Chu Feixue froze in place, stunned by the chill in Han Zhan's eyes.
He was serious!
He had warned her like this for Chu Qianli!
Her relationship with Huaiyu had always been good!
Watching the tall figure that had caught up to Chu Qianli, the arrogance and willfulness in Chu Feixue's eyes gradually turned calm and cold.
Han Zhan's feelings for Chu Qianli seemed to have changed, didn't they!
After Chu Qianli married into the Xuan King's mansion, her temperament changed drastically, and she suddenly wasn't foolish anymore.
Now, Han Zhan's feelings for her also seemed different from before.
Should she tell her master about this?
...
"Chu Qianli." Han Zhan quickly caught up to Chu Qianli and blocked her path.
Chu Qianli stopped, seemingly truly impatient.
However, after more than ten days apart, Han Zhan truly discovered that her temper now was much more restrained than before.
Even though he could see Chu Qianli's impatience, Chu Qianli herself was still trying her best to endure it.
She said indifferently, "Don't ask me about Chu Huaiyu's matters. I didn't poison her, and I don't care about her affairs."
"You..."
"Han Zhan, I'm not that idle," she said coldly.
"What do you mean?" Han Zhan stared at her calm face.
Chu Qianli pursed her lips, then said helplessly, "The Emperor used my grandfather to threaten me, forcing me to use my so-called foresight to inquire about Black Wind Cliff."
"You actually went to Black Wind Cliff!" Han Zhan's heart suddenly tensed!
No wonder the Xuan King had to personally go to rescue her!
No one who went to Black Wind Cliff had ever returned alive!
This time, if not for the Xuan King's assistance, she might not have returned either.
Such a dangerous task was assigned to a young, frail girl.
"So, Han Zhan, you should be able to imagine how difficult my situation is."
Chu Qianli took half a step back, creating distance between them.
That distant, somewhat impatient, and more than anything, helpless expression made Han Zhan suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable.
What she thought and what she wanted to do were matters of life and death.
And he and Chu Feixue were still making things difficult for her at every turn.
"I heard it was my maid who poisoned Chu Huaiyu. As for the truth, I actually don't know much more than you do."
"When I arrived, my maid had already been killed by them."
A sudden pang of bitterness struck her heart, and her voice became a little hoarse.
However, in front of Han Zhan, she still tried her best to hold back.
"I'm not so foolish as to have my own people deal with Chu Huaiyu and ruin my reputation in front of Feng Yexuan."
"Of course, if you think I am indeed this foolish, you can continue to suspect me."
Chu Qianli was too weary to explain, only offering a faint smile.
This smile seemed to tell him that the foolish ones were people like them, who were superficial.
Han Zhan clenched his fist, unsure of what to say for a moment.
She really... didn't seem like such a foolish person.
Could there be another story behind this?
However, there was one thing he firmly believed: "Huaiyu would never poison herself to frame your maid. She is absolutely not such a malicious person."
"Whatever you say goes. Anyway, my maid is already dead, so there's no proof."
Chu Qianli didn't even want to look at him anymore, her whole being exuding a cool aura.
It wasn't anger, but rather the way she looked at him, as if he were an ignorant child.
A sense of helplessness.
"I don't know what conditions the Xuan King used to negotiate with the Emperor to get Grandfather back, but for me, this matter is not over."
"I'm not seeking your sympathy, I just want to tell you that I am truly exhausted. I'm not as idle as Chu Huaiyu and Chu Feixue, who still have the energy to compete for favor at this time."
"Huaiyu wouldn't..."
"Stop talking. Whatever you say is right, but I just don't want to hear it."
Chu Qianli lowered her head and walked forward slowly, "I don't care what you think anymore. As long as you are happy."
These words made Han Zhan feel as if he had swallowed a fly, with words he couldn't help but blurt out.
How had he also become one of those people she saw as "always thinking about competing for favor"?
But what she said was also true. In the tug-of-war between the Emperor and the Xuan King, she was indeed exhausted and overwhelmed.
At this time, to still be fussing over men and competing for favor seemed petty and undignified.
How had he suddenly started to feel like he was as superficial as Huaiyu and Chu Feixue?
No, how could he think Huaiyu was superficial?
"Huaiyu is such a kind person, she would never frame you and your maid, Chu Qianli..."
"Can you please stop telling me about this? I'm really not interested."
Chu Qianli didn't stop, but rather quickened her pace slightly.
"Even if she's a fairy, it has nothing to do with me. Han Zhan, I don't care how much you like her, but I really don't want to waste my time on such trivial matters."
"Chu Qianli..."
"The Han Zhan in my heart is a man of integrity, not like you now, chattering and gossiping like a nosy old woman."
Han Zhan stopped.
These words inexplicably pierced his heart.
In her heart, was he really a man of integrity before?
And now, this is how she saw him?
Watching her receding back, Han Zhan suddenly felt an indescribable sense of loss.
Had his image in her heart truly plummeted so drastically that it could never return to the past?
And what had he done?
Like Chu Feixue, when she was exhausted and facing all sorts of hardships, he still had to make a scene and make things difficult for her?
How had he become the same as Chu Feixue?
And Huaiyu.
In fact, he also knew that although Huaiyu didn't say it, how much could a woman's mind hold?
All day long, didn't she just want the Xuan King to pay more attention to her?
Looking at Chu Qianli again, trapped in the vortex of court struggles, she had long since detached herself from these female disputes.
And he, on the other hand, had become the fool in Chu Qianli's eyes, constantly revolving around trivial matters of women!
Han Zhan felt an unspeakable discomfort.
His pride as a man seemed to have been lost in her eyes due to his own actions.
But if he chased after her, what could he say?
... Leng Ji was indeed waiting outside the Duke's mansion.
Chu Qianli saw him and didn't say much.
She got into the carriage and returned directly to the Xuan King's mansion.
After the carriage entered the mansion, before reaching Qianyun Pavilion, she had Leng Ji stop.
"It's rare to be able to leave Qianyun Pavilion. I want to walk around outside. I'll go back by myself." She got out of the carriage.
Leng Ji felt a pang of sadness.
He wanted to say that since the King allowed her to go out, perhaps he would never confine her again.
But he was not the King, and he dared not give her false hope.
Chu Qianli walked along the path back to Qianyun Pavilion, but she never expected to encounter someone on the road who made all the blood in her body instantly turn cold!