129 The Wolf is stuck between a sword...and another sword

Xiao Zai glared at his father across the edge of the blade, his breath fogging up the cold steel.

With a chuckle, the King lowered the sword and returned it to the guard's scabbard. "Impulsive, undisciplined, unfilial," he sighed, "I should have never let Bailiu raise you. It was always going to end up like this."

"My dam is worth a thousand of you," Xiao Zai spit out. He felt as if his insides were bubbling with acid and he needed to let it out before it choked him.

"He has poisoned you against me," the King said, obviously to the benefit of the guards listening in, and the servants passing through the courtyard in hurried steps, because both Xiao Zai and the King knew that wasn't true.

Gu Wei didn't need to poison him, because Xiao Zai hated his father from the moment he saw him lay a hand on his dam.