The dark night was like an enormous curtain.

The joys and sorrows of human life, love and hate, seemed merely embellishments upon the curtain.

In the courtyard, several lanterns were blown about by the wind in disarray.

An altar, an incense burner, two candlesticks, and three plates of fruit were already prepared.

Li Buyan walked out from the room, untied the bundle in her hands, pulled out a stick of incense from inside, and handed it to Zhu Yuanmo.

Under normal circumstances, Young Master Pei’s two eyes would definitely have stared wider than copper bells.

But today he hid behind Xie Zhifei.

He was truly scared.

Though Zhu Yuanmo’s face appeared calm, when he received the incense, his hands still involuntarily trembled several times.

“Miss Yan, what should I do?”

“Light the incense at the candlestick. Once lit, insert it into the incense burner, then kneel.”

Yan Sanhe looked at him: “If it doesn’t light, then you’re not the person to resolve this heart demon.”

Zhu Yuanmo let out a deep breath and strode to the altar, bringing the incense close to the candle flame.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths…

Why so quiet?

Why wasn’t there any sound at all?

Young Master Pei’s nervous heart nearly leapt from his throat. He poked Xie Zhifei’s back with his finger: Brother, has it lit or not?

Xie Zhifei turned to glance at him, then turned back to look at that stick of incense. Finally, his gaze fell on Yan Sanhe.

At this moment, Yan Sanhe’s pale face held a hint of disappointment.

It hadn’t lit.

“Zhu Yuanmo, you are not the incense lighter.”

She spoke quietly: “Return the incense to Li Buyan.”

Not him?

Young Master Pei quickly leaned out to look. Though the incense was being held over the flame, not a single spark had caught.

Finished.

Completely finished.

The incense lighter was indeed that person.

Fine then—everyone dies together!

How could Zhu Yuanmo be willing to accept this? He still held the incense over the flame.

Yan Sanhe walked forward, took the incense from Zhu Yuanmo’s hand, and passed it to Li Buyan.

“Miss Yan…” Zhu Yuanmo stared at her blankly.

“It’s also a good thing.”

What else could Yan Sanhe say? “At least we’ve confirmed the incense lighter is him.”

After countless hardships to reach the final step, the result…

Two lines of tears fell from Zhu Yuanmo. His face full of despair: “Miss Yan, does Heaven decree my Zhu family must die out completely?”

Yan Sanhe didn’t answer, couldn’t answer.

Resolving this heart demon until now, it had been practically non-stop, sleepless, restless. She was already very tired and had no mood to comfort others’ emotions.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

In the silence, Xie Zhifei stepped forward: “Zhu Qing, Ding Yi, you escort Master Zhu and the Head Steward back. Huang Qi, clear away the altar.”

Just as the words fell, Li Buyan suddenly rushed toward the Head Steward.

Everyone quickly turned to look.

The Head Steward’s body fell rigidly backward. Fortunately Li Buyan rushed quickly and caught him.

“Head Steward?”

“Head Steward?”

Pei Xiao quickly put his hand under the man’s nose to check, then shouted: “Not good.”

This breathing was terribly weak.

Young Master Pei stamped his feet anxiously: “Quick, quick, go get my father.”

Xie Zhifei shook his head: “Too late. Zhu Qing, quickly take him to the Pei house.”

Zhu Qing bent down to carry the Head Steward on his back and ran outside.

Seeing Zhu Yuanmo still standing there dazed, Pei Xiao quickly pushed him: “Go, I’ll accompany you. Xie Wushi, you come too.”

Xie Zhifei clearly understood why Pei Xiao wanted him along—the two brothers needed to properly discuss the direction of this matter.

“Yan Sanhe, then I…”

“You go first.”

Yan Sanhe’s face was full of exhaustion: “I also need to think.”

“Don’t think about anything. Get a good night’s sleep first.”

Xie Zhifei reached out to ruffle her hair, his eyes lowered: “I’m still here.”

…

I’m still here.

You’re not alone.

We’ll think of something together.

Lying in bed, Yan Sanhe carefully savored Xie Zhifei’s words, her thoughts growing heavier.

Precisely because you’re here, I must be even more careful.

“Buyan, how much longer for the blood talisman Zhu Yuanmo drew?”

Li Buyan counted on her fingers: “Roughly over twenty days left.”

Over twenty days?

To have the current Emperor light incense, admit he used dishonorable means back then to eliminate the Crown Prince’s faction, and express repentance before the incense?

Looking across the world, was there anything more absurd than this?

Seeing Yan Sanhe say nothing, Li Buyan snorted coldly: “If there’s really no other way, I’ll break into the palace at night with Zhu Qing and Ding Yi, use blades to force that dog Emperor to light the incense. How about that?”

“The palace is full of experts. Before you even use blades to threaten him, those hidden guards’ blades will already be at your neck.”

Yan Sanhe pillowed her head on her arms: “Besides, if he doesn’t truly repent, the incense won’t light anyway.”

Li Buyan: “Or like today at the Shen house—you few use supernatural tricks to thoroughly deceive the dog Emperor and force him.”

Yan Sanhe: “If his temperament were like Shen Wei’s, he couldn’t have seized the imperial throne.”

Li Buyan choked: “Young Master Pei was the one with foresight in his cowardice—knowing ahead was a dead end.”

Yan Sanhe smiled bitterly.

That’s right—a dead end indeed.

…

Chonghua Palace.

Study.

“Your Highness, at two quarters past the hour of Chen, Director Zhu, Third Master Xie, Young Master Pei, and Yan Sanhe entered the Shen estate. Yan Sanhe was cross-dressed as a male servant. They stayed at the Shen estate the entire day before leaving.

In the evening, they returned to Young Master Pei’s separate estate and didn’t come out again.

An hour later, Third Master’s servant drove a carriage to the Zhu estate, picked up the Zhu family’s Head Steward to the separate estate.

Half an hour ago, Master Zhu, Young Master Pei, Third Master Xie, and the Head Steward left the separate estate. The Head Steward was carried onto the carriage on someone’s back. They went to the Pei house.”

“What did they go to the Pei house for?”

“Seems the Zhu family’s Head Steward isn’t doing well.”

“Continue watching.”

“Yes!”

The hidden guard closed the door and left. Zhao Yanjin pondered: “Boren, what exactly are these people plotting? How have they gotten involved with the Shen family again?”

Dong Xiao stroked the beard on his chin: “Your Highness, Boren truly cannot guess.”

Zhao Yanjin’s fingers tapped the wine cup one by one, the more he tapped the more panicked he became.

What was most frightening in this world?

The unknown was most frightening.

Knowing these people were scheming behind the scenes, yet unable to guess what they were scheming.

In the silence, another hidden guard pushed the door open.

“Your Highness, we’ve discovered something about the Zhu family matter.”

“Speak.”

“Liu the Half-Immortal, who specially handles corpses for wealthy families, personally witnessed—the day Zhu Xuanjiu’s body was placed in the coffin, three coffins truly exploded.”

“Exploded?”

“Correct. As soon as the person was placed inside, the coffins shattered into pieces. Liu the Half-Immortal said in his entire lifetime, he’s never seen such a thing.”

“What happened next?”

“Then the Zhu family sent him away.”

“Who handled the corpse?”

“Liu the Half-Immortal said he doesn’t know either. Master Zhu gave him an extra hundred taels of silver, instructing him not to speak of this matter outside.”

“What else did you find out?”

“Recently, that woman called Yan Sanhe runs to the Zhu family every few days. The three young masters of the Zhu estate personally receive her. Among the Zhu estate’s servants, some say she’s asking about matters from when Zhu Xuanjiu was alive.”

“A little slip of a girl asking about Zhu Xuanjiu’s affairs?”

Zhao Yanjin’s face was full of disbelief.