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

Time passed slowly, and Ning Yu collapsed wearily onto him, clinging to his arms with both hands, refusing to move any further.

Her body was suddenly pressed down, and she was trapped in the brocade quilt, her whole body stiffening. She bit the quilt and screamed.

Seeing that her eyes were red from crying and her voice was hoarse and she could barely make a sound, Xie Xun turned her over and forced her to tilt her head back to endure his roughness.

"It seems my brother knows you're not dead. Who do you think did it?"

A sudden remark startled Ning Yu, who opened her dazed eyes and asked, "What—what did you say?"

Xie Xun leaned over and kissed away the tears at the corners of her eyes. "Last night, my elder brother suddenly sent someone to investigate that girl of yours. He suspects the cause of your death."

Ning Yu's long eyelashes trembled slightly. "I---I don't know."

"You don't know?" Xie Xun bit her. "Should I have someone kill Xie Yun?"

With a hiss, Ning Yu covered her ear in pain, her eyes reddening as she looked at him, "Are you going to bite me to death?"

He had no expression, but the desire in his eyes made her feel less frightened. She bit her lip. "He promised me he wouldn't tell. Maybe there's something wrong with the fake corpse you made."

"The night before last, the third young master of the Prime Minister's mansion went out for drinks with Xie Liu. Yesterday, my sixth brother mentioned to my elder brother that I was keeping a woman at the villa, and the day I brought her back was exactly the sixth day of the month."

"I remember Xie Yun had very close ties with the Prime Minister's residence. Who do you think instructed them to do that?"

He pinched her leg hard, and Ning Yu's eyes were as moist as peach blossoms in spring, but she was scared half to death. How could she be so careless as to let him know about this?

"You act in a high-profile manner. It's possible that someone has seen you frequently going in and out of the capital to gossip. Getting involved with Prince Zhao would be too much of a fuss."

She should have just ignored him, but she insisted on protecting that sickly man.

Xie Xun looked into her eyes, which were filled with a dark and gloomy atmosphere. The bed curtains were damp and alluring. Ning Yu sensed his ill intent and quickly put her arms around his neck. "I'm not trying to excuse him. I'm just afraid you'll get angry again."

Without waiting for him to continue, she quickly changed the subject and asked, "What if the young master suspects there was something wrong with my death?"

What do you think?

He stared at her, then turned the conversation back to her.

Seeing his unreadable expression, Ning Yu wisely snuggled into his arms. "Of course I want to follow the Governor. I don't want anyone to know I'm still alive."

Her words probably pleased him. Xie Xun leaned down and kissed her gently. No one would know she was still alive, and even if they did, it wouldn't matter. No one could take her away; she could only be his.

Ning Yu had no choice but to follow him.

If Xie Yan really knew she was still alive, what should she do? How could she escape from here? Ning Yu's eyes revealed excitement as she leaned on his shoulder, tightly hiding her emotions.

No, that's not right. Now that Xie Xun knows Xie Yan is looking for Qing He, he will...

She quickly looked up and nudged him, "Where's Qinghe?"

Xie Xunshuang squinted his eyes and lifted her waist. "Big brother was looking for her, so naturally she was taken away."

"Where did you take it?"

"He's imprisoned in the imperial prison."

"You—" Ning Yu angrily punched him, "How could you do this?"

She could hit him twice inside the bed curtains, and he wouldn't mind, but it couldn't be for the sake of others, Xie Xun looked at her.

Ning Yu realized his audacity, but the thought of Qing He suffering in a place like the Imperial Prison made him so angry that he wanted to strangle him even if he couldn't beat him to death.

She gripped his shoulders tightly, her nails digging into his taut muscles. Her expression remained impassive, but her eyes were red with grievance as she looked at him.

"She's been with me since she was little, how could she endure such suffering? Release her and let her come to me, the prince won't find her."

"A maidservant is more important than me?" Xie Xun glanced at the spot where she had pinched him.

Ning Yu felt a little breathless, and a hint of emotion, both genuine and feigned, flickered in her tender eyes. "Can they be the same? She's like a sister to me, having grown up with me since childhood. The Governor, to me, is---"

What is it?

He looked at her, lifting her chin with one hand to make her look at him.

Ning Yu deliberately flattered him, saying softly, "Yes, my husband."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Xie Xun grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up to kiss her, pressing his lips hard against hers. Ning Yu's tongue went numb from the kiss, and she couldn't help but push him away.

But this guy was ridiculously strong. She tried her best but couldn't budge him an inch. She could only pant and let him kiss her.

After he had finished kissing her, he asked, his chest trembling, "Could you bring her here so I'll have someone to keep me company?"

"If you satisfy me, bring the person over."

That bastard, he has to bring up everything in bed.

Ning Yu was both angry and exhausted. She kicked the blankets beneath her and looked up at the window outside the tent. The lamp had been out sometime during the night, and it was pitch black. The sound of the night watchman's drum drifted over, indicating that it was almost midnight.

Even at the fourth watch of the night, the commotion inside had not stopped. Inside the tent, a jade-white hand lay outside, sweat dripping down its back. From inside, intermittent curses mixed with moans could be heard.

"When are you going to sleep? Get out of here!"

In the dimly lit tent, sweat dripped from the man's brow bone onto the brocade quilt. His eyes, fixed on her, were filled with a beastly greed. "Weren't you going to bear my child? No, how will you?"

----

Ink Academy Study Room.

"Sir, Miss Qinghe has gone missing. We went to her hometown but couldn't find her."

Xie Yan looked at the various reports sent from Mo Zhou and listened to A Zhou's words below, feeling as if something had stabbed his heart.

At first, he only suspected that there was something wrong with her death, but now he suspects that she didn't die at all.

Thinking about it now, it was all too coincidental that day. The governor of Jizhou happened to be in Mozhou when bandits broke into the post station, and she lost her footing and fell off the cliff.

When he descended the cliff, all he saw was her corpse, a completely disfigured body.

But if she were still alive, who would have taken her away?

Since his return, the various strange things Ning Yu did at the Xie residence had replayed countless times in his mind: the person who could mobilize the governor of Ji Province, fabricate an identical corpse, and terrify her so much that she insisted on going to Qing Province—

"It was my third brother who pleaded for my sister-in-law."

"Wei Mingqi framed his sister-in-law and tried to bully her. He died on the fifth day after being laid on a woman's belly. He died a terrible death."

"My second brother hasn't returned to the manor since the sixth day of the lunar new year; he's been staying at the villa."

A mix of emotions swirled in Xie Yan's mind. He recalled her strange behavior at the horse farm in the manor; she seemed very afraid of Xie Xun.

Ah Xun had been with him in the North for many years, and he knew his temperament well. No matter how well he pretended on the surface, he was capable of all sorts of things behind the scenes. He wasn't the type to meddle in other people's business, but he seemed to be targeting Ning Yu during those two days in the manor.

Various signs kept replaying in his mind. His excited, complex, and intense heart slowly calmed down at this moment. An emotion flashed across his cold and hard face. He picked up the clothes on the rack and went out the door.

"Prepare the horses."

"Young Master, where are you going?"

Xie Yan said coldly, "Go to the villa in the suburbs."

Where on the outskirts of Beijing do they have villas?! What are they doing going to the outskirts in the middle of the night?!

Ah Zhou hurriedly said, "The city gates are closed in the middle of the night. If Your Highness wants to go to the outskirts, let's go tomorrow."

Xie Yan ignored him, went out the door, mounted the horse prepared by the guards, and galloped away like lightning towards the outskirts of the capital.