Chapter 57 Chapter 57 If she's interested in you, you wouldn't...

- "She's your sister."

- "She has her own life. You and her are strangers. Your so-called love at first sight is nothing but wishful thinking. Why bother disturbing her life?"

In the quiet study, Qin Xiao looked at the man across from him with mixed feelings. The scene he had just witnessed flashed before his eyes, and his thin lips pressed into a straight line.

He thought they were just acquaintances, but he never imagined that—

"She—" Qin Xiao's Adam's apple rolled up and down. To this day, he still didn't know her true identity. His voice was tense and lingering. "Why did she come here?"

Their eyes met for a moment, and Fu Huaiqing's scrutiny of him softened slightly. "It has nothing to do with you."

Qin Xiao opened his mouth, but for a long time, no words came out.

He clenched his palms beneath his falling sleeves, his eyes thick with dark thoughts, a hint of bitterness rising in his throat. "When did Your Highness know she was the one I was looking for?"

"When you asked for someone to find her." Fu Huaiqing glanced at him indifferently, his voice clear and unconcealed, "She was a secret guard I sent to Hezhou, accompanying you all the way."

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the study grew even colder.

Qin Xiao's expression froze slightly, his eyes gazing at him gravely. It had been over a month since he'd asked for someone to find her. 

Qin Xiao had already suspected something when he asked, but Fu Huaiqing's words still made him frown. If that was the case, then the man before him had been the one standing between them from the beginning. 

Fu Huaiqing casually picked up a memorial from the side and flipped it open. A gentle breeze rustled across the octagonal palace lantern outside the window. His eyes fell on the memorial and he said calmly, "Your presence only adds to her troubles. Why bother disturbing her again and again?" 

Su Ci, who was sipping tea and listening to an opera nearby, subconsciously raised his gaze to the slightly pale Qin Xiao, inwardly astonished. His words were too blunt, too harsh. 

"Your Highness is not Biezhi herself, so how can you know her true self—" 

"My years of acquaintance with her are sufficient," Fu Huaiqing interrupted without looking up. His gaze swept over the handwriting on the memorial. The Suzhou prefect's eloquent greetings occasionally alluded to the Dali Temple's investigation into the Suzhou Bian family. 

Their affairs remained unresolved, and he, naturally, needing to consider other matters, refrained from revealing their story. Instead, he said, "She's a spontaneous person, and will take the initiative if she sees you. If she were interested in you, you wouldn't be standing here." 

Suddenly, Qin Xiao's eyes, tinged with a hint of anger, froze. 

Fu Huaiqing closed the memorial and tossed it in front of him. "Instead of dwelling on this, it's better to focus on the Suzhou and Hezhou massacres." 

The Suzhou massacre, buried in the dust, had been uncovered, and court officials had varying opinions on the matter. Whether out of curiosity, concern, or worry, the forthright ones inquired in memorials or privately, while many others were making moves behind the scenes. 

Looking at the indifferent man, Qin Xiao's deep eyes flickered with a dark, undefined emotion. 

After a long silence, he sorted out the fluctuating emotions in his heart and picked up the memorial. "I came here today to report to His Highness the Suzhou family massacre." He didn't expect to encounter the scene in Qinghe Courtyard, nor did he expect to meet her again. 

Fu Huaiqing raised his eyes slightly and put down the pen in his hand. 

"I secretly left Beijing for Suzhou some time ago. Not many people in Suzhou still remember the Bian family. In order to avoid being found later, most of the people living near the Bian family have moved away from here." 

After searching for three days, he finally found the woman who almost became the wet nurse of the young girl of the Bian family. 

When the woman recalled the Bian family massacre, she still felt fortunate. If her mother-in-law had not suddenly become seriously ill and needed someone to take care of her, she would have entered the Bian family and become the wet nurse of the young girl of the Bian family. 

"It wasn't just the Bian family that was wiped out, but also the maids and guards of the Bian family." Qin Xiao had been in the Dali Temple for many years, and among the cases he had handled, there were very few such brutal cases of family annihilation. Even the maids and guards were not spared. "The woman mentioned that the Bian family had planned to leave Suzhou before they were wiped out. Later, she heard from others that the day after the annihilation was the day the Bian family planned to move out of Suzhou." 

The two wealthy businessmen involved in the Hezhou family annihilation case also planned to move out of Hezhou in the near future. 

Fu Huaiqing paused his fingertips that had been tapping the table from time to time, and asked thoughtfully, "What was the Xu family doing when the Bian family was planning to move out?" 

He suddenly mentioned the Xu family, and Qin Xiao was stunned for a moment. In an instant, he understood the meaning of his words and frowned. 

Su Ci, speechless for a long time, dropped the teacup in his hand and, with fixed eyes, said, "The relationship between the Xu and Bian families isn't bad." 

Before Xu Wenche arrived in Beijing, those in the capital who had received the news had already inquired thoroughly about the Xu family's past deeds. They weren't close, let alone a good relationship. 

It was normal for businesspeople to occasionally clash with each other's businesses, especially since both the Xu and Bian families had become extremely wealthy. However, the reason they had never clashed in business was largely because they privately exchanged what they had. If it weren't for the Bian family's sudden tragedy, Xu Wenche and the Bian children of the same age would have naturally crossed paths. 

"Two months before and after the incident at the Bian family, everything was normal at the Xu family." Fu Huaiqing glanced at the two of them, "The more normal it is, the more abnormal it seems." 

Qin Xiao's eyes darkened a little, knowing that Fu Huaiqing was right, "The Bian family was wiped out and looted by bandits, everyone should be in danger, and the Xu family..." 

The Xu family did nothing, just as usual. 

"One hundred and twenty-seven people in the entire Bian family were killed." Fu Huaiqing's face was as cold as winter, "Anyone would be worried, let alone--" "More than 

that." Qin Xiao suddenly remembered another thing, and the doubts lingering in his mind suddenly became clear. He quickly interrupted him and said, "According to what the woman said, there are probably more than one hundred and twenty-seven people in the Bian family." 

Fu Huaiqing was silent for half a breath, "Are there any survivors?" 

"Possibly." Qin Xiao said. 

Fu Huaiqing stood up, his eyes solemnly fixed on Qin Xiao, who was lost in thought. "What's the probability?" 

A man's gloomy, cold voice echoed in his ears, and Qin Xiao suddenly came back to his senses. His eyes flickered, and he said, "Half." 

He was only guessing at this point. Whether it was the files or the registered population of the Bian family, they all showed 127 people, not one more, not one less. He just had to see if there were other people who were not registered, such as the wet nurse of the Bian family's young daughter. 

"According to what the woman said, the wet nurse signed a contract, not an indenture," Qin Xiao stated calmly. "If it was a contract, it naturally wouldn't be registered under the Bian family's name. Whether it was a contract, or the Bian family's registered roster with the provincial government, there were 127 people. There must be a loophole." 

However, even if the wet nurse was indeed still alive, she had not appeared in the years since then, presumably because she didn't want to be involved in the Bian family's affairs and deliberately hid herself. 

"I've already sent people to Suzhou to investigate. Your focus should be on Hezhou," Fu Huaiqing said. The Suzhou incident was unusual. The Dali Temple's attempts to uncover information from the surface were as futile as searching for a needle in a haystack. Digging deeper wouldn't reveal much. 

Qin Xiao understood what he meant. The physical evidence currently on the table wasn't enough to prove a cover-up in the Suzhou massacre. Even if the Dali Temple dug deep into the case, nearly twenty years later, they wouldn't necessarily find evidence to overturn the verdict.

Since an open attack wouldn't work, they had to go covert.

"All signs in Hezhou indicate a deliberate assassination attempt using the same tactics as in the Suzhou massacre," Qin Xiao said, his brows furrowed slightly. "Their methods don't seem like those of bandits."

"Either someone has copied the Suzhou massacre, or—" Su Ci paused, his gaze growing increasingly serious as he cast his gaze towards the figure behind the desk. "It must be the same group of people."

Fu Huaiqing stared at him expressionlessly, then hummed softly.

Silence fell upon the study once again.

After a moment's contemplation, Qin Xiao bowed and said, "I intend to return to the Dali Temple to investigate the connection."

Fu Huaiqing nodded.

With his approval, Qin Xiao took two or three steps back. As he turned to leave, his eyes suddenly caught the inquiring gaze of the young emperor. The young emperor had returned to the academy without him noticing, and was gazing at them intently. He calmly bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty."

Fu Huaiqing's eyes shifted slightly.

As early as when Qin Xiao mentioned that everyone should be in danger, he had seen Fu Mingzhan lingering in the academy, looking anxious and eager, yet also a little hesitant. However, seeing that they were still discussing business, he did not rush in.

It was obvious that his anxiety had nothing to do with the affairs of the court.

Fu Mingzhan, who had been waiting for a long time, saw that they had finally finished their discussion. He walked in quickly, his childish voice tinged with worry, "My sister is here."

Hearing this, Fu Huaiqing was startled.

He frowned slightly, "She's there."

Fu Mingzhan hesitated for a moment, then glanced back at Qinghe Courtyard on the side of the academy, and thought of the girl he had just met again, and said, "Qinghe Courtyard." After a pause, he added, "On the wall."

Fu Shuning came in by climbing over the wall. Biezhi, who

was practicing sword in the courtyard, caught a glimpse of the strange figure who suddenly broke in, and subconsciously rushed forward with his sword. If the secret guard had not stopped him in time, the blade would have been against the throat of the newcomer.

For a moment, the two stared at each other.

It was the first time that Fu Shuning saw the figure of the girl in the Prince Su's Mansion. She was stunned and stood on the wall, forgetting to climb down.

She had not planned to come to Qinghe Courtyard, but to go directly to the academy. However, in order to give her brother a surprise, she specially asked the secret guards to capture all the patrolling guards in the places she expected to pass by before coming.

Unexpectedly, a secret guard soon arrived to report that all the guards in other areas had been apprehended. Even the doors leading to Qinghe Courtyard were locked, leaving only the archway at the entrance open. Most of the guards at the archway were secret guards from His Royal Highness Su Wang's side, and they dared not act rashly.

Fu Shuning, vaguely sensing something was amiss, had a sudden realization: something so mysterious must be a mystery.

She had scaled at least eight out of ten walls, and each time, Fu Huaiqing had caught her red-handed. She was already trembling, fearing he'd catch her again.

But she hadn't expected that this time, instead of him, she'd be caught by a young woman.

The moment her sword was blocked by a secret guard, Biezhi realized something was amiss.

She lowered her gaze slightly and quickly glanced over the wall.

No one was outside. Anyone

who could mobilize the guards of Su Wang's palace must be no ordinary person.

She glanced thoughtfully at the woman who hadn't come back to her senses for a long time. A hint of suspicion flashed across her slightly narrowed almond-shaped eyes. After a moment's stare, she looked out the wall again.

If you don't try now, when will you?