“Go, hurry!”
Lin Shu practically dragged Hua Ping out of the alley, not daring to pause for even a moment.
The effects of the Incantation she had used to control the street vendors and drunkards in the alley wouldn’t last long.
Once they regained their senses and realized they had inexplicably participated in a brawl, the situation would only become more complicated.
Moreover, the side effects of the Incantation struck more violently than she had anticipated. A sharp, throbbing pain pulsed through the back of her head as if a red-hot iron rod were being repeatedly stirred inside.
Hua Ping was utterly terrified, her body limp as mud, relying entirely on Lin Shu’s strength to keep moving.
Stumbling along, the two chose only dark, deserted paths, making a clumsy escape back to the Prime Minister’s residence.
The side gate was still slightly ajar.
Lin Shu peeked through to ensure no one was around before quickly pulling Hua Ping inside.
Back at Tingxue Courtyard, the two guards she had sent away earlier—one still hadn’t returned from the outhouse, while the other remained fast asleep behind the rockery, completely unconscious.
Lin Shu felt a wave of relief. Using the last of her strength, she pushed Hua Ping into the room and swiftly bolted the door.
Thud.
The sound shut out all danger from the outside world.
Lin Shu’s vision swam with black spots. Leaning against the door, she gasped for breath, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.
“Mi… Miss…”
Hua Ping finally snapped out of her daze. With a thud, she knelt on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, and raised a tightly oil-paper-wrapped object over her head.
“I got it! I didn’t lose it!”
Lin Shu’s spirits lifted. She took the paper package, still warm from Hua Ping’s body heat.
Her hands trembling, she unwrapped it layer by layer.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting on the paper was delicate and elegant—unmistakably Lin Wan’er’s script.
The contents made her heart race wildly.
“Brother Cen Yi, I earnestly beg you to fulfill my request. This medicine is solely to punish a villain, with no other purpose. Once the matter is settled, Wan’er will surely repay you handsomely. Additionally, please remember to burn this letter immediately after reading.”
This was ironclad evidence!
Written in black and white, in Lin Wan’er’s own hand—damned system, let’s see you try to correct this now!
Overwhelming joy shattered her taut nerves. Lin Shu felt her vision go black, the last thread of consciousness in her mind snapping with an audible crack.
She could hold on no longer. Her body tilted sideways, and she collapsed straight down.
“Miss!”
Hua Ping let out a terrified shriek, lunging forward to catch her before she hit the floor.
…
Qing Feng Courtyard.
Crash!
A priceless celadon vase was violently smashed against the floor, shattering into pieces.
Lin Wan’er’s chest heaved violently. Her usually pitifully charming face was now twisted with rage, appearing almost sinister.
She had just received word: Hua Ping had gone to Huichun Pharmacy to retrieve the letter she had written from Cen Yi, and Lin Shu had secretly left the residence to assist her.
“Useless! All of you, useless!”
She shrieked at the two black-clad assassins kneeling on the floor, who were equally disheveled. “Two of you couldn’t handle one little maid? And you were scattered by a bunch of unruly commoners? What good are you!”
The lead assassin kept his head down, not daring to explain.
“Second Miss, please calm down. Those commoners were acting strange, as if possessed—fearless and reckless. We were afraid of alerting the authorities, so we…”
“I don’t want to hear excuses!” Lin Wan’er interrupted him irritably. “The item? What about the item I told you to bring back?”
“We didn’t retrieve it.”
Lin Wan’er gasped in fury, her vision clouding with black spots.
That fool Lin Shu was acting strangely in the woodshed earlier today, and now she’s obtained evidence. Doesn’t that mean I’m doomed?
No, she absolutely cannot just wait for death!
Lin Wan’er’s eyes darted rapidly as malicious thoughts emerged one after another.
Since she couldn’t destroy the evidence, she would make Lin Shu herself completely lose credibility as a witness.
Her sneaking out of the estate late at night was the biggest leverage!
A cruel, cold smile appeared on Lin Wan’er’s face.
“Cui Huan!”
“Your servant is here.” Cui Huan immediately stepped forward.
“Go find Young Master Xiao at once.” Lin Wan’er lowered her voice, her eyes gleaming with calculation. “Tell him I was worried about my sister and sent someone to check on her at Tingxue Courtyard, but found her room completely empty. How dare she, a confined prisoner awaiting judgment, secretly flee the estate? Doesn’t this prove her guilt?”
“Tell the Young Master to conduct a search immediately.”
Cui Huan understood perfectly. “I’ll go right away.”
…
The Prime Minister’s residence and Jing An Marquis Estate were separated only by a single wall—in fact, the two households had specifically opened a passage through this wall for convenience.
Therefore, Xiao Che hadn’t returned to the Marquis estate but had stayed directly at the Prime Minister’s residence.
Everything that happened in the woodshed was branded in his mind like a searing iron.
The servants’ bizarre kneeling.
Lin Wan’er’s horrified scream.
Bi Yue’s contradictory testimony.
And Lin Shu’s terrifyingly calm eyes.
His proud judgment was experiencing violent shaking for the first time.
Just as he was feeling perturbed, a servant announced that Miss Cui Huan from Qing Feng Courtyard urgently requested an audience.
The moment Cui Huan entered, she fell to her knees with a thud, crying with what appeared to be genuine emotion.
“Young Master, please come quickly! Our miss just discovered that the Eldest Miss… she’s disappeared!”
“What?” Xiao Che’s brows furrowed.
“The Eldest Miss was confined to Tingxue Courtyard, but when we went to check just now, there was no one inside! She must have fled to escape punishment! Young Master, please send someone to capture her at once!” While crying, Cui Huan secretly observed Xiao Che’s expression.
Xiao Che’s face indeed darkened, his voice betraying neither anger nor joy. “I’ll go see for myself.”
Outside Tingxue Courtyard, all was quiet.
When Xiao Che arrived with his men, the two guards were standing stiffly at the entrance, their expressions solemn.
“Greetings, Young Master.”
Xiao Che swept a cold glance over them. “Has anyone come out?”
The two guards exchanged looks, then shook their heads in unison.
“Reporting to Young Master, the Eldest Miss has been resting in her room the entire time. She hasn’t stepped outside the courtyard gate even once,” one declared firmly.
Cui Huan’s face instantly turned pale.
How was this possible?
Xiao Che walked straight to the chamber door and pushed it open.
Inside the inner room, candlelight cast a dim glow.
Hua Ping was dozing by the bedside, jolting awake at the noise.
On the bed, Lin Shu lay covered with a thin quilt, her breathing even, her sleeping face peaceful as if she had long fallen into deep slumber.
Everything appeared completely normal.
Cui Huan was dumbstruck.
She stared blankly at Lin Shu on the bed, then at Xiao Che’s frosty expression, her mind completely blank.
She’s… she’s here?
Then her earlier tearful accusations had become nothing but a joke?
Xiao Che’s gaze lingered on Lin Shu’s pale face for a moment before suddenly turning, his eyes sharp as daggers, piercing the petrified Cui Huan.
He said nothing.
But the ice and disgust in his eyes said everything.
He turned and strode away, leaving behind only a single sentence laced with ice.
“Go back and tell your master to mind their own business. If there’s a next time, it won’t be as simple as house arrest.”