Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

Chu Shaoyuan's body stiffened abruptly, as if he had been frozen in place, even his breathing stopped for a moment.

The eagerness to defend himself that had just appeared on his face hadn't even faded before it was frozen in place by extreme terror at the corner of his mouth.

Chu Shaoyuan stared at Fei Ying, his expression as if he'd seen a ghost in broad daylight: "Impossible. Impossible. Sister Se Se died a long time ago. The Xie family even held a seven-day, seven-night Water and Land Ritual for her at Panlong Temple. I... I even saw her memorial tablet with my own eyes!"

Chu Shaoyuan eventually went to Panlong Temple and indeed saw Jiang Sese's memorial tablet. He then gave up and welcomed Xie Yihua into his family.

According to this, Chu Shaoyuan had not told anyone, including Xie Yihua.

He always thought Jiang Sese was a sensual and beautiful dream, a romantic encounter.

After all, it's said that beautiful women have short lives, and such a woman certainly doesn't seem like the kind of beauty one would expect from a human being. Just like His Majesty's Consort Chen.

Fei Ying looked at Chu Shaoyuan's stunned expression, chuckled, and asked in her usual indifferent tone, "Have you seen her corpse?"

Chu Shaoyuan opened his mouth, but did not answer.

He had never seen her; the Xie family said she fell off a cliff and died, her body never found.

He had only ever seen Xie Huaizhang kneeling at Panlong Temple to offer incense for her.

But... how could it be Xie Jue!

How could it possibly be Xie Jue!

Chu Shaoyuan shuddered and said, "She..."

"She didn't die." Fei Ying interrupted him, saying, "Lord Xie rescued her, faked her death using the 'golden cicada shedding its shell' method, and sent her to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion to be adopted as his goddaughter. Now she is the Duke of Dingguo's beloved daughter, Lord Xie's fiancée according to the betrothal agreement, and the Princess Chenjia, personally bestowed by His Majesty."

Chu Shaoyuan's eyes snapped open, his face turning deathly white, like a freshly steamed white bread.

Suddenly, her radiant profile flashed before my eyes as she chatted and laughed with her maid during the horse race last Dragon Boat Festival.

There was also Xie's horse farm. He walked over, and she looked at him, casting a glance that seemed to sparkle with her eyes.

Countless nights afterward, Chu Shaoyuan dreamt of a beautiful woman begging for his pleasure beneath him, but upon waking, he found only emptiness and a profound sense of loss. More painful than never having had it at all was having it and then losing it.

Chu Shaoyuan regretted countless times that he should have gone along with Jiang Sese when she fell into the water that day!

...Jiang Sese has long been his woman!

She is still alive now, a hundred times more noble than before, but she has no connection with him whatsoever.

Chu Shaoyuan suddenly remembered Xie Yihua, who had tearfully told him that Jiang Sese had fallen off a cliff and died while saving her...

At that moment, Chu Shaoyuan suddenly understood everything.

Chu Shaoyuan suddenly raised his head, his facial muscles tense and twitching slightly, his teeth grinding as if he were desperately trying to control something: "Tell me!! What...what did Yi Hua do?!?"

Fei Ying watched the film with great interest.

He loves seeing people in unbearable pain.

Especially for a prince like Chu Shaoyuan, whose future was originally bright, marrying Xie Yihua would have guaranteed his meteoric rise even if he didn't climb the social ladder himself. Unfortunately, Xie Yihua got stuck in a rut.

Fei Ying had also been stubborn before, but he didn't have any deep-seated hatred for Jiang Sese. His only conflict was with Xie Jue.

But Xie Jue stubbornly sided with Jiang Sese. Even though Fei Ying felt she was doing it for Xie Jue's own good, she absolutely did not want to see Xie Jue end up like Chu Shaoyuan in front of her.

Fei Ying explained succinctly: "To put it simply, she tried to harm Miss Jiang, but Lord Xie saved her like a hero. Do you understand? Hmm. But it's not over yet. Lord Xie originally intended to forgive her this time out of brotherly affection, but who would have thought she would actually try to harm Miss Jiang again? It's truly baffling. What grudge could she possibly hold against her like this?"

"It's not because of you, is it, Prince Chu?" Fei Ying asked with a smile.

Fei Ying had thoroughly investigated Jiang Sese beforehand. It was said that Jiang Sese initially had her eye on Chu Shaoyuan, not Xie Jue.

This is really...

That's hilarious.

I really want to give Xie Junheng a good laugh.

But now that he's the one who's won the heart of the beauty, he probably won't care about being ridiculed.

Fei Ying forced a smile, glanced at Chu Shaoyuan, and indeed saw that Chu Shaoyuan was practically dead. It was a truly heartbreaking sight.

Chu Shaoyuan muttered something to himself, but Fei Ying didn't hear him, so she curiously squatted down: "What?"

Is Xie Yihua still alive?