My house was confiscated and I was exiled. I emptied the emperor's warehouse and fled.

What kind of things would make people want to teach someone a lesson?

Su Yunwan's eyes flickered: "Is it your third brother who punished himself?"

As soon as she said this, she realized that something was wrong, the point being that she was marrying someone she didn't mean to marry and making assumptions.

But Qin Junyi admitted it: "Yes, I warned him before that he was not allowed to punish himself without my judgment, but he ignored it. I will give him the cold shoulder for a few days and let him reflect on it."

Su Yunwan looked into his eyes silently. Seeing that Qin Junyi did not dodge and acted frankly, she retracted her gaze, temporarily putting aside her inner doubts, and said on this topic: "I feel that he has serious psychological trauma."

Qin Junyi nodded in agreement with a gloomy expression, and said distressedly: "I have thought of various methods, but none of them worked."

The only people that Third Brother feels resentful about and feels indebted to are him, Third Aunt, and Qingxuan.

Now, with Wanwan's help, they have healed the physical pain caused by the disaster. They have walked out of that dark period, living in the present and looking forward to the future.

Only the third brother is still trapped in the darkness of the past and cannot escape it.

Su Yunwan thought for a moment and said, "If there is some way to make him clearly realize what is illusion and what is reality, and understand that the past cannot be retrieved but the future is still promising, maybe he can get rid of the nightmare and heal his heart."

Qin Junyi seemed to have gained something and fell into deep thought.

A few walls away, Qin Mu didn't even know that the response he wanted to hide had already been turned upside down by Qin Junyi.

He regretted his inappropriate attempt to avoid suspicion and paced back and forth in the yard in a restless state.

Suddenly, he stopped and asked Yan Dong who was waiting in the distance: "Is Zhao Keyan asleep?"

"I don't know, shall I go check it out now?" Seeing Qin Mu nod, Yan Dong quickly went to the courtyard next door.

Soon, Zhao Keyan, who was getting ready to go to bed, came over with Yan Dong.

Under the bright moonlight, she was wearing a white dress with her long hair draped over her shoulders. Her skirt and hair danced in the wind. She was not wearing any makeup but was still more beautiful than any other girl.

"Third Master." A gentle voice broke the silence of the night, and Zhao Keyan bowed to greet him.

Qin Mu raised his hand and said, "Do you remember the agreement I made with you before?"

Zhao Keyan's crossed fingers suddenly tightened, and she lowered her head and replied, "Yes, I dare not forget."

"Very good, follow me." Qin Mu said, turned around and walked away.

Zhao Keyan followed closely with a pounding heart.

When they arrived at the bedroom, Qin Mu ordered Yan Dong to bring in another bedding.

Yan Dong agreed and left. Qin Mu said coldly, "You will stay here for the next few days. I don't need to teach you how to behave to the outside world, right?"

"Yes, I understand." Zhao Keyan blushed and lowered her head in response with mixed feelings.

After the bedding was delivered, Qin Mu asked Yan Dong to go downstairs and rest.

The candlelight flickered in the room, and there was silence for a moment.

Zhao Keyan glanced around quietly and found that the room was very spacious. It was divided into bedroom, study, tea room and other spaces by exquisite screens to meet the owner's various life needs.

The large bed, soft couch, desk, bookcase, chairs, coffee table and other furniture are all made of exquisite materials and are luxurious and elegant.

From the small details, we can see Qin Mu's status in the palace.

Qin Mu walked around the screen and came to the large huanghuali bed. He rolled up his thin quilt and pillow, carried them to the soft couch in the writing area, and said, "Go to bed and rest."

Zhao Keyan immediately reached out and grabbed the limp back, leaning over to stop Qin Mu from adjusting the quilt, "Third Master, I'm shorter than you, so let me sleep over here."

"No, go to bed." Qin Mu wanted her to cooperate with him in pretending to have a deep relationship with him so that she would not be left without a bed to sleep on.

Zhao Keyan sat down, raised her head, and said with a determined look in her eyes: "Third Master, with your height, this couch is not long enough.

You are busy with official duties during the day. If you don't get enough rest at night, how can you have enough energy to deal with official duties? I am an idle person. I have slept on a soft bed before, so it is not a problem at all."

Qin Mu didn't want Zhao Keyan to have a bad rest, and Zhao Keyan also didn't want to "occupy the magpie's nest" and affect Qin Mu's rest.

"No need, I'll just sit down and practice my internal energy." Qin Mu's mind was in a complicated state and he couldn't fall asleep at all, so he simply practiced his energy instead.

"Then you should go to the bed too, where you can move more freely." After Zhao Keyan said this, she mustered up a bit of courage, picked up the bedding that Qin Mu had brought over, and quickly put it back on the big bed.

Qin Mu looked at her back: "......"

In recent years, he has never seen anyone dare to be so bold in front of him!

Zhao Keyan placed her bedding on the couch, then looked into the stunned eyes of Qin Mu and smiled nervously, "Third Master, would you like to rest early?"

Qin Mu stared at the woman in front of him who was trying hard to hide her nervousness. In the end, he did not lose his temper. He just snorted and walked towards the inner room.

Listening to the sound of clothes being taken off behind the screen, Zhao Keyan's face flushed and she curled up on the couch.

Originally, she thought she would not be able to sleep all night, but in fact, perhaps because she felt at ease, she fell asleep without realizing it.

But Qin Mu, lying on the bed, really couldn't sleep. He listened to the light breathing sounds in the corner and meditated until dawn.

In the following days, Qin Mu kept avoiding Qin Junyi.

This is not quite accurate. Strictly speaking, he was avoiding Su Yunwan.

It’s just because Qin Junyi loves Su Yunwan so much after not seeing her for a long time that he wants to stick with her all the time.

Even when he was handling official business in the mansion, he let Su Yunwan take the child to play in a corner of the study so that he could see Su Yunwan at any time.

Qin Mu had no choice but to avoid it as much as possible to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and perceived misunderstanding.

His awkward behavior made Qin Junyi even more depressed.

A few days later, Qin Junyi held a banquet at the General's Mansion in the city to entertain the meritorious officials and generals who had made outstanding contributions during his absence from Youzhou, and promoted and rewarded them.

He created the Shaofu system, which was in charge of the royal palace's taxation and all handicraft industries including smelting, as well as the Qin family's arsenal and weapons manufacturing.

As the person with the greatest contribution, Qin Mu was appointed on the spot as the highest official in the Shaofu, Shaofujian.

His power is so great that it is comparable to that of the first-rank ministers in the imperial court.

The most important thing is that this appointment fully conveys Qin Junyi's consistent trust in him.

At this moment, all the speculation, panic, and self-deception in Qin Mu's heart collapsed like an avalanche, and the haze that had lingered in his heart for a long time was completely dispelled.

His eyes could not help but turn red slightly, he suppressed the excitement in his chest, stood up and clasped his fists to accept the order: "Thank you, big brother, I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Qin Junyi's lips curled up into a faint smile, he nodded slightly, and stretched out his hand to motion him to sit down.

Afterwards, everyone present congratulated Qin Mu. The recent rumors about Qin Mu losing his mind were thus dispelled.

The banquet lasted until late at night. Everyone went home, and those who stayed overnight went back to the guest house.

Qin Junyi called Qin Mu to the study and asked him to play a game of chess with him.