Huo Liuxing’s movements paused. Day after day, either he was falling into a pit or on the way to falling into one!

Following Shen Lingzhen’s gaze, he looked down at his own waist and abdomen, hesitantly making a sound of acknowledgment before explaining, “Didn’t I tell you that our family’s wound medicine is very effective?”

Shen Lingzhen said in surprise, “Does it work even on such a long, deep knife wound?”

She truly didn’t understand the principles of wound healing. She only remembered that he had said last time that even a small injury like the one on her temple would take a month to heal completely. So calculating from that, even if that knife wound on his body could recover to its original state, it should at least take a year or more.

But it had clearly been less than three months since the Peach Blossom Valley incident.

Shen Lingzhen blinked and bent down in puzzlement to examine his “scar,” but Huo Liuxing raised his hand to block her. “Isn’t it good that it works? Don’t tell me you were hoping I’d have a scar?”

“Of course not.” She shook her head and glanced at his concealing gesture. Her expression became strange, and she couldn’t help but suspect, “Husband, are you hiding something from me?”

Huo Liuxing’s brows furrowed slightly.

Shen Lingzhen remained wooden for a moment, then laughed as if suddenly understanding. “I know—does your body have some characteristic different from ordinary people?”

Huo Liuxing looked at her silently for a long while before finally looking away and sighing almost imperceptibly. “You’d rather believe in such extraordinary phenomena than try to imagine other possibilities?”

Shen Lingzhen’s forced smile gradually disappeared. “What do you mean by that, husband…”

Jianjia happened to bring in the water at this moment. Seeing the wrong atmosphere in the room, her steps suddenly halted.

Huo Liuxing gave her a look, indicating she should set down the water and leave. Then he walked around Shen Lingzhen in front of him and began washing his cloth methodically.

Shen Lingzhen stood frozen in place with her back to him, her hands hanging at her sides beginning to tremble.

When a matter has not yet reached a conclusion, people always want to hear the truth, the facts, so they rack their brains and grope about relentlessly.

But when the conclusion of a matter has already taken deep root in their hearts, facing the danger of it being uprooted entirely, they instead instinctively distance themselves and avoid it.

After all, if the lie is beautiful enough, why must it be torn to shreds?

It wasn’t that Shen Lingzhen didn’t know there was another possibility—she just didn’t want to know.

But Huo Liuxing’s determined silence at this moment forced her to consider it.

She slowly turned around and watched him wordlessly wiping the shoulder grazed by an arrowhead. The clues she had willfully ignored suddenly became clear in her mind.

From the very beginning, Huo Liuxing had never planned to reveal everything to her, the person sharing his bed.

That being the case, why would the Huo family’s storeroom openly display that sword? And why would he allow her into his bathing chamber without any awkwardness to witness the scar below his collarbone?

What kind of person was standing before her now?

This was someone who had concealed his secrets day in and day out for ten years, keeping them watertight even from his closest family members and servants. This was someone who, at a life-or-death moment, dared to gamble with his life to avoid exposing any flaws before his enemies.

He was so cautious, so forbearing, so meticulous—how could he not have thought that one sword plus one scar would be enough for her to confirm his secret?

Huo Liuxing would never make such a basic mistake.

Unless—he wasn’t her savior at all. Unless he had no idea what had actually happened that day in the deep mountains of Bianjing.

What she thought was a well-reasoned deduction was actually an incredibly coincidental case of mistaken identity.

Shen Lingzhen stared at him blankly and murmured, “So you’ve been lying to me all along…?”

Having finished treating his wound and putting his clothes back on properly, Huo Liuxing faced her directly. “Yes.”

She swallowed dryly. “So that day, you never went to Bianjing at all, never met me, never saved me. The reason you impersonated my true savior was only because you were worried I would expose your secret, so you tried to use this fabricated favor to control me?”

“Yes.”

Shen Lingzhen said incredulously, “Didn’t you think that paper can never contain fire, that the truth would one day be exposed just like now?”

“I did.”

“Then aren’t you afraid that I’ll turn around right now and make your secret known to everyone?”

Huo Liuxing looked at her calmly. “Will you?”

Seeing his expression of unwavering confidence, Shen Lingzhen was suddenly provoked to laughter. “How can you still be so high and mighty even now? You stole the gratitude someone else earned with their life, enjoyed the benefits without effort, toyed with me at will, and deceived me for so long—don’t you feel even the slightest bit of guilt or regret?”

Huo Liuxing slowly blinked.

If he felt no guilt at all, tonight he could have continued making up stories and deceiving her, rather than voluntarily removing his armor and weapons to stand here letting her mock and denounce him as he was now.

But regret? Truly not even a bit.

At that time, he had no better choice. If he could do it over, he would still take that person’s credit without hesitation.

He asked, “If I say I do, what will you do? If I say I don’t, what will you do then?”

Shen Lingzhen was so infuriated by his indifferent attitude that her blood rushed to her head. Her cheeks flushed bright red as she began pacing back and forth in the room, fanning herself with her palm as if trying to disperse her anger.

“Huo…” She suddenly stopped in her tracks, urgently blurting out his surname before restraining herself and stopping, not impolitely calling him by his full name. “You are truly infuriating and detestable!”

Saying this, she stamped her foot and was about to run outside, but just as her fingertips touched the door latch, she was pulled back by a brute force.

Huo Liuxing grabbed her arm and looked down at her. “Where are you going? Are you going to sell me out already?”

Shen Lingzhen hadn’t even had time to think that far yet. She simply didn’t want to share a room with him now, didn’t want to look at him for another moment. But seeing that even at this critical moment he only cared about his damned secret, she became even more enraged and said spitefully, “Yes! I’m going to sell you out completely, to tell everyone in the world about your crime of deceiving the Emperor!”

Huo Liuxing’s face darkened. “To share glory and disgrace with me, to go through fire and water for me without hesitation—who said all those things back then?”

“I said them,” Shen Lingzhen raised her face and glared at him defiantly, “but I didn’t say them to you! The person I want to share glory and disgrace with, the person I want to go through fire and water for, is my savior—not the shameless, nest-stealing magpie that you are!”

Huo Liuxing’s pupils contracted, and his hand gripping her wrist suddenly tightened.

Shen Lingzhen cried out “Ah” in pain.

His eyes flickered and he immediately loosened his grip.

Jianjia, who was keeping watch in the corridor, rushed over and knocked on the door. “What happened, Young Madam?”

Shen Lingzhen was about to answer through the pain when she looked up and saw Huo Liuxing’s murderous gaze, which frightened her into silence.

“Young Madam! Young Madam, please say something!” Jianjia anxiously began pounding on the door.

Huo Liuxing replied with a tense face, “Nothing happened. There was a mouse in the room. I caught it.”

Jianjia breathed a sigh of relief, but seeming uneasy from not hearing Shen Lingzhen’s voice, she stood outside the door unwilling to leave. “The Young Madam has never seen a mouse before. Was she badly frightened?”

Huo Liuxing looked at the indeed badly frightened Shen Lingzhen. The thumb gripping her wrist gently rubbed her a few times, reminding her to answer properly.

Shen Lingzhen got goosebumps all over from his touch. Looking at him now was like looking at a fierce wolf or tiger ready to devour her alive.

She steadied herself and called out as calmly as possible, “I’m… alright…”

Only then did Jianjia leave reassured.

Huo Liuxing released Shen Lingzhen, turned back to pour a bowl of tea, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. But her resolute words from moments ago still echoed in his ears—the person I want to share glory and disgrace with, the person I want to go through fire and water for, is my savior—not the shameless, nest-stealing magpie that you are!

He gritted his teeth and drank another bowl.

After finishing three bowls of overnight tea, he set down the bowl heavily and turned to look at the person trembling and cowering to one side. His face iron-blue, he said, “Shen Lingzhen, if you want to sell me out, you need to assess the situation clearly. This isn’t Bianjing, and it isn’t Qingyang either. This is Dingbian Army territory, full of Huo family connections. This is Baibao City, from which you have no hope of escape. I have plenty of ways to make you shut your mouth.”

Supporting herself against the door frame, Shen Lingzhen trembled, suddenly remembering the fate of that young servant in the Shen residence in Qingyang who had betrayed him.

But at this critical juncture, yielding would be too humiliating. She stubbornly stood up straight, feigning composure. “I am imperial clan, the daughter of Grand Princess Zhengguo and Duke Yingguo. If you dared to kill me, you wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to impersonate someone else and deceive me in the first place!”

“So you do understand the situation quite clearly?” Huo Liuxing smiled as he advanced on her step by step. “But let me remind you—it’s not only the dead who obediently keep their mouths shut. Besides the living and the dead, there are many in this world who live fates worse than death…”

Shen Lingzhen retreated bit by bit toward the corner, her heart nearly jumping out of her throat. “You… you’re lying! You wouldn’t dare use torture on me!”

Huo Liuxing seemed amused by her phrase “use torture,” and took another step forward. “Well said. Between husband and wife, how can it be called ‘torture’? What I would use is spousal privilege. Little girl, you’re inexperienced in worldly matters and still don’t understand many things. If you truly provoke me, I’ll make sure you understand thoroughly.”

Shen Lingzhen’s back hit the wall with nowhere left to retreat, on the verge of tears from panic.

Huo Liuxing lowered his head until their noses nearly touched and smiled. “They say those who understand the times are exceptional. If you know to be afraid, then be obedient. Have more self-awareness as a wife. Don’t think about selling me out anymore, and don’t mention your savior to me again. Otherwise, when I find him, I’ll kill him the first chance I get. Understand?”

Shen Lingzhen’s hands clutched the wall desperately. Trembling with fear, she nodded and said with a sobbing voice, “I’ll listen to you… don’t hurt him…”

Huo Liuxing’s smile vanished. Seeing her yield, he felt none of the satisfaction of getting his way. Instead, a stifled feeling lodged in his chest that he couldn’t swallow down. Even the mosquito-bite-like wound where the arrowhead had merely grazed him began inexplicably throbbing with pain as if torn open.

He stepped back and closed his eyes. “Stay here properly. Don’t play tricks, and don’t foolishly think Jianjia can scheme anything for you. You have His Majesty and Grand Princess Zhengguo backing you up—she doesn’t.”

Having said this, he stormed out the door. After passing Jianjia in the corridor, he backed up and instructed, “She was badly frightened by the mouse. Keep her good company.”

Jianjia didn’t dare delay and immediately went to Shen Lingzhen’s room.

Huo Liuxing turned and entered another guest room, beckoning to Jingmo to come over.

Seeing this “storm clouds gathering” situation, Jingmo’s heart tightened. He followed inside with eyes on nose, nose on heart.

Sure enough, as soon as the door closed, Huo Liuxing reprimanded with a face cold as frost, “What are those wine sacks and rice bags in Bianjing doing all day? I told them to investigate someone—to this day, still no news!”

“You mean the Young Madam’s sav—”

“Don’t mention those four words in front of me again.”

Jingmo lowered his head in difficulty.

The one who received the favor was the master, and the one who hated it to the bone was also the master. This truly defied all comprehension.

Huo Liuxing fell silent for a moment, then exhaled deeply and pointed toward Shen Lingzhen’s room. “You’ve seen with your own eyes how sincerely I’ve treated her these days. That person merely saved her life once—why does it make her so devoted? Why does it make her belittle me as completely worthless?”

Jingmo thought to himself that saving a life indeed carried more weight than so-called “sincere treatment.” He was about to offer some consolation to Huo Liuxing when he detected something amiss in his words. “Master, has the Young Madam already learned the truth?”

Huo Liuxing nodded.

Jingmo immediately became anxious. “Then what do you plan to do with the Young Madam?”

Huo Liuxing bit his back teeth with an expression of deep displeasure and said resentfully, “What do you mean ‘do with her’? As if I could actually harm a hair on her head!”