It was still the same courtyard, except now not even a fly could enter.

Yan Sanhe wore a dark cyan robe, her hair bound up like a man’s, pacing slowly and leisurely about the courtyard.

Steward Xie moved a bamboo chair into the center of the courtyard and sat down, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on her.

Little did he know that while Yan Sanhe’s feet moved slowly and leisurely, her mind was turning faster than anything.

Taking out the betrothal agreement had been meant to pressure Xie Daozhi.

This pressure had made Yan Sanhe understand two things: first, even with solid evidence, Xie Daozhi would never acknowledge his relationship with Yan Hang.

Second, this man would turn hostile at the drop of a hat—he was a ruthless character!

If she hadn’t thought quickly on her feet and thrown out that line about “do you really think I would step through the Xie family’s gates without any precautions,” Xie Daozhi could have killed her on the spot.

Come to think of it, that made sense—if he weren’t a ruthless character, how could he have committed that sordid deed all those years ago, the one that Grandfather couldn’t let go of even in death?

What puzzled her was that Young Master of the Xie manor.

Why had he stepped out to smooth things over at such a critical moment?

To help her?

Impossible.

They were father and son, after all.

No wait!

He had used a delaying tactic to buy time for secretly investigating what her so-called “precautions” were!

Understanding this point, Yan Sanhe’s expression, which had been relatively steady, finally changed.

These father and son were both cunning foxes!

One thing was certain—the Xie family would find absolutely nothing, because that line had been completely fabricated on her part, meant purely as a bluff.

So next, two outcomes would emerge:

Either Xie Daozhi would remain wary because he couldn’t fathom her depths, or he would burn his boats and kill her to silence her first.

Yan Sanhe turned her head to look at those blade-carrying household guards at the gate.

With her skills, scaling a wall and dealing with one or two people who didn’t know martial arts—she could manage that. But dealing with this many people…

There would be only one outcome: death.

Yan Sanhe felt very regretful now.

Had she known this trip would be so difficult, she should have brought along that girl who knew martial arts, rather than ending up in this predicament where she could neither advance nor retreat.

“Steward Xie, hot tea is here.”

“Just set it down!”

Yan Sanhe’s train of thought was interrupted, and her footsteps also stopped. She turned her head to see Steward Xie holding a tea bowl in one hand, using the lid to skim the tea with the other.

Her mind stirred, and she turned to walk into the room.

This person surnamed Yan…

What does she want to do?

Steward Xie’s hand trembled, nearly spilling tea all over himself.

Just as he had set down the tea bowl and was about to follow inside to see what was happening, Yan Sanhe emerged, now carrying a grand master’s armchair.

Steward Xie’s bottom settled back down.

But before he could sit firmly, that grand master’s chair landed with a “pa” beside the bamboo chair, and Yan Sanhe shook out her cyan robe and sat down silently.

The grand master’s chair was more than half a head taller than the bamboo chair.

The two sat side by side.

One sat solid and steady, like a master.

One sat with legs bent, like a servant.

Steward Xie: “…”

Steward Xie bit down hard on his back teeth. Just as he was about to stand up and go inside to fetch a grand master’s chair himself, he saw Yan Sanhe’s fingers tap on the back of the armchair.

As he looked up, she looked down, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Let me guess—what is your master doing right now?”

Before Steward Xie could change his expression, Yan Sanhe had already provided the answer.

“He should be sending people to investigate me!”

Steward Xie: “…” How did she know?

“What a pity—he won’t find anything.”

Impossible!

My Third Young Master serves at the Five City Military Commissioner’s Office. Although he left the capital yesterday evening, there are plenty of brothers at the office!

Whatever you, Yan Sanhe, did in the capital, whoever you met—none of it can escape their eyes and ears.

Steward Xie used a “hmph” as his retort.

Yan Sanhe acted as if she hadn’t heard that “hmph,” leaning her head a bit closer to Steward Xie.

“…Give your master a message.”

These words were spoken practically in Steward Xie’s ear.

He didn’t feel any warm breath—instead, he felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

“If anything happens to me, none of your Xie family will live long either!”

“…”

“Don’t believe me? Feel free to try?”

A roar exploded in Steward Xie’s mind, as if a large hand had seized his throat tightly, preventing him from uttering a single word.

He shot up and ran out of the courtyard without looking back.