The carriage slowly started moving.

Li Buyan’s eyes fixed on the purple bruises on Yan Sanhe’s neck, practically shooting fire.

“Who did it?”

“Buyan, don’t act rashly.”

“Let me finish first.”

“Speak!”

Yan Sanhe recounted every detail of her meeting with Lu Shi to Li Buyan.

She described in particular detail the sensation of Steward Lu’s hand around her throat.

Because only with enough detail could Li Buyan judge whether this person’s martial skills were high or low.

“I can’t say if he’s a master, but this person is definitely ruthless and merciless.”

Li Buyan’s face darkened. “Those who practice martial arts have rules—we don’t bully the weak, and we don’t bully women, children, or the elderly.”

Yan Sanhe was very puzzled. “How could someone like this be at Lu Shi’s side?”

“Because he’s done too many bad and immoral things, if he doesn’t keep a skilled fighter nearby, how could he sleep at night?”

Li Buyan slapped her palm on the blanket.

“Damn it, to be ungrateful as a person is one thing, but how can someone have no trace of humanity? Men, oh men, what the hell are they all? My mother was right—phoenixes rising from chicken coops are untouchable. Whoever touches them dies.”

“Phoenix men?”

“Surnamed Lu was originally just a dirt chicken. Borrowing the Tang family’s influence, he transformed into a phoenix, then flew off on his own, not caring whether others lived or died. That’s a phoenix man.”

Li Buyan ground her teeth. “I now fully suspect the spring examination fraud case was related to that dirt chicken Lu. Maybe he was the one stirring up trouble behind the scenes.”

Yan Sanhe was silent for a long time before saying, “Let’s go. Let’s go to a teahouse to listen to opera and drink tea.”

“You still have the mood for that?”

“The great eunuch Yan Ruxian’s house was raided—such a major event, the teahouses and wine shops will definitely have people discussing Lu Shi. There’s nothing to do at home anyway, so we might as well go there and listen. We can’t get through from the inside, so let’s start from the outside first. I don’t believe Lu Shi is an impenetrable wall.”

“Well said!”

Li Buyan’s fighting spirit instantly rose eight zhang high. “We must peel off the skin of this bastard Lu Shi layer by layer. This lady doesn’t believe in his evil!”

Yan Sanhe was silent for a while before saying, “Buyan, do you remember that small heart demon I resolved in Jiaozhou Prefecture a year ago?”

“I remember. It was the Han Family Fort in Jiaozhou.”

Li Buyan sighed. “A wealthy household. The food, clothes, and accommodations they arranged for us were all top quality. To this day, what I can’t forget most is their family’s…”

“Buyan.”

Yan Sanhe interrupted. “I remember Han Family Fort is an escort agency that also gathers information for people.”

“You mean…”

“They owe me a favor. I want to ask them to investigate Lu Shi.”

“Why do we need to investigate? Hasn’t Tang Jianxi already explained everything clearly?”

“He only mentioned part of it. After Tang Qiling fell, how did Lu Shi climb up step by step? How did he shed the identity of Tang Qiling’s student step by step? And how did he reach the position of a second-rank official step by step…”

Yan Sanhe looked at her. “Without alerting Third Master and Young Master Pei, using Han Family Fort is fastest and most reliable.”

“Han Family Fort…”

Li Buyan’s heart ached. “If you asked them for a hundred or eighty thousand taels, they’d give it. Now using this favor to investigate that dirt chicken…”

“Do you still want to peel off the phoenix man’s skin layer by layer?”

“Peel it!”

Li Buyan swung her palm out. “Strip him naked!”

“I also want to know about the Lu family.”

Yan Sanhe took out a handkerchief and tied it around her neck to cover the bruises.

“What kind of water and rice could raise such wolf-hearted, dog-lunged descendants?”

…

As night fell, Kaifang gambling house became lively.

Third Master Xie and Young Master Pei, who hadn’t appeared for many days, showed up today.

The two masters first gambled a few rounds in the main hall, then complained it wasn’t exciting enough and went up to the boat house, making all the other gamblers curse heaven with envy. Damn it, why didn’t heaven give them a good birth?

The boat left the dock. Third Master and Young Master Pei stood at the stern, both feeling uncomfortable all over, like ugly daughters-in-law who finally had to meet their in-laws.

Young Master Pei couldn’t stand it and untied a jade pendant from his waist.

“How about this—heads we confess, tails we don’t confess. Let heaven decide?”

“Fine.”

“Don’t just say ‘fine’! Once it’s decided, you can’t go back on your word.”

“Alright.”

Young Master Pei tossed the jade pendant up, caught it in his hand, and opened his palm—

Heads??

Confess!!

Young Master Pei’s whole body shuddered. He quickly stuffed the jade pendant into Xie Zhifei’s hand. “I just used the toilet and didn’t wash my hands. You do it.”

Who was the one who said no going back on our word?

Third Master Xie gave him a look and tossed the jade pendant up, caught it, opened his hand—

Tails??

Don’t confess!!

Third Master Xie’s whole body jolted. He stuffed the jade pendant back into Young Master Pei’s hand. “I also used the toilet and didn’t wash my hands. You do it.”

“You bastard, can’t you have some backbone?”

Just then, Mei Niang walked by, twisting her slender waist. Young Master Pei had a thought and tossed the jade pendant to Mei Niang. “Quick, toss it up.”

Mei Niang thought the two masters were playing some game and obediently tossed the jade pendant up.

The jade pendant flipped several times in the air and fell with a “snap.”

Where did it land?

By sheer coincidence, it landed standing upright, wedged in a crack between the deck boards.

Third Master Xie and Young Master Pei both looked down at the same time and sighed in their hearts.

Third Master: “Mingting, it’s heaven’s will!”

Young Master Pei: “Heaven’s will cannot be defied!”

The two raised their heads, their gazes met, and the dust settled: Right, that’s decided then. Say half, keep half.

…

It was still the same dock, and still the same person waiting for the boat.

In a light gray robe that brought to mind the verse: “The gentleman on the road is like jade, unmatched in all the world.”

Young Master Zhao entered the boat cabin, removed his cloak, sat down at the table, and looked at the two with a half-smile.

Young Master Pei sat beside him like a timid little wife, guiltily propping his chin on his hand, guiltily opening his mouth.

“This matter, well, it’s all my fault. I wasn’t reconciled in my heart and thought I should at least try to fight for it, so I dragged Fifth along with me.”

Zhao Yishi picked up a grape. “Fight for what, Young Master Pei?”

“A lifelong matter!”

His hand slipped, and the grape rolled away. Zhao Yishi looked astonished. “You still haven’t given up?”

Third Master Xie lifted his robes and sat down, peeling a grape and placing it in Zhao Yishi’s hand. “It’s how men are—what they can’t have, they’ll think about for a lifetime.”

Zhao Yishi put the grape in his mouth, pressed it a few times, spat out a seed, and placed it in Pei Xiao’s palm. “Look at you.”

The opportunity to break the ice had finally come.

Xie Zhifei took out a handkerchief, pulled Zhao Yishi’s hand over, and wiped it ingratiatingly a couple of times, taking the opportunity to say, “It’s all my fault. I indulged him. If you want to scold someone, scold me.”

“Oh?”

Zhao Yishi’s voice was as light as a breeze.