Tong Xia sank into the chair, his hands trembling uncontrollably, a chill creeping up his spine, making him shiver: "Send down the order, anyone in my palace must not approach Tantai Palace, nor provoke that person in Tantai Palace!"
"Young Master, who exactly is this person? Why... why are you so afraid?"
"This person must never be provoked! If you see him in the future, you must bow respectfully." Ye Fei might not know Feng Mo Ran's identity and background, but Tong Xia, a noble of Blue Moon, knew that Feng Mo Ran was an extremely dangerous man. If he offended him, his own life would be a small matter, but he feared it would implicate his entire family!
Cen Yu originally thought that Xiao Man would subject him to various tortures again, but Xiao Man merely had him locked up and paid him no mind. Even the guards at the gate couldn't be bothered with him.
Cen Yu tore his clothes to bandage his wounds. The two swords Xiao Man had thrust into him, while not fatal, had inflicted deep wounds that were still bleeding. He had to stop the bleeding, otherwise, he would die of blood loss before Xiao Man could kill him.
Cen Yu drifted into a daze, feeling cold all over, curled up in a corner, trembling. He hadn't dreamt of that night in a long time, but Cen Yu dreamt of the past he didn't want to recall again.
He remembered he was only six years old then. His mother had brought him to the Cen family, begging his father to take him in. But his father utterly refused to acknowledge his identity. If he hadn't had such good looks, he would likely have been thrown out at that very moment.
Cen Yu thought, if he had known what awaited him at the Cen family, he would have rather been thrown out, rather than ever step foot into the Cen household!
After Old Master Cen kept him, he did not treat him well. He kept him and his mother because a guest at the Cen family at the time fancied his mother. Not long after they entered the Cen family, his mother disappeared, having been given away by Old Master Cen!
Cen Yu gritted his teeth. He had grown up watching other fathers dote on their sons, giving them piggyback rides, buying candied hawthorns. But his father treated them like commodities, used to please others.
He endured those hellish days for four years, until his father, in order to gain the opportunity to become an imperial merchant, gave him to a minister named Zhou. That minister had a penchant for young boys, and it was said that he had killed more than ten young boys.
And his father, knowing full well it was hell, smiled and pushed him into it! In the Zhou family, he suffered unprecedented humiliation and torture. He wanted to resist, but was powerless. Just when he thought he would die at the hands of that scumbag, that scumbag suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
In Cen Yu's memory, a young face appeared, holding a dagger. A pair of dark eyes were filled with fear. Seeing his terrified and disheveled state, the child quickly grabbed clothes to cover him.
The scumbag, though stabbed, didn't die. He struggled to get up and grabbed the child's hair.
The child kicked the scumbag in the groin, and the scumbag, in pain, released his grip. The child pulled him and they fled. He told him to crawl out through a dog hole. The child originally wanted to escape with him, but the scumbag chased them out and smashed the child's head with a vase. He clearly remembered looking through the dog hole and seeing the child lying in a pool of blood, with something seemingly glowing in the blood.
In his dream, Cen Yu kept running, not daring to look back, not daring to stop. It wasn't until he stumbled into the backyard of the Prime Minister's estate and met Wen Mo Han that he escaped his life as a kept boy.
If Wen Mo Han helped him end his life as a kept boy, then that child was the one who truly saved his life.
"Jade pendant!" Cen Yu woke up from his nightmare, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. He had seen something clearly in his dream: that child, that child wore a very special jade pendant, a spherical hollow jade pendant. And he had seen this jade pendant on Wen Mo Han!
"Someone, quickly, someone!"
"What are you yelling about? It's the middle of the night, can't people sleep?"
"I want to see Wen Mo Han, I want to see him now!" Cen Yu dragged his legs, shouting excitedly. The one who saved him back then was not Wen Mo Han, he was certain of that. But the child's jade pendant appearing on Wen Mo Han meant that Wen Mo Han knew his whereabouts!
He was still alive! Cen Yu was extremely excited. He had wanted to return to the Zhou family to find that child, but the Zhou family had been reduced to ashes by a great fire, and not a single person from the Zhou family survived. He thought that child had died too. Now it seemed that child was still alive!
The guards ignored Cen Yu. Cen Yu immediately pulled out the silver hairpin from his head and pressed it to his throat: "I want to see Wen Mo Han. If you don't report it, I'll die for you to see. If I die, how will you explain it to your master!"
The guards stepped forward, but Cen Yu dared to die. The hairpin pierced his skin, into the flesh. The guards, fearing Cen Yu would die, quickly persuaded him: "We will report it. As for whether Young Master Wen is willing to see you, that's not our concern."
"He will come."
Wen Mo Han was about to rest when he heard the guard report that Cen Yu was in the dark prison, threatening to die if he didn't see him. He frowned. He didn't want to see him, but after a moment of hesitation, he put on his clothes and went.
In the dark prison, Cen Yu sat leaning against the railing. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and saw Wen Mo Han walking slowly, his pace unhurried, his clothes neat, truly the image of a graceful young gentleman.
However, Cen Yu had no mind to appreciate Wen Mo Han's demeanor at this moment. His gaze fell on the jade pendant hanging at Wen Mo Han's waist, the spherical hollow jade pendant, glowing with specks of red, exactly as he remembered it.
"What do you want to see me for?"
Cen Yu reached out, intending to snatch the jade pendant from Wen Mo Han's waist to examine it closely. However, Wen Mo Han saw through his intention, stepped back two paces, and Cen Yu couldn't reach it.
"Let me see it, let me see that jade pendant."
Wen Mo Han glanced at the spherical jade pendant hanging at his waist, unmoved: "This jade pendant is very important to me, I cannot give it to you."
"Whose is this jade pendant?"
"Who do you think it is?"
Something that Wen Mo Han cherished so much could only be a gift from Xiao Man!
Cen Yu's expression was one of great shock, as if unwilling to believe: "Impossible, how could it be hers? Absolutely impossible. The person who saved me was a young boy!"
A flicker of surprise flashed in Wen Mo Han's eyes: "You remember what happened that day?"
"Remember? What do you mean?" Cen Yu asked, astonished. What did he mean by "remember"?
"The memories of the day the Zhou family was annihilated, didn't you forget them all?"
"The Zhou family was annihilated..." Cen Yu nodded. His memory of that day was very vague. "The Zhou family was annihilated, and the boy who saved me..."