No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

Pei Zhan rushed to the Wutong Mansion, where Kagel was standing guard beside Xia He. To say he was guarding her was an understatement; it was more like he was monitoring her.

"You dare to restrict me?" Xia He was furious. The maid, Aunt Zhong, tried to calm her down. "Madam, you've finally recovered and woken up. You shouldn't be angry. We can talk about it when the young master arrives. It's just a small matter. There's no need to be angry."

Kagel bowed respectfully to Xia He. "Madam, this is the young master's will. I obey my master's orders. Besides ensuring your safety, I will assist the young master in all matters. I dare not disobey his orders."

"You're all laughing at me, aren't you? Very well. Putting everything else aside, why did you hide the fact that Pei Zhan married Jiang Hua? Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

"Zhan'er, what are you thinking! He could have any woman he wanted, so why did he fall for Jiang Hua, who is so ill-mannered and has no gentle and virtuous qualities whatsoever? She's fiery, willful, and capricious. If only she had even a fraction of Qing Ran's qualities."

"I'm not that angry!"

"Now I can't accept this fact!"

Xia He shook her head in utter disappointment when she heard Jiang Hua's voice.

Kagel replied, "Madam, all of this is the young master's own choice. The master told you not to interfere with what the young master is doing in the capital. He will tell you the whole truth after he returns to France."

"Why her of all people?" Xia He sat helplessly on the sofa, her hand supporting her forehead, feeling a wave of helplessness wash over her.

Kagel: "Whoever the young master chooses is entirely up to him, Madam... you should accept this fact."

Xia He suddenly thought of something and looked up. "No, there is still hope... Zhan's current identity is only temporary. As long as he comes back with me, his identity in the capital will be meaningless. Then... he can start over, and Zhan will still have a choice."

"I will never allow Jiang Hua to enter the Huo family's gate."

"Whether you can come in or not is not up to you." A cold, familiar voice rang out from outside the door. Xia He looked back in surprise, and upon seeing the person who had entered, she excitedly stepped forward, but her eyes betrayed other emotions. "You...you're here?!"

"Aunt Zhong, go and pour tea for the young master."

"Yes, ma'am."

“No need.” Pei Zhan looked at Xia He with a blank expression and a cold indifference in his eyes. “I told you not to act on your own and not to touch the Jiang family.”

Faced with his cold questioning, Xia He felt disappointed. "My son and I have been separated for many years. Now you've come to find me, only to question me because of a woman who has nothing to do with the Huo family?"

"Do you still remember that I am your mother? I have been depressed and bedridden for many years because of you. I only hope to be reunited with you."

"Marriage should be decided by parents. The Jiang family is simply not good enough for the Huo family. Even if you find a woman who is not a good match for the Huo family, you should not choose this woman. Do you want to turn the Huo family upside down after you return?"

Pei Zhan said sternly, "I will only have Huahua as my wife."

"She will always be the mistress of the Huo family!"

"Mother, you'd better remember this." This "Mother" is a thought of her, because of their blood ties and because he had been ill for many years and worried himself sick.

"Kagher, take good care of the lady."

"Yes, young master."

Seeing that he had finally come all this way, and before they could even have a proper chat, their first meeting was filled with hostility, Xia He clutched her chest, heartbroken and feeling breathless. "Ah Zhan, that's not what I meant."

"I promise you, as long as Jiang Hua can change and control her temper, I will accept her as long as you like her!"

"Qingran is also a good girl, and I really like her."

"But I won't force you to make a choice anymore. I just hope you can accept Qingran as your younger sister, okay?"

...

The Imperial Opera House.

There weren't many people at today's performance. Jiang Hua was still sitting in her usual spot. Before the performance even started, the opera house director came over and asked, "Miss Jiang, aren't you with Mr. Shen today?"

Jiang Hua rested her forehead on her hand, looking at him lazily. "He's busy," she said, offering no further explanation to outsiders.

I was just lazing around at home anyway, and since I had a show scheduled, I decided to come.

"Mr. Shen?"

The person in front of her suddenly called out, and Jiang Hua immediately sat up straight. She looked to the side and saw a man in a charcoal gray suit with a gentle demeanor walking towards her. He sat down next to her, and their eyes met briefly. One was surprised, and the other was calm and composed.

The troupe leader was a perceptive person; he immediately left and went backstage, giving the two of them some space.

Thinking about yesterday's events, including... his current relationship with the Mu family, Jiang Hua glanced back. Fortunately, there weren't many people around today, so even if someone saw her, they wouldn't say anything. Seeing him here today still made Jiang Hua feel a little uneasy. "You...aren't you busy today?"

"Afraid?" Shen Yebai said bluntly.

Knowing what he meant, Jiang Hua chuckled and said, "I'm not afraid of rumors, but I'm afraid they'll affect you. Anyway, my reputation in Beijing's social circles isn't good to begin with, so it doesn't really matter. But you have a special status, and there are rumors about you getting married. I'm afraid that will affect you."

"I thought you were deliberately avoiding me."

"What? Why would I avoid you? You're overthinking it." Although she said that, Shen Yebai still saw through her.

Jiang Hua's gaze was fixed to the side; she didn't look at him.

"Is it because of my affair with the Mu family?"

Jiang Hua was surprised by Shen Yebai's bluntness, and the light in her eyes slowly dimmed. "No."

“The Shen family has made many enemies, and many people are also eyeing the Mu family. Unless the Shen family is in dire straits and needs to form a marriage alliance to consolidate its power, there is no need for the Shen family to form a marriage alliance with other powerful families unless absolutely necessary.” Jiang Hua was somewhat confused by Shen Yebai’s explanation. Why was he explaining the Shen family’s affairs to her?

Jiang Hua only wanted to be someone who quietly clung to the Shen family's coattails. Shen Yebai was the one who set the rules and held a high position of power. No matter how good the relationship between the two families was, Jiang Hua didn't dare to interfere in the Shen family's affairs.

However, this sentence unexpectedly reminded Jiang Hua of something: in her previous life, after Shen Yebai returned to the capital to take office, he married Mu Shiyue in less than two years.

Could it be... that something happened to the Shen family during that time, which is why Shen Yebai had no choice but to marry Mu Shiyue?

Jiang Hua had no idea what had happened.

Seeing her confusion, Shen Yebai continued to explain, "The people behind the Mu family were originally the Wang family. After the Wang family was defeated, the Mu family simply came to the Shen family for protection and had no other intentions."

Suddenly, Jiang Hua thought of something and burst out laughing. If it were the other way around, would it be that the Shen family had been ruined in her previous life?

That's why Shen Yebai had no choice but to marry Mu Shiyue.

But... in my past life, who would have targeted the Shen family and caused them to lose power?

Who is secretly helping the Wang family?

Is it Sophora japonica?

No, that's impossible. Jiang Huai hates the conflict between the two factions the most, and he never participates in the fighting.

It's him, Pei Zhan!

The Jiang Group also had shares that the Wang family had seized from the mother. Given Pei Zhan's painstaking efforts to gain control of his father's shares and undermine his position in the Jiang family, the Wang family was undoubtedly Pei Zhan's best partner.

If the Wang family is the one in power on the surface, then Pei Zhan is the one wielding a knife in the shadows. If you really think that way, it's not impossible.

Pei Zhan had no choice but to cooperate with the Wang family. This collusion between officials and businessmen had always been the norm in the capital, and their deal was to help the Wang family bring down the Shen family.

So... in his past life, it was the Jiang family that dragged him down.

Jiang Hua felt waves of pain in her heart, and a hint of sadness involuntarily crept into her eyes…

After her father's death, the Wang family inexplicably withdrew from the Jiang Group, which was inextricably linked to Pei Zhan.

Because of the changes in this life, the Shen family has become deeply rooted in the capital, and Shen Yebai no longer needs to settle for a marriage alliance with Mu Shiyue.

"what happened?"

Her eyes reddened...

He frowned slightly.

"It's nothing, I just got some sand in my eye."

Just then, the curtain slowly rose, and the performance began.

Jiang Hua was completely distracted, thinking about those things. She couldn't bring herself to tell him all of this. Even if she did, who would believe her? Besides, she didn't have the face to tell her that it was because of her that the Shen family in her previous life was constantly being controlled by others, and even Bao'er was affected.

Thinking of how, after she was terminally ill, in the hospital, seeing the dark bruises hidden under Bao'er's clothes that looked like she had been beaten, Jiang Hua's heart felt like it was being violently clenched. Waves of pain spread from her heart to her entire body, and she felt suffocated and almost couldn't breathe.

If everything in the Shen family was implicated because of her, Jiang Hua would never be able to forgive herself.

Seeing the pain in Jiang Hua's eyes, Shen Yebai panicked immediately, "Huahua?!"

He stepped forward and half-squatted in front of her. Jiang Hua suddenly felt breathless, something she hadn't experienced in a long time. She clutched her chest, "The medicine..."

Shen Yebai immediately understood, quickly found her medicine in his bag, and fed it to her.

The actors on stage, not understanding what was happening, couldn't stop the performance once it started, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

After swallowing, Jiang Hua took a while to calm her heart. Seeing the worry in his eyes made her feel a little uncomfortable. She seemed to understand what Shen Yebai meant by such a look, and... she seemed to understand why he was always so good to her.

At first, I had thought about it, but it was only because the Shen family and the Jiang family were not a good match. The only connection they had was between my mother and Yue Lianyi. Not to mention that at that time, she and Bao'er were at odds, and Shen Yebai was a difficult person to approach. At that time, their two families had not had any contact for many years, let alone any connection.

There's absolutely no possibility between her and Shen Yebai.

The previous engagement was just a joke and didn't count at all. Besides, the Shen family had already agreed to cancel it, and she had already married Pei Zhan. It's understandable that Jiang Hua doesn't think that way; during this time, she has only ever treated Shen Yebai as an older brother.

"feel better now?"

Jiang Hua nodded, "Much better."

"Yes, it's good that you're alright." She smiled.

Pei Zhan, you damned thing!

After the performance, the two left the theater together.

The two cars were parked not far away.

Shen Yebai stopped in his tracks. Jiang Hua looked at him with a puzzled expression. The two stared at each other, and he slowly said, "You shouldn't be hiding this time, right?"

"As long as I go to the Shen family, just don't find me annoying."

"will not."

"Don't be angry with Bao'er about what happened yesterday. Anyone Bao'er dislikes isn't a good person. The Mu family contacted you because they have ulterior motives; it's definitely not just about a marriage alliance." If Mu Shiyue truly loved Shen Yebai in her past life, she should have treated Bao'er the same way. After Bao'er got married, thinking of Bao'er's forbearance and aggrieved appearance, she must have been bullied but dared not tell Shen Yebai. She must have been involved in that as well.

"Okay, I'll have Bao'er come pick you up tomorrow, and we'll go back to the Shen family's old house together."

Jiang Hua had indeed deliberately avoided him before, but now that Shen Yebai had no intention of arranging a marriage with Mu Shiyue, Jiang Hua had no reason to be a stranger.

The moment she got into the car, Jiang Hua's expression changed immediately. "Uncle Wang, let's go to the company."

"Yes, Miss."

The young lady rarely goes to the company to see Master Pei, so why was she so angry as soon as she got in the car? I wonder what happened.

It's 3 PM now, and the car will arrive at the Jiang family's gate in half an hour. However, all we see is a group of reporters blocking the entrance.

Zuo Xiangnan was dealing with the situation, saying, "The Jiang family will give a reply to other media outlets today regarding the specific reasons. If you do not leave and continue to disrupt the company and cause trouble for Jiang family employees, Jiang family will have no choice but to take other measures to make you leave."

Sitting in the car, Jiang Hua frowned as she watched what was happening not far away. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the fact that the Jiang family was being surrounded by reporters was definitely not a good thing.

"I don't know. If Miss wants to know, you might as well call Mr. Pei. He rarely deals with company matters anymore."

Jiang Hua opened her phone to check online for any news about the Jiang family, but there was nothing there. What Jiang Hua didn't know was that news related to the Jiang family had already been taken down two hours earlier.

Back at Royal Dragon Bay, the sign was still hanging at the entrance. Jiang Hua walked into the foyer and heard her father and Pei Zhan discussing something. When Xu Ma called her, their conversation stopped.

Xu Qiulan: "Young Miss, you're back?"

Jiang Hua changed her shoes outside the door, tossing her bag aside. She originally wanted to wait until evening to find Pei Zhan and ask him about it, but when she went upstairs, she saw a suitcase in the lobby.

"Dad, are you going on a trip? Where are you going?"

Jiang Weiguo was playing chess with Pei Zhan, completely focused. "Of course it's yours. You've lived in Yulong Bay for so long. Don't forget you're married now. You can come back to stay during holidays and festivals from now on. Don't always stay here."

"Stay here? Dad, can you be reasonable? This is my home. If I don't live here, where else can I live?" Jiang Hua glared at Pei Zhan beside her. "What are you stirring up trouble for now?"