Qi Si smiled at Luo Sheng: “Third Miss, let’s go.”

Luo Sheng stood still without moving: “No need for Fourth Brother to accompany me, Fifth Brother alone is enough.”

Yun Dong looked at her in surprise, while Qi Si’s expression became even more peculiar.

“Wouldn’t it be better for both of them to accompany Third Miss together?” Pingli asked in a gentle tone.

Luo Sheng glanced at Qi Si, her tone very casual: “Oh, I don’t like Fourth Brother accompanying me.”

She was merely going to visit the Imperial Prison, yet Pingli still wanted Qi Si to monitor her—it was truly irritating.

She felt displeased and naturally could refuse. After all, she was Miss Luo.

Qi Si’s expression twisted for a moment, nearly revealing the anger in his heart.

Luo Sheng smiled faintly.

Go ahead and lose your temper if you dare—if you don’t dare, then swallow it back down.

Qi Si still wisely swallowed it back: “Then let Fifth Brother accompany Third Miss. I won’t make myself unwelcome.”

Luo Sheng smiled and nodded: “If Fourth Brother always acts this way, he won’t be unwelcome.”

Qi Si: “…” He really wanted to strangle this girl.

“Fifth Brother, let’s go.” Seeing Yun Dong still standing there dazed, Luo Sheng urged him.

“Uh, alright.” Yun Dong nodded with extremely complicated feelings.

Seeing Luo Sheng about to leave, Sheng Sanlang hurriedly asked: “Cousin, what about me?”

He only knew his cousin in the Grand Marshal’s Manor, but his cousin had left him behind when going out this morning, and now she was leaving him behind again when going out—this was truly too heartbreaking.

Pingli looked at Sheng Sanlang with a strange expression.

Why did this foolish boy exude such a strong aura of a resentful wife left alone in an empty chamber?

Thinking this, Pingli glanced at Yun Dong again.

New favorite? Old flame?

Was Third Miss trying to select one of these two to replace a lost male companion?

Luo Sheng gave Sheng Sanlang a comforting smile: “Cousin, please help me take care of Father at home. When I have free time, I’ll cook for you.”

Sheng Sanlang’s eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: “Cousin, go ahead without worry. I’ll take good care of Uncle!”

Everyone fell silent in unison.

Were all people from the South… this easily satisfied?

Hong Dou stood to the side with her hands on her hips, sneering coldly.

What did these people understand? Once they tasted the dishes Miss made—bah, bah, why should they get to eat Miss’s cooking? There wasn’t even enough for their own people.

Luo Sheng left the Grand Marshal’s Manor accompanied by Yun Dong.

Yun Dong kept speculating in his heart about the thoughts of his adoptive father’s precious pearl, but couldn’t help thinking about male companions.

He didn’t want to think this way, but Third Miss said she didn’t like Fourth Brother accompanying her, yet directly chose him to accompany her…

In the past, Third Miss always spoke to him with her chin raised.

“What is Fifth Brother thinking about?” Luo Sheng suddenly turned her head, slightly raising her chin to look at him.

Yun Dong’s gaze fell on that fair and delicate chin for a moment, and he immediately felt reassured.

“Thinking how fortunate it was that Third Miss invited a divine physician, so that Adoptive Father could wake up.”

Luo Sheng pressed her lips together: “Then can Fifth Brother tell me the real reason Si Nan assassinated my father?”

Yun Dong suddenly stopped in his tracks: “What does Third Miss mean by this?”

Luo Sheng continued walking forward as if nothing had happened: “Just a small question—why does Fifth Brother need to react so strongly?”

Yun Dong hurried to catch up. At this moment, he couldn’t afford to think wild thoughts, and even wanted to grab her shoulder because the young lady’s steps were too fast.

Of course, he didn’t dare.

“Why is Third Miss asking this?”

Luo Sheng turned her head, a smile playing at the corners of her lips: “Because Pingli is obviously deceiving me.”

Although she had just returned, she had already noticed that Yun Dong and Pingli appeared harmonious on the surface but were at odds in their hearts, unlike Qi Si who circled around Pingli.

As for whether Pingli or Yun Dong harbored ill intentions, she wasn’t certain. Perhaps the assassination on the road had nothing to do with either of them, but right now she could exploit their discord to obtain some of the information she wanted.

“Why did Si Nan assassinate my father?”

Yun Dong was silent for a long while before asking: “Why is Third Miss so certain that Big Brother deceived you?”

Luo Sheng glanced at him sideways, extremely confident and justified: “Intuition. Doesn’t Fifth Brother know that women mainly rely on intuition?”

Believing that Pingli had deceived her was merely speculation, but that didn’t prevent her from bluffing, and since she was bluffing, she naturally had to adopt a confident attitude.

Yun Dong smiled: “Intuition, after all, isn’t evidence. It’s often inaccurate.”

When he returned to the capital, the interrogation of Si Nan had already been ongoing for some time. He knew a bit about it, and these matters were indeed unsuitable for a young lady to know.

“So Fifth Brother also plans to deceive me?” Luo Sheng asked calmly.

“How could that be… It’s just that the interrogation of Si Nan is Big Brother’s responsibility. If Third Miss feels Big Brother deceived you, why not go back and ask him again?”

Luo Sheng withdrew her gaze and stepped forward, her tone indifferent: “I encountered an assassination on my way back to the capital.”

Yun Dong stopped abruptly, staring at Luo Sheng in shock.

With such a casual tone, he almost thought what he heard wasn’t an encounter with assassination, but an encounter with a light rain, a passerby.

“Fifth Brother is stationed at Jinling Prefecture, isn’t he?”

Yun Dong didn’t make a sound.

“Fifth Brother was completely unaware of my departure from Jinsha—that counts as negligence of duty, doesn’t it?”

Yun Dong’s brows moved slightly.

Luo Sheng’s tone remained just as casual: “I wonder what Father would do if he knew I encountered an assassination?”

“Third Miss!”

Luo Sheng’s expression turned serious: “I can refrain from mentioning the assassination. Is Fifth Brother willing to answer my questions now?”

Yun Dong remained silent for a long time.

He had been threatened.

In the past, before his adoptive father had sent him to guard Jinling Prefecture, he had also been scolded by Third Miss. Back then, although he needed to bow his head, he didn’t care at all about the young lady’s unreasonable behavior.

But now he felt the helplessness of having someone grasp his vital weakness.

At most, Adoptive Father would fly into a rage about his failure to promptly discover Third Miss entering the capital, but if he knew Third Miss had encountered an assassination on the road—Yun Dong didn’t dare imagine the consequences at all.

Yun Dong spoke: “Si Nan’s assassination of Adoptive Father is related to a treason case from many years ago.”

“Treason?” Luo Sheng’s eyelid twitched as she slowed her pace.

“According to the clues we’ve found, Si Nan’s true identity should be the grandson of a steward from Prince Zhennan’s manor, which was exterminated twelve years ago—” Yun Dong suddenly noticed Luo Sheng’s expression change and asked, “What’s wrong with Third Miss?”

Luo Sheng slowly raised her hand to press the corner of her eye, revealing a faint smile: “Hearing about extermination is a bit frightening. Fifth Brother, please continue.”

“That steward was favored before his master, and had a son who was released from slavery and moved out of Prince Zhennan’s manor. On the day Prince Zhennan’s manor met with disaster, it happened to coincide with the princess’s wedding. This son brought his family into the manor to attend the feast. His eldest son was left at home due to a fever. Later, this family never left again… The eldest son left at home was Si Nan. His parents, younger siblings, grandparents, and two uncles with their families all died that day, so he has always harbored resentment toward Adoptive Father.”

Luo Sheng clenched her fists forcefully to control her emotions and asked: “Since everything has been investigated clearly, why not kill him to avenge my father?”

Only then did Yun Dong feel a sense of familiarity, and his tension eased slightly: “Although Prince Zhennan’s manor was exterminated, there were some who slipped through the net. We’re keeping him alive to investigate whether he has been in contact with remnants of Prince Zhennan’s manor over these years. And recently, Prince Kaiyang left the capital precisely under imperial orders to investigate this matter…”

“So that’s how it is.” Luo Sheng said word by word.