Southeast was confused, but since Junxuan didn't speak, he remained kneeling on the ground without moving.

Junxuan ignored Dongnan. He gently placed his right hand on his chest and took out a golden hairpin from the other side of the soft couch with his left hand, playing with it absentmindedly. In his mind was the relieved smile that Shen Yunxi showed after being injured at Yanshan Tang that day, and his chest felt as if it had been hit and was slightly painful.

After a long while, Junxuan put down the golden hairpin, took a deep breath, and got up to walk to the window.

The sun is covered by dark clouds today, so tomorrow's weather probably won't be good. That's probably why my heart is pounding.

If he had known it would be this painful, he wouldn't have gone to the Lotus Viewing Festival.

For some reason, Junxuan suddenly thought of what Shen Yunxi had said to Lu Wanqing in front of him: she said she would choose a city to grow old in and meet someone to grow old with. In fact, she had already expressed her feelings for him.

Yes, Shen Yunxi knows how to love herself now and no longer follows in his footsteps, yet he still can't let go.

Perhaps he should respect Shen Yunxi's choice. Since the two are destined to be apart, why not let each other go as soon as possible and cancel the late emperor's arranged marriage? Just like she said, let's part ways peacefully and each find our own happiness, and let men and women have nothing to do with each other's marriages.

But whenever Junxuan had such thoughts, he felt very uncomfortable and extremely distressed.

After returning to the palace, he looked at Defu several times, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, wanting him to summon the people from the Imperial Household Department so that they could retrieve the archive of the imperial decree granting the marriage to the late emperor.

But every time he tried to speak, he couldn't bring himself to say those words. He still didn't want to do it. If he invalidated that imperial decree, he and Shen Yunxi would have nothing to do with each other anymore.

Even if he could only watch helplessly as Shen Yunxi married Lin Chen, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't possibly use his status as emperor to stop her.

Shen Yunxi, oh Shen Yunxi, what should I do with you?

Should we dissolve the engagement according to your wishes, or should we continue this entanglement, leaving neither of us with peace?

Junxuan pondered for a long time but could not come up with a good result. He waved his hand, indicating that he should go southeast, and walked out of the palace alone. After wandering around, he ended up at the pavilion where he had met Shen Yunxi last time.

Junxuan rarely comes to this place. Except for the anniversary of Yunfei's death, he never sets foot in this place. This is why Shen Yunxi has never met Junxuan before.

Unexpectedly, he came over here today for no apparent reason. Perhaps it was because he was thinking of Shen Yunxi that he did this, and his heart was not at peace.

In truth, if Junxuan deliberately believed that Shen Yunxi was playing hard to get, it was merely to comfort himself and to find an excuse for himself. When Shen Yunxi pierced his heart with a golden hairpin, Junxuan already knew the truth.

Now that things have come to this, it's all in vain. Perhaps keeping my distance from Shen Yunxi is the best option.

Well, time heals all wounds, and perhaps after some time, he won't feel that way anymore.

It's truly unbearable to be unable to forget or let go.

Junxuan smiled bitterly and sat in the pavilion until the morning court session began before leaving.

But when he sits on the dragon throne, he becomes that high and mighty emperor again, showing no weakness whatsoever; invincibility is his very nature.

However, he still felt empty inside, so he could only immerse himself in official duties to stop himself from thinking too much.

On the other side, before Shen Yunxi had even gotten up, there was a commotion outside.

Shen Yunxi hadn't been able to fall asleep for a long time last night and was hoping to get some more sleep today, but the person who came didn't give her that chance and disturbed her at this hour.

Left with no other choice, Shen Yunxi got up to dress up and then opened the bedroom door.

Outside the door, Shen Siqi glared angrily at Zhizhi and Cai'er, who were blocking her way, and was about to make a move.

It was only because those two brats kept stopping her that she was able to break into Shen Yunxi's bedroom and drag her out to give her a good beating.

"Seventh Sister, what brings you here so early in the morning? Why are you making a scene here?" Shen Yunxi asked slowly. Perhaps because she hadn't eaten yet, her voice was very soft and sounded weak.

Shen Siqi was furious, her eyes glaring coldly at Shen Yunxi. "Shen Yunxi, you are utterly shameless! How could you treat Fourth Sister like this? What good will it do you to ruin her!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunxi chuckled and looked at Shen Siqi with considerable disdain.

"Seventh Sister came to stand up for Fourth Sister early this morning. If people didn't know better, they would think that you two are very close! But why wasn't she waiting for me at the manor yesterday evening? Oh, in my opinion, Seventh Sister must have gone to find someone else, right? But since you are so close, who could be more important to Seventh Sister than Fourth Sister?" Shen Yunxi asked rhetorically.

Shen Siqi, who had been so arrogant, immediately felt embarrassed. She knew very well that Shen Yunxi was absolutely right.

She left the manor yesterday for another reason, which is why she didn't wait for Shen Leyi's outcome. Another reason was that she believed Shen Leyi could drag Shen Yunxi down with her, leaving her unable to resist.

Who knew that Shen Leyi didn't gain anything at all, and the Emperor even came to the Yong'an Marquis's residence to testify for Shen Yunxi.

Now, Shen Leyi is completely ruined. She was already of marriageable age, and now her reputation is ruined, and her name will be removed from the family tree. Isn't this going to kill her?

It was because of these thoughts that Shen Siqi was so furious that she rushed over to confront Shen Yunxi.

Yes, so what if she left the manor? In the end, it was Shen Yunxi who harmed Shen Leyi!

"Where I went has nothing to do with you, but as a daughter of the Shen family, you actually framed Fourth Sister like this, you deserve to die!" Shen Siqi's chest heaved violently.

Shen Yunxi chuckled, "It seems Seventh Sister still needs to find out more, otherwise she wouldn't have said such a thing. I really don't know what Fourth Sister's outcome has to do with me. I clearly didn't do anything on my own initiative. Besides, even if I did, so what? Wasn't it Shen Leyi who plotted against me first? I was just playing along! She wanted to ruin my reputation and marry into the palace in my place, so she should rely on her own abilities. What's the point of plotting against me? It can only be said that she deserves to be in this state now!"

Do you really think she's the same Shen Yunxi from before? She's not so easy to bully now, and she doesn't take the blame for everything. These things have nothing to do with her.

Seeing Shen Yunxi's state, Shen Siqi trembled with anger. She then raised her hand high and quickly brought it down.

"Miss!"

Zhizhi and Cai'er exclaimed in surprise, not expecting that Shen Siqi would actually take action directly.