The carriage stopped at the back gate of the Northern Bureau.

As Shen Chong lifted the curtain, a young guard carrying a food box jumped out, followed by Zhao Yishi.

A brocade-clad guard approached and whispered several sentences into Zhao Yishi’s ear.

Zhao Yishi’s expression changed slightly as he said coldly, “Lead the way.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The young guard was Yan Sanhe.

She kept her head down, following behind Zhao Yishi, not daring to fall behind by even a step.

After passing through the long corridor and entering through an iron door, the brocade-clad guard took out a key and unlocked the heavy chains hanging on it.

Zhao Yishi stood at the doorway with his hands behind his back, glancing at Yan Sanhe lightly. “Forget it, you go in my place.”

Yan Sanhe was startled.

Hadn’t they agreed to enter the prison together, then Zhao Yishi would find an excuse to leave? Why the change?

She cleverly asked, “Does Your Highness have any message for this humble servant to deliver?”

Zhao Yishi furrowed his brow. “No message.”

“Yes!”

The brocade-clad guard glanced at Yan Sanhe and coughed. “Your Highness, only half an hour.”

Zhao Yishi’s expression remained indifferent. “Did you hear that?”

Yan Sanhe lowered her head even more. “Yes!”

The two walked through the iron door one after the other. Only after they disappeared from sight did Zhao Yishi’s expression turn cold.

Shen Chong stepped forward half a step. “Your Highness, what happened?”

“Two hours ago, Xu Lai cut off one of Master Ji Twelve’s fingers to show Ji Lingchuan. Immediately after, Ji Lingchuan said he wanted to see Xu Lai.”

Shen Chong silently thought this was bad. “Will Ji Lingchuan…?”

Zhao Yishi lowered his eyes without speaking.

Shen Chong grew anxious. “Your Highness, make a decision quickly!”

“No rush, let me think.”

Zhao Yishi raised his hand to rub his brow.

…

Descending the steps from the iron door and passing through the gloomy, terrifying passageway, Yan Sanhe didn’t dare breathe heavily, her entire body taut as a fully drawn bowstring.

Reaching the innermost area, the brocade-clad guard stopped and pointed to the person inside. “The jailer has the key. Just speak from outside.”

“Thank you.”

Yan Sanhe set down the food box and cupped her fists toward the man.

The brocade-clad guard turned and left. She looked into the prison cell.

With this one glance, Yan Sanhe was completely shocked.

Curled up in the corner was a person, disheveled and covered in blood, barely looking human anymore.

“Ji Lingchuan.”

“…”

“Ji Lingchuan!”

“…”

After calling twice with no response, Yan Sanhe sensed something was wrong. Just as she was about to call again, Ji Lingchuan suddenly rushed forward, his face twisted and fierce.

“You liar, liar!”

Yan Sanhe said sharply, “Ji Lingchuan, do you recognize who I am?”

Ji Lingchuan laughed maniacally, seeming crazed.

“I’d recognize you even if you turned to ash. You took my two thousand taels, said you’d help dissolve my mother’s obsession and break her demonic influence. Did you manage it? You didn’t have the ability, so give me back my son’s life… hahaha…”

“Ji Lingchuan, I only have half an hour. I don’t have time to listen to your ravings.”

Yan Sanhe reached out and forcefully grabbed Ji Lingchuan’s bloodied collar.

“Listen carefully to every word I’m about to say.”

“It’s too late, already too late. Young Miss Nine is gone, my son is gone, the Ji family is gone, all gone. Old Madam, Mother, you’ve caused such harm!”

Yan Sanhe released her grip, formed a fist, and struck Ji Lingchuan square in the face.

As pain registered, the madness in Ji Lingchuan’s eyes receded slightly.

His throat made choking, sobbing sounds as his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

Yan Sanhe simply sat down cross-legged as well.

“Ji Lingchuan, your mother’s full name was Hu Sanmei. Her true hometown was Dongxing County, Nanning Prefecture, Guangxi Province.

There were mountains full of green bamboo, patches upon patches of vegetable gardens, and a long river you couldn’t see the end of—the Beicang River.

On the other side of the Beicang River was the Great Qi Kingdom. It was the border between the two nations.

Hu Sanmei’s childhood was hard and poor, but she lived freely. She also had a good friend called Hu Zhen, known as Sister Zhen.”

Thinking of Sister Zhen, a touch of softness appeared on Yan Sanhe’s icy face.

“One day, the two friends were playing by the river when they saw a dog drowning in the Beicang River. Hu Sanmei swam over, and just then, someone from the other side of the river also swam across.

That drowning dog was pregnant. The two helped deliver the puppies in the water. That’s how Hu Sanmei met her childhood sweetheart.

The black dog that appeared in Hu Sanmei’s mind after death was one of those they helped deliver. That person’s name—you must have heard it. He was called Wu Guanyue.”

Ji Lingchuan’s lowered head suddenly shot up. “You, you, what did you say?”

“Wu Guanyue, the exiled monarch of the Great Qi Kingdom, the mastermind behind the massacre of General Zheng’s household.”

Yan Sanhe looked directly into his turbid eyes.

“As an official, you know better than I how Wu Guanyue became an exiled monarch and how he massacred General Zheng’s entire household.”

Ji Lingchuan gasped for breath, completely unable to answer her question, only nodding his head vigorously.

“Your mother Hu Sanmei didn’t willingly come to the capital to be a concubine. She was forced to leave the Beicang River. Before leaving, she told her good friend Sister Zhen that she would never return in this lifetime.

And that black dog named Heidan also starved itself to death after Hu Sanmei left, because its master had heartlessly abandoned it.”

Ji Lingchuan’s body trembled visibly, his face showing an expression of disbelief.

“So now you understand why the bamboo courtyard was so gloomy and damp, yet the Old Madam insisted on moving there. That bamboo—she couldn’t forget it.

So you understand why after the Old Madam took charge, she ordered that no dogs be kept in the residence. Seeing dogs reminded her of Heidan.

So you understand why the Old Madam planted a whole garden of vegetables in the back garden. She wasn’t growing vegetables—she was reminiscing about her childhood growing vegetables.

So you understand why the Old Madam would sit by the heart lake for hours at a time. She wasn’t looking at the heart lake—she was looking at the Beicang River she longed for day and night but could never return to.

So you understand why the Old Madam thought of letting the maid Xiaohong go. She saw her own former shadow in Xiaohong.

As for why she didn’t dote on the Ji family grandchildren but favored the external grandson Pei Mingting…”

Yan Sanhe closed her eyes, thinking of everything Pei Mingting had done along the way.

“I think it’s probably because Hu Sanmei was that kind of person from childhood—fearless, wild-natured, unrestrained.”

Ji Lingchuan stared blankly.

Was this really that Old Madam who couldn’t even recognize a single character?

Why did she sound so unfamiliar, so…

Unbelievable!

“On the night the Ji residence was raided, we met Chen Mama. After meeting her, we didn’t even pause to catch our breath—we rode at full speed straight to Nanning Prefecture.”

Yan Sanhe thought of those dangerous experiences and couldn’t help closing her eyes.

“In Nanning Prefecture, we went through countless hardships to find Wu Guanyue’s son Wu Shunian. Wu Guanyue died of melancholy four months after his military defeat.

Actually Wu Shunian was already dying too, but perhaps your mother was protecting us from the shadows—we finally found half of your mother’s demonic obsession before he died.”

Ji Lingchuan’s eyes suddenly widened, nearly bulging from their sockets.

“Half? How can it be only half?”