"Otherwise? Who did Shijie think it was?"

"Or perhaps... who did Shijie *hope* it was?"

Xie Jin Yan's eyes were smiling, his voice clear, moist, and gentle.

But Yu Qingwu read a trace of killing intent from the depths of his eyes...

She had a feeling that if she dared to give another answer, Xie Jin Yan would take her life immediately.

Gazing at those smiling phoenix eyes, Yu Qingwu felt a chill rise up her back.

She pursed her lips tightly, not answering.

After a long while, she finally looked up at Xie Jin Yan again, puzzled and even more embarrassed, "Xie Jin Yan, I don't understand, why would you..."

"Why would I want you?" Xie Jin Yan raised his eyebrows, saying the words that Yu Qingwu could not bring herself to utter.

Seeing the shifting look in her eyes, he chuckled lightly, leaned down to stare at her, and said innocently, "Shijie, you were clearly begging me that night, how can you turn around and question me now?"

Yu Qingwu was slightly shocked, the pale face she had a moment ago immediately turned as red as if it were about to drip blood.

That night, she had indeed taken the initiative to entangle him at the beginning, but later, that person had been forcing her all along.

Afterwards, Yu Qingwu had suspected Xie Jin Yan, but thinking about how he usually disliked her, she didn't think it was likely...

Besides, if it was him, shouldn't he have called everyone to watch her make a fool of herself at the first opportunity?

She held her forehead, her heart in utter chaos, and after thinking for a while, she asked Xie Jin Yan again, unable to believe it, "Xie Jin Yan, that night... was it really you?"

"If it wasn't Gu, who else could it be?"

As soon as Yu Qingwu finished speaking, Xie Jin Yan's handsome face suddenly darkened, and he looked at her coldly, word by word, "If it was some other wild man, do you think you would still be alive now?"

Wild man? Isn't he a wild man himself?

Yu Qingwu didn't understand what Xie Jin Yan meant, and she was also a little frightened by his gaze. At the same time, she vaguely felt that this man's repeated coercion and possession of her was probably not just to avenge A Yue, perhaps...

A cold look flashed in her eyes, and Yu Qingwu changed the subject, "Xie Jin Yan, I'm hungry, let's go to the front hall."

She stood up and strategically, gently hooked the man's fingers.

Sure enough, at the moment of contact, Xie Jin Yan's body trembled, and under his gloomy face, his eyes flickered slightly, appearing somewhat astonished. He paused, and then... grasped her hand.

He cleared his throat lightly, and took the moon-white veil from the table and handed it to her, pretending to order, "If you're afraid of being ugly, wear it. Don't smear your face with random things in the future."

"Okay." Yu Qingwu nodded, no longer arguing with him like before, but instead, docile as a rabbit.

Xie Jin Yan was bewildered and frightened by Yu Qingwu's sudden tenderness. In his expectation, Yu Qingwu should be biting him madly at this moment, hitting him, scolding him as a beast, but her reaction was... flattering him?

Xie Jin Yan highly suspected that Yu Qingwu was brewing to slap him again.

On the way to the front hall, Xie Jin Yan would occasionally steal glances at Yu Qingwu, afraid that she would catch him off guard and give him a slap.

As for Yu Qingwu, she lowered her head, following behind Xie Jin Yan in a petite and dependent posture, without any of the previous dodging and fear.

The atmosphere suddenly became subtle and ambiguous...

In a daze, they had already arrived at the front hall.

Most of those who came to offer birthday wishes today were dignitaries with influence in the capital, but Xie Jin Yan was the only member of the royal family.

As soon as he entered the door, he naturally became the focus, and Yu Qingwu also benefited from Xie Jin Yan.

After a group of people knelt down and shouted "Long live," they were all secretly looking at her.

Shen Ge also looked at her, his face was green, he gritted his teeth and glared at Yu Qingwu, both surprised and angry, wanting to step forward and pull her away, but afraid that people would know that his fiancée was brazenly messing around with the crown prince.

Yu Qingwu leaned on her cheek and rested on the table, extremely satisfied admiring the expression on Shen Ge's face.

"Shijie, do you see who that is?" Just as she was thinking about how to disgust the Shen family later, Xie Jin Yan suddenly leaned over. His face was full of excitement, he turned her head, and looked at a dignified and composed young noblewoman next to the Old Madam Shen, and chuckled, "Shijie, look at that woman, doesn't she look like the prostitute who was having an affair with Shen Ge on the street that day?"