The rain gradually intensified.

The four alleys didn’t have a single lamp. High walls flanked both sides, their outlines dark and eerie, somewhat frightening.

Yan Sanhe’s hand holding the umbrella was steady, as were her steps.

That person hadn’t been wrong. After passing through the four alleys and walking for another quarter hour, the vermilion-red main gate of the Xie residence glowed brilliantly in the lantern light.

At the entrance, two stone lions stood left and right, imposingly majestic.

Yan Sanhe closed her umbrella and climbed the steps one by one. After steadying herself, her slender fingers grasped the door knocker.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

After waiting briefly, the heavy vermilion door creaked open a crack, and a square-shaped face poked out, covered in wrinkles.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Xie Daozhi!”

“How dare you! My master’s name is not for the likes of you to call directly. Go, go, go… leave at once!”

Yan Sanhe applied force with her hand, propping open the door that was about to close, creating a wide gap.

The square-faced man was startled by her strength. Borrowing the light from the entrance lanterns, he finally took a proper look at the person before him.

After just a few glances, he had her figured out.

“What business do you have with my master?”

“Important business.”

Keep spinning your tales!

The square-faced man curled his lips, unable to hide the mockery at the corners of his mouth.

With that figure and that appearance, she’s most likely some young master’s paramour. I, Old Wang, have been guarding the Xie family gate for decades—I’ve seen plenty of this type.

Every one of them, relying on their good looks, racks their brains trying to enter the Xie family gate.

How shameless!

“The threshold of the Xie residence—even as a concubine, it’s not something you outside women can reach. Miss, you seem like an intelligent person…”

“Shut up!”

Yan Sanhe’s chillingly cold gaze fixed on him, her pupils darkening several degrees.

Old Wang first froze, then inwardly gasped, “Oh no!”

Not good!

No woman climbing into someone’s bed would dare directly call the master by his personal name, much less tell him to shut up.

This person before him…

Could she be carrying a bastard child?

Old Wang called over a young servant, whispered a few instructions, and that servant vanished in a flash. Moments later, he came running back, panting heavily.

“I didn’t catch the name.”

“You only need to tell Xie Daozhi that my surname is Yan—Yan from ‘seas calm and rivers clear.'”

Yan Sanhe clasped her hands behind her back, her voice three parts lighter than the night itself.

…

This wait lasted a full half hour.

Old Wang couldn’t endure the cold and had long since gone inside to warm up.

Yan Sanhe stood under the eaves, listening to the pitter-patter of rain, her expression somewhat dazed.

Footsteps approached. The young servant led over a middle-aged man. The man was slightly plump with a protruding belly and a face shining with oil.

Someone in the Xie residence with this appearance should be the chief steward.

Steward Xie walked up to Yan Sanhe, stared at her face for a long while, then said with his nose pointed skyward: “Follow me.”

Yan Sanhe opened her umbrella and followed without a word.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month had passed just days ago, and the residence’s lanterns hadn’t been taken down yet. Walking along the path meant viewing lanterns all the way.

Yan Sanhe was secretly alarmed—alarmed not by the Xie residence’s imposing wealth and status, but by the fact that she hadn’t encountered a single servant along the entire route.

This was absolutely abnormal.

The only explanation was that Xie Daozhi had already guessed what kind of person she would be.

“We’ve arrived.”

Steward Xie pointed with his hand. “Wait in the inner room.”

Yan Sanhe didn’t rush inside. Holding her umbrella, she slowly strolled around the courtyard in a full circle before stopping in front of Steward Xie.

Closing her umbrella, she raised her head.

Steward Xie’s heart skipped a beat.

How could a perfectly good young lady have such a pair of eyes?

Those pitch-black eyes were shrouded in a layer of cold air, the pupils unmoving and staring…

Utterly unnerving!

Yan Sanhe curved her lips slightly and softly uttered two words: “Much obliged.”

Strolling around all that time just to say these two words?

Steward Xie’s face turned green.

But Yan Sanhe had already turned and walked into the inner hall.

In the inner hall, lights blazed brightly.

All the arrangements and furnishings told Yan Sanhe one fact—

This was the residence of a Cabinet Minister with overwhelming power and influence.