He called her Number 21, which meant that he still treated her as a bad woman on a mission.

  He kept reminding himself how badly he had been hurt by this Number 21!

  He still could not walk out from the pain of the past!

  Long Ming narrowed his cold eyes and slowly exhaled a mouthful of smoke.

  A faint smile appeared on his thin lips. “What else should I call you? Miss Tang?”


  Xiao Ying lowered her eyes. “Miss Tang or Xiao Ying are fine. I’ve already left the organization for many years. Don’t remind me again and again that I’m Number 21, the person who charmed countless men back then.”


  Long Ming stared at Xiao Ying’s angry face with cold eyes. He threw the cigar he had smoked to the ground and scoffed coldly. “You can lie to yourself that you were once a pure and noble woman just because I don’t call you Number 21?”


  Xiao Ying felt a lump in her throat and her eyes suddenly swelled up. “Long Ming, do you think I had a choice? I was trained when I was young. If I couldn’t stand out, I would have died. I was being controlled by Ba Li. If I wanted to live, I had no choice but to listen to his arrangements.”


  “I said before that apart from you and Qiao Yanze, I have never done anyone wrong. I hurt you and paid the price I deserve. Why are you still unwilling to let me go?”


  Xiao Ying hugged her head, her temples throbbing in pain. “What do I have to do to get rid of the hatred in your heart? Will you only feel better after I die?”


  She felt terrible about coming to the forest too.

  The past appeared like an old movie.

  For the past few years, she had been working hard to get rid of her past self and live like a normal person.

  However, after meeting him again, all her efforts were in vain.

  A person like her could not become an ordinary person.

  If she didn’t have Wan Bao, she could give her life to him right now!

  Long Ming stared at Xiao Ying. Suddenly, his well-defined hands grabbed her thin shoulders.

  He used so much strength that he almost crushed her bones.

  He wanted to tell her to return to his side and heal him with love but he knew very well that she had never loved him.

  Forcing and coercion would only make her stay away from him!

  Thinking of how he had struggled all these years, unable to remove her from his heart, he hated her but hated himself even more!

  He let go of her shoulders, clenched his fists, and punched the tree behind her.

  She did not know how much strength he used but the skin on the back of his hand broke and the leaves on the tree rustled.

  Seeing the back of his injured hand, Xiao Ying’s eyelashes fluttered.

  He ignored her and walked around her, his tall body leaning against the tree trunk on the other end.

  Xiao Ying looked around and found several herbs to stop the bleeding. She picked them and crushed them. Then, she walked in front of him. Pulling his injured hand up, she placed the herbs on top and wrapped it with her own handkerchief.

  Seeing Xiao Ying’s actions, Long Ming pursed his lips tightly. He did not say anything, nor did he push her away.

  …


  Knowing that Long Ming had come to the secluded forest to investigate, Lou Lan followed behind him secretly.

  But the moment she arrived, she saw Xiao Ying bandaging Long Ming’s wound.

  Lou Lan’s expression changed. She clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails almost pierced through her palm.

  Xiao Ying was a b*tch who had not kept her word. In front of her, she had used the glass shards to cut herself. She had promised that she would not destroy her relationship with Long Ming and would not be entangled with him.

  But what was she doing now?

  Lou Lan’s eyes turned red with jealousy and hatred reflecting from them.

  She closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from acting rashly. If she questioned them now, it would only make Long Ming feel disgusted!

  After leaving the forest, Lou Lan returned home and cried on the bed.

  She felt better after crying.

  Taking out her phone, she made a call.

  “Let’s get to the bottom of the granny’s identity as soon as possible. If it’s not the person Long Ming is looking for, we have to speed up the process. I have to find her first!” When Long Ming was young, his father had been killed and he had been sent to the borders, almost dying a horrible death. It was a granny who had saved him and raised him for several years. Later, his father’s confidants contacted him and he had been separated from the granny. When he returned to the palace to take revenge and take back everything that belonged to him, the granny and her family were long gone.

  All these years, Long Ming had been secretly searching for the whereabouts of the old lady.

  In order to deepen Long Ming’s good impression of her and improve their relationship, Lou Lan had also been looking for that old lady.

  Some time ago, she had some news.

  However, she could not confirm that the old lady was the person Long Ming was looking for.

  However, if she was, Long Ming and the old lady had to thank her.

  …


  That night.

  Xiao Ying and two female colleagues slept in the same room.

  But no matter how much she tried, she could not fall asleep and she tossed and turned around.

  The things she had experienced since she was young flashed through her mind.

  Some things really could not be recalled. The more she recalled, the more miserable she felt.

  That feeling of wanting to break free from the shackles but being helpless was so painful that she wanted to die!

  Long Ming must have felt the same!

  After turning over again, her phone vibrated.

  Xiao Ying picked up her phone and saw an unfamiliar message.

  “Miss Ying, are you asleep? If not, come out for a while.”


  It was from Mo Tian.

  Xiao Ying took her phone and walked out of the boardroom.

  Mo Tian stood at the door and when he saw Xiao Ying coming out, he said to her, “The King is sick. I tried to feed him medicine but he didn’t eat it. I asked the doctor to give him an injection but he didn’t allow it. His fever is very high and I really have no choice but to come and let you take a look.”


  Xiao Ying nodded. “Bring me there.”


  Long Ming stayed in a room alone. When Xiao Ying went in, he was curled up on the bed with his back facing the door.

  Such a tall man looked a little lonely while curled up. He was completely different from his usual domineering and arrogant self.

  Staring at his lonely back, Xiao Ying was slightly dazed.

  Mo Tian passed the fever medicine to Xiao Ying. “Thank you.” With that said, he left the room.

  Xiao Ying walked to the bed and looked at Long Ming’s back. She suddenly felt that he was a little pitiful. Although he was the King now, his heart was lonely and desolate.

  If his father had not been harmed back then and he had grown up in the royal family and had not experienced being used and hurt by her, would he have lived a happier life?

  Long Ming did not notice Xiao Ying approaching. He furrowed his eyebrows tightly as his body shivered. His breathing sounded a little hurried and he must have been having a high fever.

  Xiao Ying reached out and touched his forehead. But very quickly, the man was like a startled cheetah, grabbing her wrist and waving her away.

  …