The mistress who remarried has returned.

"What just happened? Why did you tell Xue Wenying that I gave you the clothes?"

When Qin Huai brought up the matter again, Su Yunxi thought he was still bothered by it and was going to question and warn her again. The grievances she had been suppressing resurfaced. Xue Wenying could tattle, so why couldn't she? She definitely had to clear her name.

"The first time was in Jiuli Lane, when I went to ask you for help in placing a doctor in the Eastern Palace. The moment she walked in, she treated me like a servant. The second time was at the Xue residence, when I went to rescue my brother. When we met in the courtyard, she again treated me like a servant sweeping the floor in her household. It was all because I was wearing old clothes that weren't respectable. Today I came to the Qin residence, knowing I would meet her. With so many powerful people in your family, I certainly don't want to be treated like a servant in front of others again."

Qin Huai stared quietly at her defiant yet calculating expression. "And then?"

"Then I came wearing the clothes you gave me, and sure enough, she came to see me." Su Yunxi sniffed lightly, speaking with a mix of willfulness and pride, "That's because I looked good and overshadowed her. If I didn't look good, wouldn't I still lose? She said I had a new backer, which means I've hooked up with a new man. I definitely couldn't let her feel good, so I... I just brought you up to make her feel bad."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened considerably. "But you warned me already, what more do you want?"

Qin Huai stared at the two tears rolling around in her eyes, refusing to fall. Over the years, she had always lived happily in his presence, but recently she had become a crybaby. He irritably raised his hand and used his fingertips to wipe away the two tears. "You've already won, but you made them so angry that they lost their composure at the banquet and started mocking you. And now you're acting all wronged."

Su Yunxi's voice choked as she said, "But later she asked you for support, and she won completely again. You...you don't admit that the clothes were a gift from you..., so I still lost, didn't I?"

As he spoke, it was as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"Why didn't you expose me when I treated you so badly?"

Su Yunxi said very seriously, "Zhou Yu committed regicide. If I expose you, am I not dragging you down with me? Qin Huai, I am not that ungrateful."

Qin Huai's gaze softened, and all the resentment he felt towards her turned into a pool of water, insignificant.

"You knew perfectly well that coming to the Qin residence with Su Yuanzhou today would mean running into Zhou Qiu, and you knew I wouldn't give you a good look because of the cloak," Qin Huai said in a deep voice. "And yet you still let Su Yuanzhou manipulate you, agreed to the marriage with the Lin family, and were willing to sacrifice your own life's happiness just to insist on coming here?"

Su Yunxi thought of Zhou Yuan, who was listless beside Consort Shu, Empress Xiao, who was dying in the Cold Palace, and the sickly Crown Prince who had lost the will to live. She nodded and said, "Yes. I knew that coming here would not end well."

Qin Huai took a deep breath. She had indeed been thinking about him all these years. It must be true that she and Zhou Yu had never been husband and wife. She had always obediently remained chaste for him, and she had even developed heartache because of her excessive longing for him. "You had to come to my side today no matter what, even knowing that you would suffer all kinds of grievances? You came regardless of everything? Is that right?"

Su Yunxi thought to herself, "Who would want to come to his side and suffer all this endless grievances, watching him and Miss Xue being all lovey-dovey? But I can't exactly say that I came to his residence to save the Crown Prince's mother's life, can I? Wouldn't that be using his territory to do things for the Crown Prince again? It would be like secretly carrying out a plan right under his nose."

She lowered her head, her heart filled with fear and unease. She nodded, but what she said was the truth: "You're unhappy every year on this day. Your mother always ignores you and has wronged you for years. I hope I can keep you company and make you feel better."

A surge of heat suddenly struck Qin Huai's heart. For the past four years, she had been thinking about him deeply. So, she must have had her reasons for cornering her on the Crown Prince's bed in the military camp four years ago. If he had slapped her without asking any questions and wronged her, it would be understandable that she hated him and thought he was disgusting. He himself could not bear to wrong her like that. He pinched her small chin and lifted her face up. "Four years ago, on that rainy night in the military camp, what happened?"

Four years later, when Su Yunxi heard him ask about what happened four years ago, her memory returned to that rainy night.

She was led from Jiuli Lane to the Qin Mansion by Madam Qin's servants and knelt at the feet of the high and mighty Madam Qin.

Madam Qin looked down at her condescendingly and said with pity: "This is the poor child who was used by Qin Huai."

Su Yunxi learned from Madam Qin that her existence was merely a tool for Qin Huai and Xue Wenying to spite each other. She refused to believe it and braved the rain to run to the military camp, intending to find out what she meant to Qin Huai. However, she stumbled upon Qin Huai drunk that night, pretending to sleep on the bed, calling out Xue Wenying's name.

Wen Yin...

Wen Yin...

Su Yunxi never knew that such a polite and restrained man would call out a woman's name in such torment and pain.

Su Yunxi was worried he would catch a cold, so she tried to cover him with a blanket, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. As his drunken eyes finally made out her face, he uttered the cruelest words: "You're not Wen Yin, we...can't..."

Su Yunxi felt as if she were back on that rainy night, fleeing from his tent in a panic, completely soaked by the downpour, all the light instantly extinguished from her world. Because Qin Huai was everything to her, the light in her despair, and suddenly that light went out—it was so painful.

Even just lifting it again makes every part of my body ache.

Su Yunxi stared at Qin Huai, then shook her head, unwilling even to recall those days. She had been so naive; how could someone of such humble origins dare to dream of a young master's genuine affection? He had soldiers, power, money, and no shortage of women. She, on the other hand, was penniless and had nothing. It was utterly unequal and mismatched.

She finally said with difficulty, "It's been so long, I don't remember at all."

Now, she's just being despicable by using the pretext of infidelity and betrayal to make things difficult for him, trying to find traces of his concern for her in his resentment.

But seeing that he was about to complete a major life event and that he was avoiding her at all times, she felt there was no need to continue to be stubborn. She thought it better to let him go, clear her name, and live a more dignified life.

Qin Huai noticed that she was very sad, even in pain, so he didn't press her for details. He was also curious about what had made her so upset. "Let's talk later when I'm done with my work. There are too many people around right now, so it's not convenient for me to talk to you much."

We have to talk again...

The last time he so gently asked to talk to her, he held a dagger to her neck and tried to kill her. She wasn't here for him today as she claimed. If he caught her causing trouble in his mansion, would she have any chance of survival? She didn't want to talk to him. She was going to leave as soon as she finished her business.