Su Ziluo had always trusted people without suspicion and sincerely befriended those literati and refined scholars, never expecting that among them someone would harbor ulterior motives and actually scheme against him.

The Wen family’s people were truly formidable—they could actually bribe others to do their work and come to his estate to investigate the situation. Fortunately, he had prepared early and already instructed everyone in the estate not to reveal anything regarding Ji Yunshu. And the people in the estate were all loyal, so naturally they wouldn’t let anything slip.

He let out a heavy breath and gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly.

Suddenly, Li Shiyan’s voice came from the distance. “Ziluo, we’re not finished yet!”

Su Ziluo’s head began to ache again. He watched Li Shiyan walk over and asked, “So you and Miss Zhu have resolved your matter?”

Li Shiyan sat down across from him and breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what happened today, but Miss Zhu has finally come to her senses. When she returns, she’ll tell Minister Zhu to call off this engagement. She and I will just be ordinary friends.”

“From the looks of it, Miss Zhu is truly a magnanimous young lady. I’m afraid if you miss her this time, you’ll regret it in the future.”

“How could I regret it? I’m clear that I truly don’t have feelings for her in my heart, so I can’t wrong her.”

However—

Su Ziluo’s lips curved slightly as he stared into his eyes and asked, “What if? What if you do regret it?”

Li Shiyan was stunned for a moment—not because Su Ziluo had suddenly asked such a serious question, but because when he heard this question, some inexplicable emotions suddenly surged in his heart. It felt strange, making him open his mouth but not know what to say. The words were clearly on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back down. This feeling was truly bizarre.

Seeing him like this, Su Ziluo smiled lightly, as if seeing through everything, and picked up the tea before him to take a sip.

After Li Shiyan recovered, he said, “Don’t keep saying ‘what if’ like that. There are no ‘what ifs’ and no possibilities.” Having said that, he remembered the main matter and stood up abruptly. “Right, I need to go find Shu’er.”

In the end, he hadn’t forgotten about this.

Su Ziluo looked at him and asked, “Must you see her once no matter what?”

“Yes!”

“And after you see her once?”

“After seeing her…” Li Shiyan was momentarily at a loss for words. His eyes turned gently for a while before he said with firm resolve, “After seeing her, I don’t plan to do anything. I just want to see her once. After being apart for five years, I want to see how she is now. I also want to ask what exactly happened to her these years? Why did she come to Qujiang? Why would a prince from Dalin appear here? I have so many questions in my heart. I just want to ask her clearly after seeing her. Perhaps after getting clarity, I can probably… completely give up.”

Li Shiyan was actually a deeply devoted person. Even though he could be like stubborn glue, a wise man knows when to yield—he wouldn’t do something like pestering relentlessly, nor could he do it.

After hearing his words, Su Ziluo fell silent.

And Li Shiyan suddenly asked him, “By the way, Shu’er stayed at your place for a night. You must know about her situation, right?”

“She said nothing, and I asked nothing.”

“Impossible!” Li Shiyan slapped his left hand on the stone table before him. The moment his palm struck down, the sharp pain from his arm made him grit his teeth—he had completely forgotten his arm was still injured.

Seeing him clutching his arm with blood seeping through his clothes, Su Ziluo immediately ordered someone to fetch a physician.

“No need, no need! It’s a minor matter!” Li Shiyan stopped him, saying, “The wound just accidentally split open. Just rebandage it and it’ll be fine. Anyway, I came here with this injury so you could have someone change my dressing for me, to avoid telling Xiao Luzi and having him get all anxious. Who knows, in the end my father might come.”

“You’re too careless!” Su Ziluo sighed worriedly without end, his brow tightly furrowed.

In the end, he could only order someone to quickly change the dressing for him.

The wound had already split open and bled quite a bit, but fortunately there wasn’t too big a problem. During the dressing change, Li Shiyan’s mouth was still going on about matters regarding Ji Yunshu, rattling off a whole bunch of things. Su Ziluo didn’t respond anymore.

…

On this side, Zhu Yao left the Su estate and returned to the estate in her sedan chair. She didn’t go through the back door but stopped directly at the main gate. Minister Zhu had gone to the Ministry of Rites office early in the morning, so only Madam Zhu was at the estate. When she learned that her daughter had actually sneaked out for a trip, she nearly fainted from shock. Frightened out of her wits, she quickly brought her back to her room, then ordered someone to fetch a physician to examine her daughter thoroughly.

Zhu Yao grasped her hand. “Mother, I’m fine!”

“You silly girl, are you confused from illness? In this condition and you still went out! Tell Mother, did you go see the heir? Did you go find him?”

“Yes, your daughter did go find him.”

“You!” Madam Zhu was truly at her wit’s end. She let out a heavy sigh, touched her daughter’s bloodless face, and said with tears and heartache, “Do you miss that heir so much? What’s so good about him that you’re so infatuated?”

“Mother…”

“Fine, Mother surrenders, admits defeat! I truly can’t bear to continue watching you go on like this, tormented until you don’t even have half a life left. If something really happens to you, what would Mother do! Alright, Mother will make the decision on this engagement for you—we won’t call it off. Since you like the heir so much, then I’ll fulfill your wish. Whatever comes in the future is your own fate.” Madam Zhu relented and truly admitted defeat. She couldn’t bear to watch her daughter torture herself like this, torturing herself until she lost her life. How could she, as a mother, bear that?

Hearing these words, Zhu Yao only smiled slightly. She reached out to wipe away the tears on her mother’s cheeks, saying in a gentle tone, “Mother, thank you. Thank you for being willing to fulfill your daughter’s wish like this. But your daughter has thought it through, understood it clearly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rather than be with someone who doesn’t love me, why not let go!” She spoke these words with such calm acceptance.

Madam Zhu was stunned, not believing what she was hearing.

Zhu Yao continued, “Mother, it’s all because your daughter was too stubborn, only thinking of myself, never thinking of you, and never thinking of Shiyan either. I was really too selfish. Fortunately, I understood in time. It’s not too late now.”

“Yao’er?”

“Please, Father and Mother, make the decision to call off this engagement. Your daughter has decided that from now on, I won’t do foolish things anymore, and I won’t force things that don’t belong to me.” A smile spilled from the corners of her mouth—clean, pure, and so bright.

Madam Zhu still couldn’t recover. Just before this, her daughter had been earnestly begging them not to break the engagement, but in just one short day there was such a great change—it was hard to believe.

“Yao’er, have you truly thought it through? If you still can’t bear it, Mother will definitely fulfill your wish.”

“Your daughter has truly thought it through very clearly this time. Mother, you don’t need to worry. I won’t do any more foolish things either.” Zhu Yao gently patted the back of her mother’s hand.

After Madam Zhu confirmed her words were true, she felt quite comforted. Tears fell uncontrollably down her face as she said “my poor daughter” several times, then had her rest quickly and carefully nurse her health back.

Zhu Yao was also very obedient. After taking her medicine, she rested.

Madam Zhu also pulled Cai’er outside and questioned, “Where did you take the young miss?”

At this moment, Cai’er truly didn’t dare hide anything, so she confessed everything. “This morning the young miss insisted on going out to see the heir. This slave had no choice but to agree to accompany her. After seeing the heir, the young miss became like this.”

“What did Yao’er and the heir say to each other?”

“This, this slave doesn’t know. At the time, this slave was outside and didn’t hear.”

“You useless girl!” Madam Zhu scolded. “I told you to take good care of the young miss, but you’re always doing as you please! This time, fortunately Yao’er is fine, otherwise I would have to teach you a proper lesson!”

Cai’er’s body trembled as she lowered her head forcefully. “Madam, this slave will never dare again!”

She was just a maid—in all matters she had to obey her master. When the master gave orders, she dared not disobey!

Madam Zhu suppressed the anger in her heart. Considering that her daughter had suddenly come to her senses this time, she let it go. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to instruct, “You take good care of Yao’er. If anything happens this time, I’ll skin you alive.”

“Yes, this slave will definitely watch the young miss carefully this time. Absolutely nothing will happen again!” Cai’er accepted the order.

Madam Zhu looked worriedly into the room once before leaving. Afterward, she ordered someone to make a trip to the Ministry of Rites office to have Minister Zhu return quickly so they could properly discuss how to break off the engagement.