Shen Chuanlian narrowed his eyes slightly. "Didn't you promise Liu Wan you would deal with him after the Imperial Examination?"
Why had he gone back on his word now?
He really could not fathom the complexities of human nature.
Liu Zimu glanced at him. "Mother doesn't want this to affect my Imperial Examination. If I stain my hands with sin before earning Scholarly Honors, someone with an agenda will certainly report me and ruin my future."
"But I've already done everything I can to consider Mother's feelings, and I still can't let go of that hatred."
The hatred he had suppressed for years had long lain buried in his heart beneath the dust of time.
But today, he had once again seen the villain who had murdered his birth mother and left him with such terrible shadows and hatred standing before him.
Years of restraint, years of gentlemanly conduct and lessons in poetry, books, and propriety-all of it had turned to ashes.
Anger and hatred roared together in Liu Zimu's heart, taking control of his body. All he wanted was to charge forward and kill that villain, using his blood as an offering to his dead birth mother and the child he had once been.
Even after all the vicious energy had been drawn out of him, Liu Zimu had merely calmed down. His desire for revenge had not diminished in the slightest.
Mother had promised to let him deal with A Pai once his Scholarly Honors were secured!
But all Zi Mu's obedience had been an act.
Every day A Pai lived was another day he would affect him.
Right up until the final moment before he entered the examination hall.
A Pai had already lived long enough. He had already cast a shadow over his entire life. He