Chapter 111
"When I was young, I didn't understand why adults had so much helplessness. Later, their family disappeared overnight, and their house fell into ruin. I stood in the desolate courtyard and felt that the past was like a beautiful dream." Xie Jingze held his wine glass and suddenly began to slowly talk about the past that he least wanted to mention.
Years have passed, and he no longer sheds tears, nor does his heart seem to ache anymore, yet every time he recalls it, a bitter taste rises from the back of his tongue. So later he realized that he had probably become numb to the pain.
Xie Sui'an peeked through his fingers, his head spinning. He tried to remember for a moment, then asked his brother, "Whose family?" Then he realized, "The Su family? Were you two that close when you were little? How come I don't know?"
“Of course you wouldn’t know.” Xie Jingze smiled. “You only knew how to climb artificial hills and trees, fish in ponds and catch birds. Back then, you didn’t know what love was.” He paused. “But now you know. Now that you know, you’ve followed in my footsteps.”
Xie Sui'an released his hand, wanting to argue, but the next second he couldn't speak. What was there to argue about? It was true, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't possibly take Qin Sang away and abandon his family and the greater good. He wasn't that kind of selfish person. If he could save his family, he would rather sacrifice himself, let alone a relationship.
But the thought of this made him sad, upset, and heartbroken.
Xie Jingze looked at his younger brother and felt both amused and heartbroken. He had thought that his younger brother would be deeply in love once he fell in love, because he had always been a person who valued loyalty and righteousness since childhood. However, he also felt that people from families like theirs were unlikely to have the opportunity to make their own decisions. Marriage was mostly decided by their parents. It would be good enough if they could find a girl with whom they could treat each other with respect. How could they ask for more?
Who would have thought they would both fall into the same pit?
The lamplight flickered slightly by the window, and Xie Sui'an suddenly changed the subject: "So it was Fourth Uncle who took you to the island? And that woman, was it also someone Fourth Uncle found for you? You already knew he was the master of Worry-Free Island? Then do you know... who he's actually working for?"
Xie Jingze's gaze wandered slightly, as if he were recalling something from a distant past. After a long while, he finally said, "So, during the few days you disappeared, you did indeed go to Wuyou Island and see him?"
Xie Sui'an took a deep breath, removed his hand from his face, focused on his unfocused gaze, and suddenly became serious: "I saw him. I also heard a lot."
Xie Jingze remained silent.
Xie Sui'an: "Do you know that Aunt Jiang is actually the princess of the fallen Night Owl Kingdom? She always told Fourth Uncle that he was not Grandpa's son since he was a child, and then forced him to become the ruler of their Night Owl Kingdom..." He choked up slightly, his heart felt like it was being squeezed by a big hand, "Fourth Uncle always thought he was a bastard, but in fact, Aunt Jiang lied to him. He is, he is our own Fourth Uncle."
Xie Jingze looked up halfway through the conversation, his lifeless eyes finally focusing for a moment, but he still looked completely bewildered, not understanding what he was talking about.
Xie Sui'an chuckled: "You don't know?"
"What Night Owl Kingdom?" Xie Jingze had indeed never heard of it.
Even so, he remained calm, and apart from a slight change in his eyes, everything was composed.
Xie Sui'an stared intently at his usually stern, gentle, and refined elder brother.
Everyone always praises him for his composure and says he's the hope of the Xie family, but he remembers that when he was a child, he also loved running around and catching birds, just like him.
When did he become so somber and quiet?
He shook his head: "It doesn't matter, you know now, and it's no use knowing now, none of us can help him."
"What's wrong with him?"
“I don’t know. He told us to escape, and we escaped, but we don’t know what he’ll do. I can’t find my way back to Worry-Free Island.” He looked up. “Can you find it?”
Xie Jingze's gaze fell on Xie Sui'an's face, and he slowly said, "I don't know."
"Fine, if we don't know, we don't know. Nobody knows, nobody knows the current situation on the island."
Xie Jingze: "..."
Xie Suian paused for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject: "Back when Prince Su was plotting a rebellion, you were already an adult. Did you know something? I remember you went to the Su family to rescue people and had a big fight with your aunt."
"..." Xie Jingze asked with difficulty, "So... what exactly are you investigating?"
Xie Sui'an laughed, "You know who Qin Sang is, and you should also know that Grandpa brought her back not just to find her a good family to marry into." He wiped his face, a little confused, but continued, "At first, I also thought it was wishful thinking for a girl like her to come back and try to overturn the case from back then. The Prince Su's treason case involved so many people and so many deaths. How could she possibly do it all by herself? Even the Emperor couldn't have made a wrong judgment..."
“But not long after she arrived in the capital, her grandfather was murdered, refugees flooded the city, the Prince of Ning’an rose to power, and the court suddenly became turbulent and unstable… I don’t know if all of this was a coincidence, or if there was a larger group of people behind her, pushing her and helping her to do something big. For this big thing, she couldn’t possibly care about such trivial personal feelings. What are we investigating? At first, I only wanted to find out the cause of her grandfather’s death, but now…”
Xie Sui'an himself didn't know which boundary he had crossed. It seemed like an accident, but it was also logical, because his grandfather was no ordinary person. His grandfather's death was involved in a huge case, so it shouldn't be surprising that he found out anything.
It's just that he couldn't process all the inside information he had learned at once.
Xie Jingze remained silent for a long time, his thoughts in turmoil, seemingly burdened with countless worries, yet unsure where to begin. How could he not know what Xie Sui'an was saying? As an official in the court, he witnessed factional divisions, the tacit avoidance of officials, and the superficial, polite greetings—the more courteous the facade, the more turbulent the undercurrents beneath. How could he be unaware of anything? He knew far more than Xie Sui'an, including the case of Prince Su's rebellion.
Xie Jingze stared at Xie Sui'an, seemingly hesitant about whether to say more to him. He probably knew that Xie Sui'an had come to him for drinks today partly to confide in him, and partly to try and extract information.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked again, "So, what exactly did you find out?"
Xie Sui'an's eyes were bloodshot. He bent one knee, propped his elbow on it, and looked at Xie Jingze with a half-smile: "Brother, I can understand that you don't know Fourth Uncle's background, but do you know who he works for, or rather, who he collaborates with?"
Xie Jingze frowned, licked his lips, and said carefully, "A few months ago, the Crown Prince's position was secure, and the Emperor showed no signs of aggression. It was only natural for the court officials to be close to the Crown Prince..."
"So you mean, Fourth Uncle is actually working for the Crown Prince?" Xie Sui'an interrupted him.
Xie Jingze frowned even more deeply, his meaning clear: Isn't that right?
Xie Sui'an laughed and said, "Since everyone thinks it's normal to work for the Crown Prince, why does Fourth Uncle have to do it secretly and pretend to be a good-for-nothing playboy? And given Fourth Uncle's background, would he choose to cooperate with the future monarch who is a sure thing to restore the country?"
Xie Jingze fell silent.
Xie Sui'an stared at him: "What if I told you that there's someone else behind Fourth Uncle?"
The two drunkards were clear-eyed, looking at each other, but neither of them was really drunk to the point of being confused; on the contrary, they were extremely sober.
Xie Jingze's pupils contracted slightly. Xie Sui'an asked, "Who did you think of? Don't tell me it's Prince Ning'an. Wuyou Island has been famous for many years. I don't believe Prince Ning'an started plotting before the Prince Su case... Back then, his mother was just relying on someone else..."
As he spoke, a face flashed through his mind.
Xie Jingze didn't speak. He leaned on the table and slowly stood up, then walked to the window. The moon was bright tonight; it was a beautiful night.
He stared at the bright moonlight by the window for a long time, and after the breeze had dispelled some of the effects of the wine, he said with deep emotion, "Look at this night, the flowers don't look like flowers, the grass doesn't look like grass, doesn't it look like people wearing masks in the imperial court? It's hard to tell who is really laughing, and it's hard to tell who is really wronged. Everyone is afraid to reveal their true face... Perhaps, after wearing the mask for so long, they themselves don't even know who they are anymore."
He slowly turned around and looked at Xie Suian: "If there really is a third person, perhaps you can investigate that person."
***
The moonlight is too bright tonight, making it an unfavorable time for Qin Sang and his group to spy. However, taking a detour through secluded alleys to avoid the patrolling soldiers and watchmen shouldn't be a major problem.
About half an hour later, they finally arrived at the foot of the wall of Bai Yiqing's new residence, as Qin Baoyun had mentioned.
The outer wall of the courtyard was somewhat dilapidated, with weeds growing wildly at its base. The branches inside the wall were entangled by vines, sticking out of the wall in a sticky and reluctant manner, creating a messy and disorderly feeling. Compared with the clean and tidy courtyard wall and plum tree opposite, it looked dilapidated and uninhabited.
According to Qin Baoyun's intelligence, the house had only been renovated a few days ago and was still in a mess. It would definitely be empty at night, with at most a servant guarding the newly purchased utensils in the yard.
That's simple.
Qin Baoyun, familiar with the place, found a loose brick. It was left by the bricklayer during the day when no one was looking, so that they could easily find out what was going on.
Qin Baoyun removed the brick, peered over to check, and only after confirming that no one was nearby did she nimbly and lightly leap over the wall, landing silently.
Qin Sang followed closely behind.
The two landed not in the front yard, but in front of a dark house with newly replaced window frames that hadn't been painted or covered with paper.
Qin Sang jumped up the steps and looked inside, muttering to herself, "What's this room for?" She glanced around, then concluded, "Oh, the kitchen. Tsk, the kitchen's so big, are they planning to live here long-term? Have they separated the household?"
The two continued walking along the wall of the kitchen backyard, gradually reaching the back garden, where there was a rockery, a wide fish pond, and a lakeside pavilion. However, it was still just a few wooden stakes, and the roof had been torn off, so it looked like it was going to be renovated.
Qin Sang thought to herself, "This mansion is really big. Bai Yiqing is indeed rich. No wonder he's the princess's precious son." However, just as she finished thinking this, Qin Baoyun pulled her from behind and hid behind the artificial hill.
Her heart leaped into her throat, and she asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Qin Baoyun didn't answer, but cautiously peeked out again, and after looking, came back and whispered, "Someone's here."
Qin Sang's heart skipped a beat. She knew he wasn't talking about some lowly night watchman, so she cautiously peeked out as well.
Not far behind the artificial hill, a house's window was shrouded in a hazy, yellowish light, creating an indistinct halo around the window. The people inside were not clearly visible, but judging from the size of the house, it was definitely not a night watchman inside. In the Kingdom of Namo, the hierarchy was very strict, and a servant would be so reckless as to dare to live in the master's new house.
But it's so late, and the house isn't even finished yet, and Young Master Bai is already so eager to move in? How could that be?
Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Qin Sang glanced around and decided to split up with Qin Baoyun to investigate.
However, they dared not get too close, firstly because Bai Yiqing was skilled, and secondly because someone of his caliber would surely have many hidden experts around him.
Bai Yiqing is quite an interesting person. I met him in Quzhou before and suspected that he was related to the Quzhou gold mine. Now, with the political situation complicated, he has secretly built a private residence outside. Qin Sang is very curious to know who this cold and aloof man is working for.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com