Cui Shaoting actually hadn’t told Yu Shi about the Yangzhou courtesan affair! Song Chuyi suppressed the shock in her heart, but her hand gripping the railing trembled faintly—could he really be bewitched by beauty? Or was there some other hidden reason behind this?

Madam Cui sensed something amiss and looked at Song Chuyi with raised eyebrows. “You, a mere child, asking your elders about such matters? You’ve truly been spoiled too much all along.” She figured Song Chuyi might be suspicious of her own master because of Shen Xiaohai’s womanizing, asking casually, so she didn’t take it to heart.

But the doubts in Song Chuyi’s heart surged up overwhelmingly. She felt she had already grasped some crucial information, but that spark of inspiration was quickly buried under chaotic thoughts and became difficult to find again.

Who exactly had such deep enmity with the Cui family that they insisted on bringing down the entire Boling Cui clan? In her previous life, they had used Cui Yingshu as their target—since Cui Yingshu was a top scholar, they employed the conventional methods used against scholars to deal with him, bribing the northern scholar’s servant to let that northern scholar see the leaked examination questions, making both Cui Yingshu and the northern scholar unable to clear their names. Now they had switched to Cui Shaoting, but Cui Shaoting was not as easy to deal with as Cui Yingshu. He had connections in officialdom and moved smoothly among these power circles. Years ago, he worked his way up to become Governor of Fujian, and now he had risen even higher to become one of the four regional governors.

What weakness had the mastermind behind all this grasped about such a person that they were now gradually closing the net? And what exactly were they relying on to have the audacity to target a direct descendant of a prestigious clan who wielded both real power and backing?

Song Chuyi recalled Lai Chenglong’s extremely stingy and extremely fragmented reminders, feeling that all the complicated threads were tangled together, making her feel as if she were trapped in layer upon layer of fog, unable to see through the clouds.

The news Qing Ying brought back in the evening made her even more restless—she had Qing Ying send a letter to Ye Jingchuan, asking him to inquire with Guo Yantang’s mother whether Guo Huaiying and Cui Shaoting’s recent interactions were still the same as before.

In his letter, Ye Jingchuan said Guo Huaiying also found it strange—there had been no news from Cui Shaoting’s side for over three months now, and he hadn’t even replied to the last letter Guo Huaiying had sent.

Another three months! Already another three-month gap!

Song Chuyi’s eyes fixed on the letter. She sat for who knows how long before finally rising abruptly. “Go to the front courtyard study!”

Song Chengru was somewhat surprised when he saw her, then couldn’t help but laugh. “You little fox coming to find me at this hour, there’s definitely no good business. But everything has its limits. The Song family and Marquis Wuning’s household have already received enough of a lesson, and their nightmare is yet to come, so you mustn’t go too far.”

The longer they spent together, the more he liked this granddaughter—she could restrain herself, knew to act within her means even with grudges that clearly couldn’t be forgiven, never taking one extra step or doing one extra thing, grasping the measure and timing just right.

Song Chuyi shook her head and looked sincerely into Old Master Song’s eyes. “Grandfather, I’m not here today about the Shen family’s affairs.”

Her own strength was insufficient to clear away all these sky-covering fogs. Old Master Song was widely experienced and had spent a long time navigating officialdom. To help the Cui family, she couldn’t rely solely on herself, nor could she even count on Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingchuan—she could only seek Old Master Song’s help.

Old Master Song pressed the white jade qilin paperweight in his hand onto the rice paper, assuming a posture of serious listening. “Tell me, what is it?”

Song Chuyi enjoyed talking with Old Master Song. He never treated her like a child, yet didn’t completely treat her like an adult either, making her feel comfortable every time. She clenched her fists and thought for a moment, then raised her beautiful eyes to look directly and openly into Old Master Song’s eyes. “Commander Lai Chenglong sent me a letter, concerning my maternal uncle.”

The new Imperial Guard Commander Lai Chenglong, Emperor Jianzhang’s confidant, currently His Majesty’s most favored person! Song Chengru was so shocked he stood up, hands braced on the desk as he stared at Song Chuyi, who had revealed this name without hesitation. It took him a long while before he spoke. “Lai Chenglong?!”

He even ignored the second half of Song Chuyi’s sentence—that Lai Chenglong’s letter concerned Cui Shaoting—only shocked that Song Chuyi could have any connection with Lai Chenglong. The Imperial Guard was equivalent to the Emperor’s eyes and ears, yet now Song Chuyi actually had correspondence with the Imperial Guard Commander?! What this meant… Song Chengru hardly dared to imagine.

Song Chuyi knew this was no longer the time for concealment. She told Song Chengru everything about the men Cui Shaoting had given her and Lai Chenglong. “Uncle said if there came a day when I couldn’t control these men, I should go find Lai Chenglong. Fortunately, these men have been very obedient until now. I’ve only needed to use Lai Chenglong once—that time at the hunting grounds when I knew in advance about Chen Xiang and Crown Prince’s plan. The information was revealed to me by Lai Chenglong.”

As for how she had used Ma Wangkun and the others to intercept and kill Song Chuning, and consequently provoked Han Zhi, she glossed over it without mentioning it.

Old Master Song stared at Song Chuyi with complex expression for quite a while, confirming he hadn’t misheard. He paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back several times before finally completely digesting this news.

Cui Shaoting actually had private connections with Lai Chenglong. This Lai Chenglong was no simple figure. He was a pure minister personally promoted by Emperor Jianzhang, with a clean background and clear family history, unconnected to any faction in court. Yet he would actually help Cui Shaoting, and now was even taking the risk to warn Song Chuyi that Cui Shaoting was in danger.

“Does anyone else know about this?” Old Master Song’s face was grave as water, his tone carrying utmost seriousness. If anyone else knew about the relationship between Lai Chenglong and Cui Shaoting, this matter would be even more complex. In the future, even the relationship between Cui Shaoting and Lai Chenglong could become a point of attack—the crime of colluding with the Emperor’s confidant had been a taboo since ancient times. Anyone who became involved would inevitably face death.

Song Chuyi shook her head. “This matter is extremely secretive. According to my maternal uncle, even my aunt doesn’t know about his relationship with Lai Chenglong.”

Song Chengru’s anxious heart eased slightly. He couldn’t be bothered to investigate why Cui Shaoting had given Song Chuyi a group of men, or what these men were used for. The Cui family and Song family were now bound together. If the Cui family fell into the mire, the Song family would find it difficult to extricate themselves.

Having finally assumed the stance of a pure minister and slowly returned to neutrality, he absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen again.