Xie Zhifei leaned over to look.

In Li Buyan’s palm was also a thin piece of white jade, only what was carved on it wasn’t a fish but a flying bird.

Yan Sanhe had shown Xie Zhifei the original piece of white jade. Knowing it was the former Crown Prince’s item, if not for Tang Jianxi having given it, he would have told Yan Sanhe to throw it away.

Items belonging to the former Crown Prince—how could they be touched?

He frowned. “Where’s the original piece?”

“Right, where is the original piece?”

Li Buyan searched through the sachet but didn’t find it. She called Tangyuan over. “Did you touch the items in this sachet?”

Tangyuan shook her head.

These past days she’d been busy caring for Miss—how could her eyes see such small items?

“Then that’s strange.”

Li Buyan looked puzzled. “Who switched out the white jade inside?”

Young Master Pei snatched away the jade pendant. “Hey, never mind the jade. Let’s help Yan Sanhe figure out where this heart demon went wrong…”

“Bring it here!”

Xie Zhifei seized the jade pendant and strode into the room. “Yan Sanhe, how did this jade pendant get switched? Where’s the original fish?”

Items belonging to the former Crown Prince could neither be casually taken nor casually discarded once taken—they would cause trouble.

“…”

Yan Sanhe opened her eyes, not reacting. “What fish?”

Xie Zhifei sat down at the bedside, placed the jade pendant above Yan Sanhe’s eyes, and asked in a suppressed voice:

“How did it become this? Where’s the fish Tang Jianxi gave you?”

“I don’t know.”

Yan Sanhe looked completely baffled. “Where did this come from?”

“Found in your sachet.”

“Who put it there?”

Xie Zhifei replied, “Asking you—who put it there?”

Yan Sanhe looked at the white jade, lost in thought.

The sachet was made by Buyan. The items inside were rarely taken out—the banknote was for emergencies.

That day when she went out, Tangyuan fastened the sachet for her.

The group went to Splendid Silk Shop, where she was drugged unconscious in the courtyard.

Then she woke in a room and exchanged a few probing words with that middle-aged man. After hearing the zither music, she fell asleep again.

When she woke again, she was in this bed.

Who put it there?

That middle-aged man?

Yan Sanhe slowly reached out her hand, took the jade pendant, and held it before her eyes to examine carefully.

A bird with spread wings, carved lifelike.

Xie Zhifei brought his face closer and looked carefully several more times. “Doesn’t look like a bird—birds’ wings aren’t that large. Looks more like a wild goose.”

A goose?

A fish?

Yan Sanhe stared at it as chill spread through her limbs. She thought of a phrase: sinking fish and falling geese!

“Xie Zhifei, help me examine this jade’s material and carving technique.”

The so-called “modest gentleman, gentle as jade”—sons of noble families, one essential item they wore was jade pendants.

Xie Zhifei not only wore them but understood them somewhat.

This material…

Xie Zhifei’s breathing suddenly became rapid. “Yan, Yan Sanhe, do you remember that piece of white jade had a slightly yellowed spot in the lower right corner?”

“Mm.”

“Now look at this piece’s lower left corner.”

“Also slightly yellowed.”

Yan Sanhe’s pupils dilated sharply, her fingers holding the white jade trembling slightly. “You mean…”

“Wait, let me look again.”

Xie Zhifei took the white jade from her hand and held it before his eyes, turning it over and over, examining it again and again.

Behind him, Pei Xiao and the others blocked the doorway, not daring to breathe as they watched Xie Zhifei’s back.

If they walked to the front, they would definitely see Xie Zhifei’s expression alternating between shock and fear.

After several changes of expression, Xie Zhifei shuddered deeply.

“Yan Sanhe, this piece of white jade and that piece not only came from the same stone, but also…”

Xie Zhifei pointed at the goose’s tail.

“When making this cut, the stroke was especially long, and the tail carried a slight upward curve. I remember the fish’s tail also had such a stroke.”

As the words fell, Yan Sanhe felt everything go black before her eyes.

Sinking fish and falling geese.

From the same piece of stone.

From the same jade carver.

That meant, meant…

This was also the former Crown Prince’s item!!

She grabbed Xie Zhifei’s hand tightly. “The, the person I asked you to find…”

“No news.”

Xie Zhifei grasped her small hand in return. This small hand was so cold—no matter how he warmed it, it wouldn’t warm up.

“Everyone says they’ve never seen this person. Still investigating secretly.”

“What do you mean?”

Pei Xiao couldn’t hold back. “Don’t tell me this jade belongs to the former…”

“Shut up.”

Xie Zhifei turned his head and glared angrily. “Understand in your heart.”

Pei Xiao was so shocked his jaw nearly dropped. Looking at Li Buyan whose jaw was also about to fall, he asked trembling with fear:

“Yan, Yan Sanhe, what exactly happened that day you were drugged?”

“What people did you see, what was said, who beat you like this?” Xie Zhifei’s tone grew more serious with each question.

He had originally wanted to wait for Yan Sanhe to speak of it herself, but this jade pendant’s appearance made him feel like a great enemy was before him, his features becoming deep and sharp.

Yan Sanhe suddenly realized the seriousness of this matter.

“I woke up tied in a room. The room was very ordinary, the furnishings plain, nothing particularly special.

Several candles were lit in the room. Soon someone entered.

That person was the one in the portrait. His eyes were different from ordinary people’s—deeply sunken, as if carrying some foreign blood.

He spoke standard official dialect, neither fast nor slow. Observing that his face held no excessive malice, I boldly engaged with him.

After just a few exchanges, he said bringing me here was only to have me listen to him play one piece, and after listening, he would release me.”

“How is that possible?” Young Master Pei raised an eyebrow.

“Exactly, I thought how could that be possible? But he truly did play a piece for me.”

Xie Zhifei listened with alarm. “Then what?”

“Halfway through listening, I became extremely drowsy—unprecedentedly so. My eyelids couldn’t stay open, and I fell asleep.”

Yan Sanhe continued, “In my sleep, I felt my head receive a heavy blow. It hurt terribly. Before I could open my eyes, I passed out again.”

Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao exchanged a glance—things were somewhat beyond their expectations.

“Oh right, before playing the zither, he also told me: one sound enters the ear, ten thousand matters leave the heart—told me to listen carefully.”

Yan Sanhe slowly closed her eyes.

At the time, being frightened, she hadn’t sensed anything wrong. Now recalling it carefully, this person had an indescribable strangeness about him.

Why did he play the zither for her to hear?

What piece had he played exactly?

Why did listening to this piece make her want to sleep uncontrollably?

Had he switched the jade pendant while she slept?

What was his purpose in switching it?

How did he possess jade pendants carved by the former Crown Prince?

And—

Who exactly was he?

Her head began to throb violently again. Yan Sanhe wanted to press her temples, only to find her hand held in that person’s palm.

“Hurts again?” That person’s eyes held distress.

Yan Sanhe looked into Xie Zhifei’s eyes and suddenly thought of another question—

If he truly had switched the jade pendant, seeing the piece in her sachet, shouldn’t he have woken her to ask where the jade pendant came from?

Why strike her so heavily instead?