The boy truly didn't understand.
Even someone like him knew of Yan An's deeds—how, for the sake of that shallow brotherly bond from their days as fellow disciples, he had defied the heavens and poured his heart and soul into Zheng Qiao's service...
To the boy, he was just a hopelessly good-natured fool.
He thought it over for a moment, then puffed out his cheeks and complained, "But what did that man do to offend the Sovereign?"
Though he was on Yan An's side in his heart, he couldn't say so aloud. He knew perfectly well what Zheng Qiao valued about him—
Besides his similar face, it was the way he went along with Zheng Qiao in everything, right or wrong, good or evil, saying only what the other man wanted to hear.
Zheng Qiao said, "His being alive displeases me."
"Then... just kill him." The boy's heart trembled, but a spoiled, ingratiating smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Zheng Qiao propped his chin in his hand and stared into space for a while.
He neither agreed nor disagreed with the boy's suggestion.
He merely lifted a hand, and the boy understood.
He obediently lay across Zheng Qiao's knees and half-closed his eyes, though his mind wandered elsewhere. Outsiders widely believed he was Zheng Qiao's favorite male lover, but in reality, Zheng Qiao had never once overstepped. Rather than treating him like a beloved, indulged male companion, it was more like Zheng Qiao treated him as a son—or perhaps as a stand-in for his younger self?
Pampered and cherished, protected at every turn.
This discovery had shocked the boy.
He had been the son of a butcher in a remote county of Ganzhou. From a young age, he had learned the trade from his late father, working as