Xiao Zhixuan blinked her eyes, seeming somewhat puzzled as she said, “Last night? I didn’t… go anywhere last night.”

Xiao Du grasped her hand with slight force, saying coldly, “Xuan’er, don’t you know that you’ve never been good at lying since childhood? Do you think you can deceive me? When I passed by your room last night, I happened to see you returning to your quarters. It was so late – where did you go?”

Xiao Zhixuan bit her lip, tears gathering in her eyes as she lowered her head, “I… I don’t dare to say. If I tell you, will big brother believe me?”

Xiao Du’s expression softened slightly as he released her hand, speaking gently, “As long as you tell the truth, big brother will believe you.”

Xiao Zhixuan seemed to gather her resolve before speaking, “Last night I couldn’t sleep in bed, constantly thinking about you and sister-in-law’s situation. Suddenly I had a thought – I wanted to secretly check whether you had actually returned to your room or not.” Speaking of this, she felt somewhat embarrassed, her face reddening before continuing, “When I was almost at sister-in-law’s door, I suddenly saw a figure standing in front of her door, not knowing what they were doing. I felt that silhouette was very familiar, so I wanted to get closer to see clearly. Who would have known that person suddenly turned around…” Speaking of this, as if recalling last night’s scene, her face suddenly turned pale and she unconsciously reached up to clutch the clothing at her chest.

“Who was that person!” Xiao Du urgently frowned and pressed for an answer.

“It was… it was Yunniang!” After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Zhixuan finally said.

“Impossible! How could it be Yunniang!” Xiao Du couldn’t help but grab her arm again, his face full of disbelief.

Xiao Zhixuan nodded, her expression also somewhat bewildered, “At first I also didn’t dare believe it was her. But I saw her suddenly turn and walk back, so I secretly followed behind. After following for a while, I was certain it was Yunniang. Later, I accidentally twisted my ankle, and when I looked up she had already disappeared. At that time I felt my foot hurt, so I went back to my room first. Who knew I would later learn about sister-in-law being poisoned. I originally wanted to tell you, but was afraid you wouldn’t believe me, and also afraid of harming Yunniang, so I never dared to speak.” As she spoke, she seemed very remorseful and couldn’t help but shed tears.

Xiao Du also felt his emotions difficult to calm at this moment, and could only first comfort her, “Alright, don’t overthink things. Big brother will get to the bottom of this matter. Go back to your room first.”

Xiao Zhixuan nodded through her tears, unable to resist asking again, “Big brother, why did Yunniang…”

Xiao Du waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it. Remember not to tell anyone about this matter.”

Xiao Zhixuan nodded in agreement and walked back with the two maids who had been anxiously watching from not far away. When passing by Linghua Courtyard where Yuanxi lived, she couldn’t help but stop and gaze at the abundant spring scenery within the courtyard, sighing quietly.

Beyond the corridor windows, Yuanxi was sitting alone in her room, holding a copy of “Records of Washing Away Grievances” to read through. The pale yellow pages had already been turned until they were slightly curled. She randomly opened to a page and saw written: “People from Guangnan, having small disputes and grudges against others, take wild kudzu grass themselves. It resembles asafoetida, with long pointed leaves. Taking three leaves or more will cause death.” The three characters “wild kudzu grass” were lightly circled in ink, with a line of small characters added beside them: Also called wild arrowroot, commonly found in sparse forests and thickets, highly toxic, also recorded in “Discussions on Medicine.”

Turning forward several more pages, almost every page showed these naturally flowing small characters – sometimes annotating uncommon items, sometimes supplementing case information, sometimes offering clever commentary. Yuanxi read with fascination, as if seeing Little Master standing before her speaking eloquently, and couldn’t help but smile softly.

Closing the book, thinking of Xiao Du’s earlier suspicions toward her, she also didn’t understand why she had felt so guilty at that moment, not daring to explain the truth to him. Ever since seeing this “Records of Washing Away Grievances” at Little Master’s place, she had found it particularly interesting. So Little Master would bring her several books of this investigative type every few days. Even after he left the Chancellor’s residence, he would regularly send her new books he discovered, each filled with annotations in his own handwriting. From childhood to now, she had neither close sisters nor intimate friends. It was only because of these books that her days weren’t too lonely, making her feel she had companionship.

She rubbed her brow, thinking again of Nanny Li’s expectant gaze when she returned to her room. Her mood became increasingly low as scenes from last night jumped back into her mind. She could almost be certain that those eyes pressed against her window belonged to Yunniang. But why would Yunniang do such a thing? Had she really gone mad?

She suddenly recalled that Xiao Zhixuan had told her in the carriage that she had been poisoned last night, and that poison was colorless and odorless, hidden in the lamp flame to burn, which was why she had been completely unaware, only constantly wanting to fall into deep sleep. If the one wanting to harm her was Yunniang, why go to such trouble, risking being seen at the window, and making those sounds to wake her up?

Her heart suddenly jumped as a thought occurred to her: Could it be that Yunniang didn’t want to harm her, but was trying to remind her to quickly escape! But the door had already been locked by someone, which was why she kept pushing at the door. The real culprit was the one hiding behind the scenes who had poisoned her and locked her in the room!

Once Yuanxi understood this point, she could no longer contain herself and wanted to find Yunniang to get to the bottom of things. She instructed An’he and Rong Qiao not to follow, and went alone according to her memory toward the side courtyard where Yunniang was staying.

Passing through corridors and courtyards, she arrived at that secluded small courtyard overgrown with weeds. Standing before the courtyard gate was a figure in dark green brocade robes hanging down, seeming to blend into the varying shades of fresh green behind him. That person was naturally Xiao Du. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the isolated small brick house in the distance, somehow unable to muster the courage to step across the shallow threshold before him.

Ever since he could remember, he had rarely been able to see his mother. In his memory, mother had always been that frail and proud woman, while father was deep and stern, only forcing him to practice martial arts and study. Whenever he felt afraid or sad, it was Yunniang who would hold him in her arms and comfort him gently. At that time he would tell himself that when he grew up, he would definitely treat Yunniang like family and be filial to her. Five years ago, Yunniang had suddenly become deranged for unknown reasons. He felt overwhelmingly guilty, only blaming himself for not taking good care of her, so he firmly kept her in the residence, vowing not to let anything happen to her again. But if all of this was just a facade, if she hadn’t actually gone mad… After the battle of Pingdu Pass, he had thought he could face anything with composure, but if even his closest relatives were no longer worthy of trust, how should he cope?

A series of soft footsteps interrupted his thoughts. Turning around, he discovered Yuanxi standing beside him, her face showing the same confusion and unease as his own. Xiao Du slowly turned his body, his expression growing increasingly gloomy, “You remembered?”

Yuanxi nodded, guessing that he had also come for this reason, and hurried to say, “But the situation isn’t what you think it is. The real culprit from last night must be someone else.”

Xiao Du raised his eyebrows to look at her, feeling slightly relieved in his heart, “Let’s go inside first to talk.”

The two then entered the courtyard. Upon stepping into the room, they saw Yunniang sitting dully on a stool while a young maid beside her was feeding her porridge spoonful by spoonful. Xiao Du took the bowl from the maid’s hands and said to her, “I’ll do it. You go out first.”

The young maid quickly stood up and left, gently closing the door behind her. Xiao Du scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it lightly at his lips, then brought it to Yunniang’s mouth, speaking gently, “Now there are no outsiders. Tell me, what exactly happened?”

But Yunniang still wore that same vacant expression, only mechanically swallowing that mouthful of porridge, her clouded eyes showing no emotion whatsoever. Just as Xiao Du was about to speak, Yuanxi crouched beside Yunniang and said softly, “Yunniang, you wanted to save me last night, didn’t you? What did you want to tell me?”

Yunniang turned her head woodenly toward her and suddenly revealed a strange smile. This smile made the knife scar on her face wrinkle up, looking indescribably horrifying. Yuanxi’s heart tightened and she couldn’t help but urgently ask, “You know, don’t you? Who exactly wanted to harm me?”

“Enough,” Xiao Du suddenly said. “She won’t answer you. If she wanted to speak, she should have opened her mouth five years ago.” He scooped up another spoonful of porridge, feeding her while saying, “I know you must have your difficulties. No matter who it is, if they want to harm you or harm my family members, I won’t let them get away with it. Yunniang, rest assured, Du’er has grown up now and can definitely protect you.”

But Yunniang seemed to understand nothing, only eating the porridge vacantly. The room thus fell into complete silence until that bowl of porridge was finished, and only then did Xiao Du lead Yuanxi out of the house.

The two walked in silence until they reached beneath a peach tree beside the hanging flower gate. Xiao Du suddenly smiled and said, “Do you still need me to come over tonight?” Yuanxi was suddenly stunned. He had said these same words yesterday by the stream, but at this moment both of them carried an additional weight that was difficult to express. She looked down with complex emotions, not knowing how to answer.

Just as she felt anxious and uneasy, she suddenly felt dizzy. When she came to her senses, she found that Xiao Du had already pulled her against the gate and lowered his head, slowly moving closer to her lips.

Yuanxi’s heart suddenly surged with fear. After struggling internally for a moment, she finally couldn’t help but turn her head sharply away. Xiao Du abruptly stopped, still smiling, but his voice carried a hint of coolness, “Such matters naturally require mutual willingness to be enjoyable. Since my wife is unwilling, this husband shouldn’t force the matter.” After speaking, he released her hands and turned to walk away without looking back.

Yuanxi felt suddenly empty before her, the warm breath withdrawn, leaving only a faint coolness that gradually seeped into her heart, transforming into an indescribable melancholy.