The mistress who remarried has returned.

In a hazy state, Su Yunxi sensed people coming and going in the room, bustling about carrying basins and water, fetching clothes and blankets, and cleaning the room.

As for what happened, it's unclear.

He just kept sobbing and calling for his mother.

Su Yunxi was settled in the bedroom where she used to live in the villa.

Qin Huai sat on a chair by the bed. After examining Su Yunxi, the female doctor applied medicine to various parts of her body. During the application, Qin Huai stood with his back to the window and did not overstep his bounds with the Crown Prince's concubine.

"How is she?"

The female doctor said, "The injuries on your body are all superficial, and your old knee injury has flared up again. These can be improved with careful care. It's just that you have too many worries on your mind. Mental illness is hard to cure. If this continues, I'm afraid you won't live a long life."

"A mental illness?"

"Perhaps it was because I was thinking about someone too much that it eventually became a mental illness."

After saying that, the female doctor withdrew.

Qin Huai looked at Su Yunxi's pale face, reached out his hand towards her face, but withdrew his hand just before touching her skin.

Suddenly remembering the stray cat's greedy expression as it ate meat at my neighbor's house, I felt agitated and only calmed down after drowning it.

He dislikes having his mind disturbed and often eliminates the root cause.

***

When Su Yunxi woke up, she found herself lying in her original bedroom in the villa.

He hasn't been back for four years.

The interior furnishings remained unchanged.

She felt much lighter after taking the medicine.

A charcoal fire was lit in the room, and she was covered with two thick quilts, with three or four more quilts underneath her, making her whole body warm.

Looking outside, the sky was already turning white.

At this time, she should go to the East Palace to serve the Crown Prince his meals.

She looked around and saw Qin Huai sitting on a chair by the window, dealing with some official documents. Hearing the rustling of her clothes and blankets, he glanced over.

The female physician brought in some medicinal food and served it to Su Yunxi. "Consort Su is awake. This is medicinal food that the General ordered to be prepared for you. Your body is weak, so you must eat on time. Otherwise, you will collapse."

Qin Huai asked the female doctor to prepare medicinal meals for her.

Su Yunxi felt a warmth rise in her heart, always searching in his behavior and reactions for a relationship with her that was more than just exploitation.

She wasn't feigning hunger; she was genuinely hungry, so she took the medicinal meal and ate a few bites. She said to Qin Huai, "Thank you."

Qin Huai turned a page of the official document in his hand and said calmly, "If the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue dies in my villa, it will be difficult to explain."

Admittedly, her father was a fourth-rank official, serving as the Vice Minister of Revenue in the imperial court. The fact that his daughter died under mysterious circumstances in the general's villa was indeed troublesome.

Su Yunxi's heart clenched, and she carefully put away that hope. "Whatever your concerns, the medicine and food you gave me, and the blankets to keep me warm, are real things, and I still want to thank you."

Seeing that Su Yunxi had finished breakfast, and the female doctor had cleared away the dishes and left, Qin Huai said to the person outside the door, "Bring her in."

Then, Granny Wu grabbed Cai'e by the back of her collar and dragged her inside. Once inside, she shoved Cai'e forward, and Cai'e immediately knelt down. It was clear that Cai'e had been punished with a board. Although Granny Wu's shove caused her to fall quite hard, she didn't dare to utter a sound.

Granny Wu clarified, "The matter from last night has been thoroughly investigated. It was that little hussy Cai'e who went into the study and played with the gold pendant. She accidentally broke it and, fearing responsibility, shifted the blame onto Liangdi, framing her on the spot. Cai'e thought the General wouldn't interfere, but the General is an upright man and would never wrong others."

Su Yunxi had no interest in continuing the argument with Cai'e. She simply turned her face away and looked out the window, but even the general had wronged people before.

Granny Wu lowered her head and said, "Yesterday I was rash and made a mistake by trying to take you to the government office without investigating the matter properly. I apologize to you. The general wants this old servant to pack up and leave. Could you please consider that I have served you before and ask the general to show leniency and spare my life? This job is very important to my livelihood."

Su Yunxi ignored him, because she wouldn't accept his apology; she wasn't one to be kind enough to make an exception.

Seeing that she had reverted to her usual aloof, cold, vengeful, and taciturn self, Qin Huai said to Liu Shun, "Send these two to the authorities and do whatever they want with them."

Liu Shun said "Yes" and urged the people to leave. Although Cai'e was terrified, she dared not utter a sound in front of the general. The general never cared about the trivial matters of the mansion, and he had never seen the general investigate servants overnight for anyone, let alone for a woman who had betrayed him. If she said anything more, her fate would only be worse.

Cai'e never expected that the general would return early last night and witness her stuffing the gold pendant into Liangdi's hands to frame her. She also never expected that the general would personally supervise the execution of her with a board.

Su Yunxi had changed into her old, thick, warm clothes, but she had lost so much weight that the clothes that used to fit her now looked loose and made her appear even thinner.

Seeing that she had gotten up, Qin Huai closed the official documents and gathered the scattered documents on the table together.

Su Wenxi asked, "Qin Huai, did you come back to retrieve these official documents?"

"Hmm." Qin Huai responded, and stood up after tidying up the official documents.

Seeing that he stood up and was about to leave, Su Yunxi disregarded everything else. She only knew that once he left, it would be extremely difficult for her to see him again, and the Crown Prince's chances of survival would become even slimmer.

He came to the door barefoot first, pressed his thin body against the rosewood door, and blocked the entrance with his body.

Qin Huai happened to walk over and glanced down at her feet. Only then did she realize that she hadn't put on her embroidered shoes, unaware that her stockings had been removed by the female doctor for acupuncture on the soles of her feet. Thus, her ten toes were on the soft carpet, and the rounded nails still bore traces of the henna her mother had grown for her. After some time, the redness had faded, leaving some pinkish marks.

Noticing Qin Huai's gaze, she realized that in all those years, Qin Huai had never been intimate with her and had always kept to himself. She had once thought that Qin Huai would only consummate their marriage after a formal marriage, but now she understood that Qin Huai was just using her and was not interested in her body at all.

It was against etiquette to be barefoot in front of the man, so she shrank back a bit, but there was a door behind her, so she had nowhere to hide her bare feet.

Qin Huai looked away.

"Qin Huai, if you don't let me finish what I have to say, I'll block the door and won't let you leave." Su Yunxi's words were utterly devoid of any threat; she was truly at her wit's end, and would utter any rogue's words. This is probably what they mean by "the barefoot aren't afraid of those wearing shoes."