The mistress who remarried has returned.

Liu Shun's heart skipped a beat. Had she been beaten again at home? But what did it matter to him? She had betrayed the general, using them as stepping stones, and now that she was down on her luck, she didn't deserve any sympathy!

For four years, he lived a life of extravagance in the Eastern Palace, and now that he's fallen on hard times, he remembers the General! How dare he use those six arrows to force the General to treat the Crown Prince!

As soon as Su Yunxi finished speaking, she got into the carriage, neatly placed Qin Huai's cloak on the crossbeam, and then turned to look at him.

For the past four years, he thought they would never see each other again for the rest of their lives, but now they have appeared right under his nose in such a disgraceful way.

When Qin Huai saw her return, he looked up at her. Her lips were bloodless, but she forced a smile, pretending nothing had happened, though her eyes were filled with worries.

Because Su Yunxi had told Qin Huai all her secrets, she looked away when Qin Huai looked into her eyes.

Su Yunxi noticed that Qin Huai was holding a yellowed note in his hand, and suddenly those long-forgotten memories began to flood back.

As a child, I would sit under a kerosene lamp, holding a brush, and carefully write down my feelings for my beloved.

Qin Huai waited until he lost patience, then found the note she had hidden in a secret compartment years ago and started reading it in the car.

You couldn't tell any emotion from his expression.

Her heart started pounding, and she felt awkward and uncomfortable.

The note was yellowed with age. She remembered years ago when he led his troops to fight against foreign enemies along the western coast. She was reluctant to part with him. When he came to say goodbye, she was afraid she would cry, so she closed the door and ignored him. He told her to eat on time at the door and then left. Unable to change his mission of protecting the country, she wrote a note and hid it in a secret compartment of his carriage, saying she would wait for him to come home, urging him to return safely, and that she would miss him terribly every day, and would sleep hugging his clothes and smelling his scent.

Perhaps because he was in a hurry to leave, he only took the official documents from the hidden compartment and did not notice the note in the corner of the compartment.

Now that things have changed, looking at that note again, she felt naive and ridiculous. Back then, she thought he loved her wholeheartedly too.

Give it back to me.

I wonder if Qin Huai finds these love letters, written by her in a fit of pique, both laughable and offensive.

Su Yunxi reached out to snatch the note, just as Liu Shun started the car and headed towards the East Palace. Su Yunxi stumbled forward, unable to stand steadily.

It looked like he was about to fall.

Qin Huai reached out and supported her lower back, and she sat on his lap, her upper body nestled in his arms, his heartbeat pounding beside her ear. A sudden intimacy.

His heart was beating much faster than he remembered.

Listening to his heartbeat, her nose inexplicably stung. If she hadn't known the truth back then, how much she would have wanted to snuggle into his arms and whisper her grievances. After she finished, he would often take her to a quiet stream to relax and pass the time for half a day.

Now, he could only sit silently in Miss Xue's embrace, carefully guarding his secret from being revealed, lest he suffer fatal harm.

"Does Consort not miss me anymore?" Qin Huai didn't return the note to Su Yunxi, but instead put it inside his clothes. "Those years of sweet words deceived me quite a bit."

Seeing him tuck the note into his shirt, Su Yunxi reached inside and pulled it out. "Give it back to me, I'm going to tear it up. This happened so many years ago..."

How could she possibly have any interest in Xue Wenying's man now?

Now she is married to another, and he is about to marry as well. If the crown prince had not fallen on hard times, the two of them would never have crossed paths in this life.

Qin Huai pressed down her hand that had slipped inside his robe. "What I meant was that the Crown Prince dotes on Consort Liang. If Consort Liang wishes to be in the carriage, that's not impossible. In any case, he's ill, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Su Yunxi was only anxious to take the love letters she had written in her youthful years out of his clothes, but she neglected the fact that she was overstepping the bounds of propriety and committing indecent acts against the Protector General.

Qin Huai slowly continued, "Just like that day when I was asleep, and the two of you were having a secret rendezvous in the barracks, there was nothing I could do. Once I woke up, everything was already a fait accompli."

Hearing that he was still resentful about her betrayal back then, Su Yunxi hurriedly tried to pull her hand away from his clothes, but he pressed her hand firmly against them. She could clearly feel the contours of his muscles under her hand. She looked up and demanded, "Then you can tear it off yourself later."

Her explanation was unnecessary. Seeing the note she wrote, he would only think she was hypocritical and just trying to coax him with her smooth talk, so he would either burn it or tear it up.

"Can't you look directly at the love letter you wrote yourself?" Qin Huai replied softly, lowering his head to examine her hand that had slipped inside his shirt.

Su Yunxi was truly embarrassed and didn't know what to do.

"How is it?" Qin Huai asked in a low voice.

Su Yunxi's face flushed red, but she didn't dare to contradict him. She just flattered him, saying, "After all, General, you've been training troops and fighting battles for many years. You're very strong."

She finished answering, but Qin Huai did not respond for quite some time.

He moved his gaze from her hand, which was groping his clothes, to her face and slowly said, "I'm asking about your trip back to the Su residence. How did it go?"

Su Yunxi's ears suddenly burned. She had actually answered his question about the feel of his hands; so that's what he was asking. Could it get any more awkward?!

Su Yunxi lowered her head.

Su Yunxi felt his hand on her lower back, and the extra-wide legs and embrace that accommodated her. A sense of security and peace washed over her. She allowed herself to let her mind wander, to let her thoughts wander in the direction she desired, and she obediently leaned against his chest.

Because of the unpleasant experience she had just had at the Su residence, she longed for someone to lean on.

The carriage jolted, and she bounced along on his lap, so close they could hear each other's breathing, the atmosphere intimate.

She finally pulled her hand out of the general's collar and said in a nonchalant tone, "It's fine. I just went home to change my clothes. Nothing's wrong."

The last syllable trembled slightly, and her eyes felt quite hot.

"Why are you so hoarse?" Qin Huai pinched her chin, his voice becoming much deeper as a result. "Are you unhappy?"

"No." Su Yunxi didn't mention a word about what had happened when she returned to the Su residence. It was too painful; she couldn't bear to tell Qin Huai about it and have him make fun of her.

His use of such a seemingly concerned tone to inquire about her condition, when in reality he was there to see her in such a miserable state, made it even harder for her to bear.

"Hidden thoughts, saving them for the Crown Prince?" Qin Huai traced her bloodless lips with his fingertips. "If Consort Liang has any reservations about me, get out of the carriage now."

Su Yunxi's lips trembled slightly. "Are you so eager to hear about my family affairs that you have to force me to tell you?"