Night fell, and the air grew slightly cool.

Liu Shuang'er woke up for a while in the evening. Her fever had subsided a bit, but she was not in good spirits and kept calling for her mother.

The child's voice was so sweet and innocent that it made people feel sorry for him.

After the old nanny fed Shuang'er some medicine, she drifted off to sleep again.

It was completely dark, but Xiao Heye still hadn't returned to Qiushui Residence.

Xiao Ge is the grandson of the old nanny who takes care of Liu Shuang'er in the backyard; he is about sixteen or seventeen years old.

He was short in stature, had dark skin, and large, bright eyes.

He grew up in Qiushui Residence. Perhaps because he had spent a lot of time with Hanzhou, he was quite clever despite his young age.

Xiao Ge led Su Tiyue to Xiao Heye's room, where she could rest and wait for him to return.

Su Tiyue sat on the hard couch by the window, her elbows propped on a small table, lost in thought.

Squeak—

A sound.

The door to the room was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind blew in from outside. Su Tiyue frowned and looked towards the door.

Han Zhou, dressed in purple, walked out from the flickering candlelight, a mysterious smile playing on her lips.

When Su Tiyue saw that it was him, she shivered. She stood up and whispered, "It's you?"

Han Zhou smiled and said gently, "Your Majesty, my brother might not be back for a while... How about I take you to find him?"

Su Tiyue knew Han Zhou's character; he was insidious, ruthless, and unscrupulous.

He has never liked Su Tiyue, but now he has taken the initiative to take her to find Xiao Heye. There must be a conspiracy behind this.

Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of malice or theft.

Su Tiyue said cautiously, "There's no need to trouble the Deputy Supervisor. I'll wait for him here."

As she spoke, she walked to the door, opened both doors, and gestured for the Vice Governor to stay: "If there's nothing else, I won't keep you any longer, Vice Governor."

I thought the two brothers went out together, but unexpectedly... Hanzhou suddenly returned to Qiushui Residence.

And the first thing he did after returning was to find Su Tiyue.

Han Zhou felt a pang of disappointment when Su Tiyue decisively rejected his suggestion. "Your Majesty is right. My brother will definitely be back tonight anyway, but Your Majesty may have to wait a little longer."

As he spoke, he put his right hand behind his back and walked lazily toward the door.

Stepping out the door, Han Zhou gazed at the pitch-black night scene outside and casually remarked, "However..."

"Isn't Your Majesty curious about where my brother went, who he met, and what he did?"

Upon hearing this...

Su Tiyue tightened her grip on the doorframe and said firmly, "I'm not curious."

Han Zhou raised a brow: "No, Your Highness is just curious."

"Whatever your brother does is none of my business, so... I'm not curious."

Han Zhou asked, "That's true, but Your Majesty really doesn't want to see... what the other side of the person who shares your bed every night is like?"

Su Tiyue remained silent.

Han Zhou twitched his ears and realized that the person standing behind him was not making a sound.

He did not turn around, nor did he continue speaking.

He lifted his feet and strolled out.

After taking only two or three steps, Su Tiyue looked at the retreating figure and asked, "Where is he?"

Han Zhou stopped in his tracks, a triumphant smile appearing in his dark eyes.

He curled the corners of his lips into a smile, turned around, bowed respectfully, and said, "Please, Your Majesty."

After leaving Qiushui Residence, Hanzhou helped Su Tiyue into the carriage.

He did not ride with her, but instead rode a white horse.

Before the carriage departed, Han Zhou lifted the curtain from the outside, glanced at Su Tiyue indifferently, and said in a cold and sinister tone: "Your Majesty, although this was my suggestion, if my brother finds out, he will surely scold me."

Su Tiyue gave him a firm look and said, "Don't worry, Vice Governor. If your brother blames you, just say that I went to find him on my own initiative, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Your Majesty is wise."

After Han Zhou finished speaking, he rode his horse ahead to lead the way, completely satisfied.

It was already late, and there were almost no pedestrians on the streets of Yong'an City.

All around was silent, except for the sound of carriage wheels rolling by.

The carriage sped along, leaving the city gates and heading towards the outskirts of the city.

Su Tiyue seemed to have embarked on a path leading to darkness, and at the end of that path was another Xiao Heye.

Actually, Su Tiyue had roughly guessed some things from her conversation with Han Zhou earlier.

She was mentally prepared, which is why she followed Han Zhou out of the city without hesitation.

Su Tiyue wanted to know just how many faces the deep-thinking Master Xiao had.

The carriage traveled eastward towards the outskirts of the city for about half an hour before they arrived at their destination.

It is a dense birch forest.

After the start of spring, tiny green buds sprouted on the white branches.

Han Zhou dismounted, walked to the carriage door, bent down and offered her his arm, carefully helping Su Tiyue down from the carriage.

Out of selfish motives.

He did not bring Su Tiyue directly to Xiao Heye, but instead led her to a place with sparse bushes, but which was extremely secluded.

From here, through the withered grass, Su Tiyue could see the scattered lights not far away.

They were from the Eastern Depot; Su Tiyue recognized the clothes they were wearing.

There were twenty or thirty of them in total, holding torches in their hands, and the firelight illuminated the small birch forest brightly.

Six or seven men, covered in wounds, were tied to the white tree trunk. It was clear that they had suffered inhuman torture before coming here.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!