The mistress who remarried has returned.

Upon hearing her brother's voice, Qin Yue immediately smiled. She opened the window, rested her chin on her hand by the windowsill, and looked at her brother carefree. "It's too tiring for me to go find my clothes myself. Why bother when someone will take care of me? Don't you agree, brother?"

Qin Huai looked at his younger sister affectionately, "You have none of the qualities such as diligence and independence."

Qin Yue stuck out her tongue. "What would I need all this for? With my brother spoiling me and my parents doting on me, why should I be diligent or independent? I'm just responsible for being cute and adorable. Only poor, unfortunate people need to be diligent and independent!"

Qin Huai seemed lost in thought, as if he could see the girl in the dilapidated temple, covered in blood from the beating, not crying or making a fuss, but patiently tidying her clothes after the beating stopped. "Sun Bin went to take up his post in Jiangxi?"

Sun Bin is a major general in the army and is Qin Huai's brother-in-law.

"Yes, the Jiangxi Grand Canal was in chaos, and you sent him to Jiangxi to capture bandits for two months. I was so bored at his house. It's much more comfortable to go home. I don't want to stay with my mother-in-law. She always has a long face like Changbai Mountain, and I'm a talkative and cheerful person, so it's incredibly awkward for me." As Qin Yue spoke, she urged the maid, "Hurry up, you brat."

Qin Huai sighed, "When will you grow up? Qi and Zhou are about to go to war. If your brother is defeated and dies in battle, the country will be destroyed, the family will be destroyed, and people will be displaced. Your parents will starve and be unable to walk, relying on cold water to fill their stomachs. You will be all alone, and we will have to go around begging for help. Can you handle it?"

Qin Yue hurriedly said, "Brother, I won't be defeated. If that happens, I can't handle it. Look at how weak and helpless I am, don't rely on me, brother. You'd be better off provoking yourself than me."

Qin Huai remained silent, saying that most women would go wherever they wanted, without caring about their parents, fathers, or husbands' families.

Qin Yue continued,

"How can a girl support a family? My parents are starving and unable to walk, so they'll probably have to beg for food to feed me. Besides, what about the old lady? She's far more pitiful than me, going around begging for help with her cane. She probably has a better chance of winning."

Then she started to fake cry, looking quite mischievous.

"Most women don't have this kind of responsibility. Only a very few exceptional cases can shoulder it. It's a man's good fortune to have such a woman. Qin Yue, you are just an ordinary woman among the masses." Qin Huai didn't say anything more to Qin Yue and walked back to his courtyard.

Seeing her brother deep in thought, Qin Yue wondered who he was thinking of. Was it Sister Wen Yin? If we're talking about someone independent, strong, and responsible, then it has to be Sister Wen Yin, who returned to the capital as a widow and lives alone.

After Wen Yin's father passed away, her elder brother Xue Cheng was not as capable as their father, and the family fell into decline. Her brother and sister-in-law were domineering and could not tolerate Wen Yin being widowed in the mansion. They were even stingy with money, and Madam Xue was helpless to deal with her daughter-in-law.

Sister Wenyin is truly pitiful. If her family hadn't fallen on hard times, she would have been her sister-in-law long ago, and her mother now provides her with the same food, clothing, and necessities as her own daughter.

Based on this analysis, it seems that Sister Wenyin was supported by the Qin family to make ends meet, and she didn't rely entirely on herself.

Her brother's words seemed to have no source, as if he thought she was inferior to others in every way. Who made him think so highly of her?

My brother has had a smooth and successful life, and Miss Su was probably the only time he ever stumbled.

Ever since my brother was used and discarded by the eldest daughter of the Su family four years ago, he has not shown any emotional fluctuations for a long time.

Just then, the maid came over with another light grass-yellow dress, but it was still the wrong one. Qin Yue, unable to bear it any longer and also spurred on by her brother's words, felt a surge of determination. She huffed and puffed, "I'll get it myself! I don't need you!"

The maid was so frightened that she knelt down with a thud. Her master was so lazy that he even had to be fed by General Sun at home. Now he was going to find his own clothes. Something was definitely wrong. What if her master couldn't find his own clothes and started to throw a tantrum and cause trouble? That would be even more terrifying.

"Please don't! Let me go find it, okay? Otherwise, you can just paint over some colors and I'll have to use those colors to find it. Your hands are so delicate, they get sore easily."

Qin Yue found the maid's words both reasonable and interesting, so she sat down again. "Never mind," she thought, "I'll try harder another day." "Bring me a paintbrush!"

***

When Liu Shun returned to the Qin residence at night, he reported to Qin Huai and inquired about the servants. He learned that Qin Huai was taking a bath and had ordered three warm and cool baths after resting.

In such cold winter weather, how can one take a cold bath?

Soak three times.

Is it because you've been working hard all day that you've developed a fever that's accumulating inside your body and can't be released?

These past two days, Su Liangdi has been relentlessly pestering him. Seeing her deep affection for the Crown Prince, he's truly been exhausted and angry. Who would have thought that she'd been living a life of ease and success for the past four years, completely ignoring this place, only remembering them the moment trouble struck, as if the General owed her something, readily available for her to use. Even he, as her subordinate, wanted to beat Su Liangdi up, let alone the General himself. It's just that the General is well-mannered and doesn't show his emotions.

Liu Shun walked toward Qin Huai's residence.

After the servants prepared the bathtub, Qin Huai stepped into it. His pale skin cooled down quickly after coming into contact with the lukewarm water.

He was no saint; he only touched women lightly, and was left hanging in discomfort.

He tilted his head back against the edge of the bucket, reached out and picked up the yellowed note from the table, letting his gaze wander in the deserted night.

【Husband. 】

Please make sure you get home safely.

I will miss you so much every day.

I'll sleep hugging your clothes and smelling your scent.

The year he went to the western coast to repel the enemy, the little girl hid in the house and avoided seeing him. He thought she was afraid that he would die on the western coast. He was usually not good at expressing his worries, and he kept all his feelings to himself. He never expected that the words he wrote would be so passionate.

His heart, which had finally found peace after four years, was suddenly struck as if a pebble had been thrown into a deep pool.

Was that slap wrong to Xixi? She'd actually been holding a grudge against him all these years; in her heart, her former husband was nothing at all…

He dislikes the feeling of being out of control of his emotions.

Regardless of the past or present, if she was dishonest and approached him only to take advantage of him, then it should be cut off immediately; it's not worth wasting any more energy on her.