Realizing Yuan Xuan was not speaking, Qinger’s emotion was a little out of control. She continued, “I was afraid you’ll be disgusted with your Qinger because you couldn’t forget those scenarios, so I pretended to be Zhao Ruoxin as soon as I returned from City C!”

“At least, Ruoxin looks the same with Qinger, and in front of you, Zhao Ruoxin is clean…”

Shu Qinger began to tremble out of agitation, she did not plan to expose herself like this so soon, but she could not help it when she saw how Yuan Xuan treated Mu Chenyan.

She pointed at Mu Chenyan, her eyes crimson with hatred, as she growled, “Why me? She should be the unlucky one, why is it that I was the one who saved you, but also the one you dislike? This is not fair…”

Mu Chenyan was perplexed. She looked at Yuan Xuan with an inquiring gaze and asked softly, “What’s going on?”

Yuan Xuan hugged Mu Chenyan tightly and turned to see her pale face. He comforted her. “It’s nothing. I told you, you don’t need to know some things!”

He was so protective of Mu Chenyan…

Shu Qinger shot into a standing position after hearing that. She looked like she was going to tear Mu Chenyan to pieces, a dangerously ferocious grin hanging on her face.

“Brother Xuan, if Mu Chenyan doesn’t exist in this world, will you love me? This woman shouldn’t exist in the first place…”

As soon as Yuan Xuan heard Qinger say those words, his softened gaze sharpened up again. He growled, “Qinger, you saved me, and you don’t disgust me!”

“However, my promise had never been a romantic one. Mu Chenyan had nothing to do with it. If you dare to touch her…”

A sanguine savageness appeared on his face. “Anyone would have endured the same!”

…

Returning to the Hibiscus Garden, the man’s expression was calm without a shred of the cold rage he had earlier on.

It was as if he was not the person who experienced the entire scenario from before.

Mu Chenyan knew that if Yuan Xuan had decided to keep something a secret, not even her could pry his mouth open. However, there were some things that she could not help but feel like they were scratching at her without her knowing.

After a long silence, Mu Chenyan considered her words.

“You knew Qinger was alive long before, didn’t you?”

Mu Chenyan had the reason to believe that Yuan Xuan would not be in the dark for long, but thinking that her conversation with Qinger was completely discreet was a naive thought!

“I didn’t know for sure. Before this, I was just suspecting it!”

Yuan Xuan held the steering wheel with both his hands, his eyes were staring straight ahead, and his voice was slightly coarse. “I was only sure when the Zong He Incident happened!”

Hearing Yuan Xuan’s explanation, Mu Chenyan was slightly surprised. Her damp eyes looked at Yuan Xuan with a silly adorableness that melted Yuan Xuan’s heart as he peered over with his peripheral vision.

It was deep in the spring season. The road on which the car sped along toward the mansion was decorated with a vivacious green with dots of red mixed in.

Yuan Xuan kept his voice slow and composed as he continued explaining to Mu Chenyan.

“I knew Zhao Yanni was poisoned. After she was rescued, the medical report mentioned that hallucinogenic components were detected in her body.”

“I thought about it, if she took drugs like this or if she was forced to take it, it must be because she had to look like she was mentally unstable.”

“She was admitted into Zong He, in which the incident happened soon after. The only target there could only be Ye Kun.”

At this point, Yuan Xuan saw Mu Chenyan’s lips moved, but before she could say anything, Yuan Xuan stopped her.

“You don’t need to know about Ye Kun! Curiosity killed the cat!”

Mu Chenyan pouted in dissatisfaction. She tugged on the safety belt and whined. “No wonder the others always said that everywhere within the Yuan Family Mansion is conspiracies. From what I can see, you’re the biggest conspiracist of them all…”

Yuan Xuan was so triggered by that, he laughed. However, he did not bother arguing with Mu Chenyan.

“By that point, I’ve already suspected the one who brought Zhao Yanni to Luo Hai was not Zhao Ruoxin at all!”

“Zhao Ruoxin did not have loving parents in her childhood. She was actually very dependent on Zhao Yanni. According to Yan Jun’s investigation in City C, Zhao Ruoxin had always been good to Zhao Yanni even though she wasn’t a good mother!”

Mu Chenyan recalled Zhao Yanni describing Zhao Ruoxin. After she arrived at Luo Hai and had become pregnant with a mysterious man’s child, she started sending money to Zhao Yanni, she even dreamed on bringing her sister and mother over to stay with her!

Evidently, the real Ruoxin was a woman weak in resolution, so she prioritized her mother-daughter relationship much heavier than Qinger had done.

“Qinger and her mother had almost never stayed together, so there wasn’t any camaraderie to speak of. During the Spring Festival, when she had brought Zhao Yanni to Yuan Family, I’ve begun to suspect due to her attitude. Combining that with her willingness to be so cruel to Zhao Yanni, I’ve already guessed that this woman is not Zhao Ruoxin!”

Mu Chenyan knew Yuan Xuan’s analysis was logical, so she nodded and asked, “If you knew that she’s involved in the Zong He Incident, does it mean that your protection of her was because you’re not willing to let her go through it if she was Qinger? What was she talking about just now…”

Even though she did not have much hope in getting the answer, Mu Chenyan wanted to know!

Yuan Xuan’s profile was angular and sharp, tiny beads of sweat began forming on the bridge of his nose.

He did not look at Mu Chenyan, but his voice was gentle. “What a stubborn personality!”

It was true that Yuan Xuan had been doting on her, but he had secrets he did not wish for her to find out. Even if she had made a ruckus, he would still keep his mouth shut.

Mu Chenyan sighed, Yuan Xuan continued, “I did cover up for Qinger in the Zong He Incident. However, even if I didn’t, the police still wouldn’t find anything to incriminate Qinger. The poison was placed by Zhao Yanni!”

“With regards to Qinger’s identity, everything was just guesswork. We still need proofs, but the process of investigating her was not so smooth sailing. Someone erased parts of her history.”

Hearing Yuan Xuan’s explanation, Mu Chenyan suddenly felt that her admission into the hospital due to her craving for spicy food, and in turn meeting Liang Zihan, had all been a blessing in disguise…

“I tried to get the precise information about Qinger from Zhao Yanni, but she was being very wary about me.”

Yuan Xuan paused, a never-seen-before grin appearing across his handsome face.

“Therefore, I let you go there. I’m not surprised that Zhao Yanni would be grasping at straws as she turned to you. After all, there weren’t many people she could depend on in Luo Hai.”

Thinking back to when Zhao Yanni had left melancholically, Mu Chenyan realized that had treated Mu Chenyan like a life-saving straw.

Since she was going to sacrifice herself, she needed to find someone trustworthy to take care of Qinger and to take responsibility for everything that had happened in the Zong He Incident.

“Zhao Yanni had left you with her suicide note, it meant that she had already told you about Qinger’s real identity so she could take responsibility for everything. Even though you always do things behind my back, this time you helped me!”

At that, Yuan Xuan’s grin became wider.

It was then that Mu Chenyan knew she was used by him, “So you knew about everything, and you still managed to keep it under wraps, what a natural-born conspiracist!”

Yuan Xuan laughed silently. “Is this my wife praising me?”