“Audacious!”

Zhao Yishi’s face changed in an instant. He slammed the tea table. The tea cup jumped several times, rolled to the floor, and shattered with a crack.

Yan Sanhe shot up from her seat, her eyes cold as she stared at Zhao Yishi.

“Oh dear…”

Before Yan Sanhe could speak, Pei Xiao rushed to Zhao Yishi’s side, patting the tea stains on his body while loudly proclaiming:

“Why is everyone losing their temper? Do you still want to resolve the Zheng family’s inner demon or not? Do you still want the warhorses to recover? Everyone calm down, calm down!”

As he made his commotion, Xie Zhifei gave Yan Sanhe a slight shake of his head.

Yan Sanhe bit her lip and sat back down reluctantly, unwilling. Anyone could call Xie Zhifei audacious, but you, Zhao Yishi, had no right.

The Zheng family matter—you personally came begging for it.

If you want to understand the Zheng family matter, the witchcraft case cannot be avoided.

Isn’t calling it “audacious” now a bit too late?

Moreover, this was the truth!

Zhao Yishi seemed to realize his loss of composure as well. His face changed several times before he said: “Chengyu, those words weren’t directed at you. Don’t…”

“Huairen, stop talking.”

Xie Zhifei sighed with chagrin. “I was indeed audacious. How could I discuss the Late Emperor like that?”

“Alright, alright, stop talking, both of you.”

Pei Xiao turned to glare at Xie Zhifei: “Xie Wushi, when you speak, try to be more… ah… tactful.”

“Actually, there’s not much more to say.”

Xie Zhifei’s hands at his sides slowly clenched into fists.

“The deposed Crown Prince had an orphan who, for unknown reasons, was taken in by Old General Zheng Yu. The old general placed the child in Haitang Courtyard. When the matter was exposed, the Late Emperor flew into a rage, and then…”

And what?

Xie Zhifei didn’t continue. He knew Zhao Yishi understood clearly—

Because the throne came through dishonorable means, the Late Emperor’s rage came first, his guilty conscience came second, so he exterminated everyone who had sheltered the deposed Crown Prince’s orphan.

Zhao Yishi understood very clearly. His face turned deathly pale as he sat motionless in his chair.

“That’s the sequence of events.”

Pei Xiao thought about it, then took it upon himself to add a few sentences.

“Old General Zheng Yu’s death—Yan Xi told us about it. Yan Xi is your man. If you don’t believe us, you should believe him.

To piece this entire matter together, Yan Sanhe stood in the rain for an hour, which is why she fell ill. Xie Wushi was too shocked—his heart palpitations flared up again yesterday.”

“Let me… let me think about this.”

Zhao Yishi stood up, pushed open the door, and strode out.

In the courtyard.

Shen Chong and Zhu Qing and the others were quietly conversing.

Li Buyan leaned against a tree, lazily idle.

Everyone turned their heads or straightened up as they should, looking at the suddenly appearing Crown Prince His Highness.

Zhao Yishi coldly instructed Shen Chong: “I’m just going to walk around outside. Don’t follow me.”

“Yes!”

…

In the study, Xie Zhifei leaned back against the chair, rubbing his brow repeatedly.

Huairen’s blurted “audacious” was actually reasonable given the timing, but hearing it was still unspeakably grating.

That was the lofty monarch warning his subject below that he had overstepped, crossed the line, acted presumptuously, that he should shut his mouth, or else it would be a grave offense.

Monarch?

Subject?

Xie Zhifei’s heart felt somewhat cold. So in the depths of Huairen’s heart, the true relationship between the three brothers ultimately came down to just those two words: monarch and subject.

He suddenly thought of how the Son of Heaven was also called “the Solitary One,” and before “Solitary One” you could add two more words: “Lone Sovereign.”

Huairen would eventually sit in that lofty position, and you too would eventually prostrate at his feet, your life and death at his discretion.

Just like Old General Zheng and Emperor Yonghe.

Thinking of this, Xie Zhifei suddenly felt completely drained of energy in all his limbs.

“Yan Sanhe, Li Buyan is truly clever.”

These words seemed disconnected from what came before, yet Yan Sanhe understood.

“For women, an emperor’s love is but a fleeting blossom. For civil and military officials, an emperor’s reliance can sometimes also be a fleeting blossom.”

These words not only silenced Xie Zhifei but also made Pei Xiao’s face fall.

Just then, Yan Sanhe stood and walked to Xie Zhifei’s side, then beckoned to Pei Xiao.

Pei Xiao knew she had something to say and hurried over.

“As I said before, the Zheng family’s inner demon divides into two parts. One is the Zheng family’s unjust case, the other is the old general’s cause of death.”

Yan Sanhe lowered her voice to the minimum: “So just now I thought about it—the people lighting incense should be two.”

Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao said in unison: “Besides you, who else?”

“Someone from the imperial family.”

Yan Sanhe: “The old general was forced to die on the battlefield because he sheltered me, the orphan of the former Crown Prince. All one hundred and eighty members of the Zheng family became souls beneath the blade because of me. I am the cause, the origin of everything.

Emperor Yonghe was the one who truly acted, and even though he hid behind the scenes, he is the chief culprit.

When I, the cause, light incense, it’s to tell the old general that the child his entire household died protecting is still alive, and also to tell him the truth has been found.

When the imperial family, the chief culprit, lights incense, it’s to comfort the souls of all the Zheng family members and the souls of the heroes who died innocently implicated at Black Mountain City.”

Xie Zhifei looked at her long lashes: “Your meaning is?”

Yan Sanhe: “Since Zhao Yishi is here, he can represent the imperial family in lighting incense.”

Pei Xiao: “If you light together, won’t your identity…”

“I light first, he lights after.”

Yan Sanhe raised her eyelids to meet Xie Zhifei’s dark eyes: “Set up an altar in this courtyard. Set up another altar in the back garden. How about that?”

“Feasible.”

Xie Zhifei’s gaze shifted: “Mingting, what do you think?”

Pei Xiao: “I also think it’s feasible.”

Xie Zhifei: “I’ll arrange things in this courtyard.”

Pei Xiao: “I’ll stay nearby to chat with Huairen and distract him.”

Yan Sanhe: “I’ll have Li Buyan arrange the back garden, with Lu Da standing guard.”

The three exchanged glances, the same word forming in all their minds: Proper.

…

After one cup of tea, Zhao Yishi returned. His gaze fell on Yan Sanhe: “Miss Yan, the overall situation takes priority. What should we do next?”

The four words “overall situation takes priority” meant he had accepted it, compromised.

Yan Sanhe coughed a few times, her voice hoarse: “Prepare to light incense.”

“Light incense?”

Zhao Yishi was astonished: “I’m to light it?”

Yan Sanhe: “Any of his descendants may light it.”

Zhao Yishi’s immortal-like face showed some panic: “What, what should I say?”

Yan Sanhe: “Just speak the truth.”

Zhao Yishi’s eardrums rang with a boom. After a long silence, he asked: “If I speak the truth… it will light?”

Yan Sanhe: “It should.”

Zhao Yishi: “Light it now?”

Yan Sanhe: “After bathing and changing clothes. You may bathe at the estate, but the clothes must be your own clean ones.”

Zhao Yishi: “Shen Chong.”

“Your Highness.”

“Go back and fetch a set of clean clothes.”

“Yes!”

Zhao Yishi stepped forward, somewhat hesitant: “Miss Yan, what if the incense doesn’t light?”

Yan Sanhe looked straight into his bottomlessly dark pupils: “Then it means we investigated the wrong inner demon.”