Second Old Master Wang told Song Yan the general content of Song Jue’s letter, then added: “Your elder brother’s meaning is to let you handle it as you see fit.” After saying this, he felt that Song Jue’s words were really too sweeping—letting an eleven-year-old child handle things as he saw fit, when matters had reached this point and the authorities had been alerted. What else could be done?

Yet Song Yan nodded, looking as if it were perfectly natural, and asked him: “Does Father-in-law know the prefect?”

The official world had its own rules. In a place like Jinling, whoever served as prefect would first visit the various prominent families to pay their respects and establish connections. The Wang family was among the notable families in Jinling, and with someone now serving as an official at court, the Jinling prefect had naturally come to pay his respects long ago. The Wang family also knew how to conduct themselves and naturally wouldn’t antagonize the local magistrate. They did have a relationship, so Second Old Master Wang quite naturally nodded: “Of course I know him. Just a few days ago, the prefect’s granddaughter got married, and I attended the wedding banquet.”

Song Yan glanced at Young Master Wang, then said: “If that’s the case, I must trouble Father-in-law to introduce me to the prefect. I have some things I’d like to say to him.”

Second Old Master Wang had indeed done such things as leading his family’s younger generation to visit others’ homes. But with the person being Song Yan, he felt somewhat uneasy. Thinking about Song Yan’s cleverness, then thinking about what Song Yan and Young Master Wang had said when they came in—that they still didn’t know who the mastermind was and needed to wait for the prefect to conduct an interrogation—he asked: “Are you going to request that the prefect rigorously investigate this case?”

It certainly needed rigorous investigation. No matter what, the person behind all this had so maliciously extended their reach into the Wang family, nearly killing the Wang family’s eldest legitimate grandson while also making the Wang family develop enmity with both the Cui and Song families. This wasn’t something that could be dismissed as mere play.

Young Master Wang couldn’t help but interject: “The person has already been caught, so just torture him! Under severe torture, he’ll have to tell the truth, right? Once he talks, we’ll know who’s behind all this wickedness.”

Song Yan frowned and paid Young Master Wang no attention. He kept feeling that this whole affair had come about too suspiciously. Although he had avoided this scheme through caution, he always felt this design wasn’t aimed at him—or at least, not entirely aimed at him.

Since he hadn’t offended anyone and had nothing worth coveting, then perhaps it was aimed at the Song and Cui families, or perhaps aimed at his elder sister.

Any of these possibilities was enough to make Song Yan raise his guard to the fullest. Right now, the urgent priority was to draw out the person behind all this. And how to draw them out? He looked up at Second Old Master Wang: “I want to request the prefect’s help. Can Father-in-law take me to see him?”

Second Old Master Wang needed to send someone to the prefect’s residence to inquire, so he had someone first take Song Yan to see Cui Huaying.

Cui Huaying’s face was haggard as she leaned under the gardenia tree in the courtyard doing needlework. Upon seeing Song Yan, she quickly stood up and pulled him over: “Why did you come? Did you go to see Old Madam first?”

The unhappiness of her new marriage had added a few traces of haggardness and weariness to her face. Song Yan pressed his lips together, called out “Sister Huaying,” softly told her about Young Master Wang being schemed against, and also mentioned that they had already caught the person who attempted bribery today. He asked her: “What are your plans for the future?”

Even if Young Master Wang had been schemed against, he had still genuinely committed wrongdoing and had even struck Cui Huaying. Moreover, he inherently preferred men. Song Yan, speaking from his private feelings, still didn’t want Cui Huaying to reconcile with him.

Young Master Wang followed with an embarrassed smile as he entered. Cui Huaying’s expression was cold as she nodded at him, then looked at Song Yan as if Young Master Wang didn’t exist: “I received letters from Mother and Xiao Yi. They said they’re coming to Jinling? Second Uncle and Third Uncle are also heading to Jinling.” Cui Huaying smiled: “When Mother and my uncles arrive, I’ll return with them.”

Young Master Wang pressed his lips together, standing silently behind them, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Song Yan squeezed Cui Huaying’s hand. He was young and had an extremely good relationship with Cui Huaying, so this action wasn’t awkward: “Elder Sister may not come. But even if Elder Sister doesn’t come, it’s the same once Second Uncle and Third Uncle arrive. Maternal Aunt said in her letter that whatever you want to do, you should do it.”

Cui Huaying knew her mother would definitely say this. She had never worried that her parents and the Cui family wouldn’t accept her. The Cui family didn’t have the custom of treating married daughters as outsiders. She nodded: “It’s good if she doesn’t come. Changing routes midway would be too troublesome, and who knows what troubles might arise along the way.”

Song Yan’s brow suddenly furrowed tightly, his heart suddenly moved—if today it really had been Cui Huaying’s husband, his brother-in-law, who died, and he had been identified as the murderer, wouldn’t Elder Sister necessarily have to make a trip to Jinling?

So then, those people were targeting Elder Sister?! He was the bait to lure Elder Sister into taking the hook?!

He forcibly suppressed the shock and anger in his heart. After comforting Cui Huaying for a long while, he glanced at Young Master Wang and slowly made his way out of Cui Huaying’s courtyard.

Cuiting and Wangyue were both waiting for him at the second gate. Seeing him emerge, they hurried forward: “We’ve already sent people to watch. Indeed, someone has successively sent calling cards to the prefect’s residence and gone to the prison to gather information.”

Sure enough, there was a venomous snake in the shadows watching them covetously. Song Yan nodded and asked as he walked: “Did anyone follow the person who sent the calling card? Did the person gathering information find out exactly who sent the card and under what pretext?”

Wangyue and Cuiting each handled one side. Upon hearing this, Cuiting spoke first: “We’ve already sent Qin Chuan to follow the person who went to the prefect’s yamen to deliver the card. There’s no news back yet.”

Wangyue also shook his head: “As for the people at the prefect’s yamen, their mouths are very tight. We sent silver and spoke kind words, but they refuse to reveal who sent the card to visit the prefect.”

Song Yan smiled. Since they couldn’t extract information from the servants’ mouths, they would go directly to the person involved and ask.

Wangyue was clever and immediately asked: “Should we write a letter back to our household and have the First Master or First Young Master send a letter?”

The Jinling prefect couldn’t refuse to give face to the Song family. If he were truly that foolish, Song Yan and Young Master Wang wouldn’t have been able to use his people to lure in the person who bribed the jailer that afternoon.

“That’s unnecessary. Going back and forth would waste who knows how much time. By then, the person in prison will probably already be dead.” Song Yan knew well that these people were the type to strike ruthlessly. Hearing this, he shook his head: “Let’s wait for news from Father-in-law. This shouldn’t be a big matter for him.”

Although Young Master Wang had been led astray by others, the Wang family’s conduct had offended both the Cui and Song families—this was plain to see. The Wang family would have to find ways to make amends. Since they needed to make amends, any reasonable requests he made, the Wang family would naturally do their utmost to satisfy.