Chapter 68: Why Does She Only Hit Me and Not Others?
When Lihua finally boarded the carriage, Zhongli Zhengzhen was actually feeling somewhat resentful from waiting.
They had agreed to meet at the third watch, but now it was already past the third watch, nearing the fifth watch. If it got any later, it would be inconvenient, and only then did he arrive.
Thus, Zhongli Zhengzhen’s first question was, “Why are you so late?”
Although the two were brothers, they were not very familiar with each other, and their private interactions were few and far between. No matter how unruly and difficult to tame Zhongli Zhengzhen’s temperament was, he inexplicably couldn’t muster any arrogance in front of Lihua.
Perhaps it was because an older brother had a natural bloodline dominance over a younger brother.
Zhongli Zhengzhen asked the question, but there was no condescension in his tone. Upon closer listening, it was only filled with complaint and even a faint sense of grievance.
He was going hunting tomorrow. Staying up all night tonight and then spending the entire day jostling on horseback tomorrow would be truly unbearable.
Fortunately, he was still young and could handle it.
Lihua didn’t say a word, only turned his head and looked at him calmly.
Zhongli Zhengzhen suddenly held his breath. His usually cold and unyielding face, which showed no mercy to others, now carried a hint of unease.
Lihua had participated in too many negotiation tables. He was only awkward when it came to emotions. In the outside world, as long as he had an opponent, his sense of oppression was genuine.
He now regarded Zhongli Zhengzhen as an opponent because, after holding Gan Qiongying, he had already decided to give Zhongli Zhengzhen a fake list.
Lihua was not a prince born into nobility who had everything from birth. He had understood from a young age that if you wanted something, you had to fight for it yourself.
Of course, Lihua was also not someone who would disregard those who had followed him for years just because he craved affection.
The list he gave Zhongli Zhengzhen was a mix of truth and falsehood. The true parts were useless, while the false parts… he would make Zhongli Zhengzhen feel they were “useful” by appropriately using his merchant guild personnel spread throughout Nánzhào.
Then, he would use Zhongli Zhengzhen to get his people out of Jinchuan.
So, after a moment of hesitation, Lihua lowered his eyes and, in front of Zhongli Zhengzhen, gradually tightened his grip on his sleeve. As if finding it difficult to speak, he whispered, “The Princess sleeps late, I… couldn’t get away.”
Zhongli Zhengzhen’s first reaction was confusion. Could it be that Princess Duanrong was a night owl? What was she doing staying up at this hour… Then, he suddenly realized what Lihua meant, and all the hairs on his body stood on end!
“You…” Zhongli Zhengzhen’s words reached his lips but were swallowed back urgently. He stared at Lihua, his own biological older brother, his face turning a mix of green and red, a truly spectacular sight.
Lihua hadn’t said a single inappropriate word, but his demeanor and his difficulty in speaking left Zhongli Zhengzhen with endless room for imagination.
Zhongli Zhengzhen had previously thought that everything about Princess Duanrong was just an act put on for him to see. After all, it had been less than two months since Princess Duanrong shamelessly chased after him, spouting words of love and infatuation, and the memory was still vivid.
At last night’s banquet, Zhongli Zhengzhen also believed that Duanrong had been putting on an act, likely just for his benefit. Otherwise, why would she keep targeting Wen Xueling? She must have been angry that he had given his carriage to Wen Xueling earlier.
How childish.
But now, Zhongli Zhengzhen suddenly learned that they had actually engaged in a physical relationship, and they had kept at it until nearly the fifth watch before sleeping…
Everyone in the city knew that the Consort was frail and sickly, with a disabled leg. Was Princess Duanrong even human!
For a moment, Zhongli Zhengzhen was so furious he could barely contain himself. He didn’t even understand why he was this angry. Breathing heavily a few times, he reached out and grabbed Lihua’s arm, saying, “I’ll find a way to get you away from her as soon as possible!”
When Zhongli Zhengzhen first heard that his father had found his own elder brother, he was overjoyed. However, his father wanted his brother to help him destabilize Nánzhào, using marriage as a cover to infiltrate Princess Duanrong’s “den of wolves and tigers.” Initially, he disagreed.
But there was no one more suitable than Lihua. Lihua had traveled far and wide since childhood as a merchant, with a traceable background and no connection whatsoever to the Jinchuan royal family over the years—perfect for infiltrating the royal circles.
Moreover, Lihua was exceptionally skilled in business, and Zhongli Zhengzhen indeed needed a steady flow of funds to support his plans, so he reluctantly agreed.
Who would have thought… who would have thought that Princess Duanrong, who had initially only beaten, scolded, and humiliated Lihua, would suddenly covet his appearance?
Zhongli Zhengzhen looked at Lihua’s face, disguised with a mask to appear only average in looks. What… was there to covet?
Lihua even had a limp. Had Princess Duanrong grown tired of feasting on delicacies and now refused to let go of even plain porridge and simple dishes?
Zhongli Zhengzhen fumed, “Once we return to the city, you can claim illness. I’ll figure out the rest…”
After all, Lihua had suffered this ordeal to help him. When San Jiu sought help that day, he shouldn’t have been careless. He should have taken Lihua out of the mansion immediately.
Princess Duanrong had many male consorts, and judging by Lihua’s condition, the humiliation in the bedroom must have been unavoidable.
The mere thought made Zhongli Zhengzhen’s hair stand on end. If he were in such a situation… he dared not dwell on it.
He absolutely could not stand by and do nothing!
However, Lihua soon pulled a slip of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Zhongli Zhengzhen, successfully diverting his attention.
Zhongli Zhengzhen took the paper and glanced at it. His expression shifted from confusion to ecstasy in an instant!
“Brother! How did you get this!”
He was so overjoyed he even called him “brother,” his hands trembling with excitement.
Lihua looked at him, his heart cold.
At that moment, he had to play his part to the fullest. So, he pursed his lips, turned his face away, and remained silent for a long while.
When Zhongli Zhengzhen urged him again, “Is this real?”
If it were real, the agents he couldn’t deploy before could now directly use these lists and Princess Duanrong’s influence to quietly infiltrate every corner of Nánzhào!
“Before I came here, the Princess ordered me to kneel… in the study,” Lihua said, leaving half unsaid.
Then, his voice grew even hoarser and lower: “I made a copy.”
Hearing this again, Zhongli Zhengzhen was so shocked he leaned back hard, his head hitting the carriage wall with a loud “thud.”
He ignored the pain, staring at Lihua for a long time without being able to speak.
Deep down, he looked down on all those who served others with their looks.
He was a prince born into unparalleled nobility, the one who humiliated others, and no one dared show him disrespect.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to direct that contempt toward Lihua—this was his own elder brother.
They were twins, and Lihua had endured such things for his sake.
He should feel guilty.
But all he could think of was the moment they recognized each other, when he saw Lihua’s face, identical to his own.
Did Lihua, with that face so like his own, engage in all those… unspeakable acts with Princess Duanrong?
The study, how should the study be done?
Zhongli Zhengzhen felt an indescribable shiver run down his spine.
He couldn’t help but recall how Duan Rong had been lavishing attention on Lihua throughout the banquet tonight. Behind closed doors, what would she be like?
Zhongli Zhengzhen quickly shook his head, not daring to think any further, not even a little!
He glared at Lihua for a long moment before finally saying, “I’ve obtained the list. I… I’ll arrange for you to leave tomorrow!”
But Lihua, gripping his left knee, glanced at Zhongli Zhengzhen with a detached expression. That single glance seemed to see right through the filth and depravity of his fantasies about Gan Qiongying.
His gaze was like a basin of icy water, complete with shards of ice, poured directly over Zhongli Zhengzhen’s head, chilling him to the bone and making his hair stand on end.
Only then did Lihua lower his eyes again, muttering self-deprecatingly, “I can’t leave.”
“Why?” Zhongli Zhengzhen asked. “We already have the list. Leave the rest to me. Once you’re out of the Imperial City, I’ll arrange for ‘you’ to meet an accidental, sudden death.”
Lihua let out a soft, bitter laugh and shook his head.
Zhongli Zhengzhen, confused and with an inexplicable fire smoldering in his chest, blurted out without thinking, “Haven’t you suffered enough torment from Princess Duanrong?”
Lihua suddenly looked up at him.
Realizing his slip, Zhongli Zhengzhen swallowed hard, his arrogantly handsome features now tinged with a hint of fear.
“Brother… you mustn’t be bewitched by Duan Rong. Don’t forget how she used to have people beat, insult, and humiliate you.”
Lihua had been guiding Zhongli Zhengzhen step by step in the direction he intended, but hearing Zhongli Zhengzhen speak ill of Gan Qiongying, he instinctively wanted to retort in his heart: Then why did she only beat me and not others?
“Brother, leave. This list is enough,” Zhongli Zhengzhen said. “I’ll have Song Ci personally escort you away. You have merchant guilds everywhere—where can’t you go?”
Finally, Lihua looked seriously at Zhongli Zhengzhen. His tone held no trace of mockery, yet every word dripped with sarcasm.
Gently tapping his left leg, which ached with the changing weather, he spoke over the sound of rain washing over the world outside the carriage: “Don’t you know? Father ordered me to assist you. If you don’t succeed, I cannot leave Nánzhào.”
“My friends… are all in Jinchuan,” Lihua said, his eyes filled with sorrow. “Father said he would spare them only after you’ve accomplished your task.”
Zhongli Zhengzhen was stunned by these words. After a moment, his face flushed red as he hurriedly defended himself, “I didn’t know!”
“I truly didn’t know!”
“Brother, leave this to me. Don’t worry about it. Once we return, I’ll arrange for you to… no, tomorrow during the hunt, I’ll arrange for you to get injured. You can leave immediately.”
“I’ll handle Father,” Zhongli Zhengzhen finally took the bait Lihua had laid.
But Lihua shook his head. “Father won’t listen to you. Besides, if I leave, do you have money?”
Zhongli Zhengzhen choked.
To achieve great things, vast sums of money were essential. He had funds, but he truly couldn’t afford to lose Lihua, this inexhaustible “gold mine.”
Yet his conscience still struggled: “Even if you go elsewhere, you can still help me…”
Lihua said, “Without Princess Duanrong to cover for us, you, a hostage prince, with a constant flow of wealth—how long do you think it would take for someone to trace it back to me?”
Zhongli Zhengzhen fell silent.
His expression shifted several times, but for now, he couldn’t think of a better strategy.
Princess Duanrong’s notorious extravagance was known throughout the land. Ever since she gained a merchant Consort, no matter how many precious artifacts or vast sums of silver he transported to the Imperial City, they could all be disguised as tributes to Princess Duanrong. After all, who would dare audit the income and expenditures of Princess Manor?
“If you are truly willing to help me,” Lihua said, after watching Zhongli Zhengzhen struggle for a long while, “then help me bring the two ladies, ‘Caihong’ and ‘Quelv,’ who remain in Jinchuan, to Nánzhào by any means necessary.”
Lihua continued, “I… serve the Princess. Her moods are unpredictable, and her energy is boundless. I often find myself unable to break away.”
He added, “Caihong and Quelv are both accounting maids I personally trained. They have been by my side for years and are truly my right and left hands. Without them, and now forced to reside in Princess Manor, I find it difficult to manage the merchant guild’s affairs. The silver I can send you next month will already be insufficient.”
Among Lihua’s subordinates, only Caihong and Quelv lacked exceptional martial skills. As long as they could be brought from Jinchuan, the rest would be easier to handle.
This was the third time that night Zhongli Zhengzhen had heard about the “outrageous” extent of Princess Duanrong’s behavior. He was utterly dumbfounded, his chest swelling with indignation and his belly full of rage. If someone stuck two large scallions up his nose, he felt he could single-handedly take on a fierce tiger.
Breathing heavily, he said, “Brother, leave it to me. I will speak to Father Emperor.”
“The two ladies will soon be brought to Nánzhào to assist you.”
Having achieved his goal, Lihua finally offered Zhongli Zhengzhen a faint smile that did not reach his eyes.
He stepped down from the carriage, dragging an increasingly painful leg. Outside, the sky seemed to have sprung a leak, the flimsy umbrella barely withstanding the torrential downpour.
Watching Lihua limp away into the dimly lit path, Zhongli Zhengzhen was nearly overwhelmed by a surge of guilt and indescribably complex emotions.
He even began to resent Gan Qiongying.
How could she humiliate his brother like this, so utterly without restraint!
Meanwhile, Gan Qiongying, whose reputation was being unjustly tarnished, was jolted awake by a sudden crack of thunder, only to find that the 37-degree wealth god she had been holding in her arms was gone.