Reborn as a concubine's daughter and entering a noble family: Xie Lang, don't be too seduc

Upon entering the study, Hawthorne subconsciously looked around.

Xie Shu was the only one sitting at the desk. Hearing her enter, he put down his pen and looked up.

There was no one else besides them.

There was no sign of Liao Bin either...

"Have a seat first," Xie Shu said. It was impossible to tell whether he was angry or not; he was always so cold and indifferent, which made him even more enigmatic.

Hawthorne walked to the side, hesitated for a moment, and then sat down.

She thought Xie Shu would immediately ask her about Lu Ming, but after waiting for a long time, she found that Xie Shu was only focused on organizing the files in her hands and had completely forgotten what she was waiting for.

Hawthorne sighed softly, wondering how long it would take.

Perhaps Xie Shu heard this sigh, because while busy with his work, he said, "...The files that were just delivered are waiting for them. Please sit for a while, and I will explain to you in detail after I finish dealing with these matters."

“...Okay.” With things having come to this point, Hawthorne had no choice but to agree.

"You can go over there and pick out a book to pass the time," Xie Shu suggested, worried that she might get bored while waiting.

"Um... ..."

Hawthorne got up and walked toward the books on the shelf.

My heart was pounding, I was so nervous... I had no time to read at all...

However, to avoid arousing Xie Shu's suspicion, he could only pretend to flip through it.

She secretly wondered if Xie Shu was deliberately keeping her waiting, trying to make her nervous and cause her to reveal a weakness.

No... If that's the case, she can't be careless at all.

She was still wondering if Xie Shu was the one who heard her words on the second day of their marriage, and she couldn't let Xie Shu find out any more.

Slowly turning around, with her back to Xie Shu, she considered whether to inform Xie Lin and ask him to find a way to save her... However, she quickly dismissed the idea. If Xie Lin came now, she would no longer be able to hide her feigned illness from Xie Shu.

Who knows if Xie Lin has any other plans?

Xie Shu was busy with her work and, not hearing any movement from Huo Sanghua for a while, casually looked up at Sanghua's figure. She only saw her holding a book, leaning against the shelf, seemingly engrossed in reading or lost in thought...

But only for a moment, Xie Shu also had a brief illusion, in a daze...

He shook his head, pulled himself out of his thoughts, and continued with the task at hand.

But I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up in a smile...

Sensing a gaze directed at him from behind, Hawthorne became more alert and turned around.

But all they saw was Xie Shu continuing to work at her desk, looking very focused.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief...

Until the footsteps outside the study gradually approached.

Hawthorne noticed that Xie Shu seemed to be unhappy, suppressing his anger, so he looked out of the study.

The maidservant brought over the tea without making any special gesture.

She had no choice but to hurry forward, stopping the maid at the doorway. She took the tea that was meant for Xie Shu from the maid's hand, nodded, and gestured for the maid to leave. After the maid left, Huo Sanghua, carrying the tea, quietly walked to Xie Shu's side...

I carefully placed the tea aside and planned to step back and continue waiting.

But after taking a couple of steps and looking back, Xie Shu was so engrossed in her work that she seemed completely oblivious to the tea she had placed beside her...

Out of concern, she could only step forward again and place the tea closer to Xie Shu...

Otherwise, if the tea gets cold before it's discovered, the maid who just served the tea might be in trouble.

There are always such traps in the palace, and she didn't want that young girl to be implicated like that.

The tea was pushed to Xie Shu's side, just as Xie Shu came to her senses and looked at her in surprise... ...she was wondering why it was her who brought the tea.

"...Young Master, have some tea and rest for a while." Huo Sanghua couldn't directly say that he had been waiting for too long, so he could only subtly remind Xie Shu in this way that it would be better to rest for a while and do what he was doing later.

After all, with such a huge stack of files, who knows how long it will take to finish?

“...Okay.” Although surprised, Xie Shu still agreed, put down what she was holding, and reached out to take the tea.

Huo Sanghua, who originally intended to put the tea aside, hesitated for a moment and could only pick up the teacup and hand it to Xie Shu.

Xie Shu naturally took the teacup and took two sips. She spoke casually and normally, "...When I get busy, I lose track of time. Things are complicated and I'm overwhelmed. I'm really thirsty right now."

The tone was calm, as if...

Huo Sanghua felt somewhat uneasy. She was not used to the feeling that Xie Shu seemed to have suddenly become close to her. She always remembered the night of her wedding in her previous life when she saw Xie Shu die tragically in a pool of blood, and then she was also silenced.

Every time Xie Shu gets close, she can't help but think of that scene.

After a moment of silence, the atmosphere seemed to change. Hawthorne realized something and quickly tried to change the subject, glancing at the files Xie Shu had been working on... "What's this? So many... Has something happened?"

A flicker of sadness crossed Xie Shu's eyes. He seemed to sense Huo Sanghua's thoughts, but instead of exposing her deliberate avoidance, he went along with her explanation—

"The other day, Lord Li of the Ministry of Justice died at home. His Majesty ordered the Marquis of Anding's residence to investigate the truth. I had all the case files he had investigated before his death brought over, hoping to find some clues. Perhaps... ..."

“His death… could it be related to the cases he handled?” Hawthorne understood immediately.

Only then did I understand Xie Shu's purpose in reviewing so many files...

So someone actually died.

“Yes,” Xie Shu said, easing his fatigue and sitting down. He picked up his teacup and said to her, “I didn’t expect that Lord Li had investigated so many cases before his death. Now, it won’t be easy to find the real culprit from these cases… This Lord Li was from the previous dynasty and worked in the Ministry of Justice for more than 30 years. If we can’t find the real culprit soon and give the deceased the truth, His Majesty will not be able to explain it to the former officials of the previous dynasty.”

The political situation in the court has changed, and most of the officials are former officials from the previous dynasty.

Lord Li was a representative figure among these former officials of the previous dynasty. His death inevitably led to speculation among the old officials that His Majesty wanted to secretly eliminate them.

If this continues, the situation will become extremely precarious.

His Majesty had no choice but to hand the case over to the Marquis of Anding, who was also a high-ranking official of the previous dynasty.

"People from the previous dynasty?" Huo Sanghua felt a sudden tension, inexplicably wondering if they were involved in this matter. "Is this case... very difficult? Aren't there any suspects right now?"

If it was a massacre targeting former officials of the previous dynasty, who would have committed it?