The clouds rolled and dispersed, and under the mottled shadows of the trees, the man in front of him looked like a humble young man, smiling and bowing to him from a distance.

Xia Mingyuan felt that the smile was very dazzling under the sun. His face twitched quickly, and he held down his trembling right hand and sneered, "You are indeed my good son-in-law. I underestimated you before."

Xiao Du slowly stood up, twirled the corner of his clothes, and said with a smile: "My father-in-law is a heroic figure. If Xiao Du had not thought it through, I'm afraid I would not have been able to be your son-in-law long ago."

Xia Mingyuan naturally understood the irony in these words. He gritted his teeth secretly and said with some reluctance: "Tell me, what do you want?"

Xiao Du's eyes wandered around Xia Mingyuan's guards and said, "This is not a place to talk. I have to ask my father-in-law to come with me to the study alone."

Xia Mingyuan snorted, shook off Han Kun's hand and prepared to walk towards Xiao Du. Han Kun frowned and was hesitating whether to bring people to follow him, but Xia Mingyuan waved at him and whispered a few words in his ear before saying loudly, "You guys stay here, I'll be back soon."

After saying this, he frowned, and followed Xiao Du through the corridor and the courtyard with his hands behind his back. Although he tried to keep calm on his face, he kept calculating the chips in his and the opponent's hands in his heart, but he could never guess the opponent's trump card...

The two walked into the study. Xia Mingyuan's eyes lingered on the silver bow hanging on the wall, and then he lifted his robe and sat down naturally, saying, "How come such a big mansion doesn't even know how to offer a cup of tea?"

Seeing that he could still remain so calm, Xiao Du felt a little impressed, so he shouted to the outside, "Make a pot of good tea for the Prime Minister and send it in."

A pot of the best Biluochun tea was quickly placed on the table. Xiao Du waved his hand to let the servant who brought the tea leave, and told them to close the door and wait on the corridor.

Xia Mingyuan unceremoniously picked up the teacup and drank it all. The warm tea made the depression in his chest a little relieved. He let out a long sigh and said, "You have gone to such great lengths to set up such a big scheme, just for that Qilin Seal?"

Xiao Du smiled and said, "My father-in-law is indeed a smart man. He figured it out so quickly." He was too lazy to think about it anymore, so he took out the Qilin seal from his pocket and played with it with interest, saying, "I have heard that the left prime minister has a Qilin private seal. Whether it is the secret guards or the personal soldiers, they all obey his orders. Today I finally get to see it in person. It is indeed exquisitely made."

Xia Mingyuan stared at the Qilin seal that he had cheated away. Thinking of what he had suffered before, his eyes were almost blazing with anger. Finally, he could no longer pretend to be calm and slammed the table and shouted, "What on earth do you want to do?"

Xiao Du was about to speak, but he covered his lips and coughed a few times, picked up the teacup and took a few sips, then slowly replied: "Nothing, I just want to ask my father-in-law to listen to a story." He put the teacup down, raised his eyes and stared at Xia Mingyuan, and said: "A few days ago, I accidentally discovered that a concubine in the mansion colluded with outsiders and had been selling my whereabouts to outsiders, which led to me being hunted down several times. Under repeated questioning, she She had no choice but to poison me and tried to frame Yuan Xi. Fortunately, my father found the evidence and locked her up. After investigation, it was found that she actually held Xia Xiang's Qilin Seal in her hand. She had to confess that all this was done by you, Xia Xiang." His eyes gradually became sharp, but a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he said, "I don't know if Xia Xiang thinks this story is exciting enough. If I tell it to the emperor, will he believe it?"

Xia Mingyuan sneered, "There are witnesses and physical evidence, it's reasonable and flawless, even I almost believe that I ordered someone to poison. But what if I tell the emperor that you guys stole the seal by force?"

Xiao Du sighed and said, "At that time, I was lying unconscious in bed due to poisoning. Prime Minister Xia brought several personal guards with him, all of whom were highly skilled in martial arts and stayed up all night guarding your door. I dare to ask how we could have snatched the Qilin Seal that you kept close to your body without any harm to you, Prime Minister Xia. Moreover, you are the only one who knows the secret of the seal. If it wasn't you who gave the order, who else could have done it?"

"You!" Xia Mingyuan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He had indeed calculated every step accurately. Even his own guards could not prove what happened last night, so how could he expect others to believe it? He closed his eyes unwillingly and sighed, "Forget it, it's because I was too careless that I fell into your evil plan."

Xiao Du sneered and said, "My father-in-law is not careless, he just wants me to die too much. How can you feel at ease if you don't watch me die in person?"

Xia Mingyuan stared at him fiercely and said, "So you pretended to be poisoned to lure me in. And how did you make me think that two days had passed in the secret room?"

Xiao Du smiled happily and said, "It's very easy to uncover the trap in the secret room. Use blood that has dried up for two days and fake scabs to make you think two days have passed. Then hide special fuel in the fire, which will make you feel extremely thirsty after igniting. Even if you are Prime Minister Xia, it is difficult to stay calm in a thirsty, anxious, and almost suffocating environment. At this time, use fake guards to give you the last glimmer of hope. In order to save your life, you can only rely on the Qilin Seal to call for help. However..." He paused and said, "Everything else is fake, but the poison is real."

Xia Mingyuan was shocked and said in disbelief: "In order to lure me into a trap, you actually took poison yourself."

Xiao Du, however, had a calm expression and said, "Because I'm not sure if Zuo Qiao is willing to cooperate with us in acting, and I'm not sure if he can fool you if he's acting. Therefore, only if I'm really poisoned can you be willing to stay. You'd rather take some risks and try to see if I'm really going to die."

Xia Mingyuan stared at him intently, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement, and said, "No wonder the name of Xuanyuan Hou could scare the timid people back then. I didn't expect that you are not only brave on the battlefield, but also so cruel to yourself. No wonder you were able to survive such a tragic battle at Pingdu Pass."

When Xiao Du heard the words "Pingdu Pass", his eyes burned with anger and he clenched his fists tightly until the Qilin Seal hurt his palms. He then slowly relaxed and stared at Xia Mingyuan, saying word by word: "As long as I am alive, I will never let the Pingdu Pass incident happen again."

Xia Mingyuan seemed very satisfied with his reaction. He picked up the teacup again and said, "Even if you hand over this seal to the emperor, what does it matter? Do you think he will really let me convict for such an unverified matter?"

Xiao Du said coldly: "Of course I am not so naive as to think that I can convict Prime Minister Xia with just this seal, but what if I really die? What if I say that with just this Qilin Seal, I can convince the emperor that it was Prime Minister Xia who did it?"

Xia Mingyuan's eyes widened, he slammed the table, stood up and shouted: "Xiao Du, are you crazy? You want to gamble your life with me!"

Xiao Du also stood up, walked to Xia Mingyuan's side, looked him straight in the eye without flinching, and said, "Yes, I'm betting my life with you. I wonder if my father-in-law dares to bet his life!"

Xia Mingyuan was so overwhelmed by his aura that he stepped back unconsciously and fell into his chair. At that moment, the courage and determination emanating from this young man actually made him feel a little awed. He finally understood why this man could lead his troops to defeat thousands of enemies at the age of twenty, and could stand up and become his opponent again after encountering a terrible situation.

Xia Mingyuan slowly sat up straight and said coldly: "It seems that I really underestimated you. Tell me, what do you want?"

Xiao Du walked to the table, took out a pen and said, "It's very simple. I just want you, Prime Minister Xia, to write a memorial to the emperor to show him that the Xia family will no longer interfere in any military affairs of the Xiao family army and will never touch the Xiao family army in the slightest. If you violate this, I will voluntarily resign from the position of left prime minister. I think the emperor should be very happy to see this memorial."

Xia Mingyuan turned his head and looked at him, suddenly laughed and said, "So this is what you want. Do you really think that Xiao's army can rest assured if you stay away from Xia's family? Xiao Du, Xiao Du, you grew up with the emperor, but to this day you still can't guess whose taboos Xiao's army has violated?"

Xiao Du's hands trembled. He naturally understood what he was saying, but he didn't want to think about it too much. He just put the pen beside him and said, "Just write what I say. Don't bother with other things."

Xia Mingyuan looked at the paper and pen in front of him. Although he was extremely unwilling, he knew in his heart that he had already lost from the moment Xiao Du risked his life to gamble with him. He was already old, had too much in his hands, and wanted too much. He no longer had the passion and courage to gamble everything. He had no choice but to take the paper and pen, write the memorial according to Xiao Du's instructions, and stamp it with his own private seal.

Xiao Du picked up the memorial and read it carefully. He finally let out a long breath, and his tense nerves finally relaxed. He smiled and said, "I will present this memorial to the emperor tomorrow. My father-in-law, you have worked hard. If you don't mind, I will ask Uncle Zhou to prepare some wine and food to entertain you."

Xia Mingyuan looked at the smile on his face coldly, and suddenly said: "Do you know how sad Xi'er was during the days when you were unconscious? But you just deliberately dealt with her father. Are you worthy of her?"

Xiao Du's smile froze on his face, and his hand holding the paper trembled slightly. How could he not know how sad Yuan Xi would be? He had thought about this plan many times, and the only person he cared about was her, but he had to do it, and he couldn't let Xia Mingyuan notice anything.

So he put down the memorial in his hand, hid the pain in his eyes, and said calmly: "So what? To achieve great things, you must sacrifice something." He glanced at Xia Mingyuan sideways and sneered: "Besides, Prime Minister Xia insisted on marrying his daughter to me. How could I not know what chess he was playing?"

Xia Mingyuan's eyes flashed with a sly look, and he said in a tone of understanding: "So what the Marquis meant is that since Xi'er is just a chess piece, it doesn't matter if she is sacrificed." He suddenly turned to the door and said loudly: "Xi'er, you heard it all, you should understand how this so-called husband sees you!"

Xiao Du was startled and the piece of paper in his hand fell to the ground. He heard the door being pushed open with a creak. Yuan Xi was standing stiffly at the door. The eyes that had looked at him tenderly countless times now contained only deep sadness and pain.

Xiao Du could no longer care about anything else, and hurried over to hold her hand tightly, fearing that if he left too late, she would disappear from his side.

Yuan Xi raised her eyes and looked at him, as if she was looking at a stranger she had never met before, and slowly said, "Have you never thought about telling me that the person you want to deal with is my father?"

Xiao Du felt that this look was cutting into him, and it was as painful as cutting out his heart and gnawing at his bones. His eyes turned red, and he said softly, "Give me some time, and I will explain it to you."

Yuan Xi shook her head and said softly, "You don't need to explain, I understand everything." She trembled and closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the face she once thought she could trust for her whole life. Tears finally flowed down her face, but her voice was resolute and indifferent, "But I'm sorry, I can't accept it."

She had shed too many tears these past few days, and she would get tired of crying too much, so she decided to stop here. She didn't want to cry for him anymore.

Xia Mingyuan looked at the scene in front of him coldly, and finally stood up from his seat, walked to Yuan Xi and said, "Xi'er, come back with me. Your seventh aunt has been in poor health recently and has been thinking about seeing you again. There is nothing worth lingering here."

Xiao Du was in a state of panic, and he stood in front of the door. His voice was trembling, but he said firmly, "Yuan Xi is my wife. No one can take her away without my permission."

Xia Mingyuan snorted softly and was about to speak, but Yuan Xi said softly: "Daddy, I'm tired, take me home."

This sentence completely shattered all the armor that Xiao Du had been struggling to maintain. His body trembled and his heart ached. He could hear clearly what she said: Take me home. This was no longer her home.

While he was in a trance, Yuan Xi had already walked out of the study with Xia Mingyuan. Xiao Du suddenly came back to his senses and wanted to step forward to stop her, but he felt a sweet taste in his throat and he bent over and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Xiaochun, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, was so frightened that she ran in hastily, supported his staggering body, and said, "My Lord, your poison has not yet fully healed, and you must not use your true energy again. Madam, go back and calm down, and she will naturally figure it out."

Xiao Du sat down softly, feeling as if half of his body had been separated from him, and what was left was incomplete and broken, even his soul was no longer complete.

Just as the house was in chaos, someone rushed in from outside the door and shouted anxiously, "My Lord, it's bad! Aunt Cai has hanged herself in her room!"