{"id":3578,"date":"2026-05-24T07:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T07:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-37\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T07:24:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T07:24:55","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-37-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-37-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit Of Jade 37"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy master also has an irreconcilable blood feud with Wei Yan.\u201d

Zhao Xun had naturally smiling eyes that gave people the illusion he was approachable and easygoing, yet beneath those eyes lingered a sense of distance.

\u201cApproaching the Marquis was not because we wished to borrow your power. My master merely believed that once the Marquis learned the truth behind the Battle of Jinzhou sixteen years ago, you too would wish to personally kill Wei Yan. As for concealing our identities earlier, it was not done deliberately. My master only intended to reveal himself once the timing was right.\u201d

Cold sharpness flashed through Xie Zheng\u2019s eyes. He already had a vague guess in mind, yet still asked, \u201cWho is your master?\u201d

Zhao Xun answered, \u201cSomeone who survived the fire in the Eastern Palace sixteen years ago.\u201d

A cold smile curved at the corner of Xie Zheng\u2019s lips.

\u201cA royal grandson? If the royal grandson still lives, shouldn\u2019t he be seeking cooperation with Grand Tutor Li\u2019s faction instead? Why wait until today to approach a defeated stray dog like me?\u201d

Zhao Xun showed a troubled expression.

\u201cYou\u2019ve investigated traces surrounding the Battle of Jinzhou yourself, so you should know that the old thief Wei Yan always eliminates every root and leaves behind no evidence. Back then, after the Crown Prince died and the Eastern Palace burned, the late emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to jointly investigate, yet they found nothing. Much less now, after the passage of time and changing circumstances.\u201d

\u201cGrand Tutor Li may lead the upright officials in court, but he would never risk everything to oppose the Wei faction for my master\u2019s sake. The Marquis is different. General Xie died upon the battlefield, and Wei Yan bears responsibility for the humiliation of having his body hung from the city walls by the Northern Tribes for three days. Does the Marquis not wish to avenge this?\u201d

Xie Zheng slowly clenched his fingers. A bloodthirsty aura seemed to seep from his very bones, making even the spacious private room feel suffocating.

\u201cTell me. What exactly happened sixteen years ago?\u201d

Zhao Xun said, \u201cMy master lay hidden for many years yet still failed to uncover any clues regarding the Battle of Jinzhou. Back when the Eastern Palace burned, the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review concluded the fire started because a palace servant on night duty accidentally knocked over a candle after falling asleep. But according to a loyal servant who stayed beside my master, assassins entered the Eastern Palace that night.\u201d

\u201cThe Crown Princess ordered the loyal servant to flee with the young prince while she herself remained in the bedchamber with the prince\u2019s childhood companion. The corpse found in the sleeping quarters by the Court of Judicial Review was actually that companion.\u201d

\u201cWith Crown Prince Chengde dead and the late emperor passing away, only Wei Yan benefited by controlling the emperor and dominating the court for more than ten years. It is difficult not to suspect that the Battle of Jinzhou was orchestrated by Wei Yan. General Xie dying alongside the Crown Prince merely served to clear Wei Yan of suspicion.\u201d

Xie Zheng lifted his dark eyes halfway, impatience already pressing into his brows.

\u201cWhat I want is evidence, not your speculation.\u201d

A faint smile appeared at Zhao Xun\u2019s lips.

\u201cWhen Prince Changxin rebelled in Chongzhou, one of the strategists by his side was my master\u2019s man. He proposed the slogan \u2018Cleanse the court and eliminate the Wei faction.\u2019 To stir public sentiment, he also spread rumors claiming the Jinzhou tragedy had been orchestrated entirely by Wei Yan. What happened afterward, the Marquis likely already knows. Merely reopening the records of the Jinzhou case was enough for Wei Yan to decide to kill you.\u201d

Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes sharply and let out a cold laugh.

\u201cSo I was also one piece in your plans.\u201d

Zhao Xun\u2019s expression stiffened slightly.

\u201cThe Marquis exaggerates. My master merely wished to recruit you as an ally.\u201d

Seeing Xie Zheng\u2019s displeased expression, he quickly added, \u201cStill, the old thief Wei truly exposed some weaknesses after being provoked. His death soldiers crossed one capital and seventeen prefectures, killing more than ten people. My master has already identified some of them\u2014they were all former retainers who once served Wei Yan before retiring.\u201d

Xie Zheng asked, \u201cThen I assume you\u2019ve also uncovered the identity of that butcher surnamed Fan?\u201d

Guilt appeared on Zhao Xun\u2019s face.

\u201cThat butcher surnamed Fan covered his identity flawlessly. My master sent people several times to investigate thoroughly, yet whether it was the Fan family\u2019s ancestral hometown or this town itself, there truly was such a person. Even the official escort records from over a decade ago still exist. It appears someone within the authorities deliberately erased his previous identity.\u201d

For a brief moment, Xie Zheng recalled the way Fan Changyu had spoken to him about her parents\u2019 past and fell into a daze.

A snowflake landed on the back of his hand. The coldness as it melted instantly pulled him back to reality.

Leaning back slightly, one arm resting casually on the huanghuali grand chair\u2019s armrest, he carried the strongest sense of pressure even in his most relaxed posture.

\u201cYou expect me to believe that the person behind you is the royal grandson supposedly killed in the fire sixteen years ago based solely on your words? Ridiculous.\u201d

Zhao Xun\u2019s expression changed. Just as he was about to speak, Xie Zheng interrupted him.

\u201cI\u2019ll investigate the truth behind the Battle of Jinzhou myself. I don\u2019t care whether your master is the real royal grandson or a fake one. If he doesn\u2019t want this alliance to end here, then he\u2019d best come meet me personally.\u201d

Zhao Xun\u2019s face looked unpleasant, but he could only bow.

\u201cI\u2019ll deliver the Marquis\u2019s words.\u201d

As Xie Zheng rose, his eyelids lowered lazily.

\u201cAlso tell him to think carefully about what he intends to exchange for those two hundred thousand shi of grain.\u201d

Zhao Xun bent even lower.

\u201cYes.\u201d

Before leaving, Xie Zheng placed the jade ring that had originally symbolized their alliance back onto the huanghuali table.

All this time spent pretending with this Zhao fellow had simply been to determine which faction he truly belonged to. The answer of \u201croyal grandson\u201d genuinely surprised Xie Zheng.

He wasn\u2019t worried about losing track of them. From the moment he ordered Zhao Xun to buy grain, he had already instructed his own people to secretly monitor the Zhao family\u2019s intelligence networks. By tracing clues from those connections, even if the person behind Zhao Xun refused to appear, Xie Zheng would still drag him out soon enough.

He indeed shared a hatred of Wei Yan.

But before matters were settled, someone had already dared manipulate him simply to turn him into a powerful ally. They truly thought him far too kind.

\u2014

After leaving the bookstore, Xie Zheng saw that Fan Changyu and Changning had not yet arrived. Frowning slightly, he headed toward Constable Wang\u2019s residence.

He hadn\u2019t walked far before running into the sisters.

Changning had candy stuffed into her mouth, puffing out her cheeks as she skipped along. Fan Changyu held one of the little girl\u2019s chubby hands, her own face bright and lively with a cheerful smile.

The moment she saw Xie Zheng, her smile didn\u2019t lessen in the slightest. She waved from far away before walking closer and saying, \u201cWe\u2019re not returning to town tonight.\u201d

Seeing the smile on her face, the gloom and irritation in Xie Zheng\u2019s heart faded somewhat.

\u201cWhy not?\u201d

Fan Changyu replied, \u201cShopkeeper Yu also opened a Yixiang Tower branch in the county town. The son of a wealthy landlord is getting married, and they booked the wedding banquet there. Tomorrow they\u2019ll need a huge amount of braised meat, and Shopkeeper Yu is worried they won\u2019t finish in time, so she asked me to help prepare the braising spices early tomorrow morning. Besides, there\u2019s a lantern festival in the city this year. We can go enjoy it tonight too.\u201d

Xie Zheng said, \u201cThen should we find an inn first?\u201d

Fan Changyu shook her head.

\u201cShopkeeper Yu already arranged lodging for us. The kitchen helpers and servants at Yixiang Tower not only get meals provided by the restaurant, but Shopkeeper Yu also rents an entire alley nearby for them to stay in free of charge.\u201d

Xie Zheng raised a brow slightly.

\u201cThis shopkeeper truly sounds unusual.\u201d

Fan Changyu smiled.

\u201cOf course! Shopkeeper Yu is really wonderful. Everyone in the restaurant admires her. I heard Cook Li say that another restaurant owner in the county once became jealous of Yixiang Tower\u2019s business and tried to poach one of the managers personally promoted by Shopkeeper Yu. They even offered double the salary, but the manager still refused to leave.\u201d

Xie Zheng merely said, \u201cSometimes feelings and loyalty are indeed more effective than silver.\u201d

Fan Changyu excitedly rambled on about Yu Qianqian for quite a while, but seeing his indifferent reactions, she eventually stopped talking.

Then she noticed his hands were empty and asked, \u201cWeren\u2019t you buying paper and ink? Why did you come back empty-handed?\u201d

Suddenly thinking of a possibility, she looked at him with complicated emotions.

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me you spent all your silver buying things for Ningniang? If you were short on money, you should\u2019ve told me\u2026\u201d

Xie Zheng let out a faint laugh. The gloom from leaving the bookstore had mostly disappeared now.

\u201cNo.\u201d

Under Fan Changyu\u2019s suspicious gaze, he explained, \u201cThe things at the county bookstore were too expensive. I\u2019ll buy them after we return to town.\u201d

Fan Changyu asked, \u201cThen why were you in the bookstore so long?\u201d

Xie Zheng answered, \u201cI read for a while and lost track of time.\u201d

Curious, Fan Changyu asked, \u201cIf you spend so long reading without buying anything, doesn\u2019t the bookstore owner give you dirty looks?\u201d

Xie Zheng\u2019s gaze swept toward her.

\u201cWho told you that?\u201d

Fan Changyu almost said it was because Song Yan had experienced exactly that before. He used to spend time reading in bookstores without buying anything and would come home afterward sulking because the shopkeeper treated him coldly. Later, whenever the matter came up, Song Yan would sneer that the bookseller reeked of greed.

But remembering how venomous Yan Zheng became whenever Song Yan was mentioned, she swallowed the words back down and muttered, \u201cI guessed.\u201d

Xie Zheng looked at her several times, making the skin at the back of Fan Changyu\u2019s neck tighten instinctively as she feared he was about to say something devastatingly sharp again.

Fortunately, he didn\u2019t mock her at all during the rest of the walk.

By now the sky had already darkened. Since they had decided to stay the night in the county town anyway, Fan Changyu still wanted to take Xie Zheng and Changning to see the lantern festival later. So instead of immediately going to the lodging Yu Qianqian arranged, they first went to a restaurant for a late-night meal.

Those dining out on the first day of the New Year were all relatively well-off families.

At the neighboring table sat a young married couple who appeared to have just finished eating. When the waiter went over with the bill, he smiled at the husband and said, \u201cYoung Master, the total is one tael and two mace.\u201d

The man looked scholarly and thin, his expression timid and uneasy.

The woman beside him said loudly, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have money. I\u2019ll pay.\u201d

Her voice was loud enough that many diners turned to look.

Someone whispered, \u201cA grown man eating out and making a woman pay? Damn shameful.\u201d

\u201cTsk tsk, must be some pretty-boy gigolo.\u201d

\u201cI know him. He\u2019s the live-in son-in-law of the An family. Just living off a woman. Who knows what Madam An sees in that weakling!\u201d

The man\u2019s face turned red with embarrassment, as though he wished he could crawl into a crack in the floor.

After the woman paid, he practically fled the restaurant with his head lowered.

Xie Zheng had already finished eating and watched the entire scene with cold indifference.

Across from him, Fan Changyu finished her third bowl of rice and cleaned every dish on the table spotless before finally setting down her chopsticks in satisfaction.

\u201cWaiter, the bill!\u201d

As someone with a huge appetite, especially during New Year, Fan Changyu had ordered generously tonight. Fortunately, they hadn\u2019t ordered alcohol, so the price wasn\u2019t outrageous.

After counting everything, the waiter said, \u201cEight mace of silver.\u201d

Just as Fan Changyu reached for her purse, Xie Zheng\u2014sitting opposite her like a jade carving\u2014said, \u201cI\u2019ll pay.\u201d

Both he and Fan Changyu were exceptionally attractive, already drawing plenty of attention in the small restaurant. Now that he spoke, even more people began glancing over.

Remembering the scene with the neighboring couple earlier, Fan Changyu paused instead of taking out her money.

But as Xie Zheng slipped a hand into his robe to search for silver, his expression changed slightly.

Seeing this, Fan Changyu immediately looked at him questioningly.

A moment later, Xie Zheng withdrew his hand and looked at her.

\u201cYou pay.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3578","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3579,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3578\/revisions\/3579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}