After a very long time, Yan Sanhe suddenly laughed.

“So it really was you who caused their deaths?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Xie Daozhi shot to his feet. “When have I ever harmed anyone?”

Yan Sanhe drew an envelope from her sleeve and handed it over.

Xie Daozhi didn’t understand what she was doing. He pulled the letter from the envelope, and with one glance, his brows furrowed tightly.

He would recognize this handwriting even if it were reduced to ashes—it was Yan Hang’s.

But the contents of this letter…

“My brother fell gravely ill. Father took him to the capital to seek medical treatment. Grandfather wrote to you, hoping you would help for the sake of past feelings.”

Yan Sanhe continued, “You hated Grandfather, hated the Yan family—it would have been one thing if you simply refused to let them through your door, but instead you had the constables lock them in prison for five days.”

At these words, even Xie Erli’s expression changed dramatically.

“You’ve always been curious about why I came to the Xie residence, haven’t you?”

Yan Sanhe braced both hands forward, her eyes blazing with fierce fire. “I only want justice for the dead.”

“Your brother died?” Xie Daozhi was shocked and dismayed.

“The capital’s prisons—what kind of place is that? How could a child with serious illness endure it?”

Yan Sanhe paused. “He died right there in prison. My father watched helplessly as he drew his last breath.”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

Tears flashed briefly in Yan Sanhe’s eyes. “Mother died soon after from excessive grief. Two years later, it was my father’s turn.”

“…”

Xie Daozhi’s face was ashen as death.

No wonder she didn’t want money.

No wonder she was fearless.

It was because of three family members’ lives.

Yan Sanhe slowly raised her head, her eyes unmoving as she stared at Xie Daozhi.

“After your father died that year, you and your mother were so poor you couldn’t even eat your fill. You wandered everywhere, and your mother had to kneel and beg before entering the Yan household as a servant. Am I right or wrong?”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

Yan Sanhe: “The Yan family was large and prosperous—they had more servants than they could use. That you could stay was because Yan Hang pitied you mother and son. Do you acknowledge this or not?”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

“Not only did you fail to repay this kindness, you even repaid kindness with enmity.”

Yan Sanhe stared intently at Xie Daozhi, a laugh erupting from her chest. “Are you even human? Do you even deserve to be human?”

Looking at Yan Sanhe’s eyes that were like deep wells, Xie Daozhi suddenly felt a chill rising from his spine, slowly climbing to the top of his head.

“I didn’t do it. I never saw them.”

Yan Sanhe: “If it wasn’t you, why would the constables arrest the two of them, father and son?”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

Yan Sanhe: “Their first time entering the capital—who had a grudge against them?”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

Yan Sanhe: “You said it yourself—you wished their entire family dead.”

Xie Daozhi: “…”

He couldn’t answer a single question.

Did I do it?

Seems like I didn’t.

But did I not do it?

Yet this was clearly my style of handling things.

In the study, silence descended once more like death. In the brazier, charcoal cracked with a “pa,” as if it were the deceased Yan Hang accusing Xie Daozhi.

Xie Erli asked somewhat uncertainly, “Father, what exactly is going on here?”

Xie Daozhi looked at his son, his gaze somewhat unfocused.

After a long while.

He still shook his head, answering word by word: “I didn’t do it.”

Like millions of fine needles piercing into her bone marrow, Yan Sanhe was thoroughly enraged. “You still won’t admit it?”

“Yan Sanhe!”

Xie Daozhi was also furious, slamming his hand on the table.

“Though I hate him to death, I could never use such methods against a sick child.”

“The Xie manor has done many things they claim they couldn’t do, but there are also plenty of things they can do—for instance…”

Yan Sanhe sneered repeatedly. “Killing to silence witnesses!”