He had a dream.

In the dream, Tianshi crawled out from a well, covered in blood, with a blade lodged between his head and neck.

Blood tears flowed from Tianshi’s eyes as he said to him word by word—

“Although I was an evil dog, the one who truly committed evil was him. Taiwei, you watch for me as he gets his retribution. He will definitely get his retribution!”

And so, he lived on.

Yan Sanhe: “During those days while recovering from your injuries, you should have thought of some things. Otherwise you wouldn’t have run back to the capital.”

Taiwei nodded.

“Tianshi died. Not only did he die, but his wife and daughter all died, which is why you couldn’t find them. As for how their family died, I can’t guess.”

Yan Sanhe: “But Zhu Xuanjiu only moved against you without touching your family, and didn’t kill you directly, letting you fend for yourself. This shows Zhu Xuanjiu was more wary of Tianshi.”

Taiwei nodded again.

“All those unethical deeds before were done by you and Tianshi helping him together. The only difference between you two was that after Zhu Xuanjiu became family head, Tianshi followed him into the Imperial Observatory, while you stayed at the Zhu household to help him renovate the Zhu residence?”

Taiwei nodded.

“That night when Tianshi came drunk to your room, he was in a very agitated state and even mentioned past events, finally telling you to guard against him…”

Yan Sanhe paused for quite a while before saying, “This shows he must have sensed something.”

Taiwei looked at the young woman before him and nodded forcefully.

“The next day, Zhu Xuanjiu sent you far away. This shows that Zhu Xuanjiu knew about Tianshi coming to find you that night.”

Yan Sanhe: “From this we can deduce that Zhu Xuanjiu had secretly sent people to watch you two.”

Nod.

Yan Sanhe: “This also shows that Zhu Xuanjiu sent you away to sever the connection between you and Tianshi.”

Nod.

“Then…”

Yan Sanhe slowly drew in a breath. “What exactly happened to Tianshi that made Zhu Xuanjiu so wary?”

At these words, everyone’s hearts were gripped with suspense, not daring to breathe.

Yes.

What exactly had happened?

“First, this must have been a major matter, a life-threatening matter, because Zhu Xuanjiu didn’t even spare his wife and daughter—he’d rather kill wrongly.”

Yan Sanhe suddenly reached out and grasped Taiwei’s arm, applying a bit of force.

“If I haven’t guessed wrong, it should be related to Yan Ruxian, the first person in Prince Zhao’s inner circle. Am I right?”

All correct.

Everything was correct.

Taiwei’s lips moved. If he could speak at this moment, he would sincerely praise her: How clever!

“Ah ah ah…”

He cried out from his mouth, struggling to get up.

Zhu Qing quickly helped him up and dipped the brush in some ink, placing it by his mouth.

Taiwei looked deeply at Yan Sanhe once, then lowered his head to write.

This time, he wrote very slowly, so slowly it seemed this was his last bit of strength.

He wrote one character, and Young Master Pei read one character aloud.

“Half… year… later…”

With these three characters, Zhu Yuanmo couldn’t sit still. Neither could Xie Erli. Even Xie Zhifei with his bad leg hobbled over.

Li Buyan squeezed beside Young Master Pei, leaning forward with half her head.

Taiwei noticed, raised his head to look at the people around him, and suddenly made a “huchi huchi” sound from his mouth.

This sound was very eerie, making people’s scalps tingle.

Yan Sanhe suppressed the goosebumps rising all over her body. “Taiwei, continue writing.”

Taiwei seemed not to hear Yan Sanhe’s urging. His gaze swept over everyone’s faces in a circle, finally settling on Zhu Yuanmo’s face.

Zhu Yuanmo was startled.

What kind of eyes were these? They held hatred, anger, and… a trace of pity.

This person actually pitied him?

Zhu Yuanmo somehow began to panic in his heart, panicking like never before, as if he stood at the edge of a cliff and would plunge into an abyss ten thousand feet deep in the next instant.

At this moment.

Taiwei withdrew his gaze and extended the brush in his mouth to the inkstone himself, soaking it with ink. Then, using all his remaining strength, he wrote the final six characters.

“Late… Crown… Prince… Witch… Craft… Curse… Case…”

The three characters “Late Crown Prince” came out first, and Young Master Pei’s expression changed dramatically—from red to white, from white to green, and finally deathly pale.

The three characters “Witchcraft Curse Case” followed, and Young Master Pei, with his deathly pale face, looked at Xie Zhifei in disbelief.

Xie Zhifei didn’t meet Pei Xiao’s gaze. His ears buzzed thunderously, like tinnitus, yet like five thunderbolts striking his head.

—Half a year later, the Late Crown Prince’s Witchcraft Curse Case!

What did this mean?

Could the Late Crown Prince’s Witchcraft Curse Case actually be connected to Zhu Xuanjiu?

He looked at Yan Sanhe in confusion, his lips moving as if to say something, but before he could speak, an unbearably hoarse voice pierced the air.

“Impossible!”

Zhu Yuanmo slammed the table, waving his fists and shouting frantically at him.

“Absolutely impossible! You’re talking nonsense… you must be talking nonsense… it can’t be… you’re crazy, you’re crazy… you’re crazy… you’re completely crazy…”

He shouted until his ears turned red and his neck bulged, jumping around like a madman, even reaching out to grab Taiwei’s collar.

Seeing things going badly, Zhu Qing quickly grabbed him from the side and dragged him back with all his might.

“Master Zhu, Master Zhu, calm down, calm down!”

“Let go of me, let go of me! I’m going to kill him, I must kill him…”

Zhu Yuanmo struggled while shouting himself hoarse. “It’s impossible, impossible! How could this be? It’s impossible…”

Li Buyan had originally wanted to reprimand him a few times, but suddenly seeing blood slowly seeping from the corner of Zhu Yuanmo’s mouth, and his entire body collapsing like rotten mud against Zhu Qing, she suddenly felt he was quite pitiful.

Looking at Xie Erli beside him, his lips trembling, his body also trembling, his expression and eyes showing undisguised fear, terror, and shock.

Why were their reactions all so extreme?

Li Buyan furrowed her brow and walked to Yan Sanhe’s side, nudging her with her elbow.

Yan Sanhe looked at her, showing no expression on her face, but her mind was racing at lightning speed.

Why?

Why would Taiwei connect Tianshi’s death to the Late Crown Prince’s Witchcraft Curse Case?

What connection could there be between them?

“Taiwei, you…”

Just as Yan Sanhe turned her head, her voice suddenly caught.

Taiwei’s blood-red gaze looked toward Zhu Yuanmo, making “hehe” sounds from his mouth. At the same time, the corners of his mouth slowly curved up, then curved up more…

Ten-plus years of prison life in the Military Commandant’s Office, living alongside insects and rats, sleeping with excrement and urine, living worse than a dog. Not a single day passed without hoping Zhu Xuanjiu would be torn apart by five horses, struck by heavenly thunder.

But heaven was blind.

Such a person with a human face and beast’s heart not only didn’t receive retribution, but enjoyed filial piety from his mother and children, had a houseful of descendants, and died peacefully of old age.

Truly there was no heavenly justice.

But now he realized he was wrong.

Heavenly justice existed from the moment you committed evil deeds. If it doesn’t bring retribution on you, it will bring retribution on your children and grandchildren.

Didn’t you see? The eldest master of the Zhu family was nearly mad.

Even more ruthless!

But this was far from over. The entire Zhu household, the entire Zhu clan, would all go mad soon. They would all go mad.

Hahaha…

The corner of Taiwei’s mouth curved into an arc of great vengeance achieved.

Then his voice abruptly stopped, his eyes closed, his head drooped, and he departed with a smile.