Seventh Miss asked a few more questions before wearily letting out a breath and handing the loose-leaf pages to Xiao Songhua. “Look at this yourself. If everything is correct, press your fingerprint on it.”

However, Xiao Songhua didn’t even look at it. She simply wiped her fingers on her clothes and was about to bite them when Seventh Miss quickly stopped her and picked up the ink pad, having her press her fingerprint instead. Only then did she begin gathering the items on the table while calling for someone to enter. “Take her down to bathe and eat, let her sleep properly, and bring in the next person!”

She didn’t rest at all and perfunctorily went through interrogating the remaining seven or eight people one by one. Only then did she signal for the servants to come in and rest while she took the notebook and left the room together with Xu Fengjia.

Ever since entering the room, Xu Fengjia had remained completely silent. Until this moment when he and Seventh Miss walked out the door together, he hadn’t said a single word. The married couple stood outside, gazing at the twilight, and for a time neither spoke.

Seventh Miss had labored all day and overexerted her mind. At this moment she only felt dizzy and disoriented. After standing under the eaves for a bit, she barely managed to gather enough strength to gently urge Xu Fengjia, “It’s already past dinner time…”

Xu Fengjia made an acknowledgment sound but still wore a deeply thoughtful expression. It wasn’t until he followed Seventh Miss into the West Third Room that he stroked his chin and slowly asked her, “The way you arranged this room is quite interesting. Covering the windows with paper—what was that for?”

Men were just men. In this situation, if it had been a woman, she would have long since been discussing with Seventh Miss the Fifth Household’s sinister intentions. What Xu Fengjia was thinking about, however, was that Seventh Miss had set up the interrogation room quite well.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help finding this both funny and exasperating. “You don’t have any need for torture right now, and even if you did, which interrogation room isn’t pitch black? These little methods of mine are nothing special.”

But Xu Fengjia was quite serious. “They’re still something. I saw that by the end, Xiao Songhua was so desperate to sleep that she couldn’t wait to tell you everything. I never realized before that preventing someone from sleeping could be such a cruel form of torture.”

He looked greatly admiring, his fervent eyes staring intently at Seventh Miss. After a long while, he sighed with feeling, “Ah, what a pity you’re not a man. Otherwise, during the Western Campaign back then, if you’d been by my side, who knows how much trouble you could have saved us!”

Seventh Miss gave Xu Fengjia a sidelong glance and said softly, “If I were a man, I definitely wouldn’t exhaust myself scheming and fighting in the inner residence like this… I’d take the Yang family’s money, buy a few acres of land in the countryside, and spend every day carefree and idle. Life would be so comfortable—nothing like today, racking my brains fighting, fighting, fighting with several sisters-in-law! Even whether or not to take concubines requires looking at others’ faces.”

Normally when she mentioned the Xu family members, she never said a single bad word, especially in front of Xu Fengjia—she never complained about Duke Pingguo. This rare harsh outburst startled even Xu Fengjia. He touched Seventh Miss’s head and said carefully, “What’s this? Are you running a fever again? You look exhausted—how about we don’t discuss this matter tonight and just sleep first?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Seventh Miss herself felt regret. Seeing Xu Fengjia being so careful around her made her feel even more guilty. She shook her head and apologized somewhat embarrassedly. “I just feel extremely vexed right now…”

After a pause, she slowly walked to Xu Fengjia’s side and rested her head on his shoulder.

Xu Fengjia moved his arms and immediately held her tightly in his embrace, stroking her back up and down to comfort her. “Since we’ve determined it was definitely the Fifth Household, leave the rest to me. Don’t worry about it anymore. Didn’t Doctor Zhong say your illness requires less mental exertion to recover properly…”

Thinking of Quan Zhongbai’s words made Seventh Miss feel even more troubled. She said gloomily, “I forgot to tell you—”

She relayed what Quan Zhongbai had said to Xu Fengjia, then stamped her foot in annoyance. “This is all so infuriating! Him, Fifth Sister-in-law, Father-in-law, Grandmother—the whole family could be living peacefully, but instead everyone schemes against everyone else. I, I… it’s gotten to the point where I can’t even have children!”

It was rare for her to show her emotions so openly in her entire life. Xu Fengjia couldn’t help laughing heartily and said intimately in her ear, “If only you’d been willing to act coquettishly like this with me when we were young, I don’t know how happy I would have been…”

Seeing Seventh Miss’s brows knit together, he quickly added, “I’m happy now too, very happy now.”

He lowered his voice to comfort Seventh Miss. “It doesn’t matter. You’re still young. Over the next ten-plus years, you can have as many children as you want. And even if you don’t have any, it’s no big deal.”

Among the men of this world, there were none who didn’t value offspring, especially someone of Xu Fengjia’s status. Even though he already had Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master, he still faced great pressure to produce more heirs. Although Seventh Miss felt a sweetness in her heart, she couldn’t help saying gloomily, “You’re lying. If I really couldn’t have children, you’d become anxious.”

But Xu Fengjia shook his head.

His burning hot eyes met Seventh Miss’s clear, beautiful eyes with rare seriousness and solemnity.

“Having children is a matter of fate—you can’t force it.” Xu Fengjia tightened his embrace, holding Seventh Miss close. “I asked Quan Ziyin, and he said your qi is deficient and your body weak. Even if you recover well in the future, childbirth will always carry greater danger for you. If you couldn’t make it through that ordeal, wouldn’t the loss outweigh the gain? I’d rather have only Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master for the rest of our lives than have you risk your life…”

He was usually carefree and joking, rarely revealing his inner thoughts. Only a few times when deeply moved did he show his true feelings. Meeting his gaze, Seventh Miss was momentarily stunned, feeling that all the bitterness and hardship of the past year and more was gradually dissolving in Xu Fengjia’s look. Thinking of how he protected her at every turn, how for the sake of that promise he repeatedly defied Duke Pingguo, and how privately he was remarkably open-minded—though jealous about her interactions with Feng Jin, he still respected her own wishes…

Her lips slowly curved upward.

Many things truly required steady persistence to wear away stone.

“It’s not quite like that either.” She said softly, “I didn’t feel this way before, but now I’ve come to understand that having children isn’t just about continuing the family line.”

She thought for a moment, then felt a bit embarrassed and simply stared at Xu Fengjia’s collar as she said quietly, “If I’d married into someone else’s family, I might not have had this desire.”

For someone of Seventh Miss’s temperament, this sentence was already rare sweet talk.

Xu Fengjia immediately made clicking sounds. “Has the sun risen from the west today? Yang Qi actually said something like this—”

Seventh Miss was so annoyed she hit him several times. Then, thinking of Xiao Songhua’s words, she couldn’t help sighing and said in a low voice, “I just suddenly feel that I’ve had enough of this life of endless scheming, where everything requires going around seven or eight bends.”

She raised her head and looked at Xu Fengjia with a slightly pleading expression, saying softly, “After we investigate Fifth Sister’s death, in a few more years, when Father… let’s separate the household. We’ll live a simpler life. While I can still bear children, I’ll recuperate my body and give you a baby. In this lifetime, I never want to scheme again.”

Xu Fengjia gazed deeply at Seventh Miss. After a long while, he nodded. “Alright. After we investigate Shanli’s matter thoroughly, you won’t need to worry like this for the rest of your life.”

As always, this statement wasn’t romantic at all, yet it made Seventh Miss feel incomparably reassured. She suddenly threw herself into his arms and held Xu Fengjia tightly, letting out a long sigh of relief in his embrace.

Outside the room, the clear laughter of children suddenly rang out, followed by the tender childish voices of Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master floating through the door. “Have Mother and Father eaten dinner yet?”

The married couple quickly separated. As Seventh Miss tidied her hair, she opened the door. “Have Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master eaten dinner yet?”

Both boys said they had. Fifth Young Master even blinked his big eyes and questioned Seventh Miss. “We came before dinner, and Aunt Lixia said Father and Seventh Mother had gone out on business—what were you doing?”

Seventh Miss couldn’t help smiling. “Naturally we had business. Does Fifth Young Master want to manage even this?”

She settled the two children beside her. “Since you’ve come, you’re punished to accompany your father for dinner.”

Fourth Young Master, with a pine nut candy in his mouth, asked Seventh Miss indistinctly, “Isn’t Mother eating dinner?”

Seventh Miss smiled. “I wasn’t going to, but to keep your father company, I suppose I’ll eat a little.”

Xu Fengjia tapped Seventh Miss’s forehead once before sitting down across from the two children and asking with authority, “What did your teacher teach you today?”

The more stern he was with the children, the more they loved clinging to him. Fifth Young Master tried to climb onto Xu Fengjia’s lap, waving his arms and legs as he said in a sweet voice, “Teacher had us draw pictures, and, and taught us to write ten characters—”

“And taught us to recite a poem!” Fourth Young Master rushed to recite it. “Goose, goose, goose, curving neck singing to the sky—”

Fifth Young Master hurriedly joined in. “White feathers floating on green water… red webbed feet stirring clear waves!”

“Mm.” Xu Fengjia nodded and said, “It would be best if you could also write this poem from memory later.”

Seventh Miss quickly said, “Don’t listen to him. Whatever your teacher tells you to do, you do that. Your father just likes to add assignments on a whim!”

Xu Fengjia widened his eyes, but before he could speak, Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master were already laughing and saying, “Mother is the best!”

In the West Side Room, maids bustled back and forth setting out dinner and adding lamps to the West Third Room. Through the glass windows, from where the lamplight glowed warmly, one could faintly hear the family’s laughter and conversation rising and falling.

#

Although both could keep matters to themselves and wouldn’t start discussing Xiao Songhua’s testimony the moment they stepped outside, Seventh Miss truly had no other diversions—her full attention was devoted to Fifth Miss’s case. After eating dinner and coaxing the two children back to the West Wing to sleep, once they had each washed up, Seventh Miss consulted with Xu Fengjia. “What do you think—should we invite the old Xiao couple in for questioning?”

For once, Xu Fengjia didn’t invoke his rule about “not discussing romance after dinner.” He set down the book in his hands, pondered briefly, then asked Seventh Miss in a consulting tone, “I think it’s better not to alert them yet?”

In the past he only knew how to be dictatorial, but now he was finally learning to consult her opinion. Seventh Miss pressed her lips together in a smile and considered for a while herself before saying, “That’s what I think too. Just bringing people up for interrogation is already conspicuous enough. Fifth Sister-in-law has been so restless lately, probably because of this matter. If we interrogate the Xiao couple, I’m afraid she’ll become anxious…”

She made a knife with her fingers and slashed through the air, continuing, “Although Wu Xun’s wife was sent to the estate, she ultimately didn’t drink the poison. When necessary, her testimony would be quite useful. We shouldn’t sacrifice the greater for the lesser. Right now, we still need to find evidence of Fifth Sister-in-law’s schemes first.”

Xu Fengjia thought for a moment, then sighed to himself. “Hearing it was her, why don’t I feel the slightest bit surprised? I just felt it was indeed her… Alas, this woman can be considered quite a character. I never imagined she could be so utterly conscienceless as to do such a thing.”

Being a man, after sighing briefly, he asked Seventh Miss, “How do you plan to investigate this matter? Is there anything I can help with?”

There was already a subtle sense of him following Seventh Miss’s lead.

In the current Great Qin, there probably weren’t many aristocratic sons with a mind as broad as Xu Fengjia’s.

Seventh Miss felt moved inside but showed nothing on her face, lest Xu Fengjia become proud again. After thinking for a while, she discussed with Xu Fengjia, “What I still can’t let go of is Grandmother’s one hundred thousand taels of silver that went missing. Given the Fifth Household’s nature, she definitely wouldn’t do business at a loss. The one hundred thousand taels absolutely wouldn’t have been squandered away. Plus the fifty thousand taels Fourth Sister-in-law mentioned—together that’s one hundred fifty thousand taels of actual silver, which can truly be called a huge sum. Her motive isn’t hard to guess, and I already have some ideas. But I’m extremely curious about where exactly those one hundred fifty thousand taels went.”

“Any news from the loan sharks?” Although Xu Fengjia didn’t approve of Seventh Miss asking Feng Jin to investigate the Fifth Young Madam’s background, now that the message had been sent, he was more eager than anyone to ask about it. “Logically, since it’s all within the capital, there should be answers within a few days.”

“Cousin is busy with official duties and might not have time to attend to this immediately.” Seventh Miss couldn’t help defending Feng Jin a few words, then continued, “I always feel that putting out one hundred fifty thousand taels for loan sharking is really too unstable. She probably wouldn’t dare… These one hundred fifty thousand taels probably had another destination. But I can’t think of what kind of business with one hundred fifty thousand taels capital could be done secretly. And why couldn’t she explain it clearly to Grandmother—why did she have to use deception to swindle those one hundred thousand taels?”

The two discussed it for a while and both found it strange. Although one hundred fifty thousand taels wasn’t a fortune, it absolutely wasn’t a small sum either—it would even be enough to open a jewelry shop. However, no matter what kind of business it was, it couldn’t be started without making any noise. And if it were a legitimate business, the Fifth Young Madam had even less reason to hide it from the Grand Madam.

After talking it over, with too few clues, they had no answers. Xu Fengjia simply dropped the subject and said thoughtfully, “What do you think—how much does Fifth Brother know about all this?”

The Fifth Young Master was usually all smiles and seemed quite close to Xu Fengjia. Seventh Miss couldn’t gauge how deep their relationship really was. Just as she was pondering this, Xu Fengjia continued, “Logically, Fifth Brother’s temperament is like Eldest Brother’s—neither has much competitive ambition, unlike Third Brother and Fourth Brother who are so determined to advance. At his age, he’s still just a palace guard with no intention of seeking a posting elsewhere…”

His hand unconsciously moved to his chest and began slowly rubbing it.

Seventh Miss knew he must be thinking again of that dangerous incident in Guangzhou. She sighed softly and said in a low voice, “People can change. Especially after marrying Fifth Sister-in-law, with pillow talk influencing him…”

Xu Fengjia’s gaze became distant. He said slowly, “Alas, when I was young and got punished by my teacher or suffered grievances from the Crown Prince, Fifth Brother was the only one who would listen to my complaints.”

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. After a long while, he said softly, “I can only hope that the next generation won’t see brothers fighting against each other.”