The old general calculated well—using Zheng Wanlin’s mother, he warned everyone in the Zheng residence.

With no one daring to discuss Haitang Courtyard, it meant Haitang Courtyard would gradually be forgotten.

This was his way of protecting her in a roundabout manner.

Yan Sanhe asked: “Besides these things, was there anything else?”

“Yes!”

Li Buyan drank half a cup of tea, her throat now clear and smooth: “But this was just something Zheng Wanlin heard—she never saw it with her own eyes.”

Yan Sanhe: “Heard from whom?”

Li Buyan: “From several of the general’s young grandsons—that is, several of Zheng Wanlin’s cousins from other branches.”

Yan Sanhe: “What did they say?”

Li Buyan: “They said Haitang Courtyard was haunted.”

Haunted?

Everyone’s expressions changed.

Yan Sanhe silently exchanged looks with Xie Zhifei for a while before asking: “How was it haunted?”

Li Buyan recalled Zheng Wanlin’s words and narrated in detail.

Zheng Yu had five sons, and even more grandsons. There were always a few mischievous troublemakers who didn’t believe in superstitions. The places adults forbade them from going were precisely where they wanted to go.

Moreover, there was a pair of twins in Haitang Courtyard. What did these twins look like? Outsiders had never seen them.

How curious!

The mischievous children would sneak off to Haitang Courtyard when the adults weren’t paying attention.

But whenever they approached Haitang Courtyard, nothing good happened—either this one fell or that one twisted his waist. It was very strange.

The most absurd incident involved a child who climbed a tree, wanting to secretly peek into Haitang Courtyard.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the person fell down.

If he had been injured or hurt, that would have been normal. But oddly, falling from such a tall tree, he was completely unharmed, just somewhat frightened.

At night, that child developed a high fever and spoke nothing but nonsense, repeating over and over that he had seen a black shadow flash before him.

“A black shadow?”

Yan Sanhe interrupted Li Buyan’s words: “What kind of black shadow?”

“The child himself couldn’t explain clearly. The adults, thinking of the fortune-teller expert’s words, assumed he had encountered a ghost. From then on, no one dared approach Haitang Courtyard even half a step.”

Yan Sanhe suddenly stood up. “Buyan, pause for a moment. I’m going outside to walk a few circles.”

She couldn’t sit still for even a moment.

She urgently needed to find a place with no one around to sort through the thoughts in her mind.

There were ghosts in this world, but humans had the human path and ghosts had the ghost path—the two didn’t live in the same space.

Moreover, where were there ghosts that came out in broad daylight?

The black shadow in the mischievous children’s mouths should be a hidden guard lurking around Haitang Courtyard.

This hidden guard was arranged by Crown Princess Liang Sunyi.

“He carried me to the Zheng residence and lurked around Haitang Courtyard to protect me. When the massacre occurred, he rescued me from the Zheng residence.”

Who was he?

What was his name?

Where was he now?

Was he dead?

Or alive?

Several zhang away, Xie Zhifei leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze following that small figure.

The slower her steps, the more difficult the matter.

Right now she was walking quickly, presumably because of that black shadow.

At this moment, Yan Sanhe’s steps paused. She turned and walked back. Xie Zhifei straightened up and deliberately asked: “Did you think of something?”

“Nothing much.”

Yan Sanhe walked straight inside.

Xie Zhifei followed, saying in a low voice: “I think that black shadow should be a person. Perhaps it was even arranged by Old General Zheng. Haitang Courtyard truly conceals secrets.”

Yan Sanhe stopped and looked at Xie Zhifei. His shoulders were tensed straight, as if he was afraid of something.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Xie Zhifei moved his lips and said softly: “I also have an intuition.”

“Speak.”

“Once the secrets of Haitang Courtyard are revealed, things will become completely uncontrollable.”

“Afraid?”

Xie Zhifei reached out a finger and tapped Yan Sanhe’s brow. “I am a bit worried…”

About you!

Even though Xie Zhifei had told himself ten thousand times to let her do as she wished, when the truth approached bit by bit, he still couldn’t help but feel tense and afraid.

Especially with the relationship between the new Emperor and the Crown Prince getting worse day by day.

“No need to worry.”

Yan Sanhe gently squeezed his finger, consoling him: “I know what I’m doing.”

—

What do you know?

You don’t even care about your life.

Following Yan Sanhe back inside, Xie Zhifei felt as anguished as if a sharp knife had been placed in his chest.

“Buyan, besides the above, did Zheng Wanlin say anything else?”

“Nothing much more. She just kept repeating that their Zheng family was law-abiding and proper—how could such a thing happen to them? She said her tears had run dry, and she never wanted to return to the capital in this lifetime.”

Li Buyan paused for a while before continuing:

“She looked much older than her peers, and her spirit wasn’t very good. When she was seeing me off, she held my hand and said…

Miss Li, please help our Zheng family find the true culprit. You know, these past ten years, I haven’t smiled once. No matter how happy the occasion, I can’t smile.

I wish I could have gone with them, but the children are so young, I can’t bear to leave them, so I just endure day by day.

But when I close my eyes, the faces of those relatives are all before me—I can’t forget them for even a moment. Now I just hope to die soon. Living like this is too much suffering.”

The room fell somewhat quiet.

A person who hadn’t smiled for ten years—how pitiable!

“Yan Sanhe.”

“Xie Zhifei.”

Two voices overlapped.

Xie Zhifei smiled: “You speak first.”

Yan Sanhe: “Where is Madam Zhao’s natal family? I want to meet her family.”

Xie Zhifei: “Madam Zhao is from Tianjin Wei. Her family used to run a school—they were also a scholarly family.”

How does this guy know this so clearly?

Pei Xiao looked at Xie Zhifei suspiciously and asked: “Yan Sanhe, who are you planning to send this time?”

Yan Sanhe: “I’ll go personally.”

Xie Zhifei: “I’m going too.”

Li Buyan: “I’m going too.”

Zhu Qing, Huang Qi, and Ding Yi looked at each other, and finally their gazes settled on Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe had already made plans.

“Zhu Qing will come along. Huang Qi and Ding Yi, your injuries haven’t fully healed, so stay in the capital and help me investigate a person and do one thing.”

Huang Qi: “Miss Yan, investigate what person?”

Yan Sanhe: “Zheng Huantang.”

Huang Qi: “What should we investigate about him?”

Yan Sanhe: “All kinds of friends—close ones, distant ones, intimate friends—investigate them all.”

Pei Xiao was puzzled again: “Why investigate these things?”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze turned to Xie Zhifei again: “I heard from someone that among Zheng Yu’s five sons, he was the smartest one.”

Pei Xiao: “Heard from whom? How come I didn’t know?”

Yan Sanhe withdrew her gaze: “Young Master Pei, there are many things you don’t know.”

Pei Xiao: “…” Insulting people again?

Ding Yi: “Miss Yan, what’s the one thing?”

Yan Sanhe: “Find Zhu Yuanmo and ask him in detail about ghost fetuses.”

Ding Yi grinned: “That’s simple.”

Yan Sanhe: “You must ask clearly whether ghost fetuses truly bring misfortune to people.”

Everyone’s gazes swished toward Xie Zhifei.

That’s right.

How had they not noticed this inconsistency?

Ghost fetuses—there was a ready-made one right before their eyes.

They’d never heard of Third Master bringing misfortune to anyone. On the contrary, everyone who had dealings with Third Master was living just fine.

Xie Zhifei looked through these people’s gazes, gazing deeply at Yan Sanhe.

This young lady truly had calculated every single step.

First, she drew everyone’s attention to Haitang Courtyard, then through investigating the couple Zheng Huantang and Madam Zhao, focused the doubts on the twins.

Not a single step was empty.

All were grounded in reality.

All would demand her life!