The side room wasn’t large, but it had everything needed.

Yan Sanhe, fearing Li Buyan would catch cold, forced her to bathe and change clothes first, while she herself stood under the eaves in wet clothes, surveying the surroundings.

She’d hurried here earlier and hadn’t looked closely at what this temple was called. But judging from the environment and terrain, it was quite good.

The sky had already darkened. Xie Erli waiting here and arranging these side rooms clearly meant they would spend the night.

Why spend the night at a temple?

The door of the opposite side room creaked open. Xie Erli emerged and, seeing Yan Sanhe standing under the eaves, walked over with his umbrella.

“Miss Yan, we’ll spend the night here and head to the capital early tomorrow morning.”

“Is there a reason for this?” Yan Sanhe asked.

“This temple is called Xuanzang Temple. It enshrines Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who protects peace and safety. Whenever Third Master of the Xie manor is unwell, he comes here for quiet recuperation.”

Xie Erli raised the umbrella higher. “This is unavoidable. Don’t you agree, Miss Yan?”

These words carried hidden meaning, but that meaning wasn’t difficult for Yan Sanhe to understand.

Xie Zhifei had been away from the capital for nearly two and a half months. For such a long time without being seen, he would certainly be said to be ill.

Third Master recuperating at the manor would inevitably mean visitors coming to see him every other day.

Oh yes, there was also that un-married Third Mistress of the Xie family, who would probably visit every few days as well.

To avoid suspicion, they simply arranged for Third Master Xie to recuperate quietly at the temple where no one could see him.

Tomorrow when they returned to the capital, they could say Third Master Xie had recovered and returned to the manor, with Elder Master personally coming to fetch him.

As for Lord Pei, temples were his domain to begin with. Hearing his good brother was recuperating here, wouldn’t he naturally visit on his return journey?

With this visit, couldn’t they return to the capital together?

Very thoughtful, very thoroughly arranged. Yan Sanhe nodded, indicating she had no objection.

“Young lady, please wash up first. We’ll dine together shortly.”

“That’s not necessary. Send it to my room. We’ll depart at the first quarter of the hour of Yin tomorrow—don’t delay.”

“Wait!”

Seeing she was about to enter the room, Xie Erli quickly called out.

“Young lady, while you’ve been away from the Xie manor, we’ve been saying you returned to Yunnan Prefecture for a time to handle some trivial matters.”

Yan Sanhe frowned.

This explanation also meant she would be residing long-term at the Xie family residence from now on.

Xie Erli smiled gently. “This is unavoidable. Don’t you agree, Miss Yan?”

You’re all too clever by half!

Yan Sanhe didn’t want to waste words on such small matters. “Is there anything else to instruct?”

“The old lady and Father have been thinking of you constantly, mentioning you every few days. First Mistress and Second Miss have also asked me several times when you’d be returning.”

Xie Erli smiled gently. “When we return this time and matters are settled, I’ll take you around the manor and introduce you to people.”

The men of the Xie manor had honey on their mouths and knives in their hearts.

Each one more smooth-talking than the last, each one more calculating than the last!

Yan Sanhe remained silent for a long while before finally nodding.

…

In the side room.

Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao bathed, changed clothes, ate a few bites of vegetarian food, and went straight to sleep.

Xie Erli covered them both with quilts, blew out the candles, and then left, closing the door.

Looking up and seeing that Yan Sanhe’s side room across the way was also pitch dark, he said to Ding Yi guarding the door: “I’m going to play a few games of chess with the abbot. I won’t be back tonight.”

Elder Master’s love of chess was known to everyone in the Xie manor.

That the abbot of Xuanzang Temple played excellent chess was known to everyone in the Bureau of Buddhist and Taoist Registry.

After Ding Yi watched him leave, he took a small stool and sat by the door, his head nodding in drowsiness.

He didn’t know how long he’d slept.

Suddenly, a small pebble flew over. Ding Yi snapped his eyes open and leaped up.

“Who’s there?”

In the night, a tall slender figure slowly approached.

Ding Yi got a fright. Just as he was about to step forward and bow, that person made a silencing gesture, then pointed at the room inside.

Ding Yi quickly nodded and hurriedly pushed open the door to light the candles.

Pei Xiao was sleeping soundly when he felt someone shaking him. Annoyed, he kicked out. “Get lost!”

“Not seen for two and a half months, and your temper’s gotten worse, Mingting.”

This voice?

Pei Xiao sat bolt upright in fright, rubbed his eyes, and when he saw clearly who was sitting by the bed, rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out of his head before collapsing backward again.

Zhao Yishi smiled at Xie Zhifei. “How did you put up with him being like this the whole way?”

“Had to endure it!”

“Endure your sister!”

Pei Xiao kicked out again.

Xie Zhifei couldn’t dodge in time and took the kick solidly. “Where did you learn to curse like that?”

“From Sorceress Li.”

Pei Xiao yawned and sat up, lifting his chin at Zhao Yishi. “Why did you come?”

Zhao Yishi simply removed his shoes and climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged.

“First, I was worried and came to check on you both. Second, matters with Ji Lingchuan have been arranged, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow night. Third…”

He looked at Pei Xiao with an apologetic expression.

“Nine Miss’s matter is my fault. I didn’t watch over her properly.”

“Nothing to do with you.”

Pei Xiao laughed coldly. “It’s like the heavens wanting rain or a mother wanting to remarry—if she wanted to die, no one could stop her. I’ve come to terms with it.”

Zhao Yishi was quite surprised and turned to look at Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei yawned. “Two sorceresses scolded him. They scolded him back to his senses.”

Pei Xiao gave him an eye roll. “That wasn’t scolding—it was persuasion.”

Xie Zhifei: “Mm, persuaded him back to his senses!”

Zhao Yishi chuckled softly, then slowly composed his expression. “How did things go on your end?”

Xie Zhifei: “We found half of the old lady’s inner demon. The other half we haven’t found yet.”

Zhao Yishi pondered: “You asked me to arrange a meeting with Ji Lingchuan. Is the other half of the inner demon with him?”

Pei Xiao interjected: “Not certain. Yan Sanhe didn’t explain in detail, only said she needed to see Ji Lingchuan.”

Zhao Yishi: “What was the half of the inner demon you found?”

Pei Xiao: “Huairen, if I tell you this, you’ll be scared to death. My family’s old lady had a sweetheart when she was young. Guess who it was?”

Zhao Yishi: “Who?”

Pei Xiao: “The fugitive monarch of the Great Qi Kingdom, Wu Guanyue.”

Zhao Yishi’s expression instantly changed. “What did you say?”

“I told you you’d be scared to death.”

Pei Xiao sighed heavily.

“That dog was given to her by Wu Guanyue. My old lady was forced into the bridal sedan. Fifty years of longing—doesn’t that become an inner demon? Who the hell could have imagined this?”

Zhao Yishi: “Did you find Wu Guanyue and his father?”

Pei Xiao: “Find them my ass. After investigating everywhere, everyone says they died long ago. We wasted so much time for nothing.”

Zhao Yishi: “Then what do we do? Dead people can’t resolve inner demons, can they?”

Pei Xiao glanced at Xie Zhifei, who took over: “Yan Sanhe says Old Lady Ji’s true inner demon might still be in the capital, so we rushed back.”

Zhao Yishi took a long time to digest this shocking news before saying with a bitter smile: “Who would have thought the old lady had such a fateful encounter.”

Pei Xiao: “Who the hell could have imagined!”

“Let’s not talk about this.”

Xie Zhifei changed the subject. “What’s the situation in the capital?”

Zhao Yishi: “Nothing unusual. You two keep sleeping. I need to go back first.”

“Leaving already?” Xie Zhifei was surprised.

Zhao Yishi patted his shoulder. “Avoiding prying eyes is one reason. Not being at ease about the person in prison is the second—especially at this critical juncture, nothing can go wrong.”

As he got down from the bed and straightened his clothes, there came a knock at the door, followed by Shen Chong’s voice outside.

“Master, news from the capital—Twelfth Young Master Ji is failing fast.”