The maids were startled and had to retract their outstretched hands, stepping aside and lowering their heads.

Shen Ruyi's eyes reddened.

Her relatives are no better than Rong Yan, a outsider.

Shen Yu's face froze, and he turned to look at Shen Cangyun, "Father, we can't just go head-on into this matter, we need to think long and hard about it."

Shen Cangyun frowned, but his anger subsided a little. His expression became solemn. He stared at Shen Ruyi and asked, "What's going on between you and the Ninth Prince's Mansion?"

"Father should ask the Ninth Prince."

Shen Ruyi sneered in her heart.

Shen Cangyun clenched his fists, signaled the maid to let Shen Ruyi go, and said to the outside, "Go and ask someone to come in."

It would be good to find out the truth.

Shen Ruyi felt it was extremely ironic. Her father was not naturally reckless or irritable, but he was someone who could be controlled by others, and he did not know how to control the severity of her punishment.

When he meets someone who is more powerful than himself, he remains calm and clear-headed, and knows how to speak.

At this time, Han Jiang walked in and said, "Greetings, Prime Minister."

Shen Cangyun came out, and instead of being furious, he asked politely, "So you are Guard Hanjiang. I wonder why His Highness the Ninth Prince is looking for Ruyi?"

His eyes fell on Shen Ruyi's face with a complicated expression.

Han Jiang ignored him and turned to look at Shen Ruyi. He opened a rosewood box in front of her and took out a hairpin from it.

"Miss Shen, I'm sorry for offending you." Han Jiang said as he personally pinned the hairpin on Shen Ruyi's head.

"Last time, the Queen saw you in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and she took a liking to you. Today, I sent this hairpin to you, hoping that you can visit her in the palace in the future."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Shen Cangyun, "Prime Minister, this phoenix hairpin belongs to the Imperial Concubine, and was given by the late Emperor. Please take good care of Miss Shen and don't let her accidentally break the hairpin."

"By then, I'm afraid it might be considered as disobedience."

Han Jiang bowed and said, "I'll take my leave."

Shen Ruyi touched the hairpin on her head and her heart was burning.

She wants to marry Rong Yan!

This time, she will marry Rong Yan without hesitation!

The Shen family's father and son looked at the hairpin on her head and their expressions became extremely solemn.

"Father, do I still need to go to the cellar?"

Shen Ruyi was too lazy to argue with them and asked directly.

"Ruyi, wait a moment."

Shen Cangyun was calmed down by the hairpin and waved at her, "Come with me."

Then, he pointed at Shen Ci and said, "You come too!"

Shen Ruyi followed Shen Cangyun into the study.

Afterwards, Shen Ci followed in.

"Close the door." Shen Cangyun changed from his previous irritable tone to an unusually calm, even gentle one.

Shen Ruyi finally understood: her father was not stupid, nor was he blind to the fact that she was wronged and bullied. Instead, she was not important enough in his heart.

This is not love.

From the beginning, there was not enough love.

That's why she was so ignored.

Shen Ruyi recalled that when she was very young, her father got drunk and pointed at her nose and said, "It's all your fault! You killed your mother! If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have left me alone!"

That day, his eyes were extremely fierce.

Shen Ruyi was so scared that she ran into Shen Yu's arms and cried.

Shen Yu advised her, "Ruyi, Dad just misses Mom. Come on, I'll take you to make candy figures."

Later, she forgot about the incident.

Now I think about it again.

Gradually, I began to understand why Shen Cangyun and his brothers quickly transferred all their feelings to Shen Jiaojiao after she came.

Because they thought Shen Jiaojiao had suffered a lot outside these years, and although she had "harmed" her mother to death, Shen Jiaojiao had redeemed herself. In fact, Shen Jiaojiao was a "victim" just like her mother.

Only Shen Ruyi, who grew up in this family with luxury, was the perpetrator because her mother died of dystocia due to her birth.

She killed her mother, caused Shen Jiaojiao to suffer a lot of grievances, and made her father a lonely man who had to stay alone in the empty room every day.

Although all these charges are groundless.

But it can fill the guilt in Shen Cangyun's heart for not taking good care of his wife, causing her miscarriage and death, and causing Shen Jiaojiao to be homeless.

Push it onto Shen Ruyi and he will be free!

Shen Ruyi's mind became clearer, and he looked at Shen Cangyun, "What does the Prime Minister want to see me about?"

Shen Cangyun felt a pain in his heart when he was addressed as "Prime Minister". He choked up and said, "Ruyi, do you really have to talk to Daddy like this?"

"Are you my daddy?"

Shen Ruyi looked at him, "I don't think you are, because you can't even see right from wrong. And you don't really see clearly, you just don't want to. You only want to believe what you want to believe, as for me..."

Shen Ruyi sneered, "To you, she is just a tool. Do you think a tool will develop feelings for the person who uses her?"

"Mr. Prime Minister, one cannot have it all."

"That's shameless."

"you--"

Shen Cangyun was so angry at her that he almost got furious again.

But when he saw the hairpin on her head, he could only suppress his anger and deal with her, saying: "Ruyi, you are the daughter of my Prime Minister's Mansion. Your every move will involve the Prime Minister's Mansion. The prosperity and decline of the Prime Minister's Mansion is also closely related to your fate."

"Dad has been busy with government affairs these days, and Jiaojiao is sick, so he has indeed neglected you. Dad apologizes to you."

As he spoke, he tried to pull Shen Ruyi's hand, "But Ruyi, after all, we are father and daughter. Even if we break bones, we are still connected. If you have something on your mind, you must tell Daddy. I will forgive Daddy this time, okay?"

Shen Ruyi didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly.

If Han Jiang hadn't come today, would he still speak nicely?

Shen Cangyun looked at her expressionless face and realized that the daughter who always wanted to pester her was no longer there.

She was calm and mature, not like a little girl who had been spoiled since childhood. The coldness in her eyes made her seem more like she had been through a lot. By his age now, her warm heart had long turned into stone.

His daughter no longer loves him.

This realization was fatal, like a knife stabbing his heart. He realized that he might lose her completely.

Under the double pressure of Huang Quan and the truth, Shen Cangyun finally came down from the lofty position of Prime Minister and head of the family and faced his daughter from the perspective of a father.

He then realized that Shen Ruyi had become thinner.

Lost a lot of weight.

Not only did she lose weight, her body was also covered with red rashes, her hands got frostbite, and her nails had been peeled off at some point.

The exposed wound formed a shocking scar, which was right in front of his eyes. He thought it was the injury he suffered when he was dragged to the woodshed that day.