“I naturally remember, but you clearly said…” Halfway through her words, Xin’an suddenly stopped speaking, looking at Li Jiancheng with shocked and horrified eyes, her face as white as the unfinished pear blossoms outside the palace, “You… what do you mean?”

Li Jiancheng caressed her smooth, cold cheek, his voice gentle as he said: “Princess has always been clever, how is it that you’ve become confused now?”

The touch that she had always found so captivating felt sticky and uncomfortable at this moment. Xin’an stepped back, avoiding his hand, and said with difficulty: “You… want to abandon me?”

“Of course not.” Just as Xin’an felt slightly relieved, Li Jiancheng’s next words immediately cast her into the deepest hell: “I have never had feelings for you, so how can there be talk of abandoning you?”

Xin’an stared at him blankly, as if she had forgotten how to speak. After a long while, she finally opened her mouth with difficulty: “Never had feelings… I don’t understand.”

Li Jiancheng smiled coldly, staring at her: “Did you really think I wanted to spend my life with you, that I wanted to take you as my concubine? No, I never thought that; on the contrary, every time I see you, I feel utterly disgusted!”

“Impossible… impossible!” At this moment, the smile that had once captivated her so completely now seemed like a demon’s grin in her eyes, making her retreat step by step in fear, muttering to herself, not knowing what she was saying.

“You have always been just a chess piece to me. If you had obediently listened, perhaps I could have let you live peacefully until old age, but you refused to be content and actually drugged me.” Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng’s handsome face twisted with rage. Every time he thought of being schemed against by a woman who had been with countless men, of having relations with her, he wanted nothing more than to kill her.

Xin’an never imagined that he would harbor such resentment about that incident, that he would even hate her for it. Both hurt and aggrieved, she said: “Yes, I drugged you, but that night, didn’t you also enjoy it?”

“Enjoy it?” Li Jiancheng laughed coldly: “If I hadn’t been drugged by you, I wouldn’t have touched you even if you knelt on the ground begging me. You’re utterly promiscuous and shameless!”

These last four words struck like a sharp knife into Xin’an’s heart, making even breathing painful. After a long while, she finally said in a hoarse voice: “So… all those previous words were false, all lies?”

Li Jiancheng said expressionlessly: “Of course. Otherwise, how would you have obediently listened to me, helped me kill Yang You, and framed Li Shimin? That matter, I thought over several times – it should have been flawless; unfortunately, you were too stupid. Princess Jinyang frightened you just a little and you told the truth. Truly hopelessly stupid.”

By the time the last syllable entered her ears, Xin’an was already in tears. Over all these years, Li Jiancheng was the only man she had truly placed in her heart. She had thought wholeheartedly that she could grow old with him, loving each other deeply. So even when Li Jiancheng asked her to kill her own nephew, she had agreed without hesitation. But it turned out to be a complete lie from beginning to end. Li Jiancheng only wanted to use her, without a shred of genuine feeling. How could she bear it? How could she bear it!

The more Xin’an thought about it, the sadder she became. She leaned against the wall and crouched down, crying uncontrollably. They say heroes cannot overcome beautiful women, that a beauty’s tears are most pitiful, but this saying didn’t apply to Li Jiancheng.

He didn’t even lift an eyelid at Xin’an’s tears. He threw the white silk in front of Xin’an and said coldly: “Alright, you know everything you need to know. Do it yourself.”

This white silk woven from silkworm thread seemed more terrifying than a venomous snake in Xin’an’s eyes. She tried to shrink away from the white silk while shaking her head continuously, murmuring: “I won’t commit suicide, I won’t!”

Li Jiancheng said indifferently: “If you won’t commit suicide, I’ll have to do it myself!”

These words pierced Xin’an’s ears like steel needles, making them ache while also making her even sadder. She cried: “Li Jiancheng, treating me like this, aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?!”

Li Jiancheng crouched down, saying with amusement: “Divine retribution? When Heaven sees me dealing with a promiscuous woman with a serpent’s heart, it will applaud – why would it do such a thing!”

Seeing his complete lack of remorse or guilt, anger surged in Xin’an’s heart. She said excitedly: “Yes, I have a serpent’s heart, but who did I do this for? Wasn’t it all for you? Yet you want to repay kindness with enmity. Li Jiancheng, you’re not human!”

Li Jiancheng clapped his hands and stood up: “Say whatever you want. Do it!” As he spoke, he smiled again: “Perhaps Lu Li is waiting for you at the Bridge of Helplessness right now. With her to serve you in the underworld, I can rest easier!”

Xin’an was filled with hatred but helpless. She knew that Li Jiancheng would never spare her today. But she refused to be killed by Li Jiancheng after being used up like this. If she had to die… she would drag Li Jiancheng down with her!

Thinking of this, she reached out with trembling hands to pick up the white silk from the ground, then supported herself against the wall behind her, struggling to stand up: “Li Jiancheng, you truly want to be so ruthless, not remembering even a bit of our affection?”

Li Jiancheng had only three words for her: “Do it.”

Xin’an looked at him and suddenly began to laugh, her shrill and desperate laughter echoing through the Shuangyue Palace. Li Jiancheng frowned: “What are you laughing at?”

Xin’an slowly stopped laughing and said with hatred: “I’m laughing at myself – Xin’an, who in these twenty-odd years has seen countless people, yet in the end entrusted myself to the wrong person, falling in love with a heartless beast!” Before she finished speaking, her jaw was seized in a vicious grip. Through the severe pain, she could even hear the “crack crack” sound of her jawbone. Li Jiancheng said in a sinister voice: “If you dare speak insolently again, I can’t guarantee I’ll leave you with an intact corpse!”

After he released his grip, Xin’an had obvious dark bruises on both sides of her cheeks. She took a deep breath, gripped the white silk tightly, and walked forward. When she reached behind Li Jiancheng, she suddenly quickened her pace and rushed toward the tightly closed palace doors. Just as her hands were about to touch the doors, another hand reached the doors before her, blocking her path.

Li Jiancheng’s face was dark as he said: “Where do you think you’re going?”

Xin’an had no choice but to stop, meeting his malevolent gaze, she said through gritted teeth: “I want to tell the Tang King about everything you’ve done, let him know that all of this was your doing, that you are the real mastermind behind it all!”

Li Jiancheng’s cheek twitched as he said coldly: “I originally wanted to let you commit suicide, but unfortunately…” Before Xin’an could react, he had already snatched the white silk with one hand and was putting it around Xin’an’s neck. Her reaction was quick too – she instinctively reached out to grab it, cursing hatefully: “Li Jiancheng, treating me like this, even if I become a ghost I won’t let you go. I’ll haunt you day and night, demanding your life!”