The gentle and quiet Xie Wan of the past now seemed like a volcano on the verge of eruption, emitting an overwhelming aura. He didn't dare to guess whether it was due to his own recklessness that sparked her anger or if it was because he had mustered up the courage to appear before her, causing her to be both angry and embarrassed - in short, although she hadn't uttered a single word, her anger was palpable.

  Loving someone you can't have is always a heart-wrenching thing. Now her rejection was like a knife stabbing into his heart!

  "Third sister..." He pursed his lips, his voice hoarse and low, and he couldn't even hear himself clearly. Xie Wan's attitude had already made it clear to him that there was no possibility between them anymore, she would never forgive him! But he still wanted to say it, if he didn't say it, how would she know that she had been hidden in his heart for so long?

  "I know I'm no match for him, but I'll try my best. I came here also because of you..."

  "Mr. Ren, you and I are just acquaintances, whether you come or not has nothing to do with me."

  Xie Wan's face was calm as she spoke, and in this brief moment, she had already mastered the divine skill of concealing her emotions like a seasoned master, hiding all that anger away.

  Ren Yun held his breath in his chest cavity, his face as red as blood.

  Xie Wan stood five steps away, as calm as ever. "I don't know what I did to make you misunderstand me like this, but I want to tell you clearly that my attitude towards you is no different from any other guest who comes to the Xie manor. If you insist on thinking there's a difference, then I'm powerless to change it. However, in the future, please don't interfere with my affairs and don't place your emotions on me."

  He stepped back two steps, his eyes empty and wandering.

  He may not have been the center of attention in his life, but he was still a spoiled child by his parents and siblings. When had he ever heard such blunt and unyielding rejection? Yet it was this one person who made him feel so different from his family. Her coldness and directness hurt him so deeply.

  "Alright. Alright, I know..."

  He turned around and walked away from under the corridor with a deep and shallow step.

  In the courtyard, the autumn trees were sparse and withered, no one noticed that behind the yellow and green alternating phoenix tree leaves, Xie Qi's eyes were like fire.

  Xie Wan waited until he disappeared into the tree shadows before turning back to the house.

  Qian Zhuang coughed and walked in after sitting still for a while in the main hall.

  Xie Wan glared at him: "Where did you go just now?"

  Qian Zhuang lowered his head in embarrassment: "Just now, I went to the outhouse..."

  Xie Wan stared at the ground for half a day. She let out a sigh and said: "Let's go."

  As for Ren You's thoughts, Xie Wan wasn't unaware of them. She had always been dealing with him in a detached manner. His loss of control just now hadn't flustered her. In her past life, she had met more than one or two people who would physically assault her like this. What truly exceeded her expectations was that the normally introverted Ren You would also be so unscrupulous and disregard his own status.

  She didn't want to take revenge on him in this life for the betrayal of the Ren family in her past life, but her intuition told her that if she didn't take this opportunity to cut off his thoughts, it would bring her even more trouble later.

  She didn't want to get involved with the Ren family, nor did she want to drag Wei Qian down, but they all got pulled in anyway.

  She doesn't understand why someone would persist in a one-sided emotion, some people might feel happy being waited for, but she just finds it boring.

  Of course, her words were a bit harsh for the fragile Ren Yu, but she had no choice.

  "What's wrong, girl?"

  Yu Xue walked in with a letter in her hand. Seeing her silent expression, he couldn't help but ask.

  She shook her head and said nothing. She thought of the envelope in her hand and asked involuntarily: "Whose letter is this?"

  Yu Xue smiled and walked over, sitting down beside her: "It's a letter from Master Zhao."

  Xie Wan put down the letter and looked up to see Xie Qi returning to Qifeng Courtyard, his face deathly pale despite the rouge.

  Ruan's family was startled: "What's wrong with you? Didn't you go to grind ink for Jun brother? Why are you back?"

  Xie Qi bit her lower lip and stared at her mother with wide eyes, suddenly tears rolled down.

  Ruan's wife was even more surprised, and hastily pulled her into the house to sit down. She called out to the maid to serve tea and pour water, and then asked her many questions on the side.

  "Didn't that Jun brother give you a cold shoulder again? I warned you early on that this road is not easy to walk, and the Ren family was never an easy household for us to enter. Moreover, after what happened last time, Madame Ren looked at us with eyes like she was looking at thieves. And yet you still insist on hanging yourself on this tree. In my opinion, either way it's a struggle, why not go compete for that Wei young master instead? After all, he is the son of a genuine second-grade official!"

  "What do you know?!"

  Xie Qi stopped crying and suddenly said to Ruan Shi, "I don't want any Wei Gongzi or Wu Gongzi! I only want Jun Gege!" As she spoke, she couldn't help but think of the scene under the corridor earlier, and tears began to fall again like rain.

  "What's the point of crying now?"

  Ruan recently has been busy helping Xie Huai decorate the new house, tired to the point of waist and back pain. Nowadays, she is being talked back to in this house, her status getting lower and lower. Xie Hong usually pretends to be profound and doesn't speak, even his own daughter treats her like this.

  Xie Qi was stunned by her counter-question and sat up straight, staring at Ruan Shi with wide, crimson eyes.

  Ms. Ruan was startled and scolded: "What's going on? You're talking nonsense!"

  Xie Qi gritted his teeth, suddenly stood up, and looked at the door saying: "He's always been cold to me, I don't feel wronged, he just gives me a hard time in public, I'm not blaming him for that. But I've known him since childhood, while Xie Wan has only been in the mansion for two or three years, what qualifications does she have to be called his childhood sweetheart? If he liked another woman, I wouldn't hate her so much, but he just happens to like her!"

  "What? What?"

  Ruan heard this and also stood up involuntarily.

  Xie Qi suddenly cast his gaze on her, coldly laughing: "You're actually the young mistress of the manor! You can't even see this much! When I hit the pillar earlier, Ren Jun saw San Yaotou and said what was it?! From that time on, he already liked her, he likes her! This is what I just heard with my own ears, can it be fake?!"

  Ruan stood there stupidly, apparently having a hard time accepting such a shock.

  "Third daughter, what's so good about Third Daughter that he would take a liking to her? The Ren family isn't some small, insignificant household—"

  "What does the Ren family count for?!" Xie Qi coldly snorted, "You don't know, she's quite tolerant, not just Ren Yun, even Wei Xiao treats her differently, even Big Sister has noticed, but you're still in the dark!"

  Ruan's eyes grew even wider, and she really didn't know that among these half-grown children, there was actually such a hidden undercurrent!

  "What's so special about Wei Gongzi, what makes him look up to her?" She thought back to Xie Yu's usual unremarkable behavior, everything seemed ordinary and normal, except for her pretty face, elegant manners, was there anything else?

  Oh no! She remembered, she wasn't always so proper and regular. Sometimes - although Wang didn't say it, but she had already sensed it - for example, every time Wang wanted to scold that servant girl, she was always able to very luckily escape - was this really her luck, or did she actually have some real ability?

  If she has the ability to handle even Wang's family with ease, what difficulty would it be for her to seduce a few young boys?

  I really didn't expect her, who is only in her early teens, to have such a deep understanding of this!

  By this time, she had become as indignant as Xie Qi.

  Xie Qi is her daughter after all, even if she doesn't respect her, she's still the flesh and blood born from her own womb. Moreover, Xie Qi married well, so in the future, she'll have someone to rely on. It's one thing that she didn't approve of Xie Qi stubbornly holding onto Ren Yun, but it's another thing when Ren Yun is being pursued by someone else! Especially when this person happens to be a descendant of the second house!

  In private she can be dissatisfied with her husband and children, but when the interests of the small family are threatened, she will absolutely rise up to resist.

  "What do you plan to do?" She looked at Xie Qi.

  Xie Qi pinched off a chrysanthemum from the flower vase and crushed it before fiercely throwing it to the ground.

  After dinner, Cheng Yun came in to report last month's accounts, and Xie Wan kept him for a bowl of tea.

  It was Tieguanyin. Chengyun took a sip and covered the teacup with its lid, looking at Xieyu: "Miss, do you have something on your mind?"

  Xie Wan lowered her head and sipped tea, without even looking at him, raising an eyebrow and saying: "How did you know?"

  Cheng Yuan glanced at the tea bowl and said, "This tea is refreshing and suitable for daytime drinking. Miss, you usually don't eat after noon, and even when you do, you only eat until you're eight-tenths full, which shows that you deeply understand the art of nourishing life. At night, strong tea is not conducive to sleep, this point should not be unknown. Therefore, I, an old man, infer that Miss has something on her mind.

  Xie Wan smiled and put down the tea: "Mr. Cheng is indeed meticulous in his observations."

  Having said that, she paused for a moment between her eyebrows, but then pressed her lips together and didn't speak again.

  Cheng Yuanchen paused for a moment before continuing, "Recently, something has happened in the capital. I suppose Lord Zhao has already informed you about it, Miss. What do you think about it?"

  Xie Wan smiled and raised her eyes.

  Zhao Zhen's letter today did not bring news from Xie Rong, but rather a sudden change in the imperial court: The current crown prince was recently stripped of his title due to personal misconduct and has now been demoted to commoner status.

  This matter seems to have nothing to do with Xie Wan, but Xie Wan knows that the mother of Crown Prince Yin Yu is the current Crown Princess, who is the eldest daughter of Huo Da, Duke of Protecting the Country. The Huo family has been deeply favored by the emperor for generations, and in this generation of Huo Da, it has reached its peak. The Crown Princess only has one son and two daughters, and the Crown Prince would actually be stripped of his title and expelled from the imperial clan, what does this represent?

  Zhao Zhen's guess was that someone was secretly moving against the Huo family.

  Last time Luo Sheng went to the capital, Zhao Zhen had already learned from him that Xie Wan was running a rice shop near the Shuntian Prefecture school, and naturally also knew that the turmoil of the Huo family would affect the grain transportation, so he sent this letter.

  When Yin Yu was deposed, Xie Wan was only eleven years old and didn't pay attention to this matter at all. Later, the whereabouts of Yin Yu were also unknown. However, now that the Hao family is involved in the grain transportation, she naturally wants to know something about it.