Pei Yu was instantly dumbstruck.

How did this have nothing to do with him? He was the one who brought her in. If anything happened to her, not only would he have no way to explain it to his son, but to Third Master…

“Imperial Physician Pei, please go outside.”

Yan Sanhe climbed up from the floor, her gaze cold and heavy as she looked at him. “Go as far away as possible.”

Wasn’t this biting the hand that feeds you, not recognizing a good person?

Pei Yu’s blood rushed upward. He turned and walked out, but just as he reached the courtyard, he suddenly slowed his pace.

Wait.

This girl didn’t want to implicate him in this matter, so she told him to go far away, right?

Strange—how could a nun’s heart demon be connected to Lu Shi?

Who was that nun anyway?

Yan Sanhe waited for Pei Yu to leave, took several deep breaths, then brazenly lifted her robes and sat down on the round stool by the bed.

Her gaze fixed directly on the aged man on the bed.

The man lifted his eyelids, slowly opening his eyes.

Their gazes met. Yan Sanhe straightened her back. “There’s a nun at Water Moon Convent named Jingchen. Before taking her vows, Jingchen’s name was… Tang Zhiwei.”

Lu Shi’s face showed not a trace of change, as if he hadn’t heard Yan Sanhe’s words at all.

“Tang Zhiwei is Tang Qiling’s daughter. Tang Qiling was once your teacher. When you came to the capital for the imperial examinations, you lived in the Tang family home. Lord Lu, do you remember these past events?”

Lu Shi’s expression finally changed.

If Yan Sanhe had to find a word to describe this change, it would be: subtle.

“Speak. You disguised yourself as Pei Yu’s medical apprentice and infiltrated my Lu Estate—what do you want?”

The voice of someone long ill was hoarse, but Lu Shi’s voice, besides being hoarse, also sounded very weary.

However, what attracted Yan Sanhe’s attention even more was his counter-question that avoided answering.

You disguised yourself…

You infiltrated…

What do you want?

He didn’t mention a single word about his own relationship with the Tang family.

Yan Sanhe instantly made a judgment: Lu Shi was cautious, careful, and cunning.

“If Lord Lu remembers those past events, I can tell you what I want. If you don’t remember…”

Yan Sanhe narrowed her eyes and, imitating Xie Zhifei’s manner, slowly crossed her legs. “Then some things, even if spoken, have no meaning.”

This tactic was called “like Jiang Taigong fishing”—the willing take the bait. She was gambling on Lu Shi’s curiosity about her.

Disguised as a medical apprentice.

Infiltrated the Lu Estate.

And then what—didn’t Lu Shi want to know why?

Yan Sanhe saw as she wished that Lu Shi’s expression changed slightly again.

But what she couldn’t see was Steward Lu behind her silently stepping forward, ready at any moment to twist her neck on his master’s command.

Lu Shi’s turbid eyes stared at Yan Sanhe. After a long while, he suddenly asked, “What’s your name?”

“Yan Sanhe.”

“How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“Where are you from?”

“Yunnan Prefecture.”

“What do you want from me?”

“…”

Yan Sanhe fell silent.

She not only fell silent but also stared coldly and fearlessly at Lu Shi.

Lu Shi had a very strange feeling, as if sitting before him wasn’t a seventeen-year-old girl, but an old hand who had been immersed in court politics for decades.

How truly rare!

How many civil and military officials in the court didn’t dare to meet his, Lu Shi’s, gaze directly. Where did this girl get such audacity?

“Tang Qiling was once my teacher. Tang Zhiwei was once my junior martial sister. Back then, I lodged at the Tang residence.”

His gaze sharpened. “What do you want from me?”

Of course I’m looking for you for something important.

Yan Sanhe’s gaze deepened further. “Lord Lu didn’t just tell the truth, did he? Tang Zhiwei should be more than just your junior martial sister.”

Lu Shi’s expression suddenly changed dramatically.

Seeing his expression, Yan Sanhe decided to press her advantage. “You and she were privately pledged to each other?”

Lu Shi propped himself up on the bed board to sit up, shouting sternly, “Speak! Who are you really?”

“I am Yan Sanhe.”

She raised her chin, revealing her trump card.

“After Jingchen’s coffin was buried, it cracked open. When a dead person’s coffin cracks, it means they had attachments in life. Over time, those attachments become demons. I’m the person Water Moon Convent invited to resolve Jingchen’s heart demon.”

Lu Shi’s eyes widened inch by inch.

The room became extremely quiet.

Yan Sanhe said nothing more, her dark eyes looking at Lu Shi calmly, quietly waiting for him to speak.

Some things take time from hearing to accepting. Yan Sanhe knew she couldn’t rush.

Lu Shi’s eyes narrowed inch by inch until his eyelids drooped to form slits, and only then did he speak.

“Yan Sanhe, her heart demon won’t be me. You’ve found the wrong person.”

Yan Sanhe had long anticipated he would say this and countered, “I haven’t even said what her heart demon is—how does Lord Lu know you’re the wrong person?”

“Very simple.”

Lu Shi laughed coldly. “She and I were never privately pledged to each other. We had a completely innocent teacher-student relationship.”

“Lu Shi, are you certain?”

Yan Sanhe’s disgust toward a man was always reflected in how she addressed him.

Lu Shi answered indifferently, “Beyond that relationship, there was nothing else.”

Do you have no shame?

“Fine!”

Yan Sanhe suppressed her anger. “Since you say you were teacher and student, then when her coffin won’t close, shouldn’t you, as her senior martial brother, contribute something?”

“Yan Sanhe, if you could track me down here, you should be clear about many past events.”

Lu Shi’s voice carried a cold, chilling quality.

“I, Lu Shi, have always been an ungrateful wretch. For such a wretch, whether her coffin closes or not—what does it have to do with me?”

Yan Sanhe was stunned. “You can just watch as her coffin never closes?”

“I can!”

“Aren’t you afraid there are gods three feet above your head?”

“Tang Qiling interfered with the spring examinations and engaged in fraud on behalf of others—his family’s confiscation was deserved. Tang Zhiwei was his daughter. When the Tang family prospered, she enjoyed everything. When the Tang family fell, she should have borne everything as well. Even the gods wouldn’t blame me.”

Lu Shi laughed coldly. “Moreover, when a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out. She shouldn’t have any attachments or demons. Everything is her own fault. Why should I contribute anything?”

“You…” Yan Sanhe was thoroughly choked up.

“You needn’t come looking for me again. I’ll pretend I never heard of this matter.”

Lu Shi glanced at Lu Da, who stepped forward and made a gesture of invitation.

Yan Sanhe didn’t move.

In all these years of resolving heart demons, she had never encountered anyone like Lu Shi. This person wasn’t just ungrateful—he had no humanity at all.

No wonder Tang Jianxi didn’t even want to hear this person’s name mentioned.

Truly, it polluted the ears.

“Miss Yan, I advise you to leave first.”

Lu Shi slowly closed his eyes. “Don’t implicate that person in the courtyard. After all, this is the Lu Estate. He brought someone in privately—I could charge him with harboring ill intentions.”

Surnamed Lu, for heaven’s sake, be a decent human being!

Yan Sanhe, held by the throat, angrily stood up. Just as one foot crossed the threshold, her expression darkened again and again, and finally she ground out a sentence through gritted teeth.

“Lu Shi, I will come looking for you again.”

“Miss Yan.”

Lu Shi’s voice sounded behind her. “Next time, don’t let me see you again, or else… you can’t bear the consequences!”

Yan Sanhe’s heart sank straight down.