A Yue still liked to ask these hypothetical questions.

Xie Jin Yan sighed, somewhat helplessly, "A Yue, there are no 'ifs'..."

"Shixiong, are you unwilling to answer?" Gao Min Yue interrupted him, her eyes full of expectation as she said, "Shixiong, she's not here now, you don't have to worry about her hearing it."

"A Yue, my wife isn't that childish."

Childish?

So, he thought she was more childish than Yu Qing Wu?

But in the past, Shixiong always said she was innocent.

Now, it had become childish.

Gao Min Yue chuckled, looking at him with tearful eyes, her voice hoarse, "Shixiong, you always said I was innocent, but now it's childish, so... once a person's heart changes, everything looks different than before, right?"

"Changed heart?"

Xie Jin Yan repeated softly, and laughed in anger.

"A Yue, are you really confused or pretending to be?"

"I've told you no less than ten times, I've never loved you. Even if there was something, it was the love between family members, like with Xie Rui Zhi."

"But... you hugged me before!"

Gao Min Yue interrupted him, resentment and unwillingness flashing in her tearful eyes, choking with sobs, "You hugged me before when we were at the Crown Prince's residence! And you didn't punish me for pushing Yu Qing Wu into the pond! If you didn't love me, why would you hug me and why wouldn't you punish me?"

"I know you're angry with me because I had an affair with that Nan Yue person, because... I betrayed the Wei Dynasty, that's why you're angry and drove me away."

"A Yue!"

Xie Jin Yan stopped her, his tone heavy as he looked at her inability to recognize reality. His peach blossom eyes were stern as he looked at her, word by word, "Can you recognize reality? I think I've made these issues very clear. It's because you're Uncle Gao's daughter, and you're my sister!"

"You know that very well, don't you?"

"You're right, I drove you away because you betrayed the Wei Dynasty. But, it was never because you had an affair with someone!"

"Finally, if you must know who I would choose between you and A Wu."

"Then I'll tell you clearly, I would choose her. If you two were in danger at the same time, I would not hesitate to choose to save A Wu. I'm not a saint. In weighing the options, I would definitely choose my wife, not act like those saints who say they would choose to save others and then die with their beloved."

"Because I know that if I did that, A Wu would definitely be sad. Even if I followed her to the afterlife, she still wouldn't forgive me. So, my choice would definitely be her."

Xie Jin Yan originally didn't want to say things so harshly, but now he didn't want to continue repeating this useless topic with Gao Min Yue.

So, he simply told her the answer directly.

The cold male voice echoed in the prison, hurting to the extreme.

The last glimmer of hope in Gao Min Yue's eyes slowly disappeared with this repeated blow.

She stared blankly at Xie Jin Yan, her eyes filled with tears, but her expression showed neither crying nor laughter.

After a long time, a smile appeared on her lips, forced and stiff. She shook her head lightly, and said with empty eyes, "No... impossible... Shixiong cares about me the most, it should clearly be me."

"We are the closest, we are the most well-matched. If there hadn't been that accident, I should have married you. Empress would have betrothed me to you, I would have been the Crown Princess legitimately, why would I have fallen to this state..."

"A Yue, even if there hadn't been that accident, I wouldn't have married you. My mother would have disliked you even more."

Xie Jin Yan closed his eyes, looking at the A Yue who was already somewhat deranged. His thin lips trembled slightly, wanting to tell her the truth about her father's death, so that she could wake up completely.

But in the end, he still didn't have the courage to speak.

Perhaps he was afraid that Gao Min Yue wouldn't be able to withstand the shock, or perhaps he was afraid that she would be a moth to a flame and seek revenge on his mother, or perhaps, even at this point, he still wasn't willing to put his mother, the mother who sacrificed herself... by selling her body, in any danger.

In short, in the end, Xie Jin Yan still skirted around it.

He looked at Gao Min Yue calmly and asked, "A Yue, have you ever thought about what kind of feelings you have for me? Is it love? Affection? Or the dependence and possessiveness of having once relied on each other for survival?"

"Or, are you just unwilling to lose to others? Unwilling to have others by my side, you just want to possess my unique favor? Have you ever figured it out yourself?"

Dark eyes flickered with questioning and doubt in the dim light.

As Xie Jin Yan asked repeatedly, Gao Min Yue was stunned.

She stared blankly at Xie Jin Yan for a moment, and said without hesitation, "I know very well that I love Shixiong, no less than Yu Qing Wu!"

"Are you sure?"

Xie Jin Yan raised his eyebrows, took a step closer to her, and asked, "What do you feel right now?"

Hearing this, Gao Min Yue did not speak, she looked at Xie Jin Yan in confusion, somewhat bewildered.

But, only bewildered.

She did not react because of his sudden approach. In fact, she had never felt shy in front of him, even if she had, it was once disguised to make Qing Wu angry.

"A Yue, you see, even if I suddenly get close, you won't react."

"But Shijie is different, she will blush and her heart will beat faster, she will be nervous."

"And it's the same for me with her. When she gets close, my heart will flutter, my heart will beat faster. Even though I have also relied on her, I have always been very clear about what kind of feelings I have for her. In front of her, I can be very casual, but I am also afraid that she will see my pathetic, un-husband-like side."

"But what about you? What are you like in front of me? And what is your mood? Have you ever thought about it seriously?"

Xie Jin Yan's tone slowly softened.

Looking deeply at A Yue in the fence, seeing the bewildered look in her eyes, he knew that he had hit the mark.

A Yue's feelings for him were never love, but a morbid possessiveness towards a relative, having relied on each other for survival.

However, she had never been able to distinguish it, and it seemed that she was unwilling to admit it.

Even at this moment, she was still trying her best to deny it.

With red eyes, she raised her head to look at the man she had been trying her best to grasp, and shook her head violently, saying, "No... that's not right, I have always liked Shixiong..."

"There are many kinds of likes, for relatives, for friends, and between men and women."

"A Yue, when you look at me, have you ever had the slightest heartbeat? Have you ever blushed even a little? Have you ever been afraid of being seen by me in a pathetic light? Have you ever?"

Xie Jin Yan asked again, causing Gao Min Yue to freeze again.

Her face stiffened as she stared blankly at him, the face of another person appearing in her mind.