You're the one who wants to marry a mistress, and I'm marrying someone else, yet you still

Xie Wanru left quietly, and she doesn't want to make a fuss about her return either.

So she quietly returned to the Xie family.

However, she left in such a hurry that she forgot to consider the Empress's side, so less than half a month after she left, the Empress found out.

Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince was already on her side and went to explain to the Empress.

Upon her return, His Highness the Crown Prince sent Dongzhu back to her, along with Shen Cong'an. Neither of them had come during the day.

Shen Cong'an often came to the Xie residence to discuss matters with Xie Wanru, and he was quite adept at sneaking over in the middle of the night.

"Your mother was worried for a long time after she learned that you had gone to the northern border. Now that you are back, please take some time to go to the palace to see her as soon as possible."

His Highness the Crown Prince said with a smile.

“Your maid is truly capable. Not only is she quick-witted and nimble-fingered, but she is also highly skilled. If Wanwan could bear the pain of parting with her, it would be even better to give her to Xuanyi.”

Xiao Long seemed completely oblivious to his own presumption.

Xie Wanru rejected him outright, saying, "Dongzhu is not an object."

If she hadn't gone to the Northern Border with the determination to die rather than give up, she wouldn't have left Dongzhu in Xuancheng.

Shen Cong'an clearly knew the answer. "Your Highness, I told you when we came that Princess Yongchang would not agree."

"That's right, I'm our young lady's maid, I don't want to go to His Highness the Crown Prince's residence."

Dongzhu quickly hid behind Xie Wanru.

At that moment, they seemed like ordinary friends.

Xie Wanru felt a little lost. In her previous life, her heart and eyes were only on the Shen family father and son. It seemed that there was no other person or thing in her life. But now it was different.

After chatting for a while, the group started to get down to business.

Xie Wanru raised her questions and recounted everything that had happened along the way in detail.

At first, she was worried about her father and brothers when the Northern Barbarians attacked. So she set off for the Northern Border. But as soon as she arrived in Guhuang City, her third brother was kidnapped. She chased after him all the way, thinking she could not catch up. But then a mysterious person appeared and led them to catch up with the person who took over. In the end, they still failed to catch up.

Xie Wanru could only seal off the flow of energy to investigate, and in the end she almost failed to save her third brother, but fortunately her eldest brother arrived in time.

She rescued the person, and the Northern Barbarians withdrew their troops.

The beginning and end of all this were somewhat inexplicable. She knew that Xiao Yan was definitely involved, but she also felt that Xiao Yan shouldn't have been able to do all this. Moreover, the mysterious person was obviously on Xiao Yan's side at first, so why did he later become Xiao Yan's enemy?

Shen Cong'an understood her question immediately upon hearing it.

"It's actually quite simple. Lou Li wanted to arrange for someone from the Lou family to go to the Northern Border to replace your father, but Xiao Yan wanted to take the opportunity to show off. Their performance in the court was quite obvious. Lou Li probably wanted Xiao Yan to know how capable he was, so he sent someone to find you."

After Shen Cong'an finished speaking, Xiao Long nodded, indicating that he thought so too.

Because Xiao Yan did mention wanting to go to the Northern Border that day, and Lou Li's expression was indeed unpleasant.

"So later Lou Li's people became enemies with Xiao Yan?" Xie Wanru frowned, her eyes full of confusion.

Before returning, she couldn't understand who else, besides Xiao Yan, was targeting the Xie family. Unexpectedly, her question was answered as soon as she returned.

Shen Cong'an took a sip of tea and slowly began to speak: "Lou Li may have initially only wanted to teach Xiao Yan a lesson, to let him know that the Lou family was not to be underestimated. But Xiao Yan is inherently arrogant and conceited..."

Speaking of Xiao Yan's character, Shen Cong'an subconsciously looked at Xie Wanru. He knew that Xie Wanru and Xiao Yan had once reached the point of discussing marriage, and it always felt strange for Xie Wanru to speak ill of Xiao Yan in front of him.

But at this moment, Xie Wanru was only interested in knowing the whole story and had no intention of thinking about it in that direction.

Seeing that she wasn't angry, Shen Cong'an felt relieved and continued his analysis, "He probably realized that this was Lou Li testing him, so he secretly laid a plan, wanting to turn the tables on her, to demonstrate his abilities on one hand, and to weaken the Lou family's power on the other. But Lou Li had already arranged for someone to leak the secret, just to make the plan fail and let Xiao Yan know how important Lou Li was. Perhaps the initial plan wasn't for you to actually save Xie Yanting, because it seems a bit illogical here. Once you save Xie Yanting, the plan can't continue. The Xie family army isn't something the Northern Barbarians can easily provoke. The Northern Barbarians aren't stupid; they won't act unless they can coordinate from the inside and outside."

After Shen Cong'an finished his analysis, neither Xiao Long nor Xie Wanru questioned him.

It sounds like just a few words of analysis, but Shen Cong'an actually put a lot of effort into the investigation, otherwise he wouldn't have said it like that.

"So all of this is just a trick in their power struggles, and our Xie family is nothing more than a sacrifice that can be manipulated at any time."

Xie Wanru sighed, a deep disgust for power struggles welling up in her heart.

“Yes, under the power of authority, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, but Wanwan, you can believe me, I will never look at the Xie family that way!” Xiao Long replied, his tone tinged with helplessness and emotion.

Xiao Long may not have the cold indifference that an emperor should have, but he was certainly not the kind of person who would do such a thing for power.

Xie Wanru smiled at him; she naturally knew what kind of person Xiao Long was.

In his previous life, he had been framed by Xiao Yan, and the emperor was furious and demoted him to a commoner. He died in despair. But he was still the emperor's son. At that time, the emperor was just angry. If he had just behaved himself for a while, the empress would have found a way to help him.

But he lost his energy and spirit as a result, and couldn't hold on, passing away prematurely.

"Your Highness, I believe you."

Xie Wanru nodded.

Perhaps Xiao Long was not suited to be an emperor; he was too soft-hearted and easily swayed by emotions. However, Xie Wanru felt that such a person was at least benevolent and would not harm loyal and virtuous people.

"So next, we'll not only be facing Xiao Yan, but also Lou Li. Good luck."

Shen Cong'an summarized.