Chapter 57: Chapter 57: He Wants to Drag Her Back

This was the answer Li Yun had been waiting for.

He stepped down from the dragon throne and glanced at Li Yan, who was staring at him with wide eyes, tears still streaming down his face. Li Yun’s brow furrowed slightly.

He had no idea who this wailing Little Bun took after.

In any case, he knew it certainly wasn’t him.

With that thought, Li Yun, who had just been feeling disdain for the tearful Li Yan, suddenly reached out and pulled the boy up from the floor.

"All of you, out," Li Yun said.

Soon, only the father and son of the Li family remained in the grand hall.

Li Yan hadn’t cried like this in a long time. He used to only cry alone, hidden under his covers whenever he missed his mother.

He hadn’t expected to break down like this in front of his imperial father, crying so hard he could barely breathe. He wanted to stop, but he couldn’t hold back the sobs.

Ultimately, Li Yun had little patience for his son. After waiting a moment, he looked down and asked, "How much longer are you going to cry?"

Li Yan: "...HIC~"

Li Yun: "..."

’He suspected Ming Lingyi left him this son just to get revenge on him.’

Looking at the face so similar to Ming Lingyi’s, he restrained himself, still unable to bring himself to strike the boy.

Li Yan sat down and washed his face. Looking at his imperial father across from him, his heart began to pound nervously. He was starting to feel a little regretful.

’Why did I have to go and spill everything about Mother so easily?’

"You’ll believe whatever strangers say about who she is?" Li Yun said coldly. His words sounded as if he were accusing the Little Bun of mistaking her for someone else.

Li Yan was not happy to hear that. He pouted. How could he possibly mistake his own mother?

So, for the next several minutes, Li Yun listened as the Little Bun across from him counted on his fingers, earnestly explaining everything. He described how he’d felt an immediate connection to Ming Lingyi the first time he saw her, how he could feel that she treated him differently and took special care of him, how he eventually ended up at Huaided Fang, and finally, how he’d overheard the truth of his birth while standing outside her door.

As his son spoke, Li Yun simply twisted the ring on his thumb. He didn’t interrupt the enthusiastic Little Bun, greedily absorbing every word, trying to piece together an image of how his Yuan Niang lived outside the palace.

But even stories have an ending. Li Yan had racked his brain to recount every single interaction he’d had with his mother, all to prove that she was who he said she was and that he hadn’t made a mistake. But eventually, he ran out of things to say.

"...So, Imperial Father, that really is Mother. It’s not someone else. I wouldn’t get it wrong."

Too bad the Little Bun still didn’t understand Li Yun’s true intentions. He had eagerly presented everything he knew as evidence, laying it all out in its entirety.

Li Yun asked, "Has she mentioned me?"

"Never!" Li Yan answered decisively, completely unaware that his words had just twisted a knife in his father’s heart. He even added with great seriousness, "Mother said she doesn’t want to see you, Imperial Father. That’s why she made me keep it a secret!"

’Since I’ve already said this much,’ Li Yan thought, ’saying a little more probably won’t hurt, right?’ The most important thing was to convince his imperial father not to bother his mother. So, Li Yan put on the most serious expression his young face could manage and began to persuade his father with all the earnestness he could muster. "Imperial Father, just... don’t go and disturb Mother, please? She really is my birth mother, I’m not mistaken. Besides, Mother never planned on doing anything. She doesn’t even want her old identity back, so how could she be someone with ulterior motives?"

The child’s naive plea was like salt rubbed into a wound. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

His own son’s words had already torn several bleeding holes in his heart.

Li Yun’s face was pale. A sudden wave of weakness washed over him. He waved his hand, signaling for this troublesome Crown Prince—this boy who only knew how to say the most piercing things—to scram.

Before leaving, Li Yan couldn’t help but ask, "Imperial Father, you really won’t do anything to Mother, will you?"

His words only earned him a glacial stare from Li Yun.

Li Yan flinched. Most people would have recognized that Emperor Jing’an was deeply displeased. They would have tucked their tails between their legs and fled, lest they lose their heads. But the Little Bun was determined to get an answer for his mother, and so he stubbornly waited for a promise.

"Imperial Father?"

Li Yun was so furious with the little brat he felt like he could cough up blood. But this was his and Yuan Niang’s child. Even if he wanted to toss him out one moment, he’d just have to go and pick him back up the next.

"Are you telling me how to conduct my affairs?" Li Yun asked in a frigid voice.

At that moment, Li Yun unleashed the full force of his imperial might, holding nothing back.

"I just want your answer, Imperial Father." Li Yan wasn’t fearless, but right now, his worry for his mother outweighed his terror of the Emperor’s authority. He possessed the reckless bravery of a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger.

Li Yun: "...Get out!"

This time, the last shred of his patience was gone.

After Li Yan was led away, the teacup in Li Yun’s hand suddenly shattered with a sharp CRACK.

The exquisite, white jade-like teacup from the official kiln shattered to pieces in Li Yun’s hand.

The sharp ceramic shards sliced his palm to ribbons, leaving wounds so deep they nearly exposed bone.

"She doesn’t even want her old identity anymore..."

"Mother doesn’t want to see you..."

"It was Mother who said not to tell you, she doesn’t want to return to the palace..."

These words echoed in Li Yun’s ears like a malevolent chant, refusing to fade.

His face was drained of color, but his eyes were bloodshot. He sat rigidly by the window, a terrifying sight to behold.

"COUGH COUGH—"

A muffled cough echoed from the main hall of Taiji Palace. As if oblivious to the taste of blood in his mouth, Li Yun casually wiped a trickle from the corner of his lips and rose to his feet.

’How could I possibly harm Ming Lingyi?’

’It’s just...’

’I want to drag her back.’

’As for everything else... that can wait.’

The next morning when Ming Lingyi woke up, she couldn’t help but let out several sneezes. She rubbed her nose, suspecting someone was cursing her name.

But she hadn’t offended anyone recently. After thinking it over, Ming Lingyi decided it had to be Li Yun.

Her expression chilled. Not one to be outdone, she mentally cursed him right back.

Little Hu Zi didn’t have school today, but he still woke up early and was one of the first to arrive at Ming Lingyi’s food stall.

"Sister Ming!" Little Hu Zi was already quite familiar with Ming Lingyi. He came running over, PITTER-PATTER. "I want..." He was about to ask for two cups of milk tea when he noticed something different about her stall. Instead of the usual earthenware jar, there was a small pot.