Why?

Things hadn't been going well since night.

Lin Zi Xuan couldn't fall asleep no matter how much he tried. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was the face of his wife when she asked the question to him. Her face was calm, but her eyes were filled with emotions that he didn't know what to say.

He had always planned to kill everyone from the Lin Family.

His mother was a princess from Bai Qi Kingdom, which was destroyed before he was even born. Ever since he was a little boy, his mother would always shout about her hatred towards Lin Tang Kingdom and how that life should have been different for her.

A princess.

But she was forced to live in a village like a village girl.

She couldn't directly accept it and even after so many years, all his mother wanted was to take revenge against the people in Lin Family and destroy them all. It was the only reason why she married that general (Lin Han Xing) and bore his child.

Lin Zi Xuan still could remember how his mother asked him to promise repeatedly to destroy the Lin Family to take revenge. And how he was actually a prince of Bai Qi Kingdom and not a prince of Lin Tang Kingdom.

His mother kept on repeating that.

For so many times that he felt sick just listening about it.

And being sent to the battlefield ever since he was young, he had long known that his existences were unwanted by many people. He kept silent and focused on building his power to make sure that he would be able to deal with them.

Since when?

Since when did he no longer view the entire Lin Family as his enemies?

He couldn't understand his mother's hatred because when he was born, she had already lived in a village. All he knew was his hatred for being treated as trash by those people from the Lin Family.

Everyone, except for one.

"Cousin Zi Xuan."

The sweet voice of a little girl, the pure gaze she cast on him. Lin Zi Xuan could see very well that he hadn't done anything, but she was looking at him with her clear gaze.

There was no false kindness in hope that one would be able to take advantage of him.

She was just a naïve little kid, who didn't listen to the words that the adults spread about him.

He thought that she was stupid.

But then…

When they were in that hall and wanted to ask the young girl to pick her future husband, all she asked was for him to treat her well. He could remember the time when she wrote his name crookedly on that piece of paper.

It felt…. Somewhat nice.

To be trusted by someone not because of what he had done but simply because it was him.

And when he saw her again, she was still looking at him with the same clear gaze. She was being more cautious, but she didn't look at him with any kind of contempt. She trusted him enough to know more about her real self that she never showed to others. Her talent was completely hidden before, but she showed it all in front of him.

She knew that he was not like what he showed on the surface, but she never tried to ask anything about it.

Even if she knew more than what she showed, she never mentioned it.

He liked staying beside her, watching her express her thoughts, or simply walk with her. Everything seemed to be really nice and peaceful.

To the point that he nearly forgot his real goal that had been ingrained into his mind from the moment he was born by his mother.

Kill everyone from Lin Family.

Lin Zi Xuan couldn't sleep and when it was morning, he attended the morning court as usual. Noticing that Feng Ning was not by his side, he felt even more irritable.

She used to stay by his side.

Even if she had nothing to say, she would listen to his words.

But it's now empty.

He didn't like it at all.

Once the morning court was over, Lin Zi Xuan headed into the inner palace towards his mother's area. The question that Feng Ning asked… she would only ask that if his mother openly told her about it.

"Zi Xuan, you're here." Empress Dowager Qi smiled.

Different from usual, Lin Zi Xuan didn't approach Empress Dowager Qi with a smile. He stood at a distance, looking at his mother.

"Lin Zi Xuan?"

"Mother, why did you tell her that?"

Empress Dowager Qi's face twisted in anger when she heard that question. She looked at her son and snapped, "Why I tell her that? That's because it's the truth! When she had a child, you can kill her. And after marrying another woman, you will be able to have your own child that's unrelated to the Lin Family!"

"Kill that b*tch son so that our lineage will continue and thrive without any of the Lin Family!"

Lin Zi Xuan was silent.

He looked at his mother as he could still remember her request to him back then. It was also because of this that he didn't care which one of the Imperial Princesses he was to marry back then. In fact, he was planning on having the first princess because her age was the most suitable.

But the drama occurred and turned his attention to the third princess.

The quiet princess who had completely hidden her talent so that she would not be eliminated early.

"Lin Zi Xuan!" Empress Dowager Qi shouted when she saw her son staying quiet. Her eyes turned red. She had been going crazy all this time because of seeing the splendor in the palace. She wanted the entire Lin Family to be destroyed!