Repeatedly broken branches

Yu Yanjing carried Xiao Mu on his back for almost a complete circle around the imperial city. She hadn't spoken for a long time, only occasionally letting out a comfortable humming sound as she slept.

Yu Yanjing started walking back, saying to Xiao Mu on his back, "I don't know if what I'm doing is right. You're already married, and I'm still coming to find you. Will it cause you trouble? But my intuition tells me that if I don't come to find you, I might regret it for the rest of my life..."

"Actually, even if Shen Ruoxuan hadn't chased me away, I would have come. If I hadn't been injured during your wedding, I would have snatched you away..."

"I don't know why, but Shen Ruoxuan has found so many women for me, and I don't like any of them, I don't want to get to know any of them. If, if we can't be together in this life, I don't want to find another woman. At worst, Shen Ruoxuan's child will inherit the throne..."

A large group of people walked in from the front. Yu Yanjing glanced at them and saw Zhou Tingxi. It was her man. Her man had come to find her.

Yu Yanjing and he met face to face.

Zhou Tingxi immediately dismounted, lifted Xiao Mu off his back, and held her horizontally in his arms.

Zhou Tingxi narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp, and he raised his voice, "Guard Han, how could my wife be with you?"

Yu Yanjing glanced at him, his eyes sharp. He nodded and replied lazily, "We met on the way. What's up?"

"Then thank you for bringing my wife back for me. If there's nothing else, I'll take my wife back first..." Zhou Tingxi was asserting his ownership.

Yu Yanjing smiled indifferently, stared at Xiao Mu, and said leisurely, "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for her sake, not for you."

Zhou Tingxi stopped, turned around, looked coldly at Yu Yanjing, and said in a deep voice, "Then I should thank you, after all, you are my wife. But if something like this happens again, please inform me first, instead of walking so ostentatiously on the street behind her back. You may not care about your reputation, but my wife does."

Yu Yanjing laughed nonchalantly and said slowly, "I would never abandon my wife alone outside. When I found her, she was sitting on the ground crying her eyes out. If it were me, I would never let such a thing happen."

A wave of pain surged through Zhou Tingxi's heart.

Yu Yanjing continued, "I won't restrict her from going out. Wanting to keep her by your side doesn't necessarily mean not allowing her to go out. She is just herself, she is not your property."

Zhou Tingxi abruptly interrupted him, "Don't try to lecture me, you don't understand!"

Yu Yanjing chuckled, "You understand? Then I'd like to see just how much she'll hate you in the future."

Yu Yanjing strode ahead, calm and composed.

Zhou Tingxi carried Xiao Mu onto the carriage.

He kept thinking back to what Yu Yanjing had said earlier. Had he really done something wrong? Xiaozhi loved freedom so much, yet he had trapped her in a gilded cage. Was it really for her own good?

But he was afraid; he was afraid she would leave him.

When Yin Fu'an learned of this, he was furious and punished Song Xinning and Liang Yuxue by confining them to their quarters for a month, reducing their allowance by half for three months, and punishing each of their maids with twenty strokes of the cane.

After all, it was really embarrassing for the concubines in the palace to go out drunk and be sent back. He had only been on the throne for a short time, and such a disgraceful thing had already happened. How could he not be angry?

Xia Yunzhi is still just as troublesome as she was when she was a child, and she loves to instigate her friends to do bad things. He watched her every day when she was a child, and now that she's grown up, he has to watch his woman be led astray by her.

Yin Fu'an grew angrier the more he thought about it, wishing he could summon Xiao Mu to the palace and give her a good scolding. However, he still considered Zhou Tingxi's feelings and his relationship with him. In fact, in Yin Fu'an's heart, Xia Yunzhi was always like a younger sister. They still had the affection from when they were children. Even though he had done such a thing, he still couldn't bear to be cruel to Xia Yunzhi.

Besides, no matter what, he was still Xia Yunzhi's brother-in-law. He felt that he had been too cold to Xia Yunxu. In fact, he was too afraid to see her. After what he had done, how could he dare to do that?

Another one is Chen Lanhe. He has to admit that he did indeed fall in love with someone else. However, he and Xia Yunxu had been married for several years. Even though the love was gone, the affection remained.

So, that night, he summoned Xia Yunxu to his bed.

Faced with Yin Fu'an, who remained cold even during their intimate moments and seemed to be just going through the motions, Xia Yunxu's heart was colder than the snow in the Arctic.

She didn't know how she got through that night. She knew that her husband was no longer just her husband, and that she had gone from being a legal wife to a concubine, something she couldn't accept for a while.

She loved Yin Fu'an, even after he killed her father, she still loved him dearly, but what could she do?

When I woke up, my head felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand needles. My mouth was dry, my whole body ached, and my stomach felt terrible.

"Little spoon, little spoon!" As soon as she opened her eyes, Xiao Mu was anxious to find the little spoon.

To everyone's surprise, Xiao Shao didn't arrive. Instead, an unfamiliar young maidservant opened the door. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. She looked at Xiao Mu with a slightly shy expression and said slowly, "Madam, Sister Xiao Shao has been confined by the General. He said... she didn't take good care of you and is punishing her by confining her for seven days without food or water!"

Xiao Mu was furious. What right did this beast have to punish her? What right did he have to touch Xiao Shao?

This isn't a military camp; a girl would have starved to death long ago if she didn't eat or drink for seven days!

This cold-blooded animal is worse than a beast!

Xiao Mu put on a pink cardigan and strode aggressively toward Zhou Tingxi's courtyard.

"Zhou Tingxi, you better come out here and die!"

Zhou Tingxi slowly opened the door, walked out, leaned against the doorframe, and calmly looked at Xiao Mu, saying, "You're awake? What? Are you still drunk?"

Xiao Mu ignored him and went straight to the point, "What right do you have to punish Xiao Shao? Xiao Shao is my person. She didn't do anything wrong. What right do you have to punish her by confinement? This is not your military camp. If a girl doesn't eat or drink for seven days, she will die. Don't you have a heart?"

"She didn't keep a close eye on you. I only punished her with seven days of confinement because of you. If it were anyone else, she would have been killed."

Xiao Mu glared at Zhou Tingxi and said in an unhappy tone, "I don't care whose face you're giving me, put the spoon down, do you hear me?"

Zhou Tingxi said with a smile, "Unless you beg me... I can't put down the little spoon!"

Xiao Mu walked up to him, raised her chin, and looked at him with a blank expression. Zhou Tingxi suddenly felt uneasy. He was afraid of this kind of look. She wouldn't even give him disdain. She looked at him as if he were a stagnant pool of water, devoid of any emotion.

"You want me to beg you? Impossible. If you won't let her go, then lock her up too. It was my own fault for drinking, and I got drunk on my own. Why are you locking her up?"

Zhou Tingxi looked at her, feeling agitated, and said, "It's not because you're drunk, but because..." It's because you were carried back by another man, so conspicuously on the street, how am I supposed to feel?

"What is it? Just tell me!" Xiao Mu's tone was impatient.

"There's nothing wrong with that. In short, if a servant makes a mistake, he or she must be punished. That's my rule, and no one can break it."

Xiao Mu scoffed, "I really don't want to say a word to an animal like you. Why do you have to pick on me? Can't you go find someone else?"

"Put the small spoon away."

Zhou Tingxi closed the door, letting Xiao Mu curse at the entrance. No matter how nasty the curses were, he ignored them. "Go ahead and curse," he thought. "If cursing me makes you feel any better, then go ahead and curse."

But why, seeing you like this, do I miss the you who used to have me in your eyes?

Xiao Mu pounded on Zhou Tingxi's study door frantically and kicked it, but no matter how hard she tried, Zhou Tingxi didn't respond. She was exhausted from yelling at him, and her voice became hoarse.

"Fine, Zhou Tingxi, you're ruthless!"

After saying that, Xiao Mu stormed out of his yard.

They came in a rage and left in a rage!

Back at the mansion, Xiao Mu could not contain her anger and smashed the furnishings in the room, shattering everything from vases and wine bottles to ornaments.

"Madam! I'm back!" Xiao Shao rushed over, hugged Xiao Mu tightly, and started sobbing. She wiped away her tears and said, "It's all Xiao Shao's fault, I should have gone to find you!"

Xiao Mu hadn't even realized what was happening. Zhou Tingxi had been refusing to let her go just now, but now that she was back, he had put Xiao Shao back. Was he crazy?

Is it really meaningful to deliberately make fun of yourself?

"How did Zhou Tingxi agree to let you come back?"

Xiao Shao said, "After you made such a scene, the general released me. Actually, the general... cares about you quite a bit. Otherwise, he's such a man of his word, why would he release me?"

"Who cares? He has no right to control me anyway. You're mine, why should he care about you? A man like him doesn't deserve a wife. I will never forgive him. I will never forget what he did." Xiao Mu secretly vowed that no matter what happens in the future, no matter what Zhou Tingxi does, she will never accept him. She will only hate him more and more.

Xiao Shao sighed, "You two actually have feelings for each other, but why did things turn out this way?" Her eyes were filled with confusion.

"Who cares about him? He killed my father and Xiao Wan. Would you forgive him?" Xiao Mu's lips moved as she turned her gaze to Xiao Shao, wanting to hear what she would say.

Xiao Shao frowned slightly. "Of course not. Xiao Wan is my best friend. But I heard... the general didn't make a move."

Xiao Mu snorted coldly, "You believe that? How could he not have done it? He's such a ruthless person, he would have killed more than Yin Fu'an. There's no way he could say he didn't do it!" Zhou Tingxi had said before that he didn't do it, but who would believe that? You went there, were there, and then said you didn't do it. Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that.

Zhou Tingxi lies so sincerely; he really has no heart.

“That’s true. After all, the current emperor is a former regent, while we… oh no, General, he’s a military general. No one would believe him if he said he didn’t take action.” Xiao Shao repeatedly addressed Zhou Tingxi as “we” and “General.” Was she slowly beginning to accept Zhou Tingxi?

Xiao Shao's thinking was also stubborn. She thought that since she had already married him, no matter what had happened before, she could only accept it and continue to treat each other with respect and have children. But Xiao Mu's thinking really wouldn't allow her to do that.

"Just now, the general asked me if I had seen Han Xingbai, the guard. Madam, didn't Han Xingbai resign from his post?" Xiao Shao suddenly remembered something and looked at her blankly.

"I don't know, why would he ask that?" Did he realize that he was Yu Yanjing? Logically speaking, he shouldn't have, he hasn't appeared for so long, he's probably staying in Chaoyang Kingdom now.

However, her nightmares when she was drunk were so vivid. She dreamed of Yu Yanjing, who carried her on his back and kept walking and walking, and she talked to him for a long time.

But she knew this must be a drunken fantasy. But Yu Yanjing mentioned something about the East Market... the first house or which house was it?

If you're really curious, why not go and take a look in a few days?