Death By Beating

Li Chenyang was the first to break the unsettling silence. "If he asked about your birth mother, then it means he's aware of the similarity you two shared."

"Which means…" Li Xueyue gulped. "He's suspicious about my identity. He's close to finding out who I really am."

Li Chenyang stiffly nodded. "Precisely. This will be a problem for us."

Li Xueyue bent down to pick up the scroll he dropped, handing it back to him. He took it, his fingers tightening around the item.

"For now, we will lay low when it comes to Duke Li Taojun. Don't talk to him. Don't look at him. Pretend as if he doesn't exist. If you see him, walk in the opposite direction. We shouldn't give him any opportunity to think about you or talk with you."

Li Xueyue nodded her head. "He's mainly in the Palace."

"I know, which is why we'll have another reason to keep you out of there."