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

The carriage was eerily quiet except for the sound of breathing. As the carriage sped along the official road, the sounds of fighting could be faintly heard as it passed the post station.

Ning Yu felt a burning sensation in her palms. The man, dressed in a gilded black robe, leaned lazily against the soft couch, his long, slender fingers holding a blue-and-white porcelain cup as he drank tea. His eyes, which looked down at her, were filled with a chilling coldness.

She almost instinctively wanted to jump out of the car, but the doors were welded shut from the outside and she couldn't open them at all.

Xie Xun watched her movements calmly, then suddenly his fingers paused, and the tea lid fell back onto the teacup with a whoosh, startling her so much that she trembled.

He placed the teacup on the small table, slowly straightened up, and said, "Are you surprised to see me?"

Ning Yu's mind raced for a moment, but in the end, she didn't dare to turn hostile. Instead, she put on a timid expression and asked, "Why is the Commander here?"

Could this bastard have been responsible for the sudden burning and killing of the post station by bandits? Where is he taking her? What will he do with her?

"Come closer."

His voice was calm and even, and he didn't even blink. Ning Yu was terrified by his demeanor; she would have preferred him to yell at her.

She stiffened slightly as she moved closer to him. When they were almost touching, he suddenly exerted force, pressing her down under his foot and lifting her chin.

Ning Yu winced in pain, her lips trembling slightly as she looked at him.

"Are sugar figurines tasty?"

What the heck? She didn't react for a moment. After a while, she remembered that she had eaten a sugar figurine on the street at night.

How did he know?!

Xie Xun gently pinched her chin. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Ning Yu was so frightened by the atmosphere that she could hardly breathe. She tightened her grip on her dress and said proactively, "Don't be angry. I didn't mean to. I went to see the prince that night for another reason."

Xie Xun suddenly chuckled, seemingly wanting to see how she would make up her story, and remained silent.

"Qingfeng told me to leave in the middle of the night without telling me what would happen next. How could the young master believe that I would just die like that? What would happen to my parents? I would never see my brothers and sisters again and would have to live as someone else. I don't want to do that."

Xie Xun listened to her words without the slightest pity. "So you lied to me and never thought of leaving Xie Yan from beginning to end."

Of course she didn't want to. Why would she give up such a good husband and the status of a princess consort to become his shameful possession? She wasn't crazy.

"No-no, I just haven't figured out what to do yet, and I still want to go back and see my father."

"Do you think I'm easy to fool?" He tightened his grip on her chin, causing her to gasp in pain. "If you want to see your father, what are you doing in Qingcheng with your elder brother?"

"It was the Crown Prince who said---"

Before she could finish speaking, he suddenly interrupted her, "Let me guess, are you planning to cultivate a good relationship with your elder brother in Qingcheng, get pregnant, and wait for the Xie family to protect you?"

Ning Yu's body stiffened abruptly, her face paling slightly. "Do you think the Xie clan can protect you?"

"Governor, please don't talk nonsense. I have never thought that way. I don't love the Crown Prince, I would never have any physical intimacy with him, so how could I have a child with him?"

A misty veil settled over her ingratiating eyes. "Aren't we doing just fine as we are? Why go through all that trouble to fake my death---"

Xie Xun stared at her, just stared at her like that, and she was so speechless that she couldn't say anything more.

Mist rose from the mountaintop, and a damp wind mixed with raindrops seeped in through the windows. The pattering raindrops on the carriage roof made the atmosphere inside even more somber.

Ning Yu's lips trembled as she struggled to breathe, her mind filled with the awful things she had done when she turned against him in the past. She dared not gamble; she truly dared not turn against him.

He was ruthless, cruel, and unscrupulous. She couldn't be so willful as to let her loved ones pay with their lives for her foolish choice.

She tried her best to suppress the impulse in her heart, and put on a frightened and timid look, her shoulders trembling and her eyes reddening.

"You only care about your own pleasure. Have you ever thought about how I'll be unable to see my family after my identity is changed?"

"Alright." He coldly interrupted her. "Ning Yu, I don't want to hear your useless words. Since you don't want to change your identity, then disappear. From now on, you will cease to exist in this world."

Ning Yu was stunned, her eyes widening. "You—what do you mean? What are you going to do?"

Seeing that she had stopped pretending, Xie Xun gently stroked her hair, his slightly lowered eyes seemingly full of tenderness, and said in a half-truthful tone, "I'll lock you up."

"I don't want to—" Her voice suddenly rose, and seeing his face instantly turn pale, she trembled and placed her hand on his arm. "Don't do this. The prince is still at the post station. If I leave like this, he will look for me. Let's go back and talk about it, okay?"

"Looking for you?" Xie Xun looked at her face, gently stroked her waist and pulled her close, saying softly, "What he found is probably your corpse."

----

"The Crown Princess ran towards Python Mountain, and the bandits chased after her. They said she reached a cliff, and our men have already caught up with her."

The post station was filled with the stench of blood. Upon hearing the report from his men, Xie Yan rushed out, mounted his horse, and hurried along the rugged mountain road.

A group of adults quickly followed, and the officials from the government office in Mozhou City had also arrived. The soldiers had just captured the bandits, but some escaped.

The Prefect of Mozhou was now terrified. What was supposed to be a pleasant Poetry and Flower Festival had just ended when he and his beautiful maids left the Tianxian Tower, only to be told by his subordinates that the post station had been stormed by bandits.

He didn't take it seriously at first, but when he heard that the governor of Jizhou and his superior, the prefect of Qingzhou, were inside, he hurriedly put on his official robes and called on the officials to come and rescue them.

To my surprise, I saw people from the capital city there as well.

It seems Heaven is against him. Such a terrible thing has happened in his territory. Will he even be able to keep his official post?

I wonder where the Crown Prince's wife went, and if she's still alive. May the heavens and earth spirits, and the Bodhisattvas, protect her and make sure nothing bad has happened to her.

"Sir, your clothes?"

The prefect of Mozhou hurriedly picked up his oilcloth, ordered his subordinates to clean up the corpses, and took all the captured rebels back to the prison. He then rushed up the mountain.