“Yes!”

Xie Daozhi narrowed his eyes, as if returning to ten years ago.

“But I waited left and right—he never came back. This person vanished as if into thin air. Alive he wasn’t seen, dead his corpse wasn’t found.”

That person was killed by the shadow guard Zhang Tianxing.

This man was like Yan Sanhe’s shadow, following her every moment, protecting her left and right, killing gods who came, killing Buddhas who came.

Yan Sanhe’s eyes slowly grew hot.

During those eight years she grew up safely, how many people worried for her in secret, fretted for her, killed for her.

Yet she not only never saw them, she didn’t even know of their existence.

Just then, Xie Zhifei, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke: “Yan Sanhe, don’t lose focus. Keep questioning.”

Yan Sanhe’s whole body jolted. She cast a grateful glance at Xie Zhifei, then immediately asked: “Perhaps the person you sent took the opportunity to flee?”

Xie Daozhi pointed at Zhu Qing and sneered: “Ask him—without my permission, would he flee?”

Before Yan Sanhe could ask, Zhu Qing answered “no.” After speaking, he quickly glanced at Third Master, then lowered his head again.

Yan Sanhe: “Your person had no return—what did that indicate to you?”

Xie Daozhi: “Not only was there a secret hidden in Haitang Courtyard, there were people guarding that secret.”

Truly clever!

No wonder, with no background, relying solely on himself he could step by step become a cabinet minister. Grandfather Yan Xing truly had an eye for people.

Yan Sanhe: “This is still your deduction. I maintain—you had no concrete evidence.”

“So I pulled my attention back from Haitang Courtyard and focused on Zheng Yu.”

“What problem did Zheng Yu have?”

“Zheng Yu’s problem was—if my deduction is true, why would he do this? Where did he get such courage to do this?”

After Xie Daozhi finished speaking, as if sensing something, Yan Sanhe turned her face and met Xie Zhifei’s dark gaze directly.

Yes.

This point—they had always wanted to understand but could never investigate.

Yan Sanhe took a deep breath: “What did you discover?”

Xie Daozhi: “I discovered that when Zheng Yu was young, he received a favor from someone.”

Yan Sanhe: “Who?”

Xie Daozhi: “The deposed Crown Prince’s legitimate mother, Empress Xiaoren.”

Empress Xiaoren?

The woman Emperor Yuanfeng respected most.

Emperor Yuanfeng was heartbroken by her death, even suspending court for three days.

Yan Sanhe: “What favor?”

“When Zheng Yu’s first wife had her first child, she suffered difficult labor. At that time, Zheng Yu was just an insignificant minor officer in the Divine Strategy Army, yet he got the obstetrics sage Yu Ai to deliver the baby.”

Xie Daozhi’s gaze shifted: “Young Master Pei should know who Yu Ai is, right?”

Nonsense—of course this young master knows.

Pei Xiao patiently explained to Yan Sanhe.

“Yu Ai is called ‘Ghost’s Dread,’ most skilled at snatching people from the King of Hell. It’s said when Empress Xiaoren gave birth to the Crown Prince, she also had difficult labor. Yu Ai snatched both mother and son back from the ghost gate.

He saved countless mothers and infants, yet none of his own children survived—all died young. So before age forty he resigned from the Imperial Physicians Bureau.

He had a very good relationship with Empress Xiaoren. The deposed Crown Prince was the last child he delivered. After retreating to the mountains, every year on Empress Xiaoren’s birthday, he would return to the capital to examine the Empress’s pulse.”

Yan Sanhe: “Still alive?”

“Dead for almost eight hundred years.”

Pei Xiao moved his fingers.

“Calculating the time, Yu Ai delivering the Zheng family’s eldest should have been after his retreat. The only person who could move him was truly Empress Xiaoren.”

Yan Sanhe: “Why do you say so?”

“I heard from my father that this person had a proud temperament. If anyone didn’t follow his medical instructions, he’d wave his sleeve and walk away, not caring whether the patient lived or died.”

Pei Xiao: “He was reported to Emperor Yuanfeng several times. Emperor Yuanfeng repeatedly thought of killing him. It was Empress Xiaoren who advised and mediated at his side, preserving his life. So he only responded to Empress Xiaoren’s requests.”

Pei Xiao looked at Yan Sanhe’s expression, then added: “In other words, for Zheng Yu to move him, he had to go through Empress Xiaoren’s channels.”

After hearing this, Yan Sanhe stood frozen and motionless.

Regarding Zheng Yu adopting her, she could never understand two points:

First, why would Crown Princess Liang Shi send her child to the Zheng family?

Second, why would Zheng Yu rather sacrifice his own granddaughter, wrong his own son, yet protect her with lifelong safety?

Now, the truth finally came to light.

Zheng Yu’s first wife suffered difficult labor and was about to die with the child. Yu Ai extended a helping hand.

Behind Yu Ai stood Empress Xiaoren.

This also explained why Zheng Yu, with no family background, could ultimately be granted the title of Great General.

Besides his own outstanding abilities, behind him should have been Empress Xiaoren’s hidden hand, step by step pushing him forward, forward, forward again.

At this moment, Yan Sanhe’s mind recalled another matter about Empress Xiaoren.

When investigating Zhu Xuanjiu’s inner demon, when Zhu Xuanjiu engineered his two elder brothers’ deaths and took over the Zhu family business from his father Zhu Liuyao, Zhu Liuyao specifically instructed Zhu Xuanjiu to assist the Crown Prince.

Zhu Liuyao gave this instruction to his son because he too had received Empress Xiaoren’s favor.

From this, one could see Empress Xiaoren must have sensed something.

Perhaps… she sensed the Crown Prince’s character was too gentle and benevolent.

Perhaps… she sensed the Prince of Zhao’s wild ambitions.

Or perhaps… she guarded in her heart against her pillow companion, Emperor Yuanfeng.

So Empress Xiaoren planted two crucial hidden pieces on her son’s path to the throne: one was the Zhu family; one was the Zheng family.

Zhu Liuyao was loyal, but he entrusted the wrong person. His son Zhu Xuanjiu not only didn’t assist the Crown Prince but secretly harmed him.

While Zheng Yu kept his word—with the entire Zheng family and his own life, he repaid Empress Xiaoren’s favor from years ago.

“Grandmother!”

Yan Sanhe called out in her heart, unable to help feeling grief well up.

You calculated everything, yet missed one thing—human hearts.

In this world, tens of thousands of people, tens of thousands of hearts.

Some hearts are red, some hearts are born black.

Some hearts are loyal, some hearts are treacherous.

Some hearts turn toward good, some hearts persist in evil.

So what about this Xie Daozhi before her eyes?

Was he loyal or treacherous?

Good or evil?

Yan Sanhe stared at Xie Daozhi fixedly. Her heart suddenly calmed.

“So based on these three points, you concluded Zheng Yu was harboring the former Crown Prince’s orphan and informed the Emperor?”

“Correct.”

Xie Daozhi slowly raised his head, a picture of righteous indignation.

“That infant’s cry is enough to prove the former Crown Prince had an orphan in this world. That infant’s birth date was extremely close to the Zheng family twins’.

Zheng Yu used these twins to harbor the former Crown Prince’s orphan. To cover people’s eyes, the twins didn’t see daylight until age eight, with masters protecting them nearby.

The reason Zheng Yu did this was to repay Empress Xiaoren’s favor.”

He paused, two clusters of light surging in his eyes again.

“Miss Yan, the cause and effect of this matter is crystal clear. Zheng Yu harboring the former Crown Prince’s orphan is great treason, making him a rebellious traitor. My informing the Emperor—what wrong did I commit?”