While everyone was keeping vigil for the New Year in Madam Gantang’s courtyard, Huaixu Courtyard remained cold and lonely.

In previous years, no matter how poor Xie Hengzai’s health was, the two of them would always keep vigil together. But this year, only Qiao Yinzhi remained, sitting alone facing the white candles.

This year, Xie Hengzai’s new clothes had been made long ago. Their new clothes were made from the same fabric. He had personally selected it.

Though she was a concubine, he treated her as a wife.

After spacing out for a while, she heard the night watch announcing the hour of zi. The old year had changed to the new year. Qiao Yinzhi wearily prepared to rest, but heard footsteps outside.

It was so late, and the maids had all gathered together to keep vigil. They wouldn’t come here, so she didn’t know who it could be.

Qiao Yinzhi put on her outer robe and got up to open the door, but there was no one outside.

She looked out suspiciously. There was no movement outside the door, so she had to close it and return to the room, but her steps suddenly paused.

Behind the screen, a person’s shadow was cast. That person had somehow entered the study.

Qiao Yinzhi stood where she was. The gentle demeanor of a noble family’s concubine gradually faded from her face, revealing a rare kind of resolve. She walked slowly behind the screen and bowed calmly, showing no sign of panic.

“Family head.”

Qiao Yinzhi walked slowly inside, not surprised by Xie Queshan’s appearance.

Three cups of tea were poured on the table—one was for Xie Queshan himself, and two were placed across from him.

“These two cups of tea, one for big brother, one for you,” he paused, then said, “One cup is poisoned, one is not.”

Qiao Yinzhi sat down, said nothing, casually picked up one cup of tea, and drank it calmly.

Sandalwood incense smoke curled up from the table’s edge. After a long while, Qiao Yinzhi remained unharmed.

Xie Queshan smiled, reached for the other cup of tea, opened the lid, and let the steam rise.

“Qiao-shi, it seems your luck isn’t bad. Before this cup of tea cools, you still have a chance to speak your last words.”

It was just a simple test, yet full of hidden implications.

If Qiao Yinzhi refused to drink, she would be someone who feared death, and Xie Queshan would immediately draw his sword to end her without another word.

People’s reactions when facing death couldn’t be faked.

Looking at her expression now, it was both resolute and sad. A traitor shouldn’t have such a reaction.

She had been by big brother’s side for over ten years after all. After big brother’s death, she should have had many opportunities to escape, but she didn’t. Instead, she quietly waited in the manor. At this moment, he also wanted to hear the twists and turns of it all.

“Family head, whatever you want to ask, please ask. Things have come to this point—I will tell you everything I know.”

“You’ve been in the Xie family for over ten years. How did Gusha convince you to risk your life for him?”

She answered calmly: “I was originally a spy, initially just an informant planted in the Xie family by court officials. Later, the entire organization was sold to the Qi people, and I was assigned to work for General Gusha.”

“Does he hold some weakness of yours?”

“My child.”

“You’ve been married?”

“No.”

Xie Queshan paused for a moment.

A drifting woman, trained as a spy from girlhood—the filthy things that happened during that time were imaginable. As for who the child’s father was, she probably didn’t know herself.

When a woman becomes a mother, she becomes strong. No wonder even Xie Hengzai’s protection couldn’t shake her position.

“The original plan to receive Prince Ling’an—was it you who leaked it?”

“Yes.”

“Did you kill big brother?”

Qiao Yinzhi looked up, her eyes faintly holding tears.

“Da Lang left you a letter. He instructed me that if you came looking, I should give you this letter.”

A wax-sealed letter was handed to Xie Queshan. The wax seal bore Xie Hengzai’s personal seal. His personal seal had been sealed in the coffin by Xie Queshan himself and buried with Xie Hengzai—it couldn’t be faked.

This letter was indeed written by Xie Hengzai before his death.

Xie Queshan was rather curious: “You never opened it?”

“Da Lang said only you could read it.”

Xie Queshan opened the letter. Inside was only a thin sheet of paper, completely blank.

He tried holding the letter over the candle flame to warm it, but there was no reaction.

He held it under his nose to smell it—no ink scent at all, just a blank sheet of paper.

Qiao Yinzhi didn’t speak, and Xie Queshan didn’t ask.

After sitting quietly for a while, he caught a thread of thought and looked up at Qiao Yinzhi: “So, big brother committed suicide?”

If he hadn’t foreseen his own death, how could he have entrusted such a strange letter to the woman beside his pillow?

“I don’t know.”

Her tears fell. She truly didn’t know the cause of Xie Hengzai’s death. She had considered many possibilities, naturally having vaguely guessed it was suicide, but she dared not believe this possibility.

She preferred not to know, so she wouldn’t have to face the hidden affection within, until this moment when Xie Queshan exposed it.

She remembered that on the day of the wedding at Tiger Kneel Mountain, Xie Hengzai realized the intelligence had leaked and there was a spy nearby. He had already suspected her then.

After Xie Xiaoliu left to support Tiger Kneel Mountain, only the two of them remained in the study.

He asked her: “Zhi Niang, have you ever betrayed me?”

She was a well-trained spy—no torture could extract a word from her mouth. But when he looked at her so earnestly, with the same gentle tone as always, she immediately lost her composure and panicked.

Then she forced out a smile, hastily covering it up. Even she felt it was clumsy.

This was a huge flaw. Someone as intelligent as Xie Hengzai would definitely have noticed something amiss.

They had treated each other with respect for over ten years. He was a reserved man—decent, gentle, without overwhelming emotions, flowing like a gentle stream. Others thought they loved each other deeply, but in her view, it was merely Xie Hengzai being grateful for her meticulous care and giving her respect in return.

She had always believed their emotional connection was built on the gentle, considerate, virtuous concubine facade she presented. If Xie Hengzai discovered her identity, he would certainly deal with her.

On that chaotic day when the wedding reception plan failed, fierce battle was about to erupt, and the new bride had entered the Xie family gates, he had too many urgent matters to handle. She thought that once these matters were settled, he would come to settle accounts with her.

She had even considered fleeing, thought of countless excuses to cover up. She had also received Gusha’s secret message instructing her to kill him.

She had considered it, but couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Then, then he died unexpectedly, leaving not a single word behind.

“Did you ever poison him?”

“I did in the first few years, but never again after that. I didn’t expect Da Lang’s body was weak—those years of chronic poisoning damaged his foundation.”

Xie Queshan closed his eyes. He was considering how to handle the woman before him.

He had originally intended to kill her, then blame it on the Bingzhu Division, quietly eliminating a hidden agent in Wangxue Hollow.

After big brother learned the first reception plan had failed, he drank poison, using his life and death as a gambit to let Prince Ling’an enter the city—this was his righteousness. He didn’t kill her, using silence to protect this woman who had stayed by his side for over ten years—this was his personal sentiment.

And this blank letter… was his silent plea for mercy.

Xie Hengzai had been cautious and meticulous all his life. His frail body from childhood made him afraid to put himself in dangerous situations. He calculated more than others, wanting to minimize the risk of every step he took.

Yet he had never even seen what lay beneath this woman’s facade—whether it was good or evil—but still pleaded for her, keeping her in Wangxue Hollow. This was his great gamble.

Qiao Yinzhi hadn’t failed his painstaking efforts either. Since his death, she hadn’t leaked a single piece of information.

It was just unfortunate that when they were alive, neither knew the other loved them. Only after being separated by death could they see the overwhelming love hidden within this life-and-death game.

Xie Queshan didn’t open his eyes, his voice hiding endless exhaustion: “Leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

Qiao Yinzhi, who had long been prepared to die, looked up at Xie Queshan in surprise.