Chapter 11 Reason “What a pity.”

Chapter 11: The Reason "What a shame."

To Xie Chi, being praised as a good person was the same as being called a fool, since both amounted to the same thing—letting the other party gain an advantage.

Especially when these words came from Zhong Yao, it was basically calling him a sucker.

Xie Chi wasn't in a great mood. He narrowed his eyes at Zhong Yao and said out of the blue, "News about your oldest and second-oldest brothers will reach the capital tonight."

The moment he said this, Zhong Yao's expression changed instantly, her eyes welling up with tears.

If they weren't separated, with one in the carriage and the other outside, Xie Chi was certain she would have rushed over, clutching his sleeve to wipe her tears.

"They're not dead," he said.

She managed to hold back the tears.

Xie Chi hadn't returned to the capital with the triumphant army because he'd stayed behind to deal with Xue Fang's matter.

Xue Fang was the grandson of an old friend of the Marquis of Yong'an. Both his parents had passed away, the family estate had ended up in the hands of his uncle, and he himself had grown up under harsh treatment.

Four years ago, when Xie Chi learned of this, he took the boy under his wing.

The young man was headstrong and proud. A few days ago, on the journey back to the capital with the army, Xue Fang left without permission, intending to return and settle scores with his uncle.

Xie Chi couldn't let him act impulsively. After arranging military affairs, he went out to find him. He did find him, rescued from the clutches of the Misty Mountain Bandits, along with two children, about seven or eight years old.

Who would have thought such young children were actually in cahoots with the Misty Mountain Bandits?

That was how Xie Chi walked into the ambush and encountered Zhong Yao.

After returning to the capital, Xie Chi's original plan was to accept an invitation to go to Misty Mountain, but he was delayed by the trouble with her family.

This matter was urgent, and to resolve it, the most important thing was to get to the bottom of it. Only the account from those directly involved themselves could be trusted. Therefore, they had to be found first.

Over the past few days, Xie Chi had sent people to Jiangzhou and Xujiang, and they had already uncovered some clues.

"Do you want the news about your oldest brother or your second brother first?"

Zhong Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "Eldest brother's."

At least in eldest brother's case, it could be blamed on the influence of alcohol. If word got out, the Chen family would share the Crown Prince's wrath. If First Miss Chen was willing to put in a good word for him, he might even keep his life.

Second brother's situation was worse. It was the serious crime of murder. Once confirmed, he was a dead man for sure.

Xie Chi nodded and said, "Then let's start with your second brother."

Zhong Yao shot him a look of deep resentment.

Xie Chi paid no mind at all and said, "The Xujiang Water Stronghold has been wiped out. The good news is that Xu Su's body was not found. The bad news is that your second brother, like him, is missing. No one knows if he's alive or dead."

Zhong Yao didn't know whether to feel relieved or worried. She was silent for a long moment, finally asking with a frown, "What about my second brother?"

"I killed him," Xie Chi said.

Zhong Yao gasped. "You killed my second brother... Wait, no, you're lying!"

Before she could finish, she realized Xie Chi was messing with her!

Because she had asked a stupid question.

Zhong Yao looked at Xie Chi reproachfully.

Xie Chi snorted in derision, in a slightly better mood, and then continued, "General Qin is still searching for the two in Xujiang, but the news certainly won't stay hidden. It will reach the capital in at most two days."

He really didn't want to hear Zhong Yao whine anymore, so he got straight to the point: "We can't find them right now. If you want to prevent Xu Guozhu and the Empress from coming after your family, the simplest method is to muddy the waters."

This was clearly beyond Zhong Yao. Xie Chi said irritably, seeing her confusion, "Both are missing. Why does it have to be that your second brother killed Xu Su and fled in fear of punishment? Why can't it be that he killed your second brother and fled?"

"..." Zhong Yao was speechless.

You can actually do that? Wasn't this shifting the blame?

But it would work.

If rumors spread that her second brother killed Xu Su, Xu Guozhu and the Empress could wipe out her entire family without a second thought. But the reverse? Her family couldn't do anything to those two.

Moreover, this way, to uncover the truth, they would send more people to search for second brother and Xu Su... Whether alive or dead, only by finding them would there be a chance to learn the truth!

While Zhong Yao was pondering this, Xie Chi had already moved on. He said, "Now, about your eldest brother. Your eldest brother has disappeared along with Minister Chen's eldest daughter and third son."

Zhong Yao's thoughts were instantly pulled back. She mulled over this sentence repeatedly, her eyes widening as she asked, "Did they... elope?"

Jiangzhou was at least half a month's journey from the capital. The family hadn't received any letters from eldest brother for a long time, and the people her parents sent hadn't returned.

Now that they had suddenly disappeared, the only thing Zhong Yao could think of was that her eldest brother and the future Crown Princess, not daring to face the Crown Prince, had eloped together.

Xie Chi: "...Would you elope with your lover and bring your younger brother along?"

Zhong Yao had no lover and would certainly never elope with anyone.

But now wasn't the time to get angry. She thought carefully for a moment and said, "Why not? Bring the younger brother along, make him work like an ox and a horse usually, and when you can't afford food, you can sell him for silver."

Xie Chi: "Then your eldest brother really missed out by not bringing you, his younger sister, along."

Zhong Yao angrily scrunched up her face.

Xie Chi was even angrier. Why did he bother responding to this girl's nonsense?

He rubbed his forehead and started over: "When a man and a woman disappear simultaneously, it's commonly assumed to be an elopement. But when three people disappear together, most ordinary people would think they were kidnapped by villains, not that they eloped."

Zhong Yao was taken aback, realizing she had thought the three had eloped because she already knew about her eldest brother and First Miss Chen's affair—she was prejudiced.

For others, hearing about the simultaneous disappearance of three people, they indeed wouldn't easily jump to that conclusion.

Realizing this, she hesitantly asked, "Are you saying either they were kidnapped by villains, or... the disappearance of Third Young Master Chen along with them was to prevent people from thinking it was an elopement... to protect First Miss Chen and my eldest brother's reputations?"

Xie Chi didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "Minister Chen has two daughters and one son. The three of them returned to their hometown to visit relatives, but only the second daughter returned safely—how is your relationship with the Minister's second daughter?"

Zhong Yao shook her head. "Not close."

"You can become close from now on," Xie Chi said. "Tonight, Second Miss Chen will arrive in the capital. The matter of the three's disappearance will no longer be a secret—don't start sniveling in front of me!"

The sudden reprimand made Zhong Yao hold back her tears.

Xie Chi withdrew his cold gaze and continued, "Even if Second Miss Chen knows about your eldest brother and First Miss Chen's affair, even if she tells Minister Chen, before meeting the parties involved themselves, they absolutely will not publicize the matter. The Crown Prince won't know."

If the Crown Prince doesn't know, the Zhong family is temporarily safe.

"What you need to do is get close to Second Miss Chen and find out more information from her," Xie Chi said.

As long as she could find her big brother, Zhong Yao was willing to do anything, but...

Zhong Yao was the one asking for a favor and dared not shed tears. After being snapped at by Xie Chi, she also found she couldn't really cry anymore.

She just felt wronged.

Lowering her head, she clutched her sleeve and mumbled, "My family's status is low, I'm afraid I won't be able to strike up a conversation with her..."

Xie Chi interrupted her, "Didn't I get you a little sister?"

Zhong Yao was taken aback for a moment. She turned slightly and saw the cold, beautiful little person beside her, whose eyes were practically shooting sparks—Xue Fang.

That's right. Her status was lowly, and she couldn't possibly converse with the daughter of Minister Chen's household. But a young lady from the Yong'an Marquis's household, even if she was only an adopted daughter, with Xie Chi backing her, no one would dare to slight her.

Zhong Yao's eyes lit up, and she quickly took a step closer to Xue Fang, offering him a smile.

The smile was full of flattery, yet it was sincere and bright. Even the mist of tears that had gathered in her eyes earlier upon hearing the bad news now looked as lovely as dewdrops on spring branches.

But neither of the two people before her liked it.

Xue Fang glared at her irritably.

Witnessing all this, Xie Chi tapped impatiently on the carriage window and said, "There will be plenty of time for you two to cultivate sisterly affection another day."

The sparks in Xue Fang's eyes instantly shifted direction, flying toward his sworn brother.

Only Zhong Yao remained as cheerful as ever.

After returning to the manor, she received proper care. Her wounds were healing well, but she couldn't move around too much. Madam Zhong was worried about her and arranged for many maids to accompany her.

When escorting Xue Fang out, Zhong Yao didn't allow the maids to come near. Now, after talking for so long, the maids were getting antsy but were stopped by the marquis manor's guards and couldn't approach.

Zhong Yao knew she should go back, but she still had many questions for Xie Chi—such as how to spread the rumor that Xu Su had killed her second brother, whether Minister Chen would keep the news quiet but still come to cause trouble, and so on.

She wanted to ask, but her reaction was slow, and Xie Chi beat her to it.

"Why didn't you tell your parents about my promise to help you?"

Zhong Yao hadn't expected him to ask this. She answered truthfully, "I thought since you had Xue Fang dress up as a girl to deceive my mother, you must not want them to know the truth, so I didn't say anything."

After speaking, she saw no reaction from Xie Chi. Through the carriage window, Zhong Yao couldn't clearly see his expression. After a moment's thought, she added, "You got involved in such trouble over that non-fatal stab. I should be thanking you. How could I disregard your wishes and reveal your secrets just to ease my own feelings?"

These words moved Xie Chi slightly.

But before he could speak, Zhong Yao's voice sounded again.

"Besides, you like to pretend to be a gentleman, so you must care a lot about your reputation. What if you don't want anyone to know you were injured, went blind, or relied on a girl like me who only knows how to cry?"

"..." Xie Chi's face instantly darkened.

"You're also particularly concerned about your reputation..." Zhong Yao didn't see it and continued muttering, "If I ruined your reputation, you'd definitely kill me..."

This remark referred to the incident in the cave where Xie Chi, wanting to repay her kindness, asked Zhong Yao to make a request, and she asked him to kiss her.

Because of this, Zhong Yao genuinely believed Xie Chi would mind being involved in ambiguous situations with a girl, which was why she hadn't told her parents.

She respected Xie Chi, but if possible, she didn't want to hide things from her parents either.

So, with a hint of hope, Zhong Yao asked, "Heir Xie, can I tell my parents the truth?"

Xie Chi stared at her for a moment and said, "I do hope you tell them."

Zhong Yao was overjoyed, but just as a smile began to brighten her eyes, Xie Chi added, "That way, I can use the excuse of not wanting to drag the entire manor into the disaster of rebellion and treason to cut off contact with you with gold and jewels."

After all, if she didn't tell, Xie Chi would merely be helping a helpless young lady from a deep boudoir. If she did tell, he would be helping a sixth-rank court official.

Zhong Yao never expected him to have such calculations and was momentarily speechless with shock.

"If your parents could use your reputation to force me to marry you, or threaten me to join them in a palace coup, that would be even better." Xie Chi looked at Zhong Yao and said slowly, "Only when threatened can I have sufficient reason to turn hostile, right?"

This was also the truth.

He had given Zhong Yao plenty of time, but unfortunately, she hadn't said anything.

Under Zhong Yao's stunned and fearful gaze, Xie Chi sighed regretfully and murmured, "What a pity."

Zhong Yao: "...!"