Chi Lian took a deep breath, exhaled, silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Incantation twice, and let go of Wei Ming's hand. "Your Highness is so young, it's best not to dwell on such baseless matters." Before he could pull his hand back, Wei Ming grabbed it. "I'm really curious, where did you get all this confidence from? You resort to violence at the slightest disagreement without even asking a single question. Are you usually this domineering with The Emperor in the palace?"

Chi Lian heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. He couldn't help but struggle a little, showing a hint of compromise. "They don't keep cats in the palace."

But Wei Ming pressed him relentlessly, "Oh, so you just don't like cats? What if I try raising a rabbit tomorrow?"

Chi Lian: "..."

With a creak, the main door opened, and Yi Dayou entered with servants to set the table for the meal. He saw the two of them sitting on opposite sides of the tea table, each handsome and elegant in his own way, yet possessing an indescribable harmony. Wei Ming usually kept a distance of three zhang from people when he spoke, but now he was leaning slightly towards Chi Lian, with an almost coercive air. The stunningly beautiful State Preceptor's reaction was also intriguing. Although he appeared to have a firm attitude, like someone angered by a person they cared about but unable to lash out, his lips were pressed tightly together, yet his eyes remained soft.

"What, you don't like rabbits either?" Wei Ming revealed a victorious smile while Yi Dayou was pouring tea, his beautiful, long eyes looking down at him. "Or is it that it has nothing to do with cats, dogs, or rabbits, and it's just that I'm not allowed to raise anything?"

Yi Dayou kept his head bowed and eyes lowered, completely bewildered by what he heard. He vaguely sensed that there was no room for a third person in this room. He pretended not to have heard anything. As he backed out the door, he didn't know what Chi Lian had said, but the prince's laughter faintly drifted from the hall. "Alright, if you say no, then no it is. I've never really raised anything anyway. Not even a sparrow has ever flown into this manor, but a stray cat just had to show up today, and you were the one to run into it."

Yi Dayou shook his head internally, too lazy to overthink the childish conversation between two seemingly proper young masters. But having been with Prince Duan for a long time, he knew his temperament to some extent. He seemed indifferent and non-confrontational, but he was actually quite shrewd and had his own set of rules for doing things. He rarely revealed his true feelings, so even Yi Dayou was seeing such a scene of intimate laughter and banter for the first time.

However, what he couldn't have predicted was yet to come. Once the servants were far away and there were no other people in the hall, the "dignified and composed" His Highness Wei Ming immediately pushed his luck, holding his hand up under Chi Lian's nose and saying in a deadpan voice, "This Prince only touched it with these two fingers. If the Grand Preceptor doesn't believe it, you can inspect them. A thorough inspection, be sure not to wrong an innocent man."

A vein popped on Chi Lian's forehead. He pushed his hand, along with the jade pendant, back at him and said with forbearance, "If Your Highness doesn't eat now, the food will get cold."

The congee had just been ladled from the pot; drinking it now would scald him to death. 'What a barefaced lie,' Wei Ming thought, but he still pretended to stir it with a spoon. "So, you don't want the jade pendant back?"

Chi Lian had just escaped one trap, only to face the next. He was too mentally exhausted to come up with another excuse. "Consider it temporarily deposited with Your Highness. Please keep it on your person. When the time is right, I will ask for it back."

The lotus jade pendant was made of a gentle, lustrous material, and its carving was exquisite. Even someone who hadn't seen many fine things could tell at a glance that it was no ordinary item. However, perhaps sensing his tension, Wei Ming didn't refuse and said calmly, "Alright, I'll keep it for you for now. You'd better pay attention and not forget about it."

As the two idly chatted, the hot congee cooled to an edible temperature. Wei Ming ate slowly. Seeing that Chi Lian wasn't touching his chopsticks, he took the initiative to ask about official business to prevent him from sitting there bored. "What's the plan for today? Which family do you intend to start investigating first?"

With Wei Ming present, Chi Lian didn't need to be discreet with his spiritual arts. He curled his finger slightly, drawing a thin stream of water from the teacup. It gathered in mid-air and transformed into a water mirror, reflecting a panoramic map of the Jade Capital. He pointed to the Imperial City. "According to the timeline of the Snake Demon's appearance, it first entered Hanfeng Palace, then the Eastern Palace. After leaving the palace from the southeast corner, it headed south, passing Prince Kang's Manor and Prince Ning's Manor in succession, and finally arrived at Your Highness's manor. It all took less than an hour. After fighting with me, it turned into black smoke and vanished without a trace."

"The Emperor, the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, the Sixth Prince, and me," Wei Ming mused. "The most obvious pattern is the imperial bloodline, but it missed the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince is in Tianshun Ward, the farthest from the Imperial City, so maybe the Snake Demon was injured by you before it could get there. But the Third Prince is in Changyi Ward, which is closer to the Imperial Palace than Prince Duan's Manor, yet he didn't encounter the Snake Demon."

Chi Lian rested his chin on his hand. "If it's not because of bloodline, what else do these nobles of imperial lineage have in common?"

Wei Ming stared at the map of the Imperial City for a moment, then suddenly said, "If I gave you one hour to find the exact locations of The Emperor, the Crown Prince, Prince Kang, and Prince Ning within the palace and their manors, could you do it?"

Chi Lian was stunned. "One hour? That would be very difficult, unless—" He stopped abruptly, looking at Wei Ming with hesitation, and muttered, "Unless someone had marked them for me beforehand, allowing me to follow the marks straight to the targets..."

"Correct, you catch on quick." Wei Ming nodded in approval. "The Imperial Palace covers a thousand acres, and the manors of Prince Ning and Prince Kang are both deep and vast, with hundreds of rooms. Even a close attendant to one of them would find it difficult to know the whereabouts of all of them at the same time."

Chi Lian's eyes lit up. "Your Highness means that the Snake Demon appeared in the same place as these people on a certain day and left a mark on them. And among these people, only Your Highness has been away for many years. Since returning to the Capital, the only time you've come into contact with the other imperial princes was at the Thousand Autumns Banquet that day!"

"The Third Prince wasn't targeted because he strained his back that day and couldn't attend the Thousand Autumns Banquet. This was an unforeseen event that the Snake Demon hadn't anticipated, which is how he luckily escaped."

"Am I right, Your Highness?"

Chi Lian was truly handsome, especially when he looked over with such excitement. His bright eyes were pure and clear, his features relaxed, and his expression held a kind of reliance, like that of a small animal. Wei Ming was taken aback by this unfounded trust, and then an inconceivable thought immediately surfaced in his mind: did Chi Lian forcibly drag him into this case just for this moment?

Perhaps his previous speculations about secret struggles and elaborate schemes were overestimations. Chi Lian was simply unwilling to use his brain for such convoluted matters, so he found someone adept at it to analyze and deduce for him.

But if that were the case, where did his understanding and conviction in him come from? Could it be that he really believed all that nonsense about "past and present lives"?

"Your Highness?"

Chi Lian waved a hand in front of Wei Ming's eyes, puzzled. "What are you thinking about?"

Wei Ming leaned back with restraint, coming back to his senses. He sized him up with profound meaning and said with a half-smile, "This Prince was thinking, the only ones who had contact with me at the banquet that day were you and Prince Yue. One of you even specifically gave me a jade pendant. Who do you think the culprit is?"

Chi Lian turned his head away, speechless and too lazy to bother with such a pointless, troublemaking question. Wei Ming's smile deepened as he tapped the tabletop with his fingertips. "Don't think you can get away with playing dumb, Grand Preceptor. How exactly did you arrive at the Prince's Manor on the night the Snake Demon appeared? Do you dare to tell me again in more detail, hmm?"

Chi Lian had been vague before the Emperor, making it sound as if he had immediately begun to pursue the demon after sensing its presence in the palace, only catching up to it at Prince Duan's Manor. But thinking back carefully, besides Ye Jintan tipping him off, Chi Lian had no way of knowing that the Eastern Palace and the manors of Prince Kang and Prince Ning had also been visited by the demon that night. He had clearly rushed into battle, which was why he directly appeared at Prince Duan's Manor to intercept and kill the Snake Demon. Otherwise, with his abilities, if Chi Lian had seriously wanted to eliminate the demon, it would have been slain by his sword in the Imperial Palace, or at the very latest, it wouldn't have escaped the Eastern Palace, and certainly wouldn't have had the chance to roam the Capital.

As it stood now, it was highly likely that there was some kind of spell or formation on that lotus jade pendant. When that unlucky Snake Demon was spying on Wei Ming, it must have triggered the restriction, thus summoning this living King of Hell and suffering the calamity of being sliced in two.

"Ah, speaking of marks, I just thought of something," Chi Lian changed the subject stiffly. "During the palace banquet that night, the Hengfang Delegation used an illusion technique during their dance performance. At that time, flowers and butterflies were flying everywhere. They could have most easily used those things to mark their targets without anyone noticing."

"Is that so," Wei Ming smiled faintly. "Almost everyone touched the flower petals. I think the butterflies are more likely. But the problem is, that butterfly never landed on me, Grand Preceptor."

Chi Lian's voice suddenly turned cold. "Since the Snake Demon used the Hengfang illusion, it means it is in league with the Hengfang people in the delegation. The butterfly that landed before Your Highness was dispersed by me, so the caster must have sensed it. With their accomplice in the delegation reminding them, it wouldn't be difficult for them to find Your Highness."

A moment ago, Wei Ming had been probing and teasing him, but seeing that he was genuinely angry now, he backed off and adopted a gentle tone, one that was almost coaxing. "So what if they have accomplices? Weren't they beaten back by the Grand Preceptor before they even saw a shadow of the Snake Demon? What's there to be angry about? Alright, don't get worked up over them. Here, have some tea to cool off."

The tea in Chi Lian's cup was still floating in the air. Wei Ming casually pushed his own teacup over. It was a purely natural gesture. Only when Chi Lian looked over did he realize it might have been a bit too intimate. Unfortunately, his mouth moved faster than his brain, and he subconsciously tried to cover for it, "I haven't used it."

The moment he said it, Wei Ming wanted to slap himself. Regretting his misspeaking, he quickly said, "Wait a moment, I'll have someone get you a new cup."

But Chi Lian picked up the teacup. Perhaps he was still resentful in his heart, but the frost on his face had dissipated, and he had returned to his usual calmness. "No need. This is fine. Thank you, Your Highness."

He was by no means a considerate, patient, gentle, or warm person; Wei Ming knew this better than anyone. But when facing Chi Lian, sensing the changes in his emotions, and offering timely comfort or occasional teasing, all seemed to stem from instinct. He didn't even have to make a conscious effort; it all arose naturally from their interactions.

If he didn't want to admit he was bewitched, he could only believe that "predestined fate" nonsense, or just throw caution to the wind and carve the words "lusting after beauty" on his forehead.

Things would surely go wrong if they continued to interact like this. Wei Ming made a swift decision. "Since we have a lead, we'll start with the Eastern Palace today. We'll follow the Snake Demon's route and check each residence, then stop by the Posthouse to meet with the Hengfang Delegation."