Gao Minyue's body stiffened, the hand clutching the white silk tightened abruptly, her face turning extremely unsightly.

The maid standing beside her also froze, unsure whether to pull or not.

Finally, she looked at Gao Minyue, then at Xie Jin Yan, and retreated with a bow.

The maid's retreat placed Gao Minyue, already in an awkward situation, in an even more embarrassing one.

She stood there, stunned, looking at Xie Jin Yan in disbelief.

At this moment, that handsome face was extremely indifferent, his eyes cold and sharp, as he said coldly, "Weren't you going to die? Continue."

The merciless voice entered her ears, and the expression on Gao Minyue's face became even more unsightly.

Her eyes reddened, staring at Xie Jin Yan for a moment, unwilling to believe it, and choking with sobs, she said, "Shixiong, can you really not tolerate me?"

As she spoke, a layer of mist appeared in her eyes.

Although Gao Minyue's words and actions were crude, she happened to have a pure and lovely face. Whenever she shed tears, she looked pitiful, giving people a false impression of fragility.

Xie Jin Yan felt that he had been deceived by this illusion in the past, always feeling sorry for Gao Minyue because she was an orphan and the only blood of Uncle Gao.

Even though she had excellent martial arts and a bellyful of bad ideas, every time she cried, he always thought she was still young and that everything she did was due to ignorance.

It was because of this indulgence that A Yue had gradually become the brainless, vicious, tyrannical, and self-righteous person she was today.

Perhaps, from the beginning, he shouldn't have indulged her.

Now, facing Gao Minyue's old trick again, Xie Jin Yan suddenly felt a little annoyed.

He coldly glanced at the tears in the corners of her eyes, his tone more distant than ever, and asked her in return, "A Yue, is it that I can't tolerate you, or are you courting death yourself? Are you not clear about that?"

Courting death?

She was doing it for his own good!

Yu Qingwu, such a vicious woman who bore the burden of human lives, would affect his career if she really became his Crown Princess.

Gao Minyue bit her lip, rebutting through tears, "Shixiong, I'm doing it all for your own good. How can you be so heartless? It's fine if you're heartless to me, but do you know whether it's worth sacrificing your career for such a demonic woman? Now that the child in her womb is gone, why do you still keep her?"

Gao Minyue had a righteous look on her face, her expression resembling a loyal minister in the imperial court offering a death pledge.

However, looking at her face, Xie Jin Yan found it both ridiculous and disappointing.

He closed his eyes, suppressing his emotions, and suddenly sneered at her, saying coldly, "So, A Yue, are you now admitting that what happened to A Wu was your doing? Are you admitting that you intended to harm my child?"

"When the incident happened yesterday, didn't you claim that A Wu and Chun Tao framed you together?"

His tone was calm, but the words he spoke were aggressive.

Being questioned by Xie Jin Yan in this way, Gao Minyue seemed to realize something. Her whole body shook, her face turning white inch by inch, her expression extremely flustered.

But soon, her expression returned to her previous righteousness. She nodded and said with a bitter smile, "Yes, it was me. I was the one who caused Yu Qingwu's accident! A woman like her is not worthy of being your Crown Princess! Even less worthy of being the future Empress of Great Wei."

"A Yue, do I have to say the harsh words a second time?" Xie Jin Yan interrupted her coldly and gave the maid a look.

After the maid left, he turned his gaze back to Gao Minyue and said calmly, "A Yue, I know what you're thinking, but in my eyes, you're just a younger sister. I seem to have said this to you when you were very young, right? I don't know when you developed those inappropriate thoughts. I'll say it again today: you will not be my Crown Princess. Even if there was no A Wu, it wouldn't be you…"

Xie Jin Yan's tone became gentler, but every word was like a knife, cutting open and crushing Gao Minyue's unrealistic fantasies bit by bit…

Gao Minyue bit her lip tightly, her eyes even redder, looking at Xie Jin Yan unwillingly for a long time, choking with sobs, "I… I don't believe it. Shixiong, you must like me. You did say you only treated me as a younger sister when we were young, but you clearly hugged me that day…"

"A Yue, I hugged you that day because it was Uncle Gao's memorial day and I saw you were sad."

"There was no other meaning. Don't misunderstand." Xie Jin Yan said in a deep voice. Seeing that Gao Minyue seemed to want to argue, he added, "According to the law, you should be executed for plotting to harm the imperial heir. But Uncle Gao was kind to me, and I can't bear to let him rest uneasily in the afterlife."

In other words, he had wanted to kill her, but he spared her life for the sake of her father.

Gao Minyue's lips trembled slightly. As if thinking of something, she stared blankly at Xie Jin Yan, suddenly laughing with a sob, "Shixiong, what do you mean by that? Do you mean that your forgiveness towards me comes from my father, not… not because you care about me?"

Hearing this, Xie Jin Yan didn't answer, but his expression already confirmed it.

After a pause, he added, "A Yue, I respect Uncle Gao very much, and I'm also very grateful to him. That's why I've always indulged you. Now that I think about it, this may not be what Uncle Gao wanted to see."

"So, you should leave and never return to the capital again. From now on, just pretend that we've never met."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door.

Gao Minyue stood there, stunned, her eyes bloodshot, tears welling up in her eyes.

How could she not understand what Xie Jin Yan meant? He was telling her that whether in the past or now, he had no feelings for her. His care and indulgence towards her all came from his gratitude towards her father.

Impossible, this was absolutely impossible!

Shixiong must like her! If he didn't like her, why would he have protected her in every possible way in the past? Especially when she was framed by that bitch Yu Qingwu and had intimate contact with Jiang Ming that day, Shixiong almost wanted to kill Yu Qingwu, and even almost stabbed Jiang Ming to death. He was clearly jealous…

Perhaps unable to bear the stimulation for a moment, Gao Minyue subconsciously deceived herself.

But soon, her eyes dimmed again. She suddenly called out to Xie Jin Yan, asking him with the last bit of hope, "Shixiong, since you said you never liked me, why were you so furious after I had intimate contact with Jiang Ming that day? Weren't you jealous?"

Hearing this, the man who had walked to the door paused slightly.

He slowly turned his head, looking at her expressionlessly, and calmly emphasized again, "I said it before, everything is for Uncle Gao's sake."

The blunt and naked answer shattered the last line of defense in Gao Minyue's heart.

She staggered, almost falling off the stool. After staring at Xie Jin Yan for a moment, she asked the question she had always wanted to ask.

"Shixiong, I'll ask you one last thing. When Yu Qingwu and I were poisoned together that day, why did you choose to save her?"