The mistress who remarried has returned.

Seeing her cowering, Qin Huai suddenly thought of the desperate look on her face when she stared at him in a daze after he slapped her four years ago. Even though she had used him and betrayed him, he still felt sorry for her when he saw her afraid. Even after he learned that she had betrayed him and climbed into the bed of the Crown Prince, he often regretted slapping her.

The words "I'll never talk to you again" carried an unusual weight, making him feel threatened and constrained. A fleeting look of desolation crossed his eyes. She meant what she said; hadn't she already ignored him for four years?

He shook off his irritation, but he hadn't made a mistake in hitting her back then. She had used him as a stepping stone to get close to Zhou Yu, and a slap was already too lenient for her.

Su Yunxi felt no slap fall for a long time. She saw jealousy in Xue Wenying's eyes. She looked at Qin Huai and saw him suppressing his rage. He picked up her sleeve, grabbed the thread, and looked at it in the moonlight to see where it was connected.

Seeing his expression of suppressing his anger, Su Yunxi felt a pang of heartache for him.

Qin Huai found the connection point and easily ripped it off with a bang, causing Lin Enxiao's sleeve button to fall to the ground.

Liu Shun clicked his tongue. The general, in the rage of the day, gently tugged at the thread on the concubine's sleeve?! This... today, the general, though seemingly in deep distress, did not lash out at the concubine as he had four years ago. Was he deliberately suppressing his own feelings to be lenient with her?

As soon as Su Yunxi unbuttoned her sleeves and Lin Enxiao's buttons, she immediately lowered her arms, and as she turned around, the tassel of her sachet brushed against Lin Enxiao's inner thigh.

Su Yunxi noticed that Qin Huai's gaze was on the tassel of her sachet, so she lowered her head and covered the sachet to prevent the tassel from swaying around. Then she took three or four steps back, creating a great distance between herself and Lin Enxiao.

Xue Wenying simply couldn't believe it. Qin Huai was so furious that his eyes were filled with murderous intent, yet he could force himself to unbutton Su Yunxi's clothes. And the second time he acted like a cuckold, he suppressed his anger. Wasn't that a bit too despicable, too self-degrading? Could it be that he still had feelings for Su Yunxi? Was he so worried that Consort Su would never speak to him again?

After Su Yunxi had moved away from him, Lin Enxiao suddenly bowed deeply, his head touching his hands, and dared not utter a sound. After a long while, he said, "General, please investigate. My relationship with Liangdi is completely innocent, and we have not overstepped any boundaries."

Qin Huai did not speak the same language as Lin Enxiao.

The young general's brows and eyes were filled with disdain. He couldn't accept that he and Lin Enxiao were of the same ilk, both stepping stones. He had absolutely no special qualities whatsoever. She didn't care which man she sought, as long as he could help the Crown Prince. Even if he was just a stepping stone, he wasn't the only one!

Liu Shun reprimanded Lin Enxiao, "The general has come. What if the general hadn't come? Wouldn't you have gone to find Zhou Yuan, and then taken Consort Su to the bridal chamber? Now you say you haven't overstepped your bounds, what are you pretending to be innocent for? Who do you think you are, daring to answer the general? If you answer me, I'll have to think twice before answering the general!"

Lin Enxiao's heart was pounding, and his knees buckled, causing him to kneel before Qin Huai. Admittedly, he had been moved by Liangdi's words and had intended to have his mother send word to Zhou Yuan to retrieve the gold bracelet, sell it, and live a good life with Liangdi.

Seeing Lin Enxiao tacitly agree with Liu Shun's words, Qin Huai's arms trembled so much that the shaking was clearly perceptible. Was Lin Enxiao already planning how to make love with Xixi? What scenes were Lin Enxiao conjuring up in his mind? Qin Huai's eyes finally turned bloodshot.

Su Yunxi realized that on the anniversary of his brother's death, on the day his mother was extremely cold to him, she had done something that touched a raw nerve and angered him.

But thinking about how she had been protected by the Crown Prince for the past four years, thus avoiding criticism and accusations that she was a troublemaker who had cheated on her husband, and how she, her mother, and her brothers had not suffered the torment of their father, and now that Empress Xiao was dying, Zhou Yuan's situation was also very pitiful. She could not ignore these things. Since she had taken the step to take care of this, she was determined to do her best to see it through to the end. She was not the type to make empty promises or give up halfway.

As for Qin Huai, with Xue Wenying by his side, he didn't need her company.

Seeing that Lin Xiao'en was clearly intimidated by power, Su Yunxi figured that perhaps Qin Huai was unhappy about her entanglement with Consort Shu's people in his garden. If this were exposed, it would seem as if he had provided the venue, and the Emperor would think that the Second Prince, the Crown Prince, and the Protector General's Mansion were plotting something big. So, she sincerely said to Qin Huai, "I really shouldn't have been busy with my business in your garden; it was my fault. Then, may Lin Xiao'en and I talk outside the Qin residence?"

Qin Huai looked at Su Yunxi's face but remained silent. Should he go outside and continue to seduce Lin Enxiao with sweet words and his good looks?

Su Yunxi waited for a long time but did not receive a reply from Qin Huai. She took two steps forward, tilted her head up, and asked Qin Huai again in a low voice, "Is it okay?"

Liu Shun glanced sideways. Once they were outside, who knew what she was going to do to Lin Enxiao? It was infuriating. The general was indeed insightful; otherwise, who knew what else she might have done behind his back? Why did she keep asking him if he liked her, teasing Lin Enxiao until he was blushing?

Qin Huai narrowed his eyes as he examined her face. "No, you can't."

"Why not?" Su Yunxi asked, utterly bewildered. "My father already asked for your opinion. You just promised that it didn't matter who I was assigned to or how many people I served. So why are you stopping me?"

"I don't care if you assign men to serve men, but how can I not care if you use my residence to secretly plot the succession for the Crown Prince?" Qin Huai chuckled.

"We're going outside the manor."

"If they investigate, where did you meet and get to know each other?" Qin Huai said slowly, "Didn't I authorize your marriage to the Lin family? How can I escape responsibility?"

Su Yunxi was in a dilemma. What he said made sense; it seemed he wouldn't allow her to continue getting close to Lin Enxiao. What should she do?

Qin Huai glanced at Lin Enxiao and said, "Liu Shun, seize Lin Enxiao and send him to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation."

Lin Enxiao panicked immediately. "General, please understand! I did not help Consort Su plot to seize the throne. It was truly just my mother's short-sightedness; it was a matter of human trafficking, a mutually agreeable arrangement!"

Liu Shunyi waved and told Lin Enxiao to be taken away.

Before the guards took Lin Enxiao away, Su Yunxi stretched out her arms and used her slender body to shield Lin Enxiao from behind, saying to Qin Huaiyan, "Why are you making things difficult for me? If you hadn't come over, I wouldn't have actually caused you any trouble."

"I have nothing to say. But you took advantage of the Crown Prince's illness to have an affair with another man. As his subject, I should be concerned about the Crown Prince's reputation. Doesn't he... feel jealous?" Qin Huai looked at her. "Get away from him."

Su Yunxi shook her head. "I don't want to."

Qin Huai took a breath, his tone suddenly becoming urgent, "Get out of the way!"