In the midst of awkwardness, Tangyuan finally arrived belatedly with the food box.

Two bowls of rice, five dishes and a soup, laid out one by one on the table.

At least this was Jingsi Residence, at least Yan Sanhe was the host. She picked up her bowl and gave a slight nod to the person across from her. “Let’s eat.”

Just as the words fell, her hand suddenly felt empty—the bowl had already fallen into that person’s hands.

Xie Zhifei transferred some rice to his own bowl. “I don’t have enough rice. You eat one mouthful less.”

Yan Sanhe really wanted to roll her eyes so far back that he couldn’t see her pupils.

Third Master, please—could you find a better excuse? There’s still a whole bowl of rice sitting right there!

She deliberately extended her finger and tapped a few times beside that bowl of rice.

Xie Zhifei’s gaze swept over it, thinking: What kind of terrible excuse did I come up with?

The wood was already carved into a boat. Xie Zhifei pretended he was blind and couldn’t see, quite naturally returning the bowl to her, quite naturally changing the subject.

“By the way, where’s your Li the Hero? How come I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her?”

Yan Sanhe couldn’t very well say Li Buyan had gone to look for an inn, so she had a flash of inspiration and asked back, “Where’s your Young Master Pei? How come he’s not following you either?”

Xie Zhifei couldn’t very well say Young Master Pei had been kept awake all night by his instigation and was currently catching up on sleep at the Monk Registry, so he also had a flash of inspiration and asked back, “What, you miss him?”

Which of your eyes saw me missing him?

Yan Sanhe used iron-strong willpower to maintain the expression a divine woman should have and said coolly, “Yes, I miss him.”

Boom!

Xie Zhifei’s mind suddenly went blank.

The spiderweb spanning two chambers of his heart silently snapped in this moment.

One chamber was piled full of “I’m her brother, I should help them succeed, I should bring her and Young Master Pei together.”

The other chamber was piled full of vinegar bottles: “What kind of bird is Young Master Pei? How can she miss him? I’m the one she should miss most!”

In one breath and one exhalation, his heartbeat went chaotic.

Xie Zhifei threw all caution to the wind. “What a coincidence—he was missing you last night too!”

Yan Sanhe looked up and frowned. “What was he missing about me?”

Xie Zhifei suddenly smiled. “What he was missing about you—do I really need to spell it out?”

“You do!”

Yan Sanhe slapped down her chopsticks with a “clack,” her face instantly turning cold. “Why don’t you break it down and explain it clearly? I’m waiting to hear.”

“I say, Yan Sanhe…”

Seeing her expression was wrong, Xie Zhifei hurried to smooth things over. “I was joking with you. How did you take it seriously?”

“I say, Third Master Xie!”

Yan Sanhe’s face grew a degree colder than before. “Food can be eaten carelessly, but jokes cannot be made carelessly. Don’t go matching the wrong lovebirds!”

Clack!

In Third Master’s heart, the spiderweb silently reconnected in this moment.

The blood in one chamber rushed wildly, each drop clamoring a single phrase: See, Young Master Pei doesn’t amount to any kind of bird at all.

The blood in the other chamber came to an abrupt halt: She doesn’t like Pei Mingting. What are you so pleased about? How are you going to bring these two together later? You’re simply sick!

“I…”

Third Master Xie experienced a rare moment of being at a loss for words. He quickly picked up his bowl and shoveled in a mouthful of rice, mumbling, “Won’t talk about it anymore. Eat, eat!”

The fist had struck out and landed on cotton. Yan Sanhe felt a ball of qi stuck in her throat—couldn’t go up, couldn’t go down. Never mind how uncomfortable it was.

Once uncomfortable, she couldn’t swallow her food.

Yan Sanhe’s already slow eating speed became even slower now.

Though Xie Zhifei was shoveling rice, his peripheral vision remained steady as Mount Tai, glued to Yan Sanhe, with a hint of trepidation.

This person had another quirk when eating: when she encountered food that suited her taste, she would chew carefully and savor slowly.

When she encountered food not to her taste, her brows would furrow and her long lashes would droop, that expression seeming to say: Who made these dishes? Fit for humans? More like pig feed!

What are you looking at!

Yan Sanhe became thoroughly annoyed. She looked up and smiled coldly. “Does Third Master enjoy watching me so much? Am I a feast for the eyes?”

“You’re still lacking a bit.”

Xie Zhifei gently picked up a slice of crispy lotus root and placed it in her bowl. “This face of mine can barely shoulder that responsibility.”

How capable of you!

Yan Sanhe pushed the lotus root slice aside.

“What, you don’t like eating lotus root either?” Xie Zhifei frowned. He remembered she quite loved this dish when she was small.

Yan Sanhe looked at him and smiled coldly. “Lotus root—the threads remain connected even when broken. I don’t want it.”

Xie Zhifei’s hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air, neither extending forward nor pulling back, and he wanted to give himself a big slap.

You despicable, shameless, wretched, base villain—on one hand egging on Pei Mingting, on the other hand secretly testing Yan Sanhe.

When Pei Mingting’s heart toward Yan Sanhe is as dead as ashes, you feel bad. When Pei Mingting’s dead ashes reignite toward Yan Sanhe, you also feel bad.

When Yan Sanhe has no feelings whatsoever for Pei Mingting, you’re anxious. When Yan Sanhe shows the slightest interest in Pei Mingting, you’re even more anxious.

What’s wrong with you?

Are you going mad?

—

Third Master didn’t go mad. Tangyuan was about to.

She was terrified by the bizarre atmosphere between the two.

Once tea was brewed and fruit and snacks arranged, she hurriedly closed the door and left.

Yan Sanhe lifted her tea bowl to her lips, mentally calculating how to bring up the matter of the residence.

“What happened at the dinner table earlier was all my fault.”

“Pfft!”

Yan Sanhe couldn’t hold the mouthful of warm tea and sprayed it out.

Xie Zhifei brushed at the water stains on his body. “The residence has been found. Yan Sanhe, pack up and move out!”

The small study became exceptionally quiet.

Yan Sanhe’s gaze fixed intently on Xie Zhifei.

Could this person read minds?

She’d just been thinking about asking regarding the residence, and he said the residence had been found?

“The matter of your mushroom allergy has been investigated. It was done by Li Zhengjia’s wife, my mother’s chambermaid. Li Zhengjia’s wife took advantage of an unguarded moment to add a bit of sobering soup to the soup you drank.”

Xie Zhifei was silent for a moment. “Li Zhengjia’s wife isn’t the mastermind either. She only took people’s money to help them out. The real mastermind is Du Yiyun.”

Setting aside matters of romance, Yan Sanhe was sharp and clear-headed. She said coolly, “Du Yiyun’s reach can extend this far?”

These words suddenly reminded Xie Zhifei.

The Du and Xie families had been on good terms for over ten years. Du Yiyun came to the Xie Manor every few days—she could extend her reach into the Madam’s quarters, so she might have extended it elsewhere too.

It seemed he’d need to remind Xie Xiaohua later.

“Money makes the devil push the millstone.”

Xie Zhifei brushed past it with a simple sentence, saying no more about Li Zhengjia’s wife’s matter.

“The residence has been found—two courtyards with two sections, right in the center of the capital, secluded amidst the bustle. The location is quite good. I’ve paid two years’ rent in advance—one hundred and eighty taels total. After you move in, you can come and go freely and conveniently, and no one can harm you.”

What could Yan Sanhe say? The pillow arrived just when she was sleepy—she had nothing to say.

It was just that within this matter, there was one extremely subtle point.

Li Zhengjia’s wife was Wu Shi’s chambermaid. Whether Wu Shi had instigated the slave to commit evil or was kept in the dark, Xie Zhifei didn’t specify.

Presumably, he wouldn’t specify either.

“Once Buyan returns, we’ll move.”

Yan Sanhe’s attitude was as straightforward as her person. “We won’t disturb the Old Madam or Madam. I’ll trouble Third Master to give them our regards.”

“I’ll arrange this matter.”

Xie Zhifei agreed just as straightforwardly. “By the way, set up a resting place for Mingting and me at that residence.”

Wait a minute…

Yan Sanhe’s gaze deepened. “What do you mean?”