Chapter 141

141 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Bai Chen was taken aback. Even if he had thought that Bai Renshu would bring up the topic of Shao Meihui’s death, he did not expect that the man would say such a thing to Emperor Bai Guowei.

‘Did I just hear it right? Bai Renshu just accused Bai Guowei of killing Shao Meihui? What’s going on here?’ Bai Chen couldn’t help but wonder in his heart.

In Bai Chen’s eyes, the Emperor and the Crown Prince seemed like the perfect combination. The appearances of the two men were similar to each other, and even their attitudes were not too different from one another.

Bai Guowei always looked proud when he talked about his eldest son, and his son also seemed to have great respect for his father. Maybe that was understandable because the two of them used to have a perfect life together years ago before a certain woman came to rob their happiness.

Bai Guowei loved Bai Renshu’s mother very much, and it seemed that the man also loved his son even after his wife left the world. That was why Bai Chen thought that the two men had a harmonious relationship in the empire, and he was shocked by Bai Renshu who suddenly blamed the Emperor for Shao Meihui’s death.

“W-what?” It was not Bai Guowei who responded to Bai Renshu, but it was Shao Yaoting who looked surprised by the news he had just heard. “What... what did you just say, Your Highness? Did you just say that my Huihui has... died?”

Just like a loving father who had just heard the news of his daughter’s death, Shao Yaoting’s body trembled slightly, and his eyes widened in horror as they continued to stare at the Crown Prince.

Bai Renshu was still holding onto his father’s collar, and it seemed he didn’t want to let go even after hearing Shao Yaoting’s question. “Yes,” he answered weakly. “Shao Meihui was killed by the Three-Headed Snake that escaped from the forest core.”

The Three-Headed Snake was known to be a high-level beast originally trapped within the forest core, and the three men seemed all too familiar with the name as they widened their eyes in surprise.

.....

“How could Young Lady Shao be killed by that beast, Bai Renshu? I have assigned three strong men to protect her, so how did she get killed? And how did you know about it, Bai Renshu?” Bai Guowei suddenly questioned the young man who was still gripping his collar without showing him any mercy.

Bai Renshu’s pair of blue eyes finally shifted towards his father again, and two pairs of blue eyes clashed with each other. The older Bai’s pair of eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity, and it was different from the other pairs which were filled with anger.

“You still dare to ask such a question, Your Majesty? Do you think it is important now as to how I managed to obtain the information that Shao Meihui was killed?” Crown Prince Bai Renshu angrily asked back instead of answering his father’s question.

It was true that Bai Guowei didn’t know that Shao Meihui was spending her time with Bai Renshu, not with the three bodyguards he had hired. So, when his son suddenly came to him to inform him that Shao Meihui had died, he immediately had a shocked expression on his face.

Unfortunately, Bai Renshu had no intention of explaining everything to him, and instead, the young man looked like he was going to eat his father alive at this point.

“And do you still dare to lie, Your Majesty?” The Crown Prince asked the Emperor grimly. “I’m pretty sure that my interactions with Shao Meihui have been caught by the surveillance device you put in this forest, and I also believe that you killed Shao Meihui because you never liked to see my relationship with her. You don’t have to lie to me, Your Majesty. Lord Shao is also here with us, so you better come out clean to him before causing trouble in the Dong Lang Empire!”

As Bai Renshu continued to press Bai Guowei, his blue eyes turned to Shao Yaoting for a moment because that man was Shao Meihui’s father. In his eyes, Emperor Bai Guowei needed to explain everything in front of Shao Yaoting.

“Is it true, Your Majesty?” Shao Yaoting suddenly questioned Bai Guowei in disbelief. “We have agreed to arrange a marriage between your youngest son and my daughter, but why did you kill my daughter? You even dared to do such a thing in the Forbidden Forest during the Beast Hunting Event? Do you want to kill anyone in the forest?”

The Black Werewolf Clan’s leader seemed to be starting to lose his composure as he raised his voice while questioning Bai Guowei, and Bai Chen could feel the atmosphere around them getting tenser. He knew that the relationship between the White Werewolf Clan and the Black Werewolf Clan had not been good since many years ago, and Shao Meihui’s death during the Beast Hunting Event only added fuel to the already heated fire between them.

However, Bai Chen did not understand why Bai Renshu had suddenly come to the conclusion that Emperor Bai Guowei was the one who planned everything to kill Shao Meihui.

‘Is it because he knows that the barrier around the core in this forest was destroyed by Shao Meihui’s bodyguards assigned by Bai Guowei? But Bai Renshu wasn’t here before the three people disappeared into thin air after fighting Wu Jinhai and Wu Jiang. It can be said that only Wu Jinhai and I know the truth, but Bai Renshu can still accuse his father?’

Maybe Bai Chen looked clueless, but he could understand that Emperor Bai Guowei was the biggest suspect behind the incident in the forest. The three people who were supposed to be guarding Shao Meihui were assigned by the Emperor, so it was easy to speculate that the Emperor was the one behind all of this.

Bai Chen just couldn’t understand why Bai Renshu could draw that conclusion when the man didn’t even see how the three men admitted that they were the ones who had broken the barrier.

“I didn’t kill Young Lady Shao! Why should I kill her? I have no motive to kill her, nor would I dare to kill her in this forest! Even my son is in this forest, so why should I release the dangerous beasts in the core just to get rid of Young Lady Shao?” Bai Guowei suddenly denied the accusation as he grabbed Bai Renshu’s hand from his collar and pushed his son’s body away from him.

“You did have a motive for killing Shao Meihui, Your Majesty!” Bai Renshu sneered at the white-haired Emperor. “You know my relationship with Shao Meihui, and you always thought that it was Shao Meihui who had been chasing after me all these years. You thought that Shao Meihui was not worthy of being my wife, and you hated her so much. You are sure that this year’s Beast Hunting Event is the right time for you to finally get rid of her even if you have to take a huge risk!”

Bai Renshu continued to attack his father, and Bai Chen finally understood why the man could blame his father for Shao Meihui’s death. It was not that Bai Renshu knew that the three guards were the ones who had broken the barrier, but that he suspected Bai Guowei because of the old grudge between them.

Now Bai Chen knew that the relationship between Bai Renshu and Bai Guowei was not as harmonious as the two of them had publicly displayed, and they both had a complicated relationship that an outsider like him could not understand.

“I also know that you have never liked my daughter, Your Majesty,” Shao Yaoting spoke coldly again. “I came to you to talk about marriage between the Crown Prince and my daughter because they both loved each other for a long time, but you mercilessly rejected my proposal. I know you’ve always hated my daughter, but I don’t expect you to have a plan to kill her in this forest!”

The atmosphere grew tense, and Bai Chen just realized that only three people were constantly talking to each other angrily, but the other three people chose to remain silent as if this matter was none of their business.

When Bai Chen glanced at Emperor Wu Shun and Prince Wu Jinhai, he could see that the two of them were acting like outsiders who had no right to voice their opinion, and Bai Chen frowned at them.

‘I know that this matter is related to the Dong Lang Empire and not related to Wu Li, but if that’s the case, then they should get out of here if they don’t want to interfere, right? I think these two men have similar characteristics to each other. Both like to quietly listen to other people’s conversations without interfering in their affairs. Like a father, like a son,’ Bai Chen facepalmed.