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However, this was totally a good news for Song Qinghan. So he didn’t intend to investigate further in this matter. He walked into the mansion directly with Wu Dahu.

They seemed to enter a wonderland just at the moment they got into the path leading to the center room of the mansion.

The running water at both sides of the path was purling while there came the calls of the jubilant birds and bouts of flower fragrance. The servants were all doing their own stuff quietly there while their expressions were rather of calmness like they were just a group of people who lived in an isolation world with endless supplies.

The two of them were led by the housekeeper and they passed through various corners, and finally before they got their head dazzling, Hening’s back was seen by the end of the last corner.

Hening was sitting right by a lake, in his hand erupted a fishing rod. He stared at the clear lake bottom expressionlessly, zoning out.

For some reason, Song Qinghan felt that the current Hening was somehow pitiful by delivering such a bleak temperament. With that feeling, he shrank back a bit and didn’t dare to bother.

Yet Wu Dahu didn’t seem to discern anything strange, he walked up directly and made a bow paying salute, “Your Highness, I’m here to ask you if you would love to ask for the withdrawal of the marriage.”

Hening raised one side of his eyebrows lightly, yet he still remained his temperament of coldness as if he had guessed the purpose of the visit of Wu Dahu and Song Qinghan here. But it was totally beyond his expectation that Wu Dahu would express that so directly.

“He who violates the content of the Imperial Decree will be executed immediately, do you think that I’ve got two lives myself?”

Wu Dahu paused for a moment and continued with a bow, “But Your Highness, you’re not a commoner at all, you should have got any ideas to let the Emperor withdraw the decree. In that way, you don’t have to bear the crime at all.”

He raised his eyelids and glanced at Wu Dahu indifferently, and then answered calmly, “As long as I marry you, I naturally don’t have to bear the crime of resisting the decree and not obeying the law. Also, even the royal members who break the law should accept the same penalties the commoner accepts, let alone I am just a lowly infanta.”

Noticing that Hening had made a perfect excuse, Wu Dahu didn’t say anything but seemingly sank into a long silence as if he was conceiving of the next plan.

Song Qinghan smiled suddenly and then approached to pat Wu Dahu on the shoulder, motioning him to take it slow and easy. And then he walked to Hening’s side, uttering as if he was trying to chitchat, “You like fishing?”

“Yes, I do.” sounded Hening, and then he fixed his gaze back on the lake as if he felt quite uneasy to the sudden approach of Song Qinghan.

“Speaking of which, I wonder so much about the relationship between you and the Emperor, do you mind me asking like that?”

Song Qinghan directly sat onto the rock beside Hening, cocking his head to one side and asking.

The sudden question startled Hening to a shock, the gaze fixing in the bottom of the lake defocused. He then answered slowly after a long while of silence, “I’m the nephew of the Emperor.”

Penny dropped, Song Qinghan sratched his own head, as if he finally understood why the Fifth Prince would be so angry himself.

Beyond his expectation, Hening continued to say, “And I have heard from the outsiders that my father was supposed to inherit the throne.”

As soon as he said this, both Song Qinghan and Wu Dahu looked stunned at the same time. No one knew whether they were shocked by the unbeknown fact, or Hening’s bravery to say this out.

Even though Hening was already being kind of meticulous now by claiming that he was heard by ‘outsiders’, it was still a felony to make such inappropriate comments on the Emperor and the throne.

Hening smiled faintly and said softly as if he was teased by the shocking looks of Song Qinghan and Wu Dahu, “My fathers passed away since I was still a little child. Even though I have spent all my life in this marvelous palace, no one but me taste the bitterest loneliness. Probably out of his guilt, the Emperor allows me to decide my marriage by myself.”

Song Qinghan knew that Hening was always with a cold temperament. No matter whether he pretended to be or not, he never showed any redundant emotion on his face. So when he described himself as a person who had tasted the ‘bitterest loneliness’ in the world, it could be clearly predicted that this poor femina man got a dim childhood.

To be honest, when Song Qinghan heard this kind of heart-wrenching words, he couldn’t help but feel kind of grieved in his mind. So he started to be hesitated about whether he should force Hening to make that decision or not.

The couple sank into an ‘eternity’ silence, yet on the other side, Hening spoke an endless flow of words as if the motor in his throat was suddenly triggered.

“You guys probably can’t figure out why I fell into water that day. Well, in fact, I did drown myself on purpose trying to kill myself, I did not expect that you’re the ones who rescued me and gave me a second life. From then on, I suddenly figured out that there indeed exists something interesting and valuable in this world, but nothing belongs to me. Well, I was just trying to get closer to the flame which warmed me up when I was in an environment full of darkness and coldness. And now, I know it is just my wishful thinking.”

Song Qinghan paused in astonishment, turned his head to look at Hening’s expression, he did catch the trace of sorrow in Hening’s eyes.

Was the ‘flame’ Hening described… implying that he was the one?

After that, Wu Dahu broke in and answered after a long while of silence, “Even though the flame is warm, it can’t co-exist with all substances itself, for instance, water, soil…”

He raised his fishing rod with a sudden jerk as if he had suddenly woken up. When he saw the fish which featured a tiny size but with a strong waggling force, he mumbled, “Fishes willing to take the bait will take the bait, ha, the old philosophy doesn’t lie.”

Song Qinghan was utterly stunned when he noticed that the fishing hook Hening used was actually a straight type like a sewing needle.

Hening untied the fish in his hand and put it back in the water, he stood up, turning his head and taking a glance at Song Qinghan while saying coldly, “It was indeed the Imperial Noble Consort who asked you to plead me, right?”

Noticing that Hening didn’t even mention the Fifth Prince but talked about the Imperial Noble Consort directly, Song Qinghan could make a further confirmation that there must be some conflicts between them. He nodded, saying, “Right, in fact, it was the advise from the Fifth Prince. But the one behind the scene should be the Imperial Noble Consort.”

Hening tidied up the fishing rod in a leisurely manner and handed the empty bucket to the servant. And then he echoed slowly, “Well, that’s normal, do you know what makes him be famous?”

Song Qinghan subconsciously asked, “Should it be the self body fragrance he gives off?”

After he said so, he suddenly recalled something in his mind, and then asked strangely, “How come I didn’t smell the fragrance given off by him?”

Hening chuckled suddenly while his expression turned into the one of childish and naughty smile, and then answered thoughtfully, “The folks only know the half former section of the story, but fail to know the one of the other half.”

“The Imperial Noble Consort isn’t that kind of charming and beautiful as he wants people to see. You know, he not only summoned various butterflies in diverse colors, but also attracted all manners of bees and bugs.”

“WHAT?” Song Qinghan was stunned at first but then burst into laughter, and then he held his stomach while saying, “Don’t tell me that the bees and bugs were released by you.”

Hening delivered a smile but said nothing. Yet, the silence was actually a positive answer.

After Song Qinghan calmed himself down, Hening continued, “I did love to raise all kinds of strange creatures that time, and bees were one kind of them. The day when I entered the palace, I originally intended to present some honey to the Emperor. It just happened that the Imperial Noble Consort was dancing himself at the center of the stage, I remembered that he was performing the song called ‘Rainbow Skirt and Feather Garment’ which once made my femina father famous in this country. That totally annoyed me, SO, I just threw the honeycomb directly onto the ground.”

“Well, I don’t think that I should be blamed for this matter. It was his own mistake to put on a heavy layer of flower powder and applied honey on his skin. That was why he could seemingly summoned various butterflies. And that was also why my dear bees would pounce fiercely on him, and stung him mercilessly.”

The violent laughter made Song Qinghan ache on his stomach, and he almost laughed out all his strength, and then he waved his hand, ‘struggling’ to speak, “No, no wonder the Imperial Noble Consort wants to resort to any possible means to set you up. Well, I also wonder why he was still picked as the selected one since he was stung fiercely like that. Otherwise…”

Although he didn’t finish his sentence, Hening still came to know what Song Qinghan meant.

If the current Imperial Noble Consort had not successfully entered the palace back then, he would not have been making troubles. His marriage and the life of Wu Dahu and Song Qinghan would not be disrupted.

Even though this thought had just flashed past, the smile on Hening’s face suddenly disappeared. Seemingly, it was an expression which revealed the upcoming ‘storm’.

Song Qinghan caught the change of Hening’s expression, so he withdrew his laughter face either, he stood up slowly, pondered for a brief moment and then suggested, “Since the Emperor allows you to decide your own marriage, so are you able to change the future husband target?”

Hening answered without any expressional changes, “Who will be the one then? Who is able to pit against the Fifth Prince and the Imperial Noble Consort?”

Such a question troubled Song Qinghan. He hesitated for a moment and found that there was really no suitable candidate at all in his mind. He sighed deeply and didn’t make a sound.

Wu Dahu knew that Song Qinghan was in a dilemma, so he took the initiative to act as an evil person and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, since you know the fact that the Fifth Prince and the Imperial Noble Consort have allied to set you up, you should how threatening it is to me and Han, if we got no way to go…”

He paused for a moment, as if it was very difficult to make such a decision. He slowly said, “I will take the initiative to divorce with Han, and I will be living in the capital as a single person. In that case, even they want to threaten me, they can only threaten me but not my family.”

Song Qinghan immediately rejected, “NO WAY! We had promised each other that we will share bitterness and sweetness together in life no matter what happens, I won’t allow you to risk your own life. We can entrust our child to someone trusted. Life will just be meaningless without you!”

Wu Dahu opened his lips and looked like he wanted to say something more, but when he saw Song Qinghan’s determined expression, he could only swallow all his all his words and digest himself.

Hening looked at them arguing silently for a while, and then he suddenly broke in, “Enough! Don’t you guys argue for nothing here, I should be the one who deserves to die.”

After that, he took over the warm towel the servant passed and used it to wipe his hands. And then he uttered calmly, “I’m heading to the palace now.”

Song Qinghan and Wu Dahu were stunned at the same time. They probably didn’t expect things to progress so quickly. Hening was easily convinced by such an effortless strive?

Song Qinghan frowned when he noticed that Hening didn’t even take a look at him. He got a bad premonition for some reasons, so he asked subconsciously, “What are you planning to do? Are you going to marry someone else?”

Hening smiled faintly while his face was still remaining a unique peaceful calmness, and then he answered leisurely, “Don’t worry about me, we will meet again if we are pre-destined.”

Although we probably will never get such a chance again…

He talked to himself secretly in mind about the last sentence, and then turned around and left, leaving a long sigh.

Witnessing Hening’s back gradually disappear from sight, Song Qinghan felt a pain in his heart. He grabbed Wu Dahu’s hand and asked softly, “Are we being so cruel to him?”

Being born in the imperial family was already a misfortune for Hening. And now it was them now who ruined his hard-earned happiness and the great opportunity to get ride of the hardship.

Their eagerness to strive for a survival wasn’t wrong, yet Hening wasn’t wrong either since he got a motive to get his life for the better. The two sides were just viewing the same thing from different angles, so how come they got qualification to require Hening to do things in meeting their demands?