Zhu Qing’s reaction was sharpest. He hurried forward, his gaze sweeping across Xie Zhifei’s face. Greatly alarmed, he exclaimed, “Master, what happened to your face?”
“It’s nothing.”
Xie Zhifei waved his hand dismissively, walked before Yan Sanhe and Young Master Pei, and pointed at his own face.
Young Master Pei was provoked by the clear palm print on his face. “Tsk, which of you two forced themselves on the other?”
Xie Zhifei ignored this bastard, his eyes shifting to stare at Yan Sanhe.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Yan Sanhe knew his temperament and didn’t stint on her concern. “Let’s withdraw first. We’ll talk in the carriage.”
Xie Zhifei neither spoke nor moved, his eyes carrying an aggrieved emotion, looking quite pitiful.
“Later, I’ll have Buyan apply a cold compress for you.”
Yan Sanhe had that feeling of being under someone’s roof and having to bow her head. “If you think her hands are too rough, I’ll do it!”
“You must do it!”
Xie Zhifei pointed at the figure on the ground. “This person…”
“This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s talk in the carriage.”
Yan Sanhe turned around. Though the flush on her face and ears wasn’t obvious in the lamplight, it was enough to comfort Xie Zhifei.
Silly girl, what does taking a slap for you amount to?
…
“Something terrible! Someone’s dead!”
A shout drew numerous Music Bureau guards over. The leader crouched down to check the breathing, then shook his head.
“No breath left. Find two people to throw her in the mass graves.”
“Yes!”
“Someone go tell the steward to cross this person off the roster.”
“Yes!”
Just as the old woman’s “corpse” was being thrown onto the cart, the Xie Manor’s carriage slowly began moving.
Inside the carriage, a full five people were crammed together, with only Zhu Qing driving outside.
Huangqi looked at Yan Sanhe listlessly and said shamefully, “Miss Yan, I didn’t find out anything.”
“Me neither!”
Li Buyan added, “I asked around all evening and spent silver too. Only one old laundry woman had heard of the name Departed Waters. When I tried to ask more specifically, she just shook her head and claimed complete ignorance.”
“What about Third Master?”
Yan Sanhe asked, “Did you gain anything?”
Xie Zhifei spoke calmly, recounting every sentence and movement from his conversation with Mama Xia in complete detail.
When he finished, the other four people had varied expressions.
Huangqi thought, “…Third Master sacrificed too much.”
Li Buyan thought, “…For Third Master to sell himself and smile, it should start at five thousand taels of silver.”
Young Master Pei thought, “…The virgin chicken isn’t clean anymore—someone plucked his feathers.”
Yan Sanhe thought, “…This is all my fault.”
Though Yan Sanhe felt deeply guilty, her mind remained exceptionally clear. “From Mama Xia’s words, we can extract several pieces of information:
“First, there’s something suspicious about Tang Zhiwei’s time as an unmarried maiden—whether it’s truly related to Tang Qiling, we don’t know yet.
“Second, Tang Qiling was beloved by his students, and among them were those with loyalty and righteousness.
“Third, among Tang Qiling’s students, there’s one called ‘Three Friends of Winter’—we must find him.
“Fourth, Li San is a front. The person behind him isn’t the Three Friends of Winter, but someone else entirely.”
Young Master Pei calmly interjected, “Just based on the sobriquet ‘Three Friends of Winter,’ it probably won’t be easy to find them.”
“The Three Friends of Winter are pine, bamboo, and plum.”
Yan Sanhe continued, “Tang Zhiwei excelled at both calligraphy and painting—she must have benefited from her father Tang Qiling. Tang Qiling must have been a talent in both calligraphy and painting. What do you all think?”
Though the four didn’t know what Yan Sanhe was getting at, they all nodded instinctively.
“Since he was a talent in both calligraphy and painting, and since he taught his daughter, he must have also taught his students.”
Yan Sanhe tried reasoning forward. “Is there a possibility that these Three Friends of Winter are actually three people—one skilled at painting pine, one at painting bamboo, and one at painting plum?”
Xie Zhifei found this line of thinking extremely novel. Thinking of his own father, he said, “There’s definitely this possibility. My father excels at landscape painting, so his sobriquet is Mountain Waters Wild Elder.”
Young Master Pei objected, “If it’s three people, why wouldn’t they call themselves Pine Elder, Bamboo Elder, Plum Elder individually? The Three Friends of Winter represents three people—what right does one person have to represent them? This doesn’t make sense.”
Hearing this, Yan Sanhe frowned slightly. Young Master Pei was right—it truly didn’t make sense.
“Then you think of something that does make sense.” Xie Zhifei snorted coldly at Pei Xiao.
“I…”
Pei Xiao choked, then changed his tune. “Xie Fifty, are you deliberately picking a fight with me?”
Who has that kind of idle time?
Xie Zhifei’s expression looking at Young Master Pei was very disdainful, but when he turned his head, he switched to a completely gentle expression. “Yan Sanhe, continue.”
Yan Sanhe also choked.
She didn’t understand how one person could switch expressions so seamlessly.
“If we directly inquire about Tang Qiling, it’s too sensitive and might arouse others’ suspicions. But inquiring about Tang Qiling’s students should be no problem.”
Xie Zhifei noted, “Xu the Old Half-Lady said his students had all fallen into poverty.”
“If they’ve fallen into poverty, that makes it even less likely to arouse others’ suspicions.”
Yan Sanhe looked at Li Buyan. “Buyan, you…”
“I’ll handle this matter.” Xie Zhifei interrupted her. “I have channels for making inquiries.”
Yan Sanhe’s scalp tingled with a prickling sensation.
He had taken the initiative to investigate at Water Moon Nunnery.
He had taken the initiative to come investigate at the Music Bureau.
He had also taken the initiative to use his appearance as bait.
And now he was taking the initiative to inquire about the Three Friends of Winter…
Strange flavors she’d never experienced in seventeen years of life had been gushing out all evening.
Seeing Yan Sanhe’s expression, Li Buyan deliberately giggled. “Third Master, you’ve been so proactive lately that it’s becoming somewhat incomprehensible.”
Incomprehensible is right.
Xie Zhifei’s gaze remained entirely on Yan Sanhe, unable to spare even a trace to look at Li Buyan.
“I’ll likely be very busy with yamen affairs going forward. I don’t have much time, so I’m taking advantage of having some now.”
“Hey!”
Li Buyan laughed. “Third Master, these words are somewhat hard for me to bear!”
Only then did Third Master give her a look that said “I don’t care if you live or die.” “Yan Sanhe, say something.”
Yan Sanhe bit her lip, answering what hadn’t been asked. “I’ll also devote myself fully to the Zheng family matter.”
It seemed that without saying this, the guilt wouldn’t subside.
It seemed that without saying this, she couldn’t ignore those five finger marks.
It seemed that without saying this, her heartbeat wouldn’t slow down.
Only at this moment did Yan Sanhe understand one thing—she had long since lost her composure regarding this man.
Why would one person lose their composure over another?
Was it because of feelings?
When the word “feelings” surfaced in her mind, Yan Sanhe felt as if something had scorched her.
That man with peach blossom eyes, a superficial smile, who acted coquettish when drunk and demanded to be coaxed—that romantic dandy…
I? Like? Him?
Four words, appearing one by one in her mind, finally forming a complete sentence… Yan Sanhe felt the blood in all her meridians heating up.
In this world, nothing could compare to “comprehension.” Previously, she hadn’t thought in this direction, so many things happening before her eyes could be overlooked.
But once “comprehended,” it was like resolving someone’s heart demon—following the spider’s silk and horse’s tracks, one could always find the truth that others had overlooked.
For a moment, Yan Sanhe became dazed, feeling this was something that shouldn’t have happened. After all, this person had once been the one she most detested in her seventeen years of life.