“Old Master Ji!”

Yan Sanhe didn’t look at Pei Xiao, continuing to question:

“The old lady’s favoritism toward you and the second son—was it from guilt at not raising you herself, or because she feared the powerful Zhang clan and had no choice but to favor you?”

These words made Ji Lingchuan’s back break out in layer after layer of cold sweat.

He said weakly, “Miss Yan, could you let me rest a moment, catch my breath before continuing?”

“What’s there to rest about? It’s very simple—choose one of two.”

Pei Xiao sneered coldly. “However, I grew up at the old lady’s side. After Maternal Grandfather died, I never heard of the Ji family maintaining contact with the Zhang family. What was Maternal Grandmother afraid of?”

“You little bastard, shut up!”

Ji Lingchuan slapped the table, his face turning livid.

Not only did the little bastard not shut up, he even pointed at Yan Sanhe for his own defense.

“Didn’t she say it? There’s no right or wrong, only truth. Uncle, we need to find the truth to close Maternal Grandmother’s coffin. There’s no time!”

At these words, Yan Sanhe and Li Buyan’s gazes silently met: This Master Pei truly disowns even his own relatives!

Having reached this point, what more could Ji Lingchuan hide or cover up?

“From start to finish, the Zhang family never put my mother in their eyes. Every year’s gifts to the Zhang family were personally prepared by my father.

“Whenever that household had joyous or funeral occasions, Father only took us two brothers. Mother never stepped foot in the Zhang family’s gates her entire life, never inquired about matters there.”

Tears again seeped from Ji Lingchuan’s eyes.

“My mother often said in life she’d wronged me and Second Brother, felt guilty, so favored us somewhat.”

Yan Sanhe laughed coldly. “Also feared affecting you two brothers’ prospects, didn’t dare inquire.”

“Miss Yan, people strive upward, water flows downward.”

Ji Lingchuan’s emotions, suppressed for many days, suddenly burst like a dam.

“Without my legitimate mother, the Ji family wouldn’t have today. Without the Zhang family’s support, Second Brother and I wouldn’t have today. Without Second Brother and me, everyone in this household couldn’t enjoy such good fortune.

“Speaking further back, if legitimate mother could have borne her own children, my mother—forget entering the capital as a concubine—couldn’t have even left the mountains of her hometown. She’d have been a fisherwoman her whole life.”

Yan Sanhe heard the thick dissatisfaction in these words.

“Old Master Ji’s relationship with the old lady doesn’t seem so filially affectionate?”

“Indeed not!”

Ji Lingchuan’s voice was cold as frost in the depths of winter.

“Inner chamber women only see what’s within arm’s reach. What does she understand of the world outside?

“Second Brother and I worked ourselves to the bone creating this family fortune. For one dog, she wanted to harm her sons and grandsons to death. Utterly foolish!”

“Uncle!”

“Don’t push your luck, boy.”

Ji Lingchuan slapped the table and rose angrily.

“Touch your conscience and tell me—how have I treated your maternal grandmother? Filial or not? Apart from not letting her be buried with your maternal grandfather, which point have I wronged her?”

“…” Pei Xiao was speechless.

In the silence.

Yan Sanhe stood up, walked forward step by step, her gaze lifting to meet his eyes levelly.

“Ji Lingchuan, do you look down on your birth mother?”

“Besides bearing me, what did she ever give me? Before my grandfather and grandmother, she was meek and submissive. Before my father and mother, meek and submissive. Before me, meek and submissive.”

Ji Lingchuan sneered repeatedly.

“I don’t look down on her—I hate that I wasn’t truly born from my legitimate mother’s womb. If I were the Zhang family’s legitimate nephew, would the Zhang family stand by watching me suffer and do nothing?”

Yan Sanhe’s eyes sharpened.

“So you’re meek and submissive before the Zhang family too?”

“…”

Ji Lingchuan was greatly shocked.

“Because you’re weak, you must be meek and submissive facing the strong. When you encounter people weaker than you, you straighten your spine more righteously than anyone.”

Yan Sanhe’s somber gaze was sharp as a blade.

“Ji Lingchuan, just as your birth mother had no way to choose her reincarnation, you also had no way to choose whether to be born from the legitimate wife’s womb. But there’s one thing you can choose.”

Ji Lingchuan squeezed out two words from between his teeth: “What?”

Yan Sanhe: “Be a bit kinder in your conduct, a bit more tolerant.”

Ji Lingchuan: “…”

“The dead person’s obsession is indeed the cause; descendants’ misfortune is indeed the effect. But there’s one point I might as well tell you clearly.”

Yan Sanhe smiled coldly.

“Just based on that Heart Lake in your back garden—even without the old lady’s coffin not closing as the cause, your dismissal from office is only a matter of time as the effect.”

As the last word fell, Ji Lingchuan’s face turned ashen.

…

In the teahouse, lively and noisy.

On stage, the storyteller slapped his gavel and began his tale of “two flowers bloom, each branch told separately.”

Below stage, Xie Sanye had one leg crossed over the other, slowly savoring a pot of tea. In his heart, it was already boiling like water, completely unseemly.

Not going to the Ji household—besides wanting to leave Ji Lingchuan some face and dignity, there was another more important reason—

He was waiting for news.

Just then, Zhu Qing walked into the teahouse and sat down beside Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei’s eyes lit up. He called out, “Waiter, add a teacup, and two more plates of snacks.”

“Right away, Third Master!”

The teacup filled, Zhu Qing not only didn’t drink, but instead dipped his hand in some tea water and wrote a character on the table—crimson.

As expected, the Censorate made their move today.

Xie Sanye’s expression darkened. He quickly dipped his hand in tea water and hastily wrote a character: East?

Zhu Qing shook his head.

With this shake of his head, Xie Sanye’s expression turned completely grim.

The Censorate only wore crimson robes to morning court to impeach when evidence was solid and matters were well in hand.

The Eastern Palace Crown Prince’s silence meant he couldn’t speak.

First, the Ministry of Revenue had always been under the Crown Prince’s management. Ji Lingchuan was his subordinate—as superior, his responsibility couldn’t be escaped.

This matter was stirred up by the Han Prince. Ji Lingchuan wasn’t the ultimate goal at all—the Crown Prince was. As long as the Crown Prince dared speak half a word for Ji Lingchuan, the Han Prince would bite.

Severing the arm to survive was the superior strategy.

The Emperor would definitely rage thunderously. In his great rage, he would definitely raid the Ji household—fastest would be this afternoon, latest would be nighttime. Either way, it wouldn’t be left overnight.

Now he could only hope Yan Sanhe’s side could…

This thought only half-formed when Xie Sanye himself wanted to shake his head.

How could it be that fast!

He made a decisive decision: “Go to the Ji household.”

“Yes!”

Zhu Qing threw down silver and followed behind Third Master out of the teahouse. Just as he was about to mount his horse, Third Master grabbed him.

“If you encounter a raid of the Ji household, secretly protect Yan Sanhe and quickly bring her back to the estate.”

Zhu Qing’s expression changed drastically.

“Master, doesn’t Miss Yan have Miss Li at her side?”

“That girl’s martial arts are decent, but what the capital lacks least is people with decent martial arts.

“Last time she dared alone to challenge the entire Ministry of Justice—sufficient proof she doesn’t understand the depth of waters in the capital’s officialdom, and her temperament is impulsive.”

Xie Zhifei remembered this matter, and his spine went cold.

“Just as a precaution!”

“Yes!”