"But he was a spy for the other country. He betrayed –“

"We were at war! He betrayed our country but Liang Huan revealed that he held no true camaraderie with his brothers-in-arms! He was only pretending! He was nothing but a green snake in grass!" Spittle flew as Chong Lin spewed his hatred for Liang Huan.

He noticed Huan’s wide-open eyes and paler face and drew in a deep breath before continuing in a calmer voice.

"Let me tell you a little about Liang Huan,” he began with a grim voice. “Liang Huan had a rough childhood and it broke something in him. No one can know how deep it broke him. He was programmed by his father to serve and please him. As soon as the emperor casually remarked that he considered him as his son, Liang Huan became a virtual slave to the man. He would do his majesty’s bidding – obey every command – without even questioning the order. He was trained to do this from the very start by his biological father."

Chong Lin’s eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered the day Liang Huan shared some details of his childhood.

”He was raised as nothing more than a slave. If he was given two potatoes, it meant to be his food for two days. If he ate them in one day, he would have nothing to eat the next. He was allowed only to serve his father, and only his father. He had to be a faithful son and care for no one else. If he dared disobey his father, he would be beaten – sometimes until his bones broke. He was not allowed to answer a question wrong or speak out of turn. When he cooked, he wasn't allowed to eat unless his father gave him permission.

”He told me that some people had tried to help him as he grew up but somehow his father would influence them and they would stop helping – some would even turn around and help his father abuse him. Simply to survive, Liang Huan learned to understand and manipulate the people around him, although never his father. The nature of humans is complex and hard to understand but somehow Liang Huan mastered the ability to manipulate most people into doing what he wanted.”

Chong Lin’s eyes burn with hatred as he continued to speak. Huan almost felt like his presence no longer registered on his father as the man shared the past with him.

"I was the first to detect his abnormality. It wasn’t natural how he moved with the rhythm of everyone around him. It was like he was a man who could do no wrong. I was suspicious of him from the start but then it changed – I became blind to his abnormality and saw only good in that man. There was a time that I would have died for him. We were sworn brothers."

Chong Lin held out his hand towards his son, pointing to the pale scar that ran along the center of his palm. It was the location of the cut he had made to mix his blood with Liang Huan as a sign of their brotherhood. He had been ecstatic at the time. He looked up to Liang Huan because he was so smart and capable and their blood oath of brotherhood meant Liang Huan regarded him as an equal. That’s what he had thought, at least. He realized later that he was stupid to think that way.

"I was nothing more than another object in his eyes,” Chong Lin shared grimly. “For two years I was with them both on the battlefield. For two years, they were secretly in love and kept it entirely from me. They both knew how I felt and they played me like a fool that entire time. And then they expected me to and wish them well after playing with feelings?"

"But daddy didn't love yo-"

"I KNOW THAT!” Chong Lin yelled, cutting his son off yet again. “That's not the point A'Huan. The point is; as a sworn brother he should have said something to me! Our friendship – our brotherhood – was nothing to him. I was nothing but a toy to him. How much did he laugh behind my back as he made love with your daddy? How often did he mock me as I courted your daddy?"

Huan had nothing to say. He didn't know how to answer his father’s pain. His eyes filled up with tears.

"But father, now your actions will come around and bite you," Huan said sadly as tears began to fall. "Daddy wants you dead and now he has the opportunity to have you killed. I don't want you to die, Father. Please give this up! Don't let them kill you! Just beg Daddy for forgiveness – I'll do it with you!"

Chong Lin looked at him coldly.

"That's all I've ever wanted, you know?” He told his son. “An apology would have avoided all of this. Do you know what he said to me when I confronted him and demanded one?"

"Apologize? For what? I’ve done nothing to feel sorry for. You’re funny, Chong'er hahaha"

"It was a joke to him! All of my feelings – all of my pain – and he thought it would end with a simple fistfight between us? Never! He escaped his fate by jumping off of that cliff but the Emperor didn't and Xiao Si is mine, whether he’s willing or not. Since my feelings didn't matter to them, then fuck their feelings as well! Let them try to kill me! I'm itching to battle it out.”

Chong Lin punched the shelf causing a deep crack to appear in it, Huan furrowed his eyebrows and looked down sadly.

Xiao Si was arrived at his father’s study just as Zhong Weizhe was coughing into a cloth he held with in his hand. When the coughing spasm ended, both men could see the red blood staining the white cloth.

"My time is coming near, Xiao Si. Soon you will be free to do as you please," Emperor Weizhe said bitterly.

"Will I?” Xiao Si questioned, just as bitterly. “He has already crawled his way within the authority of the Imperial Court. With Huan by his side, no one disobeys him and my authority over him is nonexistent."

The emperor heaved a sigh, closing his eyes in defeat.

"Yes, it appears so. It seems our fates are sealed," he said in a voice devoid of hope.

"No, we are not doomed yet,” Xiao Si contradicted his father. His grim voice held a strong thread of joy as he revealed, “Imperial Father, Yaoyao is alive!"