Ruyi’s tone became gentle: “Alright, don’t cry. They won’t die.” As she spoke, she even took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears.

Shen Qiyuan’s brow twitched: “Miss Liu.”

“Hmm?” She was having such fun teasing him that she didn’t even bother to lift her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Qiyuan said, “It’s getting late. You should head back, too.”

“My lord is truly heartless. When we came, you asked me to accompany you, but now when going back, you tell me to return alone.” She clicked her tongue lightly.

Zhou Tingchuan, who had been crying his heart out, hiccupped and stopped, stubbornly saying: “I’ll escort the young lady back.”

“Wonderful.” Her eyes filled with mirth, “The young master still treats me well.”

Shen Qiyuan: “…”

Though bewitching people’s hearts was her natural talent, no matter how many times he witnessed this scene, he still found it irritating.

“There’s a new case at the yamen. Since they’ve left, you go follow up on it,” he told Zhou Tingchuan. “Don’t wander around the districts when there’s no business.”

Zhou Tingchuan protested: “Tomorrow is my rest day. I have three days of official leave.”

“Oh.” Shen Qiyuan nodded. “Move it to the end of the month, and I’ll give you six days of leave.”

Zhou Tingchuan was both angry and wavering: “My lord, how can you do this!”

“Trade or not?”

“…Trade.” His voice carried a hint of gritted teeth.

Shen Qiyuan nodded and looked toward Ruyi: “Hire your carriage back.”

Ruyi wasn’t angry either, lazily getting up and stretching her waist: “My lord’s methods are truly childish.”

As long as they worked.

He elegantly nodded to her, then left with Zhou Tingchuan, walking away from the Lin’an yamen toward the Ministry of Justice without looking back.

The morning sun gradually rose, bathing Lin’an’s pavilions and towers in a layer of golden light.

Ruyi lay on her side in a guest room at the Meeting Immortals Wine House. Having rested for only two hours, her door was knocked on again.

“Miss.” The medicine shop doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and bowed: “Miss Jian Deng can get out of bed today.”

Ruyi sipped tea to rinse her mouth: “Isn’t that good news? Why do you look so frightened?”

“But, but she was taken away by people from Liu Manor.”

Her smile gradually faded as she looked up: “Did those people leave any message?”

“They did, saying when the young lady has time, to go to their manor for a cup of tea.”

They had already held a funeral for her while she was still alive, yet they still used such underhanded methods to make her return?

Ruyi pulled at the corner of her mouth, her long eyes slightly closing: “I understand.”

With Xu Houde’s downfall, the court would inevitably shake, and many would choose new patrons. Shen Qiyuan, who currently enjoyed His Majesty’s exclusive favor, was the best choice.

However, this person was impervious to flattery, stubborn, and inflexible. If one rashly tried to curry favor, they might instead be sent by him to Lord Zongzheng’s prison.

When everyone else was at a loss, Grand Preceptor Liu was the first to make his move.

A sedan chair swayed as it entered the rear courtyard of the Grand Preceptor’s manor.

As soon as Ruyi’s feet touched the ground, she heard a thunderous shout: “Rebellious daughter, come kneel immediately!”

Over a hundred spirit tablets were arranged in neat rows on tall candlestick stands. Grand Preceptor Liu knelt on a prayer mat in the center, his silhouette like a dark, heavy mountain.

Such an atmosphere would be hard not to frighten a young lady, but unfortunately, Ruyi, this particular young lady, didn’t fall for such tricks.

She laughed lightly and walked in, standing straight: “The Grand Preceptor has become senile. Your only legitimate daughter has already been buried, so where would any rebellious daughter come from?”

Her words, from address to content, were greatly disrespectful. Grand Preceptor Liu’s anger surged as he turned his head, but he paused when he met Ruyi’s gaze.

In his memory, his daughter was timid, obedient, always looking at him with eyes that yearned for approval. As long as he was willing to speak to her, even if it was lecturing or scolding, she would be happy.

However, the person before him now had cold brows and icy eyes, full of mockery and ridicule, as if she could see right through his skin to all the calculations in his belly, no longer fearing him in the slightest.

Grand Preceptor Liu frowned and temporarily suppressed his anger: “Is this how you speak to your father?”

The ancestral hall was smoky and stuffy, making Ruyi somewhat impatient: “Grand Preceptor Liu, if you have something to say, speak plainly.”

Enduring this form of address, Grand Preceptor Liu suddenly sighed softly, his black and white mixed eyebrows softening: “I dreamed of your mother last night.”

Ruyi’s eyelid twitched: “Oh?”

“Your mother, Lady He, was a gentle and kind woman. I met her when I was nobody, and our feelings were deep.” His eyes held thick nostalgia, “When she was dying, she grabbed my hand and said that no matter what, I must take good care of you, that you are her only flesh and blood in this world.”

“And then you took care of me right into a coffin.” Ruyi nodded.

The sentimental atmosphere that had just risen was shattered by her single sentence. Grand Preceptor Liu finally darkened his face: “Why did I hold a funeral for you – don’t you know in your own heart? In prestigious families, which family’s daughter holds gold and silver to fawn over men? Fawning would be one thing, but to be cast aside and become a laughingstock.”

“If I kept you in the manor, how could the young ladies of the second and third branches marry into good families? Wouldn’t their whole lives be ruined? How could I explain to my brothers?”

He spoke quite reasonably. Ruyi nodded: “The Grand Preceptor is indeed a pure and noble court minister, righteous and beyond reproach – being so, this commoner woman won’t disturb you further.”

She made as if to turn around.

“Stop!” Grand Preceptor Liu roared angrily, “The Grand Preceptor’s manor raised you for over ten years, and this is how you turn your back on us?”

At this mention, Ruyi turned her head back, her long eyes indifferent: “The Grand Preceptor’s manor raised me?”

“Isn’t that so? What you ate, wore, used…”

“Wasn’t that all my mother’s family property?” She impatiently interrupted the man’s words, her eyes carrying ridicule, “Not just what I ate, wore, and used – even you, father, including the second and third branches, the entire household, all expenses, weren’t they all earned from my mother’s family property?”

“You’re being outrageous!” Grand Preceptor Liu shouted thunderously.

He was truly angry now, his face flushed red, his eyes darting left and right: “Who told you such gossip and idle talk? Who!”

Ruyi had no other hobbies except loving to watch people lose their composure. The angrier this person got, the more delighted she became. Her eyes lifted slightly as she answered: “Who else could it be? My wet nurse, of course.”

Grand Preceptor Liu’s face instantly turned pale. He looked around uneasily and murmured softly: “How is that possible? Impossible.”

How could a wet nurse who had always been confined to the manor and died just last night have spoken with her?

He looked up, wanting to ask more, but Ruyi had already turned around leisurely: “What are you thinking today, I won’t fulfill. The resentment between us runs deep, Grand Preceptor Liu.”

These words were somewhat meant to trick him, not to extract anything in particular, just purely to disgust the old man.

However, unexpectedly, Grand Preceptor Liu truly took the bait.

“Someone come.” He shouted urgently.

At his command, over ten household servants immediately ran out from all sides, blocking her path completely.

Ruyi turned her head to see him standing at the ancestral hall entrance, his whole body tense, his face dark, even with killing intent between his brows: “Such a fine coffin – how can you let it remain empty? Why not put it to use today!”