Qingbai had originally been standing by the window watching the commotion below. A smile hung at the corner of his mouth as he found the people below utterly ridiculous—Heaven-Devouring Lone Star or not, the common people were just that foolish.

On the table was fresh Maojian tea from that year. When hot water was poured over it, the tender green tea leaves unfurled and floated up and down. A set of sky-blue-after-rain Ru ware teacups held this pool of emerald green tea—a feast for the eyes. He picked it up and took a savoring sip, the smile on his face deepening. He was thinking that after staying here a while longer to keep up appearances, he should find an excuse to go out again.

It was time. Now that the small fry like Minister Wang had all been arrested, those people didn’t know any truly important secrets anyway. When major matters arose, they were basically useless, yet they could still distract the attention of the Imperial Guard.

He put down his teacup with satisfaction and was just standing up to turn around the screen when the door was knocked three times—bang, bang, bang.

His brows furrowed, eyebrows raised as his eyes widened, filled with alertness and wariness. Before he could react, the door opened and two people suddenly rushed in.

He instinctively retreated two steps, his back already touching the screen behind him. Using the screen’s support to steady himself, he raised his head and saw the faces of the newcomers.

“How is it you two?!” He was clearly extremely surprised, his complexion changing from red to white then from white to green, like a palette of colors. “Didn’t Minister Wang already arrange for you to leave the city?!”

Having said this, he rushed to the door in a few steps and shut it with a bang, then immediately closed all the windows tightly as well. His expression was extremely ugly, and his tone wasn’t very good either. “What are you doing here?!”

He had already arranged for Minister Wang to deal with these two girls. How did they still come looking for him? At a time like this… With the Grand Princess Consort’s intelligence, she must have already suspected Qing Luo and Han Yan long ago. Qing Zhuo had said more than once that if he saw these two girls, he’d definitely skin them alive, saying they both were traitors.

They actually still dared to brazenly enter the capital. Entering the capital was one thing, but they actually dared to run to Chongyin Workshop! What kind of place was Chongyin Workshop?! Chongyin Workshop was the Grand Prince’s territory!

He turned around and rebuked them before they could speak. “Are you insane?! Coming to find me at a time like this!”

Qing Luo and Han Yan looked at each other in astonishment, both frozen in place.

He had rescued them—wasn’t he waiting for them to come help again? Even if he didn’t need their help…

Qing Luo looked at Qingbai, her eyes widening. “Wasn’t it you who rescued us?! We were just thinking…” she lowered her voice, “thinking whether there was anywhere we could help.”

Qingbai’s expression became increasingly rigid. “Rescue you? What rescue? What happened to you…?”

Minister Wang had indeed confessed many things in the Imperial Prison, but he hadn’t heard that Qing Luo and Han Yan were mentioned. The Grand Princess Consort’s side hadn’t leaked any news at all, never mentioning that Qing Luo and Han Yan had already been found.

Qing Zhuo and Han Feng, who had always been close to the Grand Princess Consort, hadn’t mentioned it either.

No one had even used Old Kong and his people to investigate this matter.

How was it that Qing Luo and Han Yan were now talking about being rescued or not? He was somewhat confused.

Han Yan just felt something was wrong. Looking at Qingbai’s expression, she couldn’t help becoming serious as well. “Wasn’t it you who had someone set fire to Earl Changning’s estate to rescue us? That person even told us not to return to Longhu Mountain. Since we can’t return to Longhu Mountain, and you rescued us, doesn’t that mean you wanted us to come find you?”

Set fire to Earl Changning’s estate?! Rescue them?! Were they mad?! Qingbai’s instinct was to laugh scornfully. Even if you lent him several times the courage, he wouldn’t dare reach his hand toward Earl Changning’s estate! The Grand Princess Consort and her brothers were all cunning foxes, not to mention Song Chengru. If he dared make a move, could he have stayed hidden this long?

“When were you captured and brought back?” But he still grasped the key point, which was also what concerned him most. “Were you captured by the Grand Princess Consort? What did the Grand Princess Consort ask you? And what did you tell her?!”

The Grand Princess Consort had always been searching for Qing Luo and Han Yan. He had thought they had long since fled, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case. Then what was all this about rescuing them or not? Who exactly rescued Qing Luo and Han Yan?

He felt his mind had become a chaotic mess, as if countless ants were crawling inside, so jumbled he couldn’t make sense of it.

Qing Luo finally spoke. She asked, “It wasn’t you who rescued us?”

Han Yan also sensed something was wrong. She straightened her body. “We were indeed hidden by Minister Wang, but later we were caught by Colonel Song’s people and brought back to Earl Changning’s estate. Sixth Miss asked us exactly who told us to go find the heir of Marquis Guangping. We said it was Yuan Jin. Later, for a while, the Grand Princess Consort had no news… Who knew that a few nights ago, Guanju Courtyard where we were imprisoned caught fire. It was a very big fire that alarmed many people. Earl Changning’s estate was thrown into chaos, and someone took the opportunity to let us escape…”

Qingbai’s face turned iron blue. He of course knew about this fire at Earl Changning’s estate. When Elder Song Chengru went to court, he even said this fire was perhaps set by those in the court who advocated negotiating peace with Han Zhengqing and Prince Gong, because he advocated punishing treacherous ministers and rebels, which made these cowardly, spineless people bear a grudge and invite retaliation.

At that time, even His Highness the Grand Prince and the Grand Princess Consort were extremely furious. Qing Zhuo said the Grand Princess Consort had specifically asked the Grand Prince to have the Ministry of Justice thoroughly investigate this matter.

But now it seemed things were far from as simple as they appeared on the surface.

Who set fire to Earl Changning’s estate?!

He thought of something, his eyes suddenly widening, his hand slamming heavily on the table. “You two are nothing but more trouble than you’re worth!”

Really…

He was frightened into a daze by his own thought. No way, it couldn’t be, could it?

Could the Grand Princess Consort really have deliberately let these two fools out to play hard to get, then catch the big fish?

He retreated a step, leaning against the screen. This time, perhaps using too much force, the screen fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. He was startled by the abrupt sound and jumped up, instinctively reaching out to help it, then turned his head to see several people standing behind the screen.

Qing Zhuo, Han Feng, and also Yuan Jin and Cuiting…

And several young servants under Colonel Song’s command. The one in the lead seemed to be called Wangyue—he was among them too.

It was true. These two fools really had fallen into someone’s trap. These two fools!

Qing Zhuo’s expression was no better than his. He squinted at him and laughed mockingly. “Well, well! You’ve really grown some skills!”