The mountains rose like painted eyebrows, with lowland fields beside the waters. From near and far in the patches of verdant beauty came the faint, intermittent sounds of birds, their calls clear and pleasant—whether Huamei or some other kind was unclear.

Pei Yunying stood in the shadow cast by the dead tree, gazing at the drifting clouds above the mountain peak.

The clouds hung over the village like an undispersible shadow, tightly wrapping the long day.

How much could a bird be worth?

Ten taels? Twenty taels?

Five hundred taels? A thousand taels?

None of these.

It turned out that when a bird became precious enough, it could cost four human lives, perhaps more.

How absurd.

The weights on the two ends of the scale were so unequal, it was laughably absurd.

Lu Tong heard her voice: “Where are the other Yang family members?”

Pei Yunying had said the entire Yang family of four had perished in the fire. She asked: “Are there any distant relatives?”

“No.”

Pei Yunying said: “Yang’s eldest daughter had already died of illness before the incident. Besides the Yang couple, there was only a son-in-law and a mentally challenged son. All are no longer in this world.”

Lu Tong fell silent.

Though she had already guessed this outcome, hearing it spoken aloud still cast another shadow over her heart.

She looked at the house standing amid the wild grass and slowly walked forward.

The house no longer showed its original appearance, the great fire had consumed everything, the ashes long since solidified. Only the collapsed doorframe offered glimpses of how dire that day had been.

A copper hook still hung on the wall beneath.

Lu Tong reached out, touching the blackened copper hook.

She could almost see what had been there before—a green-gauze birdcage hanging from the hook, the Huamei singing joyfully within, while around the doorway, a family of four laughed as they sorted tea leaves.

She withdrew her hand, saying softly: “So similar.”

Pei Yunying looked at her.

Lu Tong lowered her eyelashes.

The Yang family’s fate was so similar to the Lu family’s.

The same extinction of a family of four, the same all-consuming fire. The only difference was that the Lu family fell because of Lu Rou, while the Yang family fell because of Huamei. The innocent suffer for possessing something precious—ordinary people meeting undeserved disasters, like pigs and sheep, dragged to the slaughterhouse mat, powerless to resist, at the mercy of others.

In the eyes of those powerful nobles, human lives were worth less than a Huamei bird.

Less than beasts.

It was as if a raging fire rose from her heart, the calmer she appeared, the more turbulent it became. She suppressed the hatred and anger in her heart and asked Pei Yunying: “So you’re saying Qi Yutai killed them and took the bird because the Yang family wouldn’t give her the Huamei?” Lu Tong frowned: “But if that’s the case, why did Qi Yutai come to hate Huamei?”

People don’t develop aversions to things without reason, and the Grand Tutor’s mansion not keeping birds for many years seemed more like avoidance than hatred.

Why did Qi Yutai avoid them?

Pei Yunying said quietly: “When I learned of this matter later, I inquired with the Imperial City Bureau. Their intelligence revealed signs of fighting in the Yang family house.” After a pause, he continued: “It’s said that during those days, Qi Yutai encountered bandits while traveling and suffered minor injuries.”

Lu Tong’s heart stirred: “This means…”

“Yang’s son-in-law, Yang Dalang, had studied martial arts with a training hall master for several years.” He turned to look at Lu Tong.

In an instant, Lu Tong understood completely.

The fog in her mind gradually cleared.

Qi Yutai had been determined to have the Huamei bird, so she brought people to Mangming Village. But Old Yang, deeply loving his deceased daughter, ignored Qi Yutai’s silver and politely refused. Qi Yutai grew angry and humiliated, perhaps an argument broke out, and Yang’s son-in-law Yang Dalang arrived. Yang Dalang knew martial arts and wasn’t one to submit to bullying, so seeing his father-in-law being mistreated, he came to help…

This must have been when Qi Yutai suffered those “minor injuries” from Yang Dalang.

But no matter how skilled Yang Dalang was in martial arts, he couldn’t fight off multiple opponents, especially after injuring the Grand Tutor’s young master. So the entire family of four, including the helpless, mentally challenged son, all died.

The Qi family’s people left after setting fire to the Yang house, destroying all evidence. But Qi Yutai developed a psychological condition because of this incident…

She was reportedly timid, and with relatives prone to mental illness, her mind was already unstable. Having been quite frightened by Yang Dalang that day, she thereafter kept her distance from Huamei birds.

Qi Qing, who deeply loved his son and feared him following his mother’s path, drove away all birds from the mansion to avoid triggering Qi Yutai and causing the hidden illness to manifest early.

Throughout the whole incident, the Qi family, from their lofty position, cleaned up the Yang family by clearing away fish blood and meat and erasing all traces. The injustice and hatred within, no one knew.

Just like when they cleaned up the Lu family.

The difference was that the Yang family had already fallen—besides this burned house and untended graves, no one remained alive. But the Lu family still had her.

Qi Yutai… couldn’t erase all traces.

Lu Tong stood before the burned house for a long time.

Not until there were faint calls from the tea garden, worried they had stayed too long, did Lu Tong turn to leave with Pei Yunying.

Mangming Village remained as peaceful and tranquil as when they arrived, the Yang family’s burned house having no apparent impact on the area. A row of houses along the street had their doors open, with older women sitting under the eaves in the sun, picking tea leaves. They sorted through the harvested leaves for tender ones to earn wages.

Tea baskets for drying were everywhere, and the ubiquitous green somewhat dispersed the earlier gloom, bringing some spring warmth. Lu Tong walked beside Pei Yunying and heard him say: “It’s getting late, let’s eat here.”

They had set out early, and it was now past noon. They hadn’t even had water on their tiring journey before seeking out the Yang house. If he hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have noticed, but once he did, Lu Tong felt her hunger and thirst, so she said: “Alright.”

There was a tea pavilion ahead, and as they walked toward it, suddenly a medium-sized yellow dog darted out from the roadside. It must have been a guard dog kept by one of the households along the street. Before Lu Tong could react, she felt someone grip her elbow as Pei Yunying pulled her to the inside of the path.

“What are you doing?” Lu Tong frowned.

Pei Yunying looked at her strangely: “Aren’t you afraid of dogs?”

Afraid of dogs?

Lu Tong’s heart skipped slightly.

That time at the Commander’s mansion, when Duan Xiaoyan brought four black puppy hounds, she had lost her composure. Later when Pei Yunying asked, she had casually brushed it off. She hadn’t expected him to remember.

The yellow dog wagged its tail and ran ahead. Lu Tong felt his scrutinizing gaze on her and calmly said: “It doesn’t look like it bites.”

Pei Yunying gave a short laugh.

He didn’t say anything more, and Lu Tong didn’t continue the topic.

When they reached the tea pavilion’s entrance, they could see clearly that rather than a pavilion, it was more like a farmhouse that had opened its small courtyard, with a banner hanging from the roof beam—red background with white characters spelling “Tea.” The yard held only one wobbly wooden table and several bamboo chairs, presumably just set up by the household to earn some tea money from passersby. As few outsiders came to this area, the setup was very simple.

A woman wearing a yellow headscarf came out from inside and smiled when she saw them: “Ah, the young master has returned.”

It was the same woman who had given them directions when they first arrived at Mangming Village.

Pei Yunying smiled as he sat down in one of the yard’s chairs, handed over a silver ingot, and said: “Trouble you, sister, to prepare some food and tea for us two.”

This “sister” clearly pleased the woman, and seeing Pei Yunying’s generosity, she smiled even more broadly: “What trouble? It’s my duty, just that our simple farm fare might not suit the young master’s taste—hope you won’t mind.” As she spoke, she lifted the teapot on the table and poured two cups of hot tea: “Please have some tea to wet your throats first, and wait just a moment.” With that, she turned and went to the kitchen.

Though the courtyard wasn’t large, it was kept clean and tidy, with several large baskets of fresh tea leaves drying in the sun on the platform.

Lu Tong lifted her face covering and raised the teacup to take a sip.

Pei Yunying smiled and said: “Drinking so readily, aren’t you afraid someone might have poisoned the tea?”

Lu Tong instinctively looked at the teacup in her hand.

The red clay teacup was larger than those in Shenjing city, its material coarse, as if fired from ordinary earth, exuding a rustic quality. However, the tea was extremely sweet, with green tea leaves floating up and down in the water, tinting it a jade color, its fragrance overwhelming.

She looked at Pei Yunying: “So my lord didn’t drink just now because you were waiting for me to test it for poison?”

He smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

Lu Tong inwardly sneered.

Children of the powerful were always so affected. She had only heard of emperors requiring palace servants to taste their food for poison but hadn’t expected this person to be the same.

Thinking this, Lu Tong said nothing, waiting until Pei Yunying had also taken a sip of the clear tea before speaking: “Then my lord may be disappointed.” She said sarcastically: “I’m immune to all poisons. Perhaps I could drink this entire cup unharmed, while one sip might send Lord Pei to his grave.”

Pei Yunying: “…”

However, the imagined scene of blood splatter didn’t materialize—after drinking the tea for half an incense stick’s time, both were perfectly fine.

Birds chirped in the courtyard. After a moment of silence, Lu Tong put her empty teacup back on the table and said: “Lord Pei, I don’t understand. You could have told me about the Yang family matter directly last night. Why insist on personally accompanying me here today?”

When she had asked about this in Pei Yunying’s study last night, he had refused to explain. Yet coming to Mangming Village today to see the Yang family’s burned house hadn’t yielded any discoveries.

For such a simple matter that could be explained in a few words, why make a special trip?

Surely it wasn’t because she had damaged Pei Yunying’s wooden pagoda last night, and he was deliberately getting revenge by making something simple complicated, insisting on dragging her out here.

Pei Yunying stared at her and smiled: “Doctor Lu’s words make it sound like I’m meddling unnecessarily.”

“My lord is overthinking.”

“You’ve accused me of overthinking many times. It makes me seem like a scheming villain.”

Lu Tong swallowed the “Aren’t you?” that had risen to her lips and just smiled slightly: “I meant no such thing.”

He nodded and spoke casually: “I was afraid you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Believe?”

Just then, the woman with the headscarf came out carrying a large wooden tray, smiling as she set out hot dishes on the table: “Sorry to keep you waiting. We’re just country folk—it’s simple fare, please don’t mind.”

Indeed, they were simple farm dishes: pork fried in lard, elm flower porridge, buckwheat pancakes, mixed fresh vegetables… All steaming in red clay bowls, their aromas enticing, along with a basket of fresh, golden loquats.

After setting out the food, the woman said “Please enjoy” and was about to leave when Pei Yunying called her back.

“Sister,” Pei Yunying smiled, “We just visited Old Yang’s house. It was burned very thoroughly.”

“Indeed it was,” the woman stopped, sighing, “Such a good family, all gone.”

“How exactly did the fire start at Old Yang’s house? Why didn’t anyone discover it?”

The woman pursed her lips, “How did it start? It just started, didn’t it? Everyone was working in the tea gardens, and by the time anyone noticed, it was too late.”

“Could it have been arson…”

At these words, the woman jumped in fright, repeatedly saying: “We shouldn’t speak of such things! We’re just common folk—who would want to set fire to Old Yang’s house? Young master, please don’t say such things anymore. If word gets out, we’ll all suffer!” With that, as if avoiding something taboo, she hurriedly left the courtyard with the empty wooden tray.

The courtyard grew quiet again.

Pei Yunying poured tea into Lu Tong’s empty cup and said quietly: “Does Doctor Lu understand now?”

Lu Tong didn’t speak.

The woman had seemed so warm and hospitable, yet a few words from Pei Yunying had frightened her into fleeing—clearly, she was terrified to speak of the Yang family matter.

“It’s been five years since the Yang family incident, and Mangming Village remains peaceful and calm.” Pei Yunying pushed the filled teacup toward Lu Tong. “If Doctor Lu was thinking of using the Huamei case against the Qi family, you can give up now.”

Lu Tong fell silent.

Setting aside that the Qi family’s fire had burned away all evidence, and that the Yang family had been completely wiped out without a single survivor, the fact that after five years not a whisper had emerged about the Yang family case was enough to show that even if the villagers of Mangming knew something was amiss, no one dared investigate deeper, much less speak up for the Yang family.

The fear of the “lowly” toward the “noble” seemed innate, carved into their bones.

Lu Tong now somewhat understood why Pei Yunying had insisted on bringing her here.

He wanted her to see firsthand the common people’s fear of the “powerful,” to understand the cruelty of reality—that he wasn’t exaggerating in his words, but that revenge truly was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

“No matter the price offered, no one dares to speak up, no one dares to talk.”

Pei Yunying looked at her, his expression growing solemn.

“Miss,” he said calmly, “The enemies you face will become more numerous and stronger. This is no joke.”

Hearing this, Lu Tong instead smiled.

She nodded, her voice gentle: “Thank you for the warning, Lord Pei. I’ll handle it as I see fit.”

“What do you plan to do, poison Qi Yutai?”

“That’s no concern of my lord’s.”

He ignored Lu Tong’s aloofness and smiled carelessly: “The Qi family isn’t like the Ke or Fan families. If you kill Qi Yutai, you likely won’t escape unscathed.”

“But at least he’ll be dead, won’t he?”

Pei Yunying was taken aback.

Lu Tong said flatly: “I’m going to die anyway. When dealing with someone already marked for death, my lord should be a bit more lenient if I offend in the future.”

Pei Yunying’s brows furrowed slightly.

She always spoke so casually of death, seeming not to care, as if she didn’t value her own life at all.

Was it fearless confidence, or a death wish?

Lu Tong hadn’t noticed his thoughts, just removed her face covering and picked up the bamboo chopsticks to take a crispy sugar cake, saying: “My lord should eat quickly before the food gets cold.”

Not wanting to continue the topic.

Pei Yunying paused for a moment, then said nothing more and picked up his chopsticks.

Lu Tong had already taken a bite of the crispy sugar cake.

Fresh crispy sugar cakes could burn the mouth easily, but after cooling for a while, they were just right. Taking a bite, the sweetness of sesame and brown sugar filled her tongue—it was a very happy taste.

Pei Yunying watched her thoughtfully.

He asked: “Does Doctor Lu like sweet things?”

Earlier at Renxin Medical Hall, Lu Tong had given him a bamboo tube of sickeningly sweet ginger honey water. The honey water was so sweet it was hard to taste anything else—even Duan Xiaoyan couldn’t stand it, but she seemed used to it.

It seemed that several times when he went to Renxin Medical Hall, he had seen sweet syrup water on the small table… and lotus pastries too. Lu Tong had an extremely sweet tooth.

Lu Tong paused, then made a sound of agreement.

He nodded: “I see.”

And said nothing more.

The meal was very good.

Farm cooking was always satisfying—compared to the refinement of Shenjing city restaurants, it had a more natural flavor. After they finished eating, Qing Feng also finished his meal, and the three returned together to the tea garden entrance where they had first arrived. Qing Feng brought the carriage, and they all descended the mountain together.

By now the sun was setting in the west, and Mount Tuoluo was no longer as verdant as when they had arrived. The crimson sunset cast a bloodlike hue over everything. Two white egrets flew past the lakeside, gradually disappearing into the distant mountain peaks.

The descent was always easier than the climb. When the carriage reached the foot of the mountain, the sun had just set, and lanterns were being lit at the doors of homes below.

A muffled noise came from outside the carriage. Lu Tong lifted the curtain and saw that at a temple entrance along the street they were traveling, a crowd was queuing in a long line. At the front, a porridge stall had been set up, with several servants in black clothes ladling rice porridge from an iron pot into bowls held by those in line.

The people in line were all in tattered clothes and gaunt-faced. Lu Tong watched for a moment before suddenly realizing—they were giving out charity porridge.

In Changwu County during that year of plague, at first, kind-hearted wealthy merchants were giving out porridge in the streets too.

“Those are the Grand Tutor’s people providing famine relief,” came Pei Yunying’s voice from beside her.

“The Grand Tutor’s mansion?” Lu Tong turned sharply.

Pei Yunying leaned against the carriage, glancing at the busy scene outside, his voice very light: “You should know about Qi Qing having a son in his later years.”

Lu Tong frowned.

Miao Liangfang had told her that Qi Qing had had two wives. The first wife had been married to him for many years without conceiving and died of illness without leaving any children. It was the later second wife who bore Qi Yutai and Qi Huaying, the pair of siblings.

But what did this have to do with Qi Qing giving out porridge?

Pei Yunying’s lips curved: “Qi Qing was childless for many years. A master did divination for him, saying his ancestors’ sins were heavy, and he needed to give more charity and alms, to be kind and generous.”

He smiled, but his eyes held mockery: “Later, Qi Qing gave famine relief every year, invited high monks to hold ceremonies, and built bridges and roads. After marrying his second wife, sure enough, he had a son and daughter.”

“After that, our Grand Tutor Qi came to deeply believe in karmic fate.”

He spoke derisively, but Lu Tong found it merely laughable.

If Qi Qing truly believed in karmic fate, how could he have ruthlessly destroyed the Lu and Yang families? If karmic retribution truly existed in this world, how could distributing a few bowls of porridge and holding some ceremonies possibly offset the evil of exterminating entire families?

How absurd.

Pei Yunying glanced at her: “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that the Grand Tutor’s mansion does this simply because they believe ‘men can be deceived, but the gods and buddhas cannot.'”

“But they’re wrong.”

Lu Tong said coldly: “It is men who must not be deceived.”