Jun Gui stared at his father and uncle while trying to hide his discomfort. The news of the alleged Imperial progeny was now everywhere. The entire capital was chaotic with gossip and speculation. He glanced at his siblings to the side and wondered why Feng Huan was not present.

"Jun Gui," Jun You said in the typical cold voice he reserved for this disfavored child.

"Yes, Father!" Gui answered promptly and respectfully. Years of practice made it easy for him to hide his true feelings.

"You've met Liang Meng Yao before haven't you?"

"Yes. I met him in a village in the outskirts of our Qing Empire. I thought he was a simple villager. I had no idea he wa-"

"Quiet!" Jun You coldly cut off Gui’s babbling.

Gui immediately stopped speaking and swallowed hard as he kept his eyes glued to the floor. He didn't dare look up.

His father had always been very strict with him. He was only the unfavored bastard of a Yiji. He had no good feelings for his father either but he knew he was lucky to have been taken in by the Jun clan. He pretended to be respectful because he knew being kicked out of the family would be even worse for him. Even though his father was arranging a marriage for him to a ruthless man who had already killed three of his wives, all Gui could do was try and marry another man as soon as possible. In the meantime, he had to seem obedient and try to keep his father appeased.

Gui cursed the stupid village man who he had been planning to marry before Meng Yao exposed the man’s vile nature. Time was running out and he couldn’t help but hate the man even more right now.

"Tell me what you think of him,” Chong Lin demanded. Gui appreciated his uncle for his kindness over the years and thought carefully.

"If I had to say one thing, Uncle, I would say that he is a cunning man."

"Of course he is,” Chong Lin snarled as his face twisted with hate. “After all, he is Liang Huan's child. If he were not a cunning man, I would be calling Xiao Si a liar. What I need from you is to know about what is important to him.”

Gui swallowed his nervousness at his uncle’s unaccustomed coldness and bowed his head to think.

“Well,” he said slowly after some thought, “he seems very attached to money.”

Chong Lin snorted derisively, “Who isn’t? What about friends, family, a pet dog? What does he love, boy?”

"I think he doesn’t have any family other than his wife, Hong Jia Yi.” Gui considered for a moment before adding, “Well, and the Emperor and Crown Prince too, I guess.”

"A wife? Hong Jia Yi?” Chong Lin’s tone warmed up considerably but the malicious light in his eyes made Gui shiver involuntarily. “Good – well done. You may be dismissed."

The younger generation bowed respectfully and turned to leave. Gui was pushed aside just outside the door by his younger half-sibling.

"Hmph, what do you think you can get by sucking up to Uncle?" Jun Ze Min asked mockingly. “Nothing you can do will erase your peasant blood. In the end you will die and be forgotten just like your whore of a Daddy.”

Gui didn't pay much attention to the words of his younger, she-man brother. Even though Jun Ze Min was a legitimate she-man of the family, he never passed up a chance to step on Gui. Ze Min never failed to disparage Gui for being the child of a Yiji but the truth that Gui still hadn’t realized was that Ze Min was desperately jealous of Gui. Gui had been delicate and beautiful from the very start and Ze Min felt he would never be able to compare to his older sibling.

If it was only Ze Min, Gui wouldn’t have minded but the truth was everyone in the Jun family, right down to the servants, treated Gui as an eyesore. If he hadn’t been a beautiful she-man that Jun You could use in an advantageous marriage, he probably would have been sold to a brothel by now.

His life in the Jun family had been quite miserable until a chance encounter in the marketplace had led to a friendship between himself and Feng Huan. They shared the fate of being unwanted children, although Huan’s father clearly loved him. So even though Gui was several years older than Huan, the two had become close friends. Feng Chong Lin had extended his kindness to the one child who had befriended his son and the rest of the Jun family could no longer treat Gui as harshly as they had before. However, they still had no problem throwing insults at him whenever they wanted.

"In the end, everyone dies and everyone is eventually forgotten," Jun Gui answered calmly.

"I don’t know why I even waste my time talking to trash like you," Jun Ze Min snarled back at him. He couldn’t refute Gui’s words so he quickly left the area before Gui could say something else that exposed Ze Min’s lack of intelligence.

After returning from the palace, Xiao Si was heading to his room when he saw Chong Lin waiting for him. Xiao Si stopped suddenly, his hand curling into a fist as he stared at the prideful man in front of him. But a moment later, he uncurled the fist and gave Chong Lin a mocking smile.

"You think you've won, eh?" Chong Lin asked with an arrogant smirk. "You should be thinking more about how you can spend what little time you have left with him.”

“You should be thinking more on how to save your traitorous skin,” Xiao Si snarled in response.

“Don’t worry, I have my safety covered,” Chong Lin told Xiao Si smugly. “First, I will snap that annoying fox cub’s neck right in front of you –“

"Dream on," Xiao Si cut him off. “My Yaoyao is a strong man. You stand no chance.”

"I was able to defeat his father,” Chong Lin boasted. “It will be easy to defeat his son. Too bad you didn’t have the eyes to recognize good and bad. Still, Liang was a sneaky old fox so I’m not surprised that he managed to fool you so thoroughly."

"Fool me? Unlike you, he was nothing but honest with me. He respected and loved me and would never have forced me as you have."

Chong Lin’s temper flared higher and he struck out at Xiao Si’s soft spot.

"Are you sure? Are you sure that leaving you with your child wasn’t part of his plan? How else could he have been defeated by me so easily back then? Aren’t I a fool in both of your eyes? Then how could I have won?” Chong Lin asked with a spiteful laugh. "Yeah, I think the only answer is that you were nothing but a pawn, an object, a toy to him – the people, your son, and you – all of you are moving as he knew you would. Do you honestly still think he loved you?"

Xiao Si gritted his teeth and raised his hand to Chong Lin but his wrist was caught in Chong Lin’s iron grip before the blow could land. The General smiled lustfully, turned on by Xiao Si's fierce attitude. It was almost like seeing the Xiao Si from all those years ago back before his eyes.

"I believe it's time to serve your husband," he said with a licentious smile.

"Chong Lin, do you believe the heavens have no eyes?" Xiao Si snarled as he tried to wrench his wrist free. “You will suffer for this!”

"No, I'll enjoy this!"

Chong Lin easily dragged Xiao Si into the room and threw him onto the bed. Xiao Si recognized the futility of his struggles and lay passively as Chong Lin forced himself on him. He distracted himself from the humiliation being inflicted on him by focusing on his plans to take Chong Lin down.