Song Chengru had, after all, mixed in official circles for many years. After deep and careful consideration, he immediately made his decision.

In the Grand Secretariat now, only the Chief Elder had not received any benefits from Xingfu. The others were all more or less tainted. Elder Zhang had even entered the Grand Secretariat through Xingfu’s connections.

That said, Elder Chen had already become extremely wary of Xingfu because of the Tongzhou incident. Recently, he had almost become complete strangers with Xingfu, and had clashed with Elder Zhang multiple times in the Grand Secretariat.

The Chief Elder’s current lack of position was the best position.

Having made his decision, Song Chengru had no other concerns and didn’t waver indecisively. He lifted his eyes to look at Song Chuyi and suddenly smiled. “Having you as a granddaughter truly saves one from taking so many detours. Thanks to you—a thousand gold pieces can’t buy foresight. Do you know how rare these three words are?”

He was genuinely grateful that he had initially given this little granddaughter his complete trust and provided her every convenience. Sincerity for sincerity—Song Chuyi was a good child.

In the past toward Old Madam Song and Old Master Song, Song Chuyi had never given her complete trust. The lesson from her previous life was truly too painful. She had even felt that in living this life again, she should coldly kill everyone who had wronged her and maintain the utmost wariness toward everyone.

But people’s hearts are made of flesh. Old Master Song and Old Madam Song truly were good to her. Even if Old Madam Song might have some guilt motivating her, ultimately she had sincerely taught her principles and sincerely treated her well.

Song Chuyi bowed her head without speaking for a time. After a long while, she finally raised her head and revealed a smile.

The matter with the Li clan was already past. Both she and Song Yan bore the surname Song—it was impossible for them to live well separated from the Song family. Even if they had a powerful maternal clan, that would only be icing on the cake. If a person’s paternal clan weakened, then wherever they went in the world, they would only be living under another’s roof.

“So Grandfather, you must treat me even better from now on.” The smile Song Chuyi showed before her grandfather was completely different from other times. “When I move to my new courtyard, you must part with a few pieces from your treasured collection for me.”

Song Chengru laughed but was completely helpless against Song Chuyi’s smile. “You little girl have never been willing to make a losing deal. So regarding that Censorate official’s matter, how should we cast our net, and where should we cast it?”

“That Censorate official disowns his six relations and basically has no ties with his kinfolk. Even toward his wife and children he’s only ordinary—he sold concubines who should be sold and gave away those who should be given away without the slightest hesitation. Yet he happens to be the world’s best older brother, extremely protective of his biological younger sister.” Song Chuyi poured out all the information she knew to Song Chengru, then specifically reminded him, “His sister now seems to be married to a patrol officer in Shuntian Prefecture… His surname seems to be Zou.”

Song Chengru considered for a while, then said, “But he’s currently fled to the Tatars. How can we let him know something has happened to his sister?”

This was a very practical problem. If that Censorate official couldn’t hear the news, then what was the point of casting nets to catch fish? Now, because of the Tatar troops’ sudden invasion of Tongzhou, the borders had been put under martial law, making communication even more difficult. If they truly mishandled this, they might even be pinned with a crime of consorting with the enemy by Xingfu and his people. Who could bear such a charge?

Bringing up this question, Song Chuyi momentarily felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

Before long, several checkpoints in the north would face Tatar heavy forces pressing on the borders—another war.

But this problem was currently beyond her capabilities. She could only suppress that trace of unease in her heart and instead carefully ponder Song Chengru’s question.

Passing messages carelessly could result in being pinned with a crime, especially with Xingfu having Chen Xiang watching them now. They couldn’t act rashly.

For many matters, it truly wasn’t appropriate for the Song family to come forward.

“Grandfather, why don’t you casually mention it to Elder Chen?” Song Chuyi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of an idea. “The indictment against him was written by this Censorate official. Now he’s almost torn his face with Xingfu. His days are much harder than ours—he’s probably so worried day and night he can’t sleep. Once he learns there’s news of that Censorate official, won’t he urgently dig three feet into the ground to find the person and claim credit before the Crown Prince?”

Song Chengru smiled and pointed at Song Chuyi. If not for being constrained by being an elder, he would have almost called her a little fox.

This little girl certainly held grudges. Now giving the Chen family the inside information on that Censorate official would naturally make the Chen family delighted beyond measure. But at the same time, beneath this enormous benefit was also hidden a blade suspended over their heads that could fall at any moment.

Once Xingfu and his people learned that the Chen family had begun searching for that Censorate official’s whereabouts and already had leads, they would certainly devote less attention to the secret letters and focus the vast majority of their attention on the Chen family.

This way, it would relieve the Song family’s predicament while also diverting Xingfu and his people’s attention, dispersing the pressure on the Song family, and making the Chen family the target.

“It seems that Chen family girl has offended you quite deeply.” Song Chengru amusedly pulled two books from the bookshelf for her. “But this is also good—you’ve solved a difficult problem for your grandfather. However… if we give all the benefits to the Chen family, how do we demonstrate our sincerity to the Crown Prince?”

“How could this possibly stump you, Grandfather?” Song Chuyi wrinkled her nose and reached out to take the books from his hands, her eyes blooming with delighted radiance. “It’s a travelogue! I’ve been looking for this book for so long—Grandfather, you’re wonderful!”

Song Chengru reached across the desk to tap her head. “You make it sound easy. If you searched all of the capital, you probably couldn’t find more than a few copies of this travelogue. Fortunately, I’ve kept it for over ten years—now it benefits you. You must cherish it well for me. Go see your grandmother and tell her I’ll dine with her this evening.”

Song Chuyi nodded, clutched the book tightly, and agreed with a smile.

Song Chengru watched her leave. He stood for a while, then suddenly smiled.

This time, both Duke Yingguo’s residence and the Li family were somewhat implicated. The Chen family had already offered such substantial compensation—there was no reason those two families would have no gesture at all, right? He figured that tomorrow they would probably come to apologize and offer compensation as well. And since they would come, several families with close ties who got wind of this would probably visit as well.

The heir of Prince Zhennan’s residence had married none other than Princess Rongcheng, the Crown Prince’s own younger sister, and had borne the brunt of this Tongzhou military incident. While tipping off the Chen family, why not also pass them some information? This way, indirectly it would also clarify the Song family’s attitude, secondly eliminate Prince Zhennan’s residence’s concerns about the Song family sheltering the orphaned daughter of the Su family, and thirdly tactfully show the Crown Prince their current thinking through their overture to Prince Zhennan’s residence.