"Miao, you have such a vicious heart, judging life and death!" In a flash...

With the Li family's sudden downfall, all the women of the household were left adrift and homeless. Miao, driven mad, became unrecognizable, spending her days disheveled and filthy, robbing food from street vendors and shouting accusations against the Qin family. She was no longer the dignified lady of a noble family she once was. Xu Lin, having no other recourse, ordered her temporarily imprisoned in the Wuding Marquis's residence.

Luo Lingyan and Miao Shi have been living in fear for years, perhaps because of the three bones buried in the courtyard. They live in constant fear and their health has deteriorated day by day. Perhaps they will not live much longer.

The night sky was as black as ink. Luo Yuan led a girl dressed in a black hooded cloak into the Wuding Marquis's residence. The night was unusually cool.

The Li family mansion had been neglected for a long time, with a thick layer of dust on the ground and a dim lamp hanging precariously from the eaves, exuding the desolation that followed the confiscation of their property.

Amidst the flying paper money and scattered incense sticks, Miao seemed to be both crying and laughing. She knelt on both knees, picking up white chrysanthemums from her hair and repeatedly tossing them into the iron basin.

The firelight illuminated half of the courtyard, while the other half remained hidden in darkness.

Hearing footsteps, Miao turned around abruptly. She saw a person standing in the shadows, draped in a black cloak, their face obscured. A chill ran down her spine, and before she could scream, Luo Yuan covered her mouth with his hand.

Qin Weixi approached.

Miao begged for mercy repeatedly, and Luo Yuan's strength gradually loosened. She crawled forward, pleading, "King Yama, King Yama, please don't take my son's life." As she spoke, she tried to grab Qin Weixi's legs.

Qin Weixi smiled coldly upon hearing this, then dodged her sudden attack: "King Yama?" She asked herself, "If only I were King Yama. King Yama controls the Book of Life and Death, judging life and death with every stroke of the pen, who lives and who dies, and can also bring back those who died innocently. I would rather give my life to become King Yama in the underworld."

She lowered her eyelids, a half-smile playing on her lips, and looked at Miao: "Why would the King of Hell treat the Li family with such favoritism?"

Miao suddenly raised her head, a fleeting look of surprise in her eyes.

Qin Weixi's expression was originally indifferent, but suddenly a smile appeared on his face: "When I was little, my brother took me to the river to catch fish. My brother used bait to lure them and said that once the small fish took the bait, there would be endless big fish in the river. I just had to wait and see. When the evening meal came, there was a table full of delicious dishes, and I would always eat a few fish."

Her last remaining smile faded as she looked at Madam Miao, her smile replaced by a look of icy desolation and endless coldness: "Madam Miao, what I want is not just your son's life, but also your husband's! I am not some saint who seeks revenge for every wrong! Who in this world doesn't do the same?"

Miao cried out in surprise, then nimbly scrambled to her feet, heading towards the courtyard gate: "Quick, someone come..."

Luo Yuan immediately threw a stone, and Miao felt a sharp pain in her neck and fell to the ground.

She turned around, her eyes gleaming with shrewdness, all traces of her previous dazed expression gone. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You're from the Qin family? You and the Crown Prince? Was it you, from the Qin family, who instigated the Crown Prince to haunt me that day, tricking me into eating something that made me believe my son had died in prison, causing me to utter these delirious words! And when I came to my senses and learned it was the Crown Prince's doing, I could only swallow my anger!"

She trembled with rage: "Aren't you afraid I'll report you to the Emperor? I never imagined that the Qin family wasn't all dead yet! And now you've come to harm my Li family! You..."

Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound rang out as Qin Weixi slapped him hard across the face.

"Your Li family's lives? Then who will repay the lives of the hundreds of members of my Qin family clan and collateral branches? What do I have to fear! Your son is arrogant and conceited, jealous of talent and capable of harming the virtuous. Eleven years ago, during the hunting in Xiangshan, my brother fell from his horse and almost lost a leg. Do you dare to say that this wasn't caused by your son!"

Miao suddenly raised her head, her face deathly pale, her eyes filled with shock, and her body trembling uncontrollably. She pointed a trembling finger at Qin Weixi, nearly choking on her own breath: "You are...you are Xiao Ci's daughter? You're not dead!"

Qin Weixi did not answer, but looked at the piles of funeral paper money. He removed a jade hairpin from his hair and said, "Miao, when you were about to give birth, you were harmed by villains in your family. It was my mother who forced her way through the gates of your Marquis's mansion and saved you from danger. My mother walked barefoot all the way to the Meridian Gate and died under the Dengwen Drum. She passed by the gate of your Li family. Miao, do you dare to say you didn't see it?"

"Now I'll let you taste what it's like to be isolated and helpless."

Qin Weixi turned to look at her, his eyes bloodshot: "So be it, who doesn't want to protect themselves? But your son, out of jealousy for my brother, brutally murdered my three cousins. They were just a few years old; he beat them to death. Miao, what did you do?"

She gritted her teeth and said, "You and your husband knew but kept silent, pretended not to see, and finally conspired to bury the three children, and then slandered them to the world!"

"Miao, how vicious you are!" With a flick of her wrist, Miao saw Qin Weixi's sleeve flash before her eyes, and then felt a burning pain in her right arm.

She instinctively reached out to touch it, only to find her hand covered in blood.

Qin Weixi walked towards the courtyard gate without looking back. Miao's eyes flashed with malice as she made to get up and grab her. Luo Yuan kicked her hard, sending her flying. Then, he pulled a piece of white paper from his pocket and said coldly, "Today you committed suicide because of your past mistakes. Before you died, you wrote a confession to appeal to Heaven. Miao, go to hell and reunite with your family!"

Suddenly, Miao understood. That stab could have killed her, yet it only injured her arm; it was waiting for her here.

Spun out of her mind from the kick, Miao looked terrified upon hearing the sound, shaking her head and repeatedly saying, "No! Impossible!"

Luo Yuan ignored her words, drew his sword, and two men in black robes leaped down from the eaves, grabbing her on either side. With swift movements, they sliced ​​off the tip of one of her right fingers and forced her to write a confession.

Miao tried to scream, her body twisting and struggling. One of the men in black removed his black veil and stuffed it into her mouth. Then Luo Yuan and another man in black carried two unconscious, strong men dressed as guards of the Li family and placed them in the courtyard.

A moment later, flames erupted from the Marquis of Wuding's residence, shooting straight into the sky. A guard from the Dali Temple, responsible for protecting the courtyard, also groggily awoke, staring in horror at the towering flames. He then noticed the inexplicably appearing paper in his hand, quickly unfolded it to examine it, and was shocked again. He then rushed forward and forcefully woke his companion, shouting, "Fire! Quick, go back and get help! I need to get back to the Dali Temple immediately to find Lord Xu!"

Unbeknownst to anyone, as Luo Yuan and his companions departed, a man dressed in a black riding outfit with a black veil and a bamboo hat leaped into the courtyard and intensified the burning of the torches.

Inside the Dali Temple, Xu Lin was about to finish his shift and go home when a child of about eight or nine years old, dressed in coarse cloth and wearing a small hat, suddenly darted out from the street outside the government office.

Xu Lin nearly lost his footing on the stone steps, but the child had already said, "Tall and slender, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a kind gaze, and a handsome appearance, he must be none other than the Dali Minister—Lord Xu Lin, right?" As he spoke, the child grinned, took off the cloth shoe on his left foot, opened his palm and shook it, and a small but extremely exquisite jade pendant fell out. Then he sniffed and muttered, "It really hurt my feet!"

As she spoke, she noticed Xu Lin staring intently at her, and her face suddenly flushed. She smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I was sweating from walking too fast. Lord Xu, it's fine if the Luo family sees this, or His Highness the Crown Prince sees it, or even if the young master Tao from the Marquis of Chengyi's mansion sees it. My master said they'll know what it is as soon as they see it."

The child spoke very quickly, with rosy lips and white teeth. Even the well-informed Xu Lin was stunned by what he heard. He used the lamp he was carrying to see the person's face clearly.

It turned out to be that young nun from Chengxin Nunnery.

The lantern nearly slipped from his hand, and he blurted out, "It's Zhu..." He quickly stopped himself, "But is it Master Mingjing?"

The young nun nodded vigorously. Xu Lin, unsuspecting, took the jade pendant and quickly put it into his sleeve. Seeing her chapped lips, he smiled gently and said, "Have you eaten? I'm going home anyway. Why don't you come with me to my house for a meal, or I can buy you some pastries."

The young nun immediately shook her head vigorously, took a step back, and clasped her hands together, saying, "This humble nun is a nun from Chengxin Nunnery, so there's no need for you to trouble yourself, benefactor!"

Xu Lin was about to speak again when the little nun quickly disappeared into the darkness and ran far away.

Just then, a guard responsible for guarding the Marquis of Wuding's residence rode up at breakneck speed. Before the horse's hooves had even stopped, the guard had already dismounted, staggered a few steps, and arrived in front of Xu Lin. He then handed the item in his arms to Xu Lin and said urgently, "...Sir, the Marquis's residence is on fire, and there's this blood letter!"

Xu Lin opened the jade pendant and was startled. He instinctively clutched it tightly and went to the Luo residence that night. Then he rode swiftly to the palace and presented the confession to Emperor Kang Le.

Upon hearing the news, Qin Weixi rushed to the study and saw the jade pendant in his brother's hand as Xu Lin left.

The morning after the fire at the Marquis of Wuding's residence, Jiang Yuanfu descended from Xiaguang Peak. Empress Tao, seeing her listless and unhappy all day, felt very sorry for her. She spoke with Qingpai about the Three Bones Case, which had been the subject of much discussion in the city recently.

Inside Kunning Palace, several palace maids were fanning themselves with silk fans, attending to Empress Tao, who was taking a nap with her eyes closed. Qingpai hurried in and whispered something in her ear. Empress Tao was shocked to learn that Lady Miao, the wife of Marquis Wuding, had committed suicide and written a confession. After a long while, she put a hand to her forehead and said, "There have been many troubles lately, but we can't let those noble families gossip behind our backs and speak ill of our royal family. Didn't Afu keep mentioning the Spring Banquet? Then let's hold it, but not a big one, just a small one. The Jiang family, the Qin family, the Chu family, and the Luo family have always been in the same boat!"

“Your Majesty is right. We cannot let the Luo family of Jiangnan lose heart at this critical juncture!” Her gaze was deep: “This Miss Xing is someone I have not seen before. She has grown into a beautiful young woman.”

Qingpai smiled and said, "As Your Majesty said, you and His Highness the Crown Prince are a match made in heaven."

Empress Tao pondered for a long time, recalling Qingpai's whispered words: "You just said that this Miao woman is not long for this world?"

Qingpai nodded: "His Majesty ordered Lord Xu to interrogate the servants of the Li family overnight, according to the old woman who used to serve her. This Miao woman may not really be insane. With her family gone and her husband and son's fate unknown, she must be thinking of some way out. I heard that she led two guards to knock out the people from the Dali Temple. She must be trying to exchange her life for another."

Empress Tao suddenly gave a bitter smile.

Before long, Jiang Yuanfu, in the name of Empress Tao, sent invitations to the noble ladies, noble daughters, and princes of various mansions in the capital for a spring banquet.

In the Dali Temple, Xu Lin, because Zhu Ruo had entrusted him with the jade pendant, and because of Miao's death and the confession she wrote before her death, "justifiably" punished Li Yuanda and his son.

That night, Xu Lin saw the raging fire in the Wuding Marquis's mansion and the charred remains of the Marquis's wife, Lady Miao. Without a moment's delay, he went to the Luo residence that very night. The next day, at the crack of dawn, he met with the Crown Prince again with Luo Ling.

Jiang Yuanjun picked up the jade pendant and examined it closely in the light filtering through the window. The matter of Luo Yuan secretly entering the Marquis of Wuding's residence was originally a plan he and Luo Ling had devised, but Luo Ling ultimately suggested that Luo Yuan should be the one to handle it.

With a faint smile, he said to the two of them, "Back when Li Sheng was celebrating his third birthday, the old master of the Li family bestowed this jade pendant upon him. Soon after, the Miao family commissioned a craftsman to carve the character 'Sheng' on its back, and Li Sheng was very pleased with it. However, eleven years ago, while hunting in Xiangshan, his horse was startled, and my brother fell down the hillside, nearly losing a leg. At that time, Li Sheng was the only one not present, and this jade pendant disappeared along with it."

His gentle voice trembled slightly, “My brother is kind and compassionate. Even with evidence, he never used it as an excuse to lash out.”

Xu Lin sighed softly upon hearing this.