Chapter 35

Qinghe was quickly brought up by the guards. He had been knocked away by Ye Baixiao with a palm because he had been distracted by Xie Fuyi spitting blood, so the guards tied him up.

But they had all heard of Qinghe’s ruthless methods and feared they might not be able to control him easily. So, they removed both of his arms and then used iron chains as thick as thumbs to pierce through his ribs before tying him up.

As he was shoved into the main hall, his entire blue robe was almost completely stained red, and he staggered to stand firm. Even so, Qinghe remained expressionless, his face unusually pale. He stood straight in front of Ye Baixiao, silent.

Ye Baixiao was somewhat anxious; he didn’t have time to waste. He kept rubbing the thumb ring on his finger and got straight to the point, “What do you know about His Majesty’s past?”

Qinghe frowned at his words, then scoffed lightly and hoarsely replied, “What do you want now? I’ll tell you, don’t expect to hear anything about His Majesty from me.”

“…I don’t want to harm him; I want to save him,” Ye Baixiao said hoarsely, closing his eyes. Just thinking about how timid the other person had been moments ago made his heart ache.

Qinghe paused, recalling Xie Fuyi’s condition earlier, his expression no longer calm, eager to approach, “What’s wrong with the Emperor?”

But a pull of the iron chain in the hands of the guards behind him, deeply embedded in his ribs, made Qinghe grimace, his face turning ashen, barely standing in place.

Ye Baixiao waved his hand, signaling the guards to release him, then walked slowly towards him, his dark eyes fixed on Qinghe. “The imperial physician says that the Emperor has suffered severe mental trauma, causing partial memory loss. If left untreated, he could become foolish or worse, lose his life. To cure him, we need to find the root of the problem. So, what do you know?”

Ye Baixiao spoke slowly and earnestly.

Qinghe met Ye Baixiao’s dark eyes directly. He wasn’t lying; there was indeed pain and worry in them. But…

Qinghe gritted his teeth, murmuring, “The Emperor… he’s such a proud and stubborn person; he wouldn’t want anyone to know what he went through as a child.”

A chill ran through Ye Baixiao; a sense of impending doom crept into his heart. But… no matter what, only by knowing the truth could they find a way to save Xie Fuyi. His expression turned grim, gripping Qinghe’s collar tightly. “Do you want to watch him die? If you want to save him, don’t waste any more time!”

Qinghe would rather die than reveal these secrets.

But now, were those secrets more important than the Emperor’s life?

“I…” he felt a sudden weakness wash over him, making him powerless, slumping to the ground, eyes vacant, as if transported back years ago—

“I also don’t know exactly what His Majesty experienced as a child. Because eight years ago, when I met His Majesty, he was already ten years old, yet still so small that even seven or eight-year-old children were taller than him. At that time, His Majesty was still a prince, but because his birth mother was framed, they were both sent to the cold palace. He was so young, in the cold and harsh environment of the palace, enduring the ridicule and abuse of those selfish people.”

“I was seriously injured due to an ambush, and His Majesty, who was still a little prince at the time, took me in and gave me shelter. So I made up my mind to protect him. The beds in the cold palace were nothing more than a few wooden planks, cold and hard, and the meals every day were rotten. Yet, even in such circumstances, other princes would still tease him, as would those eunuchs, finding pleasure in bullying the little prince.”

The more Qinghe spoke, the colder his expression became. “Later, because I was there, I managed to shield His Majesty from these troubles and torments. But during the years when I was absent, how did His Majesty, still so young, manage to survive? I dare not even think…”

Ye Baixiao froze; although Qinghe’s words were sparse and not overly specific, even in an ordinary family, a child without parental protection would end up begging on the streets, subject to abuse. What more in the midst of this power-hungry, scheming harem? He could easily imagine what kind of life a neglected, penniless little prince would lead in the cold palace.

No wonder he wouldn’t waste even a bit of food.

Because he knew too well what it felt like to go hungry.

“Later on, His Majesty detested being touched by others, even just their gaze. Whenever those eunuchs glanced at him, His Majesty would fly into a rage.”

Qinghe didn’t dare to dwell on the meaning behind these words. Just the thought of it made his chest ache, and he wanted to rid the world of everyone.

“I dare not think why His Majesty despises their gaze and touch so much… But even in his anger, His Majesty would only command to whip them severely! His Majesty is still kind-hearted; just a whipping is not enough! I would gouge out their eyes and cut off their limbs, letting them live like pigs and dogs!”

His expression was extremely cold and ruthless. “You all call him a tyrant, but he simply doesn’t want to be bullied by anyone anymore! Yet, he encountered traitors like you!”

Ye Baixiao felt his heart tighten, a suffocating chill creeping over him, a sharp pain surging from deep within his body. He clenched his fists so hard that he even crushed the thumb ring in his hand, shards of jade embedding into his flesh.

No wonder His Majesty often scolded and punished others, his mood swinging wildly.

He suddenly thought of Xie Fuyi’s murmurs on the day he bit his tongue and ended his life – “So, even when sitting in this position, one can still be humiliated…”

So, he had brought him such deep despair and pain at that time, deep enough to drag him into a nightmare, deep enough for him to prefer biting his tongue to death.

Ye Baixiao trembled, grabbing onto a nearby pillar, feeling the heart-wrenching pain almost making him collapse.

What had His Majesty done wrong?

A little prince who had been bullied by eunuchs and servants since childhood, when he grew up and gained power, he only whipped and threw tantrums. But what had he done to him?

Ignoring his pain, trampling on his dignity, humiliating the sovereign to such an unbearable extent…

Ye Baixiao felt overwhelming regret; he cursed himself!

He turned sharply and walked towards the inner chamber, while Qinghe, wanting to follow, was restrained by the guards pulling the iron chains tightly behind him.

Ye Baixiao knelt by the bed, reaching out to touch Xie Fuyi’s pale face, murmuring, his usually icy voice trembling, “Your Majesty, I was wrong, I was so wrong… As long as you recover, if you want to kill me, I won’t resist…”

【Ye Baixiao’s heartache value: 55/100】

Xie Fuyi, sleeping in his consciousness, breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the events outside unfold.

Although amnesia is a cliché, it’s effective!

The young emperor would never voluntarily reveal his tragic past, and Qinghe, as the only one who thinks he knows what happened before, would also keep silent out of respect for the young emperor’s dignity.

So, what’s needed is a trigger to uncover the past.

And this trigger, related to the young emperor’s life, Qinghe will surely reveal.

Although most of it is fabricated by himself, the fewer details there are, the more it stimulates one’s imagination.

This wave significantly increases Ye Baixiao’s heartache value mainly by providing a tragic childhood reason for his actions, subverting Ye Baixiao’s major understanding of his tyrannical character, combined with his previous actions, making Ye Baixiao feel immense pain, regret, and guilt!

“So, all he needs to do next is to elaborate on Ye Baixiao’s imagination, and that would be enough to maximize the heart-wrenching value!”