The mistress who remarried has returned.

She also realized that if he was certain she was lying to him, he would not spare her life. Any hesitation in clarifying the matter would be disrespectful to her and the Crown Prince's lives. With a strong will to survive, she said, "I didn't lie to you. The Crown Prince and I have always been dutiful and have not overstepped our bounds. We have never even held hands, let alone been husband and wife. We rarely even speak to each other."

Qin Huai smiled and said, "Hmm. We've never even held hands, and he rarely speaks. That's very well-behaved."

Su Yunxi trembled, unsure how much of what he believed.

Qin Huai spurred his horse and led Su Yunxi to a teahouse near the East Palace. He stopped the horse and said, "Go to the East Palace. I'll wait for you at the teahouse for a moment. I'm allowing you to go and repay him, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to stay too long. Think carefully about how to feed him the medicine, and don't anger me."

Su Yunxi immediately clarified that anyone who values ​​life wouldn't anger Qin Huai, "He can take his medicine by himself now. Last time, it was Doctor Kang who personally helped feed him. We all know what's good for him..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Huai dismounted and reached out to grab her slender waist. His hands could almost touch her fingertips. She was still wearing a cotton coat. In the past four years, she had grown even more slender and shapely, her waist seemingly longer than his two hands. He lifted her off the horse.

Su Yunxi noticed him gesturing at her waist and thought that he probably thought she was too thin and that her waist didn't feel good to pinch. She sighed softly and didn't say anything, then turned and went to the East Palace.

Because he had instructed her to attend to the ailing prince quickly, she obediently moved with lightning speed and didn't hold a grudge against him over the matter. After all, it concerned the prince's life, and it was no laughing matter. She was still able to grasp the situation.

Qin Huai handed the horse to the teahouse waiter to tie it up, and then went into the teahouse himself.

A waiter came over and asked, "Sir, what kind of tea would you like? It's cold outside; a cup of hot tea would be nice to warm you up."

Qin Huai sat down by the window. "Iced tea will do."

The waiter was taken aback. Drinking cold tea in the twelfth lunar month was a request he had never heard of before. However, since the guest was of noble status, he dared not object. He hurriedly took the boiled water outside, let it cool, brewed the tea, and served it to the official.

Qin Huai poured himself a cup of tea, took a few sips to suppress the restlessness inside, and became increasingly eager to find out where his cloak was and to verify what he really meant in those seven years.

***

Liu Shun escorted Su Yunze back to the gate of the Su residence and then reined in his horse.

Su Yunze gracefully leaped off Liu Shun's horse from behind.

Liu Shun looked at the baby who was once wrapped in swaddling clothes, and now he was a young man. He was indeed happy. However, because of the General and Liangdi's affair in the past four years, everyone had become estranged. But he was not as resolute as the General. He would still occasionally sneak into the school to peek at Su Yunze and see how he was doing.

Su Yunze handed Liu Shun ten coins, saying, "General Liu, this is a token of my sister's affection for you. Please accept it."

Liu Shun snorted. "I didn't come to give you this because of your ten coins. I'm carrying out the general's orders. You don't need to be so inhumane and distant. Calling me 'General Liu' all the time, I don't know who you're trying to annoy. As expected of someone from the Crown Prince's faction, they look down on these old retainers."

Seeing that Brother Shunzi wouldn't accept the money, Su Yunze didn't press the matter. He still harbored deep resentment towards Qin Huai and Brother Shunzi. They had treated his sister badly, so he disliked them. He threw the ten coins on the street, saying, "It's fine if General Liu doesn't want to accept the money. I'll just leave it on the street; it's all gone. It's not that I don't want to give it, nor is it that my sister is taking advantage of me. It's just that you refuse to accept it, so you can't blame us."

Liu Shun was furious when he saw the ten coins scattered on the ground. This young man was just as good at infuriating people as his sister.

Why should they? These siblings are infuriating! What did the general and he ever do to wrong them? They used them and then kicked them aside, and now they still look down on them.

Liu Shun, on horseback, pointed at Su Yunze's nose and berated him, "I even begged the general to punish you lightly, but you're just asking for a cold shoulder! I shouldn't have bothered with you! You threw ten coins on the street, do you think I'm a beggar? At least when you're giving money to a beggar, you hand it to someone else, but you treat me worse than a beggar."

"You only helped me because my sister helped you before, and you owe my sister a debt of gratitude?" Su Yunze sneered. "You're all ungrateful people!"

As he spoke, he kicked Liu Shun's horse's rump.

The horse was startled and reared up, neighing.

"Who's kicking away the bridge after crossing the river? You're clearly the thief crying 'stop thief!'" Liu Shun quickly pulled on the reins to steady the horse, circling around in place for a few rounds before finally settling it down. He glared at Su Yunze, "You brat, come here, I'll give you a good spanking."

Su Yunze glanced sideways at her, "So what if you hit me? You and your master both love hitting people! It's not like I haven't been hit by you before! My sister loves your master so much, and she's developed heart problems because of him over the years. She often stares blankly at her bracelet. It's really not worth it!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shun jumped off his horse with a thud, forcing Su Yunze to come over. He stopped abruptly nearby. "What? What did you say? Say it again. What bracelet has Liangdi been staring at so intently these past few years? Is it the agate bracelet that the General once made himself?"

Although Su Yunze was young, he vaguely understood that his sister was now a concubine of the Crown Prince and could not be attached to her ex-husband. He was afraid of causing trouble for his sister. General Qin was arrogant and had a new love interest. He did not like his sister and would probably be annoyed by her liking him. So he immediately changed his words and said, "I was just talking nonsense. Don't take it seriously."

After saying that, he entered the Su residence and closed the side gate.

Before Liu Shun even reached the gate, he heard it slam shut with a dull thud. He lowered his voice and said, "You brat, come out here! You can't just say whatever you want. I heard everything. Come out here and explain yourself. Your sister likes the general, and that her heartache these past few years is because of him? And is the bracelet she's staring at really an agate bracelet?"

There was no more sound in the mansion. After a moment, Su Yunze said, "My sister doesn't like the general at all. She hasn't been staring at the bracelet in the past few years."

Liu Shun nearly ground his teeth to powder. Because of his status as a general, he couldn't just barge into the residence of an official. He looked around, then lowered his voice and knocked on the door. "If you tell me, I'll give you whatever you want."

Only the sound of Su Yunze's footsteps gradually receding into the distance could be heard from inside the door.

Liu Shun's heart pounded wildly. He needed to report this to the general. If the general had indeed wronged Liangdi, causing her to retaliate like a wolf, then the general should apologize and not be so indifferent to Liangdi's current situation. He feared that Liangdi's heart had already been broken.

***