“My lord?”

Zhou Tingchuan chased out of the Shen manor, just in time to see Shen Qiyuan holding the blood-covered little Heye as he was about to board the carriage.

He was startled: “Who laid such a vicious hand?”

Shen Qiyuan didn’t answer, only placing Heye into the carriage. As he bent down, the front of his robe was stained with blood-red.

Zhou Tingchuan’s eyes widened, and he quickly followed up: “On such a peaceful day, what happened? You, did you just go to see Miss Liu?”

“No.”

“What?” He didn’t quite hear clearly.

“I didn’t see Liu Ruyi.”

The little girl who had been keeping her eyes tightly shut heard these words, frowned, and opened her eyes: “My lord is lying.”

She sat up, saying angrily, “I was almost killed by Liu Ruyi just now. My lord, as the Director of the Ministry of Justice, how can you confound black and white?”

Shen Qiyuan looked at her, and only after a long while said: “Yes, I also thought just now that you had already been harmed by her.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and little Heye looked away: “She did think so, but unfortunately couldn’t kill me by throwing me down, only knocked me unconscious.”

“Is that so?” Shen Qiyuan laughed once.

Usually, when he smiled, he was most handsome, like a piece of clean, clear jade, with the shallow mole at the corner of his eye tender and lingering. Little Heye would always stare in fascination. But this smile now made the carriage seem to sprout frost needles out of thin air, piercing her cheeks painfully.

Little Heye gritted her teeth, simply crawled up, and with a thud knelt before Shen Qiyuan.

The frost in Shen Qiyuan’s eyes grew deeper: “You weren’t knocked unconscious, you deliberately held your breath.”

Not a question, but a statement. Someone who was knocked unconscious would still have chest movements, but she had been feigning death just now, combined with the blood stains splattered on her body, which made him prejudge that Liu Ruyi had killed someone.

“Yes.” The little girl gritted her teeth and agreed, but straightened her back: “But I did nothing wrong. She’s a demon, the murderer who killed my father. I just wanted revenge.”

Zhou Tingchuan, beside them, found it incredible: “What demon? Little girl, back in the village, if Miss Liu hadn’t been kindhearted, we wouldn’t have brought you back at all.”

Heye was dismissive: “She killed my father, so she only saved me out of guilt.”

“She didn’t know who you were when she saved you.” Shen Qiyuan said coldly, “Demons are sinister, mortals are compassionate. Between you and her, who is the demon, and who is human?”

Heye was stunned, then quickly frowned: “You’re lying to me. If you also think she’s innocent, when you discovered I was still alive just now, why didn’t you go back and tell her?”

Shen Qiyuan lowered his eyes.

The moment he picked her up in the Song manor’s garden, he had indeed noticed something was wrong. The bright red color on Heye’s body wasn’t even human blood.

The one who was injured was Liu Ruyi, not little Heye.

In that instant, he remembered long ago, when Ruyi had fought fiercely with several senior brothers on Qidou Mountain, all for a wilted flower.

“I didn’t step on this flower to death.” In the mountain wind, Ruyi stubbornly argued.

The surrounding senior brothers all waved their hands: “Only you passed by here just now, if not you, then who? Second Senior Brother even saw it, just admit it.”

“I won’t admit to something I didn’t do.”

“It’s just a flower, Master won’t punish you severely either. What’s there to argue about?”

“Yes, quickly go admit your mistake, then come eat with us.”

Among the chattering voices, Ruyi’s brows were cold and stern. She flipped her hand, stirring up magical power three zhang high, and amid the startled cries of her senior brothers, completely leveled another flower bed.

“Now you’ve seen it, this patch of flowers is what I destroyed, not that one.”

She turned back, her gaze sharp as she said: “You can punish me, but you cannot wrong me.”

When Shen Qiyuan arrived, he only heard this last sentence.

At the time, he thought Ruyi was very foolish, getting severely punished out of spite, taking a month to recover. This matter clearly had many better ways to resolve it.

But later he understood—how many flowers were destroyed didn’t matter, how severe the punishment was didn’t matter either. She, Liu Ruyi, was born to stand tall and upright, honest and pure, unwilling to endure even half a point of injustice.

But just now, he had wronged her, based on his preconceived notions—a nine-year-old girl wouldn’t have such heavy scheming, while demons always loved bloodshed and killing.

Such thinking made the scene before him appear very natural and reasonable, so he attacked her without asking many questions.

His fingertips curled slightly. In those falling leaves, Shen Qiyuan also felt a moment of regret and vexation.

But it was too late. Ruyi’s killing intent was overwhelming. With her nature, if little Heye dared to frame her, she would kill her.

The carriage fell silent for a moment. Shen Qiyuan suddenly called for the carriage to stop, then opened the door.

Little Heye shivered from the cold wind of early spring outside, looking at him somewhat pitifully: “My lord doesn’t want me either?”

“I never intended to keep anyone by my side.” He said expressionlessly, “If she hadn’t spoken up, you couldn’t have entered the Shen manor either.”

Heye’s eyes reddened, saying angrily and helplessly: “You all always say these things, as if I’m some ungrateful wretch. But my lord, if not for her, my parents would still be alive, our family happy and harmonious. How would I end up like now, with no relatives, no one to depend on? If it were you, my lord, wouldn’t you want revenge?”

“I would seek revenge, but I definitely wouldn’t use her trust in me to stab her in the heart.”

A murderous aura surged between his brows. Shen Qiyuan asked her somewhat impatiently: “Do you still want me to praise you for doing well?”

“But I’m too young.” Heye cried angrily, “Without doing this, how else could I get revenge? How long have I calculated for this day, thought about it, prepared for it…”

“That’s your incompetence.” Shen Qiyuan coldly interrupted, “Being so troubled is entirely your incompetence, not something others owe you.”

Back then, wasn’t he also tender and helpless, having experienced countless years of torment and tempering afterward before gaining the opportunity for revenge? She had simply taken a shameless shortcut—what was there not to admit?

The weak would be pitied, but might not always be in the right.

Zhou Tingchuan, beside them, was already so angry his cheeks puffed up. As soon as his lord finished speaking, he immediately lifted little Heye and placed her under the carriage.

The carriage continued forward, with heart-wrenching cries still coming from far behind.

Shen Qiyuan glanced at him: “What are you angry about?”

“I’m naturally angry at her ingratitude!” Zhou Tingchuan said indignantly, “Miss Liu was so good to her, saved her life, brought her back to the city, gave her whatever she wanted to eat, and when she wanted to study, Miss Liu arranged for her to study. She was something else, actually attacking Miss Liu.”

“If she had even half a conscience, she should go apologize to Miss Liu right now!”

“…” Shen Qiyuan touched his nose tip.

Zhou Tingchuan saw his gesture, thought about it, and earnestly said: “My lord, I was talking about little Heye, not you.”

“Thank you.” Shen Qiyuan turned to look out the window expressionlessly.