If according to Pei Qingyan’s words, if Chanu Hehuan Zong killed her mother, would she still stay in the sect for eighteen years, recognizing the killer as her father?

Pei Chuyun’s thoughts were momentarily lost, her mind a chaotic mess.

Her small hand was suddenly held in a warm palm. Lu Xingzhou calmly squeezed it. Pei Chuyun turned her head to look at him. Lu Xingzhou blinked his eyes, indicating for her not to panic.

Pei Chuyun’s heart immediately calmed down. No matter the specifics of this matter, Lu Xingzhou definitely had an analysis in mind. Now wasn’t the time to talk; she would discuss it thoroughly with him later.

Thinking of this, she also put on a smile, sighing softly and saying, “That’s a pity.”

Pei Qingyan looked at her with a complex tenderness in his eyes, as if a sealed memory in his heart was slightly stirred, yet it wasn’t the right occasion and he couldn’t express it. He had a hesitant expression several times, wanting to speak but holding back.

Pei Yu looked at his old father, then at “A Rou,” and his expression began to become strange.

Clearly, he had invited Lu Xingzhou to discuss the Huo family matter, so why did the focus seem wrong?

Could it be that his father really had a romantic past outside? An illegitimate daughter coming to their door?

“Cough.” Pei Yu finally cleared his throat, trying to steer the conversation back. “That, Brother Lu… The matter of Huo Heng colluding with the Infant Ghost will be tried by the officials soon. As a party involved, you may be summoned.”

Lu Xingzhou laughed and said, “Brother Pei invited me to his home for a banquet, surely not just for this, right? I should say, if Brother Pei needs me to do anything, feel free to speak plainly.”

Pei Yu said, “Brother Lu should know that the matter of Huo Heng alone can only ruin Huo Heng himself; it’s not fatal to the Huo family. Even we know in our hearts that the collusion with the magic cultivator may not be Huo Heng’s doing alone. How did he know the Infant Ghost when he first went to Menggui City? It’s very possible that the Infant Ghost was originally a dog raised by the Huo family, and the Huo family might not have only raised this one. We are now attacking the Huo father and son from this angle, but we lack solid evidence. If it only stops at Huo Heng, it would truly be a pity.”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head, “If we’re talking about this matter, I also cannot provide solid evidence that the Huo family raised magic cultivators. It’s still not as reliable as searching the Infant Ghost’s soul.”

“The problem lies precisely here. Governor Meng conducted a shallow soul search on the Infant Ghost and discovered that his master is the Hehuan Saintess, and there is no relation to the Huo family. Now we don’t know if the Hehuan Saintess is colluding with the Huo family or how, and Governor Meng dares not perform a deep soul search, fearing that it will be wasted. He is in a dilemma. Governor Meng sent a message to us, saying that finding Brother Lu might be somewhat helpful.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Pei Chuyun’s pretty face was flushed red.

Perhaps Meng Guan in Menggui City is now jumping up and down. The cat that Lu Xingzhou kept in his room is exactly the Hehuan Saintess. Why didn’t he just grab her and ask a few more questions at that time?

Lu Xingzhou cleared his throat twice, “How about this, when they escort him here, let me go and see the Infant Ghost face-to-face. Perhaps there will be other gains.”

Pei Yu said again, “Besides, the Huo family bullying a concubine’s son to cause the legitimate son to die young, this kind of matter, once brought to light, will also be a heavy blow to the Huo family’s reputation. Huo Xingyuan will at least be demoted and ordered to stay at home and reflect. I don’t know if Brother Lu…”

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, “You hope I will come forward and accuse them?”

Pei Yu tentatively asked, “What are Brother Lu’s worries? Perhaps we can try to resolve them.”

“No other worries,” Lu Xingzhou said faintly, “It’s just the reputation of a son accusing his father; I don’t want to bear it. It was Huo Qi who killed Huo Shang. Even the evil slaves participated in the daily bullying of their brothers. If you want me to accuse them, then I can.”

The Pei father and son exchanged glances. Pei Qingyan finally spoke, “People of the Jianghu sects are not afraid of bearing such a reputation… Looking at Young Master Lu going to the Dan Academy to study, are you actually thinking of pursuing an official career?”

Lu Xingzhou said faintly, “It’s hard to say about the future, but I can’t block off a potential path before I’ve even chosen one, right?”

Pei Chuyun glanced at Lu Xingzhou, secretly thinking that the Pei family obviously only treated Lu Xingzhou as a chess piece, not considering his life at all. So Lu Xingzhou just wanted to use her life story as a stepping stone. If the Pei family owed him a favor, the relationship would be somewhat different.

But until now, Lu Xingzhou hadn’t continued the topic of her life story. Instead, the conversation had become somewhat stagnant, with both sides reaching a dead end.

Is it for her?

Pei Yu finally said, “If the Pei family promises to support Brother Lu in his official career in the future, what does Brother Lu think?”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head and smiled, “Lu is truly not a little fledgling who just left the thatched cottage… Brother Pei, it seems that everyone has not thought it through yet. We can chat again when you have thought it through.”

Pei Yu glanced at his father. According to reason, Pei Qingyan should have said something at this point, but Pei Qingyan remained unexpectedly silent. This made Pei Yu very awkward. How could he continue this play if his father didn’t cooperate?

He could only laugh awkwardly, “No rush for a moment. Come, come, Brother Lu, taste our Pei Mansion’s home cooking. Don’t just focus on talking.”

The home cooking didn’t take long to eat. After a while, Lu Xingzhou stood up to say goodbye, “Thank you, Prime Minister Pei, for your hospitality. I still need to study the Dan books, so I will return to the inn first.”

Pei Qingyan didn’t say anything else, only nodded, “Yu’er, see the guest out.”

Pei Yu looked strangely at his father and saw Lu Xingzhou and his group out.

Walking outside the courtyard, Pei Yu lowered his voice, “Brother Lu, this younger brother has an improper request. I don’t know if it’s appropriate…”

Lu Xingzhou nodded, “Brother Pei, please speak.”

Pei Yu glanced at Pei Chuyun, “This girl A Rou, I wonder if Brother Lu would be willing to part with her?”

Lu Xingzhou raised an eyebrow. Pei Yu quickly said, “Brother Lu, please don’t misunderstand… I saw that my father was a bit absent-minded tonight, probably because the girl A Rou stirred up his memories of an old friend. As a son, to share my father’s worries, I just thought that if we could let A Rou girl enter the Pei Mansion… We absolutely will not treat her as an ordinary maidservant. I don’t know if Brother Lu…”

Lu Xingzhou smiled and shook his head, “Brother Pei… A Rou is named a maidservant, but in fact, she is my friend. She comes and goes freely and cannot be weighed like goods. So, Brother Pei, that sentence from earlier is still valid: I feel that everyone has not thought many things through yet. We can chat again when you have thought it through.”

Pei Yu was stunned for a moment. He really didn’t expect that Lu Xingzhou would refuse even this small matter of buying a maidservant.

Refusing the “son accusing father” matter earlier was already considered an offense to the Pei family, but it was ultimately reasonable, and the Pei family had enough bearing not to mind. This time, a normal person would use this maidservant matter to ease relations. He didn’t expect to be refused a second time…

He didn’t know what to say for a while. After a long time, he only cupped his hand and said, “Then Brother Lu, take your time.”

A Nuo pushed Lu Xingzhou away. Pei Chuyun always followed silently with her head down.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xingzhou said faintly, “Could it be that you want to stay in the Pei Mansion?”

“No…” Pei Chuyun said in a low voice, “I’m thinking, wouldn’t it be more useful to you to leave me in the Pei Mansion to stir things up? Anyway, the Pei family can’t trap me. I can leave whenever I want. Why offend people so harshly?”

“Ha?” Lu Xingzhou laughed, “What we want is to clarify your mystery, not to stir up anything for the Pei family. My matters… don’t need to use you as a chip.”

Pei Chuyun hummed and said, “Clearly the plan at the beginning was to use me as a chip.”

“But I already said, not anymore.”

Pei Chuyun pursed her lips and didn’t speak.

Lu Xingzhou said leisurely, “To be clear, the Pei family doesn’t truly value me now. It’s all because they suspect I might be Huo Shang, which is something unusual to them. This is meaningless… Face must be earned by oneself. If it weren’t for your matter, I might not have even eaten this meal today. It’s like chatting early knowing there won’t be any result.”

Pei Chuyun didn’t reply. A Nuo laughed and said, “But the Pei Mansion’s meal was very delicious! A free meal!”

Lu Xingzhou laughed, “Right, a free meal.”

The capital city at night was still very lively, with bright lights everywhere and a continuous flow of people. The three of them also temporarily stopped talking about these topics and walked happily in the spring night of the capital.

“Bang!” Fireworks suddenly shot into the sky in the distance. Pei Chuyun looked up, her eyes gradually becoming hazy.

Lu Xingzhou just asked A Nuo, “Today isn’t the Lantern Festival, is it?”

A Nuo shook her head, “The Lantern Festival passed when we were on our way to the capital, Master. The first month is almost over.”

“Then someone unexpectedly put on fireworks…” Lu Xingzhou looked up at the fireworks for a while, then turned his head to look at Pei Chuyun’s profile.

The literary young demonic girl with bewildered eyes and a pretty face was actually much more beautiful than the fireworks.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly laughed, “I feel like these sudden fireworks are just proving that they’re not as good-looking as you.”

Pei Chuyun blinked her eyes, still a bit bewildered, turned her head to look at him, and finally chuckled, “Hey, you should save these sweet words for Shen Tang. They’re useless to me.”

Lu Xingzhou laughed and said, “Words from the heart are always treated as false.”

While speaking, they had already returned to the inn. The three of them entered the small courtyard, closed the courtyard door, and the outside lights and noise were separated, making the dark courtyard seem even quieter.

Pei Chuyun entered the room, lit a candle, and stood by the table lost in thought.

Lu Xingzhou rolled in his wheelchair, hugged her waist, and said, “What are you thinking about?”

Pei Chuyun said, “You hinted at my matter during the meal. Can we talk about it now?”

“If it really was Chanu Hehuan Zong who killed your mother, why didn’t they eliminate you? Keeping you and letting you continue to be surnamed Pei, are they waiting for you to find clues and seek revenge in the future? This seems very strange. There should still be some issues behind it, not as simple as Pei Qingyan said…”

Pei Chuyun sighed slightly, “I also think so. This matter is a bit strange. But… Pei Qingyan’s attitude… It shouldn’t be like he’s lying.”

“So don’t just listen to one side and make a judgment first, regardless of whether Pei Qingyan is lying. Even if everything he says is true, the information he knows is not necessarily correct. After all, he wasn’t at the scene, and he didn’t even bury her. I feel that if you have the opportunity, you can try to indirectly ask your Master and compare the two sides’ stories… Um, remember not to ask directly…”

“Am I that stupid?”

“Sometimes, yes…”

Pei Chuyun sighed, leaned softly into his embrace, and said somewhat powerlessly, “I didn’t expect that what I thought was the most direct clue would instead become more confusing…”

“No matter what method is used behind it, Pei Qingyan is probably really your dad. If you are only looking for your life story, you have actually almost uncovered it, so you didn’t come for nothing,” Lu Xingzhou said. “Only I also know that you are checking your life story not just for the life story, but to solve your situation within Hehuan Zong. This matter is not over, and I will continue to help you investigate.”

Pei Chuyun smiled lazily, “Of course, it’s not important at all who my dad is. He didn’t raise me for a single day, so do I care? But… now I truly believe that you are considering things for me.”

Lu Xingzhou kissed her side face, “I said it was the truth from the beginning.”

“You clearly still want to trick me…”

“Hm? What else am I tricking you with?”

“You want to trick me into bed.”

Pei Chuyun turned around, hugged his neck, and said with a smile, “Tell me, do you want to or not? If you don’t, then you won’t get it.”