Zhou Yinzhi recounted the matter’s origins and developments one by one, yet in his heart, he was rarely beating a drum, not quite daring to raise his head to observe Xie Wei’s expression.

And throughout, Xie Wei didn’t utter a single word.

The fingers that ordinarily stroked the qin or held a writing brush were very beautiful. At this moment, as fresh blood seeped from the fingertip pad, he remained expressionless. He only loosened his hand to set down the bloodstained carving knife, picked up a snow-white silk handkerchief from the corner of the desk, and pressed it against the blood. The broken skin thus seeped out a few traces of pain.

It couldn’t be counted as very intense.

Just that little bit, yet it lingered right at the fingertip. If he didn’t press it, blood would seep out; pressing it intensified the dull ache of the wound.

Zhou Yinzhi finished speaking and said: “That’s how the matter stands.”

Xie Wei’s gaze, however, fell on that bit of blood staining the knife tip. He asked: “So on the Jiang Manor side, Censor Jiang still doesn’t know about this matter?”

Zhou Yinzhi said: “This matter is of great importance. This official didn’t dare decide arbitrarily.”

The daylight outside had already brightened. The Jiang Manor side would probably soon discover something amiss.

This matter couldn’t be delayed.

In this instant, too many thoughts swept through Xie Wei’s mind, each one incomparably clear. Yet as they passed through his mind, they left no trace whatsoever.

Only that exchange with Jianshu last night remained.

Jianshu had said: “Matters are progressing smoothly. The imperial prison has already been breached by this group. The city gate side has also been arranged properly, just waiting for Lord Zhang’s side to bring people through. With Xiao Bao there, we should not lose track along this journey. Only that Meng Yang…”

Then what had he said?

He’d said: “Dangerous people should be put to dangerous use. Just a small pawn—he can’t ruin the great plan.”

The not-very-bright light shone in through the translucent white window paper, dispelling that warm color cast by the flickering candlelight inside the Zhuoqin Hall. On Xie Wei’s face, only that bit of sickly pallor and coldness remained!

Some dark, violent energy grew beyond his control.

His chest heaved once.

At this moment, he slowly closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing it. After stopping for a moment, he said: “Thank you for troubling Battalion Commander to come inform me. Lord Jiang and I are old friends, and Second Miss Ning is my student. I’ll handle matters on the Jiang Manor side. You need not involve yourself further.”

His speaking speed wasn’t fast.

As if he were trying to clarify something.

Every word was slow, clear, sounding ordinary and calm. However, the more ordinary it was, the more calm it was, the more Zhou Yinzhi sensed the complete lack of ordinariness and lack of calm.

From his angle, he could only see Xie Wei’s light-gilded profile, the palm pressing the handkerchief against the wound, and the bloodstained carving knife by the qin board ahead…

Zhou Yinzhi’s eyelids jumped as his heart went cold.

He didn’t dare truly say this matter had nothing to do with him. He only lowered his head and said: “This official dares not act rashly, but this matter has an inseparable connection with this official. Though my position is humble and power limited, not comparable to the Grand Tutor, I only ask that if there’s anywhere this official can be of use, please command me without hesitation.”

Having said this, he took his leave.

Though Jianshu stood outside the hall, his ears were pricked. He heard the situation inside clearly and felt secretly alarmed. After Zhou Yinzhi left, he entered the hall and saw that Xie Wei had actually injured his hand, adding several more traces of shock.

He said: “You—”

Xie Wei calmly interrupted him: “Summon Lu Xian.”

There was medicinal salve right in the Zhuoqin Hall. A minor injury didn’t require his concern.

Jianshu hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t dare disobey the order. Without another word, he immediately rode to Youhuang Pavilion to fetch Lu Xian.

Heaven knew that in this bitterly cold weather, Lu Xian had been sleeping soundly in his warm bedding. In his dream, the Jade Emperor said he was a heaven-sent genius who had rendered merit to the state and rewarded him with a city’s worth of gold and silver treasures. Just as he was about to accept them, someone yanked off his warm quilt and woke him.

The gold and silver treasures instantly transformed into illusion.

His complexion turned livid. All along the way, he asked about the situation. His eyes showed even more dark displeasure. He was practically suppressing that fire in his heart when he arrived at Xie Manor.

Xie Wei had already sat back down.

But Jianshu clearly saw his wound hadn’t been medicated, yet at this moment, he didn’t dare say much.

Only after Lu Xian entered did he fling off the fur coat wrapped around himself. Without even sitting, his tone was unfriendly: “Calling me here for such a trivial matter—what’s the meaning of this, Xie Ju’an?”

Second Miss Jiang lost?

Lost then lost. Good that she’s lost!

Following Lu Xian’s temperament, no matter how she was lost, they should cover it all up as having encountered and been abducted on the street while returning home at night. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they could pin another serious crime on the Heavenly Doctrine. And because Jiang Boyou was Jiang Xuening’s father and Xie Wei was on good terms with Jiang Boyou, this could recover from the accident caused by Gu Chunfang recommending Zhang Zhe’s involvement in this matter. They could conveniently go “investigate” that group’s whereabouts and bring things back under control.

Simply a heaven-sent opportunity!

“That Zhou Yinzhi who came to find you isn’t any good person either. Just an Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander—a deeply scheming type. Coming to find you so eagerly and voluntarily, with your abilities, bringing him under your control would be easy, and you needn’t worry about him gossiping outside.” Lu Xian was truly getting angrier the more he spoke. “Before that Zhang Zhe entered the Ministry of Justice, he was already excellent at investigating cases, extremely skilled at catching the smallest clues. Allowing him to intervene in this matter is the root of disaster—the sooner he’s eliminated, the better. If I’m not mistaken, this Jiang family’s Second Miss also knows him. A little girl can’t keep her composure—there must be flaws everywhere. Moreover, if this matter also implicates an official’s young lady, those people at court will definitely feel your proposed strategy wasn’t appropriate. If they attack you, even the court situation might not be suppressable. Better to employ a small scheme and simply have these two buried together, eliminating future troubles forever. It couldn’t be simpler! What on earth possessed you to have someone fetch me so early in the morning?”

This early in the morning without even a cup of water—Lu Xian’s expression became increasingly irritable.

He was just about to pour tea himself when he lowered his eyes and saw the bloodstains on the handkerchief Xie Wei was pressing against his wound. He suddenly stopped and frowned: “You injured your hand?”

At this moment, he turned his head to survey the interior of the room and only then discovered the lumber and carving knife set aside over there.

Somehow, an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

Sure enough, before he could speak again, Xie Wei had already said: “I’ll go to morning court first. After court ends, I’ll personally lead people to pursue the Heavenly Doctrine. The capital cannot be left unattended, so I’ll temporarily leave you in charge here.”

Personally lead people to pursue the Heavenly Doctrine?

These words actually didn’t have any major problem.

However, Lu Xian keenly noticed that Xie Wei fundamentally hadn’t mentioned how to deal with Zhang Zhe and Jiang Xuening who’d caused this accident. So he watched him and asked: “Then what about this Zhang Zhe and Jiang Xuening?”

Xie Wei stood up, lowering his eyelids: “This matter needn’t concern you.”

Lu Xian thus easily recalled that night in his Youhuang Pavilion when he’d asked about the banknotes, and remembered again that Jiang Xuening was his student. That ominous premonition quietly expanded.

His gaze had already become nearly piercing: “You’re going to rescue them?”

Xie Wei said: “The situation may not be that dire. We’ll see when the time comes.”

Lu Xian’s complexion thus completely darkened. He only contemplated these words for a long while. Watching him about to go toward the back of the hall, knowing he probably intended to change into court dress, he said: “I thought that since you even killed Master Gongyi, you’d already decided what path to take henceforth. Now are you abandoning the simple for the complex, refusing to use the straightforward method, deliberately creating trouble for yourself?”

Xie Wei didn’t speak.

Lu Xian had already said coldly: “You don’t want to kill that Jiang family’s Second Miss!”

Xie Wei stopped his steps and actually said: “Yes.”

Lu Xian said: “A woman’s tender heart! Do you know what the Heavenly Doctrine situation is now, what the capital situation is? At a time when one wrong chess move loses the entire game, there’s no room for the slightest risk! Just a student you’ve taught for a few days—which successful achievement doesn’t result in withered bones everywhere? You actually can’t bear it?”

These words already implicitly held a few traces of deeper questioning.

Both of them understood this point perfectly.

However, Xie Wei had his back to him. After a while, he only slowly said: “She is different.”

The thing Lu Xian worried about most had still occurred.

Jianshu at the door already felt his heart jump to his throat.

What flashed through Xie Wei’s mind, however, was that day outside Cengxiao Tower on the long street, when that little girl carefully received the handkerchief from his hand and gently wiped away the blood traces by her ear. At that time, the assassins of Prince Pingnan’s faction had already been executed, their heads pierced by arrows, lying in disarray on the ground. She’d glanced at them—though forcing herself to remain calm, her complexion had still paled. Afterward, she turned her eyes away, not daring to look again.

He knew that group from the Heavenly Doctrine.

Those who came out of the imperial prison were even more vicious and evil. Among them was even Meng Yang. If she was trapped among them…

His fingers tightened somewhat. That pain thus also became clearer. Deep red blood traces seeped through the handkerchief, staining not someone else’s blood but his own.

Xie Wei thought the situation probably wasn’t as dire as Lu Xian believed.

This counted as repaying a debt.

Thus, for the first time in all these years, he revealed to an uninformed bystander that secret buried deep in his heart, saying word by word: “Lu Zhaoyin, she is different. She saved me. I owe her a life.”