So what if she's my sister-in-law? You seduced me first.

Ink Academy.

Ning Yu knew Xie Xun was not easily fooled, so she went to the tub of cold water and took a cold bath. Although it was summer, the water was really cold, icy cold to the bone.

Qinghe touched it, then immediately withdrew her hand when she felt the cold. She said helplessly, "Miss, what are you doing? Why torture yourself like this?"

Ning Yu didn't want to ruin herself, but Xie Xun was more cunning than a fox. If he said he was sick, then he was sick. She didn't want to be sent to the Mo Academy by him like last time.

"The governor stood up for you, Miss, so why are you still angry with him?"

Ning Yu's body shivered from the cold and paused. She had never intended to hold a grudge against him, but she felt that things couldn't go on like this.

These past few days, when she went to pay her respects to the old lady, the ladies were openly or secretly saying that she and the Third Master had been having private dealings. The old lady's expression darkened, and who knows what she was thinking about her.

She had mentioned it to him, and he said he would handle it, but it was all just empty talk in bed. He would never really stand up for her if anything happened to her.

He was as pure and untouched by worldly affairs as a lofty mountain, and once he was tired of her, he would leave without a second thought, leaving her with the reputation of being a seductive enchantress to another man.

He helped her resolve the issue of being buried alive with someone, and she slept with him in return. She couldn't keep doing this in secret forever. When would it end, when he said it was over, when he got tired of her? She wanted to slowly break off the relationship.

"I heard from my grandmother that his marriage seems to be settled, so I'll take this opportunity to distance myself from him."

If he can't stand it, he should go find another woman; it's not like there aren't other women out there.

Ning Yu gritted her teeth and felt her whole body go numb from the cold before she got out of the bathtub.

Qinghe touched her head and found it was burning hot, so she quickly helped her to lie down on the bed.

"But if the Governor doesn't protect you, how will Miss live in the Xie family in the future?"

He didn't protect her either. If he really wanted to protect her, he wouldn't have so simply and crudely asked Xie Heming to stand up for her and cause controversy. He has never openly helped her even once.

That day too.

He sat there high and mighty, while she was attacked by the crowd in a sorry state. Did he even utter a single word in her defense?

Given his status in the Xie family, there was no need for Xie Hemian and Wei Mingqi to argue to the point of near-fighting. He could have easily pulled her out of trouble with just a word. But he didn't. He got up and left, just like that.

Ning Yu was in a daze, thinking that if she really couldn't live in the Xie family anymore, she might as well burn down the Mo Courtyard and fake her death to leave.

Of course, this was only a last resort. She still wanted to stay at the Mo family manor peacefully, live the carefree life of a noblewoman, not have to please her husband, and receive a large sum of money every month.

Make money, make money, where can a man find reliable money?

"Miss, the doctor has arrived."

Just then, Qin Mama's voice suddenly came from outside. Ning Yu sat up, holding her forehead, and leaned against the bedside. She saw the steward leading the doctor in from behind the screen.

"I heard that the Crown Princess is ill, so the Princess specially invited the head of the Imperial Hospital to come and examine you."

This person in charge of the inner palace is clearly Xie Xun's man. What's gotten into him that he invited people from the Imperial Hospital to treat her?

Ning Yu felt dizzy and reached out from behind the curtain. A red thread was tied to her wrist. She frowned and looked over, noticing that the imperial physician was behind the screen and hadn't come in at all.

"The Crown Princess's pulse is floating and tight, indicating a severe invasion of wind and cold. She needs to be treated with warming and meridian-clearing therapy for a few days to recover."

"Thank you for your help, Physician Zhang."

After sending the imperial physician out, the steward returned to the East Garden to report. He didn't know how his master had concluded that the Crown Princess was faking it; his face was frighteningly gloomy.

When the medicine was delivered, Ning Yu didn't drink it. Instead, she poured it into a potted plant, covered herself with the blanket, and went to bed.

Over the next few days, Ning Yu's illness did not improve. When the old lady heard about it, she told her to rest well in her room and not to come over to pay her respects every day.

Now that's great, she doesn't have to be insincere with anyone and is living a very happy life at the Ink Academy.

She just didn't expect that bastard Xie Xun would send someone to pick her up in the middle of the night.

"The master said that if the princess consort doesn't go, she will be carried there in a sedan chair."

The chilling words left Ning Yu speechless. She remained silent for a long time, then got out of bed, changed her clothes, and went to cover her head, which was no longer very hot.

Inside the waterside pavilion.

Xie Xun was sitting on a chair by the window, fiddling with a chessboard. When he saw the person enter, his face remained cold and expressionless.

Ning Yu breathed a sigh of relief, smiled gently, and walked over, "Governor."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Hmm, it's not hot anymore."

Xie Xun raised his eyelids to look at her, "You spilled all the medicine, yet you still recovered so quickly."

Ning Yu's heart skipped a beat. "What is the Governor saying?"

How did he know? Could it be that he has spies in the Mo Academy?

He didn't speak, just kept staring at her. Ning Yu felt like the air she was breathing was suffocating, as if time had stood still.

After a brief standoff, she tentatively moved closer to him and said softly, "I really did catch a chill a couple of days ago."

As the distance closed, her scent wafted in clearly, and Xie Xun, as if taking pity on him, opened his mouth to speak.

"If you keep throwing a tantrum, I'll kill that good-for-nothing Wei Mingqi for you, and I'll also deal with the people from the third branch of the family. What are you dissatisfied with?"

Ning Yu paused, then stroked his sleeve. "I'm not dissatisfied, I'm really sick."

The moment she leaned closer, he bent down, grabbed her head, forced her to sit on the ground, and lifted her chin.

"You're sick? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Ning Yu clearly saw the hostility in his eyes and dared not speak.

He stroked her chin, his rough fingertips gently brushing across her lips, his gaze pressing heavily into her eyes.

Ning Yu hissed in pain and tried to back away, but was held tightly and could not move.

"You said he touched your hand, so I chopped it off and spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to settle things with the Wei family. You're faking illness to fool me, do you think I can't live without you?"

His voice was so calm that Ning Yu was a little scared. Her mind was racing. She looked at him, and as she looked, her eyes slowly reddened. Suddenly, she buried her face in his chest and clutched his clothes tightly with both hands.

"No, it was because I heard from the old lady that you were going to get married that day. I was scared. You saw my situation in the Xie family. After you get married, you won't care about me anymore. So I was distracted and accidentally stepped into the lake, which is why I caught a cold."

She buried herself in his arms, her voice soft and tearful. He couldn't see her face, so Xie Xun didn't know her expression. He looked down at her.

He really hadn't thought about her future, so what did it have to do with him?

The delicate sobs echoed continuously in the room. Xie Xun grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up, looking at her bloodshot eyes, her moist red lips, and his Adam's apple bobbing.

Shut her up, leave her only with broken sobs and pleas for mercy.

Ning Yu felt a sudden grip on the back of her neck, and she instantly realized what he was about to do. She quickly braced herself with her hands, but the next second, she couldn't speak.

She looked at him with reddened eyes. He had long since lost his usual pretentious gentlemanly demeanor, and his eyes were filled with a terrifying lust.