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

"Please don't tell Xie Yan, and don't tell anyone else. I'm begging you, just pretend you never knew anything about this."

Suddenly, her emotionless voice reached his ears. Xie Yun looked at her and said, "His influence isn't that far-reaching. Xie Yan isn't someone to be trifled with either."

The Xie family wouldn't punish Xie Xun for this, but her fate wouldn't be much better.

"I can't let outsiders know about my relationship with him---"

There was no need to say anything more; Xie Yun naturally understood what she meant. She was right; no one could guarantee what kind of uproar such a scandal would cause in the Xie family.

"So you're just going to follow him like this?"

Ning Yu nodded expressionlessly. "Don't make things difficult for me. You should leave now."

The reason they kept urging him to leave was because they were afraid that Xie Xun would hold a grudge against him. He already had many enemies, and he didn't need Xie Xun.

However—he glanced at the guards surrounding the waterside pavilion. As far as he knew, the young master of the Xie family had been accompanied by guards since childhood, and Xie Xun had spent many years in the Northwest, so he should have trained quite a few assassins.

He probably won't be able to take her away today.

His cold gaze involuntarily turned to the wide-open window. Their eyes met, and he clearly saw a chilling killing intent in the man's eyes.

They stood facing each other, clearly separated, their silent exchange fleeting like lightning. Ning Yu noticed their gazes and stepped forward, pulling Xie Yun down into the corridor.

Xie Xun, sitting by the window, watched the two struggling, his face extremely gloomy, and the veins on his hand, which was rubbing the jade thumb ring, were bulging out.

The two talked about something, and Xie Yun's expression changed repeatedly before he finally lowered his head in defeat.

"If you want me to live, then stop interfering," Ning Yu said, looking at him. "Don't tell anyone that I'm alive."

"You can't hide fire with paper."

"Xie Yun!"

Xie Yun paused, turning around to look at her.

Ning Yu's face was filled with emotions she had never shown before, complex and intense to the extreme. Xie Yun looked into her eyes, remained silent for a long time, nodded, and turned to leave.

The hidden guards by the lake did not stop him. Ning Yu watched him leave the waterside pavilion safely, and her heart finally settled down.

"What a picture of mutual affection! Is this what you call friends?"

A strange, sarcastic voice came from behind. Ning Yu turned around and saw the man coming out of the house. His expression was unreadable, but it made people feel even colder.

She composed herself and said calmly, "I have already made it clear to him that he will keep quiet. Please do not make things difficult for him, Governor."

"So afraid I'll kill him, he's begging me like a dog?"

The extremely humiliating words made Ning Yu's heart clench suddenly, and she stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide.

Xie Xun's heart softened slightly, but the sight of the two of them struggling and pulling at each other only fueled his anger, making him want to chop off her hand.

"You pretend to be obedient to me, saying you'll stay with me, but secretly you lie to me and coax me. Aren't you tired of pretending?"

"What do you want to say to him? Let my elder brother know you're alive, let the Xie family know I'm raising you in this villa. If you want, you don't need to look for him; I can take you back to the Xie family right now."

Her eyes were red, but she didn't know what to say. He had berated her mercilessly, and she didn't dare to retaliate.

Seeing her like this, Xie Xun became even angrier, his sinister face filled with violence. "You're afraid he'll die, so you'd rather submit to me and please me, while he's afraid you'll die and leaves unwillingly. What a wonderful show you've put on."

"Since you're so afraid of him dying, then I'll tell you plainly, he won't see the sun tomorrow."

Ning Yu was startled, her body shivering in the cold wind. She knew he was truly intent on killing her. Seeing him about to leave, she quickly grabbed his sleeve, "No—"

Xie Xun brushed it aside, without much force, but she lost her balance and stumbled to the ground.

He paused, turned around, and saw her wince in pain, propping herself up with her arm, and closing her eyes in anger.

Ning Yu felt a chill run down her spine. Ignoring the bloodstains on her arm, she grabbed his shirt, her eyes clouded with a mist that concealed her true emotions.

"I'm not afraid of his death, I just don't want to implicate innocent people and make you commit unwarranted murder."

He didn't speak, so she hurriedly added, "I was wrong, I shouldn't have lied to you. If you let him go, he won't tell Xie Yan, he won't let anyone know I'm still alive. Killing him will only make you enemies, it won't do you any good---"

"stand up!"

His voice was filled with obvious anger, and Ning Yu choked up, hurriedly lifting her skirt to stand up.

Tears welled in her eyes, and her pale face showed a broken plea. Xie Xun suppressed his anger, which was neither rising nor falling, and grabbed her neck, pulling her into his arms.

"Is it unfair of you to come with me?"

"No." She finally opened her mouth and said what he wanted to hear, "I'm not wronged. I'm willing to follow the Governor. I just don't want anyone else to die because of me."

Xie Xun looked into her eyes, glanced at her scraped arm, and said in a cold, warning voice, "Ning Yu, I'll only let you off this time."

---

Ning Yu's coffin lay in state at the Mo Courtyard for seven days, with Xie Yan keeping vigil day and night. On the day of the burial, his body finally gave way and he collapsed.

When the Grand Princess arrived, she noticed that he had lost a lot of weight. He was usually a very clean person, but his clothes were so wrinkled that they were unrecognizable.

She had the nanny administer the medicine, and after half an hour, the person woke up.

Xie Yan saw his mother sitting by the bed, glanced at the quiet courtyard outside, and quickly got out of bed and put on his shoes.

"He has already been buried."

"Where was he buried?"

The Grand Princess said helplessly, "The mausoleum you had previously chosen has been used to bury him."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yan stopped talking, put on his clothes, and hurried to Yue Mountain. The Grand Princess sighed in exasperation at his hurried manner.

One or two of them are all troublesome.

"Princess, please don't be angry. Although the Crown Prince and his wife haven't spent much time together, they were husband and wife after all. It's normal that he can't get over this misfortune while they were traveling."

Hearing the old nanny's words, the Grand Princess lowered her hand that was supporting her forehead. "Ayan is sentimental, and he probably feels guilty."

Speaking of this, she thought of Xie Xun again and said angrily, "Both sons really inherited the Xie family's genes. Neither of them is easy to deal with. Look at that unfilial son Xie Xun. He hasn't seen anyone for days, and he doesn't care about his own marriage."

"Once you start a family, you'll settle down. The Governor-General has always been very disciplined in his work."

Indeed, Ah Xun was her proudest son, commanding the three armies at a young age, surpassing even her crown prince nephew.

Springtime was in full bloom on Moon Mountain. Before the tomb door was even closed, the Crown Prince arrived. The servants accompanying him immediately stopped what they were doing and waited quietly to the side.

It wasn't until the burial that Xie Yan truly felt she was dead, that she had died at the foot of that cliff, buried so young in a cold coffin, never to see the light of day again.

His numb and tense nerves finally felt real at this moment, and all sorts of intense emotions surged up all at once.

He wronged her; he failed to protect her.

No one from the Xie family came, and the mausoleum was far from the main burial chamber. The air was quiet, with only the slow breathing of a few servants. After a long time, a hoarse voice was finally heard.

"Bury him."