Guanshan was visibly anxious, scratching his head as he approached Han Zhi after the Prince of Commandery had left. "Young Master, we don't have any retionship with that Commander, so how could you just say you'd take care of it? I heard that this Commander suffered a lot because of Master Xu and Master Jia, so he's probably going to go all out against them this time. Anyone who tries to plead on their behalf is likely to be rejected..." There was one thing he held back from saying, though: neither the Prince of Commandery nor Consort Fan had cared at all about helping Miss Song with her marriage alliance, so why should the Han family risk everything for people like them?

  Han Zhi ignored him, quietly sitting by the south-facing window for a while before suddenly asking, "Have we had time to keep an eye on that young master from the Song family these past few days? Is he still coming by every day as promised?"

  "He is! He's been showing up right on time every day, as if he's afraid we'll leave him out. I also heard he's been spending vishly, hiring experts in cockfighting and cricket fighting. In just a few days, he's spent nearly seven thousand taels of silver!" Guanshan clicked his tongue, rubbing his chin with a mischievous look. "I never would have guessed the Marquis of Changning's household would give someone so young this much money to burn."

  At this age, noble youths with little life experience are the easiest to manipute. They're curious about everything, love pying the hero, and can easily be swayed by a gambler with a tragic backstory. Gradually, Song Yan was falling deeper into the trap Han Zhi had id, without realizing it. Right now, he was only using his own money, but soon he'd start asking his family for more, and eventually, when that failed, he'd begin borrowing from friends and acquaintances. Sooner or ter, he'd come to Han Zhi for a loan. Han Zhi smirked. "If he loses again today, tell him you'll chop off one of his friend's hands unless he signs a promissory note for five thousand taels."

  With that promissory note, Song Yan's life would be in Han Zhi's hands. All he'd need to do was send it to Tang Mingzhao in Shuzhong, a renowned Confucian schor. Once Tang Mingzhao disowned Song Yan, what future could he possibly have?

  Surprised by the accelerated pace, Guanshan hesitated, "Isn't this moving a bit too fast? It doesn't match our original pn."

  Pns can't keep up with changing circumstances. Originally, Han Zhi's intention had been to ruin Song Yan's reputation, casting a shadow over Song Chuyi's life forever. But now he'd changed his mind. He had countless ways to deal with Song Chuyi; what he wanted now was to create a new challenge for her.

  "No, just do as I say. Once you have his signed promissory note, find a way to get it to Sixth Miss Song. She'll know what to do." Han Zhi's expression turned dark and menacing. "Also, deal with Zhang Run and Wei Yanxi."

  Guanshan froze, unsure what Han Zhi meant by "deal with." Hesitantly, he gestured as if slicing his neck.

  In truth, Guanshan had always thought it was a terrible idea for Han Zhi to keep Zhang Run around after saving him—if anyone discovered he was hiding a criminal, it would mean death. If anyone with ulterior motives found out, it could be used against him. Even the Prince of Commandery and Consort Fan would find it troublesome if they knew.

  But after all this time, Guanshan had begun to notice some clues, realizing that Han Zhi seemed to have an unusual tolerance for Young Master Zhang—anyone else in his position would have been dead ten times over, yet Han Zhi had let him live.

  Han Zhi sat in silence for a while before finally saying, "Send them to the estate in Jiangsu. I need time to think this over."

  This was the first time Han Zhi had ever needed to stop and consider someone's fate. Guanshan, sensing the seriousness of the situation, didn't dare ask more and left immediately, braving the cold night.

  As expected, by noon the next day, Song Chuyi received a letter from Lai Chenglong's messenger. The letter informed her that Song Yan had been spending rge sums of money to find expert gamblers. Several gambling houses in the capital were owned by the Marquis of Jinxiang, whose true master was Han Zhi. Unless something unexpected happened, Song Yan had likely been led into an underground gambling den and wouldn't be able to escape easily.

  The letter y quietly on the bck cquered table. The plum blossoms in the gss vase above it continued to release their fragrance, but Song Chuyi felt as if the blood in her body had suddenly frozen. She abruptly stood up, clenching her fists.

  Han Zhi truly wanted to destroy her—he must have learned from Song Chuning that Song Yan was the most important person to her, and now he'd targeted Song Yan. Worse, he'd lured him into gambling, fully aware that gambling was despised by both Tang Mingzhao and the Song family, with their strict adherence to family honor. This move was calcuted to ruin Song Yan and, through him, destroy her.

  Ziyun, noticing her tense expression after reading the letter, instinctively stepped forward and asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"

  Song Chuyi snapped back to her senses and called Qingying over. "Instruct Luo Gui to find Ma Changjiang and Ma San immediately. Tell them to keep a close watch on that estate in Tongzhou. If there's any unusual movement, they are to report back to me at once. Make sure they understand not to act rashly—if anything happens there, they must report back before taking any action."

  Qingying, sensing the urgency, didn't dare ask any questions and quickly headed to the west corner gate to send someone to locate Luo Gui.

  After thinking it over, Song Chuyi realized that the reason for Han Zhi's sudden attack on Song Yan likely stemmed from the incident at Chongyin Tavern. Back then, she'd thought Han Zhi's appearance was strange and unexpected. Now, it seemed he must have started suspecting Zhang Run's involvement with others around that time. Zhang Run ter assured her that Han Zhi hadn't noticed anything, even arranging a second meeting with her... In hindsight, it was likely that Han Zhi had purposely allowed that meeting.

  Closing her eyes, a flood of thoughts raced through her mind, but she pushed them all down. Her gaze fixed on the st line of the letter for a long moment before she finally exhaled and instructed Ziyun, "Go to the Chuzhou Pavilion. If Fourth Young Master is there, tell him to come see me immediately. If he's not, inform Yushu to send word when he returns."

  To know herself and her enemy was the only way to emerge victorious. She needed to understand the full extent of Song Yan's entanglement to decide what steps to take next.