Zhou Ye snorted coldly.

He lifted his robe hem and sat down leisurely in the armchair, his face showing an expression of “Let’s see what other good show you can put on.”

Yan Sanhe said, “We came to you for travel documents and a letter. You gave them very readily. Not only that, you also assigned eight guards to us.”

“Yan Sanhe, you forgot one thing.”

Xie Zhifei reminded her, “Before assigning guards, he deliberately warned us that Great Qi Kingdom isn’t peaceful!”

Pei Xiao looked at these two people and seemed to suddenly understand something. “Then he dispatched black-clothed men to attack us—what’s that called? That’s called ‘thief crying thief!'”

Zhou Ye’s throat involuntarily rolled. His face turned iron-blue.

Yan Sanhe turned to look at the surrounding black-clothed men and continued:

“Those people’s martial skills were quite formidable, using killing moves. Logically, even if we didn’t die, we should have been seriously injured. Strangely, none of us even had minor injuries. Why?”

Before Zhou Ye could answer, Xie Zhifei beside her sneered coldly. “Because he was testing us.”

“Ridiculous!”

Zhou Ye’s gaze was heavy. “Why would I test you?”

“Another good question.”

Yan Sanhe clasped her hands behind her back and boldly walked before Zhou Ye.

“At first I didn’t understand why either, until I discovered you were the person who stole our silver. Then I suddenly understood.

Because you had already discovered Xie Zhifei’s identity. Because you didn’t believe we came to Great Qi Kingdom to seek relatives.

To discover our true purpose in coming to Great Qi Kingdom, you dispatched those black-clothed men.

When people encounter danger, their reactions are most genuine, and the decisions they make are often most muddled.”

Yan Sanhe suddenly smiled.

“We moved into the prefect’s yamen, just as you wished—diving headfirst into the trap you had long prepared.”

Speaking of this, she remembered two more things.

Not only did she remember—Pei Xiao and Xie Zhifei also recalled them.

Pei Xiao thought: I even brought a dozen yamen runners to Guanyin Temple to force information about Wu Guanyue’s whereabouts. Among those runners, there must be Zhou Ye’s people.

In Zhou Ye’s eyes, I’m just a fool!

Xie Zhifei thought: I even enthusiastically took yamen runners to entertainment districts to listen to songs. Among them were surely Zhou Ye’s spies too.

In Zhou Ye’s eyes, I’m just an idiot!

And he, Zhou Ye, was like a composed hunter, watching the fool and idiot bounce around and struggle in his trap.

“So we sent Zhu Qing to spy on you in return?”

Yan Sanhe’s eyes grew cold again.

“With your quick martial skills, with so many masters hidden around you, if you didn’t want Zhu Qing to discover you were one of those black-clothed men, you absolutely wouldn’t have used that move from the forest to repel him.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Qing felt enlightened.

Right!

It was precisely that move that made him think of Zhou Ye being among the black-clothed men.

“Lord Zhou, with your current status and position, you could just move your lips—why would you need to dress as a black-clothed man and act personally?”

Yan Sanhe clicked her tongue and tilted her head. “Going through all this, I can’t help but suspect that old man too.”

Xie Zhifei sneered coldly. “That old man’s mouth was too loose, talked too much, but every sentence hit the mark. Plus, his timing was especially coincidental.”

“It was precisely because that old man appeared that I thought again about the eight hundred taels I’d forgotten about, that I shifted my attention to you. Otherwise…”

Yan Sanhe drew out her tone.

“Who would think? Who could think? Who would dare think?”

“No one would think!”

Pei Xiao said, “Because Lord Zhou governed so well—so well that even a fault-finder like me felt that finding fault with Lord Zhou was my mistake.”

Zhou Ye glanced lightly at Pei Xiao, something flashing through his eyes.

Yan Sanhe: “Oh right, before we tested you, we did one more thing.”

Xie Zhifei: “I invited the brothers from the yamen to drink. Actually, drinking was just an excuse—mainly I wanted to inquire about your character, Lord Zhou. I imagine you received word of this too.”

“By normal logic, for safety’s sake, Lord Zhou should have stayed far away from us at that time.”

Yan Sanhe’s tone suddenly sharpened.

“But Lord Zhou didn’t. Using official business as an excuse, you stayed at the yamen—as if waiting for us to come test you.”

Zhou Ye’s expression was calm—not only calm, he even sighed with admiration.

“This story is truly brilliantly constructed!”

“Since the story is so brilliant, then Lord Zhou.”

Yan Sanhe looked directly into Zhou Ye’s dark eyes. “Tell me—what was your purpose in luring us here step by step?”

“There is no purpose.”

Zhou Ye stood up, looking down at Yan Sanhe. “Everything is your own imagination.”

Yan Sanhe said word by word, “Absolutely impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible in this world.”

Zhou Ye’s voice was ice-cold and murderous, giving one an unsettling chill from the depths of their heart.

“This speech bought you all an extra quarter-hour of life. It’s time to send you on your way. Come!”

“What exactly is your relationship with Wu Guanyue and his son?”

Yan Sanhe suddenly reached out, once again grabbing Zhou Ye’s arm.

That’s right.

She was going all in!

A final desperate gambit.

“Are you their subordinate or their relative?”

“You’ve been infiltrating Hua Kingdom, climbed to the position of Nanning Prefect, and stayed for nine years—all to protect them?”

“They must be hidden somewhere in this residence. Perhaps they can hear every word I’m saying!”

Yan Sanhe’s voice rose, hoarse and shrill.

“Wu Guanyue, stop being a coward! If you have the guts, come out!”

Zhou Ye’s eye twitched violently. The next instant, killing intent poured from his entire being like a tidal wave. The dagger in his hand flipped lightly…

Li Buyan’s blood rushed to her head. “Sanhe, run!”

Xie Zhifei was scared out of his wits. “Yan Sanhe, run!”

Pei Xiao’s heart stopped beating. “Divine Yan, run!”

Where could she run?

Yan Sanhe stood firm and steady, lifted her head, straightened her chest, then gently closed her eyes.

Just die then!

Actually…

She had wanted to die for a long time!

“Clap!”

“Clap!”

“Clap!”

Three neither light nor heavy claps sounded. At the same time, all the killing intent around Zhou Ye’s body instantly dissipated completely.

Yan Sanhe shuddered and suddenly opened her eyes.

In the dim light, an old servant pushed a wheelchair into the courtyard. In the wheelchair sat a person—green robe, white hair.

The palace lantern outlined that person’s silhouette—very thin, very aged, and also…

Very distinguished!

Like the protagonist in an opera—with just one appearance, one could tell he was a person with many stories.

“It’s you!”

Pei Xiao was first stunned, then deeply shocked. “You’re the son.”

That person hummed in acknowledgment, his gaze turning toward the person furthest away.

“You actually stole others’ silver behind my back, Ah Ye?”