After taking just a few steps, Xu Hexue felt dizzy. He staggered away from her umbrella’s shelter. Ni Su instinctively reached out to support him, but saw him shake his head: “No need.”

Ni Su watched as he braced one hand against the damp brick wall, seemingly steadying himself for a moment before forcing himself to stand upright.

“We agreed—at most two cups of tea and you’d come out.”

Yet she had waited outside for him for half a full period.

Xu Hexue voluntarily returned under her umbrella. “Did that Officer Zhou make things difficult for you?”

“I was just drinking tea in the tea stall. Why would he make things difficult for me?”

The umbrella edge crackled crisply. Ni Su kept her eyes straight ahead.

After a moment of silence, Xu Hexue asked, “Are you angry?”

“No.”

That’s what she said, but along this entire journey Ni Su said hardly anything more. When they returned to the clinic on South Sophora Street, she didn’t even bother changing her clothes first. Instead she took out the incense and candles she’d carried all the way and lit several more lamps.

Xu Hexue sat on the bed’s edge watching her light the candles and prepare to leave. He spoke almost instantly: “Ni Su.”

Ni Su turned back.

She still said nothing, which left Xu Hexue somewhat at a loss. He stood up, one hand supporting himself on the bed’s edge, walked before her, and said, “It was wrong of me.”

Ni Su had no way to ignore his earnest tone. She pressed her lips together, brushing aside the damp strands of hair stuck to her cheeks, and sighed. “Did you find anything at his house?”

Her willingness to speak with him caused Xu Hexue’s rigid spine to relax somewhat. He nodded. “I obtained an account ledger from his father-in-law.”

“You appeared before him?”

Ni Su looked surprised.

“He didn’t see me.”

The reason Xu Hexue had been delayed so long before emerging was that he had quietly followed Accountant Qin to Du Sancai’s study. Accountant Qin had searched the study for a long time without finding anything, until finally he discovered an account ledger in the compartment beneath his own bed.

Before Accountant Qin could clearly see the ledger’s cover, a sword pressed against the back of his neck. He was frightened out of his wits—not daring to turn his head or straighten his body, he trembled all over like a sieve and stammered, “Who?”

The cold blade stimulated Accountant Qin until his entire body shook violently. He had no idea that standing behind him was a ghost-like figure as ephemeral as mist.

No matter how many times Xu Hexue pressed him, he still claimed not to know Du Sancai’s whereabouts. So Xu Hexue twisted his wrist, struck the back of his neck with the sword hilt, and took the ledger.

Ni Su nodded. Hearing him cough, she didn’t wish to continue questioning him about these matters at this time. She turned to the cabinet to retrieve clean inner garments and placed them by his bed, saying, “Actually I wasn’t angry at you. If you wouldn’t be injured by being too far from me, I could wait outside for you however long it took.”

“Do you know what I was thinking while I was in the tea stall?” She lifted her head to look at him.

“What?”

“I was thinking…”

Ni Su straightened and met his gaze. “I’m clearly a physician, yet all this time I’ve only been able to watch your suffering as an observer. Perhaps you’ve grown accustomed to treating yourself this way, but whenever I watch, my heart feels very uncomfortable.”

Though she specialized in women’s medicine, she wasn’t completely ignorant outside of gynecology. The ailments of this world were countless, but as long as she was willing to work harder, to study more deeply, she could win more hope for those suffering from illness.

But only with him was she always helpless.

Xu Hexue stood frozen for a moment. His bloodless lips moved slightly, but he didn’t know how to speak to her.

“Come sit here.”

Ni Su beckoned to him.

Xu Hexue walked over and sat beside her.

Ni Su took out a sugar cake from the basket, broke it in half, and handed him one half. “Do you know why I wanted to become a physician who treats women’s private ailments?”

“Because of your brother.”

Xu Hexue accepted the sugar cake and took a bite. He still couldn’t taste any flavor.

“Yes, because of my brother, but also because of a woman.” Ni Su ate her sugar cake as she spoke. “I was still very young then. That woman chased after my brother’s carriage for so long, crying and shouting, begging my brother to save her. At that time I saw so much blood on her skirt—she left a trail of blood all along the road she came…”

“My brother couldn’t bear it and examined her illness, but she still died—driven to death by gossip and slander.”

“My brother gave up the path of medicine because of this, and I remembered that woman. I’ve remembered her for so many years. I often think—if I hadn’t been so young then, if the one treating her had been me, she wouldn’t have died. And my brother wouldn’t have…”

Ni Su couldn’t continue. She pinched the sugar cake, falling silent for quite a while in the streaming sound of rain outside before lifting her head to look at him. “Xu Ziling, if I could, I also want to save you, to keep you from hurting so much.”

Xu Hexue’s fingers curled inward. The chaotic rain sounds struck against his eardrums. Meeting her such earnest gaze, his lashes trembled once.

“But it seems I can’t do it.”

She said.

Xu Hexue had always known she possessed a compassionate heart. This compassionate heart drove her to willingly go against the current. She treated people with compassion and handled matters with compassion.

Even though he was a ghost drifting in the mortal world, she was still willing to give him shelter and lodging, clothing to conceal him, and even share a sugar cake with him.

“So…”

Xu Hexue suddenly heard her say, “Please be a little kinder to yourself.”

This was the second time today she’d said such words.

Xu Hexue watched her show him a smile. He sat together with her, quietly listening to the night rain.

“Alright.”

He softly agreed.

In the latter half of the night the rain stopped. The whistling wind blew for a long time. That night Ni Su dreamed of her brother Ni Qinglan, but he just stood there without saying anything, only smiling at her.

Ni Su woke early and lay in bed staring blankly at the bed curtains for a while. Hearing some movement outside, she finally got up to dress and wash.

On the square table in the kitchen sat steaming hot porridge and rice. The young man wore a set of blue-black robes and sat in the covered corridor reading a scroll.

Hearing the sound of her pushing open the door, he lifted his head.

“What are you reading?”

Ni Su walked over.

“The account ledger I found at the Du mansion.” Xu Hexue supported himself on the corridor pillar to stand, but didn’t expect her to suddenly reach out to help him. The warmth of her palm pressed against his wrist, making his coldness even more pronounced.

Her touch was like a reminder—reminding him of how different he was from her. Yet at a fundamental mechanical level, he found himself shamefully attached to the warmth of her fingers.

This should not be.

He said softly, “Let’s eat.”

Ni Su released him and walked into the kitchen. Seeing he hadn’t followed, she said, “Can you eat with me?”

Xu Hexue put away the ledger and nodded. “Alright.”

“Why is there even sweet soup?”

Ni Su glanced at the table and looked at him with delight.

“I saw the method written in Master Meng’s recipe book, so I tried it.”

Xu Hexue sat down and watched her pick up a spoon to drink a mouthful, then asked, “Is it very sweet?”

“Haven’t you tasted it?”

Ni Su shook her head and asked with confusion.

“No.”

Xu Hexue lowered his eyes.

“Then let’s drink it together.” Ni Su brought an empty bowl and divided some for him. “Does your body still hurt? I said I wanted to learn to cook, but you never give me the chance… Are you worried I’ll burn down the kitchen?”

“No.”

Xu Hexue picked up the spoon and under her watchful gaze drank a mouthful.

“You definitely think that in your heart.”

Ni Su really wasn’t cut out for cooking. Even with Master Meng’s recipe book in hand, as soon as she approached the stove, she would naturally become flustered and disorderly.

Xu Hexue was about to speak when suddenly his expression turned alert. “Ni Su, someone’s coming.”

Hearing this, Ni Su lifted her head. Sure enough, the next moment she heard Chao Yisong’s voice: “Miss Ni! Miss Ni, are you there!”

She immediately stood and ran to the front.

Chao Yisong was covered in sweat. Seeing Ni Su lift the curtain and emerge, he said breathlessly, “Miss Ni, our Director Han requests that you come to the Yinye Bureau.”

Ni Su’s heart stirred.

What it meant to go to the Yinye Bureau at this time—Ni Su understood all too clearly. She gave no thought to anything else and ran toward the Diqian Gate almost at full speed.

The morning mist was thick and damp. Ni Su stopped at the Yinye Bureau’s main gate, gasping for breath.

“Miss Ni, why—why did you run so fast?” Chao Yisong had made this round trip without rest either. With both hands on his knees, before he could finish speaking, he saw Ni Su run up the steps.

He immediately followed, showing his waist token to the gate guards.

Han Qing and Zhou Ting had both gone without sleep all night, but Zhou Ting stood beside Han Qing showing no trace of fatigue, whereas Han Qing kept rubbing his eyelids.

“Oh, Miss Ni has arrived? Please sit.”

Upon seeing Ni Su, Han Qing raised his chin, signaling a personal guard to serve her tea. “Our family summoning you at this time—you should know why, shouldn’t you?”

“Director Han…”

Ni Su had no interest in drinking tea. She set down the bowl the personal guard handed her and stood to bow to Han Qing. “May I ask—have you found the person?”

“Originally with Du Cong’s disappearance, this lead should have gone cold. But fortunately there are still those assassins. Though they were hired and don’t know the inside story, their boss can’t know nothing.”

Han Qing took a sip of tea. “Last night our family had Zhou Ting turn their den upside down. After working all night, that boss finally confessed.”

Ni Su thought of how Zhou Ting had said in the tea stall last night that he had sealed a wine shop—presumably that wine shop was where those assassins lodged.

“But Miss Ni, our family must remind you—this person, you may not be able to afford to offend.”

Han Qing spoke unhurriedly, lifting his eyelids to glance at her.

“Who is it?”

Ni Su stared at him intently, her voice trembling. “Director Han, who exactly harmed my brother?”

Han Qing said nothing. Zhou Ting, standing to one side, spoke up: “Acting Grand Preceptor, Military Commissioner of Nanling, Wu Dai’s son—Wu Jikang.”

“This Young Master Wu’s elder sister is none other than Consort Wu in the palace.”

Han Qing looked at her. “Miss Ni, you may not know—since the death of the Late Empress, His Majesty has not established a new empress. Currently, the most favored by His Majesty in the palace is this Consort Wu.”

First Acting Grand Preceptor and Military Commissioner of Nanling, and now Consort Wu.

It was hard for Ni Su not to understand from his words what it meant to be nobility and power. “What does Director Han mean by telling me this?”

“Just reminding you that the person you’ve provoked is no ordinary individual.”

Han Qing set down his tea bowl. “If Young Master Wu hadn’t developed murderous intent toward you and exposed himself, I’m afraid neither our family nor you would have been able to uncover him even now.”

Ni Su understood Han Qing’s meaning. Their previous speculation with Xu Ziling had been correct—the person covering up the winter examination case and the one using Ah Zhou’s mother to frame her were indeed not the same person.

The former left no trace, while the latter was full of holes.

But everything the former did was to cover up the crimes of the latter.

“What does Director Han want? For me to retreat in the face of difficulty?”

“Our family said no such thing.” Han Qing raised an eyebrow. “We just want to ask Miss Ni—are you afraid? You’ve only experienced a taste of Young Master Wu’s methods. But what our family wants to tell you is that the methods in officialdom—those are all wolves and jackals. If you’re not careful, they can devour you alive.”

“Then let them come devour me alive!”

Ni Su met his gaze. “Just because they have such status, I should be afraid? Should my brother die with this injustice and not be vindicated? Director Han, have you summoned me here today to plead on behalf of the one who harmed my brother?”

Zhou Ting frowned slightly. “Miss Ni, watch your words…”

Hearing the sharpness in this woman’s words, Han Qing showed neither anger nor annoyance. He raised his hand to stop Zhou Ting, then studied Ni Su steadily and said, “Do you truly not fear ending up the same as your brother? Left exposed in the wilderness with no one to care—wouldn’t that be pitiful?”

Ni Su’s eyes reddened. Word by word, clearly:

“I only want justice for my brother.”