After her mind was read, the spoiled brat became the darling of the whole group.

Xie Xing was startled.

This happened to be a pavilion not far from Xie Mingzhu. In the darkness, two figures could be vaguely seen standing in the pavilion, one slender and the other tall.

She gripped the rope that was dragging Luo Hanfeng, her eyes widening slightly.

isn't it?

This is the pavilion in the General's Mansion! You two are standing here so openly and intimately discussing such confidential matters. Aren't you afraid of being discovered?

"He has the protagonist's halo, so he shouldn't be discovered, right?" The system also seemed quite shocked.

Fearing that the two people in front of him would discover that someone was eavesdropping behind their backs, Xie Xing looked around and finally found a place where the grass was relatively lush. Using the flower bushes in front of him, he dragged Luo Hanfeng towards that place, then squatted down and peered into the direction.

Inside the pavilion.

Xie Mingzhu lowered her eyes, a bitter smile on her face: "Even if I don't accept it, can you let me go?"

Standing in front of Xie Mingzhu was a tall man dressed as a guard of the Xie family, his face hidden in the shadows so that he could not be seen clearly.

“Princess, this is your mission.”

"What are you planning to do?" Xie Mingzhu looked up at the man.

The man said coldly, "The princess doesn't need to know."

"The princess only needs to marry the crown prince and become his consort."

Xie Mingzhu bit her lip and said, "I grew up with the Crown Prince. If you want me to harm the Crown Prince, I will not agree."

"Princess, rest assured."

The sound of conversation drifted over from the pavilion.

As Xie Xing listened, she sensed something was amiss: "They're not telling Xie Mingzhu anything, so aren't they keeping an eye on her?"

"After all, Xie Mingzhu grew up in the General's Mansion, and they were afraid that she would betray them," the system said leisurely.

Just then, some noise seemed to come from over there. The man disguised as a guard of the Xie family was very vigilant and ran away as soon as he heard the noise.

"Miss, Madam is looking for you." It was a maid's voice.

"Understood," Xie Mingzhu's voice came through.

After Xie Xing and the others left, he quietly peeked out.

There was no one left at the pavilion.

Xie Xing immediately wanted to drag Luo Hanfeng to a place where Xie Mingzhu could see him, but then she thought about it and felt that this method was not safe.

What if Xie Mingzhu wasn't discovered, but someone else from the General's Mansion did?

Wouldn't that mean all that effort was for nothing?

"If you don't deliver this person to Xie Mingzhu properly, they'll die." The system's helpless voice came through.

Xie Xing then turned his attention to Luo Hanfeng on the ground. His wounds had already been treated by Xie Xing, who applied some wound medicine to stop the bleeding and then bandaged them with gauze.

But he was badly injured, had no medicine, and had been tormented by Xie Xing during the day. He was already on the verge of death, but now he was barely alive.

"Um……"

The soft, pained groans of the boy on the ground could be heard.

His handsome brows were furrowed, and a blush rose on his originally pale face.

Xie Xing squatted down and reached out to touch Luo Hanfeng's forehead.

His forehead was burning hot; Xie Xing's icy hand felt hot when it touched it.

His already pale lips were now completely devoid of color. When Xie Xing placed his hand on them, he subconsciously rubbed his palm against Xie Xing's.

Xie Xing immediately withdrew his hand, placed both hands on his knees, and looked Luo Hanfeng up and down: "If he's like this, he'll die before Xie Mingzhu even finds out."

[The male lead can't die. If he dies, you won't be able to go back.] The system reminded Xie Xing.

Xie Xing certainly understood this principle.

She had previously been willing to save Luo Hanfeng, even though the two had no prior enmity.

Xie Xing still felt a little guilty towards Luo Hanfeng at the time, but now that the two of them were completely entangled and the mess was getting bigger and bigger, Xie Xing was unwilling to help Luo Hanfeng.

She couldn't bring herself to be polite to the person who had poisoned her.

"I'll go lure Xie Mingzhu here." Xie Xing slammed his right fist into his palm and was about to get up and walk towards Xie Mingzhu when his ankle was grabbed by a burning hot hand.

Xie Xing lowered his head; it was Luo Hanfeng, whose whole body was burning with fever.

He weakly opened his eyes, his misty eyes staring at Xie Xing: "If you dare throw me out, I'll come back and kill you."

"no sooner said than done."

The boy's voice was hoarse from weakness, and his clear voice was now tinged with a hint of softness, sounding like he was begging for mercy, but the words he spoke sounded like he was going to kill someone.

Xie Xing: "..."

【Even after all this, he still wants to threaten me!】 Xie Xing mentally pointed fingers at the system.

The system replied: "[After all, they're quite pitiful; they had a miserable childhood.]"

Xie Xing only responded to gentle persuasion, not force. Pointing at the weakened Luo Hanfeng, she said, "What does that have to do with me? I only started bullying him when he was a teenager. He bit my ear, threatened me, pulled my ear, hit my head, and fed me poison. His childhood has nothing to do with me."

system:【……】

Luo Hanfeng: "...Please."

He finally seemed to give in, gritting his teeth as he uttered those words.

The cool, delicate skin between his fingertips seemed to wash away the burning sensation in his body. Luo Hanfeng's consciousness was hazy, and with only a sliver of remaining awareness, he uttered these words.

Xie Xing didn't expect him to actually ask.

Even in such a disheveled and weak state.

After a long silence, Xie Xing squatted down again and silently lifted Luo Hanfeng up.

The heavy body instantly collapsed onto Xie Xing's thin shoulders, but fortunately she was strong enough to support Luo Hanfeng's body after staggering a couple of times.

Luo Hanfeng rested his head on Xie Xing's waist. His vision was blurred, and in his hazy state of consciousness, he could only smell the faint peach blossom fragrance on the girl's body.

System: [Are you going to take him back?]

Xie Xing's expression was serious. She carefully bypassed the general's guards, dragging Luo Hanfeng along with difficulty. Hearing the system's question, Xie Xing grabbed Luo Hanfeng's hand with one hand, raised a finger with the other, and shook it with a tense expression: "He begged me! And I'm a villainous supporting character, so—"

The system boldly guessed: "So, you're going to take him home and raise him?"

Will this make him like you more?

That hard-earned 30% increase in hatred points...

Xie Xing smiled brightly: "That's why I definitely have to send him to Xie Mingzhu! That way he'll hate me even more!"

system:【……】

It was shocked, it was stunned.

The sun comes out in the west?

The cowardly host turned out to be a black-hearted cotton ball?

It's only been gone for a few days, how could it have changed so much?

Xie Xing was incredibly patient. She waited outside Xie Mingzhu's courtyard until midnight. After Xie Mingzhu spotted Luo Hanfeng, a surprised cry rang out from the other side:

"Oh no, why is someone lying here?"

Then, in a flurry of activity, Xie Xing watched as Xie Mingzhu led the person inside.

Her face, which had dark circles under her eyes from staying up all night, immediately broke into a satisfied smile, and then she drifted back like a ghost.

On the way back to the courtyard, Xie Xing bumped into Xie Yuze.

Having not slept all night, Xie Xing was in a daze. She didn't notice Xie Yuze and walked past him like a ghost.

Xie Yuze frowned, turned around and caught up with Xie Xing: "What's with those dark circles under your eyes? Did you go burglarizing last night?"