For a full day and night, Xu Fengchi was so busy his feet barely touched the ground.

After leaving the Imperial Palace, he went to the Ministry of Justice, retrieved the case files from three years ago, and began to review them from the very beginning.

When Ye Zheng’s case broke, he had been out of town and unable to rush back to the Capital City in time. By the time he finally returned, the dust had already settled.

What had been presented to him back then was a seemingly perfect case file. Looking at it now, however, he was shocked to realize it was riddled with inconsistencies!

He had already gone through half the stack of case files at his side. He’d read so much that his eyes ached, forcing him to close them and rest for a moment.

After a short pause, he opened his eyes again, picked up another volume, and spread it open before him.

He sat up straight, his expression grave and solemn.

On the first page, in the first line, one name stood out.

—Huo Yucheng.

...

That night, Ye Chutang enjoyed a rare, peaceful sleep.

Having slept well, her mood improved considerably. She even found a moment, while spreading herbs to dry in the sun, to ask about some trivial matters.

"Has there been any news from Ye Shixian?"

Knowing Ye Shixian, she wouldn’t just take something this major lying down.

"Her?" Ye Yunfeng scoffed. "What can she possibly do? She can barely save her own skin right now. What kind of trouble could she possibly stir up?"

Ye Jingyan was grinding herbs, and he didn’t stop at the words, saying without looking up, "It’s kind of you to even spare them a thought, Sister. I did hear she tried to raise a fuss with the guards, but it was no use."

"Oh?"

"It actually has to do with you," Ye Jingyan explained. "Apparently, Ye Mingze is gravely ill with a persistent high fever, and she wanted to ask you to go treat him."

Ye Yunfeng found that laughable. "In her dreams! We’ve already burned our bridges with them, and now she has the nerve to bother our sister again? Who does she think our sister is? Someone at her beck and call!?"

Countless people go to extraordinary lengths just to beg for a consultation, yet Ye Shixian thinks she can just say the word and order our sister around!

Ye Chutang, however, wasn’t angry. A small smile played on her lips. "It’s not as if I went, is it?"

’Then again,’ she thought, ’Shen Yanchuan’s men seem quite tactful. They immediately suppressed the incident, almost as if they were afraid of disturbing me.’

Ye Yunfeng snorted.

"Of course you shouldn’t have gone! They can’t act all high and mighty anymore. I’d like to see just how long they can hold out!"

Ye Jingyan grabbed another handful of herbs, musing, "Still, I have to say, Ye Mingze is a tough one. He’s still hanging on after everything that’s happened. Anyone else would have probably given up the ghost by now."

"Isn’t that for the best?" Ye Chutang rested her chin on her hand. "The whole family, all together."

’It would be a shame if they died too soon and missed all the excitement to come.’

Ye Yunfeng didn’t care about any of that. He only cared about when his sister would fully recover.

"Sister, when are you planning to go out?"

Ye Chutang considered for a moment, then shook her head.

"There’s no hurry."

’I’ve waited three years. A little more time won’t make a difference.’

Resting her chin on her hand, she gazed at the trees in the courtyard, now noticeably more bare, and asked casually, "By the way, when is this year’s autumn hunt?"

Ye Jingyan finally paused his work and looked up, surprised.

"Sister, why the sudden interest?"

Ye Chutang smiled. "No reason. I just remember our older brother mentioning it once. It sounded interesting."

"I remember it’s usually at the end of the tenth month. It should be around the same time this year, right?" Ye Yunfeng was clearly interested, a hint of excitement in his eyes. "Aside from princes and high officials, the Imperial College also sends representatives to participate."

’With his skills, getting selected would be a sure thing.’

Ye Chutang gently tapped her chin and murmured,

"The Royal autumn hunt... His Majesty and all the Princes will be in attendance. Therefore, this time..."

Ye Jingyan looked over at her.

Ye Yunfeng looked on in anticipation. "Sister, just tell us what you need!"

"The prizes are quite substantial. Win as much money as you can," Ye Chutang said earnestly.

Ye Jingyan: "..."

Ye Yunfeng: "..."

’So that’s what all that was about?’

Only Xiao Wu began to clap enthusiastically. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

’Fourth Brother is going to earn Silver! Yay!’

Ye Yunfeng felt that something was a little off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Scratching his head, he could only agree. "...Oh. All right!"

But Ye Jingyan had other concerns.

"The hunting grounds have always been an arena for the Princes—full of overt and covert conflict, treacherous and unpredictable. If A Feng draws too much attention and displeases certain people, they might target him. I fear that would be unwise."

His concerns were not unfounded.

However—

"Look on the bright side," Ye Chutang said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Some of them probably already despise us and want to get rid of us for good, right? What’s one more offense at this point?"

As her words faded, a strange silence fell over the courtyard.

Xiao Wu blinked, looking from one person to the other.

’Huh?’

’What Sister said makes perfect sense. Why do Third Brother and Fourth Brother look like that?’

After a long moment, Ye Jingyan let out a sigh.

"You have a point."

’Excellent. The suspense is finally over.’