The mistress who remarried has returned.

Seeing that the conversation had finally reached this point, Su Yunxi was about to reveal her purpose when he finally asked her why she had come.

The prince's injury left her no room for hesitation, so she stated frankly, "General, I have a small favor to ask of you."

It was just a small favor; I took advantage of my position to help place a doctor in the Eastern Palace to prescribe some life-saving medicine for the Crown Prince.

Upon hearing this, Qin Huai's lips curved into a slight smile. He set down his teacup, then glanced at the gold-inlaid jade in the gift box Liu Shun was holding, and said to Liu Shun, "Since it is Lord Zhang's kind intention, let's accept this jade. It's a small matter to put in a good word for his son with the Emperor."

Liu Shun was surprised. The general usually didn't care about such material things and was known for his integrity and uprightness in the court. He had never been corrupt or formed cliques. Why would he accept the gold-inlaid jade from the Zhang family in Linzhou today? He said "Yes" and closed the gold-inlaid jade box.

Su Yunxi waited quietly for Qin Huai's response, feeling completely uncertain.

Qin Huai's gaze was fixed on Su Yunxi's face. A gentle breeze came in through the window, lifting her hair. The handprint on her face had already turned blue, showing that he had used a lot of force to hit her. "If you are still my man, my master, let alone a small favor, even ten or a hundred, just say the word and I will naturally help you."

Su Yunxi had already understood Qin Huai's polite refusal; she was now the Crown Prince's person and had nothing to do with Qin Huai.

"However, my lord has no connection with me now. There are millions of people in the world, and I am not an idle person. After all, I don't have time to help everyone." Qin Huai helplessly spread his hands and pointed to the gift box. "Lord Lin asked for a favor and gave this gold-inlaid jade as a gift. Is my lord carrying nothing in his sleeves, or is he carrying a treasure?"

Liu Shun then realized that the general was using the gift to shut Su Yunxi up and get her to leave.

Su Yunxi was penniless, and her livelihood was restricted by the Su family. In the morning, she went there to ask for living expenses for her mother and younger brother, but she was beaten. All she had hidden in her sleeves were her two empty hands, which were pierced by a hairpin.

The several thousand silver notes that the Crown Prince buried under the East Palace were utterly insignificant compared to the priceless jade on the dragon's hat.

Furthermore, those several thousand silver notes were her life-saving money, and she absolutely could not easily reveal them. The Crown Prince needed to make connections everywhere, and she trusted no one.

Su Yunxi felt embarrassed, her eyes were sore and painful. She must have felt like a hero who was struggling to make ends meet. "General, I came in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare any gifts. Could you please let me explain my purpose first? I will do my best to make up for it later."

Qin Huai stood up, placing his hand on his official hat on the table. "Master, go and gather them up. It's not too late to explain your purpose once you've collected them all."

Seeing that Qin Huai intended to leave, Su Yunxi clearly understood that Qin Huai had no intention of listening to her purpose.

The purpose of her visit to him was completely irrelevant to him.

The only reason I agreed to see her today was to see her miserable state.

But how can it not be too late?

The prince's illness was so severe that he died in the blink of an eye.

Qin Huai picked up his official hat, didn't look at Su Yunxi again, and started to leave.

"Qin Huai, don't go..." Seeing this, Su Yunxi hurriedly followed.

The limp was noticed by Qin Huai.

Qin Huai frowned.

Su Yunxi was well aware of her rudeness and impoliteness. If she could remain composed, she would not have made such a fool of herself.

I couldn't detect any mockery in his eyes; after all, he was a cultured young man, and his emotions were deeply hidden.

Without thinking twice, she reached out to grab Qin Huai's sleeve, just as he waved his hand over, and she clumsily grabbed his hand.

The moment their skin touched, her hand was as cold as ice in the winter.

His hands, however, were inexplicably burning hot.

The moment she took his hand, his hand trembled violently, and his slightly rough fingertips brushed against her palm, making her shudder.

Su Yunxi realized that her hand was cold to him.

Qin Huai stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the few fingers that had finally come out of his sleeve and were holding his hand. They were covered in scratches, not a single patch of good skin. He had only mentioned that she had slapped his face a few times and hit his knees a few times, but hadn't mentioned the serious cuts on his hands. "Master is too kind. I underestimated many of my injuries."

Su Yunxi noticed Qin Huai's gaze and realized that the injuries she had deliberately concealed had been seen by him. Perhaps he was blaming her for not telling him a funny story, but she just didn't want to be too embarrassed in front of him. At this moment, she couldn't even preserve the little dignity she had left.

I decided to stop hiding it and just let him see it openly.

She knew that once Qin Huai left this time, he would never agree to see her again. This was her only chance to beg him. "Qin Huai, give me some time, let's talk, okay? I won't take up too much of your time..."

She hoped he would stay a little longer, at least to let her finish speaking, and if he still refused to help, she would stop bothering him.

Qin Huai just stared at the wound on the back of her hand, about to say something.

Just then, the curtain of the study was lifted by the maid Shuang'er, and a young woman wearing a cloak that was popular in wealthy families on snowy days entered.

After entering the house, the young woman took off her cloak hood, and Shuang'er brushed the fine snow off it for her. The young woman had a full face and a plump figure, and her gorgeous clothes could not hide her rich and graceful appearance. She rubbed her hands together and said, "It's really cold today."

Su Yunxi recognized the person from the voice.

It's Xue Wenying.

Four years ago, on the day Qin Huai slapped her, Xue Wenying was by Qin Huai's side, advising him to calm down and not to lose his status as a young master of a noble family because of a person with bad intentions, saying it was not worth it.

Qin Huai pulled his hand away from Su Yunxi's.

Su Yunxi's hand quickly cooled down from the heat of Qin Huai's touch, and her empty hand fell to the ground. She gave a bitter smile, and his avoidance of suspicion resembled a sharp knife.

"You clueless maid, how could you not even light a charcoal fire in the room?" Xue Wenying scolded Su Yunxi angrily. "Leaving you here to watch the courtyard is a disservice to the masters; you've all been lazy. You deserve a beating."

Su Yunxi was mistaken for a servant. She lowered her head and didn't speak. Her lowered eyes couldn't see the tips of her shoes. The misty, wet clothes blocked her vision. She was actually a daughter of an official, with a background that was difficult to talk about.

Liu Shun said, "Miss Xue, she is not a servant here. She is from the Crown Prince's Palace."

Xue Wenying was taken aback, then looked at Su Yunxi again before saying with slight surprise, "So it's Consort Su. In the past few months, when I saw you at palace banquets, you were always wearing gold hairpins and silver ornaments. Today you are wearing coarse clothes, so I didn't recognize you at first and mistook you for a lowly maidservant guarding the courtyard."