The lively Spring Festival banquet soon came to an end.

No sooner had the banquet ended than three days later, all of Tang Ning's past experiences, including her likes and dislikes, had been thoroughly investigated by Situ Yin's group of mad dog-like secret guards and laid out on his desk.

After going through Tang Ning's messages again and again, Situ Yin frowned in annoyance. His mood, which had been happy for three whole days, began to darken again.

He felt that simply abducting her back to the palace might not be feasible for Qin Tangning.

Not only would it not work, the other party might even try to kill him rather than surrender.

Situ Yin's dog-like intuition told him this.

After all, not just any girl would dare to travel thousands of miles, disguised as a man, to the capital to find her relatives.

He finally found a scent that was so effective at relieving his headache, even better than the previous one, but he could see it but couldn't smell it.

This annoyed him greatly, and on top of that, he hadn't smelled Tang Ning's fragrance for three whole days, causing Situ Yin's head to throb with pain once again.

He immediately decided to put aside the question of whether or not to exchange them for the time being, and instead go to the Duke's mansion to see Tang Ning and smell her fragrance before making any decisions.

Meanwhile, at the Duke of Guo's mansion, the news of Situ Yin's imminent arrival almost instantly caused a sensation throughout the entire mansion.

That's the current emperor! He's never set foot in the home of any of his subjects since he ascended the throne. Yet now he's chosen to come to the Duke of Guo's mansion. What does that mean? It means that the Duke of Guo's mansion is deeply favored by the emperor. What a great honor!

In an instant, the people in the Duke's mansion were in complete chaos in order to properly receive the emperor.

The old lady was so excited that her face was flushed, and she even put on her official robes. She kept urging her beloved second son to remember to perform well, because the Emperor might be pleased and send him to a good position.

The second young master of the Duke's mansion nodded repeatedly in response; even without his mother's reminder, he would behave well.

The second wife's scheming continued for the time being, but Princess Qingping was so frightened upon hearing this that she spat out a mouthful of tea.

Heaven knows what illness her brother suddenly developed and why he had to come to the Duke of Guo's mansion.

Princess Qingping racked her brains but couldn't come up with a solution.

Not only could she not figure it out, but the other senior ministers in the capital who received the news also couldn't understand his meaning. In the end, they could only attribute it to the fact that Princess Qingping was so favored by His Majesty that it led him to the Duke of Guo's mansion.

Anyway, as long as he doesn't bother them, they don't care where Situ Yin is going!

Almost simultaneously, Tang Ning, sitting in the garden, was admiring the newly delivered flowers from the estate with He Lanruo. Tang Ning, who was surprised to see such vibrant flowers in early spring, instinctively reached out to touch them. However, the moment she heard the servant report that Situ Yin was coming, her hand trembled slightly, and a thorn pierced straight into her fingertip.

Blood beads immediately seeped out.

"How could you be so careless? Does it hurt? Chun Tan, go quickly and get the wound medicine."

He Lanruo, who noticed Tang Ning's injured hand immediately, strode over to her, took her hand in her hands, and asked her anxiously.

Chun Tan was about to turn around after hearing He Lan Ruo's words when Tang Ning stopped her.

"Spring sandalwood, etc."

After stopping Chun Tan, Tang Ning looked helplessly at He Lan Ruo beside her, who had a worried expression. "It was just a minor prick from a thorn. Why would you need such a serious wound medicine? Look, I'm fine now. There's no need to trouble Chun Tan at all."

Even though Tang Ning had said that, He Lanruo's expression didn't soften much. His eyes remained fixed on Tang Ning's eyes. "I've noticed that you've been somewhat restless ever since you came back from the Spring Festival Banquet. Did you encounter someone or something in the palace?"

Upon hearing Helan Ruo's words, Tang Ning's fingers trembled slightly. She then avoided Helan Ruo's eyes to cover her embarrassment and spoke very quickly, "No, no. I didn't meet anyone, really."

Seeing her like this, Helan Ruo lowered her eyes slightly, then subconsciously tightened her grip on Tang Ning's fingers. After hesitating for a long time, she still asked casually, "Did you... run into Wei Jing?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Ning immediately turned to look at him in surprise. Seeing that he clearly cared a lot, yet his tone was deliberately nonchalant, she smiled.

"No, I didn't meet Wei Jing."

"Yeah?"

"Of course."

Seeing Tang Ning's sincere expression, He Lanruo, whose heart had been in her throat for three days, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But if it weren't for Wei Jing, why would Tang Ning be so absent-minded these past few days? Could it be... that Qin Qianqian did something?

He Lanruo was somewhat confused.

When Tang Ning heard the name Wei Jing come out of He Lanruo's mouth, she almost didn't react. He Lanruo's information was really outdated. Her system had already been updated to Situ Yin, but He Lanruo's system was still stuck on the outdated Wei Jing.

That's quite amazing.

Situ Yin arrived extremely quickly, faster than anyone had imagined.

Standing in front of the Duke of Guo's mansion, listening to the shouts of "Long live the Duke!" and looking at the dark mass of people kneeling on the ground, Situ Yin followed the scent and found Tang Ning with unparalleled precision among the crowd.

The relief from his headache caused a smile to involuntarily creep onto his face. After being told to rise, he began to walk toward the Duke's mansion. However, after wandering around the mansion for a short while with these people by his side, Situ Yin's mood immediately turned from sunny to cloudy, even accompanied by a bit of thunder and lightning.

Why are these people so annoying?

Not only did they keep following him around, but they also kept saying nonsensical and stupid things. When they started talking, they didn't even change their tone. That was one thing, but when there were many people, there were many smells. When he smelled Tang Ning's fragrance, he was always forced to smell other smells as well.

How could Situ Yin possibly be in a good mood?

Seeing his face grow increasingly gloomy, and with the old lady and her brother-in-law still going on and on, Princess Qingping, who knew Situ Yin better than most, was already cursing him in her heart out of fear.

With his brother-in-law's poor judgment, he probably wouldn't even be able to catch a pie falling from the sky. Didn't you see that His Majesty is already on the verge of exploding with anger?

To avoid being implicated by these two fools, Princess Qingping took a deep breath and was about to step forward to change their conversation when Situ Yin, who had been walking in the middle, suddenly stopped, turned around, and said expressionlessly, "Except for Helan Ruo and his wife who are here with me, everyone else may leave."

"But Your Majesty..."

Just as they were getting into the conversation, Second Uncle was unwilling to leave and was about to shamelessly beg Situ Yin to let him stay.

"What? Was what I said not clear enough, or did you not hear me clearly enough? If you can't hear me clearly, then there's no point in keeping your ears..."

Before Situ Yin could finish speaking, the cold-faced guards behind him drew their swords in unison.

Their perfectly synchronized movements, synchronized voices, and the cold, numb expressions on their faces terrified the Duke's family members, who had never witnessed such a display of power before, causing them to collapse to the ground in fear.

After kowtowing and begging for forgiveness, the group quickly helped each other up and disappeared in an instant.

As soon as these people left, the murky air instantly cleared up considerably, and even the fragrance emanating from Tang Ning became noticeably stronger.

This finally cheered Situ Yin up again. With a slight upturn of his lips, there was no trace of the ruthless look he had just given when he was stern and about to cut off everyone's ears.

He even took a stroll through the garden and specifically asked Helan Ruo to introduce it to him.

Recalling the worried and pleading look in Princess Qingping's eyes when she left, Helan Ruo clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and began to introduce the scenery of the garden to Situ Yin without any expression.

Unexpectedly, after only a few sentences of introduction, he heard his good uncle suddenly ask to see the "A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains" painting in his collection, right now, immediately.

Upon hearing this request, a vein bulged on Helan Ruo's forehead. After calming himself down for a long time, he took Tang Ning's hand and prepared to go back to the courtyard to fetch it for him.

Before he could even step down the stone steps with Tang Ning in his arms, Situ Yin's slightly languid voice rang out again, "I want to see how long it will take you to fetch my wife? You wouldn't even be willing to be separated from your wife for such a short time, would you? After all these years, you really haven't changed at all..."

Situ Yin accurately struck Helan Ruo's weak point, causing him to immediately turn around and glare angrily at the nonchalant Situ Yin behind him.

Because of Ji Muqing, he could maintain his nonchalant, playboy image in front of outsiders, even in front of Tang Ning. But when he was with Situ Yin, a casual gesture or a single word from him could provoke him into impulsive and irritable behavior. This had been the case for the past few years.

He Lanruo closed his eyes, thinking that even if Tang Ning was left here, there shouldn't be any problems. Others might not know, but how could he not know?

Back when Ji Muqing entered the palace, his mother, in an attempt to comfort him, inadvertently said that Situ Yin, despite having a full harem, was actually not interested in women at all, and that he was only constantly filling his harem for certain special reasons, so that he should stop being so decadent. Although he never got the specific reasons from his mother, who remained silent.

It was precisely his mother's words that made him cling to a vague idea, hoping that one day Mu Qing would be able to leave the palace again.

But who could have imagined that he would meet Tang Ning?

"Ningning, wait here for me for a moment, I'll be back soon."

He Lanruo spoke to Tang Ning in a gentle voice.

You want it fast? Well, then I'll make it fast for you!

Having been inexplicably aroused by Situ Yin's words, Helan Ruo finished speaking to Tang Ning and then jumped down the steps without looking back, rushing towards her own courtyard.

Tang Ning didn't even have time to say anything more to him before he kept her there.

Feeling the burning gaze behind her, Tang Ning felt as if she were being pricked by needles, and her breathing became increasingly rapid and uncontrollable.

But to everyone's surprise, the man in black who had been standing some distance behind her suddenly bent down and looked at her lowered face.

Caught off guard, Tang Ning was startled and took two steps back before sitting down on the stone bench behind her. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were filled with panic, and her eyes instantly turned red.

Seeing that she was frightened by him, Situ Yin, who had initially found it somewhat amusing, frowned immediately when he saw her eyes begin to redden.

"Why are you crying again? I didn't do anything to you today, so why are you crying?"

Tang Ning just stared at him with red eyes and didn't say anything, looking like a wronged little raccoon.

This made Situ Yin irritable as well. He stood there for a while, thought for a moment, and then took two steps back.

"Can I stand a little further away?"

Tang Ning blinked twice but didn't say anything.

"Then let's move even further away..."

Tang Ning pursed her lips, still not speaking, but her eyes were no longer as red as before.

"Just don't cry!"

Heaven knows what happened. It's one thing for her to cry, but her body also started to smell a little strange.

Situ Yin, who still preferred the fragrance, breathed a sigh of relief when the fragrance finally returned. He then took a few steps forward and sat down on another stone bench next to Tang Ning.

Tang Ning was completely bewildered, not expecting that the other person would sit down next to her as soon as she stopped crying.

She then noticed that the man was resting his chin on his hand and began to scrutinize her appearance.

"I heard you grew up outside the capital, is that right?"

"I also heard that you were previously engaged to the heir of the Jianwang Mansion, but the heir of the Jianwang Mansion and that fake heiress were caught in bed together, which is why you unexpectedly married Helan Ruo, right?"

"Your face is so white, what kind of powder are you wearing? Pearl powder?"

...

It can be said that Situ Yin perfectly demonstrated to her what it is like for a clueless straight man to force a conversation—a behavior full of flaws.

The problem is that not only did he chat with her, but he also subtly moved closer to her.

With her head down and completely unprepared, she suddenly realized that the other person's voice sounded like Tang Ning, who was very close to her. She looked up abruptly, only to be shocked to find that Situ Yin was already sitting very close to her with a relaxed and comfortable expression.

Startled, Tang Ning jumped to her feet and backed away, stammering, "I...I..."

Before she could say anything more to me, she was backing away when she suddenly lost her footing, screamed, and fell backward.

Seeing this, Situ Yin quickly grabbed her arm and pulled Tang Ning into his arms.

In an instant, the exotic fragrance emanating from Tang Ning and the ambergris from Situ Yin mingled together.

In her panic, before she could escape from his embrace, a loud shout rang out behind them.

"what you do!"

Having rushed to catch up with the scene before her, Helan Ruo didn't even bother with her treasured "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painting, which she had kept for many years. She casually tossed it aside, strode forward, and pulled Tang Ning out of Situ Yin's arms, hiding her behind her back. She glared fiercely at Situ Yin in front of her.

"She was about to fall, and I simply steadied her. What else could I have done?"

As soon as the sedative fragrance dissipated, Situ Yin's mood worsened, and he replied irritably.

Upon hearing this, Helan Ruo still didn't loosen his clenched fist. He subconsciously turned to look at Tang Ning beside him, his eyes asking her if that was true.

Tang Ning, understanding the meaning in his eyes, quickly nodded.

Even though it was an accident, Helan Ruo did not let his guard down. Heaven knows how terrified he was when he saw Tang Ning being held in Situ Yin's arms. He was so afraid that what happened three years ago would repeat itself.

Three years ago, he failed to protect Mu Qing because of Situ Yin's despicable behavior, and he would never allow this person to have designs on Tang Ning again.

His mother's claims that Situ Yin was celibate were all lies; he clearly... clearly...

He Lanruo gripped Tang Ning's wrist tightly, then pulled her down to pick up the "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painting that he had thrown aside, and threw it directly at Situ Yin.

"Your Majesty, this is the 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' painting you requested. My wife is unwell, so I've taken her back to rest. I will send someone to have my mother come and keep you company."

After saying that, without even waiting for Situ Yin's permission, he gripped Tang Ning's wrist tightly and left with her without looking back.

Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance, Situ Yin suddenly felt that it wasn't just Tang Ning who was difficult to deal with; if he really had to force her, He Lanruo would definitely not give in easily either.

This made Situ Yin's brows furrow immediately.

Tang Ning, who had been dragged along by He Lanruo's wrist for quite some distance, finally stopped when she saw his extremely ugly expression. At the same time, she also pulled He Lanruo back from her headlong rush forward.

"Zichu, I'm really fine. I was about to fall, so His Majesty reached out and caught me. Please believe me, okay..."

Before Tang Ning could finish speaking, she was suddenly embraced by He Lanruo, who turned around abruptly.

The man exerted tremendous force, his hands tightening incessantly, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.

"Of course I believe you. The only person I don't believe from beginning to end is Situ Yin, you don't know that..."

He Lanruo suddenly stopped talking at this point.

Because he suddenly realized that from the beginning until now, Tang Ning seemed to only know that he once had a woman he liked very much, but she didn't know who that woman was at all. She didn't grow up in the capital, so naturally she didn't know anything about his past with Mu Qing.

Thinking of this, he wanted to accuse Situ Yin of all his crimes to Tang Ning, but he opened his mouth and couldn't say a word.

Not long ago, he could calmly talk to Tang Ning about all the things they had longed for but could not have, but now he couldn't utter a single word.

He even began to worry and fear that Tang Ning would be unhappy and sad after learning about his past with Mu Qing, and he didn't want her to be unhappy.

"Hmm? Don't know what?"

Tang Ning asked softly.

"It's nothing. How about we live a good life together from now on?"

"Of course, I'm already married to you."

Tang Ning, held in the other's arms, smiled gently, but her eyes dimmed slightly as she thought of something.

After Tang Ning left, Situ Yin, who had no interest in staying in the noisy Duke's mansion any longer, quickly returned to the palace.

After returning to the palace, he went straight to the palace where Ji Muqing used to live, but unexpectedly found it empty.

Only after being prompted by the head eunuch beside him did he realize that he had already banished that person to the cold palace.

When exactly did this happen? Why does he have no recollection of it?

So that very night, Situ Yin learned exactly why he had banished Ji Muqing to the Cold Palace, what kind of life she was living there, and even the blood letter she had secretly begun writing to He Lanruo, who was far away in the Duke's mansion.

A letter written in blood?

Upon hearing those two words, Situ Yin suddenly burst into a sickly laugh.

What? Was his former Consort Chen always this considerate and sensible? He really doesn't remember!

Situ Yin fell completely silent.

His quietness put Tang Ning, who had been worried for several days, at ease, and she became happy again. Tang Ning's happiness naturally made He Lanruo happy as well. He even unexpectedly encountered a martial arts master in the North District who could change faces, which amazed him for a long time.

Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived. One day, he suddenly received a letter.

Sitting in his study, he subconsciously tore open the envelope, and then a letter written in blood was pulled out from inside.

Upon smelling the strong bloody odor emanating from the blood-written letter, Helan Ruo's eyes widened in disbelief. After hesitating for a long time, he finally unfolded the blood-written letter, which had become somewhat stuck together.

The familiar handwriting made Helan Ruo freeze in place.

Mu Qing...

For a moment, Helan Ruo couldn't even sit still.

Why would Mu Qing suddenly send her such a letter written in blood? Whose blood is on it? So much blood, whose blood is it?

He Lanruo's hands began to tremble.

But what caused him even more unbearable pain was yet to come. The blood letter was almost a condensation of all of Mu Qing's blood and tears over the past three years. Because she had been forced into the palace, and because she missed him every day, Situ Yin did not treat her well. Moreover, he was a complete madman, and she worried almost every day that she would die by his blade.

It doesn't matter if she dies; what she fears most is that even in death she will never see him again.

As the letter was written, the bloodstains even blurred slightly, as if someone's tears had fallen heavily onto the paper as they wrote it.

She had finally escaped from Situ Yin's side, but it was like escaping one tiger's den only to fall into another. Life in the cold palace was too bitter; she really couldn't go on living. She would beg him, beg him to save her, to get her out of there...

She knew he already had a new wife. She asked for nothing more than for Helan Ruo to rescue her from the cannibalistic palace. If she could escape, she would repay his great kindness by serving him like a cow or a horse.

Ji Muqing spoke with a tone of blood and tears, so humble that it was completely unlike the woman He Lanruo had once loved—a woman of exceptional talent and beauty, like a solitary orchid in a secluded valley.

He Lanruo's hands trembled more and more violently, and even her eyes began to sting.

Mu Qing...

At the same time, Situ Yin, who had been informed by his bodyguard that Ji Muqing's blood letter had been delivered to Helan Ruo, nodded indifferently.

Is this okay?

For your mother's sake, I won't take it from you, nor will I exchange it with you.

But what if you steal my concubine from the palace...

It would be unreasonable not to compensate me, wouldn't it?

Although he was an emperor, he knew what fairness meant!

Situ Yin thought to himself with a serious expression.

Author's Note: Situ Yin: You steal one from me and then give me another one in return, that's called fairness.

He Lanruo: I beep—beep—beep—beep—beep—

Situ Yin: For the sake of your mother.

Princess Qingping: Ah! Son, son, put down the knife, he is your uncle!