Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Before Zhao Heng left all that time ago, he had ordered his men not to deliver any news of Chen Xuping to him.
That was why he had been gallivanting about for the past few months without receiving any news of Chen Xuping. He was even unaware of the recent news of the Duke Chen Family being in huge trouble and Chen Xuping being sentenced to death.
If not for Lu Yunshuang having someone deliver a message to him, he would still be in the dark even now. If that was the case, Chen Xuping’s grave would have been overgrown with weeds by the time he found out about this.
However, he began to notice that his best buddy’s attitude toward Lu Yunshuang seemed to have changed.
The condescending look on his face was so blatant that only a blind man would have not noticed it.
Zhao Heng became slightly upbeat at the thought of this.
“You couldn’t have fallen out with Lu Yunshuang, could you? She was the one who asked for someone to enlist my help to rescue you.”
When Chen Xuping heard that Lu Yunshuang was still doing fine, he knew that the ledger he had led Lin Qingyuan to had failed to be presented to His Majesty.
Something he was unaware of must have happened during that time.
“Zhao Heng, I was really stupid, wasn’t I?” he suddenly asked in a lowered voice.
Zhao Heng was taken aback. “Why are you asking this?”
Chen Xuping lifted his eyes to look at Zhao Heng. “Even you had seen the picture more clearly than I have. I never managed to get it into my head that Lu Yunshuang was a venomous scorpion. I was willingly numbing my common sense, purposely ignoring her wrongdoings. I had stupidly convinced myself that she had done all she did because she was forced to, thinking that she had a kind heart. I was an absolute fool!”
Zhao Heng was silent as he listened to this.
He was extremely relieved that his best buddy had finally seen through Lu Yunshuang.
“It’s good that you’re seeing things clearly now. It’s not too late for you to realize this.” Zhao Heng patted him on the shoulder consolingly.
Chen Xuping went quiet for a while before saying with reddened eyes, “I’ve always thought that anyone who would cry sad tears over a cat’s death would have a good heart. Yet, I’ve only come to realize at the very end that the person that I thought was kind-hearted was not as benevolent as I thought she was. She hates cats so much that she’s willing to kick a cat to death for no reason. It was all an act when she accompanied me to bury my cat when we were young. All she wanted was to get close to me.
“I ended up treating Lu Liangwei as my enemy for so many years without realizing Lu Yunshuang was the true killer of my cat. I was so blind, treating a snake like her as a kind woman for so many years, doing so many terrible things for her sake with neither complaint nor regret. It was my stupidity that had brought shame to my entire family.”
Chen Xuping clutched his head at the last sentence, his heart filled with regret.
Zhao Heng had no idea that the story went this deep.
He could not think of what to say to Chen Xuping as he watched his best buddy filled with pain and self-loathing.
This matter had implicated far too many people, causing the entire Duke Chan Mansion to be sealed off. The once prosperous family had disintegrated in one night.
Where could Chen Xuping go from now on?
“How are my father and the others doing right now?” Chen Xuping suddenly thought of this as he lifted his head quickly, looking at Zhao Heng anxiously.
Chen Xuping had been thrown into death row prison after he was sentenced to death, which was why he knew nothing of his family’s news.
Zhao Heng replied, “Don’t worry. The entire Duke Chen Family was unaware of your wrongdoings and crimes, and in addition to that, it was the wedding of the Emperor and Empress. So an edict was decreed for their punishment to be reduced out of compassion. Duke Chen and the rest of your family ended up fine. Their exile had been converted to a punishment of just being kicked out of the imperial capital, where they’re not allowed to return in the future.”
Chen Xuping breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
As long as they were not exiled.
Everyone knew that a criminal who was sentenced to exile would be sent to a cold and bitter place. Not many would survive, and even if they did, death would have been a sweet relief in comparison to the inevitable fate of laboring away day and night in hunger..