As Song Xizhi spoke, she felt the man's body getting heavier and heavier, and his body temperature getting higher and higher, pressing down on her like a small mountain.

She pressed her hands against the man's chest, gave him a sudden push, and then flipped over onto him.

The jade hairpin was still pressed against the man's neck, and the situation instantly reversed.

Song Xizhi's voice was calm: "Don't easily trust women."

The man, his clothes disheveled, was pressed down on the soft couch. Hearing Song Xizhi's words, he felt somewhat helpless and powerless, but he had completely given up resisting and let the woman do as she pleased.

He felt his limbs becoming heavier and heavier, and the effects of the medicine were becoming more and more potent.

Looking into the woman's clear eyes, he knew that she was not moved, but he himself was, and perhaps it wasn't because of the medicine at all.

"Who exactly are you? Why do you keep getting close to me? And why do you keep trying to save me?"

Looking at his dejected appearance, Song Xizhi patted the man's handsome cheek without any pity.

A crisp sound rang out in the air. The man's eyes cleared for a moment. He took a breath and said in a hoarse voice, "I didn't mean to get close to you; I was getting close to the truth."

He squinted at Song Xizhi, his reddened, affectionate eyes glistening with tears.

His gaze was so alluring, it seemed he could draw people in at any moment: "You're always right next to the truth, facing danger time and time again."

Listening to the man's deep, mellow voice, Song Xizhi stared at his chin, avoiding his captivating eyes: "Am I by the side of the truth?"

"...So you're also investigating incense?"

The man nodded and slowly looked away: "My family were victims of the Han family case. Because of the Han family case, our family was destroyed and we were all killed."

Song Xizhi's eyes changed slightly as he listened to the man continue.

"The Empress died because of the Han family case, but there are problems with the Empress's death and the Han family case. The Empress was strong-willed and could not possibly have committed suicide."

Song Xizhi frowned, his mind racing: "So it's because of the Han family case that the Empress was also murdered to silence her?"

The man's Adam's apple bobbed, but he ultimately just nodded.

“It’s not just you and me investigating. There are undercurrents behind this matter, which is why you’ve been in danger so many times. It’s because someone is trying to prevent you from finding out the truth.”

As the man spoke, he suddenly lifted his eyelids and stared intently at her: "I saved you."

Sensing the man's sudden change of tone, Song Xizhi finally came to her senses. She put down the jade hairpin and stepped off the man.

Song Xizhi pondered the man's words carefully, finding them strange.

That's strange.

Because she wasn't investigating the Han family case or the Empress's death at all; she was only investigating the truth behind her mother's death.

The only thing people knew about her was that she could make incense.

If she was assassinated because of this, there is only one possibility: the Empress's death was related to her mother's incense.

Song Xizhi suddenly realized that his mother's death seemed to be closely intertwined with the past of the former deposed empress, and they seemed inseparable.

No wonder her maternal grandfather wouldn't let her investigate this matter. The culprit behind this is probably the same person who wiped out her maternal grandfather's entire family in her past life.

While lost in thought, Song Xizhi lowered his head to fasten the buttons on his shirt, but at that moment he felt a burning gaze on his back.

She turned around with some confusion and saw the man's accusing gaze.

After he finished answering the question, Song Xizhi left him aside. The effects of the medicine had not yet worn off, and he was still lying on the soft couch with his hair disheveled, silently watching her movements.

That resentful look on his face was as if he had been brutally violated and then cruelly abandoned.

Song Xizhi hesitated for a moment, looking at his pitiful appearance of being bullied, and suddenly felt that it was inappropriate. She took two steps forward and wanted to remove the drug from the man's body.

But at that moment, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

Someone has arrived.

Their eyes met for a split second, and their pupils both contracted sharply.

Song Xizhi quickly lowered his head and began to restore the messy soft couch to its original state.

The man's voice was hoarse: "Where's the medicine? Where's the medicine?"

Song Xizhi hurriedly took out the antidote for the sleeping potion and stuffed it into his mouth again.

The weakness in his body finally lessened, and the man forced himself to get up. With one hand, he straightened his disheveled outer garment, and with the other, he bent down to pick up the mask and put it back on his face.

The two hastily tidied themselves up, as the situation was urgent and they were afraid that the visitors would discover their identities.

In this emergency, the man didn't care about anything else and pulled Song Xizhi into his arms, intending to fly out of the window with her.

Sensing the man's sudden approach, Song Xizhi snapped back to reality, abruptly looked up, and stopped him, her movements carrying an unconscious resistance.

The man paused, and the atmosphere became tense for a moment.

Then a female voice came from the doorway: "Master?"

Song Xizhi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the familiar voice.

"Playing the zither?"

She saw the person approaching and hurriedly walked towards Siqin, away from the man.

Siqin saw Song Xizhi, then looked up at the masked man behind Song Xizhi. She was slightly stunned when she saw the man instinctively protecting Song Xizhi.

I never thought so before, but now, when this man is with his master, he looks just like General He.

She suppressed her surprise and explained, "I was walking in the bamboo forest just now, and when I looked up, you disappeared."

"Your subordinate searched the abandoned courtyard for a long time before finding this house, you..."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!