"It must have been Zhong Youyan! She was the first to know Fourth Brother was dead. I'm going to settle the score with her!"
Xie Jinzhao dropped the basket of offerings and turned to leave.
Xie Jinqian stopped him. "Don't act rashly!"
"The Zhong Family is the foremost merchant household in the Capital. If you offend her, how will you keep doing business here once I'm gone?"
"Besides, weren't you the one who helped Fourth Brother plot to ruin her reputation? She has every reason to hate us!"
Xie Jinzhao refused to accept that. "Brother, have you never suspected that she killed Fourth Brother?"
He had always felt something was fishy.
Fourth Brother had been feigning his illness all along. How could he suddenly have died?
Zhong Youyan must have dealt Fourth Brother a ruthless blow. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly have gone so suddenly, without even a body left behind!
"Do you understand that every cause has its consequence?" Xie Jinqian asked him.
"If you and Fourth Brother hadn't schemed to make her marry into our family, would he have met with disaster? If I hadn't drained the Xie family's funds, would Old Madam have threatened the Zhong Family's Clan Elders into arranging this marriage?"
"Third Brother, she may have been wrong, but were we blameless?"
"Did you ever ask Fourth Brother whether he wanted to live?"
Xie Jinqian's expression was conflicted.
Although he treated his two younger brothers exceptionally well, he remained rational and objective.
He could still distinguish which would benefit them more: making an enemy of such a family or becoming their business partner.
"What do you mean?" Xie Jinzhao asked.
What did he mean, Fourth Brother hadn't wanted to live?
Xie Jinqian sighed. "The day I returned, I summoned Fourth Brother's soul for a conversation. He