn’t want to see you step into Heaven’s Canopy.”

Emperor Jiawen’s voice trailed off, and his entire person seemed to be frozen.

Rong Xiu’s eyes turned cold as he said precisely, “She wants you to stay here forever and not be able to leave, even after your death.”