'Festering sores all over, cankers in the mouth, bones turning soft and weak…'
Cui Lingyao was startled by a sudden realization.
She remembered that the Empress had also been gravely ill, and with the exact same symptoms.
"The Empress believed you were the reason I refused to marry Li Wanrong. Because of that, she couldn't tolerate your presence. She wanted you dead to make way for Li Wanrong. So, in turn, I decided I couldn't tolerate Li Wanrong,"
Xie Jinbai let out a scornful laugh. "Since she was so desperate to marry me and no one else, then she could go die."
Using the method the Empress had prepared.
It was a warning to the Empress.
A warning from a biological son to his mother.
Cui Lingyao pressed her lips together and asked him, "Did you know back then that the Empress wasn't your birth mother?"
"No," Xie Jinbai's tone was flat. "If I had known, I wouldn't have been so polite."
'He called *that* polite.'
