The mistress who remarried has returned.

Hearing that she cherished the cloak so much, Qin Huai felt gratified. If that was the case, then her seven years of effort hadn't been in vain. He wondered what had led her to switch allegiance to the imperial family that year. Unless she had suffered some great injustice...

Su Yunxi raised her face to meet his gaze, looking at Qin Huai. She did need some room to maneuver, and perhaps salvage the cloak lying in the trash can. Her mother and she had spent years with cloth and clothes, and while she wasn't boasting, she was quite proud of her embroidery skills. She could probably manage to pass it off as something she'd worn in a day or two. "General, how about I deliver the cloak to your residence another day? It's getting late..."

Qin Huai rejected her suggestion, "The cloak needs to be taken out for professional washing first. The clothes are thick, and it will take time to dry completely. I need to wear it the day after tomorrow."

It seems that only by washing it immediately can it dry completely the next day.

Su Yunxi felt as if countless mythical beasts were roaring in unison within her heart, like thunder. "But I really have something to do, and I don't have time to take you to get the cloak right now. It's not that I don't want to take you..."

She could only stall for time, slowly figuring out a solution, dawdling and procrastinating. But she truly felt like she had run out of ideas and was at a loss for what to do.

"The Crown Prince's affairs always come first! If you deliver the sickly boy's food a little later, he'll starve to death if he misses a meal, won't he? Can't you even do it once? You're putting the General's affairs first!" Liu Shun's tone was sour, and he couldn't hold back any longer, so he blurted out all his questions. "Whatever you need, I'll go with you. When you're done, I'll go back with you to get your cloak. The General doesn't have time to waste here. There's a ton of work piling up waiting for the General to do it."

Upon hearing that Liu Shun intended to keep a close watch on her, Su Yunxi realized there was no way she could escape to salvage the cloak. She could imagine Liu Shun's furious reaction when he saw the cloak ruined. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I don't trust you with the cloak; I must personally deliver it to the General. What if you damage it?"

Liu Shun clenched his teeth. "I'm not so reckless as to ruin the cloak."

Su Yunxi thought, he wasn't that reckless, but she was; she was reckless. How frustrating...

"Since only she knows where the cloak is kept, and she refuses to entrust it to anyone else, we need to be careful with anything the old lady made herself." Before Liu Shun could finish speaking, Qin Huai said, "Liu Shun, you take Su Yunze back to his residence first. I'll go get the cloak myself."

No way...

Now Liu Shun won't be keeping a close watch on them the whole time; will Qin Huai be keeping a close watch on them personally instead?

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, and that Qin Huai was determined to take the cloak today, Su Yunxi stopped delaying to avoid angering him. She didn't want to risk upsetting him and being unable to handle the situation, and wondered if he might strangle her in a fit of temper. So she said, "How about Liu Shun comes with me to get the cloak... I've considered it very carefully. The general is very busy with state affairs; every day, both major and minor matters require the general's attention. I still can't trouble the general to make this trip personally..."

Qin Huai gazed at her quietly.

Su Yunxi was unsure of herself; she had indeed been playing hard to get with Qin Huai, not treating his words as imperial decrees...

Liu Shun bared his teeth and glared, "Listen to what you're saying! Do you think you're difficult to please?"

After saying that, he waved his hand and told Su Yunze to come with him, no longer to be manipulated by Su Liangdi.

Su Yunxi realized she couldn't keep dragging this out indefinitely. Seeing that the master and servant were losing patience, especially Qin Huai, who was becoming increasingly dangerous the quieter he was, she decided to take out ten coins and hand them to her brother. "Yunze, rent a carriage to go home. No need to trouble Shunzi."

When Liu Shun heard her call him Shunzi, he immediately felt a sense of warmth, as if he had returned to the harmonious days of the past seven years.

Su Yunxi felt uneasy, worried that Liu Shun would think she was being insincere in trying to get close to him. After all, she had been a stubborn and arrogant person for the past four years, and seeing their past, she quickly changed her tone and said, "I meant General Liu."

Liu Shun's brows furrowed again, his expression turning cold. "Does the general intend to take back what he said? Every word the general utters is a military order. If the general orders me to escort Su Yunze, then I must go."

Su Yunxi hesitated for a moment.

Su Yunze took the ten coins from his sister's hand. He didn't continue to disobey Qin Huai's orders and couldn't put his sister in a difficult position. Instead, he said to his sister, "Sister, giving this money to General Liu is the same. We're not taking advantage of each other. Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Su Yunxi nodded. "Okay. You handle it as you see fit."

Liu Shun mounted his horse, and Su Yunze followed suit, sitting behind him. Su Yunze gripped Liu Shun's waist with both hands. Once Su Yunze had secured him, Liu Shun checked Su Yunze's hands to make sure he had a firm grip, then gave a shout and urged the horse to head towards the Su residence.

Watching her brother's retreating figure, Su Yunxi nagly instructed, "Hold on tight, don't let go. Don't fall."

After her brother and Liu Shun disappeared around the street corner, she turned around and saw Qin Huai nodding goodbye to Xue Wenying. Then he took the horse reins from his attendant, lightly mounted his horse, and rode away first.

Shuang'er said in a low voice, "Does Liangdi really think she'll have the chance to ride a horse with the General and have him wrap his arms around her waist from behind? Doesn't she know her own status, and what is the General's status? How could that be possible? She should just go back to the manor the way she always has to."

When riding together, minor collisions are inevitable and fires are bound to break out. Originally, they were going to the Su residence, but instead they went to a restaurant.

"Shuang'er, don't be rude. I know my place and would never dare to dream of riding with the General." Xue Wenying pressed down Shuang'er's hand, then politely said to Su Yunxi, "It's cold, and the Su residence is far away. Are you going to walk back? I'm afraid the General has already gone to the Su residence to wait for you to get your cloak. Why don't you rent a carriage and go back? If you're short of money, I can give you a few taels of silver."

He paused, then added, "You don't need to pay it back."

Shuang'er then handed over three taels of silver.

Su Yunxi understood that Qin Huai was avoiding Xue Wenying because he was worried that getting close to her would upset her. He probably waited for her in a secluded spot, just like when they bumped into each other at the Jingxin Market last time.

Su Yunxi didn't even glance at Xue Wenying, nor did she bother to look at the few taels of silver in Shuang'er's hand. She then picked up her food box and a bag of incense-making tools and walked towards the street corner ahead.

Xue Wenying couldn't stand Su Yunxi's dismissive attitude, so she called out to Su Yunxi, "Su Liangdi."

Su Yunxi stopped in her tracks.

Xue Wenying said softly, "On the day of Uncle Qin's birthday banquet, Qin Huai is going to take me to meet his mother. You've been by Qin Huai's side for many years, could you remind me of some details I need to pay attention to when meeting his mother? Could you share some information for my reference?"