Xie Queshan hadn’t slept all night either.
An informant from the back mountain came under cover of darkness, reporting that from the conversation between Xie Sui’an and Prince Ling’an, they learned that the Bingzhu Bureau had a new leader.
That person must be Song Muchuan—he had indeed chosen to stand on the side that would draw swords against him.
The reason he had suddenly allowed Xie Sui’an to go to the back mountain was to verify his suspicions about Song Muchuan. He hadn’t expected Prince Ling’an to speak carelessly and bring up Pang Yu’s matter.
The more she hated him, the more at ease the Qi people would be with him. Harmony within the Xie household wasn’t what the Qi people wanted to see.
He thought his earlier interrogation should have alerted Xie Xiaoliu. She needed to know that if today she had first encountered not him, but a spy planted from outside, Prince Ling’an’s hiding place might very well have been exposed.
He wondered how far Xie Xiaoliu, with her temperament that showed every emotion on her face, could go on this path.
Fortunately, Nanyi was clever. This thought suddenly emerged in his mind.
Initially, she was just a chess piece he occasionally used to break deadlocks, but over time, they had developed a certain understanding. She was an excellent piece—so good that… he had even developed a trace of dependence on her.
His mind was filled with countless thoughts. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting when he heard birds chirping outside the window and realized dawn had come.
He pushed open the window to air out the stale atmosphere that had accumulated overnight, only to discover someone standing outside.
That person had apparently been hesitating for a while—frost clung to her hair. She was about to leave when the sound of the window opening made her look up.
The night’s darkness still lingered in her eyes. Her eyes were clean as if holding a drop of clear dew, and that insignificant drop seemed to roll down and land right on his heart, creating a circle of shallow ripples.
He felt inexplicably pleased.
But his face remained impassive as he looked at her, waiting for her to speak.
After hesitating, she asked: “You won’t harm Song Muchuan, will you?”
The ink-dark color in Xie Queshan’s eyes churned, but she couldn’t read his emotions. The warmth from inside the room drifted out through the window, confusing one’s senses.
He suddenly smiled. When he smiled, he was very handsome—like glaciers melting, dead trees meeting spring. The radiance of youth occasionally bloomed on this usually calculating face.
But his words were extremely cold: “I gave him a chance, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Nanyi was stunned, forgetting to blink.
He genuinely felt some anger, though this anger came inexplicably.
Song Muchuan, Pang Yu, Xie Xiaoliu, Third Uncle, even Second Sister… all these people closely connected to him, she was entangled with them all. He had too many secret moments he shouldn’t let her see. He had tacitly allowed these moments to exist, allowed her to quietly observe, but he wouldn’t permit her to show pity, wouldn’t permit her to interfere.
What path he walked, how he treated those around him—how dare she, and from what position, question him about this?
What relationship did she have with Song Muchuan that made her bold enough to ask him such a question?
He tilted his head, his lips still holding that smile: “He insists on opposing me—what can I do? I won’t kill him, but I’ll make him suffer every humiliation under the Qi people’s hands. He’ll be unable to live, unable to die. I’ll break his backbone inch by inch, and everything he cares about, I’ll destroy piece by piece…”
Nanyi stood there stunned.
He was so terrible.
She didn’t want to hear him speak at all. Nanyi turned and walked away—she didn’t know where she got such audacity.
Xie Queshan’s words stopped abruptly, forcibly swallowing the rest of his sentence—had she just given him the cold shoulder?
Was she crazy or was he crazy?
He opened his mouth, wanting to shout and call her back. But wouldn’t that show he cared too much, putting him at a disadvantage?
His mind went blank for a moment as he stared at her retreating figure, suddenly noticing that this girl who used to walk while looking around suspiciously had somehow straightened her spine and now walked so properly.
She crouched down, seemingly fiddling with something, then turned back angrily and fiercely threw a snowball at him.
He was so surprised he forgot to dodge.
Her snowball was both accurate and vicious, hitting him square in the face with a mess.
After a few seconds of silence, Xie Queshan gritted his teeth and wiped his face. The crushed snow smeared across his features, making him look like a little old man.
Under snow-white eyebrows were a pair of startlingly bright eyes that seemed to drown even the morning light.
Undisguised killing intent rose around him.
Nanyi met his gaze defiantly, but her momentum was crushed by his overwhelming presence wave after wave until her legs felt weak, and she belatedly panicked.
She blinked and ran.
He jumped directly through the window to chase her.
Xie Queshan grabbed Nanyi by the collar like lifting a small chicken, casually scooped up a handful of snow and stuffed it down the back of her neck.
“You ungrateful thing! Who let you live? You’re hitting me for an outsider?”
He was usually very refined and rarely cursed so plainly—he must be truly furious.
Nanyi screamed as the snow down her back chilled her to the bone. She didn’t know where she found the strength to break free, instinctively pushing him away and bending down to grab a handful of snow, squeezing it in her palm before throwing it at him.
“Xie Queshan, you’re the ungrateful dog! How have your family and friends wronged you! Everyone has sad past events! Only you’re being dramatic! Only you want revenge on everyone!”
When it came to unleashing verbal abuse, Nanyi, this little street ruffian, had never lost to anyone.
“Oh, so you also want me to take revenge on you?” He laughed in anger, using his height advantage to grab snow from tree branches, rolling it in his palm into a solid snowball. “A lowly life is still a lowly life—good food and drink can’t shut your mouth.”
He swung his arm to throw, and Nanyi immediately dodged, only to be hit squarely on the head by another snowball as everything went white—she realized his first move had been a feint.
Her hair bun was knocked loose, snow covering her entire body. There wasn’t much point in dodging anymore.