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After making sure everyone was settled, she still felt uneasy, so she walked over to the pieces and haphazardly pushed the ceramic shards together with the sole of her shoe.

Given Su Qiuyu’s current mental state, which was extremely poor, she didn’t dare to call a young servant in to clean up, so she had to first stabilize Su Qiuyu before anything else.

It was only after she had dealt with the ceramic pieces that she suddenly remembered Lin Yuan and turned her head to look, but the figures of the Lin Yuan Sisters were nowhere to be seen at the door.

Yaner sighed with relief inwardly, grateful that the village girl had found out in time. Otherwise, if Su Qiuyu had actually cut herself with the ceramic shards, she might not know her fate, but Yaner certainly felt her own life would have been in great danger.

After leaving the teahouse with Xiao Linshuang, Lin Yuan touched the firecrackers in her sleeve but ultimately did not take them out.

She was no pushover, and certainly felt no kindness for someone who kidnapped her sister and then tried to frame her by self-mutilation.

Didn’t Su Qiuyu dislike her? Wasn’t she obsessively longing for Xia Zheng? Then Lin Yuan would let her see who Xia Zheng loved most! Moreover, Lin Yuan didn’t mind crushing her pride underfoot.

"Big sister, I’m sorry," Xiao Linshuang said softly with a pout, apologizing to Lin Yuan in a very sorry tone.

Hearing her younger sister’s apology, Lin Yuan put her thoughts aside and put on a stern face, "You know you should be sorry?

Mother forbids you from going out for your own good, yet you disobey.

Today it was Su Qiuyu you encountered, what if you meet someone with ill intentions another day?

If something happens to you, do you think anyone in our family would be able to bear it? "

In fact, Lin Yuan was quite relieved today; fortunately, it was Su Qiuyu who had kidnapped Xiao Linshuang.

Although Su Qiuyu was obsessed with Xia Zheng, thankfully she wasn’t wicked at heart.

If it had been someone else with malicious intentions, they could have used Xiao Linshuang as a lever to force her to leave the Capital city, or they might have simply kidnapped both Lin Yuan and Xiao Linshuang and disposed of them without anyone being the wiser.

Even though Lin Yuan liked Xia Zheng a lot now, she couldn’t be sure how long he would grieve if she simply vanished without a trace.

A year? Two years? Perhaps longer, but certainly he couldn’t stay unmarried for a lifetime, right?

As long as Su Qiuyu had the patience, she might indeed be able to wait for the day when her sincere feelings moved him.

Of course, Su Qiuyu didn’t do so. Though she might have been a bit stubborn, a little pretentious, and cared about her image, she was still fundamentally good-natured, otherwise she would not have been so shocked when Lin Yuan exposed her attempt to shift the blame.

"Little sister, don’t tell anyone about what happened today," Lin Yuan pondered for a moment before repeatedly instructing Xiao Linshuang not to tell anyone about her kidnapping by Su Qiuyu, and this included not just Lady Liu and Lin Jiaxin, but also Xia Zheng.

Xiao Linshuang bit her lip and frowned, "Not even Brother Zheng? Why? That woman obviously kidnapped me because of Brother Zheng. I want to tell Brother Zheng so he can teach that bad woman a lesson!"

Lin Yuan shook her head, "It’s not because of your Brother Zheng, it’s because of me.

Just remember what I told you today, you mustn’t tell anyone.

Also, if anyone asks where you were, say you came across an old woman sudden falling ill on the street, and after she regained consciousness, you and some passersby took her to a nearby clinic.

The streets are always changing, so no one knew. Got it?"

Xiao Linshuang pursed her lips, extremely reluctant, but since the day’s events had unfolded because of her sneaking out, she nodded unhappily in agreement.

Even if Su Qiuyu wasn’t all bad, Lin Yuan didn’t plan to let her off easily, for if there was a first time, a second could easily follow. Lin Yuan might have just arrived in the Capital city and was not yet settled, but she was not someone anyone could bully.

Xia Zheng didn’t yet know about finding Xiao Linshuang, and Xiao Linshuang also planned to first go to the Hall of Salvation to inform Wang Dahai and his wife so they wouldn’t worry.

Thinking of Lian Qiao’s previous words about how Lady Wang was very concerned for Xiao Linshuang, Lin Yuan agreed to let her go.

As the two of them slowly made their way to the Hall of Salvation, they met Xia Zheng halfway, and Xiao Linshuang told him the story they had agreed upon earlier. As Lin Yuan watched Xia Zheng scold Xiao Linshuang with a stern face, she was relieved that he wasn’t suspicious.

When Xiao Linshuang arrived, Lady Wang and Wang Dahai both noticeably breathed a sigh of relief and bombarded her with questions for quite a while.

Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng stood in the shadows opposite, seeing that both of them cared so much about Xiao Linshuang, they felt relieved.

Xia Zheng stood behind Lin Yuan, contemplating as he glanced at her, his lips moved but ultimately, he didn’t ask the question.

It took a long time for Su Qiuyu to snap back to reality in the teahouse. Yaner was so worried she might consider the worst that she didn’t even dare to offer her a teacup, and just watched her intently without blinking.

After a while, Su Qiuyu raised her hand to touch her temple hair and softly said, "Let’s go back to the mansion."

Yaner was slightly taken aback to hear Su Qiuyu suddenly speaking, "Oh, alright then."

As they left the teahouse, Su Qiuyu, with a heavy heart, didn’t want to take the carriage and started walking slowly toward Su Mansion through Chang Street. The cold wind blew, and she felt her mind clear, with many scenes from her childhood also rushing to her thoughts.

She seemed to see her young self holding the red kerchief begged from her aunt as she chased after Xia Zheng, calling out in her baby voice, "Brother Zheng, Brother Zheng, I want to be your bride!"

But Xia Zheng, just like shooing an annoying fly, looked at her with disdain and ran far away, "Stop following me! Stop following me! I don’t want to marry you!"

Xia Zheng had made it very clear that he wouldn’t marry her, yet she had been unable to extricate herself from her foolish dreams.

"Could it be that it can only be a dream?"

Su Qiuyu didn’t know what to do at that moment. Her second brother always advised her to let go; she wanted to, but she just couldn’t do it! Couldn’t do it!

Biting her lip secretly, Su Qiuyu clenched her fists. As long as Xia Zheng and Lin Yuan weren’t married, she had a chance to separate them.

As she was thinking, Su Qiuyu suddenly froze, seeing a familiar figure in front of a chestnut stall.

"Big brother?"

That person was indeed her big brother, Su Tianyou.

Hearing his little sister’s call, Su Tianyou turned around, also startled, "Little sister?"

Seeing her brother, Su Qiuyu composed herself and, noticing the long queue in front of Su Tianyou, smiled and said, "Big brother, are you here to buy chestnuts again?"

Speaking of chestnuts, Su Tianyou’s usually indifferent gaze softened a bit, "Yes, your cousin Cuiwei really likes the chestnuts from this stall. It’s just a pity that she can’t come out of the palace often now."

Seeing the normally calm and reticent Su Tianyou suddenly show such tenderness, Su Qiuyu’s heart ached, and she said with a bitter smile, "Big brother, why bother? In Cousin Cuiwei’s heart..."