I really liked this novel, but it hasn’t been updated in a while, might as well put matters into my own hands! Enjoy!

Translated by Pure

Edited by NovaLeir

Chapter 127 The past 

Twenty-five years ago, Xue Li was seventeen years old. Following the late Emperor’s testament, he became the fifth Emperor of Blood Union. 

Xue Ying – Xue Li’s older brother from another mother didn’t agree with that testament. He led a group of rebels, striving to take the throne. The twelve Blood Knights defeated them. Xue Ying’s three sons, who took part in that strike, were beheaded publicly. And, Xue Ying’s women were exiled to the border area of Blood Union. They were left there, living on their own. 

Xue Li got the throne as said in the will. He had tried his best to keep the country in peace and people living in safety and wealth. He just wanted to make Blood Union as strong and wealthy as when it was under the regime of their ancestors. 

No one could foresee that Xue Ying’s oldest daughter, Xue Yan, had seized the chance when the imperial palace recruited new maids to sneak in and kidnap Xue Li’s one-year-old son, Xue Zhan. She had even replaced him with a soot black panther, which had caused the rumor of the panther crown prince. 

When Xue Li and Feng Ruo Er, his wife, got this news, they had flipped the entire palace over but could not find Xue Yan. It seemed she had evaporated into thin air. She had taken Xue Zhan, who was learning how to walk, away. 

Xue Li didn’t believe that a fourteen-year-old teenage girl taking a toddler could hide for long. He ordered more people to search the entire Blood Union.

They had been searching for half a year, but still got nothing.

In her desperation, his wife Ruo Er, decided to leave the imperial palace to escape from the pain of losing her son. 

Although Xue Li worried much about her, because of national matters, he couldn’t spend time with her. He could only send a troop of guards to protect her secretly. Nobody had expected that Ruo Er would bump into Xue Ying’s rebels, who had survived the raid, in Bei Yan City, a city situated between Blood Union and Da Hui. She was captured. 

Among the six hidden guards, three were killed and one was hurt. The other two hidden guards had to track down their Empress’ whereabouts. They also continued to send information to Blood Union’s palace, reporting to Xue Li. 

Xue Li took the twelve Blood Knights to Bei Yan City and reunited with the other hidden guards to join together to track Feng Ruo Er’s whereabouts. They had struggled hard to cross the border and enter Da Hui. When they were in a small town hundreds of miles away from Da Hui’s Feng Cheng, Xue Li and his twelve Blood Knights were surrounded by Xue Ying’s surviving subordinates. It was a trap they had set for him for a long time. A trap that he would be willing to step into. 

Using his life and his twelve Blood Knights to exchange for his wife’s. Comparing the two sides, which was more important? 

As Feng Ruo Er didn’t want to see Xue Li making harsh decisions, she decided to kill herself by biting her tongue. 

However, right at that moment, Xue Li’s remaining subordinates that were besieging Xue Lie were attacked by a troop. They were killed and wounded massively. Also, at that moment, the two men keeping Feng Ruo Er as a hostage were shot by an arrow through their hearts from behind. They fell and died. 

The situation had changed. Xue Li took the twelve Blood Knights, breaking the besiege and saved Feng Ruo Er. Xue Ying’s subordinates were eradicated. 

The leader of the troop that had saved them was the Fifth Prince Li Wen Xiu of Da Hui. 

At that time, he was taking his troop to Mount Bei Long for a little practice. He accidentally saved the Emperor and Empress of Blood Union. 

Xue Li slowly shared the old story that had been buried for twenty-four years in his heart. He lifted his head to look at the silent young man, sitting opposite him. Lowering his voice, he added, “It’s the reason why Da Hui and Blood Union have a treaty that we wouldn’t invade each other. Li Wen Xiu also got the throne he had yearned for.” 

“Ahem…” Su Shuilian gently pinched Lin Si Yao’s hands. He had been firmly holding both of her hands. Seeing him not wanting to talk after the story had ended, she turned to Xue Li and his anticipating eyes, shooting him an apologizing look. She let out a light cough, “You mean... A Yao, he…” 

“He’s my son that was kidnapped twenty-four years ago, the Crown Prince Xue Zhan of Blood Union.” Xue Li confirmed, looking at Su Shuilian in appreciation.

Although she could somehow guess the reason why this man had to tell them such a long, old story, when she heard him reveal A Yao’s real identity, Su Shuilian couldn’t help but inhale deeply. 

Heavens! Crown Prince… of Blood Union! 

She had thought that the identity of her body was shocking enough. She would never expect that the husband who shared her bed every night was a Crown Prince… who would become… 

Heavens! She didn’t dare to think any further. All of this wasn't what she wanted. She just wanted a leisurely, happy life on the farm with A Yao in the quiet, peaceful Fan Hua Town. 

“A Yao?” Su Shuilian felt her husband squeeze her hands. She looked at him. 

“I’m nobody… I’m not going anywhere…” Lin Si Yao expressed his point of view in a tone that was extremely indifferent.  

Did he… hear what her heart wanted to say? How else did his answer match her question?

“A Yao...” She didn’t mean that. It was obvious that he finally had a chance to enjoy the joy and warm love when he had his parents. She didn’t have the right to deprive that chance. Moreover, she was his wife. She just hoped that he could live happier. She didn’t want him to abandon his past because of her. Even if he did so, he wouldn’t feel happy from the bottom of his heart. 

“I’m okay.” Lin Si Yao patted her hands. He lifted his head to look at Xue Li. “Are you done now? Then we’ll leave.” 

Lin Si Yao pulled Su Shuilian up. He proceeded to walk out of the room with an emotionless face. 

“A Yao?” Su Shuilian called him as she couldn’t understand. He was angry, but why? He found his parents after twenty-four years. Why wasn't he happy? 

Xue Li saw his son, his blood son, so indifferent. He couldn’t help but darken his face, shouting: “You… What is with your attitude? We’ve been apart for so many years, your mother and I struggled all your life trying to find you. And now you treat us so coldly. You…”

“Is it so? How can it be so hard for a ruler to find a missing person? Why did it take you twenty-four years? Why didn’t you just visit me when I died?” Lin Si Yao snapped back coldly. He had almost died. Moreover, before he died, he didn’t know his biological parents were so noble. 

"So you think we didn't try our best to find you? Or we knew where you were but didn't come to see you?" Xue Li couldn't believe it when he heard Lin Si Yao's interrogating tone.

"Wasn't it true?" Lin Si Yao sneered. "Don’t you see the twist in your words? Hmph! A girl and a toddler couldn't be found by the twelve Blood Knights who guard the Blood Union's palace? What kind of a joke is that? ” 

“You don’t understand. The twelve Blood Knights have started to protect the palace after that incident. Before that, they protected only the Emperor. Zhan-er, even if you don’t believe it, it’s true that your mother and I have never ceased searching for you. This time, if we hadn’t got the news from the South Corridor in Da Hui that some organization wanted to use the name of the twelve Blood Knights to scheme something, I wouldn’t have sent the Blood Knight Dragon to come and check it out. I wouldn’t have found you. While fighting with you, Long Yi saw the purple mole behind your ear. It’s a special genetic feature of the Xue family. It can’t be wrong. Not many people know this. We wanted to keep this secret because we don’t want people to fake it, and it’s our family’s secret. That’s why we had been apart for twenty-four years. However, all the hidden guards and the twelve Blood Knights sent to find you know this feature.” 

Xue Li saw Lin Si Yao silently listening to his explanation; he paused before continuing, “I can only say that your past is really mysterious. And now, thinking about that, it’s my mistake. I had never searched through the organizations in the world of martial arts, especially the assassins… I forgot to tell you that we found your cousin twenty years ago. At that time, she was poisoned and the drug had expanded through her internal organs. Several days after we found her, she died. It was because after she had kidnapped you, her conscience suddenly kicked in. She had given you to a farmer’s family, not her Shifu Lei Ting, a member of the rebellious party that had betrayed Blood Union. Afterward, Lei Ting poisoned her. I kept searching for you in the farmers’ families, but I got nothing.” 

Talking to this part, Xue Li sighed audibly. “Since you went missing, your mother used her tears to wash her face every day… Perhaps you don’t believe me, but I only have her in my entire palace. Not for anything other than I don’t want to see my children repeat the tragedy that happened between me and Xue Ying. However, after so many years, it’s not that we don’t want to have more children, your mother couldn’t be pregnant anymore. Perhaps it was the strict punishment the Heavens had given me. Although I could manage Blood Union orderly, our family bond is a mess. Brothers parted. Missing son… Ha… It’s my karma…” 

“I lived in Yun Luo Pagoda until I was eight. I spent two years struggling on the streets and one year working in a tea house. I joined Feng Yao Court when I was eleven. I was trained for two years; killing people… ten years…” Lin Si Yao emotionlessly spoke several sentences to brief them on what he had experienced. Su Shuilian felt heart ache. Those were periods she didn’t even know. And now, as he was telling his tale, as if he was just a narrator, it made her heart ache.  

“A Yao…” She reached her arms, hugging him in the hope of sending him her warmth. 

“… It must be hard for you…” Although Xue Li could guess that his son must have endured a lot of hardships, he was still shaking, listening to his simple narration. He could imagine the struggling life his son had on the street and what he had paid to become a top assassin.

It was the life someone growing up in an imperial palace like him could never understand. And now, he rather wished that his son had grown up in a common family where his life could be poor, but not that harsh. Anyway, it’s always easier said than done. When his son was kidnapped, he was just one year old. It’s already a difficult feat to even shelter from hunger or sickness. What did he have to blame for the ones who had brought up his son? If he wanted to blame someone, he could only blame himself for not fulfilling his responsibility, and his grudge with Xue Ying that had affected his kin.

“I’m good now. I have my wife and my children. And I got rid of my assassin’s life. You… just act as though you haven’t found me!” Lin Si Yao looked at Xue Li in his eyes. He talked indifferently but firmly. He pulled Su Shuilian, passing Xue Li to their room. 

A room was open. The woman leaning against a pillar in the corridor had tears covering her face. 

“Zhan-er… My son…” Feng Ruo Er called bitterly and painfully. But she didn’t know how to express her feelings. She had listened to their conversation from the beginning to the end. Their son blamed them. She could feel that. From his resolute voice, she knew he didn’t want to forgive them. 

“Excuse me, I am Lin Si Yao.” Lin Si Yao raked his emotionless eyes through her. He then took Su Shuilian to their room. Whether he was Xue Li’s son or not, living twenty-four years as an orphan made him used to hiding his emotions. When he was small, he used to try to reason why his parents had abandoned him. Perhaps they all passed away, or they were too poor to have him… But he never thought about such a reason. 

Because of the grudge between the previous generation, he was pushed into a life where he had no roof above his head… drifting away in darkness… for twenty-four years…

Enough. He was capable enough at the moment.  He didn’t need parents… he no longer needed them anymore…

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