Su Yan felt a pain in his chest, but he couldn't refute it.

He recalled how he had carefully confessed his feelings to her when they were young: "My husband was very pleased with me in this exam and said I had a good chance of getting into the top three next spring. If I pass, I'd like to marry you."

Her face flushed, and she said angrily, "If you want to marry me, I have conditions."

"What conditions?" he asked quickly.

"If you marry me, you are not allowed to take concubines! You can only love me. If you like someone else, I will never talk to you again."

He smiled foolishly: "Okay, I will definitely not take a concubine. For the rest of my life, I will only marry you."

Su Yan came back to her senses and stared at the teacup in front of her in panic, but now, she seemed to really not care.

Inner room.

Wanruo felt Chen Qinghan's pulse, her face slightly gloomy: "You are too weak, you need to take good supplements."

"Um."

"In the final analysis, it's because you're depressed and can't get rid of it. If you let it accumulate inside, your body will eventually break down."

Wan Ruo held her hand and asked, "Aren't you happy now? I heard that you and Su Yan were in love. Now you can be together, isn't it great?"

Chen Qinghan shook his head slightly: "That was in the past."

"You don't like him now?"

"Wanruo, in my current situation, I'm not worthy of thinking about whether I like it or not."

Chen Qinghan's voice was soft, but it was filled with despair. The Queen was eyeing her covetously, and her family had given up on her. She was a criminal who should have died long ago, and if she hid beside Su Yan, she would never see the light of day and would only drag him down.

Wanruo felt a tightness in her throat and was sad.

What had she done wrong to be abandoned again and again, falling into the abyss, unable to escape?

Wan Ruo held her hand tightly and said, "When I was trapped in the palace, you secretly helped me to report the news. I owe you a favor. If you have any problems, you can come to me and I will help you."

Chen Qinghan's eyes flickered, and he opened his mouth, hesitating for a long time before speaking: "I want to leave here."

"Why?" Wanruo was stunned.

"I am here, and ultimately I am just a criminal who cannot see the light of day. If I am exposed, Su Yan will also be dragged down by me. I have hurt him once, and I don't want to hurt him a second time."

"Maybe he doesn't care..."

"But I care," Chen Qinghan's eyes became firm, "I don't want to be a burden, and I don't want to live a life of hiding from the public."

She even thought that it would be better if she died.

Wanruo saw the despair in her eyes and grabbed her hand: "Then I will help you. I will send you away from the capital and start a new life somewhere else!"

"I..." Chen Qinghan was a little confused again, "I'm a weak woman, helpless, and I have to hide from everyone. Where can I go?"

"My Jin Shang Tang is planning to open a shop in the Jiangnan area. I've already sent people there to prepare for it, and it'll probably open next month. If you want to leave, I'll have someone take you there. You'll help me manage my shop. I'll change your name and surname, and you'll be far away from home. No one will recognize you anymore, and you can start anew."

Chen Qinghan's eyes revealed longing. Can she start over?

-

Ding'an Marquis Mansion.

"I won't marry! How can I marry such a person?! How could my stepmother treat me like this?!" Zhu Jia stood up with a "swoosh", his eyes already red.

The Marquis's wife scowled. "Do you think I'm trying to harm you? If you hadn't offended so many powerful people in the capital, your marriage wouldn't be so difficult now! Although these families aren't particularly prominent, their descendants are quite ambitious. They've all passed the imperial examinations and hold lower positions. The Ding'an Marquis's Mansion will support you in the future and won't let you suffer any injustice."

Zhu Jia gritted her teeth and said, "I won't marry!"

"So what do you want?! This doesn't work, that doesn't work, are you still thinking of marrying into the Xie family?!"

Zhu Jia's eyes flickered, revealing his guilty conscience: "What are you talking about, stepmother?"

"You think I can't see that you like the eldest daughter of the Xie family, right? But she's already married, which shows you're not meant to be together. You should let go of these inappropriate thoughts as soon as possible!"