The mistress who remarried has returned.

"My master is truly thinking of my best interests."

Qin Huai moved closer, his cool breath brushing against her nostrils. The tear tracks on her face felt cool from his breath, and then she heard him say…

"But can you, my lord, justify this? If you're going to bury the cloak, why cut it up? If you care about my reputation, why throw it in the trash and humiliate me? You love someone so much that you cherish even the scraps of paper she used, and you can't bear to sweep away the dust in the room she lived in. Do you want to hear what you're saying?"

"Qin Huai..."

"Is it that I find my master dirty, or that my master finds me dirty? Is it because it's inconvenient for me to be in the Eastern Palace, or are you afraid he'll see this and get jealous, causing you no peace and quiet?"

Su Yunxi listened to his aggressive words, as if she were the woman who had betrayed him and was ungrateful. She had followed him wholeheartedly for seven years and was even willing to risk her life for him, yet he questioned her like this. She was overwhelmed with immense grievance.

He was just too proud to back down; why did he have to act like a clingy, abandoned husband? It was incredibly hypocritical. That rainy night, he heard the woman's name being called softly by his lips.

With a dagger to her neck, revealing the fact that he had used her for seven years might lead to him killing her in a fit of rage. But if she remained silent, she felt uneasy and frustrated.

Adding to the fact that he was going to take Xue Wenying to meet his mother at his father's birthday banquet in two days to make plans for carrying on the family line, she finally couldn't bear it any longer. "You want me to be self-consistent? Then I will be self-consistent and make my own explanations. Why did I cut up the cloak? Why did I throw it in the trash can to humiliate you?"

Qin Huai said in a deep voice, "Your subject is all ears."

Su Yunxi's eyes blurred, and her lips trembled as she said, "Because I hate you, Qin Huai. I remember every day of those seven years, every single thing we went through together, every word you said to me, every look you gave me—it all disgusts me!"

Why take advantage of her and Xue Wenying's feud? What gives them the right...?

In this lifetime, she may never have a chance to turn her life around, and she will never have the right to question him in a way that puts her in a position of power.

Now all we can do is watch him and the widow, inseparable and deeply in love.

She felt a tightness in her chest, unable to release it. She gasped for breath, her chest heaving in front of him, each breath brushing against his hand that was resting on her shoulder.

Qin Huai's expression was extremely serious. He narrowed his eyes and said softly, "I have done nothing wrong in the past four years. It is truly not worth it for you to be at odds with the imperial family."

The single sentence, "She's not worth it," almost suffocated Su Yunxi. This was the reason he had ignored her for the past four years—because she wasn't worth it.

Su Yunxi closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, the fear in her eyes had vanished, replaced by despair and indifference. "Of course I'm not worthy. Who is worthy of your discord with the imperial family? Go and think highly of them."

Qin Huai scrutinized her face for a long time before slowly saying, "This humble servant detests uncontrollable emotions. We must eliminate the root cause to prevent future troubles, lest we repeatedly exhaust our emotions over the same thing. These past few days, I have indeed expended a great deal of energy because of you, Liangdi."

Su Yunxi glanced down at the bloodstains on his skirt and realized that he must have taken many lives before coming to the Xue residence. That's just how he is; he wants everything and everything to be under his control. He will eliminate any exceptions that don't go according to his wishes. But she has a mother, brothers, and benefactors from the Eastern Palace who need her care. She can't just let him do as he pleases.

"How many people did you kill before you went to the Xue residence?"

One hundred and thirty-seven.

Su Yunxi's lips lost their color. "I'm not your pet cat. You can't kill me as you please."

"My cat steals food and comes home, then it still tries to be affectionate with me, rubbing its head against the back of my hand and licking my fingertips. My master uses me to save his beloved while simultaneously degrading me to this state. His behavior is far more disgusting than that of a cat."

Qin Huai loosened his grip on the hilt of the dagger for a moment, then tightened it again.

"Killing you and promoting Su Yuanzhou will surely make him grateful to me, won't it? Is taking your life not something I can do at will?"

Su Yunxi was speechless. Her life was at Qin Huai's mercy; her father wouldn't pursue the matter and would even help dispose of the body and cover up the truth. She didn't know how to respond and felt choked up. It seemed she really couldn't go to the Eastern Palace to attend to her benefactor tomorrow.

The two fell silent for a moment, in a tense moment when his dagger might slice across her neck at any instant. She stubbornly raised her eyes and looked into his, not hiding the resentment and hatred in them, and he did not hide the murderous intent in his eyes.

Just then.

Footsteps echoed in the courtyard.

A short while later, footsteps stopped at the door, followed by Su Yuanzhou's deliberately lowered voice in the night.

"Xixi, you're back."

Su Yunxi and Qin Huai were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Su Yuanzhou.

Su Yunxi glanced towards the door and saw Su Yuanzhou's figure reflected in the snow on the door panel. She remembered that when she was a child, her father's figure was reflected on the door at night. Back then, he would call her Xixi and ask if she was cold at night or afraid to be alone. Obviously, he was not here to ask her about her well-being now.

They've come to settle scores later.

The father must have felt sorry for Wang Guirong, otherwise why would he brave the cold wind at night to come and settle accounts with her?

Su Yunxi glanced at Qin Huai. She didn't know why Su Yuanzhou had come to see her so late at night. Was it because his new wife had been whipped and he had come to beat her?

Qin Huai was still furious, and he continued to look at her coldly. Even though he could see her fear of her father, he remained silent.

"Is something the matter?" Su Yunxi thought to herself that she couldn't let her father know that Qin Huai was in her room, lest it cause trouble and tarnish Qin Huai's reputation. But she also felt that she was being unreasonable. When Qin Huai had a dagger to her neck, she was still thinking about him. She was conflicted and said to Su Yuanzhou, "It's late. I've already gone to bed."

"Xixi, you shouldn't have caused such a scene at the Xue residence today. If your brother had taken the blame for Miao'er and been expelled from school, Guirong wouldn't have been sent to my post by the Qin family to be whipped, and Father wouldn't have lost face in front of his subordinates." Su Yuanzhou said disappointedly in the night, "Why don't you have any sense of the bigger picture? It's clear you're a cold-hearted, heartless person. You don't even respect me as your father. I regret bringing you into this world."

I regret having her.

Su Yunxi heard this, and the color drained from her face. Who was the cold-blooded one?