Fan Changyu asked in confusion, “Why would the authorities lie?”

Xie Zheng frowned slightly. Thinking about how she had lived in this small place her entire life and the highest-ranking official she had ever encountered was probably the county magistrate, he found himself unexpectedly more tolerant of her naïve innocence.

Her parents had likely taught her many principles about how to conduct herself in life, but they had never told her about the deceit and scheming within officialdom.

Rarely patient, he explained to her carefully and even gave an example.

“It’s like when your uncle tried to seize your family property and sought help from that advisor. Even within a tiny county office, the political undercurrents are complicated. Higher up, in the prefectures and the imperial court, the relationships only become more tangled—factions, colleagues, marriage ties, teacher-student relationships… Behind every official is a vast network of power and influence. Some cases involve the interests of high-ranking officials. What looks like an ordinary grievance suffered by commoners may actually be part of a struggle between powerful men.”

After thinking for a long while, Fan Changyu frowned and asked, “You mean… my parents’ deaths may also involve the interests of powerful officials?”

A trace of surprise flashed through Xie Zheng’s eyes. She wasn’t stupid after all.

Lowering his gaze, he said, “I’m only giving an example. Maybe the authorities only told half the truth, or maybe everything they said was false. None of that is important. What matters is this—if the authorities gave you a false truth, what would you do?”

That question truly exceeded Fan Changyu’s understanding.

In the minds of ordinary people, officials were the heavens above the common folk. A single corrupt official was enough to make the people suffer endlessly. But after hearing Xie Zheng’s words, she suddenly realized that not every official was an upright and righteous magistrate.

If the entire bureaucracy of Great Yin protected its own, then what hung above their heads was not the heavens, but a giant net wrapped tightly around them.

Fan Changyu was only lost for a moment before her eyes became firm again.

“When Fan Da tried to seize my family property through Advisor He, I thought about finding an official higher-ranking than him to pull strings with. The biggest official in Qingping County is the magistrate, but the magistrate and Advisor He were in league together, so I couldn’t rely on him. That’s why I considered kidnapping my uncle.”

“The bureaucracy of Great Yin may be huge, but that just means there are more officials at the top. If I knew powerful officials, then in my uncle’s case, I probably would’ve sought help from prefectural officials. If Fan Da also found the highest official in the prefecture, and I still had connections, then I’d go to the capital to appeal my grievance. In the end, it would all be brought before the Emperor.”

“The highest official in Qingping County is the magistrate. The highest official in Great Yin is the Emperor. When it comes to seeking justice, the two aren’t really different. In the end, what determines right and wrong are still evidence and the law.”

She looked at Xie Zheng with clear and fearless eyes.

“No matter what my parents’ deaths are tied to, I’ll keep investigating. That vast network of connections in Great Yin’s bureaucracy isn’t something worth fearing.”

Her words genuinely surprised Xie Zheng.

He asked, “And how will you investigate?”

Fan Changyu glanced toward Changning, who was still outside in the courtyard playing in the snow.

“I’m not afraid of danger, but Changning is still too young. If the people who killed my parents notice us sisters again, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect her. So before anything else, I’ll send Changning somewhere safe.”

Approval appeared on Xie Zheng’s face.

“And then?”

Fan Changyu replied, “If I were a man, perhaps I would take the civil or military examinations and enter officialdom myself to uncover everything tied to my parents’ deaths. But I’m only a woman. I can’t enter the bureaucracy, and I don’t know any high-ranking officials. That leaves only one path—money makes the devil turn the millstone.”

Resting one hand against his temple, Xie Zheng said, “Not a bad plan. But it sounds like it’ll take many years. The amount of money needed to make those officials work for you won’t be small.”

Fan Changyu choked slightly before saying, “That’s the only method I can think of right now. As for disguising myself as a man to take the examinations like in opera stories—first, I don’t have the brains for studying. Second, I don’t have any brothers whose identity I could borrow.”

She scratched her head and added, “Unless… I sponsor a few poor scholars? Maybe if I get lucky and support one with a conscience, after he passes the exams and enters officialdom, I’ll at least have someone in the bureaucracy. Investigating my parents’ deaths would probably become much easier then.”

This time it was Xie Zheng’s turn to choke.

He lifted his eyelids and said sharply, “And what if you run into another one like your former fiancé?”

Fan Changyu had noticed he had been acting a little strange lately, constantly bringing up Song Yan at every opportunity.

She said, “Can we not mention him during the New Year?”

Xie Zheng shot her a sideways glance and pressed his lips together without speaking again, as though his bad temper had returned.

Fan Changyu muttered, “As if I’m not unlucky enough already…”

Xie Zheng’s hearing was sharp enough to catch even that mutter. The corners of his lips, which had been flat moments ago, suddenly lifted slightly.

He said, “You can wait before investigating your parents’ case.”

Fan Changyu looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Xie Zheng replied, “If your parents’ deaths involve many things, then while some people in officialdom may want to bury the truth, others will want to uncover it completely. Right now, what you should do is protect yourself and your sister while waiting for the people who want the truth revealed to come looking for you themselves.”

Fan Changyu said, “But I know nothing about my parents’ past. Even if someone comes looking for me, they won’t get anything useful from me.”

Xie Zheng thought to himself that as long as He Jingyuan opened his mouth, the truth behind her parents’ deaths would surface.

But if Wei Yan discovered he was still alive, even sacrificing all of Qingping County—or even Jizhou—he would still try to kill him again. Until the situation was settled, revealing his identity would only invite disaster.

He said, “You underestimate officialdom. Someone will come looking for you.”

Fan Changyu was still confused. After thinking about it for a while, she decided Xie Zheng was probably just comforting her and didn’t dwell on it further.

Instead, she said, “I’m starting to feel more and more that reading really does make people smarter. Yan Zheng, you’ve read so many books—you’re really smart.”

Xie Zheng had heard all kinds of flattery before. No one in the world was more skilled at crafting extravagant praise than scholars. Yet he had never cared about any of those compliments.

But this straightforward and simple remark of hers—“smart”—unexpectedly stirred something strange within him.

Still, he corrected her.

“Reading more doesn’t necessarily make someone smart. Reading teaches reason and broadens your horizons. Once your understanding grows, your perspective stops being shallow, and that’s enough to help you navigate life.”

Fan Changyu nodded.

“My mother used to say the same thing. It’s a pity I was too immature back then. Whenever she made me study, it felt like driving pigs out of the pen before New Year slaughter. Now that I want to learn, it’s already too late.”

This time, she truly believed studying was useful.

Leaving everything else aside, when Fan Da tried to seize her property before, Yan Zheng hadn’t even needed to use underhanded tricks. He simply knew how to exploit the law and win the case.

If she herself were more knowledgeable, perhaps she could even sell pork in more creative ways.

She had once thought sweet cucumber salad was just sweet cucumber salad. But while helping prepare braised meat at Yixiang Tower, she learned that the restaurant called the same dish “Snow-Covered Green Dragon.” The elegant name doubled the price immediately.

Remembering that he had been teaching Changning characters earlier, she shamelessly asked, “If you have time, could you teach me some reading? It won’t take much of your time. Just tell me what to study, and I’ll read it myself. If there’s something I don’t understand, I can ask you.”

Xie Zheng lifted his eyes faintly, rather surprised by her request.

Then he asked, “What books have you read before?”

Fan Changyu thought for a moment before replying, “I know all of the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classic.”

The moment she finished speaking, Xie Zheng’s face darkened.

Afraid he would find teaching her troublesome, Fan Changyu stiffened and added, “I’ve also read some of the Analects and the Great Learning.”

Xie Zheng’s voice turned eerie.

“You mean the Great Learning, not the Great School?”

Fan Changyu was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole.

She admitted honestly, “I only casually flipped through those two books before when I saw Song Yan reading them. I couldn’t understand the books, and he treasured them like priceless heirlooms, so I returned them to him. I was too embarrassed to ask what the passages meant.”

The moment she finished confessing honestly, Fan Changyu suddenly felt a chill around her.

Looking at Xie Zheng, she felt that handsome face of his looked particularly cold and unpleasant now.

Completely baffled, she watched him.

Xie Zheng spoke in a tone cold enough to drop ice shards.

“Since you’ve already ‘studied’ the Analects and the Great Learning, then next you can read Mencius.”

Fan Changyu looked utterly bewildered.

Had her words sounded like she had actually studied those books?

She had clearly said she only skimmed through them and didn’t even understand what they meant.

Not only that, during lunch, she sharp-eyedly noticed that Xie Zheng had switched the headband on his hair back to his original one.

Fan Changyu had no idea what she had done to offend him. While eating, she lightly coughed and asked, “This afternoon I’m planning to take some cured meat to the county town to sell. I’ll also bring a piece to Constable Wang as a New Year’s greeting. Is there anything you want me to buy?”

The man who had been following the rule of “no talking while eating” finally spoke.

“We’re out of paper. The ink was also used up yesterday writing spring couplets. Buy some paper and ink. The paper should be five-foot clean xuan paper, and the ink should be pine-soot Huizhou ink.”

Fan Changyu’s head instantly started hurting.

“What xuan? What ink was it again?”

Xie Zheng frowned slightly.

“Forget it. I’ll buy it myself.”

Fan Changyu felt he was being somewhat cold and distant. Thinking that his injuries still hadn’t fully healed, she asked a little more cautiously, “I’ll hire an ox cart this afternoon. Want to come along?”

The moment Changning heard that, her chubby little hands immediately slapped the table.

“Changning wants to go to the market too!”

One big and one small pair of eyes stared directly at Xie Zheng.

After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Then we’ll all go together.”

Changning was so excited about going to the market that she practically burst with energy. Running a single lap around the courtyard wasn’t enough. After leaving the yard, she even chased Aunt Zhao’s dog all the way to the alley entrance before finally stopping.

Fan Changyu’s decision to sell cured meat in the county town today wasn’t a sudden whim. In previous years, her father would also take a cartload of cured meat to the county town around this time.

Families visiting relatives and friends who hadn’t prepared New Year gifts in advance, especially with the meat market closed these days, would often buy from roadside vendors instead.

Once they arrived at the county town, Fan Changyu expertly parked the ox cart on the main street in front of the county academy.

There were many students coming and going here, and many families had rented nearby houses just to accommodate their sons who were studying.

When students went to pay New Year respects to their teachers, ordinary tea and wine seemed too plain, while expensive gifts cost too much silver. A strip of cured meat made the perfect holiday gift.

As soon as Fan Changyu set up her stall, she made several sales.

Xie Zheng had intended to head toward the bookstore district, but Changning kept standing on tiptoe and looking around eagerly. She stared at Fan Changyu with longing eyes and asked, “Sister, can I go watch the flower drum performance with Brother-in-law?”

Fan Changyu replied, “Your brother-in-law isn’t going to watch flower drums.”

Changning immediately looked at Xie Zheng pitifully.

Xie Zheng glanced at the cured meat stall, where only a small portion had been sold so far, and said, “Wait until your sister finishes selling everything. Then we’ll go together.”

Estimating it would still take a while to finish selling all the cured meat, Fan Changyu said, “It’ll still be a while before I can pack up here. If you’re not in a hurry to buy the paper and ink, help me take Changning around for a bit. She’s just curious. Once she’s walked around enough, she’ll stop making a fuss.”

Xie Zheng nodded.

Getting permission from Fan Changyu, Changning immediately grabbed Xie Zheng’s sleeve and excitedly marched ahead with enough energy to rival a little calf.

Feeling the tugging force on his sleeve, Xie Zheng thought that if this child hadn’t been born weak from the womb, she probably would’ve grown up just as fierce as her sister.

Perhaps because the county was preparing for a lantern festival this year, most of the academy students hadn’t returned home. The streets were lively, and the twenty or so strips of cured meat Fan Changyu brought sold out more than half an hour earlier than she expected.

When she packed up her stall, Xie Zheng also returned with Changning, who had clearly had her fill of wandering around.

Changning held a candied hawthorn stick in her left hand and a colorful pinwheel in her right, her face sticky with syrup from eating.

Fan Changyu looked at her helplessly and said to Xie Zheng, “You really spoil her.”

Changning grinned so hard her eyes disappeared.

“Brother-in-law bought one for Sister too!”

Fan Changyu said, “I’m not a child. Why would I eat candied hawthorn…”

Before she could finish speaking, a candied hawthorn stick was already held out before her.

Xie Zheng’s expression remained calm.

“Your sister insisted on buying one for you too.”

Fan Changyu originally wanted to refuse, but when she noticed there was still another stick in his hand, she remembered he seemed to like sweet things. Since he wasn’t taking medicine now, he was probably too embarrassed to openly admit he wanted to eat sweets himself, so he dragged her into it as well.

Thinking that, she couldn’t refuse anymore. She accepted it and said, “Thank you.”

Fan Changyu ate exactly the same way Changning did—one candied hawthorn at a time, eyes squinting happily, cheeks puffed out like a hamster.

After finishing one, she noticed Xie Zheng still hadn’t touched his.

Curious, she asked, “Why aren’t you eating?”

Xie Zheng shifted his gaze away from the bits of sugar coating stuck near the corner of her lips. After glancing hesitantly at the candied hawthorn in his hand, he bit into half of one.

The sugar coating outside was sweet, while the hawthorn inside was slightly sour. Once chewed together, the flavor was both tart and sweet, unexpectedly enjoyable.

Changning, who had just bitten into another hawthorn herself, watched the scene with such delight that her grin stretched from ear to ear.

She really was smart. By making Brother-in-law buy one for each of them, Sister couldn’t scold her anymore.

At this street corner, there weren’t only vendors selling goods. Some poorer academy students had also set up stalls drawing portraits for people.

The “family of three” across the street was simply too eye-catching.

The man was exceptionally handsome, the woman smiled beautifully, and even the child with them was adorably fair and delicate.

The scholar glanced over at them repeatedly before quickly sketching on paper.

After finishing her candied hawthorn and packing everything up, Fan Changyu was just about to take Xie Zheng to buy paper and ink when his expression suddenly sharpened and he strode toward the opposite street corner.

Fan Changyu looked over and saw only a scholar with a calligraphy and painting stall there.

Afraid some trouble was about to happen, she hurriedly brought Changning after him.

“What are you doing?”

The scholar had just finished the final stroke when a large hand suddenly reached out and snatched the painting away.

The man who had been eating candied hawthorn across the street moments ago somehow appeared before him in an instant. Grabbing the scholar by the collar, his jade-like face looked terrifyingly cold.

“Who told you to paint this?”

The scholar was so pressured by his overwhelming presence that he could barely speak.

“S-Sir… I merely saw how harmonious and beautiful your family of three looked together and couldn’t resist painting it. If I’ve offended you, I beg your forgiveness.”

At that moment, Fan Changyu arrived with Changning. Seeing that he looked ready to beat someone in the middle of the street, she hurriedly pried his hand off the scholar’s collar.

“What are you doing?”

Xie Zheng said nothing and lowered his eyes to the painting in his hands.

The scholar’s brushwork was only average, but the portrait captured the people vividly.

In the painting, Fan Changyu was squinting happily while eating candied hawthorn. His own gaze happened to be fixed on her face, as though he had been watching her every movement the entire time. Changning stood ahead of them biting into a candied hawthorn while looking back at the two of them, grinning so widely her teeth all showed, her expression full of lively mischief.

When Fan Changyu saw the painting, she let out a surprised “Oh?” and asked the scholar, “Did you paint us?”

The scholar was honestly terrified of the murderous-looking man standing beside this cheerful young woman. He hurriedly nodded and poured out flattering words nonstop.

“Madam and Young Master are a perfect match, truly a heaven-made pair. Even your little daughter is so adorable. If Madam likes it, then this painting shall be my New Year’s gift to your family. I wish Madam and Young Master everlasting harmony and may you welcome another little son next year.”

Fan Changyu nearly bit through the stick in her mouth.