Song Yan clung to Song Chuyi and refused to let go, restless and agitated like an irritable little lion. “Why should she find me a master?! They’re bad people—I don’t want favors from them!”

Although the four great clans were prestigious families, it was still very difficult to invite a great scholar like Tang Mingzhao. This time could be said to be an unexpected windfall—such a good opportunity absolutely couldn’t be missed. Song Chuyi bent down and scraped his nose. “This isn’t something they gave us. I obtained it myself. Won’t you even listen to your older sister?”

Song Yan wrinkled his nose, somewhat distressed. “But that Miss Chen is different from the Miss Chen in our household—she’s thoroughly bad!”

“You went to see the Miss Chen in our household?” Song Chuyi was somewhat surprised. “Why did you go to Tingyun Pavilion for no reason?”

Could it be that Third Madam and the others were still plotting something else?

“Grandmother invited Miss Chen to sit in her room, so I saw her.” Song Yan perked up a bit again. “Miss Chen even gave me a kite today.”

Song Chuyi breathed a sigh of relief and patted Song Yan’s head. Then she heard Luyi softly say, “Miss, the Old Master requests your presence.”

Old Master Song was looking for books by the bookshelf. Hearing her enter, he asked, “That matter with the Chen family girl—you’re just letting it go like this?”

Given Song Chuyi’s previous ruthless and resolute treatment of the Li clan and the Li family, she clearly wasn’t someone who smoothed things over peacefully. That Chen family girl had already offended her once before. This time she actually dared to strike again without fear of death, yet Song Chuyi was brushing it aside so lightly—he found it rather strange.

“Grandfather currently avoids Elder Chen’s momentum even in the Grand Secretariat. Of course I can’t push her too hard either.” Song Chuyi pressed her lips together, revealing a small dimple as she smiled with slight cunning. “Besides, this time I secured a teacher for Yan’er who’s hard to find in all the world. We’re not at a loss. As for next time—well, if there is a next time, that Miss Chen can pray for her own blessings. Even her grandfather and grandmother won’t be able to protect her.”

Song Chengru laughed a little, then immediately straightened his face and coughed several times. “Don’t make yourself sound omnipotent, as if afraid others won’t know how clever you are. After this incident, Duke Yingguo’s residence will probably flock to you. You detest their Seventh Young Master so much—just don’t get too annoyed.”

With Shen Xiaohai’s temperament, he wouldn’t pass up anything profitable. Now Song Chuyi had clearly become the most favored young lady in the Earl’s residence, with the Cui family standing behind her. If on top of that she possessed wisdom surpassing ordinary people, catching his eye was inevitable.

Hearing the names of the Shen family and Shen Xiaohai, Song Chuyi inexplicably felt disgusted. Then a cold sneer appeared on her face—if they wouldn’t take the road to heaven laid before them, she had no choice but to show them what’s what.

She no longer intended to provoke Shen Qingrang and wished nothing more than to stay as far away from him as possible, yet he degraded himself again and again by coming forward to stir up trouble.

“Let’s not mention the Shen family.” Seeing Song Chengru sit back down in the round-backed armchair, Song Chuyi asked, “Grandfather, have you thought about how to handle Third Madam’s letter? Or rather, what does Grandfather think about the current situation, and how do you plan to proceed?”

Song Chengru had always been a conservative, single-mindedly wanting only to cling to the Emperor and unwilling to align with any faction. Because of this, the Song family had remained safe and sound all these years. Even when Duke Chengguo and other nobles successively met with misfortune, they had been able to keep the Song family standing firm. But now the situation had changed. Under Old Madam Su’s machinations, the Song family had taken in a hot potato. Even if they didn’t want to wade into these murky waters, they now had no choice.

Bringing up this matter, Old Master Song’s expression grew somewhat serious. He looked at Song Chuyi and suddenly asked, “Xiao Yi, it seems you never considered choosing Prince Duan’s side from the very beginning?”

“Someone who, while trying to win you over, has already planned how to destroy you if the recruitment fails.” Song Chuyi looked at Song Chengru, full of disdain. “Is such a person worth allying with? Even if we exhausted all our efforts to help him, I fear we’d still find it hard to escape the fate of being discarded once our usefulness ends.”

What Song Chengru feared most was precisely this point. If he absolutely had to choose sides for the Song family, naturally he would choose better prospects and a more stable position for them.

But Prince Duan clearly wasn’t a benevolent ruler. Even now when he still needed to win hearts and minds, he could ruthlessly cast aside those who had previously attached themselves to him one by one—what about later?

“Then according to your meaning, we should give the secret letters to the Crown Prince?” Song Chengru stroked his beard with some hesitation. “But if we do this, we won’t just offend the Imperial Guard and Xingfu—we’ll also offend Prince Duan.”

Song Chuyi fell silent for a while. This matter was of great importance—even she herself couldn’t completely make up her mind. It concerned the life and death of the entire Song family. The pressure on her shoulders was truly too great.

“Grandfather, perhaps after a while they won’t have the energy to pay attention to these secret letters. If at that time a knife has already been plunged into their heart, naturally they won’t be able to worry about other injuries.” Song Chuyi lowered her eyes to look at her own fingers, her expression indifferent.

Song Chengru keenly perceived her implications. After a moment’s thought, he asked in surprise, “You know where that Censorate official is hiding now?”

Besides those secret letters, there was also the most crucial witness. This Censorate official must certainly have quite a few of Xingfu’s weak points in his hands. Most importantly, he had followed Xingfu for over twenty years and even styled himself as his godson. If he had connections with the Tatars, no one would believe Xingfu could remain uninvolved.

Both the Crown Prince’s side and Xingfu’s side were currently searching for him, but there had been no news for nearly a month. This person was extremely cunning—after the Tatar troops suddenly invaded Tongzhou, he had probably already sensed something was wrong and vanished directly from Zijing Pass.

If he had fled to the Tatars, finding him would be like fishing for the moon in seawater—truly too difficult.

“In my dream, he indeed fled to the Tatars.” Song Chuyi, seeing Song Chengru’s current thoughts, nodded. “But although this person is very slippery and very afraid of death, he has one fatal weakness. As long as we seize this weakness, we needn’t fear he won’t return.”

This Censorate official had only ordinary feelings for his parents and family members at home. Being a concubine-born son, he had probably suffered quite a bit in his youth, so he didn’t care much about his clan members. Only toward his birth mother, the concubine, and his biological younger sister was he very close. After his birth mother died, only his younger sister remained as someone he trusted. His important assets were even placed in his sister’s hands.

Song Chengru’s fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop as his mind raced through calculations.

Now the Song family had clearly become an important chess piece in others’ power games. Whichever side he chose to stand on would directly affect the Song family’s survival.

Xingfu couldn’t be relied upon and was unreliable. Prince Duan was even more untouchable.