Does this man have some problem?

Yan Sanhe frowned. “What does Third Master intend to do?”

The person maintained that shameless expression.

“Can the young lady spare me some face for the sake of this clever tidbit?”

“Spare what face?”

“Today is the ninth. In six days it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival. You…”

“Not going.”

Third Master laughed in exasperation—she hadn’t even let him finish speaking.

“Yan Sanhe, can you not refuse so quickly?”

“No.”

“Then there’s no help for it.”

Xie Zhifei sighed. “On Mid-Autumn night, prepare to take me in.”

Yan Sanhe raised an eyebrow. “What, if they can’t invite me, they’ll kick you out?”

“No choice—I made a military pledge.”

Third Master’s smile was more bitter than coptis. “It’s hard being the youngest, Miss Yan.”

Two voices appeared in Miss Yan’s mind.

One voice said: Not my problem.

Another voice said: Should I take pity on him?

No!

Sitting at the Xie family table would make me the pitiful one.

Yan Sanhe thought of her previous two meals there and lost all sympathy. “Third Master, even the youngest needs to be favored!”

Xie Zhifei: “…”

The selling-sympathy trick stopped working so quickly?

Then he’d have to take an indirect approach!

“Sister-in-law misses you too. With her father gravely ill and a pile of matters in the residence, she can’t get away from either side. This morning when she saw me, she sighed saying Miss Yan must be quite lonely all alone.”

“Mm!” Yan Sanhe didn’t even lift her eyelids.

“Do you believe me or not?”

“Believe what?”

“I’m asking if you believe me or not?”

“What does Third Master want me to believe?”

“If you don’t come on the fifteenth, Grandmother won’t taste even one mooncake.”

“…” Really?

“Do you also believe that on that day, no one in the entire Xie residence will have peace!”

“…” How wonderful then.

“And do you believe that in the entire Xie residence, Sister-in-law and I will have the hardest time.”

Yan Sanhe felt this person had taken a knife and was stabbing it into her heart over and over.

But her expression remained—

Not my problem!

Xie Zhifei saw she wouldn’t engage and very sensibly closed his mouth.

Fine, too much is as bad as too little. He’d try again gradually. Third Master refused to believe he couldn’t convince her to come.

Just then, a young nun came to summon Xie Zhifei to the main hall.

“I’ll go first.”

He walked a few steps, then turned back. “Wait for me a moment. After I finish my business, we’ll return together. I’ll treat you to roasted chestnuts on the way.”

“Give up. Even if you treated me to dragon meat from the heavens, I still won’t go.”

“Even if you won’t go, I still want to treat you to roasted chestnuts.”

Xie Zhifei snorted. “Yan Sanhe, please try to think of me more charitably.”

Yan Sanhe: “…”

…

“My lord, please look.”

Huiru handed over a yellowed booklet. Xie Zhifei took it and casually flipped through it.

“The list is all here?”

“All the years are here.”

“What does the time written here mean?”

“The year, month, and day we found them.”

“Go outside for a bit. I need to examine this carefully.”

“Yes!”

The hall quieted.

Xie Zhifei first found the eighth year of Yonghe, then found Mingyue’s name, then looked at the date following the name—July sixteenth.

Xie Zhifei’s face cracked.

July sixteenth—Water Moon Convent found Tang Mingyue on July sixteenth, which meant July fourteenth was her actual birth date.

Zheng Huaizuo and Zheng Huaiyou were both born on July fourteenth in the eighth year of Yonghe, so the three of them shared the same birth date??

This was utterly absurd.

Xie Zhifei drew in a breath and collapsed onto a bench.

Immediately, another question surfaced in his mind: How did Tang Mingyue know her birth date?

“Master Huiru?”

Huiru had been waiting outside. Hearing Xie Zhifei call, she hurried in.

“My lord?”

“For the young nuns’ birth dates, do you use the day you found them, or…”

“Replying to my lord, if there’s a year, month, and day written in the swaddling clothes, we use what’s written. If not, we use the day we found them.”

“Are the eight characters of birth written on paper?”

“Some are written on paper, some in blood on a handkerchief. The most particular ones are embroidered on silk handkerchiefs.”

“Besides the eight birth characters, what else is usually in the swaddling clothes?”

“Respectable families include things like longevity locks or jade pendants. Poor families—having birth characters at all is already good.”

Huiru’s eyes dimmed. “Like Lanchuan—she didn’t even have birth characters, just swaddling clothes.”

Having asked this far, Xie Zhifei had a clear picture.

“I’ll take this booklet back to the office first. After verifying everything one by one, I’ll have someone return it to you.”

“The convent only has this one copy. Please take good care of it, my lord.”

“Rest assured about that.”

Xie Zhifei collected the booklet and walked out of the hall. Perhaps walking too quickly, when the harsh autumn sun hit him, his vision swam with dizziness.

He reached out to brace against the wall and sat down on the threshold.

“My lord?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine after resting. Go about your business.”

Xie Zhifei placed his hand on his chest. His heart beat rapidly and violently, with a slight tingling numbness.

The palpitations were acting up again.

The last time was because he couldn’t find Yan Sanhe. This time it was because of Tang Mingyue.

Tang Mingyue, who exactly are you?

Why do you look so much like Zheng Huaizuo?

Why is your birth date also July fourteenth?

Who abandoned you at Water Moon Convent’s gate?

In the distance, Yan Sanhe couldn’t help but frown.

This was the first time she’d seen Xie Zhifei with such an expression.

What’s wrong?

Yan Sanhe walked over. “Feeling unwell?”

Xie Zhifei slowly raised his head and smiled weakly. “It’s nothing. Just anxious.”

“Anxious about what?”

“Can’t convince Miss Yan to come, so I’ll definitely get beaten when I return. How can I not be anxious?”

Seeing Yan Sanhe’s expression change slightly, he smiled again. “Don’t soften your heart. I’m selling sympathy to you.”

Your face is white as paper—do you think I’m blind?

Yan Sanhe crouched down. “Can you stand up by yourself?”

Xie Zhifei asked with a cheap expression, “Is Miss Yan planning to help me up?”

“Yes!”

Yan Sanhe bent down and supported his arm. “I must care for the old, weak, sick, and disabled.”

“…”

Xie Zhifei was so angry he took a deep breath.

Yesterday when they bantered, he still had the upper hand. Now with his body weak, his momentum weakened too.

He borrowed her strength and slowly stood up. “All right, you can let go. I can walk on my own.”

“No need to see Buddha all the way to the West.”

“…”

Xie Zhifei took another deep breath.

He thought if they kept trading barbs like this, his life would be just one breath away from death.

Yan Sanhe glanced at his hand pressed against his chest. “Tell Sister-in-law that on the fifteenth I’ll come keep her company and talk.”

Xie Zhifei turned to look at Yan Sanhe, his eyes straightening.

“I don’t mean anything by it. Just letting Third Master live a few more years.”

Xie Zhifei: “…”

Fine!

This life has come back.

As they spoke, Li Buyan walked over. “Yo, Third Master is here too. What fate—we meet at a nunnery a thousand li away!”

Who the hell wants to meet you!

“Came on official business.”

Xie Zhifei wouldn’t spare this person even one extra word.

Li Buyan didn’t mind Third Master’s coldness at all and curled his lip. “I asked Lanchuan. She says she wants to think about it.”