The Prince of Commandery, Zhou Weiqi, closed the window and sat down, sneering as he watched Han Zhi standing in thought by the door. "Weren't you supposed to go see Lai Chenglong and find a solution? Yet here you are, scheming against a child..."

  Clearly, he hadn't taken Zhou Weiqi's affairs seriously. In this critical situation, instead of focusing on what mattered, Han Zhi had dredged up old grievances, angering the Song family. If he hadn't overheard Ye Jingchuan mention something when he visited Princess Rongcheng's residence, or if he hadn't received that letter, Song Chuyi and Song Yan might have actually been killed by Han Zhi's reckless actions today.

  If that had happened, the Tongzhou magistrate's forces would have surrounded this gambling den immediately. Today, coincidentally, was also the monthly day for settling accounts. If the books were confiscated, investigators would quickly discover rge monthly dividends deposited into the Zhenghe Bank. Tracing that account would reveal...

  The connections were so obvious that even a child could understand them, let alone someone as experienced as Han Zhi. It was clear he hadn't been working sincerely for Zhou Weiqi's benefit. Han Zhi had never acted this way before, and Zhou Weiqi looked at his cousin with a mixture of frustration and disillusionment.

  "Cousin, is it because of Yueheng that you've grown resentful of us?" Zhou Weiqi watched Han Zhi's gaze shift slightly, perhaps moved, and shook his head bitterly. "Mother and I did all we could. It's not like we were sitting by, waiting to watch Yueheng's misfortune. We simply had no means to intervene... Even Uncle wrote back, urging us to understand his position. Why can't you see that?"

  Since Han Zhi had been sent away for treatment when he was young, his retionship with Lady Fan and Han Yueheng had always been tenuous. Yet, now it seemed he was fixated on this issue, unable to let go.

  Guanshan's voice came from outside. "After traveling a distance, Sixth Miss Song's carriage was greeted by the wife of Magistrate He of Tongzhou... I also heard that the Second Young Master of the Ye family accompanied the eldest son of the Song family to Tongzhou, and they're staying at the Song family's estate in Douge Vilge."

  Han Zhi's eyebrows raised slightly. He had assumed Song Chuyi would be frazzled and at a loss upon encountering Song Yan's predicament—after all, he'd seen her fall apart over Jiang Yuan in the past. But he hadn't expected that she'd set an eborate trap, waiting for him to step into it.

  She'd prepared her connections with the Tongzhou magistrate in advance to counter him and even roped in the Ye family. Otherwise, why would Zhou Weiqi be here at all? Not only that, she hadn't kept her elders in the dark—someone of her skills alone couldn't have summoned the Tongzhou magistrate. It must have been Song Jue's doing.

  Zhou Weiqi's mocking ughter broke the silence. "Cousin, you were so blinded by rage that you were outsmarted by a young girl."

  Yes, he had acted out of rage and had lost control. His pns had crumbled, he had alienated the Song family, and he'd also driven a wedge between himself and Zhou Weiqi. He would no longer be the trusted nephew or cousin they once saw him as; he had sabotaged Consort Fan and Zhou Weiqi's strategy. They were trying to court favor with the Song and Cui families, yet here he was, creating enemies at the worst possible time. Everyone knew the Han family was Consort Fan's weapon.

  When Han Zhi remained silent, Zhou Weiqi's patience finally snapped. "Well? Are you not going to expin yourself?"

  Expin himself? What expnation was there? No matter what he said, the distrust had already taken root in Zhou Weiqi's heart. Han Zhi chuckled. "You said it was impossible to intervene with Yueheng's case. Was it really impossible, or did you intervene too forcefully?"

  Qian Ying, who had been standing nearby, flinched slightly and gnced at Han Zhi before lowering his head once more.

  Round and round, they always came back to the matter of Han Yueheng. Han Zhi was clearly unable to let it go. Zhou Weiqi sneered. He might pity Han Yueheng, but in his mind, the Han family was meant to make sacrifices for them. He felt this matter should have been resolved by now, yet Han Zhi continued to dwell on it.

  After all, Han Zhi and Han Yueheng were siblings by blood—blood is thicker than water. For Han Zhi to cim that he'd done everything for Zhou Weiqi's sake now seemed ughable.

  Zhou Weiqi raised his eyebrows and ordered Qian Ying, "Go tally the accounts. Gather up all the records and take them out."

  He no longer trusted these documents in Han Zhi's hands. Who knew what rash decisions Han Zhi might make in his next fit of anger, disregarding their interests entirely?

  Seeing this attempt to sever ties so cleanly—perhaps fearing the Song family's reprisal—Han Zhi sneered. "No need to rush, Your Highness. How could our accounts be so easily sorted? Once you're done here, what about the ones in the northwest? In Yangzhou? Clearing everything could take seven or eight years."

  Zhou Weiqi gred at him. "Is this all because of my cousin?! I already expined—"

  "Why don't you go and ask your mother, Your Highness? Ask her about that Nanny Qi who's been with Yueheng. Why not ask her why, just when the Han family was figuring things out, she sent someone to the Imperial Observatory to push for a date to be set?" Han Zhi raised his voice, looking at Zhou Weiqi. "It was Aunt who was the first to act unkindly towards us, the first to betray our alliance—not me."

  He couldn't get over it. He didn't understand why the aunt who had doted on him since childhood, treating him like her own, had suddenly changed. He used to think that no matter what happened, he would still have his aunt by his side. But one day, he suddenly realized the reality wasn't as he had imagined. Perhaps he was nothing more than a pawn in someone else's hand, and he felt a suffocating frustration that he couldn't release.

  Once cracks form, they're impossible to smooth out. Even if you pour in ten times the effort to repair them, they can never be restored to their original state. Trust, once lost, is lost forever.

  Just a month ago, they had been working together, discussing through the night how to handle matters in the Northwest and clean up their tracks more thoroughly. But now, a deep chasm had formed between the Han family and what was once a united front.

  Should he bme his mother, the consort, for her obstinacy, or Han Zhi for making such a big deal out of it?

  Zhou Weiqi was at a loss for words. He pursed his lips, gnced at Han Zhi, then stormed out, smming the door as he strode away.