Chapter 280: Chapter 280 : Tell Me The Truth

Xie Jianyu scoffed.

"It does not concern you," he snapped, every word an ice shard that stabbed into Zhang Fengxi’s heart.

Zhang Fengxi grabbed Xie Jianyu’s left hand and dropped to his knees.

Zhang Fengxi dreamed countless times about the past, particularly about the time he invaded Fuxi Palace and murdered Xie Jianyu in cold blood.

The pain and guilt did not lessen over time. Instead, they became heavier and heavier, weighing down his conscience.

"Jianyu, I... I am so sorry," the alpha choked with sobs. "I wrongly accused you of Liu Wenyuan’s death. I wrongly hated you for the crime you did not commit. I wish I could die ten thousand times to repay my debt..."

Tears streamed down Xie Jianyu’s cheeks.

Now that Zhang Fengxi said it, he came to remember all the past grievances.

Their once-in-a-lifetime entanglement, which Zhang Fengxi forgot as soon as it ended.

Xie Jianyu could not forget even if he wanted to. It was because the seed that the alpha planted in his womb had taken roots within his body.

The decision to keep the baby was a hard one. He remembered his father’s wrath. The Heavenly Emperor smashed a vase to the ground. He grabbed a wooden scepter next to his seat to hit Xie Jianyu, who knelt on the carpeted floor in resignation, ready to face the consequences.

"Father, don’t!!!"

It was Xie Jianshen who stopped him. His elder brother wrenched the scepter out of their father’s grip and flung it to the end of the hall.

"Little Yu’s body is weak!" he reasoned. "Father, we will find a way to take care of that child."

Find a way to take care of that child, he said.

Xie Jianyu closed his eyes in sorrow. He should have known that he would never be permitted to keep the child.

There was only one person who could take care of the child.

The father of the child himself.

Xie Jianyu desperately sought opportunities to speak to Zhang Fengxi alone, but fate seemed to conspire against him. Every time he attempted to approach the general, something or someone would intervene.

To make matters worse, as the pregnancy progressed, Xie Jianyu’s health deteriorated more and more. He was constantly tired and nauseous, and he lost a lot of weight instead of gaining some.

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty, that fateful incident happened.

That day, Liu Wenyuan, who was still reeling from the miscarriage he had suffered a few weeks ago, stood at the edge of the Crystal Jade Pond.

The omega raised his eyes and looked at Xie Jianyu, who passed by the lake by coincidence.

"Your Majesty," he called out to Xie Jianyu at that time. "According to the legend, the bottom of all water bodies in the Heavenly Realm is connected to the Underworld. Your Majesty, do you think that it is true?"

Liu Wenyuan didn’t wait for Xie Jianyu to answer. He kicked off the ground and leaped into the icy lake.

Xie Jianyu remembered running to the lake’s edge, his heart pounding in his chest. He nearly jumped in to save Liu Wenyuan, but then he remembered the child in his belly.

He couldn’t.

Otherwise, the baby...

Guards arrived as quickly as possible to drag Liu Wenyuan out of the lake, but it was too late.

By the time Zhang Fengxi arrived, Liu Wenyuan’s lifeless body had already been laid to rest at the pond’s edge, his lips blue and his skin deathly pale. It did not take long before he breathed his last.

Zhang Fengxi roared like a wounded animal as he cradled his beloved’s lifeless body in his arms. His grief was palpable, and the air around him seemed to vibrate along with his impenetrable anguish.

"Why did no one save him??" He cried out sorrowfully.

"We are sorry, Prince," the guards who jumped into the water to save Liu Wenyuan knelt in front of Zhang Fengxi to ask for his forgiveness.

"We came as fast as possible to answer the Crown Prince’s summon, but..."

Zhang Fengxi slowly raised his head and stared in Xie Jianyu’s direction. His facial expression was a mix of disbelief and disgust.

"Summon?" He repeated the word with a hollow voice. "Xie Jianyu, was it so difficult to jump into the lake and save Wenyuan on your own? Or was his life not worth getting yourself wet?!"

This was the first time Zhang Fengxi ever spoke so harshly to Xie Jianyu, not taking their status difference into account at all.

Debilitated by shock, Xie Jianyu was unable to give any answer.

In his head, he was screaming at Zhang Fengxi about the child in his belly, whose existence he had not managed to divulge to the general in time.

Later on, once the grieving period was over, Xie Jianyu tried to talk to Zhang Fengxi again, only to be rebuked mercilessly.

That was when Xie Jianyu understood that this was fate.

Heaven ordained him to wallow in eternal silence while enduring Zhang Fengxi’s unjustified and scorching hatred.

A tug at his hand pulled Xie Jianyu back to the present time.

"Jianbao, please."

Xie Jianyu lowered his head and looked down at the alpha who became his husband in this lifetime.

"Please, say something. Do something. Hit me as many times as you want, as hard as you want. I will take it all."

Xie Jianyu was not interested in landing any punch. He only had one question to ask Zhang Fengxi.

"Zhang Fengxi, tell me the truth," he said.

"Did you really want to have children with me?"

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes at Zhang Fengxi, who was unable to answer. There was inexplicable dread in Zhang Fengxi’s eyes. One that Xie Jianyu translated as reluctance.

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes at Zhang Fengxi, who stood before him, unable to utter a word. In Zhang Fengxi’s eyes, Xie Jianyu could see a profound fear, a fear that he interpreted as reluctance.

On top of the agony that tore at his heart, Xie Jianyu felt a strange, inexplicable sense of relief and acceptance.

"If you don’t want to be his father," he told Zhang Fengxi in a voice that trembled with emotion, "you don’t have to. Remove yourself from my sight. I do not want to see you, ever again."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay