The mistress who remarried has returned.

This is a case of hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own; ultimately, it's because you're in a bad situation and don't have the strength to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop.

There was no other way.

She reached the door and opened it. The cold wind assaulted her thin frame. Looking around blankly, she felt utterly helpless.

But life goes on. My mother said things would get better.

Su Yuanzhou stood outside the door, wearing a thick coat. Hearing the door open, he turned around to face Su Yunxi. His gaze, which had been filled with reproach and impatience, suddenly widened as he looked at Su Yunxi's back in disbelief, as if he had been deeply shocked.

Su Yunxi didn't know why her father was so surprised and terrified when he saw her, as if he was about to be scared to death. She only said, "Father, you don't need to say anything more. I'll go with you. Let's leave it at that for tonight. There's no need to make things worse and disturb more people."

Su Yuanzhou bowed deeply, saying in a low voice, "This humble servant was unaware that the General was staying here. My words just now disturbed the General's rest. Please forgive me, General."

Su Yunxi was startled. Listening closely, she heard faint breathing sounds above her neck. Her heart pounded as if struck by something, as if enveloped and supported by something.

She slowly turned around and saw Qin Huai standing half a step behind her. He was tall, and she only reached his shoulder. She suddenly understood why her father had looked surprised and frightened earlier. It turned out that Qin Huai was standing right behind her.

But why did Qin Huai show up? He has never been biased towards any official, so isn't he afraid of being smeared by Su Yuanzhou? And to be in the same room with Su Yuanzhou's daughter in the quiet of the night is bound to lead to fabrications and speculations.

Qin Huai glanced at Su Yunxi only once before walking past her without avoiding Su Yuanzhou. He stepped directly over the threshold, paused as he passed Su Yuanzhou, and gently placed his hand on Su Yuanzhou's shoulder before giving it a firm grip. "Since Lord Su has matters for Xixi to handle, I won't bother you any longer. Lord Su, please arrange for her to go to the Wang family. You stay here, I'm leaving."

Su Yuanzhou's heart was in turmoil. He immediately recalled the word "doubt" that the general had mentioned. Could it be that General Qin had not forgotten Xixi? Even though he had been betrayed and cuckolded for four years, he still couldn't let go of the girl in his heart.

Otherwise, why would he be in Xixi's room so late at night? He couldn't just punish Xixi like that. He quickly bowed and slowly retreated, saying as he did so, "This matter was originally handled improperly by Madam Wang. Sending someone to take the blame in an attempt to deceive and manipulate the Xue family was wrong. It was also due to my lax discipline and lack of ability to manage my household. After much consideration, I cannot send Xixi to the Wang family to apologize. This would be adding insult to injury. It was Su Miao who was wrong. Yunze is innocent. I cannot be unfair."

Su Yunxi watched as her father bowed and retreated from the backyard, no longer pressuring her to go to the Wang family to apologize. This predicament of hers was thus resolved.

After Su Yuanzhou left, Qin Huai returned to the house and walked towards his cloak by the table.

Su Yunxi followed Qin Huai back into the house and stayed by his side, going wherever he went.

Qin Huai picked up his ruined cloak from the table, then turned to leave without saying anything more, ignoring Su Yunxi. It turned out that he had misunderstood because of the love letter, and there was nothing more to say.

Before he even reached the door, Su Yunxi grabbed his sleeve again and wouldn't let go.

Qin Huai noticed his sleeve getting heavy and turned around. He saw that Su Yunxi was clinging to him again, but she kept her head down and didn't say anything. He knew perfectly well why she wanted him to stay. The men in the East Palace needed to have a follow-up appointment, and he really wasn't in the mood to talk to her about it today, nor did he have the magnanimity to agree to anything.

She treated him as someone she could use at any time; he had no emotions or desires.

"Is there anything else?"

Su Yunxi didn't understand why she was holding onto his sleeve. Was it because the Crown Prince needed a follow-up appointment and more medicine? Was it because he was holding a dagger to prevent her from bleeding from her wound? Was it because he was about to take Xue Wenying to meet his mother to plan the important matter of continuing the family line? Or was it because she was too upset tonight and didn't want to see him leave, hoping he would stay and keep her company?

Qin Huai waited for a while, but she didn't say anything. She just kept pestering him. He didn't bring up the matter of the follow-up visit. Instead, he slowly pulled his sleeve out of her hand. She was only pestering him for the sake of the Crown Prince.

Seeing that Qin Huai was about to leave, Su Yunxi quickly walked over and closed the door, then blocked the way with her body.

Qin Huai's voice trembled slightly. "Don't bother me. I don't have time to keep arguing with you. Every time, you cling to me like this, so desperately. Do I owe him something?"

Su Yunxi stubbornly blocked the door and said softly, "Didn't you say you'd talk to me later? You still haven't told me who you went to the Xue residence for. Could you tell me? It's very important to me."

She needs everything clearly defined; that's her personality. If it's hers, she'll take it; if it's not, she won't covet it.

Qin Huai glanced down at his ruined and tattered cloak, and without hesitation, said in a deep voice, "I rushed to the Xue residence in a hurry because I didn't have time to change out of my blood-stained clothes, naturally for Xue Wenying's nephew, Xue Ping."

Su Yunxi knew the answer, but what she thought in her heart was completely different from what she heard him say. The sadness and grief she felt in her imagination was not as great as what she actually heard. But she was still unwilling to accept it and questioned him again, "Then why did you hold the dagger with your hand? Why didn't you let me get hurt?"

Qin Huai said in a low voice, "So you don't get my dagger dirty. You said yourself that I think you're dirty. Have you forgotten?"

"Oh." Su Yunxi's voice trembled, but she was the kind of person who wouldn't give up until she got to the bottom of things. "Then why didn't you hide behind the door just now? Why did you stand behind me and let Lord Su see you?"

Qin Huai said coldly, "You opened the door too fast, I didn't have time to dodge."

All of Su Yunxi's questions were clear and defined, and none of them belonged to her. Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she said, "I understand."

Seeing that she wouldn't move aside, Qin Huai put his hand on her shoulder and tried to push her away from the door.

Su Yunxi stubbornly refused to leave. "I need to bandage your hand and let me see the wound."

"There's no need for such formalities, Master. Just state your motives directly," Qin Huai pointed out with a light laugh. "Even after playing games, you still have to get to the point."

Su Yunxi carefully walked away from the door. As soon as she left, Qin Huai moved towards the door, but she blocked the door again, and Qin Huai stopped moving.

Unable to resist her nagging any longer, Qin Huai placed his hand on the edge of the table, gripping it and turning his face away.

Seeing that he wasn't going to leave, Su Yunxi quickly went to the drawer to get gauze and wound medicine. She had been injured all over her body these past few days and didn't need these medicines. She returned to Qin Huai's side, took his hand, and noticed that his hand was trembling, whether from coldness or from suppressing some emotion.