Everyone simultaneously glared at Pei Xiao, their eyes nearly shooting flames.

“If you haven’t prepared…”

Pei Xiao stammered: “We, we could stay and help!”

“No need.”

Zhou Ye crouched by the reclining chair, took Wu Shunian’s skeletal hand in his palm, and gently massaged it.

After finishing with the hands, he began massaging the feet.

Wu Shunian’s feet were ice-cold year-round. Even scalding them with hot water couldn’t warm them—only when he massaged them with his hands could they gain a bit of warmth.

“Miss Yan had someone fetch the Soul Revival Pills—she must want to learn something more from Shunian.” Zhou Ye spoke.

Yan Sanhe was completely candid: “You guessed right. I truly do have a few more questions I want to ask him.”

Zhou Ye said slowly: “When he wakes, ask quickly. After you’re done asking, you should all leave. I don’t want anyone disturbing his final moments.”

“Understood!”

Yan Sanhe lowered her head to look at Zhou Ye and actually caught a glimpse of fleeting tearstains at the corner of his eye.

A sharp pang struck her heart, and she suddenly crouched down.

“I have a few questions I also want to ask Lord Zhou.”

Zhou Ye glanced at her and smiled faintly: “The young lady wants to ask me why I stole those eight hundred taels of silver?”

Yan Sanhe: “Mm.”

Zhou Ye: “Shunian already said—I wanted to give him the best.”

Yan Sanhe: “Is that really why?”

“Yes!”

Zhou Ye smiled apologetically. “Since childhood, he’s worn fine clothes and eaten fine food, never suffered the slightest hardship. I didn’t want to shortchange him in the least. Over time, my expenses exceeded my income.”

“Since your expenses exceeded income, why did you still help those common people?”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze was penetrating. “Even to the point of becoming a thief yourself?”

Zhou Ye: “My master’s ambitions in this life were never realized. Besides caring for Shunian well for him, this little bit was all I could do.”

Yan Sanhe: “Weren’t you afraid that when the common people found out…”

“Miss Yan!”

Zhou Ye coldly interrupted.

“Not everything I do requires explaining the reasons to others. Whether they remember my kindness or learn I’m a thief and hate me—none of this concerns me.”

Yan Sanhe’s face suddenly turned deathly pale.

Grandfather was the same—they’re the same type of person.

“The next question may sound unpleasant.”

She suppressed the discomfort in her heart. “You’re a person from the Hua Kingdom—why do you acknowledge the Wu father and son as masters?”

“It’s not only the common people of Great Qi who fought with wild dogs for food—I once did the same.”

Zhou Ye licked his dry, cracked lips.

“More than ten wild dogs chased me. My master rescued me from the dogs’ jaws. A life-saving grace should naturally be repaid with one’s life.”

“How old were you then?”

“Six years old.”

Zhou Ye wasn’t willing to say more about himself and looked back at Yan Sanhe: “What else do you want to ask?”

Yan Sanhe: “Where did your martial arts skills come from?”

Zhou Ye glanced at the brothers standing behind him.

“To stay by a nobleman’s side and earn a living, you must let the nobleman know your usefulness. Besides desperately learning martial arts, there’s no other path.”

Yan Sanhe: “So your becoming an official in the Hua Kingdom was arranged by Wu Guanyue?”

Zhou Ye sincerely praised: “Miss Yan is truly clever. Without my master, how could I have entered the Hua Kingdom’s official circles?”

“Then may I assume…”

Yan Sanhe considered her wording.

“The fact that their grandfather and grandsons survived that war has much to do with you? You were the final line of defense Wu Guanyue laid down?”

“Yes!”

Zhou Ye admitted without hesitation, without the slightest trace of guilt.

“I was the one who tipped them off, and I handled the escape. But I wasn’t my master’s final line of defense. Miss, look at them—every single one of them is a line of defense my master arranged.”

Yan Sanhe looked at the black-clothed men behind them. “In the end, Wu Guanyue still feared death—he left himself a backup plan.”

“This time, Miss has misjudged.”

Zhou Ye’s voice was indescribably desolate.

“Our mission wasn’t to protect my master. We protected Shunian and the young master. I was the one who knocked my master unconscious and carried him away on my own authority.”

Yan Sanhe’s brow furrowed: “On your own authority?”

“Because he knew that if my father were gone, the one who would waste away in grief would be me.”

At some point, Wu Shunian in the wheelchair had opened his eyes, his gaze fixed steadily on Zhou Ye.

Zhou Ye also looked back at him.

Infinite affection—all within this one gaze.

All other people and matters—all beyond this one gaze.

Yan Sanhe felt so awkward she didn’t know where to look. Suddenly her back tightened—someone had lifted her up.

Before she could cry out, the hand on her back released, and she landed steadily in a bamboo chair.

No need to look up to know—that move just now was done by Xie the wastrel.

Yan Sanhe’s chest felt warm, and now not only her eyes felt awkward—her entire body felt awkward.

She had no choice but to cough once, interrupting the two in front of her. “Wu Shunian, how do you feel?”

Wu Shunian closed his eyes lightly and smiled slowly. “Not well—this must be the final burst of energy before death.”

Yan Sanhe smiled sadly.

“Then while you have this final burst of energy, help me think more. Regarding the old madam’s inner demons, from your father’s perspective, what else can you think of?”

Wu Shunian opened his eyes wide and analyzed very seriously: “The old madam’s inner demon was a black dog. The dog was given to her by my father. I…”

His voice cut off abruptly.

Zhou Ye cried out in alarm: “Shunian? Wu Shunian?”

Wu Shunian moved his hand.

Zhou Ye noticed and silently exhaled.

At the same time, Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao exchanged glances and also relaxed the hearts they’d just raised.

They’d been so frightened!

Just now they thought he hadn’t caught his breath and had passed like that!

Yan Sanhe quickly stood up, bent over, and lowered her head. “Wu Shunian, did you just think of something?”

He nodded. “I thought of something—I don’t know if it’s useful to you.”

Yan Sanhe: “Speak!”

“Dogs are extremely important to our Wu clan. Years ago, when the Wu clan were still kings of Great Qi, there was a fire in the palace. It was the dog kept by the Wu King that bit onto his robes and dragged him out of the flames.”

Wu Shunian paused several times due to pain.

“The Wu King then decreed that Wu clan descendants for generations could never kill dogs or eat dog meat. Our Wu family…”

“The Wu family doesn’t kill dogs?”

The one who cried out in shock was Xie Zhifei.

His voice held indescribable surprise, terror, and…

Panic!

Wu Shunian nodded weakly.

“This is a clan rule, recorded in the Wu family genealogy. If you don’t believe it, I’ll have Aye show you.”

“Yan Sanhe!”

“Yan Sanhe!”

“Yan Sanhe!!”

Xie Zhifei called out more urgently each time.

Yan Sanhe’s heart instantly leapt to her throat. “Don’t panic, don’t panic. Speak slowly—is something wrong?”