"Miss Zhong."
As Zhong Li finished her analysis, Wei Fu looked up and met her gaze. "I wasn't mistaken about you; you indeed discovered the problem."
"Speak!" Zhong Li had no patience for pleasantries with Wei Fu. She stepped forward and said sternly, "Who ordered you to do this, and what is your objective?"
Wei Fu glanced at Zhong Li indifferently. "Miss Zhong, may I ask you a question?"
Zhong Li's delicate eyebrows furrowed.
"What is your relationship with the Young Master? This case is solved, and you've obtained the position you desired. Why do you continue to investigate?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li looked deeply at Wei Fu, analyzing her words. Suddenly, she understood. "Wei Fu, your desire for Joyful Pavilion was merely incidental, a pretense for the Dali Temple. For whom are you truly working behind the scenes?"
"Hahaha!" Wei Fu burst into laughter at the question. She looked at Zhong Li with a hint of admiration. "I told that person you weren't simple, but she never believed me. See, with just one sentence, Miss Zhong figured it out."
"Stop the nonsense and get to the point!" Zhong Li scoffed.
"Yes, that's right." Wei Fu took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said, "Yuan Shang's death in the Young Master's room was all my doing. There was no choice; that person gave the order. Even with the Young Master's patronage at Joyful Pavilion, it was useless."
"Lu Wuxie is just a dissolute noble. Why are you all so calculating?" Zhong Li asked.
Wei Fu shrugged. "How could people like us be qualified to know what's happening above? We just need to follow orders."
"Wei Fu!" Zhong Li knew that despite Wei Fu's beauty, her lips were quite tight-lipped. All Zhong Li could do was appeal to her emotions and reason to pry information out of her. "You're still in the prime of your youth. Why are you ruining yourself like this? Wouldn't it be better to continue as a renowned performer at Joyful Pavilion?"
"Heh heh." Wei Fu chuckled again upon hearing this. Her complexion was already pale, and her current appearance was far from the charming beauty she once was at Joyful Pavilion. Instead, she exuded an eerie, ghastly aura. "Miss Zhong, I, too, wish for an ordinary life. I wish to be a renowned performer at Joyful Pavilion, carefree. But..."
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly reddened. "I have my attachments, and I have my helplessness. I know the answer you seek, but can you give me what I desire?"
"You want to leave..." Zhong Li gazed steadily at Wei Fu. She had expected to see a yearning for life in her eyes, but instead, she saw a lifeless grayness. She knew she had guessed wrong and didn't continue.
"Miss Zhong, you cannot give me what I want. Please leave. I don't want my enemies to see me in such a disheveled state." Wei Fu shook her head and lowered her gaze again, clearly unwilling to communicate further with Zhong Li.
Zhong Li sighed softly, not intending to press further. She turned and walked out of the Disciplinary Chamber.
Lu Wuxie was still standing there, waiting for her.
When the door opened, he turned his gaze to her dejected face. He knew Wei Fu had said nothing.
"Let's go." Lu Wuxie took the oil lamp from her hand, naturally pulled her slightly cold fingertips, and walked outside.
Zhong Li had expected to feel fearful upon leaving, but with Lu Wuxie's reassurance, she surprisingly felt no fear or nervousness, unlike when she had entered the water dungeon earlier.
As they were about to exit the water dungeon, she suddenly looked up and met the gaze of the man beside her. "Young Master, Li'er has something she wishes to ask of you."
Lu Wuxie turned his gaze to her.
"After Wei Fu dies, I want to examine her body."
-------------------------------------
With a crisp "crash," inside Prince Xian's manor, Xie Yunxi trembled as she looked at the secret letter in her hand. Angrily, she swept the cups in front of her, shattering the purple clay tea set.
Xing'er quickly picked up the broken pieces from the floor.
As she was about to put the last piece into her own pocket, Xie Yunxi suddenly lifted her foot and stomped on the woman's hand.
"Ooh!" Xing'er cried out in pain. Then, realizing something, she bit her lip and remained silent.
"Xing'er!" Xie Yunxi crouched down, her fingertip hooking onto the peerless face of the kneeling woman. "Even if such dirty water was splashed on Lu Wuxie, he could wash it off. Tell me, isn't that strange?"
Xing'er looked at the hand being stepped on by Xie Yunxi. Bright red blood flowed from her foot onto the floor and slowly seeped into the cracks between the bricks.
She shook her head, enduring the pain, and replied, "My Princess, this servant knows nothing about this. Didn't the Dali Temple solve the case?"
"Yes, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. It's all that Zhong Li's fault for ruining my plans. I should have found a way to get rid of her when she was at the manor!" Xie Yunxi said, her eyes filled with ferocity.
Immediately after, she frowned, stared at Xing'er, and pressed down harder with her foot.
Cold sweat broke out on Xing'er's forehead.
"Could it be that you were the informant, stirring up trouble?" Xie Yunxi asked.
Xing'er was startled and quickly kowtowed. "Your Highness, please see clearly. Xing'er has served you for many years and has always been loyal. How could I do anything to betray you at this critical juncture?"
"Really?" Xie Yunxi asked.
Xing'er nodded repeatedly, not daring to be vague.
Xie Yunxi looked deeply at Xing'er for a while before finally lifting her foot and sitting by the rosewood table.
Released, Xing'er first placed the bloody fragments into the gathered cloth at her chest before quickly curling her hand and hiding it under her sleeve.
Xie Yunxi sneered at her action. "A bastard is a bastard; even their movements are so vulgar."
Xing'er lowered her eyes and remained silent. Xie Yunxi walked to the desk, picked up a brush, and wrote something. She emerged holding a letter. "You know where this needs to be sent. If you can't even handle this small matter, I'll send you to the mass grave!"
Upon hearing this, Xing'er quickly took it with her uninjured hand and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, Xing'er will accomplish it."
With that, Xing'er turned and hurried out of the room.
That night, at the Flying Kite Pavilion.
"Pavilion Master." A slender man in black close-fitting attire strode quickly to another man wearing a mask with fangs and cupped his fist.
The man with the fang mask turned, remaining silent.
The man in black quickly handed over the two secret letters.
The fang-masked man first opened the first one. After reading it, the corner of his mouth curved. "Zhong Li. Someone wants to investigate her identity."
"Pavilion Master, in your opinion..."
"Let Yinshuang handle this matter," the fang-masked man said.
"But Yinshuang is by that person's side," the man in black reminded him.
The fang-masked man remained silent and handed the other unopened letter to the man in black, allowing him to read it himself.
After opening and reading the contents, the man in black said, "Yinshuang has been exposed?"
"Since that person is suspicious, they will inevitably try to eliminate Yinshuang. Have her return. As for her subsequent matters, I will handle them."
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the man in black quickly exited the Flying Kite Pavilion.