At night, someone stayed at Xu's house and lit an oil lamp.

The mattress beside him was empty. Xu Zhiheng was staying in the study again tonight.

He Xinying walked to the table, picked up a coat and put it on, looking at the flickering wick in the oil lamp with a complicated expression.

She didn't know when it started, but there seemed to be an invisible barrier between her and Xu Zhiheng. To be precise, Xu Zhiheng became particularly strange after the last palace banquet. Later, she met Wu'an Hou He Yan, who had the same name and surname as her elder sister, at Yuhua Temple. Not long after she returned to the mansion, He Rufei came to visit her. It was more of a test than a visit.

Some things, once there is a hint of doubt, can never be let go. He Xinying can feel that the Xu family is hiding a big secret, perhaps related to her deceased elder sister, or perhaps... related to the He family.

She stood in front of the window. The winter in Shuojing was extremely cold. On such a cold night, the servants all went back to sleep. He Xinying looked at the bare branches outside the window, thought for a long time, and finally put on her cloak, picked up an oil lamp, and left the house.

She moved very lightly and walked very carefully, not to alarm others. The night watchman of the Xu family was guarding outside the main courtyard and would not come in. The light of the oil lamp was very dim, and it could only barely illuminate the road under her feet. He Xinying walked to an abandoned courtyard in the dark.

This deserted courtyard was where her deceased elder sister He Yan once lived. Even after He Yan's death, Xu Zhiheng had preserved the courtyard's original appearance. Last time, He Xinying was here and saw Xu Zhiheng frantically searching the closet. She was discovered before she could see what Xu Zhiheng was looking for. This time, since no one was around, she wanted to take a look.

Although no one lives in this yard now, the snow in the yard has been swept clean. She walked to He Yan's room. The room was not locked. She pushed the door gently and it opened.

He Xinying walked in.

The room exuded a stale, moldy smell, cold and damp. He Xinying was slightly surprised. Didn't Xu Zhiheng often miss his elder sister? But if he really missed his elder sister, why didn't he clean the room? There was dust everywhere, as if no one had stepped into it for a long time and avoided it.

He Xinying looked around with the oil lamp.

This is a girl's bedroom. There is a shelf in front, with some inexpensive vases and ornaments randomly placed on it. There is a small table in the middle, covered with a thick layer of dust, and the teacups and teapots are even covered with cobwebs. Further in is a large wooden bed. Compared with the other bed, this bed seems to be cleaner, with a thin blanket covering it. This room looks extremely cold and empty, not as warm and exquisite as the usual girl's bedroom. As soon as you enter, you will feel the coldness coming over you.

Even though He Yan got married not long after she came back to live in the He family, her room before marriage was carefully decorated. If this was the room where He Yan lived in the Xu family before, and this room retained the original appearance of He Yan's residence, then He Xinying thought that her eldest sister who died early might not have lived as happily as rumored in the He family.

If it was because he was blind, he shouldn't put too many things in the house to avoid tripping the master, but the furnishings and utensils here were shabby and perfunctory. There was nothing to relieve boredom. A blind man living alone in such a big house, if it were me, I would have been driven crazy.

He Xinying walked to the table. Last time, she saw Xu Zhiheng rummaging through the drawers here, looking for something. She pulled out the wooden bench, and sure enough, it was empty. If there was something there, it would have been taken away by Xu Zhiheng long ago.

She didn't realize that she had unconsciously put Xu Zhiheng in an opposing position. She no longer relied on and trusted this gentle and considerate husband as before, but was instead wary and suspicious. Even the warmth and kindness in the past became false in He Xinying's eyes.

He Xinying walked around the room, checking all the wooden benches and shelves, but found nothing, nothing useful. She had been out for too long, and it was too cold outside, with the wind blowing straight up to her knees. She rubbed her numb legs, looked at the relatively clean bed, and sat down beside it.

The only light in the room was the oil lamp in her hand. Sitting here, she felt a little weird. When she calmed down, He Xinying regretted coming here for no reason. There was no one here. I heard that the souls of the dead would linger in the places where they lived before. If the elder sister was here... Although they were blood relatives, they were not very close before. Moreover, if you really see a ghost at night, it would be scary.

He Xinying couldn't help but hold the bedpost tightly. This was a habit she developed when she was young. She was timid when she was young and always slept with her mother. When she grew up, she could no longer sleep with her mother. She had her own yard. When she lived alone, He Xinying was still very scared. When she was most scared, she would lean against the inside of the bed at night, hold the bedpost against the wall tightly, and pray quietly to the Bodhisattva for protection.

The same is true today.

However, when her fingers slid down the bedpost, she suddenly felt something was wrong. He Xinying was startled, and then she reached out and touched the place again, and realized something. She climbed up to the head of the bed, held up the oil lamp and looked inside, and suddenly found that there was a piece of wood slightly protruding on the side of the bedpost against the wall.

The girl was careful. She pushed hard with her fingers and the wooden board fell off. A yellow paper appeared inside, which seemed to have something written on it. Her heart was beating fast. She knew that since this thing was hidden here, it must be very important. Maybe this was what Xu Zhiheng was looking for.

You never know when someone might come here, so He Xinying exerted force and pulled out something that looked like a book from the hollowed-out bedpost. She quickly hid the book in her arms, and hurriedly fastened the wood of the bedpost before carefully leaving with the oil lamp in her hand.

It was surprisingly quiet all around, and He Xinying secretly returned to her room before daring to take out the scroll from her arms. She took a look at it in the dim light of the oil lamp, and it was indeed a scroll. She was stunned after reading a few pages. This was a... military book?

It contained various military tactics, and on one side were the readers' own notes and opinions. Judging from the handwriting, it was definitely not Xu Zhiheng's. No one in the Xu family was into martial arts, and it was hidden so secretly, and in He Yan's room. No matter how you look at it, this military book was left behind by his eldest sister who died early.

But...how could He Yan read military books?

If it was her cousin He Rufei, it would be fine, but He Rufei's military book did not appear in the Xu family, and it made sense to hide it so carefully.

He Xinying held the military book in her hand, and she couldn't figure out what was going on. At this moment, someone's voice suddenly rang out outside. He Xinying was startled, and quickly blew out the oil lamp, hid the book in the box at the bottom of the table, and walked to the bed in two or three steps to lie down. Just as she lay down, a maid knocked on the door: "Grandma? Grandma?"

"What's the matter?" He Xinying answered pretending to be sleepy.

There was silence outside for a while, and then someone said, "There's a thief in the yard, and the master asked us to ask the grandmother."

"A thief?" He Xinying was a little nervous, but she pretended to be surprised. She opened the door for the maid in her outer clothes and asked in confusion, "How could a thief break into the mansion?"

"I don't know." The maid seemed relieved to see that He Xinying was indeed staying in the room, and said, "The master is now trying the thief."

"I'll go take a look." He Xinying said. She closed the door and walked into the main hall with the maid.

In the main hall, Xu Zhiheng sat on a chair in the middle, surrounded by a group of maids and servants. A man dressed as a servant was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to Xu Zhiheng repeatedly: "Master, please spare my life, Master, please spare my life, I really didn't take anything, I didn't take anything!"

Xu Zhiheng's face was so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it. He stared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Hand over the things you stole from the bedpost of Grandma, or you will die here today!"

When he said this, his eyes were fierce and fierce, completely different from his gentle and kind appearance before. He Xinying was startled, and when she heard the word "bedpost", she became even more nervous. She forced a smile and walked to Xu Zhiheng: "Husband, what happened?"

Seeing He Xinying, Xu Zhiheng's expression eased a little, and he pointed at the person on the ground and said, "This person sneaked into Ah He's yard at night and stole Ah He's old things from the bedpost. He is extremely evil!"

Fuwang——The servant on the ground hurriedly explained: "Master, it really wasn't mine. When I found the bedpost, it was already empty. I really didn't take anything from it!"

Fuwang was also complaining in his heart. Today, he just took advantage of the night when no one was around, and sneaked into the former grandmother's room to look for old things for the mysterious man. As a result, after walking around the house, he really found a place that was different from the others, which was the bedpost in the inner room. He thought there would be some secrets hidden inside, but when he opened it, it was empty. Before he had time to regret, he didn't know when he alarmed the people outside and was caught in front of Xu Zhiheng.

"Master, I really didn't do it. If you don't believe me... search my body and where I live... I am innocent!"

He Xinying was horrified as she watched the servant kowtow and beg for mercy. It seemed that the servant had become her scapegoat. However, if it was just ordinary property, given Xu Zhiheng's temperament, he wouldn't have been so harsh. At most, he would have been beaten and kicked out of the house. But now it seemed that he was determined to fight to the death. Could it be that Xu Zhiheng knew what was in the bedpost? But it was just a military book that looked very ordinary!

He Xinying didn't quite understand.

"I see that you are full of lies and not a single word of truth is told to you. In that case, I can't find out the reason for your mistake if you stay here, so I will hand you over to the government for punishment." Xu Zhiheng said coldly.

As soon as these words came out, Fuwang turned pale. Since ancient times, servants who were handed over to the government by their masters were mostly killed, and their deaths were particularly torturous. He was just a little greedy, but he never thought of risking his life. Moreover, it was so unfair. You know, he didn't get anything. In this case, of course, the most important thing is to save his life first. Fuwang begged, "Please don't hand me over to the government. In fact, I was entrusted by someone to steal things. I will tell you everything I know. Can you spare my life?"

"Entrusted by someone?" Xu Zhiheng looked at him.

"That's right," Fuwang knocked his head loudly, "Even if I had a hundred times the courage, I wouldn't dare to steal anything from your house!"

Xu Zhiheng stared at Fuwang, as if trying to tell whether what Fuwang said was true or false. After a moment, he said to the people around him, "All of you go out. I have something to ask this thief."

He Xinying glanced at the boy on the ground and said, "Husband, I..."

"You get out too." Xu Zhiheng's attitude was firm.

He Xinying didn't say anything and walked out. After the door was closed, she looked towards the house. She didn't know when, but her palms were already soaked with sweat.

What on earth is going on with that military book?

Inside the house, Xu Zhiheng asked, "Come on, who told you to steal from the Xu family?"

"Yes...it's General He."

"How dare you lie to me?" Xu Zhiheng was furious.

Fuwang was so frightened that he immediately knelt down again, "I dare not lie to you, Master. Tell the people I'm dealing with that their master is General He!"

Xu Zhiheng clenched his fists and suppressed his emotions as he said, "Why did He Rufei ask you to come over and steal things?"

"I don't know either," Fuwang wiped the sweat off his forehead. "They gave me a sum of money, and I was just bewildered for a while. I thought, I was just going to steal some things and find out about someone, not do anything against the law, so I agreed."

"Ask about people?" Xu Zhiheng narrowed his eyes. "What exactly do they want you to do?"

Fuwang only hoped to get out alive, not caring about other things, and simply told everything he knew, "They wanted me to find some old things of the great grandmother, and people related to her. When I entered the mansion, the great grandmother had passed away, and I couldn't find anyone. I just thought that maybe I could steal something." He was also cunning, saying that he was caught before he could do anything for the other party, and didn't mention the previous incident with Nanny Qin at all, "I sneaked into the great grandmother's room tonight, and was discovered before I found anything. But master, the things in the bedpost were really not taken away by me. When I found the bedpost, it was already empty!"

What he said was not false, but unfortunately Xu Zhiheng was still skeptical about him.

"Please spare my life, sir. I will never do it again!" he begged.

Mr. Xu, who was always soft-hearted and easy to talk to, was slow to answer today. Fuwang mustered up the courage to look up and saw that under the light and shadow of the lamp, the man's face was half light and half dark. One half looked like a normal person, and the other half looked like a ferocious evil spirit, so twisted that it made people feel cold.

It was unknown how long it had been, but just when Fuwang felt that his life was about to be in danger, the superior spoke. Xu Zhiheng said, "Since you said that General He asked you to do something, I will spare your life. However..." His voice dropped, "Next time they ask you to meet, you must tell them that you didn't find out, and you must not tell anyone that I found out about you."

Was he asked to deceive He Rufei? Fuwang's doubts flashed across his mind, and he quickly lowered his head and said with tears of gratitude: "Thank you, Master! I will definitely do a good job for you!"

Xu Zhiheng looked at the servant who was kneeling and kowtowing without saying a word.

He Rufei actually secretly sent people to investigate He Yan's old belongings. What was the purpose? Was he trying to find evidence to threaten him?

Yes, a few days ago, there was a fire in Xianchang Hall, and what happened to be burned was the childhood diary of "He Rufei". As soon as the news reached the Xu family, Xu Zhiheng guessed that this must be He Rufei's doing. It seems that He Rufei is not as calm as she appears to be about the appearance of the cousin with the same name.

The He family had too many handles, including the second wife of He, He Rufei himself, and the two brothers He Yuansheng and He Yuanliang. In comparison, the handles that the Xu family could get were too few. Even the death of He Yan was not caused by him. If the truth was revealed, Xu Zhiheng could have gotten away with it.

Perhaps it was this point that made He Rufei feel uneasy, so she tried every means to catch He Yan's handle in the Xu family. In this way, as long as she could prove that she also knew that He Yan and He Rufei had exchanged identities, when the truth came out one day, the Xu family would not be able to escape.

He Rufei was afraid, so at this moment, he wanted to drag the Xu family into the water.

Xu Zhiheng's face was gloomy.

Even though he knew about this from the beginning, and understood that the He family and the Xu family were in the same boat, he still felt unhappy when it really happened right before his eyes. In the past, when everything was safe and sound, he naturally hoped that we would be well and share the glory, but once something went wrong... He Rufei's behavior was truly immoral.

Since He Rufei was so excessive, he didn't need to show any mercy. Speaking of which, just like Fuwang looked around He Yan's room but found nothing, if something really happened, as long as there was no evidence, Xu Zhiheng could still protect himself.

…

At night, He Yan tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

She knew that He Rufei was not General Feihong, and there were many loopholes, but people in the world would pay attention to evidence. It was impossible to make the truth clear with just her words. And this truth still sounded so incredible.

There are no living witnesses in the Fuyue army. Nanny Qin is not enough, and if they want to catch He Rufei, they have to start with the battle of Huayuan. In the battle of Huayuan, there must be an unspeakable relationship between He Rufei and the Wutuo people.

He Rufei is a very cautious person. If you want to find evidence of his treason, you may have to go to He's house.

Hefu...

He Yan sat up from the couch, leaned against the headboard, looked at the curtains, his thoughts gradually drifting away.

In fact, she was not afraid to step into the He family again. In that "He family", she had suffered enough from being used and looked down upon. If she returned home, she would no longer have any old feelings for them.

However, when she thought about seeing Madam He Er again, she didn't know how to face it.