Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

78. Keqi’s Story

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

Frise left her palace without any bodyguards. She only had a driver with her.

She sat in the car with her eyes closed, as if lost in deep thought. Nancheng Lie’s words kept echoing in her mind. “I want to tell you a story about twin boys. Are you interested in it?”

Nancheng Lie’s words had double meaning. Obviously, he was hinting that he knew her secret. But Frise couldn’t figure out how Nancheng Lie knew it. She had her men keep an eye on Keqi and Nancheng Lie 24 hours a day, so she knew everything that happened between them. Besides, she had barely seen Keqi in the past two years. How did Nancheng Lie find out her secret?

Or was he just flying a kite?

Frise phoned Keqi at once, just in case.

“Auntie, I will succeed to the throne tomorrow. Why did you call me at this crucial moment? What do you want me to do?”

“Has something happened between you and Nancheng Lie?”

Keqi paused for a second and replied, “No. Why did you ask me this question?”

“He just called me and asked me if I was interested in listening to a story of twin boys. I told you many times to keep away from Nancheng Lie, but you turned a deaf ear to my advice. He now suspects you!”

“There is no conclusive evidence that Nancheng Lie knows our secret. Auntie, I don’t think it’s time to make a conclusion. We should be calm.”

“By the time you have concrete evidence, it will be too late.” With that, Frise hung up the phone.

In Keqi’s palace.

Bits and pieces of the past raced through Keqi’s mind. Then he recalled the way Nancheng Lie had looked at him this afternoon. He suddenly realized that there had been no sign of affection in Nancheng Lie’s eyes at that time. Keqi had been distracted by Li Qinghao, so he had unconsciously relaxed his vigilance against Nancheng Lie.

But he still had some doubts. ‘If Nancheng Lie had discovered that I was not Han Mingxu, why wouldn’t he have come to bombard me? There is only one reason: Nancheng Lie has scruples. Is he afraid that I will hurt Li Qinghao?

No, it’s impossible. If he really cared about Li Qinghao, he wouldn’t have let me take Qinghao away. So, what is he afraid of? The Nancheng family is powerful. As the young master of the Nancheng family, he doesn’t need to fear anything or anybody. What the hell is the reason?’ Keqi thought to himself.

He knew Li Qinghao could give him an answer.

So Keqi was now standing at the door of Li Qinghao’s bedroom.

He raised his hand as if to knock on the door, but hesitated because he had no idea what he should say to Li Qinghao. Should he come straight to the point? No, he didn’t want to be an object of ridicule and scorn from Li Qinghao.

But if he didn’t ask, it might ruin his aunt’s plan and by then she wouldn’t let Qinghao off, let alone give Qinghao the antidote of TRKS. There was no room for consideration when matters had reached this stage.

Keqi pushed open the door and walked in. His heart raced uncontrollably when he saw Li Qinghao sitting at the window in cream-coloured home clothes. The sunlight gave his profile a warm feel. He was reading a book. The other day he had asked Jimmy to give him a psychology book. Jimmy had reported to Keqi before giving Li Qinghao what he wanted. Keqi leaned against the door and watched Li Qinghao quietly. He wished that time could stop at this moment.

Li Qinghao stretched and said, “Since you are here, come and take a seat.” There was a tone of aloofness in his voice. He leaned back in his chair. He looked marvelously calm, smiling as if nothing had happened.

Keqi came up to Li Qinghao and leaned against the wall, facing him. Li Qinghao had a look of indifference on his face, the same as he always was.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Li Qinghao raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully at Keqi, who opened and shut his mouth, saying nothing. “All right, fire away.”

“If I ask you, will you answer me frankly?” Keqi asked in a soft voice. He smiled leisurely as if he was just talking about whether it would be sunny or rainy tomorrow.

“But if you don’t ask, you will never get an answer,” Li Qinghao replied.

Keqi chuckled and said, “Thinking back, your attitude toward me is strange. At the beginning, I thought you wanted to arouse my interest. But now I know you have your own purpose. At that time, you were afraid of me, but you moved into Han Mansion and lived together with me. You were injected with the virus called TRKS. You always play cat and mouse with me. I’m really attracted by you, Qinghao.”

“My pleasure.” Li Qinghao remained unmoved. If he didn’t know the truth about the car accident, he would have feelings for Keqi. But now that he had known it, he felt it was unlucky to be Keqi’s twin brother because Keqi killed him in cold blood two years ago. There was no story without coincidences. His story was dramatic.

“You knew from the beginning that I was not Han Mingxu, right?” Keqi had a sense of frustration.

‘He once asked me whether I had a twin brother. He also said that I was different from Han Mingxu he remembered. Now I see that he was testing me at that time, ‘ Keqi thought to himself.

Li Qinghao said under his breath, “In the beginning I thought I was dreaming.” It really felt like a dream. He almost thought that his life as Han Mingxu was just a dream.

He didn’t refute Keqi. In other word, he did know from the beginning that Keqi was not Han Mingxu.

“Why didn’t you tell Nancheng Lie the truth? You know, I will kill anyone who knows that I’m not Han Mingxu.” Keqi was not joking or threatening Li Qinghao. He was serious.

“Why should I tell Nancheng Lie?” Li Qinghao snorted with a laughter. “I don’t think it’s necessary to tell him, don’t you think?”

Keqi was a little surprised at Li Qinghao’s words. But to be honest, he agreed with Li Qinghao.

“But you think it’s worth risking your life to get close to me? Since you’ve known I’m not Han Mingxu, you can blackmail my aunt into giving you the antidote. But you didn’t do so. Thus it can be seen that you have other plans, right?”

“Even if I get the antidote from your aunt, she will hire killers to kill me at any cost.” Li Qinghao sneered, “Yes, you guess right. I’d like to know something. Han Mingxu is your twin brother. I can’t understand why you had to kill him. Don’t tell me you did that for the throne. As the former prince’s other son, you also have the right to inherit the throne. Moreover, I don’t think Han Mingxu would be interested in the throne.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about Han Mingxu?” asked Keqi.

“Yes, I know him well.” After all, no one knows himself better than himself.

“We are twins, but Han Mingxu never knew of my existence. Do you know why?” Keqi had a sudden impulse to tell Li Qinghao everything. “Because I’m a hostage. My aunt has been hooked on power. She made an agreement with my selfish parents. I’m the victim of their agreement.”

“What?” Li Qinghao’s eyes opened wide in surprise. He saw a mixture of loneliness and hatred in Keqi’s eyes. What on earth had happened between their parents and Frise? What was their agreement?

Li Qinghao remain puzzled. He was sorely tempted to know everything.

“Do you want to hear my story?” Keqi pushed open the window and rested his elbows upon the windowsill. Night fell. His mind was weighed down.

“Yes.”

“The story started 22 years ago. 22 years ago the crown prince returned to Leiluo Kingdom with a woman, and told the king that he wanted to marry her. The king didn’t agree. He thought his son deserved a better and more excellent lady. But the crown prince told the king that the woman was pregnant.

The king thought that the young couple’s behaviour was an insult to the Royal Family. He flew into a rage and imprisoned them. He also ordered Mr. Ao to force the woman to get an abortion. Mr. Ao always treated the crown prince like his own child. He didn’t have the heart to hurt the couple, so he betrayed the king and released them secretly.

Leiluo Kingdom is a feudal monarchy. Although Mr. Ao was the steward of the Imperial Palace, he was in a sensitive position and his every act was under the king’s nose. Mr. Ao rescued the crown prince and his woman, but it was inconvenient for Mr. Ao to take care of them. Moreover, he was unable to arranged for them to leave Leiluo Kingdom. So he had no choice but to give the crown prince and his woman to the crown prince’s twin sister, Princess Frise.”

Keqi turned around and asked with a smile, “Princess Frise agreed to protect them without hesitation. Do you know why?”

“Because men enjoy higher status than women in Leiluo Kingdom. If the crown prince had an accident, the throne would fall into the hands of other royal heirs and by then Princess Frise would come to a bad end. So, she had to protect the crown prince.”

“You are absolutely right. Qinghao, I didn’t expect you to know so much about Leiluo Kingdom.” Keqi turned around and looked out of the window again. “The crown prince and his woman were accommodated in one of Frise’s villas. The villa nominally belonged to a rich businessman. So, the king’s men found no clues. Therefore, the old king could only give up pursuing this matter further.

He declared that the crown prince died of a serious illness. Eight months later, Han Mingxu and I were born in the villa…” Speaking of which, Keqi lapsed into silence.

“What happened next?”