Mu Jingrui turned around and grabbed Chu Xiaolian's throat. Chu Xiaolian felt she couldn't breathe.
She kicked and hit Mu Jingrui, trying to break free from his restraints.
"Do you know that Shangguan Wanning is my woman?"
Mu Jingrui's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth. He looked at Chu Xiaolian's face gradually turning blue, loosened his fingers, raised his hand and slapped her in the face.
Chu Xiaolian staggered a few steps and fell to the ground, covering her burning cheek with one hand and looking at Mu Jingrui in disbelief.
"Mu Jingrui, I'm helping you." Chu Xiaolian roared unwillingly.
"I will settle the grudge between Shangguan Wanning and I myself. If it weren't for the fact that you saved my life, I would kill you right now."
Mu Jingrui's murderous eyes made Chu Xiaolian step back involuntarily, feeling terrified.
"Don't show up in front of me again. If you touch Guan Wanning's hair again, I will kill everyone in your Soul-Snatching Hall."
After Mu Jingrui finished speaking, he left angrily.
Sun Jinyao sent Shangguan Wanning back to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Lu Xiangzi came to check her body. After confirming that she was fine, Mrs. Shangguan still stayed by her side, never leaving her side.
"Ning'er, you've suffered a lot..." Madam Shangguan cried out of heartache.
If Sun Jinyao had not arrived in time, the consequences would have been disastrous.
Shangguan Wanning's thoughts gradually calmed down. She didn't expect that Mu Jingrui's misunderstanding of her was so deep that he would torture and retaliate against her in this way.
She felt that as his power and achievements gradually increased, Mu Jingrui was also evolving towards the King of Zhennan in her impression of him in her previous life.
And the Yiyonghou Mansion and Xiao Zhenting seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Shangguan Wanning suddenly felt very tired.
She understood that Mu Jingrui no longer trusted her.
Since the relationship will not have any future, she should try every possible means to at least protect her parents and the Shangguan family's property.
"Mom, I'm fine..." Shangguan Wanning wiped away her mother's tears and comforted her, "Don't worry, everything... will be over soon."
Mrs. Shangguan looked at her daughter. She didn't know why, but she felt that there seemed to be an unrelieved sadness in her eyes.
Shangguan Wanning rested for a few days. During this period, she thought about many things from her past life.
Now, if you really want to make a complete change...
She took a deep breath and paced back and forth in the long corridor in the cold moonlight.
She saw that there was still candlelight in her father's study, so she plucked up the courage to knock on the door and went in.
"Ning'er is here," Shangguan Yue put down the pen in his hand and said with a smile, "Why don't you go to bed so late?"
Shangguan Wanning slowly walked towards her father and found that the tea in his hand had gone cold. She felt an inexplicable sense of sadness in her heart.
"What's wrong?" Shangguan Yue noticed his daughter's low mood and asked with a sigh, "Are you still thinking about what happened before?"
Shangguan Wanning shook her head slightly. Finally, she looked up at her father and asked softly, "Dad, how many years have you been an official in the court?"
Shangguan Yue was stunned and calculated carefully.
"It has been exactly twenty-five years since the day I passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar."
To be able to go from a poor scholar to the head of all officials, second only to the emperor, this road must have been very difficult.
"Dad, for so many years, you have had to take care of the family and the government... Have you ever thought about resigning and returning home to live a simple life with mother and me?"
Shangguan Yue looked at his daughter with a meaningful look.
He stood up and walked in front of Shangguan Wanning, staring at her for a long time.
"Ning'er, do you want Dad to resign and retire?"
Shangguan Wanning nodded.
"Dad, I know it's not easy for you to get to where you are today, but... you are now at the top. It's lonely at the top, and what's next will probably be the bloodiest and cruelest battle for the change of dynasties."
Shangguan Wanning still felt like dying when she thought of the tragic scene in her previous life where all her relatives were hung on the city gate by Xiao Zhenting.
"Dad, there are some things that I shouldn't say, but... now, I just want my family to be together in peace. Over the years, you have been busy with official duties and have little time to accompany me and mom. Why don't you... why don't you retire now?"
Shangguan Yue looked at his daughter in his palm, and these words made him realize for the first time that she had grown up.
She seemed to see the situation in the court more clearly than he did.
"Ning'er, who do you think will win... between the Crown Prince and the King of Qin?"
Shangguan Wanning lowered her eyelids and sighed deeply.
She was someone who knew the ending long ago.
"I only know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the legitimate ruler of the country."
Shangguan Yue nodded secretly.
"Ning'er, you hope that Dad can give up his power and retire. Your intention is good. But there are two problems."
"Dad is worried...I want to leave, but I can't?"
The situation in the court was unpredictable and treacherous. Shangguan Yue was able to have his current position because many people depended on him for their livelihood.
Wealth, honor, life and property.
If he withdraws, it will affect the interests of many other people.
"This is one of the reasons. Another one..." Shangguan Yue paused and said, "If I resign, I must leave the capital. Then you and Jing Rui... have you ever thought about your future?"
"Dad, do you think there will be a future for him and me?"
Shangguan Wanning's heart was as calm as water. From Mu Jingrui's actions of escaping from the cell and turning back, it can be seen that he has completely lost trust in her, the Shangguan family and the Zheng family.
She no longer wanted to force anything.
Without her, perhaps Mu Jingrui would have followed the original trajectory of his previous life to become the King of Zhennan and assisted Xiao Yujue in ascending the throne.
"If you are really determined to give up this relationship, then... I will find a way to resign from your position."
Shangguan Wanning's eyes were full of surprise.
"Dad, do you agree?"
Shangguan Yue smiled and patted his daughter's head. "As long as you and your mother are happy, nothing else matters. Your father and I have lived a miserable life, and that's enough."
Shangguan Wanning cried with joy and leaned on her father's shoulder. "Thank you, Dad."
Shangguan Yue sighed silently, feeling extremely sad.
Shangguan Wanning thought about it for several days and always felt that there was still a lack of a real ending between her and Mu Jingrui.
She asked Lu Tong to go out and inquire about Mu Jingrui's whereabouts in the past few days, and learned that he would go to the Shenjiying for inspection in the afternoon.
Shangguan Wanning knew that Mu Jingrui had a habit of stopping by Liuye Villa to drink tea and rest on his way back from patrolling the Shenji Camp.
She asked the housekeeper to prepare a sedan chair and went to Willow Leaf Villa to wait in advance.
"Miss," Lu Tong knocked on the door and walked in, looking a little strange, "The doorman just came to report that Master Mu has arrived. But..."
"But what?"
"He is not alone."
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