Han Xin looked at Meng Huo with blank eyes as he was sure he misheard him. A slave? It wasn't possible, right? Indeed, the prince had never believed Meng Huo was the prince of the East, but a slave? It was outrageous!
"You heard me right, I am a mere slave" Meng Huo repeated again, seeing the terrified expression on Han Xin's face. He would be lying if he said it didn't hurt, but he couldn't blame the prince. Anyone would give the same reaction...
"You lied to us, to me all this time," Han Xin was flabbergasted as if he had no suspicion about Meng Huo's identity from the very beginning.
"Yes," Meng Huo nodded, "I know there is no excuse for what I did, but please listen to me first," he begged with tears in his eyes.
Rubbing his nose bridge, Han Xin thought for a second before nodding reluctantly. No matter what, everyone deserved a chance to explain themselves.
Drying his tears with his sleeve, Meng Huo started from the beginning, "I am a mere slave from the East palace. I don't have any parents but a sister, Meng Hua. She also works... well, worked in the palace, but as a maid. One day, the king chose me to serve in the dining hall and I obeyed without a thought. I was handed a bottle of wine and was told to pour it into the cups whenever they get empty. As there were only two people on the table, it was easy to follow, but..."
"But?" Han Xin pressed impatiently as he had an idea about these two people.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Meng Huo continued, "but suddenly the guest's head fell on the table, unmoving. Before I could process what happened, the king jumped on his feet and told me that I killed a prince!"
"Lu Ban... my brother..." Han Xin mumbled in between his clenched teeth and Meng Huo nodded with an apologetic expression.
"I panicked and said again and again that I didn't kill him, I didn't even know him, but the king was adamant. He told me to obey him, otherwise he would tell the North about the incident and kill my sister."
"So you agreed on pretending to be a prince and be my husband?"
"No!" Meng Huo exclaimed with horror, "I didn't know anything about it. The maids cleaned me, dressed me, and then the king put me in a carrier and sent me here. All I knew was to pretend like a prince or my sister would die."
Suddenly Han Xin noticed something was amiss in the story. Staring at Meng Huo intently, he asked "how about the Prince of the North? Why didn't you mention him?"
"The prince? How about him?" Meng Huo asked, confused.
Seeing the genuine confusion in his teary eyes, Han Xin believed his sincerity. Rubbing his chin, he asked "wasn't he on the table and died because of the poison as well?"
The poor slave gaped before shaking his head vigorously, "he wasn't there... he is still alive."
Now the big picture was forming in Han Xin's mind. His hands clenched into fists with the anger he felt, but he kept a neutral face, or he thought he did so. "Now tell me about your purpose, you should know what your mission is, right?"
"I really don't know," Meng Huo denied the allegation, "the king didn't tell me anything."
"Really?" Han Xin asked derisively, "then how about the message you got? How could you disobey his order if you didn't know about your mission in the first place?"
"It wasn't..." Meng Huo started, but the rest didn't follow. As Han Xin was already brimming with anger, he would jump on him if he learnt about the wine incident.
"Don't dare to lie," the prince spat his words, his burning gaze piercing through the poor slave's soul.
"It wasn't about my mission whatever it is, it was about the wine incident," the threatened man confessed.
"So it was another ploy?" Han Xin asked with wide eyes. He didn't even sleep to take care of the man who saved his father, thinking he was incapable, but in the end it was all a ploy!
Hearing his words, Meng Huo felt thousands of knives go through his heart. He knew Han Xin was agitated and angry, but did he really believe he would do such a despicable thing? Wasn't he the one who suggested that the culprit must have hated him based on the severity of his wounds?
"Is it really true? Is this why you are silent all of a sudden?"
"Will it change anything if I speak?" Meng Huo asked with pain apparent in his tone, "didn't you already decide that I am a despicable bastard?"
Han Xin froze and a flash of regret swept across his eyes as he realised he crossed the line. He was the one who took care of those nasty injuries, so he knew it very well that they weren't faked. He feigned a cough to hide his abashment and said "continue, I will listen until the end."
"Why? You won't believe me anyway."
"Because you owe me this much," Han Xin won the round, but only caused more pain for both sides.
"True..." Meng Huo took a deep breath to suppress his potential sob, "I knew the man who attacked me. We call him Black Death because he does all the dirty jobs of the king and likes to torture the slaves in his free time."
Hearing the last part, Han Xin felt like a bastard as he accused Meng Huo of working with him. "What did he want from you that day?" he asked softly, his heart throbbing with pain.
"He pulled me into an empty room and told me that the king said I was doing a good job, so my sister was now working in the concubines' palace. Then he beat me a bit before smashing the bottle on my head. As I witnessed a death caused by poisoning, I thought he was here to kill your father when he mentioned the wine."
"Then why did you save my father? Didn't you think you would be punished for that?" Han Xin asked with genuine curiosity as he couldn't understand the logic behind Meng Huo's actions.
"Your father is a good man, how could I let him die when I could save him?"
"That's why you wanted to keep the incident as a secret, no?"
"Yes," Meng Huo nodded, "I thought the king would never know it was me who spoiled the plan, but you saw the message..."
Now everything was crystal clear except Meng Huo's part in the game. As Han Xin needed some time alone to process all of those, he raised to his feet to leave the room, but his robe was caught by the slave's trembling hand.
"Other than my identity, I didn't lie to you. Everything I did or said was sincere, I have never acted in front of you. If my sister's life didn't depend on me, I would tell you everything on the day you took care of me for the first time," Meng Huo confessed with tears in his eyes.
"I don't know... I have to think about all these. Don't leave this room," Han Xin murmured as he saved his robe and left the room pell-mell. No matter what Meng Huo did, he couldn't bear to see him crying.
What a cruel fate it was...
***
A surprise chapter to make it up for the weekend^^
This chapter is dedicated to my other two cute mei mei; nishimishu and eternallywangxian.
Thank you my cuties for your heart-melting support <3<3<3
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You Are Worthy
Romance[Completed] A framed slave of the East has to act like a prince in the North so that his and his sister's lives will be preserved. But how easy can it be for a slave to pretend as a prince? What if his act discovered by the North prince whom he is...
