The mistress who remarried has returned.

Xue Wenying gracefully extended a jade-white hand and pointed to Su Yunxi's white clothes from top to bottom, "Her clothes cost five hundred taels of silver and were made by Master Wei, who makes clothes for the Zhou and Qin families."

Qin Huai glanced at Su Yunxi. In the past four years, she had become more and more charming. She had shed her childishness and gained a lot of womanly grace in her cheeks and eyes. In the end, this dress had also hindered her elegance.

When Su Yunxi saw his gaze coming towards her, she subconsciously shrank her shoulders, raised her hand and clenched the cloak's strap, making the strap crumple in her hand.

"Was this expensive dress a gift from you to Liangdi?" Xue Wenying asked slowly.

Su Yunxi looked up and met Qin Huai's gaze, catching a glimpse of undeniable panic in his eyes.

Qin Huai withdrew his gaze from Su Yunxi's face. The image of the rough servant in his mother's courtyard, his hands covered in grime, greedily playing with his beloved glass marbles, flashed through his mind. With extreme restraint, he asked Xue Wenying, "I didn't send it. But why do you ask? Why do you think I would send clothes to someone else's concubine?"

Su Yunxi had a premonition that he wouldn't admit the clothes were a gift from him, but she also longed for and hoped that he would admit to Miss Xue that the clothes were a gift from him. When her expectations were dashed, her eyes were filled with despair.

Once, covered in blood, waiting to die in this dilapidated temple, Qin Huai shone like a ray of light on her muddy life. His hand rested on the top of her neck, and the moment she looked up and saw him, she knew that this perfect, godlike man would be the love of her life. His words, "Come with me from now on," gave her a home and a place to belong.

After he took her in, he asked her to call him brother, but she shook her head and, as if by fate, called him husband.

Is this man, who is avoiding suspicion and treating her as an uninvited guest, really the man she risked her life to shield from arrows, the man she has missed so much for the past four years that has made her ill?

Xue Wenying breathed a sigh of relief. "I also suspected that the clothes weren't a gift from you. It's clear that Liangdi was just joking with me. I thought her clothes were nice, so I asked where she got them. She jokingly said that you gave them to her. Although it was a joke, the Crown Prince has committed regicide, and she is the highest-ranking woman in the Eastern Palace. Since there is no Crown Princess, she has always managed the internal affairs, just like a mistress. This joke was inappropriate and will likely bring negative consequences to the Qin family."

Qin Huai looked at Su Yunxi and asked her gently, "Did you tell Wen Yin that the clothes were a gift from me?"

Su Yunxi's eyes flickered. Qin Huai's tone was very gentle, but Su Yunxi was so sensitive that she already felt extremely wronged. He usually didn't show his emotions, so the fact that he asked the question now meant that he was extremely displeased. "That's what I said, but I..."

Why did you tell Wen Yin this?

Before Su Yunxi could finish speaking, Qin Huai interrupted her gently. Su Yunxi felt as if her heart had been pierced by an awl, and her blood-filled heart suddenly stopped breathing and bled profusely.

She retaliated because Xue Wenying's words implied that she had hooked up with another man.

But Qin Huai's question, "Why?" made her realize that her identity over the years was a tool he used to spite Xue Wenying, who had married far away in Suzhou, and that she had no right to provoke Miss Xue.

She glanced at everyone present. Zhou Qiu was also watching her with amusement. She could expose Qin Huai now, provoke him, and vent her pent-up grievances. But she had come today to find a way out for Empress Xiao and to repay the Eastern Palace's protection over the past four years, not to compete with Miss Xue for the Emperor's favor.

Provoking Qin Huai would not benefit her either.

I remember when she was thirteen, she had a severe cough. Qin Huai took three days off to take care of her day and night, but it was all an act for Miss Xue's benefit.

She found various reasons not to expose Qin Huai, knowing deep down that she did not want to reveal his identity in front of others. She was indeed the concubine of the Crown Prince, and Zhou Yu had committed the crime of regicide. No matter what Qin Huai had done to her, she did not want to implicate his reputation.

Su Yunxi bit her lip hard, leaving three or four even paler teeth marks on her already pale lips. It took a while for the teeth marks to regain some color and blood. She pursed her lips into a slight smile, her throat felt like it was choked, and she pretended to be nonchalant as she said, "I was just joking with her."

Qin Huai's slender fingers gradually curled up. Her tendency to endure grievances without expressing them truly made his heart clench and ache. He finally sighed softly, "Don't talk nonsense to Wen Yin in the future."

Su Yunxi felt the air in her chest being sucked away instantly. She clutched the clothes in front of her chest, unable to breathe for a long time, and finally nodded silently.

Su Yuanzhou realized his daughter had gotten into trouble. Since Young Master Qin didn't care about Xixi, such jokes were absolutely unacceptable. Fearing General Qin would hold him accountable, he harshly reprimanded his daughter: "Who have you been fooling around with? Where did you get these clothes? How dare you try to associate yourself with Young Master Qin? Who do you think you are? How dare you joke with Miss Xue like that? Who do you think you are?"

Xue Wenying narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Su Yunxi. The dissatisfaction she felt earlier at the banquet, when Su Yunxi had completely overwhelmed her, subsided in an instant. Su Liangdi was no match for her after all. She had taken Su Liangdi far too seriously. Her real rivals were the noble ladies listed in the concubine selection register.

Liu Shun suddenly remembered the accountant in the manor carrying five hundred taels of silver to pay for clothes at the clothing store. His heart skipped a beat. He realized that the clothes must have been sent by the general! The general... he... could he have secretly been... to the concubine? He was avoiding admitting it now because of his status. If the lady knew that he had sent clothes to a woman from the Eastern Palace, she would definitely skin him alive.

Hearing her father use such a derogatory term as "fooling around" to describe her in front of everyone, Su Yunxi felt embarrassed and her ears turned so red they almost bled. She swallowed all her grievances and resentment and whispered, "Father, I won't talk nonsense with Miss Xue anymore."

As she spoke, her voice betrayed her choked sobs, and her eyelashes trembled, but the tears in her eyes refused to fall.

Qin Huai remained silent, quietly focusing his gaze on Su Yunxi's eyebrows and eyes.

Seeing that Su Yunxi had been defeated, Xue Wenying took two steps to Su Yunxi's side and said gently, "Liangdi, the general speaks frankly, so don't take it too seriously. Of course, I know you were joking. But because your status is so special, I naturally won't take it to heart if I hear it. But if others hear it, they will inevitably make a fuss about the general and the Qin family."

He paused slightly, then continued, "Even if you dislike the general, he has still shown you kindness and support over the years. You shouldn't repay kindness with enmity, should I?"

Qin Huai frowned, a strong emotion flashing in his eyes. If she didn't like him, why didn't she expose him in front of everyone? Clearly... she had suffered countless injustices yet still protected him. What did Wen Yin know!