Behind a withered tree, a man in azure robes slowly came into view.

His refined and handsome face was as gentle as ever. As he drew closer, Yu Qingwu found it difficult to even breathe.

"Awu, come with me."

The man's warm voice came from above.

Yu Qingwu looked up and saw Xiao Fengyun reaching out his hand to her.

Just like years ago when he had saved her from the jaws of a wild beast, he was so compassionate, so tender, giving her a sense of peace and security.

But things were different now…

A sharp pain constricted her heart. Yu Qingwu suppressed the heartache in her eyes, trying to calm herself. She slowly freed herself from Xie Jinyan's embrace, and with tears in her eyes, smiled at Xiao Fengyun. "Senior Brother Xiao, I… I won't go back."

"Life in the Crown Prince's residence is very good. I like it very much…"

"What do you like? Do you like being a concubine?"

"Or do you like being humiliated as a plaything, regardless of the occasion?"

"Don't you know what kind of person Xie Jinyan is?" Xiao Fengyun's eyes reddened, unable to control his emotions any longer.

He looked at her coldly, with a sharpness she had never seen before in his eyes. "Awu, I'll ask you one more time, are you leaving or not?"

"I… I'm not leaving!"

"I don't want to stay in the remote mountains and forests. I don't want to have to wash clothes by the river when it's freezing cold. I don't want to have to think twice about buying a hairpin, and I don't want to be so weak that even a small county magistrate can bully me at will."

"Wealth and power, money and authority, Seventh Junior Brother can give them all. Senior Brother Xiao, can you give them to me?"

The woman's cold voice entered his ears, full of disdain and contempt.

A strong sense of humiliation surged up. Xiao Fengyun was stunned, looking at Yu Qingwu in disbelief. He suddenly felt that he had never truly known her.

"You… what did you say?"

He clenched his teeth, his face suddenly turning green, filled with shame, disappointment, and extreme embarrassment.

But he couldn't say a word…

Yes, compared to Seventh Junior Brother, he couldn't give her anything.

Even though… his Seventh Junior Brother had always indulged in sensual pleasures and been outrageously dissolute, good for nothing besides his family background.

Clenching his fists, anger, resentment, and humiliation welled up in his heart at the same time.

"Fourth Junior Sister, let's go!" Xiao Fengyun glanced coldly at Yu Qingwu, then at Xie Jinyan, who was smiling provocatively, and left angrily with Su Qing.

Yu Qingwu stood there, watching the two figures gradually moving away, her vision becoming increasingly blurred…

When they had completely disappeared from sight, she slowly turned around, looked at Xie Jinyan, who was smiling mockingly at her, her eyes instantly turning bloodshot, her voice trembling violently with anger. "Xie Jinyan, why do you have to do this!"

"Then why did Senior Sister drink the contraception soup?"

Before Yu Qingwu could finish speaking, Xie Jinyan suddenly interrupted her. He leaned against the doorframe, his phoenix eyes smiling mockingly as he looked at her. "Besides, if Senior Sister hadn't been afraid that Qing Shang Gu Yue would come to the capital and steal Gu's favor from you, and had been eager to kill the Prince of Ning, how could you have exposed your relationship with Gu in front of Xiao Fengyun?"

"Alright, Gu still has some official business to deal with. Senior Sister, prepare yourself properly and wait for Gu in the bathing room tonight."

Without waiting for her to speak, Xie Jinyan patted her shoulder lightly again, then walked towards the study.

Yu Qingwu stood there, stunned, staring blankly at Xie Jinyan's departing figure, completely dumbfounded.

So, Xie Jinyan's scheme against her was simply because he discovered that she had drunk the contraception soup?

Was he using this method to warn her?

Her drinking the contraception soup would save him trouble, wouldn't it? Why was he still angry?

Could it be…

Heh, impossible!

A self-deprecating look flashed across her eyes, and Yu Qingwu turned and returned to the room.

That day, she didn't take a single step out of Qingning Courtyard.

She didn't even bother to take a look when Xiao Fengyun and Su Qing left.

It wasn't until night fell that Xie Jinyan sent a message calling her to the bathing room that Yu Qingwu listlessly followed Granny Xun.

The Crown Prince's residence's bathing room was extremely spacious and luxurious.

The entire bathing room was paved with marble. Apart from the usual furnishings, the first thing that caught the eye was a very large bath, which was already filled with hot water. Steam was rising, and bright peony petals floated on the surface.

Such a decadent lifestyle was very much in line with Xie Jinyan's usual outrageous depravity.

Yu Qingwu sat down by the pool, waiting quietly for Xie Jinyan to arrive, feeling somewhat absent-minded.

She was very afraid that Xie Jinyan would torture her again tonight, and that she would be covered in injuries again by tomorrow.

However, she waited for nearly half an hour, but Xie Jinyan didn't come through the door.

The warm mist sprayed on her face, and Yu Qingwu was already a little sleepy, but Xie Jinyan still hadn't come.

She yawned and sat down on a chair, dozing off.

She didn't know how long had passed when Granny Xun's voice came from her ear, "Miss Yu, wake up."

"Oh dear, how did you fall asleep here?" Granny Xun frowned, put a robe on her, and asked, "What would you like to eat this morning?"

Yu Qingwu opened her eyes with difficulty and realized that it was already dawn.

She subconsciously looked towards the bath and found that the water inside hadn't been touched at all?

Yu Qingwu rubbed her temples, looked up at Granny Xun, and asked, "Granny Xun, didn't His Highness come over last night?"

"Ah?" Hearing this, Granny Xun was stunned, surprised and annoyed. "Miss, His Highness went out of the city last night, saying he was going to pick up an old friend. What, didn't anyone tell you?"

"Oh dear, these muddleheaded things! I was only gone for one night, and they're already turning the world upside down…"

Granny Xun cursed and grumbled, but Yu Qingwu didn't hear the rest of her words at all.

She only heard, 'Xie Jinyan went out of the city last night to pick up an old friend.'

What kind of old friend would make him rush out in the middle of the night, regardless of everything else?

Yu Qingwu felt a bad feeling rising in her heart…

Taking a deep breath, she slowly got up and walked out, asking Granny Xun as she walked, "Granny Xun, do you know who His Highness went to pick up?"

"Well, I heard it was the daughter of one of His Highness's benefactors, who said her husband had died and she was coming to seek refuge." Granny Xun thought Yu Qingwu was worried about someone coming to steal her favor, smiled, and comforted her, "Don't worry, Miss. From what I see, His Highness is just feeling sorry for that woman and doesn't have any other intentions…"

The daughter of a benefactor? Her husband died?

A hint of doubt flashed across Yu Qingwu's eyes, and she asked, "Granny Xun, what's that woman's name?"

"Shige, your home is really big!" Before Yu Qingwu could finish speaking, a clear and crisp female voice like a lark suddenly came from the front.

This voice is…

Didn't Xie Jinyan say she wasn't coming for a few more days?

Yu Qingwu's body shook violently, and she suddenly looked up.

She saw a pure girl in an apricot-colored dress holding Xie Jinyan's arm in front of her. Her face, which looked very pitiful, was full of smiles as she asked Xie Jinyan with a grin, "Shige, I heard you took a concubine in your residence, it seems to be a cousin from the Duke's mansion. I'm new here and don't understand anything. Can you ask her to come and serve me and tell me about the rules of the capital?"