In the study, everyone was present except Zhu Qing.

Yan Sanhe related almost word for word the information they’d learned from Liang Pangde.

After a long silence, Pei Xiao was the first to speak.

“I have a feeling the secret of Haitang Courtyard might lie with Lady Zhao or the twins.”

Ding Yi’s eyebrows knitted tightly together. “Right, why weren’t Lady Zhao and her natal family allowed to meet?”

Huang Qi: “Although the twins were demon fetuses, Zhu Yuanmo also said they not only didn’t bring misfortune to the Zheng family but actually benefited them. So why did Old General Zheng say they brought misfortune to the Zheng family?”

Li Buyan chimed in from the side: “Right, why?”

Pei Xiao: “Why confine the twins in Haitang Courtyard where they couldn’t even see people?”

Ding Yi: “And there’s another strange thing—why did Zheng Huantang always say he wronged Lady Zhao?”

Huang Qi: “Shouldn’t the ones he wronged most be the two children?”

Li Buyan continued her interjections: “That’s right, the two children.”

Pei Xiao was about to speak again when he suddenly noticed something. “Xie Wushi, why aren’t you saying a word?”

Because I already know the answers.

Xie Zhifei glanced at Yan Sanhe. “Ming Ting is right—the doubts lie with Lady Zhao and the twins.”

“Lady Zhao has no doubts. The doubts lie with the twins.”

Yan Sanhe had already grown impatient with continuing to hide things. “Ming Ting, use one phrase to describe those twins.”

Pei Xiao was startled. “What phrase?”

Yan Sanhe: “Quick, don’t think.”

Pei Xiao blurted out: “Unfit to be seen.”

“Why unfit to be seen?”

Yan Sanhe’s tone was like the dagger Li Buyan had pressed against Liang Pangde’s neck, pushing forward inch by inch.

“Where were they unfit to be seen?

How were they unfit to be seen?

What was the real reason they were unfit to be seen?

Could the demon fetuses bringing misfortune just be an illusion, used to deceive the world?”

In the study, everyone except Li Buyan wore expressions difficult to describe.

Li Buyan rubbed her hands together, very much with an air of eager anticipation.

Soon, very soon—Yan Sanhe’s true roots would soon be found.

“Let’s investigate these twins.”

Yan Sanhe tapped the table with her fingers twice—”thunk, thunk.”

“Although the Zheng family members are gone, I think… the midwife who delivered these twins should still be alive. Let’s start investigating from her.”

Ding Yi became excited. “Miss Yan, should I go inquire right away?”

Yan Sanhe: “Go immediately.”

Huang Qi: “Miss Yan, what should I do?”

Yan Sanhe: “Secretly protect Liang Pangde for two days, then return after two days.”

Huang Qi: “Yes!”

…

The profession of midwife wasn’t something anyone could do. One needed to understand childbirth, know some medical arts, and have rich experience.

There were only a few midwives serving the high-ranking families in the capital. Before evening, Ding Yi returned with information.

“Miss Yan, I’ve inquired clearly. The midwife who delivered for the Zheng family back then was called Lai Granny. This person no longer delivers babies now—she’s passed all her skills to her daughter and is enjoying her retirement at home.”

Yan Sanhe: “Did you find out where she lives?”

Ding Yi pulled out a slip of paper from his robe. “This is the address.”

Xie Zhifei glanced at it. “Not too far. Half an hour’s ride on horseback.”

Li Buyan raised an eyebrow. “Should we charge over there right now?”

“Not quite appropriate.”

All eyes fell on Young Master Pei.

Pei Xiao touched the gauze wrapped around his hand. “Midwives who can deliver for high-ranking families have one characteristic—tight lips.”

Besides delivering babies, midwives had another important task—inducing miscarriages.

Miscarriages were uncommon among ordinary people but quite frequent in high-ranking households.

Unmarried young ladies because of affairs; married madams because of restlessness; and the household matriarch who couldn’t tolerate ambitious concubines…

The more unseemly the matter, the more it needed to be covered up.

So for a midwife working in high-ranking households, having a tight, reliable mouth was more important than anything.

“Old women who’ve become crafty aren’t easy to interrogate. Not like Old Lady Zhao—with her daughter at stake, she couldn’t pour out words fast enough.”

Pei Xiao: “This kind of woman won’t open her mouth even with a knife at her throat—it concerns her livelihood. If secrets from high-ranking households leak out, does she still want to make a living in the capital?”

No one responded, all still staring at Pei Xiao.

Pei Xiao was somewhat annoyed. “What are you looking at me for?”

Yan Sanhe rarely smiled. “How do you know about these side matters, Young Master Pei?”

Pei Xiao: “Midwives sometimes botch things too, and then my father has to step in to save people. He told me all this when he came home.”

Yan Sanhe: “So what method can make a crafty old woman talk?”

Pei Xiao glanced at Xie Zhifei. “Invite her to the Five Cities Command, lock her in the prison, then interrogate her. That’s more appropriate.”

Yan Sanhe: “What if she still won’t talk?”

Pei Xiao: “Then invite her daughter too. Mother and daughter share the same heart—she can’t not talk.”

Yan Sanhe silently looked at his injured hand. After a long while, she said softly, “At critical moments, we still need Young Master Pei.”

Xie Zhifei: “Of all of us, we can do without anyone except him.”

Li Buyan: “Young Master Pei, your importance can’t just show at critical moments—it needs to be constantly on display.”

Ding Yi was in a difficult position.

They’d said things more sappy than the last. What should he say?

He could only say: “Right, right, right!”

…

The reputation of the Five Cities Command wasn’t as terrifying as the Imperial Guards’, but the prison was the same kind of prison—

Dark, sinister, bloody, terrifying.

The oil lamp flickered, and the hearts of those locked inside flickered with it.

Would they be tortured?

Who could come to save them?

Could they leave alive?

The unknown was most terrifying.

Especially for someone like Lai Granny who’d done good deeds but also plenty of unscrupulous ones—the Five Cities Command’s prison was already the greatest nightmare of her life.

In the evening, her family had been eating dinner in the courtyard when suddenly a group of armed officials burst in and, without explanation, arrested both her and her daughter and brought them here.

A full two hours, no one came, and she didn’t know where her daughter had been locked up.

No matter how crafty Lai Granny was, she felt waves of fear.

Footsteps approached. Lai Granny quickly scrambled up from the floor, hands gripping the wooden bars, craning her neck to look out.

In the dim lamplight, someone was walking toward her.

The person wore official robes with four people following behind. Two of them held—one a blade, one a sword.

Blood still dripped from both blade and sword.

Dear heavens!

Lai Granny’s legs went weak. She collapsed to the ground, wailing pitifully. “Official sir, have mercy! This old woman has never… ah…”

She screamed, scrambling backward in a panic, her face filled with horror.

Thrown before her was a bloody severed arm.

Xie Zhifei half-crouched down, meeting her at eye level.

“I ask one question, you answer one question. Dare to speak one false word, and the next severed arm will be your daughter’s.”

Lai Granny collapsed onto the ground, her face ashen as death.