Yes, there is no such thing as having it both ways in this world.

You can't have your fish and eat it too. Master wanted Xiao Yumo to be innocent and pure, but also wanted her to enjoy all the riches and glory.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yumo was indeed innocent, but not without sin.

The Empress's favor made her domineering and arrogant, but she was brainless despite being born into wealth, and could be provoked into doing things that disregarded human life and sullied people's reputations.

The most ridiculous thing was that she had the nerve to harm people, but not the courage to bear the consequences of being exposed, so she was frightened into madness by such a small counterattack.

With that kind of endurance, even if she really used herself as a stepping stone to climb to a high position, she would still fall miserably.

As for Master, if he really committed treason, he would not be qualified to be her master again...

Nor would he be qualified to teach those talents who were about to enter the Dawei Dynasty...

Because there is no such thing as having it both ways in this world.

But... why did Master do these things?

What is the relationship between him and Xiao Yumo?

At this moment, compared to the fact that Master might hate her because of Xiao Yumo, Yu Qingwu was more concerned about whether he had committed treason.

She raised her eyes, looked at Xie Jin Yan with a complicated expression, shook her head slightly, and sighed, "Your Highness, please rest assured, I have calmed down a lot. Compared to why Master wanted to kill me, what worries me more now is... did Master commit treason?"

Yu Qingwu's voice was low, and the last few words were extremely difficult to say.

After all, he was the master who had personally raised her, like a father.

In fact, Xie Jin Yan was not in a better mood than she was, but because of his identity, he never easily trusted anyone, so it was easier for him to accept and be calmer by comparison.

He was silent for a moment, poured a bowl of tea and handed it to Yu Qingwu, then pulled her to sit down, and then said gently, "This matter is very complicated. We are in the Shu region, so let's not make any moves for now. After leaving the Shifu (master's gate), I will personally send a letter to Kyoto."

His brow furrowed, he paused, and a forced and weak smile appeared on his face again, and he said in a low voice, "Shijie (senior martial sister), what I'm most afraid of now is not that Master has actually committed treason, but... that there is someone else behind him."

"When I entered the Shifu (master's gate) that year, it was the Empress Mother who suggested it to the Emperor Father. The Xiao family and Master were also recommended by the Empress Mother..."

Speaking of this, Xie Jin Yan's voice became smaller and smaller. In the end, it almost disappeared, but he still had a pale and weak smile on his face, and said bitterly, "I'm really scared..."

The low male voice entered her ears, and Yu Qingwu fell silent.

She had only been thinking about Master just now, and she hadn't thought about this level.

At this moment, she suddenly didn't know what to say.

She looked at Xie Jin Yan with a complicated expression for a moment, and comforted him, "Your Highness, the Empress is, after all, the Dawei (Great Wei) country's mother. Although her mother's family is from Nan Yue, the one in power now is not her father, but her half-brother. Moreover, according to folk rumors, the Empress had a bad relationship with her father, who is also your... your maternal grandfather, when she was young. It is said that the Nan Yue Emperor favored concubines and destroyed his wife, and in order to support the favored concubine at the time, he... killed the Empress's mother. Afterward, he swapped the original Ninth Princess designated by the late Emperor for the Empress, so the Empress did not receive any favor after coming to Dawei, but... was bestowed upon His Majesty, who was still an idle prince at the time..."

"So, Shijie (senior martial sister) is trying to say that the Empress Mother hates her mother country, so she naturally won't help them, right?" As soon as Yu Qingwu finished speaking, Xie Jin Yan smiled and replied to her.

There was still some worry in his brows and eyes, but a smile hung on the corner of his mouth as he asked her gently, "Then, Shijie (senior martial sister), let me ask you, if, if one day I changed my mind and harmed your relatives, or even killed you and my children for the sake of another woman, would you commit treason?"

"No." Yu Qingwu blurted out this answer almost without thinking.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "However, if that were the case, I would probably kill you and establish another, but I would never commit treason. Family matters and hatred are one thing, while the foundation of the country is another. After all, once you collude with the enemy, it is not the rulers who are harmed, but more the common people."

Hearing this, Xie Jin Yan didn't speak anymore.

With a smile still on his lips, he looked at Yu Qingwu for a long time before slowly saying, "Yes, you would kill me and establish a new ruler, but you would never collude with foreign enemies. So... isn't that what the Empress Mother is thinking?"

"But your mother is different, she has you." Yu Qingwu interrupted Xie Jin Yan, gave him a deep look, and her mood suddenly became more complicated, and she vaguely sympathized with Xie Jin Yan.

She used to think that Xie Jin Yan's paranoia was only directed at her and those political enemies in the court. At least, he would not suspect his mother.

But at this moment, she realized that he had never trusted anyone, including the mother who raised him.

Although it was true that there was nothing wrong with being vigilant as the Crown Prince, being too vigilant was a burden.

Sighing softly, Yu Qingwu added to Xie Jin Yan in a gentle voice, "Your Highness, once a woman has a child, she is different. Compared to those people from her former country, and even compared to your father, you are the closest person to your mother, and her best support..."

"Yes, that's what they say, but you don't know, the Empress Mother, she..." Xie Jin Yan frowned deeply, wanting to say something, but he swallowed his words halfway through.

Changing the subject, he interrupted, "A Wu, I'm hungry. Let's not talk about these things. Let's go get something to eat, and then rest well after eating."

How could Yu Qingwu not see Xie Jin Yan's expression?

This was already the second time that he seemed to want to say something about his mother, but in the end, he stopped himself.

However, if he didn't want to say it, she wouldn't ask any more questions.

She just nodded slightly and got up to say, "I'll go get some steamed buns."

"I'll go, you rest. You've been walking for most of the day, your feet must be sore, right?" Before Yu Qingwu could say anything else, Xie Jin Yan had already gotten up, and then, with a heavy heart, he stepped out of the guest room.

Yu Qingwu sat in front of the couch, her mood also very complicated.

In the past, she only thought about finding the Shen family to seek revenge, finding the Qiu family to seek revenge, and finding the Ning Wangfu (Prince Ning's Mansion) to seek revenge, but now that she realized that Master seemed to be colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, and might even be a spy from another country, the desire for revenge was not as strong as before.

It wasn't that she didn't hate them anymore, but she felt that the matter of foreign invasion was more serious and made her more afraid.

You must know that hundreds of years ago, the Huren (foreigners) invaded the Central Plains, and their methods were extremely brutal. They slaughtered all the people in the city as soon as they entered the city. The huge Yun Dynasty was turned into a living hell by the Huren, and nearly half of the Han Chinese people were slaughtered. Later, the Wei Dynasty's ancestors broke them one by one, and this preserved the last dignity of the Central Plains.

It was precisely because of this massacre that in the following hundreds of years, the Central Plains strengthened its military training and invested more materials in the army and construction.

叩叩叩 (Knock, knock, knock), while Yu Qingwu was lost in thought, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Who is it so late?

If it was Xie Jin Yan, he naturally wouldn't knock on the door.

She got up and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"Second Shimei (martial sister), it's me..."