The blooming flowers and red leaves, the chirping of swallows, should have been a beautiful scene. On the treetops, two orioles were pecking and combing each other's feathers affectionately. However, the two people in the house, who should have been the closest to each other, were speechless, leaving only an awkward silence.

Xiao Du looked at her coldly, his hand holding the page trembling slightly. He was waiting for her explanation, saying it was just a misunderstanding, or someone deliberately framed her. As long as she was willing to say it, he would rather believe it. But she didn't explain. She was panicking, helpless, and still afraid of him! Yes, she was never good at lying, and she didn't know how to be hypocritical, so all of this was true, and she didn't even allow herself to find any excuses for her.

He then laughed in anger, realizing how much he was mocked. Prime Minister Xia deliberately chose a daughter and sent her to the Marquis's mansion to be his legal wife. Although he could not guess the hidden thoughts, he knew how to guard against it. But she was different from what he imagined, or rather, she was different from any woman he had ever seen. Her ideas were strange, but she always surprised him; she was not good at speaking and socializing, but she never pretended to be. She looked so weak and easy to bully, but she was tough and unwilling to admit defeat. Whenever he met her clear eyes and heard her soft and sticky voice, he couldn't help telling himself, why not give it a try, even if he hated Prime Minister Xia so much, he was still willing to try to accept his daughter. But he had never hated her honesty as much as he did now, which allowed him to see through it at a glance: it turned out that she didn't have him in her heart.

Yuan Xi stared at his angry expression, not understanding how he could have found the book, and not knowing how to explain it. She knew very well in her heart that once those youthful memories that she had buried so hard were exposed to the sun, no matter how she explained, he would feel disgusted and suspicious. And once the seeds of suspicion took root, they would only grow deeper and deeper, until a chasm that no one could cross was drawn. She pursed her lips, and finally said with difficulty: "Things are not what you think. These things have long passed. There is nothing wrong between me and the young master, and there is absolutely no compromise."

Xiao Du sneered and said, "Is it really the past? Then why did he desperately recommend himself to the mansion as soon as you married in, under the pretext of offering me advice? Wasn't it just to see you?"

Yuan Xi showed a confused look in his eyes, and then shook his head firmly and said: "The young master must not be such a person!"

Xiao Du's anger grew even more intense. He threw the paper to the ground and said, "Do you know him well? Why didn't you go with him? Why did you have to humble yourself to become the wife of a marquis?" He paused, and suddenly realized, "Was it Prime Minister Xia? Was it your father's idea? In order to get you close to me, what about Luo Yuan? What role did he play?"

Yuan Xi had never thought that he would say such a thing. She bit her lips desperately to stop the tears from flowing out. She looked at him stubbornly and said, "Since I entered the Marquis' Mansion, Yuan Xi has never lied to the Marquis and never done anything to let him down. If there is not even this little trust between you and me, why should we be husband and wife?"

"Really? There is absolutely no deception at all?" Xiao Du took out a brocade handkerchief from his pocket and said coldly: "Then let me ask you again, before I found you in the old house that day, had you ever seen Luo Yuan?"

Yuan Xi stared at the handkerchief, and felt that it looked familiar. She only remembered that it seemed to be something she had practiced embroidery a long time ago. She was a little confused for a moment, wondering why the handkerchief was in his hand. Xiao Du saw the expression on her face, and felt more and more sad. He said, "Can't you remember? Then let me remind you, when I went to save you that day, I happened to see this handkerchief in front of the door, and because I recognized it as yours, I suspected that it was yours. I didn't think much about it at the time, until I saw the words he wrote on the paper, and then I suddenly realized that the handkerchief might not have been put there by the murderer. So I asked Zhou Jingyuan, and he said that since you came in, you have never sent such an ordinary piece of cloth to your room." He took a deep breath and finally asked: "This handkerchief was embroidered by you before you left the house! Then, you gave it to Luo Yuan?"

Yuan Xi's eyes widened, and she finally remembered that one day when the young master entered the school, he was caught in the rain, so she casually took out a handkerchief to wipe his face, but she never thought that he would keep it until now. She was a little flustered, and hurriedly explained: "It was indeed the young master who found me first that day, but he did not enter the door..."

"Very good," Xiao Du interrupted her coldly, with even more pain in his eyes, and said, "How long do you want to work together to deceive me!"

Yuan Xi was anxious and confused, not knowing what to do. She just stared at him blankly, and suddenly found that he was sad. She had never seen him so sad before. Shouldn't he always smile so nonchalantly and not take anything to heart? At that moment, she suddenly woke up and understood that the lotus cake and the bowl of ice cream contained feelings that she had never understood. She suddenly felt a little scared. Would he never come back like this? Tears welled up uncontrollably, and she hurriedly said loudly: "No, I never thought of lying to you. That incident was a frame-up!"

Xiao Du looked at her tearful eyes, and his hardened heart was shaken for a moment by her tears. He then said, "How many books like this do you have in your room? If you are willing to throw them all away, I will believe you."

Yuan Xi was startled and said subconsciously: "No, those books are not what you think..." Before she finished speaking, she saw the deep disappointment in Xiao Du's eyes and realized that she had lost even her last chance.

Xiao Du sat down slowly, his eyes no longer showing any warmth, and he said lightly: "Very good, I understand. Don't worry, you will always be the wife of the Marquis's Mansion, but I don't want to see you again." Yuan Xi took a step back abruptly, her head buzzing, as if she heard the sound of something shattering in front of her.

The news that the lady was confined for seven days and was not allowed to contact anyone quickly spread throughout the mansion. The servants in the mansion immediately started to talk about it, but they could not find out anything. Li Ma was so anxious that she kept asking people to find out whether Xiao Du's attitude had changed. However, Yuan Xi was rarely calm. She just sat at the table every day reading and writing, as if she had returned to those simple times.

On the third day, Aunt Cai suddenly came to her house. Her eyes turned red when she saw her. She said, "What happened? I told the Marquis that I had something urgent to tell him and he let me in."

Yuan Xi had a good impression of this aunt because of Xiao Zhixuan. She tried to put on a smile and shook her head, saying, "It's nothing serious, I just can't go out. What's the urgent matter you're talking about?"

Aunt Cai frowned and said, "I didn't want to bother you at first. But something happened to the workers at Qixia Courtyard, so I thought I should come and tell you."

Yuan Xi was startled and asked hurriedly, "What happened?"

Aunt Cai sighed, "Yesterday, the flower vine frame collapsed just after it was built, and injured a worker. The others took the opportunity to strike together, saying that the mansion did not allocate enough silver, so they could only choose inferior pine wood, so the accident happened. They also said that our mansion was stingy with the servants, and if you don't increase the silver, they will never work again!"

Yuan Xi was shocked and said, "How could that be? The money we allocated was all discussed with Manager Zhou. I have also checked the previous account books. How could there be less money?"

Aunt Cai shook her head and sighed, "I don't know what went wrong now, but don't worry, I have already settled the people, it's just a matter of spending more money. We just need to resume work quickly. If it gets to Princess Qing's ears, she will think that our mansion is deliberately slowing down to save money, then it will be troublesome." She paused, and said with some embarrassment, "But as for the matter of using the money from the account office, Manager Zhou said that he dare not make the decision easily, so I had to ask you."

Yuan Xi thought for a moment, took out a pair of cards from the cabinet, handed them to her, and said, "I can't leave the room now, Auntie, just help me with these things, just say it's my intention."

Aunt Cai quickly put away her cards, looked at her again, and said with a sigh, "If you can admit your mistakes, you should admit them. There is no such thing as overnight hatred between husband and wife. In my opinion, the Marquis has always regarded Madam as the apple of his eye."

Yuan Xi's eyes were red for no reason: On the top of my heart? I'm afraid it will never happen again. He will never hold her hand tightly because he is worried about her safety. He will never hug her and say, "I will believe you." Some things are normal at first, until you can no longer find them and can't get them back, you can't help but think about them again and again, until your heart aches.

Yuan Xi slept very uneasily that night. In front of her eyes was Xiao Du's slightly teasing smile, his eyes full of disappointment, and the gradually receding figure of the young master. She woke up suddenly and found her whole body was covered in sweat. She wanted to call An He to pour water but no sound came out. She was about to get up while holding the bed curtain, but suddenly her eyes went dark and she fainted.

"Is she really sick?" Xiao Du asked casually while sitting on the beauty couch, staring at a book.

The servant beside him nodded quickly and said, "I heard from the maid in the Madam's room that she is probably still seriously ill."

Xiao Du just hummed lightly and ignored him, as if this matter had nothing to do with him. The servant secretly looked up at him and couldn't help but complain in his heart: If he really didn't care, why did he send himself to the maids every day, chat with them, and report everything to him, just to secretly find out about the lady's recent situation. It's a pity that he patiently chatted with the maids every day. Several maids already suspected that he was interested in them and secretly sent him a lot of flirting. Thinking of this, the servant felt very distressed. If the marquis continued to be so awkward, he would be eaten by those little maids sooner or later. So he kindly suggested: "The lady is so ill, why don't you go and see her."

Without even raising his eyelids, Xiao Du said, "Since you said that you are not allowed to go in or out for seven days, it has only been three days. How can I go to visit you? I am the Marquis of Xuanyuan. Can I take my words lightly?"

The servant secretly curled his lips, but still advised earnestly: "Although that is the case, the health of the Madam is the most important. If something happens to the Madam in our house, it will be difficult to explain to the Prime Minister's Mansion. In fact," he glanced at Xiao Du's expression and continued to suggest: "If the Marquis feels embarrassed, ahem, you can go and take a look secretly, and no one should know."

Before he finished speaking, a page of a book hit his head. Xiao Du glared at him and said, "Do I need to be sneaky in my own house? What will happen if the news gets out?" He thought about it seriously and said, "But you are right. If something happens to her, it will be difficult to explain to Prime Minister Xia."

The servant rubbed his head and smiled at him, but he became more dissatisfied in his heart: You just want to go, but you let me find so many excuses for you. Aren't you tired?

At night, the tall apricot trees outside the window swayed in the wind. A figure climbed in through the window and tiptoed to the bed. He looked at Yuan Xi who was sleeping soundly on the bed. Her brows were furrowed and her originally rosy face looked a little haggard. His heart ached. He was about to reach out to touch her cheek when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the book she had placed on the bedside. He picked it up and flipped through the book in the moonlight until he saw rows of familiar words. His face suddenly changed and he walked out of the room without looking back.