In her previous life, it was Zhou Yinzhi who had “investigated” the Yongyi Marquis Manor.

Later, Shen Jie ascended the throne and vindicated the Yongyi Marquis Manor.

Even later, Zhou Yinzhi was shot to death by Xie Wei’s chaotic arrows, his head severed and nailed to the palace gates.

From this, it was clear he had done nothing good.

This man’s heart was set entirely on power and high position. To achieve his goals, he always used any means necessary, yet he was meticulous and cautious in his actions, leaving no loose ends, making it extremely difficult for anyone to catch him in error.

This was the reason Jiang Xuening had found him convenient to use in her previous life.

Only in this life, she didn’t even want to enter the palace. To have such deep connections with this person again would be tantamount to conspiring with a tiger. Yet right now, he was her only channel for understanding the Yongyi Marquis Manor’s involvement in Prince Pingnan’s old case. Furthermore, with Xie Wei potentially ready to take her head at any moment, even if she didn’t want contact, she had to make contact.

She could only hope that in this life she could shed worldly troubles and obtain the kind of “freedom” You Fangying had spoken of.

She sighed inwardly, climbed back onto the carriage, and said, “To Cengxiao Tower.”

By this time, dusk had gradually fallen.

In deep autumn, the wild geese had vanished without trace.

Only a few people remained drinking at the top of Cengxiao Tower.

Chen Ying, who had been promoted to Vice Minister of Justice half a year ago, played with the wine cup filled with fine liquor, his whole manner leisurely, yet he said, “The Embroidered Uniform Guard has always obeyed only His Majesty’s commands. To investigate the Yongyi Marquis Manor must also be His Majesty’s intention. Those remnants of Prince Pingnan’s faction have been locked in the Ministry of Justice’s prison for several days now. They can’t interrogate anything out of them, so today they specifically called this official out to torment them a bit, to see if we can pry something from their mouths. Lesser Preceptor, you are constantly at His Majesty’s side. Could you enlighten this lowly official—what exactly does His Majesty want to learn from their mouths?”

Chen Ying was a notorious cruel official in recent years. His methods of torture and tormenting prisoners were extremely brutal, even inhumane. But he had also solved several major cases because of this, with quite impressive achievements in the localities.

This even included the major accomplishment of completely eliminating the Tianjiao Cult’s Jiangsu branch in one sweep.

However, he was also very fond of figuring out the thoughts of those above him.

When doing things under the Emperor’s nose, sometimes what the truth was didn’t matter—what mattered was what the Emperor wanted to hear.

The person sitting opposite him had no court lecture today and wasn’t entering the palace, so he wore only a simple white robe with wide sleeves, not adorned with any accessories, and even his hair was simply bound up with a plain ebony hairpin without any particular styling.

At this moment, he didn’t raise his head to look at Chen Ying even once.

On the table sat a newly made zither, having passed through the first eleven processes. Its lacquer shone like a mirror, the wild goose feet fully installed, while he lowered his eyes, pulled at the strings, and carefully threaded them through one by one.

Chen Ying’s gaze flickered, and he continued, “Our Emperor appears magnanimous, but in Chen’s private opinion, His Majesty is far too suspicious.”

Xie Wei finished threading the first string, then wound it around the wild goose foot on the right side of the zither’s back.

Chen Ying couldn’t help but scrutinize his expression. “Take someone like Lesser Preceptor yourself—no matter how you put it, you were a meritorious minister who assisted His Majesty in ascending the throne, weren’t you? Yet now you’ve merely been granted the title of ‘Lesser Preceptor’ without real authority, and not even ‘Grand Preceptor.’ If one were to really calculate it, you have the reality of being the Imperial Teacher but lack the name. Yet that good-for-nothing monk Yuanji, who hasn’t actually done anything, not only did His Majesty grant him the title of National Preceptor, but also let him take charge of the Ministry of Rites, with rank reaching Minister. If Chen had even one or two tenths of your ability, I couldn’t tolerate such matters. Does Lesser Preceptor truly have no feeling of injustice whatsoever?”

Xie Wei’s fingers were fingers born for playing the zither.

His nails were clean and transparent, displaying a gentle warmth.

He didn’t stop threading the zither strings, only saying, “Vice Minister Chen, mind your words. His Majesty is the supreme sovereign. How can one presume to speculate on the Emperor’s thoughts? Moreover, Wei is but a mere scholar, only knowing theoretical strategies. Master Yuanji, in the past when His Majesty was still in his princely residence, sat in philosophical discourse with Wei. His Buddhist scholarship is absolutely not an empty reputation. That His Majesty granted him the title of National Preceptor has its reasons. Thunder and rain dew are both imperial grace—why should there be any injustice?”

Chen Ying laughed once, seemingly unconvinced. “Whether it’s fair, everyone in the court has a clear idea. Won’t you guide me just a little—how exactly should this subordinate interrogate these people?”

Xie Wei said, “Interrogate them as you should interrogate them.”

Chen Ying frowned. “What if I still can’t get anything out of them?”

Xie Wei said, “If Lord Chen cannot interrogate them, naturally someone who believes they can will come to replace you.”

Chen Ying’s heart immediately went cold, and he had already calculated things in his mind. He promptly set down his wine cup and gave a deep bow. “Thank you for your guidance, Master Xie.”

Xie Wei continued to bow his head threading the zither strings, occasionally plucking them lightly to test the sound.

The sounds at the top of the tower came intermittently.

The setting sun in the west cast a layer of soft rosy light over him, yet it couldn’t change his coloring in the slightest, only stretching his shadow long behind him.

Chen Ying knew this zither had been in the making for three years and was extremely cherished. Now that it had reached the point of stringing, that Xie Wei was willing to spare him three words and two sentences already gave him plenty of face. Naturally understanding propriety, he didn’t linger further. After bowing respectfully, he took his leave and went downstairs.

After Chen Ying left, Jian Shu, who had been standing to the side holding his sword the entire time, had his brows furrowed tightly. Though he had a youthful face, he wasn’t impulsive. After truly contemplating for a while, he asked hesitantly, “Master, are you allowing them to investigate like this?”

Xie Wei said, “If not Chen Ying, it would be someone else.”

Jian Shu fell silent.

After a short while, a server from downstairs came up, carrying a tray full of food and wine. “Sir, what you ordered has arrived.”

Jian Shu said, “When did our master ever order anything?”

The server looked completely surprised. “Didn’t the gentleman who just went down help order it?”

This server looked like an ordinary person, yet appeared quite unfamiliar, and when he spoke, he carried a not-very-obvious Wu-Yue accent.

Since when did Cengxiao Tower have such a server?

Jian Shu suddenly sensed something was wrong. He abruptly raised his eyebrows, drew his sword from its sheath, and shouted loudly, “Master, be careful!”

“Crash!”

The moment Jian Shu cried out, this “server” knew he’d been exposed. The earlier facade of pure kindness and ingratiation immediately transformed into ferocious savagery. He actually pushed the entire tray of food and wine toward Jian Shu, extracted a short blade one and a half feet long from the bottom of the tray, and struck directly at Xie Wei!

“Die!”

Xie Wei had just picked up the zither when the man’s short blade arrived. With only a sharp “twang,” the four strings he had just threaded snapped under the knife’s edge!

The body of the zither now bore a knife mark as well!

His previously peaceful and warm expression instantly turned ice-cold.

The side street alley wasn’t too far from Cengxiao Tower. Jiang Xuening figured Yan Lin should have arrived by now, so she only had the carriage stop on the roadside diagonally across from the tower and instructed the driver to go into the building to fetch someone.

But she never expected that the driver had barely left when a black shadow attacked from outside!

She saw only the flash of a bright blade, and a short knife was already pressed against her neck. Tang’er, who was also in the carriage, didn’t even have time to cry out before this person struck the back of her neck with one palm, knocking her unconscious and making her collapse at Jiang Xuening’s feet!

In this moment, feeling the icy coldness transmitted from her neck, only one thought emerged in Jiang Xuening’s mind—

Damn it!

That bastard Xie was indeed going to kill this palace lady to silence her!

However, very quickly, she realized the situation was wrong. From the building across the way came what seemed to be shouting voices—someone was loudly ordering to search inside and out thoroughly, followed by a commotion of footsteps.

Someone reported back that the person couldn’t be found.

Jiang Xuening couldn’t see what the person holding her hostage actually looked like. She could only sense that this person’s hand gripping the knife had a slight tremor, as if they’d just experienced an intense fight, or perhaps were just as nervous as she was.

Soon, footsteps approached this carriage.

Someone stopped in front of the carriage.

Jiang Xuening heard that voice say, “Is Miss Ning the Second inside the carriage?”

Only Xie Wei would call her “Miss Ning the Second.” Even if she didn’t recognize this voice, she could discern who was speaking!

In an instant, her mind raced.

The one holding a knife to her neck was most likely an assassin.

Xie Wei wanted to capture this person.

The other party hadn’t made their move, presumably judging from her carriage that the person inside was at least not ordinary, wanting to use her as a hostage.

On the surface, her life was threatened by the knife-wielding person, however…

Outside the carriage was an even more terrifying demon!

This situation was far more frightening than simply encountering Xie Wei wanting to kill her to silence her!

Because Xie Wei could completely kill her along with the assassin in the name of executing the assassin or rebels, then push the blame onto the rebels afterward. Or he could allow the other party to hold her hostage but refuse to meet any of the assassin’s conditions, deliberately waiting for the assassin to kill her!

This way, he’d save both the cover-up and explanations.

There was no more worry-free method of death in the world that could completely separate Xie Wei from her death. At most, he’d say “beyond my capabilities,” and no one could fault him.

Jiang Xuening only needed to think this through to feel her scalp tingle. She also didn’t dare look back at the knife-wielding assassin. After the other party pushed her, she immediately spoke with a trembling voice, “It’s me.”

Xie Wei outside asked again, “Are you alone?”

Jiang Xuening couldn’t figure out the assassin’s thoughts behind her and didn’t dare answer.

But the assassin let out a sinister laugh. “Of course she’s not alone.”

Earlier, that servant beside Xie Wei had reacted too quickly, causing his assassination attempt to fail. Immediately afterward, people swarmed up from all around to capture him. It seemed this man surnamed Xie had quite a few people secretly protecting him when he went out.

Left with no choice, he fled, and only this carriage was a hiding place.

Since Xie Wei could assist that immoral dog of an emperor in ascending the throne, he naturally had some insight. Guessing that he was in the carriage wasn’t surprising, so there was no need for him to hide it. On the contrary, he vaguely heard that Xie Wei actually recognized the young lady in the carriage.

In that case, there was room for negotiation.

Touching Jiang Xuening’s neck with the knife, he asked her, “You know the man surnamed Xie?”

Compared to the one outside, this assassin actually wasn’t the most dangerous one.

Jiang Xuening had already shown a flaw once before Xie Wei and was deathly afraid he would detect something again this time and take the opportunity to finish her off. Combined with being genuinely frightened, she said with a trembling voice, “I… I know him. Four years ago, I saved Master Xie’s life. Though I don’t know which noble hero you are, let’s talk things through. I beg you, hero, please don’t act rashly…”

These words were not only for the assassin but also for Xie Wei.

Back then, at the very end of her life, in order to preserve Zhang Zhe and return his lifelong reputation, she had used the favor from many years ago. Now, having been reborn for only a few days? She clearly knew more than in her previous life and acted more cleverly than in her previous life…

Yet she hadn’t expected to have to use this favor to save her life so soon!

Xie Wei stood outside the carriage, separated from the person inside by only a lowered carriage curtain.

Hearing the assassin’s voice, he wasn’t surprised.

But after hearing Jiang Xuening’s explanation, his eyebrows moved slightly, finding something rather intriguing in it.

The surrounding pedestrians had long since vanished. The street was filled with a chilling atmosphere.

Jian Shu stared coldly at the interior of the carriage.

But Xie Wei glanced at another youth beside him dressed in tight clothing with bound sleeves and carrying arrows on his back. With an extremely subtle gesture, he waved his hand, signaling him to go, and only then did he directly address the interior of the carriage. “Indeed. Miss Ning the Second has shown life-saving grace to Wei, and her father is on good terms with Wei. That the hero harbors dissatisfaction with the court can be considered a public matter concerning the realm. Now holding hostage an unworldly young lady would unavoidably harm the innocent. Between capturing rebels and saving my benefactor, Wei would choose the latter. I presume the hero also does not wish to die here. If the hero is willing to release Miss Ning the Second, I can have someone bring my command token and arrange for someone to open the city gates, sending the hero safely out of the capital.”

Complete nonsense!

Jiang Xuening didn’t believe a single word.

Only she was at someone’s mercy and couldn’t rashly speak up. Moreover, in front of Xie Wei, she didn’t dare open her mouth either.

But the assassin hadn’t expected his luck to be so good—randomly entering a carriage and grabbing Xie Wei’s former life-saver. He let out a great laugh. “It seems Heaven is watching over me, wanting to spare me a way out. I’ve only heard people say that Lesser Preceptor Xie devoted himself to Daoist studies and wasn’t close to women. I never expected he’d have moments of cherishing beauty. Since you say this is your life-saver and you want her safe, it’s actually simple. Why don’t you come exchange yourself for her! I’ll hold you hostage out of the city—wouldn’t that be even better? Otherwise…”

His voice paused, suddenly turning extremely sinister.

“I’ll cut this woman down with one slash right now!”

Cold sweat broke out on Jiang Xuening’s back, and in her heart she cursed this assassin for being an utter fool! No wonder in her previous life, whether it was Prince Pingnan’s rebels or the Tianjiao Cult rebels, they all fell into Xie Wei’s hands—this pig brain was truly too far behind!

Could Xie Wei’s words be trusted?

Still hoping to use her as a threat to make Xie Wei substitute himself!

If Xie Wei agreed, she could take off her own head and carry it in her hands while walking!

Outside was a deathly silence.

The assassin grew impatient. “I’ll count to ten. If you haven’t considered it—”

“No need to count.”

Xie Wei’s calm voice interrupted him.

Jiang Xuening’s heart leaped to her throat.

Immediately after, she actually heard him say, “Please send Miss Ning the Second out, and I can take her place.”

Jiang Xuening: “…”

No matter what she thought, the assassin was already overjoyed, thinking that even the legendary Imperial Teacher Xie Wei had moments of confusion. Thinking that everyone wants to live, he actually negotiated conditions with him.

Little did he know that since he had made his move, he had never planned to return alive today.

Having Xie Wei replace this woman was just a ruse. The real purpose was to kill someone while they were close during the exchange!

“You, lift the curtain.”

He viciously ordered Jiang Xuening, the knife still held against her neck.

Jiang Xuening thus moved slowly, leaning forward, extending her hand, and slowly lifted the carriage curtain.

The faintly reddish skylight immediately poured in.

Then she saw Xie Wei standing tall three zhang away in front of her carriage, his long eyebrows indifferent, his eyes deep and still, dressed in wide-sleeved robes, plain and unstained by dust. His features were extremely handsome, yet what everyone would always notice at first glance would be this restrained bearing of his—profound like a deep pool and stable like a mountain, calm and composed, yet subtly concealing three parts of gravitas. Making one think of high mountains, think of vast seas, think of the traveling sages of ancient times, or hermits gathering bracken ferns in the mountains.

His gaze crossed the empty space and fell upon her, peaceful and far-reaching.

Yet Jiang Xuening shuddered.

She suddenly remembered: besides Jian Shu who was skilled with the sword beside Xie Wei, there was another reticent Dao Qin who excelled at archery, never missing a shot, hitting a target from a hundred paces with ease!

Glancing around again, outside stood the tall Cengxiao Tower…

Most likely, when this assassin left the carriage and revealed himself in people’s sight, it would be the moment of his death!

She just didn’t know whether Xie Wei would very “conveniently” dispose of her as well…

The assassin behind her also scanned around, only saying to Xie Wei, “Have all your people retreat thirty zhang away!”

All those holding knives and swords looked toward Xie Wei.

Xie Wei thus waved his hand at them, then looked directly at the assassin and said, “Please rest assured, hero. Wei dare not place my benefactor and friend’s beloved daughter’s life in danger. A gentleman’s promise—if the hero is willing to release her, I absolutely will not harm the hero’s life.”

Everyone retreated, leaving only Xie Wei at the original spot.

The assassin said, “Come forward.”

Xie Wei stepped forward.

When he walked to within only six feet of the carriage, the assassin called for him to stop, then shoved Jiang Xuening whom he held captive. Jiang Xuening truly didn’t want to get out—Heaven knows whether an arrow would pierce through her head the moment she got out.

But with the knife at her neck, she had to get out even if she didn’t want to.

At this time, she could only descend.

The assassin held her hostage the entire way, then slowly approached Xie Wei.

Jiang Xuening’s entire body was trembling.

She felt the King of Hell had already stood outside knocking on the door.

Yet never did she expect that when they finally got close to Xie Wei, the assassin suddenly pushed her away without warning and actually directly raised his blade to strike at Xie Wei!

Xie Wei’s expression didn’t even change.

In that split second, Jiang Xuening felt this was an opportunity and immediately lunged toward Xie Wei without hesitation—she didn’t believe that with Xie Wei as a shield, the bow-puller upstairs would still dare to aim at her!

A wave of clean, sweet, cold fragrance rushed toward him. Xie Wei could calculate the assassin’s move but hadn’t calculated that Jiang Xuening would “fall” toward him. For a moment, even the corners of his eyes twitched slightly. Fortunately, his reaction wasn’t slow. Before she could topple onto him, he extended his hand and caught her with one grasp, also separating the rapidly closing distance between them!

At the same time, a sharp whistle sounded in midair with a “swoosh.” In the quiet and dangerous air, it seemed as if the vibration of a bowstring echoed leisurely!

From that high building, an arrow shot forth like lightning!

In this moment, Jiang Xuening’s pupils contracted sharply, thinking she was going to die.

However, in the next moment, a patch of snowy white blocked her view.

It was actually Xie Wei frowning, calmly raising his hand, lifting his wide sleeve robe to shield her.

Jiang Xuening froze, unable to see ahead.

In her ears, she only heard the sound of an arrow piercing through a skull, just like piercing through a crisp-skinned watermelon. Then she saw several red shadows of fresh blood splatter out, falling onto this clean sleeve robe.

Shocking to behold!

The assassin’s blade at this time was only two or three inches from Xie Wei, the ferocity on his face not yet faded, when a feathered arrow was already embedded in the center of his brow. The entire shaft penetrated his skull, the arrow emerging from the back of his head!

One could see what terrifying force the archer had used!

He was carried backward by this arrow to fall, swallowing his last breath with still a few parts of disbelief remaining in his eyes.

Yet Xie Wei’s face was full of cold indifference. He only glanced once, then released the hand supporting Jiang Xuening’s arm and lowered the hand that had raised his sleeve robe.

Jiang Xuening steadied herself. Without the sleeve robe blocking her view, only then did she see that the assassin was indeed dead from the arrow. Looking again toward Cengxiao Tower beside them, a blue-clothed youth carrying an arrow quiver had already lowered his bow by the railing and retreated back into the shadows.

On the ground, red and white matter burst forth—blood and brain matter alike.

If not for Xie Wei raising his sleeve earlier, these would certainly have splattered all over her.

Jiang Xuening stood to the side. Just smelling that bloody scent made her feel nauseated, her face deathly pale. She thus turned her eyes away, not daring to look again.

All the guards who had retreated earlier now hurried back.

Some went to check on the assassin’s condition.

Jian Shu directly walked to Xie Wei’s side.

Xie Wei’s left sleeve robe was already covered in blood, and even that slender hand like clear bamboo was stained with quite a bit.

Seeing this, Jian Shu took out a clean brocade handkerchief from his sleeve and offered it with both hands. “Master.”

Xie Wei accepted it, but with a shift of his gaze, his eyes fell on Jiang Xuening’s earlobe.

He looked for a moment, then extended this brocade handkerchief toward her.

Jiang Xuening immediately froze.

Only belatedly did she raise her hand, her fingertips touching something sticky. Lowering her hand to look, it was a small amount of blood that had splattered onto her earlobe.

For a moment, her hair stood on end.

She feared Xie Wei extremely. Just now when she lunged at him she hadn’t succeeded, and no arrow had landed on her body. At this moment, seeing him extend the handkerchief, beyond secret alarm she felt even more trepidation.

She hesitated for quite a while, her thick, long lashes trembling, before she carefully extended her hand and took the handkerchief from Xie Wei’s extended hand, saying in a low voice, “Thank you, my lord.”

What happened just now was forced by circumstances.

But now…

Because in her previous life she had suffered the embarrassment of him telling her to “have some self-respect,” she was extremely cautious now.

She only took the handkerchief, but her fingers didn’t dare touch his palm in the slightest.

However, that handkerchief was snow-white and soft, made of the finest silk. When she took it away, one corner drooped down and happened to brush across Xie Wei’s palm, seemingly there yet not there.

Xie Wei’s long fingers curled slightly in what seemed like a spasm. At the same time, he saw the shallow scar on her wrist revealed when she extended her hand, and vaguely felt in his mouth the taste of blood that had filled it in some year of desperate straits.

He withdrew his hand, clasping it behind his back, holding it loosely.

Only then did he look at her and say, “I’ve frightened Miss Ning the Second.”

Jiang Xuening wiped away that smear of blood at her ear.

The handkerchief was stained with blood.

She lowered her gaze. “Fortunately I encountered my lord. Knowing you would surely have a way to rescue me, I was all right.”

“Is that so?” Seeing her wipe away the blood and clutch that handkerchief in her hand, Xie Wei extended his hand toward her, yet said faintly, “But just now I heard Miss Ning the Second mention in the carriage the old favor of saving Wei’s life, which sounded more like you feared Wei would refuse to save you. It seems Wei was overthinking.”

Hearing these words, Jiang Xuening was nearly scared out of half her soul. Forcing herself to remain composed, she said, “The assassin questioned me and I didn’t dare not answer. For a moment I had no idea what to do, and I was afraid he’d think me ordinary and casually kill me, so… so did I say something wrong?”

Only after finishing did she see his extended hand, so she hurriedly returned the handkerchief.

Xie Wei accepted the handkerchief back from her hand. Using this single piece of white silk already stained with a bit of blood, he slowly and carefully wiped his left hand that had been splattered with blood earlier, actually lowering his brows and eyes, no longer speaking.

The silence made Jiang Xuening’s heart pound.

Jian Shu at the side, seeing this, glanced at Xie Wei and silently put away the other brocade handkerchief he had originally prepared to offer.

After a short while, someone came to report: “Lesser Preceptor, Hereditary Prince Yan is outside the street and wishes to come in.”

Xie Wei’s wiping motion paused. He raised his head to glance at Jiang Xuening, then said, “Jian Shu, escort Miss Ning the Second over.”

Jian Shu responded, “Yes.”

Jiang Xuening held her breath, curtsied to Xie Wei, and didn’t dare ask about the condition of the maid in her carriage. She only followed Jian Shu across this long street to reach Yan Lin’s side.

After the two left, Dao Qin came down from upstairs.

In his arms he held a zither.

Xie Wei accepted it, raised his hand to stroke those broken strings and the deep knife mark on the zither’s body that penetrated into its belly. Not a trace of expression remained on his face. After a very long while, he finally said, “Send the corpse to the Ministry of Justice. Have Chen Ying come see me.”