Xie Daozhi slowly lowered his head, depression filling his eyes.

“Yes.”

With this “yes,” Yan Sanhe suddenly stood: “How did you know the Emperor wanted Old General dead?”

Xie Daozhi was taken aback by the question.

Yan Sanhe: “Did Yan Xi tell you?”

Xie Daozhi hurriedly nodded: “Yes, yes!”

“That’s not right.”

Yan Sanhe laughed coldly.

“You said before that you didn’t know Yan Xi, that you only found him through Zhu Qing. Yan Xi has no relationship with you—would he tell you something as important as the Late Emperor’s oral decree in complete detail?”

Xie Daozhi: “I…”

“Xie Daozhi, your words are full of holes.”

Yan Sanhe strode before him, her gaze three degrees colder than ice.

“Not many people in this world knew the Emperor wanted to kill Old General Zheng. Tell me—how did you know?”

Xie Daozhi’s gaze began to flicker. His chest rose and fell, his breathing instantly becoming heavy.

There’s something wrong here!

He’s not telling the truth!

Yan Sanhe immediately made this judgment in her heart.

At this point, why was he still hiding and covering things up?

What was he concealing?

How did he know the Emperor wanted Old General dead?

Yan Sanhe stared at him fixedly. Suddenly, something flashed through her mind. Her heart plummeted, her chest filled with chill.

“Let me guess how you knew.”

She took another step forward, her gaze stopping just three cun from Xie Daozhi’s face.

This way, every minute expression on his face couldn’t escape her eyes.

“Besides supervising officer Yan Ruxian and accompanying commander Tan Shu, no third person would know the Emperor wanted Old General Zheng dead.

Yan Xi, as Yan Ruxian’s adopted son, glimpsed a bit of the Son of Heaven’s intentions from Yan Ruxian’s words and actions.

You paid Yan Xi heavily to lie for you. You said it was for self-preservation, fearing the matter would be traced to you. But as long as you didn’t speak, who could think the person who sent messages to the Northern Territories back then was you?

Clearly what you fear isn’t your message-sending being exposed. You’re afraid of another matter.”

Pei Xiao’s heart nearly jumped to his throat. “What, what is he afraid of?”

Deep in Yan Sanhe’s pupils came violent tremors.

“He’s afraid we’ll discover that he was the one who told the Late Emperor about the Zheng family twins.”

As the last word fell, the air became rigid and frozen.

Pei Xiao felt a large hand choking his neck. His words came with extreme difficulty.

“Yan, Yan Sanhe, you mean… he… he… he’s that informer?”

“Otherwise, how would he understand that the Emperor sending Yan Ruxian to the Northern Territories was to make Old General die? Who in this world could imagine that with the battle going well, with sovereign and subject on good terms, killing intent lurked right before their eyes?”

Pei Xiao slowly turned his head bit by bit, looking at Xie Daozhi in disbelief.

“Most importantly.”

Yan Sanhe’s lips trembled with rage.

“The Zheng family twins’ matter wasn’t exposed early or late—why was it exposed right after Old General went to the battlefield?

For the Crown Prince’s heir position, he could sacrifice the lives of thousands of soldiers. So to preserve the Crown Prince’s heir position, why couldn’t he engineer a Zheng family massacre?”

Pei Xiao’s eyelid twitched violently. “Yan, Yan Sanhe, you’re saying he, he knew the Zheng family twins were… were…”

“That I can’t deduce.”

Yan Sanhe’s tone suddenly became weak. Those few sentences had drained all her strength.

“Have him… tell it himself!”

Xie Daozhi kept his head lowered, saying nothing.

Not even any expression showed on his face. He just sat in the grand master’s chair unmoved, completely still.

The air froze again. No one dared even breathe, their faces showing undisguisable shock and anxiety.

What had just occurred exceeded the maximum limit of what they could imagine.

After a long silence, a weak voice sounded.

“Mingting, help me up.”

“Oh!”

Pei Xiao turned his head in a daze, then his expression changed drastically in fright. Xie Zhifei’s face showed purplish-blue coloring again—the precursor to heart palpitations.

Pei Xiao rushed over, helping him up while rubbing his back.

It was useless.

Xie Zhifei could barely stand. All his blood didn’t flow to his heart but surged into his pupils.

His pupils were red as blood, as if blood would drip from them.

“Third Son.”

Xie Daozhi was frightened. He stood up and staggered forward two steps: “Don’t get agitated. You… drink some tea, calm down.”

Xie Zhifei looked at him, stared at him fixedly, then suddenly tears fell.

“Father, tell your son the truth. The Zheng family twins matter—was it… was it you who informed the Late Emperor?”

“Third Son…”

“Was it or wasn’t it?”

As Xie Zhifei roared, his foot kicked backward.

This kick struck the grand master’s chair behind him. The solid redwood chair shattered with a crash.

Everyone in the room was stunned.

But the next instant, Xie Zhifei’s body went soft.

“Xie Wushi!”

“Third Master!”

“Third Son!”

Pei Xiao immediately pressed his philtrum, shouting hoarsely:

“Quick, open the windows for air, fan him, Yan Sanhe, undo his collar… hurry… what are you all standing around for?”

Before Yan Sanhe could move, Zhu Qing had already rushed to Third Master’s side. His fingers expertly undid the collar, then his palm gently pressed and kneaded Third Master’s chest several times.

“Huu—”

After Xie Zhifei let out a long breath, he began breathing in great gulps. Just moments ago, he felt his heart had stopped beating.

“Father, still won’t you speak?”

His eyes brimmed with tears, his expression and gaze showing undisguisable grief.

Xie Daozhi looked at this son. His face showed expressions from worry, to panic, to helplessness, finally settling on complete despair.

He used an almost pleading tone, saying lowly: “Third Son, be careful of your health… Father will speak… Father will say everything!”

Where to begin recounting the past like wind?

He was a poor scholar who studied hard for eighteen years before passing the imperial examination. Having no background, he obtained only a small seventh-rank position.

Capital officials were everywhere. How could he stand out?

There were only two paths: one was to be a loyal minister and leave one’s name in history; one was to be a treacherous minister—wherever the wind blew, one ran that way.

He wanted to be a loyal minister and leave his name in history.

Heaven pitied him. The opportunity came.

In the fifteenth year of Yuanfeng, the Emperor summoned scholars to compile the “Great Hua Records.” Due to his solid foundation in historical studies, he was recommended as a compiler.

This was a shortcut, close to the Emperor.

Over several years, he completed this work meticulously and received Emperor Yuanfeng’s praise. Only then did he slowly gain a foothold in the capital.

After Emperor Yonghe took the throne, he received true重用.

Emperor Yonghe rose from the military and especially valued civil officials with real learning. With his genuine abilities, he step by step became one of Emperor Yonghe’s important ministers.

At this moment, the struggle between the Crown Prince and Prince of Han gradually surfaced.

—

These two chapters I wrote and revised, revised and wrote. I pondered the logic many times. I know you’ll be surprised after reading, but from the very beginning outline of this novel, it was determined that Xie Daozhi would surface in this matter.

As for why he did this, I’ll write slowly. Dear readers, keep reading slowly—there will be a complete explanation.