The pain turned Huai Qingyu's vision black, and he nearly lost consciousness.
He bit his lower lip until it bled just to cling to his senses. In a faint voice, he forced out a few words. "W-when… when did I ever kill an innocent person?"
Qin Qihe watched his miserable state with contempt and sneered. "Yan Chengbi. Have you forgotten?"
Only then did Huai Qingyu understand what all of this was about.
He hurried to explain, but Qin Qihe refused to listen and treated every word as an excuse.
Day and night, Qin Qihe humiliated and tormented him. He even erected a cenotaph for Yan Chengbi and forced Huai Qingyu to kneel before Yan Chengbi's memorial tablet and repent.
Whenever he tortured Huai Qingyu to the brink of death, Qin Qihe would grip his throat and pour out his resentment.
"It's all because you killed Yan Chengbi! To me, Yan Chengbi was my own younger brother, my confidant, my study companion. He wasn't merely some lowly page!
"Yan Chengbi was born a slave. His status was so humble, yet he worked harder than any young master from an aristocratic family.
"Whether in talent, temperament, or your place in my heart, you couldn't compare to him in any respect. So you harmed him out of jealousy, didn't you?"
He rambled endlessly as though possessed.
Only then did Huai Qingyu learn that after swallowing the poison, Yan Chengbi had only appeared to die immediately. In reality, he had managed to cling to one last breath.
Hating Huai Qingyu for ruining his plan, Yan Chengbi twisted black into white. When Qin Qihe rushed over, Yan Chengbi used his dying breath to make many accusations against Huai Qingyu before finally expiring.
Qin Qihe had always regarded Yan Chengbi as his own younger brother and admired his diligence and ambition. He never doubted Yan Chengbi's words and thus came to hate Huai Qingyu bitterly.
From then on, the more Qin Qihe looked at Huai Qingyu, the more disgusted he became. Every time Huai Qingyu smiled, the hatred in his heart grew.
Countless times, he wanted to seize Huai Qingyu by the throat, torture him until life was unbearable, and make him pay for Yan Chengbi's death.
But he had no opportunity, so he endured and concealed it.
The warmer and kinder his smile toward Huai Qingyu appeared, the deeper his hatred burned inside.
At last, after Huai Qingyu was betrayed by his fiancé and became despised throughout Shengjing, Qin Qihe finally found his chance for revenge. Like a god descending from heaven, he stepped forward without hesitation and declared that he would marry him.
He married Huai Qingyu solely to torment him.
…So that was the truth.
Qin Qihe was truly the perfect example of someone who repaid kindness with cruelty.
Every time Huai Qingyu was beaten nearly to death, endless regret surged through him.
He regretted ever saving Qin Qihe!
Huai Qingyu knew how well Qin Qihe had treated Yan Chengbi.
Qin Qihe regarded Yan Chengbi as a younger brother, a confidant, and a study companion.
In this world, there were three sexes: men, male gers, and women. Both male gers and women could marry and bear children.
If Yan Chengbi and Qin Qihe had not both been ordinary men, Qin Qihe's selfless devotion to Yan Chengbi would have looked, in outsiders' eyes, like proof of a clandestine affair.
In Qin Qihe's eyes, Yan Chengbi was essentially another version of himself.
If Huai Qingyu had known that earlier, he never would have interfered. He would have let Qin Qihe's most trusted personal page destroy his entire life!
But matters had already reached this point, and regret was useless.
In the days that followed, Huai Qingyu suffered every imaginable humiliation.
News that Qin Qihe was tormenting him soon reached Chief Minister Qin.
Chief Minister Qin tried to stop it, but Qin Qihe hated him as well.
Chief Minister Qin had always disapproved of Yan Chengbi studying. In his view, servants ought to know their place and had no right to enjoy the same educational resources as their masters.
Because of this, Qin Qihe believed Chief Minister Qin had also played a part in driving Yan Chengbi to death.
After harboring resentment for so many years, he had long since lost any father-son affection for Chief Minister Qin.
When Chief Minister Qin came to stop him from abusing Huai Qingyu, Qin Qihe seized the opportunity to sever their relationship and instead entered the service of Chief Minister Qin's political enemy.
Chief Minister Qin did not take it seriously, assuming his son was merely acting out in anger. He had no idea Qin Qihe truly meant it.
Completely unprepared, he was brought down by his own biological son working together with his political enemies.
The Qin family collapsed completely. The entire household was exiled; some died, while others were reduced to slavery.
By then Qin Qihe had also grown tired of tormenting Huai Qingyu. He threw the pregnant Huai Qingyu into a den of beggars, intending for them to abuse him to death.
In utter despair, Huai Qingyu was rescued by Song Qinyin.
He had endured the betrayal of his childhood sweetheart, the betrayal of his fiancé, and Qin Qihe's betrayal. He no longer wanted to trust anyone.
But Song Qinyin held his battered body, cared for him attentively, spoke to him in a soft and gentle voice, promised to look after him properly, and even said he would treat the child in Huai Qingyu's belly as his own. Only then did Huai Qingyu regain the will to live.
He had never imagined that Song Qinyin was also a wolf in human skin and had never loved him at all…
Seeing that Huai Qingyu was not as heartbroken as he had expected, darkness flashed through Song Qinyin's eyes.
He slapped Huai Qingyu several times, watching with satisfaction as the deathly pale face became swollen and red.
He looked mockingly at the barely conscious Huai Qingyu. "Ingrates? Huai Qingyu, you helped me with ulterior motives, and you still expect me to be grateful? What right do you have to say such things?
"Heh. You think I care that you saved me? If there is another life, I would rather remain a prostitute for all eternity than let you save me!"
With that, he waved a hand and called his servants over through clenched teeth. "Men! Throw him back into the beggars' den and let those beggars entertain themselves with him properly. I want him to suffer worse than death!"
Several servants immediately stepped forward and roughly dragged Huai Qingyu away from the floor.
Huai Qingyu was mercilessly thrown into the beggars' den. Ignoring the blood covering his body, the beggars' eyes lit with greed as they rushed toward him and began tearing wildly at his clothes.
Huai Qingyu cried out hoarsely in despair, trying to summon his former page and current guard. "Lixing!"
There was no response.
His heart turned to ashes, and he closed his eyes.
Again.
It was always like this!
As his guard, Lixing was forever absent at the exact moment Huai Qingyu needed protection.
The last time Qin Qihe had thrown him into a beggars' den, Huai Qingyu had called for Lixing to protect him then as well.
If Song Qinyin had not rescued him, those beggars would certainly have violated and tormented him to death.
Afterward, when Huai Qingyu asked Lixing where he had been, Lixing truthfully explained that after the Qin family's fall, Qin Wanshu had also been reduced to slavery and disappeared. Lixing had been too worried about Qin Wanshu to hear Huai Qingyu's cries for help.
Qin Wanshu was Chief Minister Qin's son and a male ger. He was delicate and arrogant by nature, but breathtakingly beautiful and known as the Pearl of Shengjing. No one knew how many young noblemen in the capital adored him.
Lixing had long since fallen completely under Qin Wanshu's spell. Originally, he had wanted to become Qin Wanshu's guard.
When Huai Qingyu first arrived at the Qin household, he knew nothing about this and happened to choose Lixing instead.
From then on, although Lixing stayed by Huai Qingyu's side, his heart constantly remained with Qin Wanshu. Every time Huai Qingyu encountered danger, Lixing somehow had something else to do and was absent.
Huai Qingyu was kindhearted and never blamed Lixing. Instead, he felt guilty toward him, believing it was his own fault that Lixing could not remain beside Qin Wanshu.
And now, at a moment between life and death, Lixing was absent yet again!
Huai Qingyu did not dare lose his only remaining lifeline. He called Lixing's name over and over.
Just as he was about to be violated, a hoarse male voice suddenly rang out.
"This subordinate is here."
Lixing's black-clad figure arrived soundlessly like a ghost.
The moment he struck, the beggars clinging around Huai Qingyu like disgusting leeches were killed instantly.
Huai Qingyu felt as though he had been given his life back. He finally released the breath he had been holding and broke down in tears.
He cried with despair and helplessness.
Lixing stood to one side and looked down at him. Only after Huai Qingyu had cried himself nearly dry did Lixing hand him a handkerchief.
Huai Qingyu accepted it, wiped away his tears, and finally calmed down.
As though nothing had happened at all.
He had always been strong—strong to an almost unbelievable degree.
Born in a mountain village, orphaned young, he had struggled to survive until the age of thirteen. Only after he happened to save Chief Minister Qin did he begin eating his fill, dressing warmly, and learning to read and write.
Yet material comfort did not mean he had gained dignity.
A former beggar in the magnificent Qin household, in a capital crowded with nobles, he had endured endless hardship and humiliation.
He endured, worked hard, and remained kindhearted, always wanting to help others and plant good causes.
That was why he had saved Song Qinyin after Song Qinyin fell into prostitution, saved Qin Qihe when his future was nearly destroyed, saved his childhood sweetheart from almost drowning, and saved his fiancé Mo Qinghuan.
Yet without exception, none of those acts of kindness ended well.
Especially not what happened with his former fiancé, Mo Qinghuan.
Mo Qinghuan's family was destitute, but he was exceptionally talented in his studies. The headmaster of Xiangshan Academy made an exception and admitted him.
Because his family was poor and his clothes shabby, however, he was bullied everywhere he went. The person who bullied him most viciously was He Shui.
He Shui was a young ger from a reasonably good family, but he was lazy and ignorant and could not stand seeing others work hard. He especially despised someone like Mo Qinghuan, who had nothing yet excelled at his studies.
Huai Qingyu could not bear to watch and repeatedly rescued Mo Qinghuan from his troubles.
But Huai Qingyu was only the Qin family's adopted son and had little standing. By repeatedly opposing He Shui, he was often bullied alongside Mo Qinghuan.
Huai Qingyu felt that he and Mo Qinghuan were fellow sufferers in the same world. Over time they naturally fell in love, came to understand one another, and became engaged.
He believed they were a match made in heaven. Yet on their wedding day, Mo Qinghuan fled the ceremony outright.
It turned out Mo Qinghuan had heard that He Shui had been brutally abused by his husband's household and nearly beaten to death.
Ignoring everyone's shocked gazes, Mo Qinghuan rushed into He Shui's marital home and carried him away.
With no regard at all for Huai Qingyu's dignity, the two openly moved into an inn together.
Huai Qingyu could not understand why Mo Qinghuan cared so much about He Shui when He Shui had once bullied them more viciously than anyone.
He went to find Mo Qinghuan, only to encounter He Shui's husband on the way.
Huai Qingyu was Mo Qinghuan's fiancé. Since Mo Qinghuan had forcibly taken He Shui away, He Shui's husband decided to repay him in kind by humiliating Huai Qingyu in revenge.
Huai Qingyu nearly lost his chastity and barely managed to escape.
Yet the moment he finally reached Mo Qinghuan, Mo Qinghuan slapped him hard several times.
Mo Qinghuan's eyes were filled with crazed love for He Shui.
He blamed Huai Qingyu for trying to stop him from leaving their wedding to rescue He Shui in time, claiming that because of Huai Qingyu, He Shui was now grievously injured and unconscious.
Overcome with grief, he even embraced He Shui and sobbed uncontrollably.
Holding his swollen cheek, Huai Qingyu cautiously tried to remind Mo Qinghuan of all the ways He Shui had once insulted and beaten him.
But Mo Qinghuan screamed at him hoarsely that He Shui had already explained everything: back then, He Shui had bullied him so relentlessly because he liked him and wanted to attract his attention.