Yu Yan woke up.

This was an unfamiliar house, fully furnished with all the necessities. The house was clean and simple, yet not crude.

Yu Yan fell onto a soft couch, his hands and feet bound by ropes.

There was a touch of sandalwood scent in the house. The smell was fresh and elegant. He felt like he had smelled it somewhere before.

Yu Yan moved his fingers. Before he could realise why the scent felt familiar, he heard footsteps coming from outside the door.

Someone opened the door to walk in.

"Imperial brother is awake?" The youth's voice was as clear as ever, sounding like that of a stranger.

Startled, Yu Yan immediately came to his senses.

This incense was the one Yu Hong often used.

He struggled to sit up, seeing clearly the person coming by the door. "Yu Hong, why are you here?"

"Me?" Yu Hong smiled. "Naturally, it's to follow Imperial brother."

He walked to the side of the couch and looked down at Yu Yan. "If I hadn't sent someone to watch Imperial brother's actions throughout the day and night, I would have almost been deceived by Imperial brother's escape plan. I would have never guessed that Imperial brother and Chang Lu's monarch had such a good relationship. That even though you had to travel day and night, you would still come for the little prince's full moon banquet."

Yu Yan's eyes darkened.

This time, it was his mistake. He didn't realize that Yu Hong had been following him. Now that this person had realised his connection with Chang Lu, things became even more troublesome.

As if knowing what Yu Yan was thinking, Yu Hong reassured him, "Imperial brother, don't worry. As long as Imperial brother listens to me obediently, I won't tell Emperor father about this."

Yu Yan restrained himself and pondered for a moment. "You took me away from Chang Lu's temporary imperial residence. Aren't you afraid of getting yourself in trouble?"

"Afraid. Of course I'll be afraid," Yu Hong agreed. "But Imperial brother can rest assured. This is no longer within the capital territory. No matter how long the hand of the Chang Lu's monarch, he will not reach here. Moreover, Chang Lu is currently busy with its other affairs. How could he afford to care about these?"

"As for the dog beside you..." Yu Hong paused. "I prepared a generous gift for him. He won't bother us for the time being."

"You–" Yu Yan coldly questioned him, "What did you do to Yungui?"

"Nothing much. I'm only saying that the bodyguard on Imperial brother's side has great martial arts skills. I wish to see who is more skilled, him or the elite bodyguard leaders under me."

Facing Yu Yan's cold gaze, Yu Hong continued, "Imperial brother, don't worry. I just want to talk to you. If the talk goes smoothly, I might leave that person's life alone."

"......"

Yu Yan lowered his eyes, compromising, "Let's talk about it then. What do you want to talk about?"

"What I want to talk about, Imperial brother must have realized." Yu Hong walked to the small couch and sat down, poured a cup of tea for Yu Yan, and brought it to the other's lips.

Yu Yan turned his head and ignored it. Yu Hong had to withdraw his hand. "Meng Changzhou was indeed not sent by me. It was Empress mother."

Yu Yan stared at him blankly.

Yu Hong explained, "Empress mother is worried that you will compete with me for the throne, so she joined hands with Meng Changzhou to send an assassin pretending to be a mountain bandit, to assassinate you."

"By the time I found out about this, you had already returned to Jiang Du."

Yu Hong sighed and muttered, "I was afraid you would find out. I was afraid that once you got wind of it, you would think that it was done on my orders. Although it was indeed Empress mother who schemed your assasination, there were too many interrelated pieces, too many to even explain clearly."

Yu Yan asked, "Then why are you willing to tell me now?"

Yu Hong looked into Yu Yan's eyes, answering warmly, "Because I don't want to lie to Imperial brother again. You are right. For you to believe in me, I need to show my sincerity towards you."

Yu Yan sneered and tugged at the rope binding his wrist. "Is this your sincerity towards me?"

"This...If Imperial brother agrees not to escape, and patiently listens to my explanation, I will agree to release Imperial brother."

Without even thinking about it, Yu Yan said, "I won't run away. Release me."

Yu Hong: "......"

"Look, you obviously don't believe me."

"Sure enough, I can never win over Imperial brother." Yu Hong chuckled, without the slightest irritation in his eyes. Instead, he had a gaze that radiated sincerity. "But this is good. You are my imperial brother whom I have always admired, always liked. I really...really like it very much."

These words were what he frequently used to say to Yu Yan, but Yu Yan had never taken them to heart.

Yet at this moment, Yu Yan looked at the other's eyes, as if suddenly understanding the deep meaning behind his words.

An unspeakable feeling of discomfort spread from the bottom of his heart.

"You..." Yu Yan's voice was dry as he looked at him in disbelief.

Yu Hong reached out to hold Yu Yan's wrist, and gently rubbed the part tied up by the rope. "Imperial brother wanted me to tell you the truth. Now that I told you, why don't you believe it?"

Yu Yan had never been so disgusted with another person's touch. He brushed his hand away. "You are crazy. I am your imperial brother!"

The rough rope grazed his fingertips. A tingling pain spread across.

Yu Hong's eyes darkened.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a bit heavy.

After a long while, Yu Hong whispered, "...But what if you're not?"

Yu Yan still hadn't recovered from the shock just now. He didn't hear Yu Hong's words clearly. "What are you talking about?"

"That's right. That woman has killed everyone who knows the truth. It's normal for Imperial brother to not know anything." Yu Hong's voice was very soft, as if talking to himself. "More than ten years ago, Duke Zhenbei's youngest master, also a blood brother to the previous empress, captured and overwhelmed a common woman, causing her to lose her life."

"...Does Imperial brother know about this?"

More than ten years ago, Yu Yan was still very young and the Great Yan's imperial family was corrupt. It was not uncommon for relatives of royalty to snatch people's daughters in Jiang Du. He had no impression of this.

But from Yu Hong's words, Yu Yan vaguely guessed something.

Yu Yan: "That woman..."

"After the woman was snatched and taken, she became pregnant. She wanted to die, but was imprisoned by Duke Zhenbei's family. To be precise, she was imprisoned by the Empress." Yu Hong closed his eyes. "The Empress had adopted you to be by her side, retaining her position as the lady of the harem, but yet could not retain the heart of the Yan Emperor. She needed a child. A child who was her own flesh and blood."

Yu Yan was stunned.

"So you... you're actually..."

Yu Hong stared at Yu Yan, and recounted slowly, "The previous Empress is actually my aunt."

"Imperial brother and myself aren't too different. We're just puppets for that woman in her quest to seize power. Once we lose our value, we'll be completely abandoned," Yu Hong said. "I had previously sincerely treated her as my mother."

Yu Hong raised his eyes and looked into the distance, as if he was caught in some kind of long lost memory. "I still remember. She treated me very well at the beginning, she was understanding and accommodating, loving and doting. But after I began studying, she seemed to have changed into another person. At that time when I was young, I didn't like to read, didn't have any interest in the position of the crown prince. She was so furious that she locked me in the palace, forcing me to act according to her wishes."

"She actually took the initiative to tell me that I am not a prince, nor her actual son. My existence was only for the Qin family to seize the throne. If I don't listen to her, I will end up worse than the mother who gave birth to me."

Yu Yan finally showed a trace of astonishment in his eyes.

"Imperial brother, looks like you're also surprised, huh. That's what the woman is like. She enjoys the feeling of having everything in her control. Wasn't it the same when she killed Imperial brother's concubine mother?"

Yu Yan's expression changed slightly. A woman's desperate cry of help in the cold snowy night seemed to echo in his ears.

——"No, I beg you. Don't hurt Yan'er, you can do anything you want to me——"

——"...Okay, I promise. I can die, please forgive Yan'er, please..."

Yu Yan's face paled. Forcing his gaze away, "...Stop talking."

"I just know it... I just know that only Imperial brother can understand me." Yu Hong smiled, but it did not spread to his eyes. "In front of the people, she put on an act of love between mother and child. But behind people's backs, if I went slightly off on her plans, she would willfully beat and scold me."

"......I've had enough."

He sat down on the small couch and looked at Yu Yan with yearning. "I don't want that woman to have her wishes fulfilled. So I will never become the crown prince. But I will help Imperial brother. This is my sincerity towards you."

Those words seemed to remind Yu Yan of something. His eyes wavered, he slowly raised his head.

"Why me?" Yu Yan asked.

Yu Hong did not understand: "What do you mean?"

Yu Yan: 'Why did you choose to help me? Is it because of me or because only when I am the crown prince, will the Empress pay the heaviest price?"

Yu Hong's eyes trembled.

Yu Yan raised his head, his eyes cold and calm. Even in this difficult situation, his temperament and bearings had not dipped at all.

"Don't have an answer?" Yu Yan continued, "You don't dare to stand against the Empress in the open, so you stay in the shadows. The Empress wants you to stand out among the princes, so you act as if you're dim-witted. She hopes you can defeat all the princes, so you become friends with them. Of all the others, she despises me the most, so you become the closest to me."

"Is the liking you talk of, really liking? Or is it cheating yourself for the pleasure of revenge?"

"I...I..." Yu Hong staggered back a few steps, almost knocking down the incense burner on the table.

Yu Yan sat up and whispered, "Ah Hong, don't let hatred cloud your mind."

"What right do you have to say this?" Yu Hong shouted, "Collaborating with the enemy country, do you dare to say that you are not doing this for revenge?"

Yu Yan: "It is for revenge, but I am also doing it for the State of Yan."

"The State of Yan is weak. It needs the blessing of great powers like Chang Lu. The Yan Emperor is muddle headed and needs a new leader to change the status quo." Yu Yan said, "I want revenge, and I also want to save the country of Yan. These two things are not contradictory"

Yu Yan fixed his eyes on him and said with a gentle voice. "In fact, we don't need to walk to this point. Ah Hong, you are very smart. You shouldn't turn to be like this because of hatred."

Yu Hong did not answer for a long time.

After a while, he laughed lightly. "No matter what you say, I know Imperial brother just wants to reject me."

Yu Yan: "..."

Why doesn't this kid listen to what he's saying!

"Is it because Imperial brother has someone in his heart?" Yu Hong asked despondently. "Is the one named Mu Yungui really so important to Imperial brother?"

"Last night, outside the residence of Chang Lu's monarch, I made my subordinate who resembled Mu Yungui the most to copy his appearance, wanting to trick Imperial brother into the carriage. But it looks like Imperial Brother had to say only a few words to him to find the flaw."

"You really know him well."

Yu Yan was silent.

Of course. It was because the person's hand felt completely different when he held it.

Totally unlike his family's little shadow guard.

Yu Hong laughed. "The tone of Imperial brother's when speaking with him is very different compared to usual days too."

Yu Yan turned his head away. "This has nothing to do with you."

There was no annoyance on Yu Hong's face. He sighed, "So, Imperial brother really refuses to give me this opportunity? That's alright too..."

He took a porcelain bottle from his sleeves, turned around, uncovered the lid of the incense burner, and poured the liquid into it.

Yu Yan was very sensitive to incense. He demanded, "What's that?"

"A kind of aphrodisiac incense." Yu Hong fiddled with the fragrance in the incense. "This medicine can force an Alpha to enter heat. Unless you mark an Omega, there is no way to resolve it."

Yu Yan's face changed. "Are you crazy? I'm your elder brother!"

"Yes, that's why I hope that Imperial brother can make some promises." Yu Hong walked to Yu Yan and waited patiently for the drug to take effect. "Rest assured, I have prepared everything. No one will come in to disturb us."

"As long as Imperial brother marks me, I will release Imperial brother. From now on, I'll always listen to Imperial brother."

Yu Yan stuttered anxiously, "Yu Hong, calm down. We can't—"

En?

What did he say?

"Wa-wait—" Yu Yan was a little dazed. "So you're, you're an Omega?"

"Yes." Yu Hong declared, "Imperial brother didn't know how much I was worried before the differentiation. Although the Great Yan's law did not stipulate that Alphas could not be together, in any case, it's the best result right now."

Yu Yan: "............"

Yu Yan's head throbbed.

He almost forgot, in the eyes of the royal family of Yan State, he was indeed an Alpha.

Yu Yan couldn't even laugh or cry. "Then you might be disappointed."

Yu Hong: "What do you mean?"

Yu Yan did not explain.

The smell of smoke in the room gradually became rich, and Yu Hong finally realized that something was wrong. "You...how do you..."

"You're not an alpha?!"

"Who told you that I am an alpha?" Yu Yan sighed helplessly, "That's enough, Yu Hong, let me go. You're an omega. I'm an omega too. This is impossible."

Yu Hong: "Why is this happening, you obviously are—"

At this moment, an abnormal noise suddenly came from outside the door.

The sound of fighting, footsteps pounding on the ground one after another. The two of them looked over at the same time. Blood sprayed on the closed door – a trail of red.

The next moment, the door was pushed open.

Mu Yungui stood in front of the door against the light, and kicked the guard who had died. The double-edged sword in his hand had blood dripping down its blade.

Unsure of how many fights he had gone through, his body was stained with blood everywhere, and yet his blood-splattered face was exquisitely beautiful.

He raised a frosty gaze at them.

The author has something to say:

Having vipThere are not many VIP chapters. I try to write as quickly as possible. It should be over within this week.

I have written so many free words.

---Short Story from the Author---

Pick up the ancient dan farming text, will open soon, like to collect the horns

"The Little Fu Lang Dressed as a Koi"

Jingli traveled through ancient times and became a rare little koi in the world, with its own koi buff, allowing people around him to quickly transport it.

The little koi fell to a remote mountain village and was picked up by a famous sick rice seedling in the village.

The sick rice seedling's name is Qin Lang. When he came to the village three years ago, he had no memory. His identity was a mystery. He was too sick to climb up, and so he was squeezed in the village.

Looking at the empty earthen house in Qin Lang's house, Jing Li decided to help him.

Little Koi wagged his tail at Qin Lang: I heard that I can help people achieve their wishes!

Qin Lang: Anything will do?

Little Koi: Uhhhhhhhhhhh!

Qin Lang smiled faintly: I want a husband.

On a certain day, the sick rice seedling in the village suddenly got better and had good luck.

One drill into the mountain, he digs rare herbs, and saves the individual who is the son of Dajia in the city. Even a hoe can dig out an ingot of silver...

Build a house and marry a relative to build a private school. The better the day passes, the villagers are so curious that they scratch their hearts, climb the walls to steal the secrets of the teacher transfer.

I saw the sick rice plant squatting by the pool, coaxing softly to the bright red koi sinking under the water and spitting bubbles:

Obediently come out to eat, so you won't let you lay eggs.

Sick belly black attack x soft cute koi accept, farming and raising a baby to fall in love, the master accepts.