Having received his elder brother's instructions, Gong Yuanzheng walked over. After examining the tooth, he was certain that it contained poison, exactly as Ruan Ruan had said. However, even though he knew everything, he still had to maintain appearances. Gong Yuanzheng turned to the crowd and reported, "Young Master, Elders, this person committed suicide by biting into his tooth and inserting the poison sac."

Steward Jia committed suicide by poison, and the only lead in the Baicao Cui case was cut off. Seeing that the only clue had been lost, all the elders were worried and their faces showed sorrow. "Shang Jiao, as the young master, I'll leave this matter to you to investigate," Elder Yue said.

At this moment, Elder Yue broke the silence: "Shangjiao, this matter is becoming increasingly complicated. As the young master, you should take on this responsibility and investigate this matter." Upon hearing this, Gong Shangjiao cupped his hands and replied, "Yes." Then, he turned and left with his men. When he reached the door, Gong Yuanzheng suddenly turned around and smiled at them.

The three elders seated above were all taken aback, but they couldn't say anything, mainly because they dared not. Times had changed. They were wrong in what happened before, but the crucial point was that the Conquest Palace held the lifeline of the palace gates.

If they accidentally anger Gong Yuanzheng, he might take Gong Shangjiao away from the palace gates, or he might administer some non-lethal medicine. These old bones of theirs can't withstand such a fuss!

Before long, Gong Ziyu, Gong Zishang, Jin Fan, and others followed suit and left the place together.

Side Hall of the Blade-Holding Hall

Song Qingli and Yun Weishan sat upright, the painter before them holding a brush, sketching lines on the paper with fluid grace. Compared to Yun Weishan's slightly stiff posture, Song Qingli appeared much more elegant and at ease. After all, one was a genuine lady from a prestigious family, while the other was an assassin from the Wufeng Sect. The difference in their upbringing over the past decade or so could not be bridged overnight.

At this moment, Song Qingli leisurely tended to the delicate flowers in the vase, her every move exuding the elegance of a well-bred young lady, a sight to behold. Yun Weishan, on the other hand, seemed somewhat nervous, though it wasn't obvious. Shangguan Qian had disappeared without a trace since leaving her room yesterday, and everyone knew that she was responsible for Jiang's poisoning.

If that were all, she should have heard news of her deportation. But there's no news about Shangguan Qian at all. In this situation, she has to proceed cautiously, or she could be doomed!

After a while, the painter finished the painting, stood up, bowed to the two of them to say goodbye, and then tidied up his tools and left. Gong Ziyu waited specifically for Yun Weishan to come out of the door. When Song Qingli stepped out of the room, she immediately saw Gong Ziyu anxiously looking around at the door...

Song Qingli shook her head repeatedly. They had only met less than a handful of times. This Young Master Yu was indeed as rumored, a womanizer who frequented brothels year after year.

Poor Miss Yun, she's so unfortunate to become his fiancée; she's probably going to suffer a lot in the future...

Thinking of this, Song Qingli, who was unaware of the inside story, could only sigh helplessly, then turned around and followed Jin Fu back to the women's courtyard.

In the clinic

Gong Shangjiao didn't take them back; instead, he went directly to the clinic. The staff all lived there. Manager Jia, having climbed the ranks over the years, had a room far superior to that of some of the servants.

Gong Shangjiao sent his guards inside to search carefully. After a short while, a guard came out with something in his hand and respectfully said to Gong Shangjiao, "Palace Master, this was found in a hidden compartment on Steward Jia's bed."

Gong Shangjiao took the token, turned it over and saw that there was a large "Charm" character on it, which was the token of the Wufeng Charm-rank assassin.

[Mingwu Ji even brought out her token to help Gong Huanyu, but I'm really curious. She's been at the palace gates for so many years, and it's one thing to still have the token, but how did it get in? Wasn't the palace supposed to search? Was it a lie? This thing is quite large.]