Shen Jinghai was truly flattered and surprised. Although he had anticipated that Lord City Lord would be delighted upon seeing the letter, he hadn’t expected him to be so delighted as to willingly emerge and come to him.

However, he truly wasn’t prepared at all. Neither the arrangement of his home nor his attire was appropriate for meeting the City Lord, making him feel very embarrassed for being seen in such a shabby state!

For a moment, Shen Jinghai was at a loss, his hands involuntarily tidying up his slightly disheveled clothes, his face a bit pale, his features incredibly rigid, clearly a forced calmness.

"Lord City Lord, I..."

Shen Ruoshi, however, placed his index finger in front of his lips, gesturing for silence, and then pointed behind him, indicating they should speak outside.

Shen Jinghai nodded, and then promptly employed an immortal technique to clear himself of any impurities and changed his clothes, walking out of the bedroom with a solemn face.

Shen Ruoshi was already waiting in the study. Upon seeing Shen Jinghai enter, he asked directly, "You already know?"

Shen Jinghai was taken aback: "Lord City Lord, to what are you referring?"

Shen Ruoshi didn’t waste any words: "I’m talking about the matter of Three Lives Stone."

Shen Jinghai couldn’t help but chuckle internally: Of course, I knew long ago, after all, I am the right-hand man of the City Lord.

Of course, he dared not show the slightest hint of a smile on his face and earnestly explained: "Yes, I already knew that Lord City Lord diligently engages in writing during leisure time..."

"How did you find out?" Shen Ruoshi interrupted coldly.

Shen Jinghai was stunned again, thinking to himself, was I not supposed to know?

After pondering a moment, Shen Jinghai said, "Well... I actually had suspicions long ago. The pen name Three Lives Stone has appeared in Shen City for many years, yet the identity of the original author remains a mystery. For the average person, an unknown author’s identity is not a big deal. But for the City Lord’s Mansion, an author with such widespread influence whose real identity is unknown is quite strange and indeed dangerous. Although Mr. Three Lives Stone has focused primarily on novel writing, no one can guarantee that he wouldn’t leverage his influence to do something, given that we don’t even know his real identity. So, I had once conducted a minor investigation into this person."

Shen Ruoshi remained expressionless, lightly responding, "And the result?"

Shen Jinghai said, "There was no result, though I hadn’t fully committed to the investigation at that time, I did dispatch a fairly skilled team, and theoretically speaking, no one in Shen City could escape their inquiry. But a week later, they returned empty-handed, leaving me to begin doubting this person’s identity.

Shen Ruoshi said, "Maybe because he isn’t from Shen City."

"If he isn’t from Shen City, it’s hard to imagine how he could vividly depict the scenery and culture of Shen City, particularly the description of the early education of Shen Family daughters, which only an insider could know."

"I see, it was written too meticulously... And then what?"

Shen Jinghai said, "Then I began to think, the true identity of Three Lives Stone must be an insider of the Shen Family, and certainly someone in a high position with significant power; only they could have such deep knowledge of Shen City and the Shen Family’s customs, and only they could set up numerous obstacles so the team couldn’t uncover the truth. All along, I actually suspected Shen Ziqiong because he appears to be idling the most usually. Others couldn’t complete their main duties how could they be so prolific? But later on... Lord City Lord, do you remember when I and Cai’Er got married, you gave me a gift?"

Shen Ruoshi frowned and said, "What about it?"

"It was Cai’Er’s favorite novel, the latest work of Mr. Three Lives Stone."

"Indeed, young ladies typically enjoy love and romance. I gave her the best-selling romance novel at that time, which is perfectly reasonable, what’s the issue?"

Shen Jinghai said somewhat awkwardly, "That novel had your autograph."

Shen Ruoshi sneered: "What do you take me for? Giving someone a novel as a gift, should I give a regular edition? Of course, it’s a signed edition. What’s wrong with having an autograph?"

"The ink was still wet."

"..."

The study fell silent for quite a while, Shen Jinghai almost heard the unheard curses in Lord City Lord’s heart, but to be honest, when he saw the ink smudge upon opening the novel, he was exasperated too.

He couldn’t have imagined that the always-imposing Lord City Lord would secretly... And it’s understandable to hide it from others, but why even from the right-hand man?! Does he think I would disrespect him because he writes romance novels? Certainly not! If I knew that Three Lives Stone was Lord City Lord, I would have ordered ten thousand copies to treasure and read every day!

However, later Shen Jinghai reconsidered, knowing Lord City Lord’s disposition, this wet ink might not have been unintentional. Perhaps, it was his way of expressing this as a shared little secret.

Thinking of this, Shen Jinghai felt somewhat comforted, piecing back together the crumbled idol in his mind. Then, this matter became an important secret he harbored deep in his heart.

"By the way, Lord City Lord... I later legally shut down that rapid-drying ink factory that was suspected of false advertisement, and the person in charge was imprisoned in the Celestial Prison, closely guarded by War Elephant Soldiers, unable to come out for twenty years."

Shen Ruoshi remained silent, just glared coldly at Shen Jinghai.

Shen Jinghai felt slightly unnerved, sensing something seemed amiss: "Well, Lord City Lord, if there’s anything else you need me to do next, please instruct me."

"What more instructions do you need?" Shen Ruoshi said, "Jinghai, you are a smart person, when I promoted you to this position, it wasn’t just your temperament that drew me, but your cleverness too. Although you may not compare to those with innate talents, you’re certainly smarter than my incompetent children. But, I didn’t expect you to be so clever as to perceive the entire truth from a small flaw." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Shen Jinghai’s heart was a mix of complex emotions. Listening to Shen Ruoshi up to this point, even if he wasn’t particularly smart, he could sense that things were likely heading towards a tragic direction. He couldn’t help but feel regretful, thinking how great it would have been if he had been a bit more brainless at the time and thought a little less.

Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world. As Shen Jinghai wallowed in regret, Shen Ruoshi sighed softly, "Jinghai, being smart is a good thing, but you know too much..."

Late at night, the sleeping Cai’Er suddenly felt a pang in her heart, causing her to open her sleepy eyes.

But her beloved husband had already vanished without a trace.

————

Meanwhile, inside Shen City, in a luxurious courtyard in the Outer Courtyard, Shen Feihu sat at his desk with furrowed brows.

The events of the day seemed to have reached a conclusion, but in his heart, there remained a knot he could not untangle.

He always felt that there was something hidden behind it, but for the moment, it was unclear, like the truth was shrouded in a layer of mist.

Shen Jinghai’s words at the door, in hindsight, seemed a bit exaggerated, too theatrical, as if he was deliberately putting on a show for others to see.

Nefariously pinning the blame on Li Fengyun, in retrospect, wasn’t it blatantly telling others that I am the real culprit?

Why would Shen Jinghai do this? Isn’t this self-contradictory?

If he wanted to hide his identity, there would be no need to tell such ridiculous lies; if he didn’t want to hide his identity... there would still be no need to tell such ridiculous lies.

This is the contradictory part of the problem. What exactly is Shen Jinghai trying to do? What reason drove him to act in such a contradictory manner?

Thinking over and over, Shen Feihu still could not grasp it, but he was not discouraged. Instead, he spread out paper and pen, using diagrams and text to help himself build a mind map.

There must be a reason for everything. Shen Jinghai is not the type to talk nonsense with nothing better to do; he must have a purpose, and now I have to deduce his purpose from countless fragmented clues...

As one thinking trail after another crisscrossed the paper, Shen Feihu’s thoughts became increasingly clear. Ultimately, all the lines pointed to one point.

A point that seemed unbelievable yet was undeniably accurate.

"This... can’t be, can it?"

Seeing the conclusion on the mind map, even Shen Feihu was extremely shocked.

To explain Shen Jinghai’s bizarre behavior, a new behind-the-scenes role must be introduced. In short, the Fire Dragon Burner was not Shen Jinghai’s spontaneous action; he was being manipulated.

In Shen City, who can possibly control Shen Jinghai?

In the upper right corner of the mind map, a large character "Shi" clearly indicated the identity of the person behind the scenes.

But the question that followed was, why would he have Shen Jinghai, the former Deputy City Lord, engage in the antics of the Fire Dragon Burner?

And this question is closely connected to another one.

When they initially speculated about Shen Jinghai and the Fire Dragon Burner, Wang Jiu proposed a hypothesis that now fits perfectly on Shen Ruoshi!

Shen Feihu sat upright at the desk, repeatedly examining his mind map. Half an hour passed before he finally confirmed that his reasoning was correct. Three Lives Stone is Shen Ruoshi, even though it’s emotionally difficult to accept, but logically, it is flawless.

Understanding this point, Shen Feihu couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. The achievement of overcoming a challenging puzzle through intense thought transcends all superficial pleasures.

However, before Shen Feihu’s sense of accomplishment could permeate through his entire being, he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

Turning his head, he saw a young man with white hair and black clothing behind him, expressionless, with an imposing gaze.

Though this person looked young, only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, how could Shen Feihu fail to recognize his identity? Instinctively, his legs felt weak.

"Grand... Grandfather?"

But Shen Ruoshi’s gaze passed through Shen Feihu, directly landing on the mind map on the desk behind him.

"Very smart." He said, finally cracking a slight smile, "I always knew you were a smart kid, but I chose your brother as the successor. Do you know why?"

Shen Feihu hesitated for a moment and honestly replied, "I’m lazy by nature, like to keep a low profile, and I’m not suitable to be the head of the family."

"Wrong, it’s because you’re too smart, and smart people always know too much."