The mistress who remarried has returned.

Su Yunxi was taken aback by his sudden closeness, and her breathing became somewhat rapid. Thinking of how he had been neglected by his mother today and how he was tormented by being wrongly accused of killing his brother, she knew that her threatening words in her haste had hurt Qin Huai's feelings and made his situation even worse.

She immediately softened her voice and said softly, "Qin Huai, please let me go. Because Empress Xiao is about to die, I... I was just using Lin Enxiao to send a message. It won't cause any big consequences. It's not some grand act like vying for the throne. My initial intention was just to save Empress Xiao's life. She has been kind to me, and I can't just sit idly by."

"I could let you off the hook, but I can't." Qin Huai's eyes were fixed on her condescendingly as he lowered his voice and said, "You're planning to expose my planting of a doctor in the Eastern Palace just to save your mother-in-law from the royal family. Is Zhou Yu that important to you, so important that you'd easily betray me?"

Su Yunxi was only worried that he would hand Lin Enxiao over to Zhou Qiu, which would then lead to Lin Enxiao implicating her and implicating the Crown Prince, causing irreversible consequences. That's why she threatened and restrained him, but she wouldn't actually do it.

Qin Huai's disappointed voice rang in Su Yunxi's ears, "I thought you had chosen a place today to be my husband, but it turns out that's not the case."

Su Yunxi secretly clutched the spices she had made all night inside her clothes. She remembered this day, remembered him. For over a thousand days and nights in four years, she had longed for him. She didn't keep her promise because she was afraid that if she gave herself to him, she would be even more unable to forget him.

The Second Prince and his entourage were already on the other side of the artificial hill. Zhou Qiu spoke loudly, "Brother Qin, are you over there at the artificial hill? What scenery is there to see over there? I brought Lord Qin to join you in the fun."

Qin Huai moved away from Su Yunxi, smiling gently as he examined her. "Zhou Qiu is right outside. Why doesn't Master expose what I've done? What are you waiting for?"

Seeing his restrained and stoic demeanor, Su Yunxi felt an overwhelming pang of pain in her heart. However, she couldn't take back what she had said, so she forced herself to continue, "Qin Huai, you need to go out and suppress this matter. You can't just come here to block me like this without a backup plan. You must have a way to get out of here unscathed. I don't think we need to fight to the death and both of us suffer."

Qin Huai felt a tightness in his chest, unable to breathe properly. "You think you've got me cornered, don't you?"

Su Yunxi took two steps outside.

Qin Huai's eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Su Yunxi stopped in her tracks. "If you don't go and suppress this matter, I'm going outside right now, and this time I won't stop."

Qin Huai rolled up his sleeves and stared intently into Su Yunxi's eyes, as if trying to find a trace in them that she wouldn't betray him. But she was so resolute that he couldn't find any room for negotiation.

Liu Shun sensed that the general was enveloped in endless sorrow and couldn't help but feel sorry for the general's health. He already had headaches and was taking strong medicine to suppress them, so what could be done now?

Xue Wenying said urgently in a low voice, "Don't waste your breath on her. What would it look like if the Madam saw you getting involved with a woman from the Crown Prince's palace? Get her and Lin Enxiao out of here quickly, and save yourself and the Qin family!"

Qin Huai remained unmoved.

Xue Wenying's expression suddenly changed. "She has something on you. Is that something that can really threaten you?"

Qin Huai said, "Yes."

Xue Wenying was filled with resentment. What exactly did Su Liangdi hold against Qin Huai that made him unable to touch her? Seeing that Qin Huai couldn't hand over Su Yunxi, Xue Wenying felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. But at this moment, she also realized that Qin Huai's polite unbuttoning of Su Yunxi's clothes earlier wasn't because he was reluctant to hit her, but because Su Yunxi held something over him, hence his politeness.

Qin Huai turned his gaze away from Su Yunxi's face and said to Xue Wenying, "Go back to the banquet first. The situation here is already very complicated. Don't get involved anymore."

Upon hearing this, Xue Wenying understood that if Madam Qin saw her with Qin Huai behind the rockery, she would dislike her even more. She knew that Qin Huai was thinking of her, and she herself did not want to give those important figures in the Qin family a bad impression of her. So she immediately followed his advice and returned to the banquet from the secluded spot behind the rockery.

"Brother Qin?" Zhou Qiu called out Qin Huai's name again from in front of the artificial hill, but he left himself an out, stopping in front of the hill and not going any closer to the back. What he wanted was for Qin Huai to pledge allegiance to him, not for him to fall out with Qin Huai.

Qin Lanzhang and the rest of the Qin family naturally wouldn't peek behind the artificial hill. They all knew the second prince's motives, and no one was allowed to go behind the artificial hill to harass Qin Huai. Even if the uncles and brothers wanted to see Qin Huai make a fool of himself, they all kept their tails between their legs in front of Qin Lanzhang and dared not be presumptuous. No one dared to joke about the Qin family's foundation.

Qin Huai glanced at Su Yunxi, then slowly stepped out from behind the artificial hill.

Outside, a large crowd stood, all staring intently at him.

Seeing that Qin Huai had finally emerged after much coaxing, Zhou Qiu smiled knowingly and asked, "Brother Qin, what were you doing behind the rockery? You took so long to come out. Were you having so much fun behind the rockery that you forgot all about home?"

The implication was that this was giving Qin Huai a way out; whatever Qin Huai said he would do behind the artificial hill was fine, and Qin Huai would then owe him a favor. His subordinates saw Qin Huai talking to the Crown Prince's concubine in the back. Whatever he said to the Crown Prince's concubine was irrelevant; he could use anything to his advantage.

The emperor can also make a fuss. In recent years, the emperor has become increasingly suspicious. Any slight movement is enough to arouse his suspicion. Moreover, the Qin family occupies half of the country, with its fiefdom, taxes, and retainers, making it virtually a court.

Who is Qin Huai? He's entangled with a married woman, who is also a concubine of the Crown Prince. This is enough to cause trouble for the Qin family.

Qin Huai naturally understood that Zhou Qiu was forcing him to submit. The fact that Zhou Qiu did not summon the emperor was to give Qin Huai a chance to recover.

At this moment, Zhou Qiu took out a jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Qin Huai. "Brother Qin, this jade is a priceless Hetian jade, hundreds of years old, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. This jade is most suitable to match Brother Qin's elegant character."

Qin Huai looked at the priceless piece of Hetian jade.

The atmosphere within the Qin family was quite tense. The Qin family had never favored any of the princes, and had always been loyal to the emperor and dedicated to protecting the country. If Qin Huai accepted the jade now, the Qin family would be bound to the second prince. The Qin family had never done anything like colluding with a prince, and they neither needed nor cared about it.

Qin Lanzhang and the group of retainers behind him stared intently at the eldest son of the Qin family, fearing that he might make some mistake.

Qin Lanzhang asked Qin Huai, "What happened?"