By the time the doctor arrived, Song Yan and Shen Huaian had already been settled in the side room. Shen Huaian had inhaled a large amount of smoke, so Song Yan asked the doctor to attend to him first.
"Why would Master Ye come to the Qin Tower?" Song Yan changed into a new set of clothes and sat on a wooden chair. He wet his hands and tidied up his burnt hair as he spoke unhurriedly.
He had just taken a quick look and noticed that Ye Zhiqiu showed no signs of being burned. It seemed that the fire had not caused him any harm, while Song Yan's mind was in a complete mess.
Everything that had happened just now and Jing Hong's identity had left him anxious. Now, Ye Zhiqiu's sudden appearance at the Qin Tower made him suspicious.
"I... cough, cough..." Facing Song Yan's suspicion, Ye Zhiqiu wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he couldn't help but start coughing softly.
The smoke from just now had choked him. Although he seemed fine on the surface, only Ye Zhiqiu himself knew his current physical condition.
He originally didn't want to show this vulnerable side in front of Song Yan, but he just couldn't hold it back.
Song Yan had just made up his mind to get to the bottom of this matter, but as soon as he heard Ye Zhiqiu's cough, he completely forgot about his purpose.
He immediately stood up and took a few steps towards Ye Zhiqiu until he was in front of him. There was a hint of panic on his face as he clumsily patted Ye Zhiqiu's back to help him catch his breath.
"Did you inhale a lot of that smoke just now? If you're feeling uncomfortable, don't try to endure it. I'll go and call the doctor right away." The more Song Yan talked, the more he felt that this situation was serious. His brows were knitted together like an unsolvable knot.
He helped Ye Zhiqiu sit down and poured him a cup of tea. By the end of his words, he was about to step out to find the doctor.
But just as Song Yan finished speaking and was about to leave, his hand was grabbed.
Ye Zhiqiu looked at Song Yan's hair, which had been burned and was now sticking out in all directions, curling down beside his face. His fair face was now mottled with bruises and dirt, but his eyes were incredibly bright.
Seeing Song Yan like this, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help but smile. Then he realized that this expression might not be appropriate, so he covered his lips and composed himself. Regarding Song Yan's hasty actions, he said, "It's okay. I just inhaled a few mouthfuls of smoke. You're fine, and I'm not that delicate."
Hearing Ye Zhiqiu's words, Song Yan immediately got anxious. He frowned and said, "I'm a martial artist. You're just a teacher. Naturally, it's different."
Ye Zhiqiu wasn't too happy about this, but he couldn't think of a way to refute Song Yan because what he said was indeed the truth.
He knew that his constitution was weak, but because of his special trait of immortality, Ye Zhiqiu had never really cared about it. This was the first time someone had ever shown concern for him.
Ye Zhiqiu was a rather awkward person. He didn't know how to respond to others' concern. In the end, he just let go of the hand that was holding Song Yan's wrist and picked up the tea on the table to take a sip.
"Don't worry about me, Director Song."
When Ye Zhiqiu didn't know how to respond, he would always choose to avoid the situation.
Hearing Ye Zhiqiu's usual cold words, Song Yan scratched his nose. He thought that he had probably annoyed Master Ye again by meddling in other people's business.
He wanted to say something else, but when he saw Ye Zhiqiu's cold expression, he didn't know where to start with his words of concern.
He sat back on the wooden chair and finally didn't say anything. Ye Zhiqiu felt a bit guilty seeing Song Yan like this.
But since he met Song Yan, Ye Zhiqiu felt that he had developed a lot of strange emotions that he had never felt before and didn't know how to respond to, which had led to the current situation.
All he could do was to keep his distance from everyone, just like he used to.
But for some reason, he didn't want to do that when it came to Song Yan.
"Thank you." After hesitating for a long time, Ye Zhiqiu finally whispered these words.
Although it was just a simple two - word phrase, only he knew that this was a small step out of his comfort zone.
On the other side, Song Yan was feeling gloomy because Ye Zhiqiu was being polite to him again. He had thought that their relationship would change after the incident with Young Master Huang.
But unexpectedly... it was all just his wishful thinking.
Actually, Song Yan himself couldn't understand why he spent so much effort on Ye Zhiqiu and was so纠结. He was acting so unlike himself.
Just as he was getting caught up in his own thoughts, he heard Ye Zhiqiu's soft "thank you". Immediately, the knot in his heart seemed to disappear.
He suddenly looked up in Ye Zhiqiu's direction and noticed that Ye Zhiqiu had averted his gaze. Song Yan didn't say anything more. He just smiled slightly.
"The atmosphere here is quite special."
Just then, the door of the side room was pushed open. Jing Hong, who had just finished dressing up, walked in slowly, shaking a round fan. Her bright red dress fluttered slightly, and her beautiful eyes were so charming that one could easily get lost in them.
If someone else had said this, it wouldn't have meant much, but for some reason, when it came from Jing Hong, it carried a hint of ambiguity.
Song Yan coughed and straightened his robe. He didn't respond to her words but deliberately changed the subject, "What brings you here, Miss Jing Hong?"
Jing Hong walked up to him. As she got closer, Song Yan noticed a faint floral fragrance on her. She reached out and gently tapped the round fan on his shoulder as she spoke in a low voice.
"Don't you have a lot of questions for me, Director Song? Did the smoke go to your head after staying downstairs for so long?" Jing Hong said with a smile. Although her face was smiling, the words she said were not as innocent as her expression.
Song Yan was so speechless that he didn't know what to say. He pretended to change the subject nonchalantly, "In that case, could you please tell me in detail what's going on? No, wait."
He paused for a moment and then slowly said, word by word, "I should address you as the阁主 of the Intelligence Pavilion."
Hearing Song Yan's words, Jing Hong was not surprised at all. It was normal for him to guess that she was the阁主 of the Intelligence Pavilion. If he couldn't, she would really have to wonder if he got the position of the director of the Investigation Department through connections.
Her expression remained unchanged. She lifted her robe and sat on the wooden chair, gently fanning the round fan in her hand. The embroidered phoenix butterfly on the fan seemed as if it would flutter down the next second.
"Since you're so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush either. I am indeed the阁主 of the Intelligence Pavilion, but I have absolutely no idea about the kidnapping of you. As you can see, I was locked up just like you～"
The end of her sentence rose slightly, adding a bit of flirtation. Although she said she wouldn't beat around the bush, there wasn't a single word of truth in what she said.
Song Yan thought for a moment with his head down. He quickly sorted out the key points of this matter based on the conversation he heard between her and A Liu in the dungeon.
He looked up and met Jing Hong's eyes. He smiled and tapped the table with his index finger. Leaning on his chin with one hand, he looked at her and said, "How about we join hands?"
"How do you propose we join hands?" Jing Hong didn't rush to agree when she heard this. She covered most of her face with the round fan and only showed her beautiful eyes as she looked at Song Yan.
From this angle, the phoenix butterfly on the round fan looked like a silver - edged sword. Although it looked gorgeous on the outside, it actually concealed a deadly threat.
"Since you were kidnapped by A Liu and locked in the dungeon, it means that there is a traitor in the Intelligence Pavilion. You don't know who the traitor is, and in this situation, you can't trust anyone completely. I am your best choice."
As Song Yan said this, he stopped tapping the table. He looked at Jing Hong's face and said with a smile, "You find your traitor, and I solve my case. Isn't it a win - win situation?"
Looking at Song Yan's confident look, Jing Hong smiled. He was right. She had already thought of the plan to cooperate when she rescued him.
But if she had proposed it, she couldn't be sure that Song Yan would put in his full effort. So that's why she had arranged the previous scene.
Everything she had done was to make Song Yan propose this cooperation.
Jing Hong believed that Song Yan was a smart person who knew what she wanted, and as it turned out, her prediction was correct.
She put down the round fan and touched the hair by her temple. She said unhurriedly, "Since Director Song has said so, I have no reason not to agree."
After both parties had finalized the cooperation, Jing Hong finally confessed the truth about A Liu to Song Yan.
A Liu was a double that she had created specifically. It had taken her several years to find someone who was similar to her in terms of figure, voice, and eyes.
Although Jing Hong was the阁主 of the Intelligence Pavilion, there were too many guests in the Qin Tower, and she was getting tired of this kind of life. So she found a double.
A Liu collected intelligence for her, while she planned everything in the pavilion. Everything had been going according to her plan, but after that person showed up, everything started to go out of control.
That person was a new guest at the Qin Tower. After a few meetings with A Liu, he had stolen her heart.
"I've told her countless times to protect her heart and not let just anyone take it away, but in the end, she just didn't listen." Jing Hong frowned as she said this, and her tone became a bit harsher.
It was the first time to see such an expression on her face, which showed that she was really angry about this matter.
But what was the use of being angry? Even though she knew that this person was sent by someone in the pavilion, could Jing Hong stop it?
People in love were the most stupid, and she knew this very well. Although she had reminded A Liu several times, Jing Hong never expected that A Liu would actually believe that person's words and try to kill her.
Since things had reached this point, Jing Hong had no way back.
If someone wanted to kill her, she wouldn't just sit there and wait to be slaughtered.