The mistress who remarried has returned.

Qin Huai glanced at Liu Shun, who had learned that he had given Su Yunxi clothes. He didn't want to publicize his relationship with Su Yunxi.

Liu Shun looked back at his master with a smug look on his face. "You can't hide it from me, sir. I saw the servant giving Master Wei five hundred li of silver the other day. I know you've been secretly sending clothes to the concubine."

"She helped your family through a difficult time, and I know you're grateful to her. I bought her clothes as a way of thanking her on your behalf."

Qin Huai gave Liu Shun no hope. He was extremely cautious about Xixi's matter. She was now a concubine in the Eastern Palace, and his gift of clothes to her like this would not be good for her reputation and should not be known to others. Furthermore, he did not want to appear to be the one who was blindly giving himself to someone.

He looked at Liu Shun and said, "You've been with me for many years. She's being forced to marry someone, and I can't bear to disappoint you. It's not that I'm disrespecting you, but with eight hundred eyes watching me, if I personally intervene to take care of her now, someone will definitely use her against me. In reality, I'm harming her. Being in the eye of the storm is not a good place. You know what it means to be the target of everyone's criticism."

Liu Shun's newly risen hope was immediately shattered. It turned out that the master bought clothes for Liangdi to repay a favor. He had thought that the master was still hung up on Liangdi.

Liu Shun analyzed the pros and cons. Indeed, Zhou Qiu had always wanted to use the general's weakness to force him to submit. If he seized on the general's close relationship with the Crown Prince's concubine, he would definitely use this as a pretext to frame the Qin family for regicide, thereby forcing the general to surrender. Otherwise, he would definitely accuse the Qin family and the Crown Prince of colluding to plot against the country and trying to dilute the Qin family's real power in front of the emperor. At that time, for the sake of the Qin family, the general would have no choice but to get rid of the concubine.

It seems the general really can't openly interfere in the matter of the concubine's marriage. "I now understand the general's predicament. Indeed, I acted impulsively. In the end, we can't disregard the bigger picture. The Qin family's legacy needs to be kept in mind."

"It's good that you understand." Qin Huai walked towards the table without making a sound.

Liu Shun followed closely behind Qin Huai, heading towards the banquet hall.

Qin Huai suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Why are you following me?"

Liu Shun bumped into Qin Huai's back with a thud. He covered his nose and took two steps back, saying matter-of-factly, "So I'm going to serve you personally? Aren't you going back to the banquet to continue enjoying yourself with the young masters? You need someone to pour your tea."

"There are maids to serve tea. Master Liu, you don't need to worry about such trivial matters. Go and attend to your business," Qin Huai advised him.

Liu Shun thought about it seriously for a moment, "I have nothing to do. Taking care of the general is the only thing I need to do tonight, and besides, the maids can't serve tea as quickly as I can."

Qin Huai stared at Liu Shun without saying a word.

Liu Shun was completely baffled. The general's intense gaze upon his soul made him wonder if he had something else to attend to.

"Are there also eight hundred pairs of eyes watching you?" Qin Huai asked softly. "Your benefactor is about to consummate her marriage, aren't you going to make arrangements to keep an eye on things? I even bought her some clothes. Are you just being lip service to her gratitude?"

Liu Shun was stung by the general's words. He slapped his forehead, realizing that the general was a powerful and influential official, always under the spotlight. What was he anyway? Nobody cared about his whereabouts. Even if he was involved with the Crown Prince, the worst that could happen was that he'd be kicked out of the Qin family mansion.

"Right. Then no one's watching me. You've reminded me."

Liu Shun thought to himself, "The general may seem aloof, but he's not actually that stubborn. It seems I'm quite important to the general. Otherwise, how could the general allow me to rescue the concubine who cheated on him and even help me repay her favor?"

He was undoubtedly the most favored among all his subordinates, far surpassing the likes of Kang Yin, Shen Shu, and Chen Lin.

When Qin Huai saw that the slow-witted man had finally realized what was going on, he sighed almost imperceptibly. If anyone could understand his thoughts, it would be Kang Yin. He handled things quietly and knew how to behave properly when he came to report back to him. He did things very well, while Liu Shun had a lot of trouble.

Liu Shun was stared at by the general for a long time. He thought to himself that the general really valued him, and couldn't take his eyes off him. This was a kind of admiration between souls.

Qin Huai, though unable to contain his anger, still tried to be considerate of his subordinate's feelings and said with considerable restraint, "Aren't you going yet? Are you going to wait until she's pregnant with the Lin family's child before you make a move?"

"..." Liu Shun immediately turned around to go find Su Yunxi.

After resting and recovering for a while, Su Yunxi slowly got up after the worst of her heart pain. Her cloak was filthy and she looked quite disheveled. She turned around and saw Qin Huai standing in the corridor talking to Liu Shun.

She was delayed by Su Yuanzhou for a while, which gave her a good opportunity to give the spices to Qin Huai. She reached into her clothes and took out the homemade spice wrapped in paper, intending to give it to Qin Huai in a secluded place.

In those years, she stayed by his side, never leaving his side on this day. At night, she would burn incense to help him ease his worries and get a good night's sleep.

She took two steps up the steps, and Liu Shun walked towards her. She raised her hand to stop him.

Liu Shun remained silent and stayed beside her.

Su Yunxi was about to walk away.

Suddenly a woman's voice came from outside, "General Qin, may I have a word with you in private?"

Then a woman carrying a guqin gracefully approached Qin Huai. With a blush on her face, she presented the guqin to Qin Huai with both hands.

Caught off guard, Qin Huai was stopped in his tracks by the young lady from an official family. He lowered his eyes to look at the guqin and asked, "What is the meaning of this, Miss?"

Upon hearing the general's question, the woman raised the zither two inches higher, saying, "This zither is worth ten thousand taels of silver. I specially commissioned someone to have it made by a famous craftsman in Jiangnan. I present it to the general for his appreciation."

Qin Huai looked at the guqin for a moment, then smiled gently and said, "I am a rough man and do not understand music theory. Miss, it would be a waste to give the guqin to a gentleman who understands music theory."

The woman's gift was rejected, and she said in embarrassment and anger, "Is that widow so good that the general would reject my feelings for her sake?"

Leaning against a pillar, Qin Huai said casually, "I really don't know anything about the zither."

The woman put the zither away. It was worth ten thousand taels of silver, yet Qin Huai didn't even seem to care. What could she possibly do to win his favor? Her aunt had instructed her to deliver a gift, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew her aunt would scold her for being useless when she returned, especially since she was also on Qin Huai's list of concubines.

Upon hearing this, Su Yunxi withdrew her hand from the spice pouch hidden in her clothes. Qin Huai didn't even care for a guqin worth ten thousand taels of silver, so this little bit of wood powder incense in her clothes, worth only one tael of silver, was really embarrassing. She didn't have the courage to give it to Qin Huai, so she turned around and walked away.