Did he leave for a better position somewhere else? “How did he know you?”

“Young Master, he knows a great deal about my past. He also knows that you were the one who rescued me from that dreadful place.” Zhu Xiu’er gazed at He Lingchuan. “The connection between Sun Hongye and me was you!”

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose.

“I know Sun Hongye fairly well. He never visits without a purpose. Why would he go out of his way to help you out of kindness?”

“He proposed a partnership.” Zhu Xiu’er smiled faintly. “Each of us would get what we needed.”

“How so?”

“My enemy is related by marriage to the current Imperial Censor Hé Liwen. As it happened, Sun Hongye wanted to teach the Hé Family’s second and third sons, Hé Su and Hé Jing, a lesson.”

He Lingchuan remembered now. Before Sun Hongye entered his service, he had served as a study companion to the Hé Family’s...