Xin Jiuwei's fingertips trembled slightly as memories of her past life flooded back—the blood on her brother's face when he was beaten to death, her father's graying temples in prison, and the jade hairpin that broke on the day her elder sister's engagement was called off...

Every scene is unforgettable.

She abruptly threw off the covers and sat up: "Where is my brother now?"

"Master made the eldest young master hide in the secret room of the ancestral hall." Chun Tao's hands trembled as she helped her tie her belt, but she kept tying the knot wrong. "But the constables have a search warrant, and that Qi Huaiyu is still pretending to deal with them. I think he has ulterior motives!"

Xin Jiuwei grabbed a comb and quickly tied up her long hair. Suddenly, she saw a dark shadow flash past the window in the bronze mirror.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she feigned composure and said, "Go and invite Miss to the flower hall."

After Chun Tao left, she quickly took out a ruby-inlaid dagger from a hidden compartment in her dressing case and stuffed it into her sleeve—it was a gift from Xiao Xun, and the scabbard was engraved with Sanskrit.

As we walked through the corridor, the shouts and curses from outside the wall were clearly audible:

"Xin Yunzhou, come out and pay with your life!"

Does being a noble give you the right to disregard human life?

"Master Ye has countless disciples; let's see how long your Xin family can remain arrogant!"

Xin Jiuwei paused, hearing a familiar hoarse voice fanning the flames: "I heard that Xin Yunzhou loves to frequent brothels, and he even got into a fight over a prostitute before..."—clearly Qi Huaiyu's trusted servant!

She gripped the dagger in her sleeve tightly, her fingernails digging crescent-shaped bloody marks into her palm.

In the flower hall, Xin Xiyao was scolding the steward, her gold-embroidered horse-face skirt sweeping across the broken porcelain on the floor: "Send away those beggars by the side door! Giving out porridge at this time only makes it seem like we have a guilty conscience!"

Upon seeing Xin Jiuwei enter, she abruptly stood up, the jade bracelet on her wrist striking the corner of the table with a crisp, mournful sound.

“Sister.” Xin Jiuwei calmly curtsied, her gaze sweeping over the other woman’s swollen eyes. “The character ‘舟’ on that letter of severance is written incorrectly—Brother always writes the vertical stroke in one smooth motion, but the stroke on that letter clearly shows hesitation.”

"Of course I know it's a fake!" Xin Xiyao grabbed the teacup on the table and slammed it down, causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the sweet white glaze. "But that idiot lost his jade pendant last night while drinking with brothels! And when he woke up this morning, he was even missing a boot!"

Xin's father stood with his hands behind his back by the window, his back as straight as a pine tree on a cliff.

The morning light shone through the window screen, revealing a thin crack in the jade thumb ring on his thumb—an heirloom, said to have been bestowed upon him by the founding emperor during the founding of the nation.

"Father," Xin Jiuwei said softly, suddenly noticing that the dragon-patterned jade pendant her father always wore at his waist was gone, "Does Mr. Ye have it in his study...?"

"It was burned down." Xin's father's voice was hoarse, as if it had been ground with coarse sand. "The fire started at dawn, just before the constables arrived." He turned around, his deep-set eyes filled with an unfathomable light. "Strangely, the library was completely intact, only the study was burned down."

Xin Jiuwei's heart trembled violently. In her previous life, after Qi Huaiyu killed her father, he also precisely burned the evidence of the medicine prescription.

She suddenly grabbed Xin Xiyao's hand, feeling its cold, sweaty texture: "Elder sister, do you still remember that Mr. Ye gave my brother a handwritten copy of 'The Art of War' last year for his birthday?"

"What are you thinking about now..." Xin Xiyao shook off her hand, but froze when she touched a hard object in her sister's sleeve. She narrowed her phoenix eyes, her voice suddenly lowering: "You mean... the book's seal?"

Father Xin suddenly turned around, the hem of his official robe sweeping across the bloodstains on the ground—his palms were now bleeding profusely from his fingernails: "The Ye family's collection of books all bears the 'Qingzheng Hall' wax seal; even when burned to ashes, it can still be identified."

Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps came from the front yard.

The steward rushed in to report: "Master, Young Master Qi led the guards and drove away the troublemakers, but Governor Zhou personally led his men..."

"I'll handle it." Xin Xiyao straightened her clothes, the gold-embroidered peonies shimmering in the morning light.

She suddenly pulled a gold hairpin from her hair and handed it to her younger sister. Hidden within the hairpin's tip were three poisoned silver needles. "Father, please avoid them, lest they use this opportunity to blackmail you."

Xin Jiuwei quietly retreated to the corridor and took out a bone whistle from her waist.

As soon as I opened the west window, I smelled a wisp of agarwood incense mixed with the scent of rust—Xiao Xun's white jade mask was faintly visible in the morning mist.

"The warrior monks of Lingyin Temple have stopped the rioters." His voice was lower than usual as he handed over a blood-stained handkerchief. "But Xin Yunzhou cannot stay in the secret room for long; Zhou Zhuo's men are searching the city."

The handkerchief was embroidered with half a maple leaf—the very mark of the assassins in the Second Prince's residence.

"Mr. Ye's recommendation..."

"It's burned." Xiao Xun suddenly grasped her trembling hand; there was a fresh knife wound on her palm. "But I found this."

He opened his palm, and on the half-burnt corner of the paper, the four characters "Yunzhou personally opened" were still faintly discernible, and a grain of cinnabar was still stuck to the charred edge of the paper—this was Ye Qingzheng's habit of using his seal.

Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps rang out from outside the wall.

Xiao Xun vanished into the mist in a flash, leaving only his lingering voice: "At noon, a carriage will be waiting at the exit of the secret passage." He paused, "Be careful of the cloud-patterned letter at Qi Huaiyu's waist."

Xin Jiuwei had just turned around when she bumped into a wall of people.

Qi Huaiyu appeared behind him at some point, his moon-white robe stained with a few drops of dark red, and a corner of blue paper was indeed visible at his waist—it was the cloud-patterned paper that Ye Qingzheng used exclusively!

"Jiuwei, what is this..." His gaze swept over the bone whistle peeking out from her sleeve, his smile becoming even gentler, "Trying to find a way for Brother Yunzhou?" As he spoke, his right hand unconsciously pressed against his waist, the very spot... where he usually hid his poison sac in his previous life.

"What's that on your lapel?" Xin Jiuwei suddenly reached out and brushed her hand against his lapel. Her fingertips, as they touched the fabric, keenly detected a strange scent—a mixture of sandalwood and blood. "It smells like... cinnabar?"

Qi Huaiyu's expression changed slightly, then he sighed, "It was rouge on my face when I was trying to break up the fight. Those people kept saying they wanted to burn down the Xin residence, so I had no choice but to..." He suddenly lowered his voice, "Actually, last night I saw Brother Yunzhou enter through the back gate of the Ye residence..."

"You're lying!" Xin Yunzhou's voice suddenly rang out.

He burst out of the secret room at some unknown time, his eyes bloodshot, his undergarments still stained with incense ash from the ancestral hall. "I didn't see the teacher at all yesterday! That letter of severance was fake! The teacher said last month that he would teach me..."

Qi Huaiyu wore a pained expression, but his right hand secretly reached for his waist: "Yunzhou, what's the use of denying it now? The governor has already..."

"Shut up, all of you!" Father Xin shouted sharply, causing dust to fall from the beams.

He gave Qi Huaiyu a deep look, his gaze lingering on the dark red for a moment. "Someone, prepare a carriage and horses. I will personally escort Yunzhou to surrender."

Xin Jiuwei dug her nails into her palm.

The father's move, a feigned retreat, was clearly a test of Qi Huaiyu's abilities.

Sure enough, the young man's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Uncle, please reconsider!" Qi Huaiyu urged, his voice inexplicably unsteady, "This journey of the cloud boat..."