The insects and birds were silent, the leaves fell silently, and the heartbeat in the house seemed particularly clear.

The strong arms were wrapped around the waist, and the familiar masculine breath rushed into Yuan Xi's nose, making her indulge in it for a moment, and she almost didn't want to extricate herself from the embrace.

But she soon came to her senses and struggled desperately to escape his shackles, but his arms were too strong. No matter how hard she tried, she could only rub against him in vain. Finally, she was so tired that she could only turn around and glare at him, gritting her teeth and saying, "If you don't let go, I'm going to call for help!"

Xiao Du was finally able to hold her in his arms again, feeling his whole heart was filled with satisfaction, and even thought her angry look was very cute. He resisted the urge to kiss her, leaned close to her ear, and said, "You can scream if you want to. Even if they beat you up, or even if you're injured or disabled, as long as I'm still alive, I won't give up and come back to find you."

Yuan Xi's body shuddered slightly, not knowing what was going on in her heart. She sniffed his breath greedily and said softly, "Why are you doing this? You know I won't go back with you. Rather than suffering in the future, it's better to do it now..." The last few words were choked in her throat, unable to be swallowed or spit out, and finally turned into a sigh that was blown away by the cold wind that sneaked in from the window.

Xiao Du's eyes turned red, and he held her hand tighter, whispering fiercely, "Don't even think about it. I will never let you go."

Yuan Xi hardened her heart, pushed him away, lowered her head and bit her lip, saying, "In a few days, I will write a letter to ask for a divorce."

Xiao Du was so anxious that he almost yelled, "How can we get a divorce just by saying so?"

Yuan Xi also became stubborn, staring at him coldly and said: "Then I will let my father take me to the palace to beg the emperor. As long as I can leave the Marquis' Mansion, I can do anything!"

"You!" Xiao Du had never thought that she would be so cruel. He was so angry that he bent over and started coughing violently. His usually strong body was shaking and he almost fell down. Yuan Xi was startled and rushed over to hold him up, asking in a trembling voice, "What's wrong with you!"

Xiao Du finally calmed down, but he was still in pain. He turned his head and said angrily, "It's nothing. Anyway, you don't care about my life or death anymore, so why do you care about what I do!"

Yuan Xi was angry and anxious. When he lowered his head, he found a large pool of blood on his trousers and heels. He couldn't help but gasp and asked anxiously, "Are you injured? How did you get hurt?"

Xiao Du smiled bitterly, squatted down and slowly pulled up his trouser leg, only to see a several-inch long wound across his calf, with blood and flesh flying around, and the bone visible. Seeing this, Yuan Xi's heart suddenly ached.

She quickly helped him sit on the edge of the bed, and then soaked a towel and cleaned him carefully, then found a clean cloth from the box and bandaged the wound for him. She looked up and saw that his face was very pale, and even his lips were a little blue. Thinking of how she had treated him just now, she couldn't help but shed tears of heartache.

Xiao Du lowered his head to wipe away her tears, smiled and said softly: "You still can't bear to leave me, right?"

Yuan Xi turned her head away, wiped her tears, and said in a hateful voice: "You keep saying that you have a heavy burden on your shoulders, but you are so willful and disregard your own body? You take poison when you say you want to, and you get hurt when you say you want to. If something happens to you, what will the old man do? What will the whole mansion do?"

Xiao Du took advantage of her unpreparedness, grabbed a strand of her hair, and twisted it around his palm to play with it. The soft touch made his heart tremble.

He sighed, his voice seemed to be filled with water, "But I really want to see you, what should I do..." Then, he frowned slightly and muttered, "Your dog is really fierce. Your husband is so skilled, but he accidentally fell into the trap of that beast."

Yuan Xi couldn't help laughing, but immediately turned stern and glared at him angrily, "Who told you to barge in here in the middle of the night? It's a relief if I didn't bite you to death."

Xiao Du felt that he must be sick. He felt relieved when she glared at him. He suddenly felt guilty and finally said, "I'm sorry. I knew you would be sad, but I still lied to you."

Yuan Xi looked away, slowly put his pants back on for him, and said, "I was really angry at first. When you were unconscious, I thought every day that if you could wake up, stand in front of me and smile at me, I would be willing to pay anything for it. But I never thought that when you really woke up and I saw you for the first time, it would be like that."

Xiao Du tried to grab her hand apologetically, but Yuan Xi pulled her hand back, stood up and said, "But I listened to your conversation with Dad, and I understand your difficulties. For the sake of the Marquis' Mansion and the Xiao Family Army, you must go all out." She took a deep breath, choking a little, staring into his eyes and said, "But the person you have to deal with is my father? One day when you really have to face each other and fight to the death, how should I deal with it then?"

Xiao Du looked at her clear and resolute eyes, and the coolness in his palms went all the way to his heart. This was also the knot in his heart. There was always Xia Mingyuan standing between them. No matter how different she was, she was still a member of the Xia family. How could he bear to let her abandon her father and the entire family for him?

This is the distance that will always exist between them, a knot that no one can untie.

The atmosphere in the room became increasingly tense, and neither of them was willing or willing to speak. In the end, Yuan Xi hardened her heart, forced herself to turn her back, and said, "Go away, give me some time to think about it."

Xiao Du was afraid that if he left, he would be further away from her. He hurriedly wanted to get up and pull her, but he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Suddenly, he came up with an idea. He covered his leg and hissed, "My leg hurts so much. I'm afraid I can't walk today."

Yuan Xi was frightened by her, and rushed over to support him again, and asked distressedly: "What's the matter? Did the wound break open again? Please sit down and let me take a look!"

Xiao Du took the opportunity to grab her hand, pulled it to his lips and kissed it, then said with a wronged look: "I just climbed over the wall to get in, and now I have alerted the guards. I have an injury on my leg, so I am afraid I can't walk tonight."

Yuan Xi finally understood his plot, and angrily shook his hand off, staring at him and saying, "You wish, but there is no place for you to sleep here."

Xiao Du's body was shaken by her, and he made up his mind to rub the wound against the corner of the table. His face immediately twisted in pain, and he squatted down, looked at her pitifully and said, "It hurts!"

Yuan Xi saw beads of sweat on his face and couldn't bear it. She frowned and hesitated for a long time, and finally said softly: "Then you stay here tonight and leave early tomorrow morning!"

Xiao Du suddenly felt as if he had been granted amnesty, and felt as if there was a bird singing happily in his heart. He did not care about the pain in his legs, and immediately unbuttoned his robe in a few seconds, ready to stay in bed.

Yuan Xi's eyes widened. Before she could react, the man had already stripped down to his underwear, and with a smug smile on his face, he got under the quilt. She couldn't help but get anxious, and whispered, "What are you doing? Who allowed you to get on the bed?"

Xiao Du winked at her and smiled innocently, "My coat is all covered in dust from being rubbed outside, so of course I have to take it off before I can get on the bed." He glanced at the ground again and said in a pitiful tone, "It's cold and windy and the dew is heavy. How can my lady bear to let me sleep on the ground?" After saying this, he coughed a few times pretending to be weak.

Yuan Xi glared at him fiercely, but was helpless with him. She could only blame herself for being soft-hearted and agreeing to let him stay. Now she was in a dilemma.

Xiao Du buried himself in the soft quilt contentedly, greedily breathing in her scent. He felt inexplicably agitated. He looked up and saw Yuan Xi still standing there in a daze with a red face. He smiled and called out, "Xi'er, why don't you come up to sleep?"

Yuan Xi was panicked and angry. She had just said she wanted a divorce, and now she was sleeping with him. What was that? Seeing his triumphant smile in front of her, she couldn't help stamping her feet and spitting at him, saying, "Rogue!"