Like Pearl and Jade

Chapter 60

In a dim room, Qi Lian sat on ground covered in hay. His hair was in disarray as it fell on his back. His light-colored brocade robe was also dusty, and he looked wretched.

He looked darkly at the narrow window above his head and was able to discern dots of starlight.

Footsteps came behind him. He turned the head to look. When he saw the newcomer, he first stilled and then laughed mockingly, "As expected—it is you." Other than him, who could silently take him from a Gaoluo border city all the way to the Feng capital?

"The prime minister of Gaoluo disappeared suddenly; Gaoluo is in a state of chaos, and the parties are fighting." The newcomer stood outside the cell doors and looked expressionlessly at Qi Lian. "Does Prime Minister Qi Lian feel the drama is a good one?"

"I think myself a villain, but in front of you, I am embarrassed." Qi Lian stood up and patted off the grass stuck to his clothing. "When did you start to suspect me?"

"I suspected you from the start." The newcomer did not grow angry at Qi Lian's scorn. He walked to a nearby table and sat down. "Ten years ago, you suddenly appeared in Gaoluo, then became their adopted son, and the youngest prime minister of Gaoluo."

"If your Jin Clan did not destroy the bridge after crossing, would my Lin Family have fallen to this point?!" Qi Lian lost some control as he looked at the person outside. "The Lin Family members, regardless of gender or age, were all executed. If not for loyal servants, I would have died under the executioner like my family. You tell me—what mistake did the Lin Family make?!

"When he favoured my aunt, he raised the Lin Family to glory. In one moment, the empress lost her child and the traitorous concubine just said a few words, and he thought my aunt the culprit in killing the imperial son." Qi Lian grabbed the bars of the cell, snarling, and looked with red eyes at the newcomer. "Dozens of members of the Lin Family, dozens, were beheaded. When I think back to their eyes filled with injustice in the middle of the night, I want to eat your flesh and drink your blood!

"Your Jin Family members are all ruthless, but like to pretend to be loving." He breathed heavily, like an enraged lion who had lost its mind. "You are the same. You are not in love with the Gu daughter—you are just using love to have the empress dowager and Gu Family help stabilize your country. Jin Yang, how are you different from the last bastard emperor?"

"Shut up!" He Ming scolded from behind Jin Yang. "Do not speak nonsense!"

"I speak nonsense." Qi Lian laughed mockingly. "See how well you pretend—even your personal servants think you are in love with the empress. Pity the Gu daughter, treasured by her family from birth, now married to a false man who she thinks is in love with her. So laughable and pathetic."

He Ming heard the words and was stunned. He couldn't help but turn and saw His Majesty had no expression on his face, as though Qi Lian's words had not affected him at all. Could it be...

Coldness spread through his body from his back. His legs weakened and he unconsciously knelt on the ground.

"What does the truth of my love for the empress have to do with you?" The newcomer raised his hand and the torch on the wall lit up. A perfect face was exposed in the firelight.

He was tall, dressed in a light-colored robe with dark patterns. His hair was tied up with a jade coronet, and he looked like an elegant young man.

He just stood there, yet became the most dazzling existence in the cell because he was too noble and handsome.

"Back when I fled to Jin Prefecture, you were as wretched as I am now—no, even more wretched." Qi Lian saw his appearance and laughed. The laughter echoed through the cell, exceptionally scornful and dissonant. "You were on the ground like a dog, being ridden by that younger brother of yours. Let me think of your eyes then... unwilling, resentful and ruthless.