"Knock knock".

Su Xiaoning raised her arm and tentatively knocked on Su Qingcai's door, but there was no response from inside.

She knocked harder, almost banging on the door, but Su Qingcai never opened it. The house was deathly silent, as if no one was there, a silence that was somewhat frightening.

"What's wrong with you...?"

Su Xiaoning lowered her hand dejectedly. She stood quietly in front of Su Qingcai's door for a long time, but in the end, she had no choice but to leave.

For the next few days, Su Qingcai stayed indoors. He locked himself in his room, and Ding Yi and Bing Er delivered all his meals to him. However, they didn't deliver the meals at fixed times, so Su Xiaoning didn't get a chance to see Su Qingcai at all.

Things seem to be getting more and more serious. Su Xiaoning doesn't know what she did to offend Su Qingcai. These past few days, she has no heart to investigate the case. She just keeps knocking on Su Qingcai's door and leaving disappointed time and time again.

When she knocked on Su Qingcai's door again, Feng Jiuming happened to pass by and curiously came over.

"It's been several days, do you still want to see him?"

“What can I do? I just want to see him…” Su Xiaoning’s tone was very disappointed. Her arms hung limply at her sides, and her eyes were full of sorrow. “If there is any misunderstanding, we can just talk it out. Why do you have to treat me like this?”

She was so sad that her long eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyes, like the broken wings of a butterfly, which suddenly stirred a strange feeling of pity in Feng Jiuming's heart.

He simply shoved Su Xiaoning aside, raised his arm and started banging on the door while shouting.

"Su Qingcai, are you even a man? She's been coming to see you every day these past few days, don't tell me you didn't know! If there's any misunderstanding, the two of you should just talk it out. Leaving her hanging like this, I don't know whether to call you stupid or petty! I saw you were pretending to be so decent before, but now you've been exposed, haven't you? I think you're a real piece of trash..."

Feng Jiuming was relentlessly berating Su Qingcai, making Su Xiaoning's heart pound with fear. She tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, his expression growing increasingly excited as he continued his tirade.

Just as they were getting into the middle of their argument, a sword suddenly flew out of the house, piercing through the fragile window paper and heading straight for Feng Jiuming's face!

Feng Jiuming was startled, but luckily he reacted quickly and dodged the attack. He was about to unleash a torrent of curses when the door suddenly slammed open, and Su Qingcai walked out with a grim face.

He picked up the longsword that had fallen to the ground, not even glancing at Su Xiaoning, his gloomy eyes fixed on Feng Jiuming: "Practice swordsmanship with me."

"Practicing swordsmanship? What's wrong with you?" Feng Jiuming muttered in dissatisfaction, not understanding what was going on.

Su Qingcai ignored him, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the courtyard. After taking a sword from Ding Yi and throwing it to him, she quickly attacked him. Feng Jiuming had no choice but to fight Su Qingcai.

For a moment, the courtyard was filled with flashing sword shadows, a sight that terrified onlookers.

Feng Jiuming's greatest skill was lightness skill, but Su Qingcai was more skilled in swordsmanship. Before long, Feng Jiuming was at a disadvantage.

Su Qingcai showed no mercy, almost to the point of wanting to kill. He thrust his sword at Feng Jiuming's vital points with each strike. In his panic, Feng Jiuming could only protect his own vital points, but he inevitably suffered injuries elsewhere on his body. Only when he was covered in wounds and unable to fight any longer did this absurd battle finally come to an end.

Su Xiaoning was so anxious she almost fainted; she couldn't persuade the seemingly crazed Su Qingcai at all. Only after Su Qingcai finally threw down his sword did she rush over to help Feng Jiuming up and take him to Bai Hua's room for treatment.

"How did he get so badly injured?" Bai Hua was taken aback. She quickly settled Feng Jiuming on the bed and began to treat his wounds.

Su Xiaoning remained silent, looking at Feng Jiuming who had fallen into a coma. She felt a surge of anger, turned around and went back into the courtyard, loudly questioning Su Qingcai, "He only spoke rudely, why did you have to be so cruel!"

Su Qingcai stood quietly in the courtyard. He slammed the blood-stained longsword in his hand to the ground with a clang, without saying a word.

"I just came to ask you a question, but you act like you haven't done anything wrong!" Su Xiaoning's eyes were red with anxiety, but she still couldn't help but shout at you.

"What's wrong with you these past few days?! I've come to see you so many times, and it's fine if you don't want to talk to me, but why are you taking it out on others? If you have any complaints about me, just say so. There's nothing I can't accept, so why torture yourself and others like this!"

"You still know that I'm torturing myself too?" Su Qingcai suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice unlike his usual one.

He raised his head and stared intently at Su Xiaoning, his bloodshot eyes seeming to be brewing a storm.

Do you think I wanted this? I've become like this all because of you!

"Su Xiaoning, tell me, why did you agree to the Emperor's request? Why were you willing to let me marry another noblewoman? Do you still remember the vows we made to each other? Ha... You kept it from me. I didn't know you were already planning to hand me over. I was so stupid to have been kept in the dark all this time!"

Su Qingcai questioned Su Xiaoning almost in a roar. He finally couldn't hold back anymore and vented all the dissatisfaction he had been holding in for the past few days.

Su Xiaoning was surprised that he knew about this, and she stammered, unable to say anything.

Seeing her evasive gaze, Su Qingcai felt a sharp pain in his heart and roared, "Speak!"

"I..." Su Xiaoning stammered, her heart filled with overwhelming sorrow, but she couldn't bring herself to say the real reason.

How could she tell Su Qingcai that she had promised the Crane Elder that she would leave him in the future? Was it really good for him to know such a cruel ending in advance?

Su Xiaoning gritted her teeth, and even though she was in so much pain that she could hardly breathe, she didn't utter a single word about the old crane.

Su Qingcai was filled with disappointment. He gradually calmed down and his gaze toward Su Xiaoning grew cold.

"I used to think we were on the same page, but now I realize I might have been wrong. What did all those promises I made to you even mean? Su Xiaoning, did you ever care about me?"

He was met with only silence.

For Su Qingcai, Su Xiaoning's silence was the answer. She was telling him that she really didn't care about him.

So what was the point of his hysteria? He seems like a joke.

"Okay, I understand..."

Su Qingcai gave a self-deprecating laugh, then turned and left dejectedly. His lonely figure almost brought tears to Su Xiaoning's eyes.

“Su…” Su Xiaoning opened her mouth, but couldn’t pronounce Su Qingcai’s name properly. She could only watch him leave, feeling a dull pain in her heart.