"Are you sure?" Black Owl asked seriously.

"Let's wait a while. It's not good to use up all the wool from the same sheep at once," Ji Fengyao thought for a moment and then decided against it. "Brother, which families haven't you and Father visited yet, or which visits were unsuccessful?"

“Visit? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Those marked with an X are places I’ve been to before and don’t need to go again; those marked with a circle are places I plan to visit, or places I can visit again; those without any markings need further investigation, and we’ll decide after we’ve figured out the situation.” Ji Fengming took out a list from his pocket and handed it to Ji Fengyao, explaining it in detail.

Black Owl: "..."

Kyoto is about to be turned upside down.

The secret room of the Ink Studio.

Shang Xiye was examining the injuries of a corpse. This person was a spy planted in the palace by his mother for many years. He was also the person who had followed and protected the little bandit the whole time on the day Qin Weiyang tried to harm her but ended up getting herself killed.

But after she left a message for his bodyguard about what happened that day, she disappeared.

Her body was found in an abandoned well in the palace this morning.

“Her body had no fatal external injuries, her internal organs were intact, and there were no signs of poisoning. The well was dry,” Wu Shang added from the side.

Puzzled, Shang Xiye instinctively reached out and pressed his hand on the top of the female corpse's head, closing his eyes and concentrating: "Her head is empty; there's nothing inside."

"Huh?" Wu Shang was a little confused.

The prince looks like a charlatan spouting nonsense. His skull isn't broken, so how did he lose his brain?

“The person who killed her was no ordinary person,” Shang Xiye frowned deeply.

"What does Your Highness mean?" Wu Shang was completely bewildered, having no idea what his master was talking about.

Shang Xiye also seemed disbelieving, and after a long silence, he finally uttered three words in a very low voice, "Black Purgatory".

"What!" Wu Shang exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, are you saying that the people of Black Purgatory have reappeared in the world, and even appeared in the palace?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that person has probably been lurking in the palace for many years, only to be discovered by her now. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen to secretly track and confirm him instead of reporting it beforehand," Shang Xiye said with a sinister expression.

"Then isn't the Emperor in danger?" Wu Shang asked anxiously.

It wasn't that he was particularly worried about the emperor, but rather that he knew his master had made a promise to the late emperor.

When the late emperor passed away, his former master swore an oath in his presence: he would protect the Great Zhao, support the emperor, and never betray him for the rest of his life.

It was because of this oath that the master was able to back down and tolerate the emperor's relentless pressure at every turn.

"Since he has been lying low in the palace for many years without making a move, it shows that his ambitions are not in the country; the emperor should not be in any immediate danger."

This is also what puzzled Shang Xiye. If they weren't after the country and its people, why were they hiding in the palace? What were they after?

The father-in-law said that the person who tested them with the moonstone that night also ended up in the palace.

Could the Ji family's long-standing feud be related to the Black Purgatory?

"After nightfall, secretly go to the Marquis of Anping's residence and invite him over," Shang Xiye instructed.

Wu Shang: "..."

It's not like you're meeting a lover. Do you need to be so secretive when you see your father-in-law?

Shang Xiye felt that Wu Shang's gaze was a bit off, and immediately became speechless: "What are you thinking about when you look at me like that?"

Wu Shang was startled and quickly tried to salvage the situation: "...Um, Your Highness, what I mean is that the Heir Apparent of Anping and the Princess Consort went to rob the Chen State Duke's Mansion and are on their way back. Should we have the Heir Apparent of Anping come to see you first?"

"The Princess Consort went to rob the Duke of Cheng's mansion? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Shang Xiye exclaimed in shock.