After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Meanwhile, at the Xie State Duke's Mansion.

Behind the seemingly ordinary bookshelves in Xie Dai's study, the secret door of the hidden passage slid open silently.

A person slowly walked out from the dark secret passage.

The man was dressed in a plain brocade robe, with a tall and straight figure, and his fingers, which were holding prayer beads, had distinct knuckles.

At this moment, however, the usual aloof and detached look on his face was completely gone, replaced by a gloomy expression as he looked at Xie Dai, who was sitting in the armchair.

Xie Dai did not get up, but simply picked up the teacup beside him, gently skimmed off the foam, and said in a calm voice:

"You arrived a little later than I expected. It seems the imperial decree has left you somewhat overwhelmed."

In his words, he seemed to know everything about Shi Qinglian's actions.

Shi Qinglian's hand, which was twisting the prayer beads, suddenly stopped.

He slowly walked up to Xie Dai, looked at him across the large desk, and tried to find the slightest flaw in the other's calm face.

"When did you first find out..." Shi Qinglian's voice seemed calm, yet carried a barely perceptible tension, "When you found out I was your son?"

Xie Dai put down his teacup, raised his eyes, and calmly looked at him. Beneath that calmness, however, lay emotions that had been accumulating for many years.

"From the day you became the Imperial Advisor and stood atop the Golden Hall," he said slowly, "the outline of your eyebrows and eyes faintly resembles that of your mother."

Xie Dai paused for a moment, then continued, "At first it was just suspicion, until I used my own blood as a catalyst to trace and confirm it."

Upon hearing this, Shi Qinglian's expression changed drastically, and her pupils contracted slightly.

He had been the Imperial Advisor for nearly three years, which meant that Xie Dai had long known his identity but had kept it hidden, even... cooperating with him to cover up the fake body in the imperial mausoleum...

"You..." Shi Qinglian's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly, "Then why... why did you dare to approach me and ask me to help you cover up the fact that the body in the imperial mausoleum wasn't the real Princess? Aren't you afraid I'll expose you to His Majesty?"

This is tantamount to handing him the biggest handle against him.

Upon hearing this, Xie Dai suddenly smiled, a smile that carried the confidence of a chess player placing a piece.

"Why?" He repeated the question, leaning forward slightly, his gaze sharp. "Because... I let myself take a gamble, a gamble on humanity."

He continued unhurriedly, "You entered Changling to become the Imperial Preceptor, perhaps for your own purposes or to take revenge on me. But His Majesty is inherently suspicious, and even he is somewhat reserved with the Huguo Temple, let alone a newly appointed Imperial Preceptor like yourself, whose background is clean but whose foundation is still shallow."

"You need achievements, you need unique value, and you need someone who can make His Majesty feel that you are of one mind with him and that you are capable enough to suppress or even replace the Protectorate Temple."

Xie Dai tapped the table lightly with his fingertip. "The matter of the imperial tombs is of great importance, involving royal secrets and potentially touching upon His Majesty's deepest taboos. If you were to discover and handle this secret, what would the outcome be?"

Xie Dai raised his eyes, looking directly into Shi Qinglian's slightly contracted pupils, and presented two possibilities:

"The first possibility is that you expose me directly. But what will the consequences be? How will His Majesty view a Grand Tutor who gets embroiled in such palace secrets so soon after taking office?"

"Will he appreciate your loyalty, or fear your knowledge? More importantly, what about the evidence? Are you going to confront me based solely on your own account?"

"I could easily turn the tables and accuse you of framing me, even connecting it to your background to imply that you have ulterior motives."

"At that time, in order to maintain their superior position in His Majesty's heart, the National Protection Temple will definitely stand on my side. Then, who will His Majesty believe? A national preceptor whose foundation is not yet secure, or the National Protection Temple?"

Shi Qinglian's breathing quickened slightly, and his fingers, which were holding the prayer beads, stopped.

He prided himself on his careful planning, but little did he know that every step he took was within the calculations of others.

"The second possibility, which I expected you to choose," Xie Dai continued, as if he had already seen through the moves of every piece on the chessboard, "is that you choose to help me confirm the authenticity of that fake body and quietly cover up the matter."

"In this way, you will not only demonstrate your abilities to His Majesty and gain his trust, but more importantly, you will also gain control over my trust and my weakness. A weakness that seems capable of putting me to death at any time."

"With this leverage in your hands, you think you have the bargaining chip to cooperate with me, and even to blackmail me when needed."

Xie Dai shook his head slightly. "You see, that's how people's hearts are. You think you've grasped my lifeline, but little do you know, I personally handed this lifeline to you so that you could hold onto it with a clear conscience."

Shi Qinglian's face turned extremely ugly, and all traces of her usual calm and composure were gone.

He felt like a moth that thought itself clever, having willingly flowed into Xie Dai's carefully woven web from the very beginning.

The so-called cooperation was nothing more than a play orchestrated by Xie Dai, and he was merely... a pawn.

"So..." Shi Qinglian's voice was hoarse, filled with barely suppressed anger and self-mockery, "Everything was part of your plan? From the very beginning, I was just a cog in your machine?"

Xie Dai shook his head, a complex and unreadable emotion flashing across his face:

"No, although I knew your identity all along, I never intended to involve you in this. You chose to approach me yourself."

He paused, looking at the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window, "If you don't take the initiative to step into the circle of right and wrong in Changling, if you don't take the initiative to come to me, I have no chance and no reason to pull you into the game."

"This must be what you Buddhists call cause and effect," Xie Dai said, turning his gaze back to Shi Qinglian, whose expression was shifting. "You planted the seed of proximity, and reaped the consequence of being caught in the trap. As for me... I was simply going with the flow."

Upon hearing this, Shi Qinglian gripped his prayer beads tightly, his knuckles turning white, as if the beads themselves were imbued with the chill in his heart.

Xie Dai stood up, walked to the window, his back to Shi Qinglian, and his voice lowered considerably:

"Qinglian, I know you hate me. I had physical intimacy with your mother, but I never gave her a proper title. Instead, I married the Princess, leaving you and your son to wander alone in misery."

Shi Qinglian suddenly looked up, his eyes surging with hatred. This was the knot in his heart that had been there for many years, or perhaps it could be said to be... his inner demon.

"But I want to tell you," Xie Dai turned around, looking directly at him with honesty, "that drunken incident, from beginning to end, was all a setup."

Xie Dai spoke slowly and deliberately, revealing a long-buried wound: "The designers were your mother and the Daoist Xuan Chenzi who had always admired her."

Upon hearing this, Shi Qinglian was struck dumb, frozen in place, all color draining from her face.

He stared intently at Xie Dai, as if trying to find any trace of lying on Xie Dai's face.