The Emperor deliberately pretended not to notice Xia Houzhe's emotional fluctuation and continued inserting the needles.
"Ning Hongde was the fallen Crown Prince of Xia's mentor, the most loyal to him. Back then he insisted on dying to follow the Crown Prince to the grave, which already proved his upright loyalty. No one expected that the death was faked; the death was false, but secretly holding the hidden heir in his hand and reining in the Crown Prince's old followers was what was real."
