“Come to the Quan residence tonight for a gathering.”

The signature was: Li Zhaoting.

Uncle Fu responded without any sign of surprise. Suzhen glanced at him indifferently. The letter had come from the Quan residence, so even if there were Lian Yu’s people in this mansion, it wouldn’t necessarily involve Li Zhaoting.

Uncle Fu quickly prepared the sedan chair. When leaving, several men were in the main hall. Leng Xue frowned, “It’s so late, where are you going?”

“The Quan residence. The Prime Minister has invited me for drinks. Leng Xue, you don’t need to accompany me.”

Suzhen smiled and looked around at everyone, answering openly and frankly.

Leng Xue received her glance and knew she wanted him to stay and monitor whether anyone left the house.

Xiao Zhou glanced at her and reminded, “Aren’t you afraid His Majesty will be suspicious?”

Suzhen smiled and looked at Wuqing. Wuqing’s expression remained calm as always, only saying, “Don’t drink too much—it’s bad for your health.”

Arriving at the Quan residence, the Quan residence steward was already waiting at the gate with several servants, displaying full ceremony.

Uncle Fu and the mansion’s attendants were arranged by him to have tea in a side hall, while he personally led Suzhen inside.

They walked through courtyards and pavilions until they reached a small courtyard. He stopped, smiled politely, personally pushed open the courtyard door, and made a “please” gesture.

Suzhen noticed that this place was different from others—there were only a few servants passing by or standing guard. It was quite peaceful, and she understood somewhat. She thanked him and slowly walked in.

The steward slowly closed the courtyard door from outside.

Suzhen listened to the creaking of the door and stopped in her tracks. Looking around, she saw under the deep blue starlit sky, trees on both sides arranged in an orderly fashion, and on the right side, there was a stone table with several stone stools.

A faint wine fragrance drifted to her nose, and indeed there were exquisite wine vessels on the table.

A young man in white robes sat leisurely on the facing stone stool, with sword-like eyebrows reaching his temples and eyes like black lacquer—it was none other than Li Zhaoting.

Though they hadn’t seen each other for only some time, Suzhen felt longing, resentment, mild hatred, and gratitude—all these complex feelings woven into a thread that bound her heart, making it feel stuffy and painful.

Li Zhaoting saw her still standing there and smiled slightly, “Come over.”

Suzhen looked at that clear and gentle smile, which seemed to carry a trace of concern and sighing. In her heart, she recalled how many times over the years he had smiled at her like this.

It seemed she could count them on one hand.

She smiled with self-mockery and quickly walked over.

After sitting down, Li Zhaoting poured her a cup of wine, “Your favorite daughter red wine, but you can’t drink much.”

She lowered her head to accept the wine cup he handed her, then heard him ask softly, “Do the wounds on your body still hurt? You’ve never suffered such hardship since childhood—it must be very difficult.”

Hearing this, a warm drop fell into the wine.

The habit of crying easily hadn’t changed in years.

Because she had once been so pampered.

But it seemed that when she was injured, her tears weren’t for the physical pain, but from fear of her identity being exposed.

Someone like her really had no right to complain of pain.

But his words seemed to pierce her heart, bringing out her crying habit again.

So he still cared about her. He even remembered she liked daughter red wine—things she hadn’t thought about since coming to the capital…

She looked up at him intently and blurted out, “That day, when you looked at Agu, I…”

“Mm,” Li Zhaoting responded softly, “Only she could help you. The Emperor had taken a fancy to her.”

“I asked her to plead with His Majesty for you.”

Suzhen was slightly shocked. So… it was because of Agu that Lian Yu spared her.

Her heart trembled imperceptibly.

Agu—yes, everyone liked her for good reason. She should be like Agu. Agu hadn’t minded her previous disrespect and had pleaded for her. Agu was a good woman, while she, Feng Suzhen, was truly a petty and narrow-minded person.

She raised her wine cup, smiled awkwardly, and said in a low voice, “You… please thank her for me. Her kindness, I will…”

But Li Zhaoting frowned, “You can barely protect yourself—how can you repay this favor?”

Suzhen froze, and a bitter smile unconsciously leaked from the corner of her mouth. Yes, she could barely protect herself now—how could she… Since coming to the capital, she had owed many people favors: Huo Chang’an, Wuyan, and now him and Agu…

She didn’t want to owe others favors.

She didn’t want to.

Especially not Agu’s.

This realization made her whole body ache.

“I don’t mean to blame you. You’ve already been injured and nearly lost your life. I just want you to understand—act within your means, and at the very least… protect yourself.”

From ahead, Li Zhaoting’s words came powerfully with the faint wine fragrance.

His eyes held a barely visible sternness, like gently scolding a mischievous younger sister at home.

Suzhen stared at him in a daze, suddenly feeling utterly ashamed. He still cared about her, still cared about her. All these years, it was Father who had trapped him. What fault did he have? When it came down to it, she was the one who didn’t know her place. Thinking back now to her past behavior toward him—preventing him from matchmaking, shamelessly seeking him out—she didn’t seem as ridiculous as an ugly performer on stage.

Her heart surged with a hundred mixed emotions, and for a moment she didn’t know what to say. After a long time, when the heat in her eyes had dried, she dared to look up and say quietly, “Thank you.”

Remembering what she had considered earlier, she asked again, “Lian Yu seems not to know my identity yet. Did you ask the Prime Minister to do something? Only you and Leng Xue know my identity. After thinking it over, you must have helped with this. Otherwise, Miss Gu’s plea might not have been effective.”

Not to mention that five years ago, the so-called relationship between her and that stone was only her own one-sided feelings.

Li Zhaoting’s eyes held a trace of laziness but also faintly revealed sharpness, like an eagle’s precision. He said, “Yes and no. I used my senior brother’s connections to forge a new identity for you in a county neighboring Lu County.”

Feng Suzhen, I can only tell you this much. There are some things I can’t let you know, nor do you need to know.

Suzhen was alarmed, “You borrowed the Prime Minister’s name but didn’t tell him? What if he blames you later?”

“Don’t worry about these things. Just don’t mention it to him. Come, let me tell you about your new identity now. You must remember it well and not reveal any flaws in front of His Majesty.”

Li Zhaoting poured her another cup of wine and told her about the Xia family in detail.

Listening to this person’s warm, light, and mellow voice, remembering the past, Suzhen’s eyes grew sour.