Third Master Xie and Yan Sanhe had both overlooked something.

For Tang Qiling to serve as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, his scholarship went without saying—it had to be the best in Great Hua.

A teacher of the highest caliber would have countless people wanting to study under him, and would certainly have disciples throughout the land.

When Tang Qiling fell from grace, where did all these students of his go?

“Tang Qiling was involved in a spring examination fraud case. Shouldn’t all his students hate him to death?” he deliberately asked.

“Nonsense!”

When Mama Xia brought this up, her anger flared. “More of them came that day than anyone else, every single one wanting to support their little junior sister to become top courtesan!”

Support?

Xie Zhifei was secretly shocked that she would use such a word.

This meant Tang Qiling’s students hadn’t distanced themselves from Tang Qiling at all. Instead, they were determined to protect their little junior sister, Tang Zhiwei.

But why?

He slapped the table in anger. “What a bunch of reckless madmen who don’t know their place! Aren’t they afraid of being implicated by Tang Qiling?”

These words were like a pillow delivered to someone drowsy.

Mama Xia planted one hand on her hip and pointed outside with the other, cursing arrogantly, “These damned poor scholars deserve to never pass the examinations, never become officials, to be down and out their entire lives. They ruined my bright future, every last one of them!”

Xie Zhifei’s gaze flickered. “It seems the man who entered the water chamber as the winning bidder that night was also one of Tang Qiling’s students.”

“Who else could it be?”

Mama Xia said bitterly, “That person was obviously a down-and-out scholar. Just because he wrote one sour poem, that Shi Shui rejected all those wealthy princes and nobles and invited him into the water chamber.”

She paused, then leaned her red lips close to Xie Zhifei’s ear.

“I’ll tell you—the virgin blood on that handkerchief was fake. That scholar bit his own finger and dabbed the blood on it.”

“What?”

Xie Zhifei pretended to be greatly shocked. “There was actually such a thing?”

“Everyone at our Jiaofang Bureau said that Shi Shui had already been deflowered while still in her maiden’s chamber—she was never a virgin at all.”

Mama Xia curled her lip disdainfully. “Only those poor, pedantic scholars—every one of them treated her like a treasure.”

“Now that you mention it, I recall something.”

Mama Xia’s eyes were bloodshot from drunkenness, her pair of eyes that no amount of powder could hide the aging stared fixedly at Xie Zhifei.

“What nineteen-year-old girl puts out word that matchmakers aren’t allowed to come calling?”

“How do you know about this?” Xie Zhifei asked with a face full of curiosity.

“Everyone said so.”

Mama Xia’s mouth was parched from talking, so she picked up a wine cup and drank.

“I also heard that her shameless father didn’t even object—he slapped the table and cheered. Tsk tsk tsk, still calls himself a scholar? A belly full of male thieves and female prostitutes!”

Xie Zhifei didn’t dare miss recording a single word. He deliberately slapped his forehead.

“Oh no, my father was infatuated with Shi Shui, and his poetry was excellent. Could the person who entered the water chamber that night have been my father?”

“Not your father.”

Mama Xia extended her slender hand and lightly tapped Xie Zhifei’s brow, teasing, “If that person were as handsome as Lord Xie, this young lady would have fought for him no matter what.”

Damn, she’s quite drunk—she even dares to touch me?

Xie Zhifei grasped the hand at his brow and squeezed it between his fingers. “Who was that person? Can Mama still remember?”

A tingling sensation rose from her fingertips, making Mama Xia’s breath catch. “Who remembers that nobody’s name?”

Xie Zhifei gently released her hand.

Mama Xia’s fingertips suddenly felt empty, and her heart emptied along with them.

She looked up, just as Xie Zhifei slowly lowered his eyes.

When Third Master’s eyes looked at someone with a smile, they made people feel like a spring breeze.

When lowered, that trace of spring breeze left no trace.

If his lips were also tightly closed, his entire face, even without any expression, had a certain depth.

In that instant, Mama Xia’s thoughts turned a hundred times, and she blurted out, “That poem had a signature—the signature was ‘Three Friends of Winter.'”

Only then did Xie Zhifei lift those peach blossom eyes again. “How does Mama still remember something from so long ago?”

“What’s so hard to remember about that? The Three Friends of Winter that scholars talk about are just pine, bamboo, and plum. Our Jiaofang Bureau has chambers named Pine, Bamboo, Plum, as well as Chrysanthemum, Orchid, and Peony.”

Mama Xia cast flirtatious glances at Xie Zhifei and sneered. “My lord, you be the judge—perfectly good people taking such a name, isn’t it pedantic?”

“Truly damned pedantic!”

Xie Zhifei looked at Mama Xia. “By this logic, the one who later redeemed Shi Shui should also have been this person, right?”

“Bah!”

Mama Xia straightened her waist and deliberately pressed against Xie Zhifei’s arm, scolding coquettishly, “With what could a poor scholar redeem the top courtesan of the Jiaofang Bureau? He can dream his spring and autumn dreams!”

Redeem?

Xie Zhifei’s gaze swept over Mama Xia’s body as he deliberately gulped twice.

Mama Xia felt so pleased inside. Taking advantage of her drunkenness, she pressed her entire body against him.

“Mama’s figure could make anyone drool. I really don’t understand why my blind father took a liking to that one.”

The smell of alcohol mixed with powder drilled into his nose. Xie Zhifei felt so nauseated he wanted to vomit. “I can’t take it anymore, I need to get some fresh air by the window.”

He quickly walked over, opened the window, and the entire nightscape of the Jiaofang Bureau appeared before his eyes.

Among the scattered lamplight, he suddenly thought of Yan Sanhe.

What was this girl doing?

Was Pei Mingting taking good care of her?

“My lord… my lord, aren’t you tired standing?”

Mama Xia pressed herself against him like adhesive plaster, her arms tightly encircling Xie Zhifei’s waist.

Xie Zhifei’s brows pressed downward. He grasped those two hands, then slowly turned around, lowering his head to look at her.

Mama Xia met his eyes, and her heart melted into a pool of water.

The man before her had beautiful brows, beautiful eyes, and even his tightly pressed thin lips were so shapely—exactly the same as that person.

She stared entranced, as if returning to that night many years ago.

That person also stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his silhouette lonelier and more desolate than the night itself.

She embraced him from behind, gently pressing her face against his back.

He trembled, grasped her hands, and gently pulled.

The space between their bodies closed completely.

“Bao’er.”

He said softly, “You don’t earn silver easily. I can’t take this money. Find another good man and have him help redeem you, escape this sea of suffering.”

She listened to his heartbeat and shook her head.

“If you’re not the one redeeming me, then anywhere in this world would be a sea of suffering for me. I’ll wait for you here at the Jiaofang Bureau.”

“Foolish child, foolish child, foolish child!”

The man suddenly turned around and held her tightly in his arms, murmuring in an extremely hoarse voice by her ear.

“When I return to my hometown, I’ll use this silver to buy a small house and a few acres of good land, then bury my head in study. When I pass the examinations, that will be the day I come to the Jiaofang Bureau to redeem you.”