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"Quick, surround the Pan Family! Not even a fly is allowed to fly out!"

Hurried footsteps rang through the alley, accompanied by waves of hoofbeats. The leaders reined in before the Pan residence, then leapt down from their horses. The scales on their flying fish uniforms glittered beneath the sunlight, stabbing Pan Yun's eyes with pain.

Almost the instant they dismounted, she darted behind a wall and held her breath. Only after making sure no one had noticed her did she slowly let it out.

With a bang, the front gates were smashed open, followed by Auntie's panicked cries and Uncle's furious shouts.

The scene from two months ago replayed itself. She clenched her fists, forced down the killing intent in her heart, and turned away without looking back.

But she did not go far. Instead, she circled past several neighboring homes along the wall and stopped beside a small door in a side alley. A pile of firewood stood beside it.

Just as her second brother had said, the Qiao Family liked piling their firewood by the western corner gate. The alley here ended in a wall, and no one normally came through.

Pan Yun crouched beneath the firewood pile, sat cross-legged, formed a hand seal, and silently chanted. It seemed as though a beam of starlight fell into her eyes, and the two paper birds she had left in the Pan residence opened their eyes at the same time.

Through the paper birds' eyes, she clearly saw the three Imperial Guards who had burst into the Pan residence first. The man standing in the middle wore a grave expression. "Bring every living person in this residence over for inspection!"

"Yes!"

There were not many people in the Pan Family. After her father and brother had been exiled, only Old Madam Pan, Uncle's family of three, and the two servants, Aunt Gui and her son, remained in the house.

Pan Tao stood before his family, glaring furiously at the Imperial Guards with a dark face. "What do you want? My elder brother Pan Hong's case has already been closed. This is my home now!"

Cao Ye sneered. "Whether it's closed or not isn't for you to decide. Search!"

The Imperial Guards charged into the rooms like wolves.

When the Imperial Guards searched a home, they did so with the force of digging three feet into the ground. The sounds of objects being smashed came from inside. Pan Tao endured it with great effort, while his wife, Madam Wang, looked terrified. She clutched Old Madam Pan tightly, keeping her head lowered and not daring to look up, afraid the Imperial Guards would see something on her face.

The Pan residence was not large. Before long, the Imperial Guards emerged and reported to the three of them, "My lord Thousand-Household Commander, nothing was found."

Cao Ye's brows drew together slightly. "If you didn't find the person, what about the things?"

The Imperial Guard lowered his voice. "There were no clothes or belongings belonging to a little girl in the house."

He suspected the intelligence was wrong.

Cao Ye glanced sideways at Wang Yong.

The intelligence had come from him.

Wang Yong had hoped to claim credit through this. Hearing that, he loudly retorted, "Impossible! My intelligence cannot be wrong. Someone saw a little girl of six or seven with their own eyes in their courtyard..."

The moment Old Madam Pan heard this, tears streamed down her face. She raised her head, looked around, and wailed, "Nannan, Nannan, have you come back? Did you know your father and brother had fallen into misfortune, so you came back to see them?"

"But you came back too late. Your father and brother have already gone to Datong. If you wish to see them, you must go to Datong too. You're only seven years old—how could you possibly get there? Hurry back to the underworld. Do not keep thinking of those in the world of the living..."

Sorrow showed in Pan Tao's eyes as well. He explained to the Imperial Guards, "My elder brother did indeed have a seven-year-old daughter. She fell ill and died at the start of spring last year. All our relatives, friends, and neighbors know of this. If you do not believe us, you may ask the neighbors or our relatives."

After a pause, he turned to his son, Pan Bai. "Go fetch the letter the clan chief wrote to your eldest uncle last year. I remember it mentioned this matter."

Pan Bai agreed and was just about to leave when an Imperial Guard tossed down a box with a smack, holding more than ten letters in his hand. He presented them to Cao Ye. "My lord Thousand-Household Commander, all the letters found in the search are here."

He drew one out and handed it to Cao Ye.

Cao Ye took it and skimmed through it quickly. It was a letter from the Pan Family's clan chief to Pan Hong. One passage stated that he had agreed to enter Pan Hong's youngest daughter, Pan Yun's, name into the family genealogy, but had refused to allow her burial in the ancestral graveyard. The reason was that she had died young at only seven, and there was no precedent in the clan for girls who died prematurely to be buried in the ancestral graveyard.

Cao Ye inspected it carefully, confirming that the writing on the letter was from quite some time ago. He then held the envelope up to the sunlight for closer examination and confirmed that the stamps upon it had been left by the various post stations. Only then did he put the letter away with a dark expression.

His face looked awful. He barely restrained himself from glaring at Wang Yong. After all, Wang Yong had acknowledged the chief eunuch Wang Zhen as his uncle, giving him a towering patron to lean on.

He threw down the letter. Though they had made a mistake, he had no intention of apologizing to the Pan Family. He sneered, "You had better behave yourselves. Should you commit any violation of the regulations, we Imperial Guards will never let you off."

His gaze swept over Old Madam Pan and Pan Tao as he warned, "If any grievance is spread, that will mean dissatisfaction with the Imperial Court and dissatisfaction with His Majesty. Pan Hong accepted bribes and released criminals. His Majesty showed mercy enough by sentencing him only to exile. Do not disappoint the Emperor's grace."

The Pan Family did not even dare let an expression of resentment show on their faces.

Satisfied by what he saw, Cao Ye turned and left with his men.

But Wang Yong did not want to leave. His vicious gaze swept across the Pan Family, but Old Madam Pan and Aunt Gui were both advanced in years, and Madam Wang did not fit either. Aunt Gui's son Chang Sheng and Pan Bai were two teenage boys, male, and did not fit either...

He ground his teeth in secret and cursed inwardly at the same time. The Pan Family was actually so shabby that they did not even have a young maidservant in the house. If there had been even one—whether she was seven or eight, or seventeen or eighteen—he could have beaten her into admitting she was Pan Hong's daughter.

Unable to frame them, Wang Yong could only follow them out unwillingly.

Liu Jing, the other Imperial Guard Hundred-Household Commander who had remained silent all along, finally withdrew his gaze from the pile of letters. His eyes swept over the courtyard, then paused slightly when he saw a paper bird hanging beneath the corridor.

The paper bird's eyes were lifelike. He had the feeling that it was watching him.

Sitting cross-legged beneath the firewood pile, Pan Yun met his gaze through the paper bird's eyes. Both of them sensed something strange and became wary.

Could he see her?

Pan Yun did not dare underestimate these Imperial Guards. This world had spiritual energy. Though it was not as dense as in the world she came from after its spiritual energy revival, there were surely extraordinary people in this world.

Where there were extraordinary people, there would certainly be extraordinary matters. As one of the emperor's eyes, the Imperial Guards had most likely dabbled in such things.

Thinking of her current cultivation, Pan Yun did not dare act arrogantly. Seeing Wang Yong turn away unwillingly as well, she immediately severed her connection to the paper birds.

Therefore, she did not see Liu Jing step past Pan Tao before leaving, reach up to yank down the paper bird hanging beneath the corridor, examine its eyes closely, then crush it in his palm and take it away.

Pan Tao's heart pounded wildly. Pan Yun had hung that there before she left. At the time, he had not understood why, even in such urgent circumstances, she had still taken the trouble to hang up two paper birds, but he vaguely knew they were important items.

He clenched his hand, wanting to step forward and stop Liu Jing from taking the paper bird away, but Old Madam Pan grabbed him. Without changing her expression, she shook her head at him. The entire family could only silently watch Liu Jing tear down the item and leave.