"Xie Jin Yan, enough!" Yu Qingwu struggled, fear mixed with her cold reprimand, "You were the one who violated the sect rules first. I was only following the rules of the sect. What did I do wrong? Must you bully me with such despicable means?"

"Bully? This is what you call bullying?" The smile on Xie Jin Yan's lips gradually disappeared, a layer of cold frost forming in his eyes. He suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.

*Thump.* Yu Qingwu was thrown heavily onto the bed.

The piercing pain in her back brought tears to her eyes.

Xie Jin Yan looked fierce, suddenly pulling her up again. His usually flirtatious phoenix eyes were now filled with anger as he gritted his teeth, "Yu Qingwu, you call this bullying? When you forced A-Yue to commit suicide, why didn't you think that was bullying?"

A-Yue was Xie Jin Yan's closest junior sister. Because she framed Yu Qingwu for having an affair with a senior, Yu Qingwu retaliated by sending her to the cook's bed. She had no choice but to marry the cook, and, unable to bear it, she attempted suicide.

In the end, she didn't die, and the master expelled both her and her husband from the sect.

Xie Jin Yan was tormenting her for A-Yue?

Suddenly, all the fear in Yu Qingwu's heart disappeared. She raised her head, looking at Xie Jin Yan with amusement, and said, word by word, "Xie Jin Yan, listen clearly. Everything A-Yue suffered was the result of her own actions! I am not a bodhisattva. If she wants to harm me, I will naturally eradicate the threat."

"As for you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, if you truly cherish her, then marry her and make her your Crown Princess. Anyway, your reputation is already tarnished; no one will say anything if you marry a fisherman's daughter."

Yu Qingwu curved her lips, her eyes full of mockery.

She was born with a cold beauty, and this demeanor made her face even more bewitching, seductive, and irritating.

Xie Jin Yan's eyes ached. He couldn't stand her expression, this unchanging, aloof expression.

He gripped her collar tightly, his knuckles gradually tightening as he threatened grimly, "Yu Qingwu, you are truly unrepentant! You should know that this is the capital! I can take your life at any time."

Who was truly unrepentant?

The Crown Prince, who abused his power? Or A-Yue, who reaped what she sowed?

Yu Qingwu laughed coldly, looking mockingly at Xie Jin Yan. "Your Highness the Crown Prince, I'll say it again: if you truly care about A-Yue, you should properly marry her with all the proper ceremonies, instead of entangling with me here and forcing me into the life of a prostitute."

"A-Yue is currently in a small fishing village in Yinzhou. If Your Highness wants to find her, this servant is willing to lead the way."

Hearing this, Xie Jin Yan suddenly paused, not replying to Yu Qingwu, but looking at her with an increasingly complex expression.

Whether he couldn't answer, or was brewing some more vicious scheme.

Staring coldly at Yu Qingwu for a moment, he heavily released her collar, grabbing her arm and saying, "Get up, let's eat. I'm hungry."

This was a man. He might say he loved someone, but when it came to marrying them, he would still find them undesirable.

A hint of mockery flashed in Yu Qingwu's eyes. She pried open his large hand holding her arm and said coldly, "I want to go back to the Rongguo Duke's manor."

Xie Jin Yan turned back, pulling her even tighter, and repeated gloomily, "I said, eat!"

"I said, I want to go back to the Rongguo Duke's manor!" Yu Qingwu also repeated, her bewitching eyes full of sharpness. She pushed hard, fiercely, against his chest.

Perhaps because she pushed too hard, she stumbled and fell straight into his arms.

The familiar scent of last night rushed into her nostrils, and Yu Qingwu blushed unconsciously. She hurriedly straightened up, but as soon as she stood up, a sharp, burning pain in the soles of her feet, coupled with weakness throughout her body, caused her to fall back to the ground.

Yu Qingwu frowned, tears welling up in her eyes.

Xie Jin Yan squatted down, casually took off her embroidered shoe, glanced at the worn soles of her feet, and then lifted her trouser leg.

The green and red marks came into view. Xie Jin Yan frowned, gently stroked the wounds, and asked her, "Does it hurt a lot?"