She remembered that in the past, He Lianhuang had always been a very careful person, but not to such an extent that he spoke to her in this imploring tone. It was just over two years since her death, what had happened to make him become like this? He was already an emperor; how could he not possess the might and awe that a ruler should have?
Seeing Feng Tianlan turn around to come back, He Lianhuang himself walked to a chair and sat down. He poured a glass of water and took a sip. Then he was silent for a while before he said, “I have a friend. Her name is Shen Qingdai. She’s very good-looking and has a kind heart…”
Feng Tianlan listened quietly. That was their past. Xi Jin, Sister Lin, Shen Yunya, Jiang Ying, He Lianhuang, and herself. The group of them often hung out together. At that time, with three men and three women, they had even paired themselves up into couples.
Xi Jin and Shen Yunya, she and Jiang Ying, Sister Lin and He Lianhuang, and they were known as the three couples of talented scholars and beauties in Dongshu Nation. At that time, she truly thought that the six of them would remain like this for the rest of their lives, but who knew…
But now that she thought about it, she simply felt that the three couples of talented scholars and beauties, as what the people called them, were somewhat ridiculous. How naïve they had been back then.
“And later on, she died. She died of an illness.” He Lianhuang had not talked much about the front part before he directly went on to the later part and got straight to the point.
Feng Tianlan clenched her fist a little tighter. It was her. In the eyes of the people in Dongshu Nation, the First Miss of the Shen Family was not murdered by her own cousin, but rather, had died of illness. No one would believe that such a good cousin could be capable of murdering someone of her own family.
If it had not happened to her, and she was just listening to someone tell her such a story, she would not have believed it herself. This was because Shen Yunya and the others had put up an impeccable show for the world to see.
“There was a time where she had indeed suffered from a cold. She was kind of sick and also did not go out much. But that was just a cold; how could she possibly die of illness?” He Lianhuang tightened the grip and the teacup in his hand was crushed within an instant.
Feng Tianlan lifted her eyes to look at He Lianhuang’s sickly face. There was a hint of grimness and hatred, as well as the shattered shards of china embedded in his palm. That was a shock to her heart. For him to be like that, was just not like him at all.
“I told Xi Jin; I told Lin’er; I told Jiang Ying. Dai’er would never die of illness. But no one believed me. No one would believe me. They even said that I was just overly sad and unwilling to accept Dai’er’s death. That’s why I was questioning it like this.”
Hearing his resentful voice and looking at his wounded hand, Feng Tianlan took out some Blood Clotting Powder and said in an indifferent voice, “You’re injured.” It was as if his words had not evoked even the slightest emotion in her.
In fact, she had maintained a vigilant stance towards all the people she knew from her previous life. It was not out of fear that they would betray her, but rather she was afraid that Shen Yunya would make use of the trust she had for her friends to test her.
She was also very helpless when it came to the various precautions that she had to put up against the friends she knew from her previous life.
“I wanted to investigate this matter, but it was too late. Xi Jin had convinced the emperor into sending me back to Xi Yuan Nation. Three days after I pointed out that I did not believe Dai’er had died of illness, I was granted such a great amnesty. To the world, the emperor was gracious, and I got lucky. But I was the only one wondering about why such a coincidence of sending me away would happen just when I was questioning the situation. Because she was afraid!”
Feng Tianlan raised her eyes to look at He Lianhuang, who seemed to be somewhat out of his mind. Had he discovered something back then?
He Lianhuang looked up at Feng Tianlan. The madness immediately subsided. He became a little timid, a little reliant. But when he looked back down, his voice changed again, “It would definitely not cross your mind that I did something crazy before I went back to Xi Yuan Nation. It was something especially crazy, but I don’t regret it.”
