"Grand Heir, my lady requests your presence."
Normally, upon hearing such an invitation, William Wang Jinling would gently decline, preserving dignity for both sides and giving the other party an easy way out. But tonight...
William Wang Jinling was disgusted by Old Matriarch Zhan's conduct. Hearing the servant’s words, he showed no courtesy at all and directly asked, "Who is your young lady?"
This was already a refusal, but the maid didn’t understand; thinking the Grand Heir hadn’t recognized her, she softly replied, "Grand Heir, I am Miss Yana Zhan’s chief maid."
After speaking, she couldn’t help sneaking a glance at William Wang Jinling, her face full of admiration. A cold light flashed in William’s eyes as he smiled, "A maid of House Zhan’s young lady? You’re bold, daring to falsely deliver your mistress’s orders. Your young lady is a well-bred lady, thoroughly educated and proper—how could she possibly invite an unrelated man for a midnight meeting while mourning her father? Have you taken someone’s bribe to ruin your mistress’s reputation?"
"N-no, I..."
The maid tried to explain in a panic, but William Wang Jinling interrupted, "Enough. Since you’re from House Zhan, I’ll let it go this time. If it happens again, I’ll send you before Madam Zhan and see how House Zhan trains its servants."
Even with servants, William Wang Jinling was usually courteous and gentle, rarely speaking so harshly. The maid’s face flushed red, feeling utterly humiliated before the Grand Heir. With a thud, she knelt down and begged forgiveness repeatedly.
William Wang Jinling didn’t bother with her, simply walked past. The maid knelt on the ground for a long time, her eyes swollen from crying, then resentfully wiped her tears and returned to Yana Zhan’s courtyard.
Feeling that she’d made Yana Zhan lose face before William Wang Jinling, the maid was upset. She repeated William’s words verbatim. Hearing what he’d said, Yana collapsed onto her bed and cried bitterly.
She truly had no other intentions in seeking out William Wang Jinling. She knew what had happened in Old Matriarch Zhan’s courtyard during the day, but couldn’t learn the full details. Now, without her father’s protection, she was anxious about trouble brewing. Inviting William was simply to ask about this matter, but she never expected him to misunderstand.
No matter how heartbroken Yana Zhan was, William Wang Jinling refused to get involved. He himself was frustrated, pacing outside under the moonlight, but the more he walked, the heavier he felt. He considered going to Serena Feng, but seeing the late hour and remembering how he’d scolded the maid, he could only return to his own room.
William Wang Jinling tossed and turned, eyes wide open, unable to sleep at all. Meanwhile, Ninth Royal Uncle also stayed up all night, busy in his study until dawn.
When Ninth Royal Uncle finally finished arranging everything and wanted to have breakfast with Serena Feng—and apologize—the dark guard arrived with a report: "Your Highness, the day before entering Eastlyn, Princess Vivian met with Master Wenyuan and handed him a letter. The contents are unknown, and the letter has disappeared."
"Mm. What about Princess Vivian’s maid?" Ninth Royal Uncle knew breakfast was out of the question, so he sat down, rubbed his aching brow, and continued his questioning.
"Princess Vivian has a maid named Mo Shen. We’ve tried several times and discovered she knows martial arts, though she hides it well and appears completely ordinary."
"Has she done anything unusual lately?" William Wang Jinling may not like Ninth Royal Uncle, but Nolan knew William wouldn’t bring this up for no reason.
"She’s been well-behaved recently, but while you were visiting Miss Feng, Mo Shen went out and bought some odds and ends in the city."
A princess’s maid shouldn’t need to shop in person—clearly something was off, though at the time no one thought much of it since she wasn’t the only maid who went out.
"Keep an eye on her." Ninth Royal Uncle didn’t want to alert her yet; such a minor player wasn’t worth his attention.
"Yes, Your Highness." The dark guard nodded, then brought up another matter: "We’ve found traces of personal guard cavalry about a hundred li outside the border."
"Personal guards? Can you tell whose they are?" Lately, all sorts of forces have gathered outside the border, but none have sent such obvious personal cavalry. Clearly, they weren’t here for Master Wenyuan.
"They seem to belong to Prince Rowan. If my information is correct, they’re here to receive Princess Vivian—apparently at the Empress’s command." The dark guard reported quietly.
"Prince Rowan? Looks like Princess Vivian is quite something, managing to get in with the Empress herself." Ninth Royal Uncle tapped the table, a cryptic smile appearing on his face. After a moment’s thought, he ordered, "Go, leak a message to House Zhan: the person who collaborated with a Deputy Palace Master of Jixia Academy to dig up House Zhan’s secret and drive Master Wenyuan to his death was Nanling Jinfan. Nanling Jinfan is now paralyzed and hiding in Night City. Also, hand the remaining living witnesses over to William Wang Jinling."
In this, Ninth Royal Uncle wasn’t fabricating anything—it really was Nanling Jinfan who exposed House Zhan’s secret. Nolan hadn’t wanted to waste time dealing with him, but now...
He decided to borrow House Zhan’s hand. For the sake of reputation and status, House Zhan would do whatever it took—even kill Nanling Jinfan—to erase the secret.
"Understood." The dark guard replied, and seeing that Ninth Royal Uncle had no further instructions, quietly withdrew.
Ninth Royal Uncle returned to his desk, picked up his brush, and wrote the Empress’s and Princess Vivian’s names on paper, placing them far apart. He drew a line connecting the two.
What could possibly link these two women together?
After thinking it over, Ninth Royal Uncle settled on Nanling Jinfan as the likely connection.
Nanling Jinfan may be a cripple now, but after so many years in Southlyn, he surely has hidden forces. He must have entrusted something to Princess Vivian—something that tempted the Empress and Prince Rowan.
So the Empress sent people to fetch Princess Vivian. That way, even if Vivian’s role is exposed, Nolan won’t be able to touch her.
"Princess Vivian really is clever." Ninth Royal Uncle circled her name and marked it with an X.
Then, Ninth Royal Uncle wrote out the names of Nanling Jinfan, Ye Yale, and others, one by one. Once he was absorbed in work, he lost track of time and didn’t leave his study at all.
Serena Feng kept replaying Ninth Royal Uncle’s strange behavior in her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him flinging her away. Unable to sleep, she got up at dawn.
Staring at the gray sky, a sudden impulse struck Serena Feng. She asked for a ladder to be brought up—she wanted to watch the sunrise from the roof. Coincidentally, she ran into William Wang Jinling, who was also up early.
William Wang Jinling wasn’t interested in watching the sunrise, but when Serena Feng invited him, he agreed readily.
The two sat on the roof, with their guards below—safe enough.
"What made you want to watch the sunrise from the roof?" William Wang Jinling didn’t care about dirty tiles, and sat beside Serena Feng, keeping a respectful distance.
"There are things I can’t figure out, so I came to see the sunrise—hoping it might give me a good idea." Serena Feng had thought for a long time, but still couldn’t understand that fleeting look of disgust in Ninth Royal Uncle’s eyes.
She wanted to tell herself Ninth Royal Uncle had just lost focus and made a mistake, but deep down, a voice insisted it couldn’t be that simple. Nolan wasn’t born to hate women.
Something must have happened to Ninth Royal Uncle...