Gongsun Yin was surprised that Xie Zheng even knew there had been candies in that dish. Still, he didn’t think eating a few pieces of candy was any big deal, so he answered calmly, “Yes. Why?”

With a cold expression, Xie Zheng ordered the guards beside him, “Throw him out.”

The two personal guards exchanged glances. Looking at Xie Zheng’s face, they ultimately had no choice but to grab Gongsun Yin and drag him outside.

Gongsun Yin was dumbfounded. By the time he came to his senses, he had already been hauled to the entrance of the tent. He exploded in anger and pointed accusingly at Xie Zheng.

“Xie Jiuheng! Is this really necessary? I only ate a few pieces of your candy!”

As he struggled, the tangerine peel candies stuffed in his pocket fell onto the ground.

Their gazes met, and Gongsun Yin felt that Xie Zheng’s expression became even colder.

Seeing the arrogant man, who usually looked down on everyone, actually squat down and pick up the fallen tangerine peel candies one by one, Gongsun Yin froze for a moment.

His expression turned serious. Shaking off the guards’ hands, he instructed them, “You two step outside first. I have important matters to discuss with the Marquis.”

The guards had never dared to truly throw Gongsun Yin out in the first place. Now that he had spoken and Xie Zheng remained silent, they promptly withdrew.

Returning to the low table, Gongsun Yin frowned and asked, “Were these given to you by that Miss Fan?”

Xie Zheng did not answer.

Gongsun Yin immediately knew he was right. Seeing Xie Zheng’s reaction, he could not help saying, “They’re just a few pieces of tangerine peel candy. I’ll compensate you for them, alright?”

Xie Zheng placed the candies he had picked up back into the porcelain dish. The hard candies struck the plate, producing a series of crisp sounds.

He lifted his eyes and looked at Gongsun Yin indifferently.

Those pitch-black eyes were cold and deep, like rocks lying at the bottom of the sea that had not seen sunlight for ten thousand years. Merely meeting his gaze sent a chill creeping up Gongsun Yin’s spine.

Rubbing the goosebumps on his arms, Gongsun Yin finally shut up.

Xie Zheng asked, “What did you come to see me for?”

At the mention of that, Gongsun Yin’s expression immediately became strange.

Looking at Xie Zheng, he asked, “Do you have a daughter?”

Xie Zheng did not answer. He merely snorted.

Gongsun Yin immediately understood it was complete nonsense. He took out a letter from Yanzhou and handed it over.

“This was delivered by someone sent by the Prince of Changxin. He says your daughter is in his hands. If you don’t want her used as a sacrificial banner before the army, then exchange Yanzhou for her.”

Xie Zheng did not even take the letter. Clearly, he could not be bothered to read it.

With a mocking tone, he said, “Has that old fox Sui Tuo finally accepted he’ll never sit on the Dragon Throne in this lifetime and gone mad?”

Gongsun Yin also found the whole matter bizarre.

Ordinarily, if the Prince of Changxin dared send such a letter, he must have been confident of success. Yet from every angle, the contents of the letter seemed absurdly laughable.

“Could he have gotten some mistaken information and thought you had a daughter living among the common folk?” he asked.

As he spoke, Gongsun Yin rummaged through his sleeve pouch and pulled out a bamboo whistle, placing it on the low table.

“Oh, right. This came with the letter as well. They said it’s a keepsake belonging to your daughter.”

When Xie Zheng’s indifferent gaze swept over the whistle, it suddenly stopped.

He recognized it.

Back when he had been seriously injured and staying with the Fan family, Wei Yan’s assassins had searched the Fan residence for something while also trying to silence everyone. During his escape with the child, she had been blowing this whistle the entire way.

Hadn’t she and her younger sister both escaped safely?

Why would this whistle now be in the hands of the Prince of Changxin’s people?

Picking up the whistle, Xie Zheng examined it carefully before issuing a cold order.

“Investigate immediately. Find out what happened to the Fan family’s younger child who was sent to Jizhou Prefecture.”

The moment Gongsun Yin heard the matter involved the Fan family, he quickly realized the situation.

“The person in the Prince of Changxin’s hands… could it be Miss Fan’s younger sister?”

Xie Zheng pressed his lips together and said nothing, which was effectively an admission.

Gongsun Yin had never expected such a ridiculous misunderstanding.

Opening and closing the folding fan in his hand, he finally raised his eyes and asked, “If it really is her younger sister, what do you intend to do?”

—

Jizhou.

Although it was already early spring, winter always lingered longer in the north than in the south.

A thin layer of unmelted snow still covered the red plum blossoms in the courtyard. Icicles hanging beneath the eaves glistened in the sunlight as droplets slowly dripped from their tips.

Fan Changyu stood beneath the eaves, staring absentmindedly at two sparrows hopping along the courtyard wall and pecking for food.

Her back was straight as ever, but there were faint dark circles beneath her eyes, making her look visibly haggard.

Ever since the day the relay station caught fire and Changning disappeared, she had barely slept.

Her younger sister had been abducted, yet she did not even know who the enemy was.

That day, when the relay station was engulfed in flames, Aunt Zhao had carried Changning while fleeing outside. She was stabbed once during the escape and collapsed on the spot in agony, forced to watch helplessly as a group of masked men snatched Changning away.

Fortunately, the wound had not struck any vital organs, allowing Aunt Zhao to survive.

After investigating, the authorities concluded it was likely an act of revenge. Since the abductors had chosen to take Changning instead of killing her on the spot, they would almost certainly use her as leverage in negotiations.

But three days had already passed.

The people who had taken Changning seemed to have vanished without a trace, sending no demands whatsoever.

Fan Changyu could not think of anyone she had offended.

If there was one possible source of retaliation, it would only be Qingfeng Stronghold.

Yet the remnants of Qingfeng Stronghold had already been wiped out by the authorities. Even if one or two survivors had slipped through the net, they would never dare create such a huge disturbance in Jizhou’s main city.

As for those soldiers with strange behavior who had saved her that day, she had initially assumed they were bandits in disguise.

Only later had Li Huaian informed her that Luzhou City had worried Jizhou’s main city had withdrawn too many troops and lacked sufficient strength to suppress the bandits, so they had dispatched a light cavalry unit to assist.

It could not have been the bandits.

Recalling what the Qingfeng Stronghold chief had said—that the person who had escorted the treasure map back then was not her father but a eunuch named Ma Taiyuan—Fan Changyu began to suspect the mysterious enemies connected to her parents.

Over the past two days, she had gathered information about the Four Seas Escort Agency and Ma Taiyuan and discovered that the bandit chief had indeed been telling the truth.

The only remaining lead was the official records from the interrogation of those men in black.

Having exhausted every other option, Fan Changyu came to seek Li Huaian’s help, hoping to review the case files related to her parents’ deaths and the two attacks her family had suffered.

After a servant announced her arrival, she had already been waiting in the reception hall for the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

The burden weighing on her mind made sitting feel suffocating, so she stepped out into the corridor for some fresh air.

A clerk hurried over from the far end of the covered walkway. Seeing Fan Changyu, he politely said, “His Excellency is in the Wenjing Pavilion. Please follow me, Miss Fan.”

After thanking him, Fan Changyu immediately followed. She had no mood whatsoever to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the estate.

The Wenjing Pavilion was heated by underground fire channels.

The moment she entered, warmth washed over her, keeping the chill of early spring completely outside.

Li Huaian sat behind a desk dressed in crimson official robes, reviewing documents with a brush in hand.

Compared to the refined and approachable man she had first met, he now carried a degree of authority and distance in this official attire.

The clerk respectfully announced, “My lord, Miss Fan has arrived.”

Only then did Li Huaian raise his head from the pile of documents. Setting down his brush, he said, “I’ve kept Miss Fan waiting. All the records of Jizhou Prefecture are stored in the archives. Arranging access through my subordinates took some time. We can head there now.”

As a member of the Li faction who had come to Jizhou as Acting Governor in He Jingyuan’s absence, openly investigating archived records immediately upon arrival would already attract criticism.

Bringing an outsider into the archives would be even more problematic, so he first had to clear away all unrelated personnel.

Fan Changyu said, “I’ve already troubled you enough, my lord.”

Li Huaian smiled at her, once more resembling the gentle scholar she remembered.

“If not for Miss Fan, Li would likely have died at the hands of those bandits. Accessing some records is still well within my abilities. There’s no need to be so courteous.”

As they prepared to leave, he glanced at her clothing and instructed the clerk to fetch a cloak.

“If records are borrowed from the archives, it must be officially recorded. You’ll have to read them inside. To avoid attracting attention, it would be best if you wore this cloak.”

Knowing he was bending official authority to help her and unwilling to cause him trouble, Fan Changyu accepted it.

Once she put on the cloak and pulled up the hood, most of her face was concealed, leaving only her jawline and rosy lips visible.

Li Huaian’s gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than necessary.

Along the way, Fan Changyu encountered no one else. Clearly, Li Huaian had deliberately cleared the route.

When they arrived, a heavily armed squad of armored guards stood outside the building.

Only after Li Huaian presented his token did they allow passage.

Following him inside the towering and somewhat gloomy structure, Fan Changyu discovered that every window and doorway had been covered with black cloth.

Only a single flickering lamp illuminated the darkness.

Rows upon rows of shelves stretched almost endlessly into the distance, packed tightly with bamboo slips, documents, and records.

Holding a candle stand, Li Huaian walked ahead while searching through the shelves according to their classification markings.

After some time, he pulled out a scroll.

“Found it. December of last year.”

He handed it to Fan Changyu.

She immediately began reading through it.

Li Huaian stepped slightly closer with the candle to provide better light, yet maintained just enough distance to avoid making her uncomfortable.

After quickly reading through the record, Fan Changyu’s expression became even graver.

“It says here that my parents were murdered by bandits because of the treasure map.”

Li Huaian’s eyes flickered.

In the end, he did not voice his suspicion that the records had been altered.

After all, the only person in Jizhou capable of manipulating official archives so completely was probably the Governor of Jizhou himself—the very man currently guarding Luzhou City in person.

In a gentle tone, Li Huaian said, “Perhaps the bandit chief lied in order to save his own life.”

Fan Changyu remained silent.

It was precisely because she had investigated and confirmed the bandit chief had been telling the truth that she had dared trouble Li Huaian for this favor.

Had the authorities deliberately written the report this way?

Or had they simply fabricated it carelessly in order to close the case?

Either way, she found no clues regarding her parents’ enemies in the official records.

Feeling increasingly heavy-hearted, she bid farewell to Li Huaian after leaving the archives and returned to her temporary residence.

Aunt Zhao was still injured and could not be left alone.

Whenever Fan Changyu was away, the few remaining neighbors who had survived the relay station fire helped take care of her.

Only a handful of elderly people, women, and children remained from the entire Qingping County community.

The Jizhou authorities had settled them directly within the main city, providing monthly grain and financial assistance.

What Fan Changyu did not know was that news of her visit to the archives had already been sent to Luzhou City by fast horse that very day.

—

The night was cold and heavy with dew.

After reading the letter delivered from Jizhou beneath the lamplight, He Jingyuan remained silent for a long time before finally muttering to himself:

“I already gave him the item. Those two children know nothing. Given the current situation, he shouldn’t have any reason to target them anymore.”

His aged eyelids sagged beneath countless wrinkles.

As a possibility occurred to him, the cultured elegance on his face gave way to cold hardness.

“Could Grand Tutor Li have deliberately set this trap in order to obtain the thing held by the Fan family?”

After pondering for a while, he quickly picked up a brush and wrote a letter.

Once it was sealed, he called for the guards outside.

“Deliver this letter to Jizhou immediately by fast horse. Place it directly into Wenchang’s hands.”

Zheng Wenchang was his most accomplished disciple.

Although He Jingyuan was no longer in Jizhou, military authority there remained in Zheng Wenchang’s hands, allowing him to handle matters on He Jingyuan’s behalf.

The report regarding Li Huaian bringing Fan Changyu to view the archives had been sent by Zheng Wenchang.

The guard accepted the letter and departed swiftly.

Gazing into the deep night, He Jingyuan ultimately let out a long sigh.

“Even before the world has truly fallen into chaos, the people already suffer this much. If the realm really descends into turmoil, how many more will die?”

—

The Yanzhou army camp outside Luzhou City remained brightly lit deep into the night.

The scouts had returned with definite information.

The little girl taken from the relay station was undoubtedly Changning.

Pointing at Yanzhou and Chongzhou on the military map, Gongsun Yin said:

“I think there’s something suspicious about all this. Setting aside the absurdity of the Prince of Changxin wanting to exchange an entire province for a child, Yanzhou lies north of Chongzhou. The Northern Di are currently attacking Jinzhou. Beyond Jinzhou, only Huizhou and Yanzhou stand in their way.

“You deliberately weakened Yanzhou’s defenses before in hopes of luring him away from Jizhou and toward Yanzhou to relieve the pressure on Jizhou, but he didn’t fall for it.

“So why is he suddenly demanding territory now?

“Even taking a step back, suppose Jinzhou, Huizhou, and Yanzhou all fall into his hands. He’d still have to divert troops to deal with the Northern Di. Wouldn’t it be better to leave you blocking the foreign invaders while he marches south himself?”

Sitting in a round-backed chair, Xie Zheng let his indifferent gaze sweep across the two locations Gongsun Yin indicated.

Then he suddenly laughed.

“They’re using our own strategy against us.”

Gongsun Yin froze briefly before understanding.

Looking again at the map, realization dawned on him.

“The Prince of Changxin has seen through our false weakness in Yanzhou and realized our true goal was protecting Jizhou. Now he’s pretending to target Yanzhou, when his real objective is to lure the tiger away from the mountain and continue attacking Jizhou?”

Suddenly unable to hide his excitement, he looked toward Xie Zheng.

“If we can make him believe we’ve fallen for the trap and really send troops back to reinforce Yanzhou, then the strategy we planned earlier can finally be used when the rebels attack Jizhou!”

Xie Zheng finished the rest of the thought for him.

“The difficult part is convincing him that we’ve truly gone to reinforce Yanzhou.”

“Exactly,” Gongsun Yin replied.

“Although several capable generals under your command are guarding Jinzhou, we can’t risk moving the troops stationed in Huizhou. But without a major troop movement, it’ll be difficult to lure the Prince of Changxin into taking the bait.”

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes to the map of Yanzhou for a moment.

Then he said, “I’ll go to Yanzhou myself.”

Gongsun Yin was startled.

Xie Zheng intended to use himself as bait.

Unable to suppress his concern, he said, “What if the Prince of Changxin decides your life is worth more than Jizhou and really turns around to attack Yanzhou?”

Xie Zheng looked up.

“Didn’t you just say that he still needs me to block the foreign invaders so he can march south?”

Gongsun Yin wanted to say more, but Xie Zheng merely smiled.

There was a wild arrogance in those casual eyes.

“If he truly dares come for my life, then I’ll simply take his head on the battlefield. That would settle the unrest in the northwest once and for all.”

Gongsun Yin wanted to say that this man was arrogant beyond reason.

But then he suddenly realized something, and his expression became complicated.

In the battle at Chongzhou, Xie Zheng had fallen into a trap and nearly died on the battlefield.

Rumors of his death had circulated for so long that military morale had already become unstable.

The Xie Army had fallen under Wei Xuan’s incompetent command, suffering countless defeats that shattered the troops’ spirit.

Now that Xie Zheng had returned, he needed an unquestionably glorious victory to restore the morale Wei Xuan had squandered.

Gongsun Yin even suspected that because Wei Yan had never found Xie Zheng’s body and feared his eventual return, he had deliberately appointed Wei Xuan to command Huizhou solely to ruin the Xie Army.

Building an elite army required at least three to five years.

Destroying one required only a handful of defeats.

Whether Xie Zheng was acting solely for the greater good or also hoping to rescue the younger sister of the woman he cared about, Gongsun Yin chose not to ask at a time like this.

Instead, he said:

“If Your Lordship intends to use this plan, then you must either bring He Jingyuan under your command… or eliminate him.

“After all, all military forces currently stationed in Luzhou are under his control. If we’re going to create a trap capable of swallowing the Prince of Changxin’s fifty thousand troops, we’ll need every soldier in Luzhou.”

A trace of deeper meaning surfaced in Xie Zheng’s half-lidded eyes.

“After spending so many days in Luzhou, it is indeed time I met him.”

He had investigated the secret hidden behind the Fan couple for a very long time, yet uncovered nothing.

Aside from Wei Yan, the only person who likely knew the truth was He Jingyuan.