That night, Nanyi’s wound began to inflame. She first felt ice-cold and shivered all over, then around dawn felt burning hot and restless, tossing and turning.

In her hazy state, she didn’t know that Xie Queshan had stayed awake all night watching over her. She had many fragmented dreams featuring Zhang Yuehui, Xie Queshan, even the deceased Pang Yu, Song Yushu whom she’d only met once, and Princess Lingfu separated by vermillion gates.

Then she was awakened by Gusha’s clamorous voice.

“Xie Queshan, I must ask you—the city defense maps are military secrets that only you and I have seen, yet yesterday’s fleeing remnants of the Bingzhu Division knew the city’s military defenses like the back of their hand. Tell me, what the hell is the reason for this?”

Xie Queshan feigned surprise: “General Gusha, you speak wrongly. You and I aren’t the only ones who’ve seen the city defense maps.”

“Of course not just us—I suppose you leaked them to the Bingzhu Division conspirators!”

“You never told me the city defense maps couldn’t be shown to others. Yesterday I handed the city defense maps to Prefect Huang Yankun. If Bingzhu Division remnants were planning a rescue, naturally the Li Du Mansion prefect would need to coordinate our defenses with us, wouldn’t he?”

“You—”

Gusha was stymied. He had suspected Xie Queshan and given him the city defense maps as a test of his loyalty. He was already highly suspicious, and every word sounded like sophistry, but Gusha couldn’t catch him in anything and was even led astray—indeed, Huang Yankun wasn’t completely trustworthy either.

Nanyi was now fully awake. Hearing Xie Queshan’s words, she marveled inwardly—he truly was a cunning fox, with backup plans for every move.

Gusha’s expression darkened: “Last night guards discovered someone had infiltrated Wangxue Hut. Following the trail, they found you having a romantic tryst with a woman under the moon. Quite a coincidence.”

Gusha turned toward the screen: “It wouldn’t be the same person, would it?”

Xie Queshan laughed coldly: “What, you want to see my woman too?”

Gusha and Xie Queshan faced off in a standoff. This moment was about who had more confidence.

Nanyi lying on the bed also grew nervous. If Gusha really dared to inspect, he might recognize her…

Xie Queshan struck first, hurling the cup in his hand at the screen with great force. The screen crashed to the floor, leaving the bedroom completely exposed.

Nanyi cried out and quickly turned away, her black hair scattered across the pillow.

“—Even if I gave you the courage, would you dare to look?”

Gusha glanced at the woman on the bed and finally smiled coolly, still yielding: “I have overstepped, Young Master Queshan.”

“Xie Zhu was abducted, Gusha. As the one responsible for guard duty, instead of reflecting on yourself, you come here spouting nonsense. At the Prime Minister’s side, it will be difficult for me to speak well of you.”

Gusha gritted his teeth and bowed: “This humble officer will certainly fulfill his duties faithfully in the future. After all, Xie Zhu was just bait—losing him means nothing. The final target is still Prince Ling’an—we have plenty of time.”

Having gained nothing, Gusha left a half-threatening remark and stormed off in frustration.

Nanyi sat up with her heart still pounding, looking at Xie Queshan: “Gusha is so suspicious. Can I still leave Jingfeng Residence and return?”

“Not yet.”

“Then when?”

Xie Queshan walked over and unhurriedly set up the screen: “Wait.”

…

Xie Queshan went out in the afternoon.

News that Xie Zhu had been rescued from under the Qi people’s noses quickly spread throughout the city, greatly heartening everyone. Li Du Mansion’s people were more united than ever. It was said that Wanyan Jun wanted to take over the Shipping Bureau but was thoroughly scolded by the scholars there. Xie Queshan had gone out precisely for this matter.

Nanyi waited restlessly, wanting to chat with He Ping, but He Ping completely ignored her. Finally, Nanyi squatted in the courtyard, listlessly watching a lone ant in the flower bed, then scraped away snow and began playing with mud.

The mud was shaped into a human figure. Nanyi took a dead twig and stabbed it viciously, treating it as Xie Queshan to vent her frustration.

“Curses don’t work without writing the name.”

Xie Queshan’s voice came from behind her. Nanyi didn’t bother looking up and stabbed the little mud figure again.

“Then teach me how to write your name so I can curse you to death.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot—you said you wanted me to teach you to read.”

“…”

Nanyi stood up speechlessly and turned to look at Xie Queshan: “You’re not serious, are you?”

The setting sun’s afterglow fell on Nanyi’s face, illuminating her expression with vivid life.

Xie Queshan had spent the day running around outside, dealing with matters like the citywide martial law still failing to find Xie Zhu, and Wanyan Jun being scolded by scholars until he jumped in rage but not daring to massacre them.

It was smoky and chaotic. Returning to the courtyard to see the girl with flowing black hair squatting in the sunset playing with mud somehow felt refreshing.

Xie Queshan smiled: “You’re bored anyway.”

Nanyi followed Xie Queshan into the room with drooping spirits.

“Wash your hands.” Xie Queshan nodded toward the water basin nearby.

Nanyi only dabbed her hands briefly in the water, considering them washed.

Xie Queshan frowned and walked over to press Nanyi’s hands back into the basin.

He embraced Nanyi from behind, making her momentarily stiff and at a loss, only able to let him manipulate her hands. He used soap to carefully wash her hands three times, and seeing her dirt-encrusted nails made him frown even more.

Without question, he pulled her to sit on the couch and found scissors from the drawer.

Nanyi became apprehensive when she saw him take out scissors and quickly withdrew her hands.

“I only poked the mud figure with a twig. You wouldn’t use scissors to poke me, would you?”

Xie Queshan rolled his eyes, pulled Nanyi’s hands back, and began seriously lowering his head to trim her nails… Nanyi watched nervously for a long time and found he was indeed just trimming her nails.

These decisive hands that killed without hesitation were actually trimming her nails?

Nanyi felt somewhat confused in this moment.

She looked up at Xie Queshan’s face. He lowered his head with downcast eyes. From this angle, his eyelashes were quite long, covering his usually cold gaze. At this moment he looked exactly like a focused young man concentrating on matters unrelated to romance, grinding away precious youthful time.

Nanyi’s hand rested in Xie Queshan’s palm. His palm held slight moisture. The room was so quiet only the sound of scissors could be heard.

He suddenly asked: “This bracelet—who gave it to you?”

He held her right hand, where the jade bracelet happened to be on her right wrist. She had worn it for a long time. He had never asked before, not knowing what nerve was touched today to suddenly ask about this.

A friend? A sweetheart?

But Nanyi blurted out: “My fiancé.”

She didn’t even know why she told this lie. Almost instinctively, she wanted to use falsehoods to create some distance between them.

But what strange distance could there be between them?

His movements paused as he looked up at her.

Nanyi felt flustered under his gaze and guiltily added: “Former fiancé.”

“Where is he?”

“Three years ago he went to join the army. Before parting, he left me this bracelet.”

Xie Queshan scoffed: “Knowing it’s hard to protect wealth in chaotic times, yet deliberately leaving you such a conspicuous and valuable thing—he didn’t have good intentions.”

Nanyi became agitated and retorted: “You’re talking nonsense! He’s the best person in the world!”

“If he’s so good, how could he let you wander the streets and become a thief?”

Nanyi wanted to argue but was speechless.

What he said seemed correct too. When they first met, she had appeared extremely disheveled from stealing while possessing this valuable jade bracelet, but this could only be blamed on unpredictable circumstances.

Nanyi still wanted to win back a round and stubbornly retorted: “Someone like you who has no feelings simply wouldn’t understand.”

Xie Queshan didn’t respond and continued lowering his head to trim her nails.

Nanyi was already somewhat resistant: “What exactly are you trying to do?”

After finishing the trimming, Xie Queshan brought Nanyi to the writing desk and had her sit down.

“To read and write, one must have a clean body and calm mind.”

Nanyi’s mind went blank. So he had such ritualistic feelings about studying.

When Xie Sui’an spoke of Xie Queshan’s past, she was full of regret. She had once admired her brother. But speaking of the present, she wanted to curse Xie Queshan inside and out, saying he wasn’t worthy of being gentry, wasn’t worthy of reading sage books.

The scene of Pang Yu and the inn guests dying before her eyes had been too shocking. Nanyi had always thought this person only knew how to hold a sword, bathe in blood, and control life and death like the King of Hell.

But she suddenly remembered that when she first met him, she had mistaken him for some spotless noble young master from a scholarly family.

He had many facets that she couldn’t fathom. What kind of person was he really, and what were his beliefs?

“You have photographic memory, so learning to read should be quick.”

Xie Queshan’s voice interrupted Nanyi’s wandering thoughts as he opened a calligraphy book.

“You really want to teach me to read—why?” Nanyi was truly confused. He looked completely serious.

“Because you’ll need it.” Xie Queshan was concise.

But Xie Queshan wasn’t an excellent teacher. He was learned and scholarly, making it difficult to understand the world of the completely illiterate, so his patience with Nanyi was limited.

Just holding the brush took half an hour to teach. Holding one’s elbow up to grasp a writing brush was definitely not a comfortable posture. Nanyi had her own habits of exerting force and immediately let her wrist drop, habitually seeking a lazy position. Finally, Xie Queshan was forced to draw his sword and press the blade against Nanyi’s wrist.

The effect was immediate, but Nanyi was full of defiance, writing while pretending to be pitiful.

“My shoulder was just injured and has no strength at all…”

“You injured your left shoulder, which has nothing to do with your right hand.”

“…”

Nanyi’s little scheme was exposed. She pressed too hard with her hand, and an irregular, extremely ugly character was born.

Xie Queshan impatiently tapped the table: “Focus.”

Nanyi refocused on the paper. The characters in the copybook were written by Xie Queshan—controlled yet free in form, with vigorous and powerful brushstrokes. But her paper was full of shapeless forms that could only be called diagrams, not even qualifying as characters.

Nanyi herself sighed: “The difference between people’s handwriting is truly enormous.”

“Everyone in the world has different handwriting.”

This casual remark struck Nanyi like a revelation. She thought of the secret letter in Xie Queshan’s pouch—that handwriting obviously wasn’t Xie Queshan’s. If handwriting was compared, wouldn’t that reveal the traitor?

Suddenly, knocking came from outside.

He Ping announced: “Young Master, Prefect Huang requests an audience.”

“Don’t make a sound.”

Xie Queshan quietly instructed Nanyi while blowing out the candle on the table. The writing desk behind the screen was plunged into darkness, no longer casting shadows.

After Huang Yankun entered, he wore a fawning smile.

“Young Master Queshan, has everything been well at the residence these days?”

Xie Queshan showed no warmth, saying flatly: “We met earlier today, Prefect Huang, and now you visit late at night. Why not skip pleasantries and state your business directly.”

“This humble officer indeed has an important matter… The day Xie Zhu was abducted, your sister Sixth Miss Xie secretly left the mansion and knocked me unconscious. I fear she’s involved in this case.”

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you say so during the day?”

“This humble officer has a tender heart for the fairer sex after all. Sixth Miss Xie is heroic and spirited—I’ve admired her for a long time. How could I push her into a fire pit?”

Nanyi curiously crept to the screen to peek at the situation outside.

“Then what do you mean by coming to me?”

Xie Queshan lowered his head to brew tea for Huang Yankun, his movements flowing like water.

“Having such a sister in the mansion must give Young Master Queshan headaches? General Gusha is suspicious, and now there’s Lord Wanyan too. You probably can’t afford any mistakes. This humble officer has a solution that benefits everyone—it can both restrain Sixth Miss Xie and protect her.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Why not marry Sixth Miss Xie to me—You know I lost my wife in my early years. I have only one son and haven’t remarried. First, I come from a scholarly family and now hold high office, so even for a second wife I can’t settle for just anyone. Second, I’m not one to frequent pleasure quarters—ordinary women hardly catch my eye.”

Xie Queshan frowned slightly but didn’t interrupt.

“I’m thirty-five, not too old, and I control troops in Li Du Mansion. The Xie family is a great household in Li Du Mansion. Wouldn’t a marriage alliance between our families be a perfect match? If Sixth Miss Xie became mine, naturally I’d keep her rescue of Xie Zhu firmly hidden in my heart, never revealing a word.”

Nanyi’s heart suddenly jumped. From a practical standpoint, Prefect Huang’s words weren’t unreasonable. Xie Queshan wouldn’t sell his sister to this old fool, would he?!

In just a few sentences, Huang Yankun spoke until his mouth was dry and reached for the tea Xie Queshan had brewed.

But Xie Queshan picked up the teacup first. Huang Yankun thought he was going to hand it over and already put on a smile, but Xie Queshan poured the hot tea entirely onto Huang Yankun’s hand without pause.

Huang Yankun cried out from the burn, nearly jumping up, looking at Xie Queshan with shock and bewilderment.

“Get out.”

Xie Queshan only said one word.

Huang Yankun was furious: “You—aren’t you afraid I’ll report Sixth Miss Xie to Gusha?!”

“I only gave the city defense maps to you. That day when Xie Zhu was abducted, you happened to be on the street too. Do you think your words carry any weight with Gusha? He doesn’t move against you because I’m protecting you.”

These words left Huang Yankun frozen in place, ice-cold, his back breaking out in cold sweat.

Xie Queshan stared darkly at Huang Yankun: “Xie Sui’an is my sister. If you want to be my brother-in-law, weigh your own worth.”

Long after Huang Yankun left, Xie Queshan remained seated without moving. Nanyi emerged from behind the screen, took a dry towel to wipe the water stains from the table, then sat beside him and carefully asked:

“Why didn’t you agree?”

Xie Queshan looked at Nanyi, his eyes revealing vague sadness.

He calmly stated a fact: “Xie Sui’an’s fiancé was Pang Yu.”

Nanyi froze in shock.

“Pang Yu? But didn’t he…”

Die right in front of you.