Tigers Sniff the Rose - Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Regarding Yan Shang’s secret affair, after Minister Liu remarked that he was "bold," he neither praised nor criticized him.

After all, Yan Shang had first caught Minister Liu’s eye when he killed the head of the Zheng family in public. During the subsequent joint trial by the three ministries, Yan Shang had refuted all three parties one by one, leaving a profound impression on the Minister.

Minister Liu had always known that his youngest student, no matter how gentle, humble, and polite he appeared on the surface, was bold to the core.

So, having a secret affair with the Princess of Danyang... was not enough to shock Minister Liu.

Although it was certainly alarming for an eighth-rank sesame-seed official to dare to have a secret affair with a princess—especially one who had already been married off in a political alliance—wherever you looked, it was scandalous.

However, was the Princess of Danyang the type to be timid or cowardly?

After the grand ceremony, the Emperor had ordered court ministers and foreign envoys to discuss the Princess’s marriage alliance. The court had split into two factions; the number of ministers supporting the Princess and vehemently rejecting the marriage alliance was not small. Among these ministers, the highest-ranking one was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

As a fourth-rank official, the only ones who could suppress him were those at the level of Prime Minister, Minister, or Censor-in-Chief. By the time one reached the rank of Vice Minister, one could usually exert influence over many matters in the court.

The support of someone with such rank provided great pressure to the officials who hoped for Mu Wanyao to marry into the alliance.

Yet, apart from the Vice Minister of Revenue, there were many other ministers who supported Mu Wanyao.

These were the results of the connections Mu Wanyao had accumulated in her year of participating in government affairs. After all, she was backed by the Crown Prince and had the support of the Li family of the South; if she wanted to win hearts, many would naturally incline toward her.

This left Minister Liu in awe, and made him feel an even greater headache over such a princess.

Yan Shang was sent off by Minister Liu to attend to official business. Two days later, he returned to the Secretariat office, carrying many old records, seeking to discuss the matter of the Princess’s marriage alliance with the Minister.

Minister Liu continued his habit of pacing around the lush locust trees outside the office with his student, discussing these affairs.

Yan Shang said: "...I have already reviewed the records from all sides regarding the events of that year and understand the gist of it. It was a power struggle between the Emperor and the Li family of the nobility, to which the late Empress belonged. Meanwhile, Wuman was pressing hard from the outside, threatening to marry the primary-born princess into an alliance, forcing Great Wei to sign a treaty and stop the war.

"According to records, the Jiannan Circuit was almost entirely occupied by Wuman at the time. Only after the court agreed to the marriage alliance did the Wuman army withdraw. To repel foreign invaders, one must first pacify the interior; both the Emperor and the late Empress needed to ensure there was no foreign war at that time so they could focus their full strength on struggling for power against the other. Thus, the Princess was the one sacrificed."

Minister Liu stroked his beard and nodded.

What Yan Shang said could never be found recorded in official documents. Yan Shang had to deduce it from various pieces of evidence. For a young man who hadn't participated in those events and had no background to infer the internal truth to this degree from mere fragments of records was truly impressive.

Seeing his teacher tacitly acknowledge this, Yan Shang sighed inwardly, a sense of aimlessness rising within him.

It was another cycle of political infighting.

The more he drifted in the currents of the court, the more he saw these cruel truths... acts completely contrary to human nature, all for the sake of self-interest.

Yan Shang said in a low voice: "The party strife in the court has absolutely nothing to do with the people’s livelihood. Yet, they fight until they are bruised and bloodied; it is utterly laughable."

Minister Liu glanced at him and said: "You might want to look at this problem from another angle."

Yan Shang bowed his hands to ask for his teacher’s instruction.

Minister Liu said slowly: "You can understand it as: when there are two different voices in the court, government affairs cannot be pushed forward with high efficiency. Only by eliminating dissenters and ensuring there is only one's own voice in the court can one find the time to push for what you call the people’s livelihood."

Yan Shang was stunned for a moment.

Then he said: "Even so, for the Emperor and the late Empress to tacitly agree to use the Princess as a discarded pawn and send her to a marriage alliance... it is entirely, entirely... cold-blooded."

Minister Liu countered: "What else could they do?"

Yan Shang was stunned.

Minister Liu said: "You did not live through the period when they were suppressed by the Li family of Jinling, so you naturally do not know the pressure the Emperor was under back then. When the Li family was at its most glorious, eighty percent of the voices in the court belonged to them. There is no need to even mention that the Li family could decide upon the deposition or enthronement of emperors.

"This was a struggle between imperial power and the great noble families. The Emperor’s power was threatened by the Li family at every moment, threatened by the noble families. When an emperor is sidelined to this extent, who could endure it? Moreover, this Emperor of ours has never been one to be bullied.

"He married a woman of the Li family to serve as Empress, borrowed the influence of the noble families in Chang'an to navigate around the Lis, provoked them step by step, and suppressed them step by step. He initiated the imperial examinations to allow scholars from humble backgrounds to enter the court, cutting off the noble families' path to monopoly. The death of the Second Prince severed the Li family’s path to controlling imperial power through bloodline. Sending the young Princess into a marriage alliance left the Li family with no one to use within the royal household.

"He reclaimed military power, seizing the Li family’s control over the military and government of the South. He constantly rotated the appointments of generals... finally, there was the passing of the late Empress.

"Over the span of twenty years, he finally forced the Li family back to Jinling. Today, the Li family remains the head of the southern noble families, but they must rest and recuperate; even the one in charge of their house has been demoted to Lingnan. The Li family’s future has been severed... a warning to all the noble families in the world. Today, the noble families are much better behaved than they were back then; this is all to our Emperor’s credit."

Minister Liu curled his lips mockingly at Yan Shang: "Even you—if it weren't to let those from humble backgrounds into the game, if it weren't to add another faction to counterbalance the noble families, do you think you could have entered the court? Do you think the imperial exam questions are mere child’s play, flashy and useless, unsuited for truly selecting officials, resulting only in literati who know only how to chant poems and compose odes?

"However, even this was something the Emperor had to fight the noble families for."

Yan Shang was speechless.

He listened to Minister Liu’s sigh-like words: "Do you think the Emperor was wrong?"

After a long time, Yan Shang whispered: "I feel pity for the Princess’s plight, yet if viewed from the overall situation, the Emperor was correct. The noble families have been too glorious for too long... If they are not restricted and allowed to develop as they please, I fear it would lead to a disaster of party bans and the destruction of the nation."

Minister Liu was silent for a long time.

Because he, too, was born into a great noble family.

After a while, Minister Liu said: "The noble families are doomed to fail. If they do not fall, this situation is a dead end."

Yan Shang looked at his teacher: "Teacher also comes from a noble family... and yet you do not stand with them?"

Minister Liu stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the high, leafy trees overhead, and smiled: "Yan Suchen, do you think all noble families are fools who cannot see the situation clearly? Do you think all noble families exploit the people and cannot distinguish right from wrong? Have you heard of what a ‘renowned scholar’ is? Have you seen a truly noble, clean family? Your understanding of noble families is still too shallow."

Minister Liu paused for a moment and said: "You can interact more with your young friend, Wei Juyuan. The Wei family of Luoyang has endured for hundreds of years; they have never produced a Prime Minister, yet they have managed to remain undefeated. In this teacher’s view, the Wei family of Luoyang is even more remarkable than the Li family of Jinling."

Yan Shang whispered: "This student is ashamed."

Minister Liu said calmly: "The Emperor intends to solve, single-handedly, what other emperors would take two or three generations to complete. You and I shall watch and see... these noble families have behaved themselves for a few years while the Emperor was ill, but they are gradually becoming arrogant again. The Emperor’s suppression is not yet over.

"You can say that this Emperor of ours is ruthless, you can say that being an emperor does not necessarily require one to be devoid of love... and yet, sometimes, being ruthless is what is best for the world."

Yan Shang said: "One who rules as a sovereign must first be benevolent..."

Minister Liu replied: "He is simply not benevolent toward the Princess you care about."

Yan Shang said softly: "Yet I do not see the world being particularly benevolent, nor the people living in peace and prosperity."

Minister Liu looked at him with amusement: "Isn't that exactly why you and I, as ministers, must share the burden for our sovereign? The Emperor is currently so ill... for you to expect him to have the energy to manage so much, it is a bit too difficult for a patient."

After a long silence, Yan Shang couldn't help but smile bitterly, acknowledging that his teacher was right. A monarch of his generation must cut off all sentiment and love, doing what is beneficial for the overall situation of the world; even if he is not good to his children, he... is ultimately not a muddled ruler. On the contrary, the Emperor sees the situation of the world very clearly.

The world is muddled, yet the Son of Heaven is not.

When the Son of Heaven is not muddled, he is ruthless.

This is a very helpless realization.

Yan Shang had no choice but to change the subject: "...But now that the Li family has been suppressed back to Jinling, it seems they will not become much of a threat in the short term. Yet we are still allied with Wuman. I see that although there are many in the court who do not wish for the Princess to marry into the alliance, when it comes to actual war, eight out of ten ministers are opposed to it.

"Why is this? Is it possible that the army of our Great Wei is truly no match for the forces of a small country like Wuman?"

Minister Liu said: "It is indeed no match."

Yan Shang was startled. Although from his few days of searching for materials, he had vaguely felt that Great Wei’s military power was not as indestructible as he had imagined, but to say Great Wei could not beat Wuman was too ridiculous.

Minister Liu glanced at him, knowing what he was thinking, and said: "It is not that we cannot beat them. If we mobilized the troops of the entire country, what would a tiny Wuman be? But why start a war if it can be avoided? Suchen, you must know that once a war begins, the various departments of the court must bear extraordinary pressure. Moreover, as long as war begins, it is the common people who suffer."

Minister Liu said: "After a war, how many common people die, and how many from the noble families die... Great Wei prizes agriculture above all; we are not like Wuman, which lives by nomadism. They rely on war to sustain their country, but we in Great Wei have no need to. Alliance was the best choice at the time."

Yan Shang, however, said: "I naturally know what Teacher says. But if we could defeat Wuman, these problems could be solved. What I am puzzled by is why we cannot defeat them, or rather, why it would require such a huge sacrifice to be able to defeat them?"

Minister Liu turned to look at him and smiled: "I will let you tell this teacher the answer to that."

Yan Shang was stunned, then bowed, accepting this test from his teacher —

Over the following days, Yan Shang constantly traveled between the Ministry of War, the Court of Diplomatic Reception, and the Secretariat. The Ministry of War was under the control of the Prince of Qin. Seeing the Crown Prince’s people frequently coming to the Ministry of War to look for information, the Prince of Qin was extremely vigilant, fearing the Crown Prince was coming to poach his men.

The things Yan Shang asked about, implicitly or explicitly, were all regarding Wuman’s combat strength, making the Prince of Qin even more suspicious. He couldn't help but wonder: Why keep asking about war with Wuman? Could it be that the Crown Prince wants to start a war? The Crown Prince must be insane—to start a war for the sake of Mu Wanyao?

Even the Crown Prince questioned Yan Shang in confusion. Yan Shang claimed it was a test from his teacher, leaving the Crown Prince half-believing and half-doubting.

The Crown Prince was unwilling for Mu Wanyao to marry into the alliance; if she left, he would lose the support of the noble families of the South, led by the Li family of Jinling... but if it came to war, the Crown Prince was equally unwilling.

Yan Shang, however, wished for the situation to be even more chaotic. With the Crown Prince and Prince of Qin suspicious of each other, and envoys from various countries sending people to pursue Mu Wanyao... in such a chaotic situation, a marriage alliance could not be achieved in the short term, buying him much time.

Meanwhile, Yan Shang constantly returned to the Secretariat to answer his teacher’s questions.

On the first day, he said: "Our Great Wei’s military power is weak because, in the struggle between the noble families and imperial power, both sides have eliminated dissenters, altered the frontier army system, and constantly replaced generals. This has caused generals and soldiers to be unfamiliar with each other, leading to a complete lack of cooperation. When war starts, strength is naturally greatly diminished. Furthermore, they have had to replace the generals selected by the noble families over many years with their own people, only to find their own men inferior to those of the noble families, leading to continuous defeats. But it is impossible for the Emperor to let the noble families’ generals rise again, so they remain in a stalemate, waiting for new generals to grow up.

"But with such frequent movements of the frontier army, how can generals be cultivated?

"However, if the frontier army is not moved frequently, the generals could entrench themselves as regional powers, which would be another disaster. Due to such diverse reasons, Great Wei’s military power is actually inferior to Wuman’s."

Minister Liu said: "Anything else?"

Yan Shang went to investigate further.

Another day passed, and he answered Minister Liu: "Military service in our dynasty is extremely heavy, yet there are frequent wars at the frontiers, and the defensive line is too long. Garrisoning the frontier is originally a good thing, but the people are forcibly detained until they cannot return home for a long time. Over the long term, everyone avoids military service and is unwilling to join the army voluntarily. Moreover, I asked a guard named Fang Tong; I learned that he had also served as a soldier before, and his experience... hmm."

Yan Shang recalled the question-and-answer session between himself and Fang Tong, the head guard beside Mu Wanyao.

Fang Tong told him that before following the Princess, he was also a soldier. However, military service was too heavy, and for the sake of his family, he had to flee the war and come to Chang'an to seek a living. Upon arriving in Chang'an, because the status of soldiers was low due to the weight of military service, the people of Chang'an looked down on soldiers like him, treating them like personal servants and cursing or humiliating them at will. For a time, the atmosphere of the entire Great Wei was such that serving as a garrison soldier was seen as a disgrace.

Fang Tong had continuously participated in the military examinations held by the court and had constantly pulled strings through various connections before finally being able to serve the Princess. Yet even so, in order to follow the Princess to Wuman, he had to be separated from his newlywed wife for several years; only recently had the family been reunited.

Thinking of this, Yan Shang felt downcast, knowing this was another unsolvable problem. Because military power is weak, military service is heavy. And because military service is heavy and soldiers’ status is low, it leads to weak military power.

The entire system was flawed.

But Minister Liu actually asked him: "Anything else?"

What else, then, led Great Wei’s military power to be inferior to Wuman’s?

Yan Shang rushed back and forth between the Secretariat and the Ministry of War, constantly answering the test questions Minister Liu gave him—

"Teacher, I have discovered that due to the struggle for power in the court, veteran generals have withered away, and new generals are not adept at military affairs. If there were those adept at military affairs, they could slow down the losses even if frequently moved. It is precisely because it is difficult to win battles that movements are so frequent."

Minister Liu sighed: "So they say, a thousand armies are easy to get, but one general is hard to find."

Minister Liu continued: "Anything else?"

Yan Shang was stunned, then continued his investigation.

He returned to tell Minister Liu: "In the wars of this world, cavalry is king! As long as there is cavalry, the war is almost one-sided. Our Great Wei’s cavalry is not as good as Wuman’s. Wuman has been fighting on horseback for years; their cavalry is superior to our army’s. They also wear chainmail on their bodies. On the battlefield, as long as we cannot solve the cavalry problem, as long as we cannot make the soldiers dismount, it is very difficult for us to deal with cavalry.

"I went to the West Market to ask, went to the Court of Diplomatic Reception to ask, and talked with the envoys of various countries. Our horse breeds could actually be further improved. We should learn the horse-raising techniques of some small northern countries, or simply hire them to help us raise horses..."

His thinking became increasingly clear, and the problems between Great Wei and Wuman over the years were laid out one by one before his eyes.

The chaotic situation was cleared of its fog piece by piece, becoming distinct.

Minister Liu stared at the young man standing in his study, silent for a long time, constantly shocked by Yan Shang.

Much of what Yan Shang said had actually been reported to him as Prime Minister by others long ago. However, that was the collective experience of so many people in the Ministry of War over many years, yet Yan Shang, peeling the cocoon to find the silk on his own... was actually able to deduce it all.

Yan Shang was intelligent, thoughtful, humble, and gentle, and his interpersonal relationships were excellent...

Because he was intelligent and thoughtful, he could piece together the chaotic scattered diagrams to reveal the truth; because he was humble and gentle, he would ask the wise for instruction and could set aside his pride to chat with illiterate commoners and foreigners in the markets; because his interpersonal relationships were good, he had friends in all six ministries with ease. When he needed assistance from any of the six ministries, any one of them had a friend to help him open the door of convenience.

Such a person was only nineteen years old.

Minister Liu stared at the young Yan Shang, deeply shaken, thinking that his student would become something truly remarkable.

With all aspects of the causes discussed to this point, Minister Liu believed Yan Shang had thoroughly explained all the reasons. However, Minister Liu still had to say—

"Anything else?"

He no longer knew what other reason could cause Great Wei’s military power to be inferior to Wuman’s, yet he still wanted to ask Yan Shang, "Anything else?"

He wanted to suppress Yan Shang’s spirit, not wanting things to develop exactly as Yan Shang had deduced. For a young, talented person, if everything went according to his expectations, it was not necessarily a good thing for his growth.

Rigidity leads to breaking.

Minister Liu knew well the helplessness of being caught in the political struggle; he wanted to take this opportunity to hone Yan Shang, unwilling to have his young student swept away by the increasingly profound political affairs in the future, his precious blade snapped in two.

Yan Shang was stunned—

Yan Shang did not know he had already stated all the reasons; he thought there must still be something he had overlooked. He racked his brain, working hard to communicate with military officials, the foreigners in the market, and the envoys in the Court of Diplomatic Reception, constantly searching for books and materials, but he could not find any more reasons.

To him, this was simply torture.

For someone with such high self-demands, not being able to understand something, not being able to straighten it out, and not being able to let it allow him to take the next step... was truly a form of suffering.

One day, Yan Shang crouched in the foreign market, chatting with several foreigners, asking when those he had sent to Wuman would return to Chang'an.

As a court official, Yan Shang would crouch in the West Market and chat with foreigners all day without any airs. He was handsome, elegant, and spoke in a gentle, soft voice, so he naturally won people’s favor. The foreign merchants liked this court official who spent all day mingling in the foreign market, telling him that in two more days, the merchants helping him run his errands should return.

A foreigner, speaking in unpolished Great Wei language, patted his chest in guarantee: "Don't worry, Yan Er-lang! Although they didn't make it back before the New Year, they won't be far off now. We foreigners are always honest when doing business; once we take the young master’s money, we will not lie to you, and we will surely get this done for you!"

No matter how much Yan Shang was suffering inside, he always maintained a pleasant smile on the surface: "Then I shall wait for the good news. Once they return, no matter what time it is, bring your identification tokens and come find me. I am truly... too ignorant about Wuman."

The group echoed their comfort to Yan Shang.

After parting with the foreigners, Yan Shang continued to wander aimlessly through the West Market, staring at the foreigners doing business here, pondering: What else could possibly lead to Great Wei being inferior to Wuman? —

Mu Wanyao and Meng Zaishi were strolling through the West Market.

Mu Wanyao’s face was cold; she had no desire to have much contact with Meng Zaishi. But since she had given her word that others could pursue her, she couldn't keep rejecting him.

Moreover, she had a plan in mind and needed to let her relationship with Meng Zaishi improve little by little.

Meng Zaishi and Mu Wanyao rode together.

Mu Wanyao wore a veil, and Meng Zaishi wore a mask. The chaotic commoners and peddlers in the West Market made way for the two, simply because one could tell at a casual glance that the lady whose veil reached her ankles wore silk and satin, and her identity must be noble; while the tall man riding side-by-side with her, even though he wore a mask, exuded a sense of powerful pressure.

Ahead, the foreigners were making noise, and the path was blocked so they couldn't move; Mu Wanyao became increasingly displeased.

Mu Wanyao said impatiently: "Look, look, the road is blocked! Why invite me to stroll in the West Market? It’s not as lively as the East Market, it’s messy, and it’s full of foreigners like you; it’s annoying just to look at."

Meng Zaishi was dismounting his horse; hearing this, he gave a laugh. Through the mask and her veil, he mocked her with a glance: "Your temper is worse now than when I first knew you. It’s just a blocked road; you are actually this annoyed. Fine, let’s go another way."

He gave a wink to the guards beside him, and his men led his horse away. Meng Zaishi then stepped forward and took the reins of the horse Mu Wanyao was riding. Mu Wanyao looked on with cold eyes, seeing her horse was restless, but Meng Zaishi leaned close to its ear and whispered a few words in Wuman, and the horse obediently let him take the reins.

Mu Wanyao: "Show-off! It’s as if I can’t ride my own horse and need you to lead it. Where are you taking me? Are you up to no good?"

Meng Zaishi walked below, tall and long-legged, and turned to look at the woman in the white veil riding in the sunset with a mocking smile: "In your eyes, I can do no good anyway."

The two walked down a quieter path; Meng Zaishi arrived in front of a mask vendor and signaled for Mu Wanyao to dismount and look. Mu Wanyao hesitated for a long time, thinking she couldn't completely defy Meng Zaishi, so she dismounted reluctantly. Yet she still covered herself tightly with her veil, not wanting to look at the world outside the veil, and certainly not wanting to look at Meng Zaishi.

Meng Zaishi glanced at the woman in the white veil standing behind him and chuckled softly: "Little girl... I know what you’re thinking."

Mu Wanyao kept a cold face, pretending not to hear.

She watched Meng Zaishi stand before the vendor, bowing his head to examine the various masks. Mu Wanyao watched distractedly from behind, thinking how wonderful it would be if she could just stab him to death. Suddenly, Meng Zaishi lifted the mask he was wearing and placed one from the stall onto his own face.

He turned to look at Mu Wanyao and chuckled softly: "Little girl, look at me like this—does it look familiar?"

Mu Wanyao looked on listlessly, and then suddenly froze.

In a flash of lightning, she thought of the time not long ago when she had sent Yan Shang to the Northern District and met the man who insisted on giving her a mud figure.

That man had been wearing the exact same mask that Meng Zaishi was wearing now. The man’s figure in her memory... merged with Meng Zaishi’s current figure.

Mu Wanyao couldn't believe it; she suddenly lifted her veil. She clutched the veil to her chest, the white gauze fluttering gently, and she stared blankly, with hidden hatred, at Meng Zaishi.

She realized that the mud figure that night... was given by Meng Zaishi!

...She would smash that mud figure the moment she got back.

Meng Zaishi lowered his eyes, looking at Mu Wanyao. Mu Wanyao was terrified, afraid of what he might do to Yan Shang, who had been by her side at that time. Her gaze shifted, and Mu Wanyao revealed a smile of pleasant surprise: "So you were already in Chang'an back then, and you actually managed to restrain yourself until several days later... as expected of you."

Meng Zaishi scoffed.

He bent down, removed the mask from his face, and revealed his true appearance. He leaned down, inclining toward Mu Wanyao.

Mu Wanyao hugged her veil tightly and took a step back, but couldn't avoid the thick, playful smile on his face.

He bent down and flicked her forehead playfully: "You aren't surprised at all; why act? In front of me, you should just be your true self."

The sunset’s afterglow shone on his face, illuminating the hideous scar there. Mu Wanyao felt a bit dazed; seeing the smile in his eyes, she was momentarily stunned, recalling the beginning... the beginning when he jumped in from the window, extended his hand to her, and told her he would help her—

Behind her, the maid Xiarong cried out in shock: "Yan, Yan Er-lang?"

Mu Wanyao was jolted and turned to look.

She saw, beyond the vast crowd, Yan Shang looking out into the void ahead, lost in thought. Mu Wanyao instantly felt guilty, muttering to herself why Yan Shang would be here. Terrified, she suddenly grabbed Meng Zaishi and signaled Xiarong to lead the horse to follow.

Mu Wanyao said urgently: "Quick, quick, let’s go stroll somewhere else!"

After being in Chang'an for so long and being by the little princess’s side for so long, this was the first time Mu Wanyao was willing to reach out and pull him... even though it was only his sleeve, she was finally willing to touch him.

Being pulled along by the little princess as if she were fleeing for her life, Meng Zaishi raised an eyebrow and looked back at the young man lost in thought behind the crowd. It was the very same official from the Court of Diplomatic Reception who had been making things difficult for him—

Yan Shang had seen Meng Zaishi and Mu Wanyao.

In the first instant, he stared at the horse behind Mu Wanyao, thinking as if bewitched: Wuman cavalry is strong.

So Mu Wanyao has also learned excellent horsemanship.

So, under what circumstances could the power of Wuman’s cavalry be utilized to its fullest?

He had been driven nearly mad thinking about this question these past few days; seeing that horse, an answer vaguely gave him inspiration, making his heart leap.

Then, the next instant, he saw Mu Wanyao shielding her face with her veil, and Meng Zaishi leaning toward her, extending his hand. The white gauze of her veil fluttered, and as the two stood there like that, it was as if they were avoiding people and secretly kissing.

In the next instant, Mu Wanyao, like a cat with its tail stepped on, jumped up, grabbed Meng Zaishi, and fled.

Yan Shang: "..."

He hadn't even had a chance to react, but he was forced into a state of displeasure by Mu Wanyao’s guilty reaction.

Why was she running?

Why was she feeling guilty?

Did she think he was a jealous husband, or had she truly done something to wrong him?