Ye Jingchuan’s mind went in several circles before he finally worked it out. After spacing out for a while in a daze, his thoughts gradually became clear and his facial expression returned to normal: “So what you’re saying is that Han Zhi now knows Song Six did it?”

If that were truly the case, this was no small matter. Although he hadn’t interacted with Han Zhi these past two years, he hadn’t failed to hear of Han Zhi’s reputation—this person was utterly cold-hearted. It was said that as soon as he heard of the Zhang family’s misfortune, he didn’t even go through the motions superficially but directly sent people to Yangzhou to break off the engagement with the Zhang family, forcing Miss Zhang to her death.

With such a vengeful person, Song Chuyi had killed the person he wanted and killed his attendant, causing him to be gossiped about in every street and alley for over two years. It would be a miracle if he was willing to let her go.

Moreover, from the current situation, Song Six had clearly not gone through her family elders when doing this. Otherwise, if Old Master Song and Old Madam Song had known, Song Six would never be in such a passive position. This made things even more troublesome. Who knew what that lunatic Han Zhi would actually do?

“He’s always suspected it was Song Six.” Zhou Weizhao concisely explained what had happened at the Yellow Immortal Temple back then, then added: “This time Song Six came to me because she can no longer contact Ma Yongfu’s group of people and asked me to help.”

Unable to contact them for over half a month already, Ye Jingchuan suddenly slapped the table: “But you found them as soon as you made a move, didn’t you? Earlier I saw that person leaving looked somewhat familiar. Now that I think about it, wasn’t he the one who single-handedly lifted a sheep upside down to bleed it at the Cui residence? As long as the person wasn’t found by Han Zhi, even if he suspects, without evidence, what can he dare do to a proper young lady of the Earl of Changning’s residence?”

It wasn’t quite like that. Since Song Chuyi knew to send people to strike in the shadows, wouldn’t Han Zhi know the same? If he truly found an opportunity, Song Chuyi probably wouldn’t even know how she died.

Zhou Weizhao lifted his eyelids to glance at him: “Don’t be happy too soon. The person who just came is called Ma San. He’s the leader among this group. He just told me that Ma Wangkun can’t be found. Moreover, according to their observations these past few days, Ma Wangkun very likely was captured when he returned to the Yellow Immortal Temple to gather intelligence.”

If he’d truly been captured by Han Zhi, things would become troublesome.

Ye Jingchuan stood up with a start: “I’ll go to that place you mentioned at the Yellow Immortal Temple to take a look.”

“No need to go. Word has already come from over there.” Zhou Weizhao pushed forward the letter paper in his hand: “Han Zhi did indeed capture someone there. It’s said that when using private torture, he deliberately made quite a commotion. This is intentionally letting us know he’s captured someone.”

Luring people to attempt a rescue? Ye Jingchuan reacted almost immediately: “This is inviting us into a trap! We absolutely cannot go rescue him, otherwise wouldn’t we fall right into Han Zhi’s snare? This person acts mysteriously—that time at the Tongzhou estate, he even frightened Song Six into developing a high fever.”

A trace of surprise tinged Zhou Weizhao’s brow. There was actually something in this world that could frighten Song Six, and frighten her so severely at that? He thought again of Song Six’s attitude of absolutely having to ruin Han Zhi or destroy his reputation, refusing to stop until death—could it be that Han Zhi had offended Song Six in more ways than just the Song Eight matter?

“Whether to rescue or not isn’t for us to decide. Since Song Six only asked me to help gather intelligence, I’ll only help gather intelligence.” Zhou Weizhao looked at Ye Jingchuan thoughtfully: “If you have time, why not make a trip to the Song residence? In any case, you’re an idler who’s always liked to run all over the place. You visit the Song residence frequently besides. Han Zhi won’t send people to watch you. Go in and tell Song Six that one person was captured by Han Zhi. She’ll make her own decision.”

Song Chuyi always had a keen sense of propriety when asking people for help and would never put others in a difficult position. Since she only said to help find people, he would only take responsibility for helping find people and absolutely wouldn’t help her walk one extra step—this little girl’s capabilities grew greater with age. Beneath a single sentence, there were often seventy or eighty turns. Without knowing whether she had other plans, doing nothing was actually the greatest help to her.

Ye Jingchuan couldn’t quite understand and glared angrily at Zhou Weizhao: “Aren’t you being a bit too heartless? Right now she has no one at hand and can’t easily go out. If you only tell her the information, won’t she be like a headless fly bumping around everywhere? Why not simply be a good person to the end and send Buddha all the way west by helping her rescue the person?”

Zhou Weizhao sighed: “If she were truly a headless fly, could she still find a way to reach me? Think carefully—if she truly wanted to see me, there are plenty of methods. But why did she choose such a troublesome route and insist on going through you?”

Ye Jingchuan was left somewhat confused by his words, scratching his head in complete bewilderment.

“People have probably already begun fighting in the shadows, yet you still think Song Six would be a headless fly with no power to fight back.” Zhou Weizhao pushed all the sheets of paper in his hand toward him: “What she truly needs my help with is ultimately just finding people—and that’s only because my residence is right next to her residence, making it much more convenient to listen for movements. As for matters with Han Zhi, she’s probably already begun taking action. You should worry less about it!”

Ye Jingchuan knew Zhou Weizhao’s words made sense. All this time, his judgments about Song Chuyi had never been wrong. Thinking this, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat stifled again and angrily retorted: “How do you know? You’re not a tapeworm in her belly.”

Zhou Weizhao was different from ordinary people. Perhaps from staying too long on Longhu Mountain, he always carried a calm composure different from common folk, as if nothing could throw him into disarray.

Just like this time when Grand Consort Fan instigated the Crown Prince to move against Prince Gong’s people—even the Prince of Zhennan and Ye Jingkuan worried about his future prospects, yet only he himself remained unperturbed as if this wasn’t worth mentioning.

Ye Jingchuan’s frustration was frustration, but thinking of the main issue, he still couldn’t help voicing a reminder: “You shouldn’t dismiss them either. This time they could instigate the Crown Prince to snatch food from Prince Gong’s mouth. Next time, who knows, they might repeat what happened over ten years ago when they sent you to Longhu Mountain. His Majesty is getting on in years. You should also consider your future.”

The Eastern Palace had long been full of hidden undercurrents. Grand Consort Fan’s appetite had never been small. After swallowing the fat morsel of Yangzhou, her sights would probably turn to the Crown Princess and Zhou Weizhao.

The Crown Prince, moreover, wasn’t someone who could see things clearly. If he could see clearly, back then the Crown Princess wouldn’t have tearfully begged His Majesty and the Empress to send Zhou Weizhao to Longhu Mountain. Although times had changed and Zhou Weizhao’s status was long established, in this world one feared that one-in-ten-thousand chance. If His Majesty truly couldn’t hold on and passed away, given the Crown Prince’s favor toward Grand Consort Fan and Zhou Weiqi, the Crown Princess’s and Zhou Weizhao’s situations would still be worrisome.