Xia Houzhe sat on the bed, his mind still on the message Emperor Chu had left.
Dong'er had been abducted by the old subordinates of the Xia clan.
What Emperor Chu assumed to be taking a hostage or venting their anger was not so; they wanted to get Dong'er out, and then...
Xia Houzhe suddenly recalled what he had overheard in the secret room of the Prince Mansion, the conversation between Mister Ning and the servant Zhang Zhi—how had they put it?
Sacrifice him, then take Commandery Princess Chongyang away or bring Shang Pu back, and let the two of them have another child.
Now that move was no longer viable, so they were going to take the one already at hand.
At this thought, Xia Houzhe suddenly panicked. Could it be that Mister Ning truly meant to discard this chess piece that was himself?
Impossible. If that were truly the case, was he not afraid that Xia Houzhe would spill everything, tear all pretense apart, and drag them all down to hell together?
