Chapter 18: Suspicion arises, secretly investigating the truth

The night sky was thick with ink, splattered across the palace. Only a single lamp remained lit in the study. Xiao Jin sat behind his desk, a cold arrowhead clutched between his fingertips, his knuckles white from the strain. The sinister glint in his eyes threatened to devour the light.

The subordinate knelt on one knee on the ground, his head lowered, his voice trembling: "Your Highness, I have found out that the arrow shot at you was made of the same material as the nameless arrow found by the lake three years ago before Miss Shen fell into the water. They were made from the same forge - the 'Iron Blade Workshop' in the southern alley of the capital. However, that Iron Blade Workshop closed down three years ago, and the owner is nowhere to be found."

"Same forge?" Xiao Jin's voice was as cold as ice, his fingertips stroking the grain on the arrowhead. "What about the crazy horse grass? Did you find out who delivered it to the stable?"

"Your Highness," the subordinate paused, "According to the stable guards' recollections, only the Princess' personal maid, Chuntao, visited the stables that day, under the pretext of delivering snacks, and stayed there for about a quarter of an hour. As for the Concubine's side, although no one directly handled the horse feed, her distant cousin once worked as a helper at the Iron Blade Workshop."

Lin Wanru's maid, Su Yuruo's cousin?

Xiao Jin's brow furrowed even more, the arrowhead on his fingertips nearly crushing. Three years ago, Shen Qingyue's fall into the water had been dismissed as an accident, yet there had clearly been an arrowhead near the lake. Yet, with no connecting clues, the case was ultimately left unsolved. Now, this arrow had the same origin as the previous one, and the clues from the crazy horse grass pointed to Lin and Su. This couldn't be a coincidence.

Could it be that Shen Qingyue's death was not an accident at all? Was it intentional?

This thought exploded in his mind like a thunderbolt. He had always believed that Shen Qingyue had been frightened by the Taifu Mansion's treason case and had accidentally fallen into the water, which was why he hated the Taifu Mansion and Yun Zhi, the daughter of a guilty minister. But if there was another hidden reason for Shen Qingyue's death, wouldn't his hatred for the past three years be a joke?

"Investigate! Keep investigating!" Xiao Jin slammed the arrowhead down on the table, shaking the inkstone. "We'll dig three feet underground to find the owner of the Iron Blade Workshop! And also Chuntao and Su Yurou's cousin, secretly monitor their every move and don't miss any clues!"

"Yes!" The subordinate responded quickly, stood up and quickly left the study, fearing that he would provoke Xiao Jin's anger again.

Xiao Jin was the only one left in the study. The light cast a mottled shadow on his face, half cold and hard, half complex. He stood up and walked to the wall, where a portrait of Shen Qingyue hung. The woman in the painting had gentle eyes and a faint smile, just as she had three years ago.

"Qingyue," he reached out and touched the portrait, his fingertips tracing the face of the person in the painting. His voice trembled slightly, even he himself was not aware of it. "Is there really another hidden story behind what happened back then? Who harmed you? Was it Lin Wanru? Or Su Yurou?"

No one answered, only the sound of the wind outside the window blowing up the fallen leaves, making a rustling sound, which sounded very much like the sobbing by the lake that year.

He had always believed he was avenging Shen Qingyue, and so he had tortured Yun Zhi to the utmost. But now that the truth was becoming clearer, he began to panic. If Shen Qingyue's death had nothing to do with the Imperial Tutor's Mansion, then what did he do to Yun Zhi? That bowl of sterilization soup, that forced kneeling in the snow, that flogging, and the heartbreaking words "guilty slave"—hadn't they become sins he had committed himself?

"Impossible," he shook his head, forcing himself to suppress this absurd thought. "The Taifu Mansion's treason is irrefutable evidence. Yun Zhi is the daughter of a guilty minister. There is no doubt about that. I investigated Shen Qingyue's old case only to give her justice. It has nothing to do with Yun Zhi."

But the coldness at his fingertips could not deceive anyone. He thought of Yun Zhi's pale face when she blocked the arrow for him, her dead eyes after she woke up, and her trembling shoulders when she shed tears. His heart seemed to be blocked by something, and it ached with stuffiness.

He turned back to the desk, his eyes falling on a small cloth bag at the corner - it was found in the servants' room where Yun Zhi used to live. It contained half a dry and hard steamed bread and a half-used bottle of medicine, which was the bottle Xie Heng gave her.

He picked up the cloth bag, and his fingertips touched the medicine bottle. The cold touch reminded him of Yun Zhi's festering hands. At that time, he had thought that this was the punishment a criminal slave deserved, but now he thought that she was just a woman who wanted to live and had never intentionally harmed anyone.

"I'm just investigating Shen Qingyue's old case. It has nothing to do with her." He said to himself again, as if he was hypnotizing himself, suppressing the inexplicable guilt deep in his heart.

…

Meanwhile, in the warm room of the main courtyard, the candlelight flickered, but it offered no warmth. Lin Wanru slammed the teacup in her hand to the ground, scattering celadon shards and soaking the carpet with tea.

"That bitch! She just blocked an arrow, but the prince looks at her differently! Now even her allowance has doubled compared to before. If she continues like this, won't she be riding on my head?" She shouted angrily, her chest heaving violently, and the delicate makeup on her face was distorted by anger.

Su Yurou sat aside, clutching an embroidered handkerchief in her hand, gently wiping her fingertips. A seemingly gentle, yet in fact sinister smile curled her lips. "Sister, calm down. Sister Yun saved the prince after all, so it's only right that he should reward her with some respect. However... whether this 'respect' can be preserved depends on your opinion."

Lin Wanru glanced at her sideways, her tone filled with disdain: "Oh? What good ideas do you have, sister? I asked you to find a chance to get rid of her before, but you kept making excuses. Why are you willing to speak up now?"

Su Yurou put down the handkerchief, moved closer, and lowered her voice to a very low note: "Sister, please understand. We were in the enclosure before, with so many people watching. If we had taken action, we would have easily gotten into trouble. Now that we're back in the palace, we have more opportunities. In three days, it will be the blessing ceremony on the first day of each month. We have to go to the ancestral hall to worship our ancestors. Then..."

She paused deliberately, a calculating look flashing in her eyes. "Sister, all I need to do is find a pretext and say that Sister Yun has offended the ancestral spirit tablets or disrespected the blessing ceremony, and then punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall for a few days. The ancestral hall is cold, and the injury on her shoulder hasn't healed yet. If she gets any colder, I'm afraid her old injury will relapse. Then..."

"Great!" Lin Wanru's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands on the table in approval. "Sister is truly thoughtful! The ancestral hall is cold and remote. Even if she gets hurt while kneeling, no one would dare to say anything! And when she's too sick to get up, I wonder if the prince will still care about her!"

Su Yurou smiled even softer, but her eyes hid a deeper calculation - she wanted more than just Yun Zhi to be sick, it would be best if she died "accidentally" in the ancestral hall, and then she could put the blame on Lin Wanru, so that she could reap the benefits, getting rid of her love rival and overthrowing the queen, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

"It's just that, sister," Su Yurou changed the subject, "this matter needs to be kept secret, so that the prince won't see any flaws. After all, the prince still has some 'concerns' for Sister Yun."

"Gu Nian?" Lin Wanru sneered, "I'm just thinking about her face that looks like the moon! Wait until she's sick and emaciated, and see if the prince will still recognize her!"

The two smiled at each other, the candlelight reflecting on their faces, illuminating the jealousy and malice to the fullest. The maid outside the warm room was so frightened by the commotion inside that she dared not breathe and could only lower her head, pretending not to hear anything.

…

On the other hand, Yun Zhi lived in a small courtyard on the west side of the palace. It was called a small courtyard, but in fact it was just a room slightly better than the servants' room. There were no leaky windows, but no charcoal fire, only a dim oil lamp.

She sat at the table, holding the medicine bottle Xie Heng had given her earlier, her fingertips gently stroking the bottle. Since returning from the enclosure, Xiao Jin hadn't looked for her again, nor had he punished her, but he hadn't given her any status either. He simply let her live here, like a forgotten shadow.

She no longer cared about these things. With her heart dead, status, respectability, and even the comforts of life became irrelevant. The only thing she wanted now was to investigate her father's unjust case and avenge the entire family of the Imperial Tutor's Mansion.

"Father, Mother," she said softly to the empty room, her voice firm, "I will definitely find the truth and clear your name."

At this moment, there was a very light sound of footsteps outside the door. She immediately hid the medicine bottle in her sleeve and looked up at the door - it was the little maid who had served her before, named "Qinghe". She was honest and would occasionally secretly bring her some hot meals when she was in trouble.

"Miss Yun," Qing He walked in with a bowl of hot porridge and whispered, "This is millet porridge freshly cooked in the kitchen. Please drink it while it's hot. I just passed by the main courtyard and heard the princess and the concubine talking. It seemed... as if they were planning something. They mentioned the 'prayer ceremony' and the 'ancestral hall', and also mentioned your name."

A blessing ceremony? Ancestral hall?

Yun Zhi's heart sank. She knew Lin Wanru and Su Yurou would never let her go. They would definitely find any opportunity to frame her. The ancestral hall was gloomy and cold, and it was a place for ancestral worship. If she was accused of "invading the spirit tablet" there, the consequences would be disastrous.

"I understand. Thank you, Qinghe." Yun Zhi took the hot porridge and thanked him softly.

Qing He shook her head, her face full of worry. "Miss, you must be careful! The princess and the concubine are vicious. If you...if you really can't help, go find Doctor Xie for help. Doctor Xie is a good man and will definitely help you."

Yun Zhi nodded, and looked at Qinghe's back as she left, a warm feeling rising in her heart - in this cold palace, there was someone like Qinghe who was willing to remind her, which was a rare warmth.

As she sipped her hot porridge, she was quickly calculating in her mind—Lin Wanru and Su Yurou were going to attack during the prayer ceremony, and she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. She needed to make some preparations in advance, at least to save her own life, so that she would have a chance to find out the truth.

Meanwhile, in his study, Xiao Jin was still lost in thought, contemplating the arrowhead. The subordinate he had sent to investigate the Taifu Mansion case had just delivered a secret letter—the letter stated that the evidence of the Taifu Mansion's collusion with the enemy was suspicious in several places, seemingly tampered with.

"Is there something fishy about the case at the Imperial Tutor's Mansion?" Xiao Jin held the secret letter, his fingers trembling slightly. If there were hidden secrets behind both Shen Qingyue's death and the case at the Imperial Tutor's Mansion, then how big a conspiracy was hidden behind this?

He stood up suddenly and looked towards the west courtyard. For the first time, he felt a little panic in his heart - he was investigating the case for the truth, but what should he do if the truth would hurt Yun Zhi?

No, he shouldn't think about that. He investigated the case for Shen Qingyue, for justice, and it had nothing to do with Yun Zhi.

He forced himself to look away, sat back at the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote the three words "Tie Ren Fang", "Tai Fu Mansion Old Case", and "Shen Qingyue" on the paper, connecting them with an ink line.

The clues were like a tangled mess, but gradually they began to unravel, pointing in a direction he couldn't believe. He knew that the next step in his investigation would be even more dangerous and difficult.

But he had no way out. Whether it was for Shen Qingyue or for the little bit of care he didn't even want to admit about Yun Zhi, he had to investigate until he found out the whole truth.

As the night deepens, the palace is silent, yet undercurrents surge. The day of the blessing ceremony draws near, Lin Wanru and Su Yurou's scheme is about to be put into action, Xiao Jin's investigation has reached a critical juncture, and Yun Zhi stands at the center of this storm, preparing to face another impending disaster.

No one knows into what abyss this battle centered around truth, hatred and conspiracy will drag all of them.