All around, the doors and windows were shut tight, airtight, as if afraid of letting even the slightest sound escape.

After the meal, Madam Gantang and Nanyi sat alone in the room, both appearing restless. Madam Gantang had tried to speak several times but didn’t know where to begin. She pretended to drink tea several times, until the entire cup was empty, but hadn’t spoken a single sentence.

Nanyi’s hands, twisted in her sleeves, were nearly rubbing sparks, her head lowered like a child waiting to be scolded.

“Do you… have some difficulties?”

Nanyi hadn’t expected this to be Madam Gantang’s opening words. She looked up at her in surprise, her face immediately burning red.

Utterly mortified, truly mortified.

If it had been before, there might have been some difficulties, but last night had been nothing but mutual desire, dry wood meeting fierce fire.

Madam Gantang added another sentence, as if helping Nanyi cover up some embarrassment: “Was it because… you needed to gather some information?”

She was shameless. She even hoped Madam Gantang would scold her severely, punish her with boards, rather than still considering her feelings now.

Nanyi, confused and seizing the opportunity, nodded. This lie was truly a helpless measure, but how could she explain? Perhaps only this kind of answer could barely preserve everyone’s dignity.

Madam Gantang was obviously relieved.

“When Big Brother remarried and brought you into the family, it was a last resort. This was already the Xie family wronging you. If you want to remarry, I absolutely won’t let anyone gossip about it. You’re free to come and go in the Xie family.”

“Right now… I don’t have such thoughts,” Nanyi’s voice was like a mosquito’s buzz. “Let’s wait until the situation in the city stabilizes.”

Madam Gantang nodded thoughtfully and said with concern: “If you have any difficulties in the future, feel free to come tell me—”

She paused, her tone seeming to grow somewhat distant inadvertently.

“The Xie family has upright family traditions. Even if Xie Queshan returns, we cannot let him corrupt everyone’s moral integrity.”

Nanyi understood.

Madam Gantang blamed Xie Queshan, but was also telling her that she could freely choose anyone, but it couldn’t be Xie Queshan.

Even if she was only a nominal young mistress of the Xie family, she couldn’t violate the great principles of human relationships. This was Madam Gantang’s bottom line.

Those untamed, undercurrent emotions, once brought to the surface for discussion, could only meet the fate of being reduced to ashes.

Nanyi felt she had moved another step closer to propriety, but also seemed to have become somewhat emptier.

She left Madam Gantang’s courtyard with slow, heavy steps. Just as she reached the covered walkway, someone suddenly pulled her aside.

“What did Second Sister say to you? She didn’t blame you, did she?”

Xie Queshan was very close. Nanyi instinctively stepped back.

“Why are you still at home?”

“I saw Second Sister call you over and couldn’t put my mind at ease.”

Xie Queshan now avoided no suspicion at all, his tone familiar as if they were an old married couple chatting behind closed doors.

Nanyi straightened up, looked up at him, and said seriously: “About last night—let’s pretend it never happened. We shouldn’t mention it again, and we shouldn’t do that anymore.”

Xie Queshan frowned, detecting some distance in Nanyi’s tone.

“Wangxue Wu’s rules can’t restrain me.”

“But Madam Gantang is very good to me. I can’t do things that embarrass her under her nose.”

Xie Queshan grew anxious and began speaking without choosing his words: “Am I not good to you?”

“Then what do you want?” Nanyi asked in return.

This question awakened Xie Queshan, leaving him speechless for a moment.

He was just instinctively resisting the feeling of Nanyi distancing herself from him, but what exactly did he want to do?

He couldn’t voice those sordid thoughts.

Nanyi continued to add: “Didn’t you say before? Men’s love for women is cheap, and women’s love for men isn’t much nobler—it’s just momentary interest, being blinded by lust, without any deeper meaning.”

Xie Queshan’s eyes immediately turned cold. His face looked normal, but he was actually so angry smoke was coming out of his seven apertures.

This woman had such a cruel heart—last night her eyes were clearly full of pity and love when she looked at him!

His tone became fierce: “There’s only one rule between us. Nothing else counts.”

But Nanyi seemed completely unaffected, instead saying with certainty: “But I know you’re a gentleman.”

Xie Queshan: ?

Putting a high hat on me?

But he was immediately put on a pedestal, caught in a dilemma.

Nanyi magnanimously patted Xie Queshan’s shoulder, pretending to be mature: “You’ve been impulsive a few times too. Let’s call it even.”

She walked away with her head high.

When she reached the end of the walkway, Nanyi felt empty inside. Looking back, Xie Queshan was no longer there.

—

Huachao Pavilion. The sun was already high.

Zhang Yuehui, living a life of drunken dreams, lay on the bed. Moving his muscles in his sleep, he rolled off along with the thin blanket.

This completely woke him up. Rubbing his hungover head, he got up and pushed open the window.

He leaned against the window, letting the cool wind blow in to clear his mind. Suddenly seeing something, his casual eyes narrowed slightly.

He lightly pulled the bronze bell in the room, and immediately a servant entered.

“Master.”

Zhang Yuehui beckoned the person over, gave some instructions, and soon the servant withdrew.

Outside Huachao Pavilion, many Black Crow Camp secret guards appeared, disguised as porters, passersby, diners… They had only one target: to watch Zhang Yuehui.

Zhang Yuehui’s biggest recent move was to make a big show of seeking to marry the Xie family widow. Coming from him, this didn’t seem strange, even somewhat reasonable—perhaps this incredibly wealthy merchant just liked married women?

Since that day, Huachao Pavilion had been quiet with no activity.

These secret guards thought they were well hidden, but unexpectedly, a group of maids suddenly filed out of Huachao Pavilion, precisely finding all the disguised guards and presenting each with exquisite tea and pastries, leaving word that this was the master’s intention—you’ve all worked hard.

The guards were stunned, not knowing whether to accept or not.

Such tricks couldn’t fool Zhang Yuehui’s sharp eyes at all.

He then burned incense, bathed, tidied himself up, and waited quietly in his elegant chamber. Sure enough, an uninvited guest appeared.

The visitor was a woman.

Zhang Yuehui truly hadn’t expected that the winds of Li Du Mansion would blow her here too.

This was a petite Qi woman in a red silk robe with white fox fur trimming the collar and sleeves, making her appear both heroic and charming. The woman wore only light makeup, but beneath her deep brow bones were a pair of phoenix eyes whose gaze was like feather fans, lightly brushing across one’s face to display infinite charm.

Zhang Yuehui rarely showed a cautious expression, rising to perform a proper bow.

“This humble one pays respects to Princess Imperial.”

Wanyan Puruo was Great Qi’s current Princess Imperial, the king’s own sister. Though a woman, and even sweet-looking, she acted with decisive efficiency and superior skills, in no way inferior to men. She held no official position at court but was a behind-the-scenes participant in politics who could influence all decisions of the Great Qi dynasty. On the surface, the Black Crow Camp was led by Yajiu, but the real power was in her hands.

In a moment, Zhang Yuehui understood what was happening.

When the Black Crow Camp entered Li Du Mansion, Wanyan Puruo must have entered the city together with them. With no progress on Prince Ling’an’s whereabouts and obvious problems in the cooperation between Gusha and Wanyan Jun, she had definitely come to investigate this mess in Li Du Mansion.

She had just been hiding in the shadows without showing herself, observing every move in Li Du Mansion. Zhang Yuehui’s heart suddenly lost its foundation… what information had she gathered?

She and Zhang Yuehui were old acquaintances. His ability to quickly penetrate Qi circles and expand his business inevitably required cultivating some important figures in official circles, and Wanyan Puruo could be said to be Zhang Yuehui’s patron in Great Qi.

She appreciated this merchant. She believed that in special times, one should use some unusual talents. Many unsavory matters she would entrust to Zhang Yuehui, and he always managed to handle things beautifully in unexpected ways. Only after he went south to Li Du Mansion did her grasp of his movements weaken considerably.

This was also one of the few people Zhang Yuehui had to deal with at full alertness. Whether Gusha or Wanyan Jun, neither could touch Guilai Hall’s affairs, but Wanyan Puruo was different—many of his current businesses were actually built up by helping her accumulate wealth previously. She knew Guilai Hall inside and out.

Wanyan Puruo’s gaze had already stripped Zhang Yuehui clean from top to bottom. She leisurely sat down on the bed: “Boss Zhang, have you thought it through?”

Zhang Yuehui raised his eyebrows, relaxedly expressing his confusion.

“Last time I asked you to consider becoming my prince consort, but you ran away the next day. Coming to Li Du Mansion for several months without sending me a single message—what, am I some fierce beast that you avoid me so desperately?”

“Princess Imperial, it’s really…” Zhang Yuehui frowned, lowering his voice painfully, “this humble one has a hidden ailment.”

Zhang Yuehui really dared to say anything.

Wanyan Puruo wasn’t heartbroken either, just showing a regretful expression. Looking at his lower half, then at his handsome face, she said with pity: “You should have said so earlier, making me think about you so much, having several passionate dreams.”

The woman’s face was perfectly normal, without a trace of shyness—another one with no restraint in speech.

Suddenly remembering something, she asked: “Then why did you seek to marry a widow?”

“Though the body doesn’t work, there are some unspeakable fetishes.” Zhang Yuehui answered without changing expression or missing a heartbeat.

Wanyan Puruo understood, nodding ambiguously: “Since that’s the case, there’s nothing to discuss about romance. I’d better talk business with Boss Zhang.”

“Guilai Hall belongs to Princess Imperial. Whatever you want to know, just command.”

Zhang Yuehui was also skilled at playing the lackey.

“You didn’t get involved in Li Du Mansion’s affairs, did you?” Wanyan Puruo’s eyes slanted up, seeming to send flirtatious glances—clearly without any sharpness, yet making one’s back turn cold.

Zhang Yuehui answered honestly: “I got involved, quite deeply.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I did dig up some intelligence and earned quite a bit of money from General Gusha and Lord Wanyan, but these two seemed incompatible, leading to the final failure. In the end, this is also my responsibility—I’m feeling uneasy about it.”

Zhang Yuehui knew he was suspicious. Thinking carefully about each incident, he had been unhelpful throughout.

He wasn’t doing it deliberately, just too lazy to expose it.

Who would be sick enough to constantly think about harming compatriots? Though his moral standards weren’t high, he still had some conscience.

So he continued to shift responsibility to Gusha and Wanyan Jun without showing emotion—they had to take the blame completely.

Wanyan Puruo said lazily: “Whether Gusha or Wanyan Jun, they are both pillars of the royal court whose loyalty is unquestionable. But in their actions, each has private interests and inevitably makes mistakes. This trip, I’m here to investigate whether they made stupid mistakes themselves or were bewitched and misled into inappropriate actions.”

Zhang Yuehui understood the implication.

In previous events, he had stayed completely out of it, remaining aloof, and precisely because he stood at an outsider’s angle, he could see the whole situation clearly. Xie Queshan and the Bingzhu Division had repeatedly exploited the discord between Wanyan Jun and Gusha’s competition for credit to execute deception strategies and escape perfectly.

But with Wanyan Puruo’s arrival, this gap would soon be sealed.

Whatever the Bingzhu Division wanted to do next would become difficult. No wonder the Black Crow Camp had been so efficient in Li Du Mansion recently—there was an expert operating behind the scenes.

Originally he could have remained indifferent, but with Nanyi in the Bingzhu Division, he couldn’t help but care.

“Previously I didn’t ask about your stance because I appreciated and trusted you, but now the situation has changed—” Wanyan Puruo even looked at him somewhat aggrievedly, “You must choose a side and show me your loyalty.”

“All worldly affairs are nothing but exchanges of interest. What importance do stances have?”

“No good, I’m no longer satisfied with that.” Wanyan Puruo hooked Zhang Yuehui’s neck, acting coquettishly.

But this coquetry brought no enjoyment, only the feeling of threat.

Zhang Yuehui smiled with narrowed eyes: “Is there even a choice? This humble one’s heart naturally belongs with you.”

His face was seamless, but his heart had already fallen into an abyss. Zhang Yuehui knew he had to enter the game.

He wanted to give up everything for Nanyi and leave these disputes, but he was still a step too late. At this moment, he could no longer stay out of it.

“Men’s words… I usually don’t believe them, but Boss Zhang is after all my heart’s desire, so I’ll believe you once.” Wanyan Puruo released her hand, her eyes narrowing to reveal some coldness. “If you deceive me… hmm… I’ll make you die miserably. And the things you care about—”

Wanyan Puruo toyed with the incense burner on the table, suddenly blowing lightly at the incense ash in the plate, immediately covering Zhang Yuehui’s face with ash.

“Puff—all reduced to ashes and smoke.”