Daoqin and Jianshu originally didn’t dare to stop her. When they saw her act this way, though their hearts skipped a beat in fright, they surprisingly just stood there without moving.

Xie Wei, however, turned his head leisurely and unhurriedly.

Her nearly “breaking and entering” behavior didn’t make him the least bit angry or displeased. His elegant brows relaxed under the gentle natural light, and he only asked with an idle smile: “Such a temper—who provoked you now?”

After Jiang Xuening woke up and saw the doctor, her whole body was weak and powerless. She should have drunk a bowl of porridge and then lain down to rest and recuperate for a while. But after drinking only half a bowl of porridge brought by a maid, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. That nameless fire, after being suppressed in her heart for half a day, not only didn’t subside but instead flared up violently as if oil had been poured on it.

So she slammed down the bowl and simply came over.

Now standing in the room, she looked Xie Wei up and down as he reclined by the window. With a somewhat mocking smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she said: “I’m thinking now that I was wrong. Someone like Master Xie actually does deserve to die.”

Previously, she had said: “Do you even deserve to die?”

Now she had changed her wording.

Xie Wei raised his eyebrow slightly, the smile at the corners of his lips deepening a bit. But he wasn’t angry in the slightest, maintaining his neither warm nor cold manner as he asked: “Oh, you’ve changed your mind again?”

The half-smiling expression that Jiang Xuening had forced onto her face immediately turned cold. Finally too lazy to joke with him anymore, she asked directly: “That day, what you brought was Five Minerals Powder?”

Xie Wei gazed at her: “Didn’t you already ask the doctor?”

Jiang Xuening choked: “So it’s true?”

This place was already considered the northern regions. Even though the sun was out, it was still quite freezing. When she came out, she wore thick brocade clothes and a soft cloak, her whole person seemingly wrapped up. Only her face was thin, making her figure appear even more frail. When she spoke, her cheeks even took on a faint flush from anger, while her forehead and nose tip seeped with fine perspiration from weakness.

He was truly afraid she would lose her balance and collapse.

Xie Wei softened his voice and lightly pointed to the opposite side of the table where the qin rested, saying: “Sit down and talk.”

Jiang Xuening had indeed just woken up and was physically weak. When she heard his words, her feet moved, and her instinct was to walk over and sit down. However, just as her foot was about to step forward, she suddenly had a jolt and snapped back to awareness—

If she sat down, she would lose momentum, and it would be hard to say what she wanted to say.

She forcibly planted her feet, not moving an inch, and said with her neck stiffened: “I won’t sit. Five Minerals Powder—is it true?”

Xie Wei finally slowly knitted his brows. The relaxed demeanor from before also diminished somewhat. He looked at her silently for a moment and didn’t deny it: “It’s true.”

This answer was what Jiang Xuening had expected.

But when she truly heard him say it with his own mouth, she still felt an incomprehensible absurdity: “A dignified Imperial Tutor of the dynasty, a model for all scholars under heaven—don’t you know what this thing really is? Only those muddle-headed, absurd, foolish, and frivolous people regard it as a medicine to relieve worries! Are you actually joining them in willing self-degradation?”

Her words actually weren’t that harsh.

But it had been a long time since anyone dared to speak to him this way.

Looking back on certain past moments of sitting alone in the deep of night before a lamp waiting for dawn, Xie Wei became extremely quiet and said earnestly and slowly: “It won’t happen again in the future.”

Jiang Xuening’s heart inexplicably jumped.

Immediately after, even her eyelids jumped.

What was clearly an ordinary sentence, under Xie Wei’s gaze, was spoken with a lingering and solemn meaning, as if this were a promise he was making to someone.

And that person was herself.

If pushing open the door impolitely and walking in to question him was driven by extreme anger in a moment of thoughtlessness, then the instant Xie Wei spoke these words, all of Jiang Xuening’s impulses and fury receded like the tide, leaving only bare rocks that made her suddenly awaken—

This was no longer the wilderness.

If she didn’t prudently maintain her distance from Xie Wei, she might very well draw herself into a vortex beyond her control. She should not overstep her bounds with Xie Wei. Once certain boundaries were crossed, it would not only cause misunderstandings but also lead to unmanageable consequences.

Xie Wei still looked at her warmly: “I’m not lying to you. Don’t you believe me?”

Jiang Xuening felt increasingly wary in her heart.

She imperceptibly restrained herself, her eyes lowering as she recalled how she used to interact with this current Imperial Tutor. She smiled with effort and said: “Master’s word is worth nine tripods—naturally you keep your promises. In that case, this student is also relieved. My earlier words were quite offensive, but I was truly concerned for Master’s safety. I hope Master won’t take offense.”

“…”

The faint trace of smile that had curved at the corner of Xie Wei’s mouth suddenly and slowly disappeared.

What kind of perceptive person was he?

He almost instantly detected the alienation in her attitude, the pulling away of distance, as if she had realized she had done something significant and inappropriate earlier. Or perhaps she had been frightened by something he had just said.

Being watched by him, Jiang Xuening heard no response from him and felt inexplicably panicked and confused, along with some self-reproach.

She and Xie Wei had shared exceptionally special experiences together.

This caused her to reveal her true nature at the slightest carelessness, being neither careful nor cautious enough. And Xie Wei would take advantage of this opening to advance further. If she came to her senses and tried to withdraw then, it would be too late.

At this moment, Jiang Xuening simply wanted to flee, but she also knew that if she just left like this, it would undoubtedly confirm that their relationship had already undergone subtle changes.

And this was not what she wanted to see.

So she racked her brains and finally thought of an appropriate topic. Regaining her composure somewhat, she asked: “Now we are stranded in Jinan, still a thousand miles from the frontier. Yan Lin is a criminal official who has already rushed ahead to the frontier. Without our support, I wonder if he might encounter difficulties. To rescue the Princess, we must fight the Tatars. To fight the Tatars, there must be military authority. I didn’t dare inquire along the way before, but now… I don’t know where this military authority will come from?”

Could they simply raise a banner of righteousness and rebel?

But Yan Lin’s clan had been exiled, and everyone was in Huangzhou. Even if he kept private soldiers, it would be impossible for them to travel a thousand miles to fight at the frontier. The commotion alone couldn’t be concealed. If they alerted the enemy, the imperial court wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

Then how could they succeed?

So Jiang Xuening’s question could be said to have hit the mark.

It was just that Xie Wei didn’t really want to answer at this moment.

He gazed at her silently, as if wanting to see through her completely, to dig through her thoroughly and understand her completely.

After quite a while, he finally said: “Forging an imperial edict.”

Forging an imperial edict?!

Jiang Xuening was so shocked by these two words that her scalp tingled. However, after quickly thinking it through, she discovered this was an almost flawless plan! Xie Wei often attended cabinet meetings and was thoroughly familiar with all court movements. If he came forward with a so-called “imperial edict” and handed military authority at the frontier to Yan Lin, who would dare question it? By the time the frontier confirmed with the court, or news of the battle reached the Central Plains, the war would probably already be over!

Once the Princess was safe, how difficult would it be to then march troops into the capital?

As for what reaction the Princess would have then…

Jiang Xuening didn’t want to think further, because she had no ability to change the overall situation, nor any qualification to stop people who had suffered injustice and humiliation from seeking vindication and revenge.

She slowly exhaled, as if wanting to use this to calm the emotions suddenly stirred up by Xie Wei’s two words. Then she thought to smoothly say some nonsense like “Master is indeed far-sighted” and take her leave.

Unexpectedly, Xie Wei suddenly called out to her: “Ning Er.”

Jiang Xuening froze and looked up: “What instruction does Master have?”

Xie Wei raised his finger and lightly plucked a qin string. The string immediately trembled and vibrated, flowing out a quivering aftertonе.

The light in his eyes flowed as he looked at her and smiled.

Only this smile contained an unprecedented teasing and playfulness as he said lightly: “I thought you were holding a grudge, angry that I said the things you made were terrible, and came to demand justice.”

“What gives you the right to say that?!”

Jiang Xuening immediately jumped up like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on! As the saying goes, “Don’t hit the face when striking someone, don’t expose shortcomings when scolding someone”—Xie Wei was clearly and blatantly mocking her! The resentment she had accumulated since losing consciousness exploded in an instant. How could she still remember restraint, prudence, or maintaining distance?

Angry words burst out.

“You ate it and still complained about this and that! If you don’t have the guts to criticize after the fact, then spit it out if you’re so capable!”

Her face flushed red, like a small beast about to fight to the death showing its fangs, her whole body tense. But in Xie Wei’s eyes, she was nothing more than an immature small beast, fiercely exposing milk teeth with little威慑力.

He felt extremely comfortable.

The smile in his pupils was like that touch of clear spring scenery at the tip of willow leaves, as he only said: “I don’t have that ability—I can’t spit it out. In the future, I’ll make something for you to taste, and make you wholeheartedly convinced. How about that?”

A blatant slap in the face!

Jiang Xuening’s face was like a soaked meticulous brush painting, showing all kinds of colors. She felt that if she stood in this place for another moment she would die of anger. While her reason still remained, she directly sneered coldly: “I wouldn’t dare trouble Your Excellency!”

After saying this, she flicked her sleeves, turned around, and walked toward the door.

She was afraid that if she couldn’t hold back, she would rush forward and pin down this annoying person for a beating!

Xie Wei didn’t try to keep her, just watching with a smile.

Only when Jiang Xuening reached the doorway with one hand on the doorframe did she seem to suddenly recall something crucial. Her figure suddenly stiffened, and she truly seemed petrified like stone.

Xie Wei pretended not to notice and asked nonchalantly: “What’s wrong?”

In that instant, Jiang Xuening understood that the other party had deliberately provoked her anger, and she absolutely shouldn’t have lost her temper! Just these few sentences had rendered all her previous efforts to maintain distance from Xie Wei completely wasted, all for nothing!

But it was too late to correct it.

That Xie was sinister and cunning—this old fox’s schemes ran too deep!!!

She couldn’t help but gnash her teeth, her voice almost squeezed out from between her teeth, word by word: “I’m fine. Farewell.”

After saying this, she stepped out.

When passing by Daoqin and Jianshu, she still managed to show no abnormality. However, after turning the corridor to where no one could see, she finally hugged her head, regretting that her lack of patience in small matters had disrupted her greater plan and fallen into Xie Wei’s trap. Extremely vexed and unable to bear it any longer, she let out a loud cry.

“Ahhhhh—”

Xie Wei sat by the window on this side and could hear the general sound. Imagining her beating her chest and stamping her feet in utter chagrin, he pressed one finger to his lips. He really couldn’t hold back and finally laughed aloud.

Daoqin and Jianshu outside looked at each other in dismay.

Xie Wei laughed for a while before slowly stopping. He raised his eyes to look at the snow-white, translucent window paper. The diamond lattice window frame left blurred shadows on it, and also left a few traces of darkness in his eyes.

He was silent for a moment, then frowned and said: “Jianshu, find a few cats.”

Not to mention Jianshu—even Daoqin instantly felt a chill of horror!

Neither of them moved for a long while.

But Xie Wei had already withdrawn his gaze, lowering his eyes to conceal that fleeting flash of malice. He only pushed away the qin in front of him and said indifferently: “Go.”