Before long, Chunhe brought Nian Shihua in.

Nian Shihua initially had a sullen expression, but his eyes softened the moment he saw Sang Ruodi.

He glanced at Sang Jiang a few times.

Sang Jiang raised an eyebrow slightly: "Fine, you think I'm in the way."

With that, he led Chunhe directly into the inner room.

After Sang Jiang and Chun He left, Nian Shihua turned his gaze to Sang Ruo. His lips twitched twice, but he closed them again.

Chunhe looked at Sangjiang, who was watching intently from the side, and lowered her voice to ask, "Princess, is this really a good idea? What if the Emperor finds out?"

Sang Jiang stared intently at the two without turning her head, and casually replied, "It's nothing, so what if they found out? I'm leaving soon anyway."

"What!" Chunhe almost cried out in excitement, but fortunately Sangjiang covered her mouth in time.

She then realized that she hadn't told Chunhe that she was leaving.

She made a shushing gesture to Chunhe, then lowered her voice and said, "Don't speak yet, I'll tell you later."

She only released Chunhe after seeing Chunhe nod, and then looked at the two people outside with great interest.

Sang Jiang remained silent and continued watching, not knowing what people were talking about outside.

Sang Ruo saw his eyes instantly well up with tears, so she stood up slightly and looked at Nian Shihua, saying, "Brother Hua."

Her calling him "Brother Hua" finally brought Nian Shihua to his senses, and his eyes reddened slightly. He looked at Sang Ruo for a long while before turning to leave.

In her haste, Sang Ruo ran over and hugged him from behind, crying, "Brother Hua, don't go!"

Nian Shihua's body froze.

He tried to pry Sang Ruo's hands off, but she only hugged him tighter. Tears slowly streamed down her face. "Brother Hua, don't go. This might be our last chance. I... I want to try. Please don't go."

Her voice was choked with sobs and carried a hint of pleading.

Nian Shihua sighed softly: "Ruo Ruo, you are a noble concubine, and I am just a secret guard who cannot see the light of day. I can't give you what you want."

"No!" Sang Ruo hugged him tighter: "Brother Hua, I don't like any of this at all. If we hadn't been forced to come to Beijing back then, we would have gone back to the countryside together, okay?"

Nian Shihua felt the dampness on his back and turned to the side, taking Sang Ruo's hand: "The world is all under the emperor's control. Where can we hide? You are a Noble Consort, and Sang Jiang is an Imperial Noble Consort. If you both disappear, do you think the emperor will give up?"

"No! That's not how it is!" Sang Ruo grabbed his hand in return: "Brother Hua, listen to me, the Emperor has never truly favored us, and he doesn't care about me at all. He only married me to fight against the Empress and the head of the family. Now that the Emperor's power is secure, it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not."

Hearing Sang Ruo's words, not only Nian Shihua but also Sang Jiang were stunned.

She never imagined that Long Jingchen had never favored Sang Ruo. She had never even asked Sang Ruo about this. So what did he do in the rooms of those concubines? Didn't he do the same with the others?

Her mind started racing again, and she lost all interest in listening to their conversation. She straightened up, turned around, and walked into the room with a blank expression.

Chunhe quickly followed behind her. She couldn't stand these kinds of melodramatic scenes, so her eyes were also red...