On the third day after the Dragon Boat Festival, Li Buyan and Han Xu returned to the capital.

Upon receiving the news, Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao immediately rushed to the villa.

When they arrived, Li Buyan had already washed up, while Han Xu was nowhere to be seen.

Pei Xiao could tell at a glance that Li Buyan had lost weight, but Li Buyan glanced over and said carelessly, “Young Master Pei, why have you gotten thinner?”

Because of you.

Pei Xiao cleared his throat, saying against his heart: “The bureau has been busy these past few days.”

Li Buyan believed him, and the conversation returned to its proper course.

“When I was in Taiyuan Prefecture, I heard many people discussing the Zheng family matter. At this rate of spreading, it will soon reach the Qi Kingdom.”

Once it reached the Qi Kingdom, it would also reach the ears of Ah Qiang, the tomb keeper. Ah Qiang would certainly mention this matter at the graves of Wu Guanyue and his son.

Beneath the Nine Springs, father and son could rest in peace.

A stone in Yan Sanhe’s heart finally settled completely. “Buyan, let’s talk business. Did you see the person?”

“I did.”

Li Buyan: “She married into the Ge family of Taiyuan Prefecture. Han Xu said the Ge family was quite wealthy and prosperous in earlier years, but in recent years they’ve been on a downward trajectory, and their coffers are somewhat empty.”

Yan Sanhe: “What’s her name?”

“Her name is Zheng Wanlin. Her husband is called Ge Chengliang, fourth in the household ranking, so people call her Fourth Madam.”

Li Buyan: “When I asked about the Zheng family matter, Fourth Madam cried so heartbrokenly, she couldn’t stop for quite a while.”

Xie Zhifei suddenly spoke: “Does Ge Chengliang treat her well?”

Li Buyan was curious: “Third Master, why do you think to ask this?”

Xie Zhifei kept his face expressionless: “Asking on behalf of Bu Liu.”

Bu Liu was particularly attentive to the people and matters of the Zheng family, so Li Buyan naturally believed him.

“Ge Chengliang treats her reasonably well. Her own belly has also been productive—she bore three sons for the Ge family. It’s just that those two concubines look somewhat seductive and flirtatious, not like proper women.”

“Hmph!”

Xie Zhifei sneered: “No wonder the coffers are empty—it’s all been spent on women.”

Third Master always had a sweet tongue—when had he ever been this caustic?

Yan Sanhe looked at him meaningfully, then said, “Buyan, continue.”

Continue?

Just thinking about it made Li Buyan excited. She slapped the table: “Yan Sanhe, you really guessed correctly—Haitang Courtyard truly has secrets!”

Pei Xiao couldn’t help himself: “What secrets?”

“Can you believe it?”

Li Buyan also looked meaningfully at Yan Sanhe.

“Zheng Wanlin said that before she married out, she had never even seen what that pair of twins from Haitang Courtyard looked like.”

Haitang Courtyard was an isolated island within the Zheng residence.

On the island were only four people: the couple Zheng Huantang and Madam Zhao, and a pair of twins.

The reason Haitang Courtyard was an isolated island came down to two matters.

The first was Madam Zhao.

When Madam Zhao was a maiden, she had caused the deaths of two betrothed fiancés. For Zheng Huantang to marry her, he knelt before his father Zheng Yu for many days in supplication.

Unable to resist his son, Zheng Yu reluctantly agreed to let Madam Zhao enter the family.

One year after Madam Zhao entered the family, she gave birth to a pair of twins, born on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, rumored to be ghost fetuses.

“Zheng Wanlin said that on the third day after those twins were born, her grandfather—that is, Old General Zheng Yu—fell from his horse.”

Li Buyan: “A few days later, all the plump white fish kept in a pond in the back garden died overnight, their bellies all turned upward—it was terrifying to see.”

Pei Xiao listened intently: “That’s quite strange indeed.”

Li Buyan: “Young Master Pei, there’s even stranger things.”

From that day on, the Zheng household began experiencing chaos and disturbance. Cats would cry out at night, wailing for entire nights, keeping people from sleep.

A few days later, a large water vat in Zheng Yu’s courtyard suddenly cracked—not split in half, but shattered into pieces as if struck by lightning.

When the water vat cracked, Zheng Yu fell ill. Imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau were summoned one after another, but none could identify the cause of illness.

Left with no choice, the general invited an expert to divine the situation.

Hearing about divination, Pei Xiao immediately asked: “Was it someone from the Zhu family?”

Li Buyan immediately laughed. When Zheng Wanlin reached this part, she had asked the exact same question.

“Zheng Wanlin said she was still young then and didn’t know who was invited, but it was definitely an expert.”

Pei Xiao asked again: “What did this expert say?”

Li Buyan: “The expert said that pair of twins were ghost fetuses who specifically brought misfortune to people. To avoid being harmed, they could only confine them and prevent them from moving about outside.”

Pei Xiao listened in stunned amazement, murmuring: “There’s such a thing?”

Li Buyan: “The expert also said that if the Zheng family wanted to be safe and sound, not harmed by them, they also had to stay far away from this pair of twins. Otherwise, at best they’d have bad luck, at worst they’d suffer bloody disasters.”

Pei Xiao turned to look at Xie Zhifei: You’re also a ghost fetus—how come you don’t bring misfortune to people?

Xie Zhifei hadn’t noticed Pei Xiao’s glance.

For the first time in his life, he was hearing about Haitang Courtyard’s past from someone else’s mouth. He had long since become entranced, foolish, and dazed.

All the strangeness and eeriness were nothing more than a carefully laid trap by his grandfather, and even the expert was probably fabricated by him.

He did this simply to use every means possible to protect that girl with the special identity.

Xie Zhifei’s deep gaze turned toward Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe’s heart suddenly stirred.

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but Xie Zhifei’s eyes seemed covered with a faint layer of moisture, looking somewhat sorrowful.

He should be sorrowful.

Zheng Huaizuo had once been his best friend.

This world was truly small.

He was Huaizuo’s only friend.

I was Huaizuo’s nominal sister.

Round and round, he and I have met.

“Don’t be sad, Chengyu.”

Yan Sanhe met Xie Zhifei’s gaze, saying to him in her heart: “The Zheng family case will soon come to light.”

“Yan Sanhe, Xie Sanye.”

Li Buyan’s tone deliberately revealed displeasure.

“Could you two please stop looking at each other? Could you show some respect for me, the narrator?”

Their gazes dispersed.

Yan Sanhe’s expression remained unchanged as she said: “What else did Zheng Wanlin say?”

“She said that although the general looked very unfavorably upon Haitang Courtyard, in terms of food, clothing, and daily necessities, Haitang Courtyard had the best of the entire Zheng residence.”

Li Buyan: “She said the clothes they wore and the jewelry they wore were all leftovers from what Haitang Courtyard had picked through. Her mother even quarreled with her father several times over this.”

Yan Sanhe: “What happened afterward?”

Li Buyan: “Later, this matter came to the general’s knowledge. The general arrived at their branch of the family’s courtyard with an ashen face.”

Zheng Wanlin said she would never forget it for the rest of her life.

The general called everyone from their branch of the family before him and asked her father very directly whether he wanted to leave the residence and live separately.

Her father had no real abilities and relied on this younger brother for everything, so he immediately panicked.

The old general looked coldly at her mother, and his words became even more impolite.

“Second Sister-in-law wants to ask me ‘on what basis?’ I can answer Second Sister-in-law: on the basis that I am the head of this household; on the basis that living in Haitang Courtyard are my own son and my own grandsons; on the basis that I earned this family estate for the Zheng family.”

Her mother could manipulate her father, but when facing the general, her imposing manner wilted. She was so frightened she didn’t dare even pass gas, just nodding and agreeing repeatedly.

“I advise Second Sister-in-law to be more restrained and think more about your children.”

The old general tapped his finger on the table: “If I hear such gossip again next time, I’ll have to ask Second Sister-in-law to leave. My Zheng residence is a small temple that cannot accommodate a long-tongued woman.”

“Yan Sanhe.”

Li Buyan: “Zheng Wanlin said that from that day on, their branch of the family never dared discuss Haitang Courtyard again, and no one in the entire Zheng residence dared to either.”