The room suddenly became quiet.

Tao Ti stared at the man in front of her in a daze. The words "I'm here" were like a protective shield over her, making her feel extremely at ease.

Her heart beat faster, "boom, boom," and her ears were buzzing.

Pei Yan's long eyelashes slowly drooped, and he put his hands over her shoulders and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Are you scared silly?"

Tao Ti was stunned for a moment. When she reacted, her cheeks were flushed. "No, no, it's just that Your Highness, why are you here?"

Pei Yan said, "I said yesterday that I would come to pick you up today."

Tao Ti: "...is this true?" How could she not know.

But Pei Yan is here, which is a good thing. Her backer is here, and she doesn’t have to feel aggrieved anymore!

Tao Ti straightened her back, grabbed his sleeve with her little hand, and whispered like a primary school student who was bullied at school and complained to her parents, "Your Highness, I think this matter is not simple..."

Pei Yan hummed softly and looked up at Princess Mu and the Crown Prince opposite him.

The complexion of Princess Mu and her son was not very good, one paler than the other.

But Princess Mu had lived half her life and had experienced a lot. She tried her best to suppress her emotions and forced a stiff smile, "Your Highness, why are you here?"

"I came to pick up the Crown Princess and took her back to the palace. I didn't expect to see such a big scene."

Pei Yan's cold eyes swept through the people in the room and he asked nonchalantly, "Princess, you sent an invitation to invite the Crown Princess to your house. Is this how you entertain guests?"

Princess Mu's expression suddenly changed, and she hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, you misunderstood! You see Xuan'er was seriously injured by this bastard... assassin. I was just worried and lost my temper when I saw the Crown Princess protecting the assassin! Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Pei Yan frowned slightly.

Princess Mu's face was filled with fear, and she continued, "Your Highness, Jianxuan is your cousin. Now that he has been injured like this, we just want justice! Besides, this is a family affair of my Prince Mu's Mansion. Isn't it inappropriate for the Crown Princess to interfere?"

Tao Ti argued, "The princess has always said that she wants to seek justice for the prince. If the prince really harmed this girl's sister, who will give her sister justice?"

She bent down and looked at the girl on the ground. "You said your sister's body was in the dry well in the backyard. Are you sure?"

The girl struggled to break free from the two servants' control, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Pei Yan and Tao Ti, and said, "Crown Prince, Crown Princess, I beg you to be discerning. Everything I said is true. You can send people to search the dry well in the backyard now. If you can't find anything, I will hit my head against the pillar and die. No doubt about it!"

Her cheeks were red and swollen, but her eyes were startlingly bright, with a determination to go all out.

For a moment, not only Tao Ti and Pei Yan, but everyone else in the room was moved.

Princess Mu's eyes flickered and her fingers were clenched tightly. If looks could kill, the girl would have been cut into pieces by her long ago.

Tao Ti stared at the girl who was crawling on the ground and kowtowing continuously with complicated eyes.

Deep down, she wanted to take charge. After all, she was a new-age beast who grew up under the red flag and was taught the core socialist values. And as a woman, she was deeply disgusted and disgusted by such violent murders of women.

But at the same time, she was a little uneasy. After all, this was an ancient feudal dynasty, unlike the modern society ruled by law. She was now facing a powerful royal palace, and this royal palace was nominally her relative...

If she intervened, would it cause trouble for Pei Yan?

In this anxious and tangled situation, she raised her head, looked at Pei Yan, and called softly, "Your Highness."

She decided... to give the choice to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan lowered his head and saw her clear eyes and the worry in them.

After a moment's silence, he seemed to understand her thoughts. He wrapped his warm palm around her small hand and nodded at her with a smile.

Turning around, I heard him call out in a deep voice, "Zhan Ping."

There was an immediate response from outside the door, "I'm here!"

Pei Yan said, "Take a few people to search the dry well in the backyard."

Zhan Ping said "Yes, sir" and quickly took a few people there.

Prince Mu on the bed was obviously panicking, and shouted weakly, "Mother, Mother..."

Princess Mu's face was tense, and she stared at Pei Yan gloomily, "Your Highness, Jianxuan is your cousin, and Prince Mu is your uncle. You wouldn't ignore your blood relationship for such a lowly commoner, would you?"

Who would have thought that the prince, who was always known for his "gentle, kind and good temper", would meet her threatening gaze directly, his deep and charming peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, and the bottom of his eyes was a dark black that could not be dissolved, like a deep pool that could kill people without shedding blood.

"If the emperor breaks the law, he will be punished just like the common people."

His voice was neither loud nor soft, his tone was calm, and there seemed to be a smile at the corners of his lips.

But for some reason, Princess Mu felt a chill on her back.

Is this gentle and graceful man in front of me really the same as he looks?

Princess Mu bit her fingers tightly and turned her eyes away stiffly. She took this opportunity to secretly glance at the maid beside her.

The maid understood immediately and was about to sneak away quietly, but before she took two steps, Linglong pushed her to the ground in a flash, and she cried out in pain, "Ouch, ouch."

At this time, the doctor arrived with a medicine box. When he saw this scene, his legs went weak. "I, your humble servant, greet all the distinguished people..."

"Since the doctor is here, let him treat my cousin's injury first..."

Pei Yan smiled gently and said to Princess Mu, "I'll be waiting in the yard."

Having said that, he took Tao Ti's hand and walked out the door together.

Linglong also let go of the maid, picked up the girl on the ground, and took her out.

It was almost evening and the sky was dim. Standing at the gate of the courtyard was a team of tall and mighty guards of the Eastern Palace, looking very imposing.

Pei Yan took Tao Ti and sat down at the stone table.

At first, she didn't notice anything when she was standing in the house. But now that she came out and breathed the fresh air, Tao Ti realized that her calves were a little soft.

She sat down slowly, Pei Yan let go of her hand and whispered, "Ati, your palms are sweating."

Tao Ti was stunned, "..."

Pei Yan sat down beside her, staring at her intently, and asked in a gentle voice, "Are you afraid that I will give up on you?"

Tao Ti looked at him in surprise, her eyes wide open, as if silently saying, how do you know!

Indeed, when she looked at Pei Yanshi for help, she was uncertain at that moment.

She knew Pei Yan was a good man, but he was an ancient man after all, and a noble who held power. Perhaps in his values, the lives of common people were as worthless as ants, and the death of a few civilians was not a big deal.

She had only seen the saying "The emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people" in movies and TV dramas before. There were only a few princes and nobles in Chinese history who could do this.

If Pei Yan really chose to ignore it, she might feel a little uncomfortable, but it was not completely incomprehensible.

But deep down, she still hoped... that he could take care of it.

Fortunately, he did not let her down!

The moment he ordered Zhan Ping to search the well, her heart was filled with boundless joy. She wanted to hug him on the spot and praised him generously - Your Highness, you are indeed a beautiful and kind-hearted little angel!

Tao Ti came back to her senses and said to him embarrassedly, "I was a little uncertain at first, but... I think Your Highness will not sit idly by!"

Pei Yan took in her little expression and laughed dumbly. She probably praised him as a good man in her heart again.

After a moment, he stopped smiling and stared into her eyes seriously and solemnly, "Ati, no matter what, you have to believe in me, okay?"

Taoti, "..."

Why are you suddenly so serious, like... saying wedding vows?

This metaphor made her absent-minded for a moment, and then she met his gentle moonlight gaze, pursed her lips, nodded lightly and said, "Yeah."

Pei Yan's delicate eyebrows gradually relaxed, and the curve of the corners of his lips became softer.

He raised his hand and rubbed her head, "Good girl, Artie."

Tao Ti's heart moved slightly, and she lowered her head silently, and a hint of red quietly and silently climbed up the tips of her white and tender ears.

………

Not long after, Zhan Ping came back.

Also brought back was a large wooden box and a stretcher covered with white cloth.

He had people put them outside the courtyard gate and did not dare to carry them in. After all, these things were too scary and he was afraid of polluting his master's eyes.

"Your Highness." Zhan Ping clasped his fists, his usual arrogant and stinky face gone, replaced by an extremely serious look, "A severely decomposed female corpse was retrieved from the dry well in the backyard..."

At this point, he paused and looked at the girl on the side. "I found a small silver lock on the neck of the female corpse. I wonder... is it your sister?"

When the girl Xia Sang heard the word "silver lock", her face turned even paler, tears streaming down her face like beads from a broken string. She reached out and took off a silver lock from her neck, "Is that so?"

Zhan Ping glanced at it, nodded, and said solemnly, "In that case, the female corpse outside should be your sister."

When Xia Sang heard this, he immediately ran out of the courtyard gate.

She knelt beside the fetid stretcher, her hands trembling as she tried to lift the white cloth to take a look.

The guard at the side sighed and reminded, "Young lady, you'd better not look at it. It's so rotten...looking at it will only make you sad..."

Xia Sang paused, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and lifted a corner.

When she saw the head that was almost turned into bones, she felt her stomach churning and her whole body was shaking involuntarily like chaff.

She couldn't bear to look at it more closely, so she looked down and when her eyes landed on the dull little silver lock on the female corpse's neck, she burst into tears.

"sister!!!"

She howled in pain and hoarseness, and her cries seemed to be filled with blood.

The elder sister who had been dependent on her since childhood, the elder sister who treated her so well, the only relative she had in this world, just died like this...

Her sister was only seventeen years old. She had never done anything bad, and had never hurt anyone, but she ended up like this...

The more Xia Sang thought about it, the more painful it became, and the more painful it became, the more he hated her.

The people in the hospital sighed when they saw her miserable expression.

But unexpectedly, the next moment, Xia Sang spurted out a large mouthful of blood.

The guards nearby were startled and rushed forward to support her.

She struggled to her feet, stumbled over to Tao Ti and Pei Yan, and knelt down with a thud.

She fell to the ground, begging in a hoarse voice, "Crown Prince, Crown Princess, please, please give my sister justice. As long as that evil man gets retribution, even if it means taking my life, I will not regret it!"

Pei Yan, "..."

Tao Ti said solemnly, "Don't worry, we will."

Zhan Ping continued to report to Pei Yan, "Your Highness, in addition to this female corpse, I also found other corpses in that dry well..."

Everyone in the hospital was shocked.

Pei Yan's expression became more gloomy, and he asked coldly, "How many?"

"The corpses have piled up into a small hill. It is difficult to remove them all at once, so we will first take out the skulls..."

Zhan Ping pointed to the large wooden box outside and said, "There are a total of 22 complete skulls. Judging from their sizes, they should all be women."

Twenty-two skulls!

Tao Ti gasped and said in astonishment, "In other words, in addition to Xia Sang's sister, the prince also killed 22 other girls?"

Zhan Ping whispered, "…Probably."

Tao Ti couldn't help but curse in her heart, just banishing him, it was really easy for him!

At the same time, he felt a chill. The Prince Mu's Palace looked gorgeous and splendid with flowers, but who would have thought that so many wronged girls' souls were buried in the dry well underground.

Beast, what a beast!

Pei Yan saw her anger, patted her shoulder gently, and said soothingly, "It's not worth getting hurt because of this kind of person."

He said to Linglong, "Go in and take a look at the situation inside."

Linglong nodded, looked inside the house, and quickly turned back, saying, "The wound has been treated."

Tao Ti asked angrily, "Is it useless?"

Linglong: "This..."

Pei Yan, "..."

Flatten, "..."

Tao Ti was startled, realizing that she had spoken out her thoughts. She coughed awkwardly and said, "Well, I just asked casually."

Linglong glanced at Pei Yan, and when he saw that he had no objection, she replied, "Judging from the doctor's expression, it should be useless."

You deserve it!!

Tao Ti finally felt a little relieved in her depressed heart.

Pei Yan glanced at her indifferently without saying much. Just as he was about to get up and go in, he heard a burst of chaotic and hurried footsteps coming from outside the door.

When the pedestrian walked to the gate of the courtyard, he was also frightened by the corpse and wooden box on the ground.

People inside the yard looked outside, people outside the yard looked inside, their eyes met, some were calm, some were panicked.

Pei Yan looked at Prince Mu and Prefect Sun who had come with him, and sneered coldly, "You are all here together."

Tao Ti didn't hear clearly and looked at him in confusion. He just smiled and said, "It's okay."

Prince Mu and Prefect Sun walked in together. After bowing respectfully, Prince Mu frowned and said, "Your Highness, what is this...?"

Pei Yan said, "The emperor's uncle really raised a good son."

Prince Mu's eyelids twitched suddenly.

Pei Yan looked at Prefect Sun again and said calmly, "Prefect Sun, you are the local official of Luoyang. You came at the perfect time."

Prefect Sun couldn't help but smile, "I wonder what I can do for you, Your Highness?"

Pei Yan glanced at the two of them, stood straight, and said in a calm voice without any trace of anger, "Let's go in together."

The door was pushed open and several people walked in together.

Prince Mu had just been bandaged and was lying on the bed, dying, with Princess Mu feeding him ginseng soup.

Seeing that Prince Mu and Prefect Sun also came in this time, Princess Mu's eyes, which had been gloomy and sad, suddenly lit up. She called out expectantly, "Prince, you are finally here."

After twenty years of marriage, this was the first time that King Mu saw the princess looking so haggard.

When he looked at his eldest son lying on the bed, his face had darkened noticeably, and his beard was shaking with anger. "How did this happen?"

Princess Mu tearfully recounted the story of the "Crown Prince being assassinated". At the end, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes and sobbed, "The assassin hurt our Xuan'er so badly, but the Crown Princess still wanted to protect her! Prince, you have to make a decision for our son!"

Tao Ti witnessed the whole process and almost couldn't help but applaud Princess Mu's acting skills.

There are many experts among the people. Princess Mu really interprets the four words "confusing right and wrong" to the fullest. If this were in a TV series in the previous life, she would definitely be the vicious female supporting role who would be scolded and become a hot topic on Weibo.

Just as Tao Ti was about to step forward to refute, Pei Yan grabbed her hand, shook his head gently at her, and gave her a look to flatten her expression.

Zhan Ping stepped forward and recounted with an expressionless face how they dug out the body from the dry well in the backyard.

Finally, a hint of sarcasm appeared on his ugly face, and he said coldly, "Prince Mu, I didn't expect that your palace was built on a cemetery. It's really a Feng Shui treasure land."

King Mu choked.

Pei Yan looked directly at Prince Mu, "Uncle, twenty-three lives, are you not going to give an explanation?"

Prince Mu frowned, "..."

The Prince of Mu on the bed was so shocked that he struggled to get up and shouted, "Impossible, how can there be so many!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room had different expressions.

Pei Yan narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "The bodies are outside. Whether there are so many or not, the coroner will know after a careful examination. As for why there are so many..."

After a pause, he glanced at King Mu and his wife meaningfully, and said slowly, "Perhaps besides you, someone else has thrown a corpse in there."

Almost in an instant, Prince Mu glanced at Princess Mu subconsciously, and Princess Mu's cheek muscles twitched twice and she clenched her teeth.

Pei Yan looked at Prefect Sun, who had been trying to reduce his presence, and called out his name, "Prefect Sun, Prince Mu is suspected of robbing, raping, and killing women. What should you do next? I don't need to teach you, do I?"

Sun Fuyin buried his head and stammered, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

He didn't dare to respond, but his eyes were always on Prince Mu.

Prince Mu's brows were knitted, and his fists were clenched tightly under the sleeves of his wide robe.

When the atmosphere was tense, Pei Yan curved his eyebrows and looked at Prince Mu in a friendly manner, "Uncle, twenty-three lives are not something that can be easily fooled away. Even if I report it to my father, he will not let it go easily..."

"But uncle, don't panic too much. This was done by the prince alone. If uncle can sacrifice his own son for the sake of justice and send the prince to jail himself, at most he will be known as a poor parent. I don't think father will blame you too much..."

"Besides, Uncle, besides this son, you have several other sons. Why would you burden yourself with such a useless one?"

Each of these words was like a strong torrent, washing away the fragile feelings of love in Prince Mu's heart.

He looked at Pei Yan with a stiff face. Pei Yan still looked calm and composed, as if silently saying to him, "As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood."

Yes, in addition to this unpromising legitimate son, he also had several illegitimate sons, many of whom were outstanding.

After all, Princess Mu had been Prince Mu's bedfellow for many years, and she immediately noticed that Prince Mu's mind had softened. She felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head, chilling her to the bone.

She strode forward and grabbed Prince Mu's sleeve, tears welling in her eyes as she cried, "Prince, Xuan'er was badly injured, how could he go to a place like prison?"

Seeing Prince Mu with a stern face and not saying anything, Princess Mu was extremely angry. She turned her head and gave Tao Ti a cold look, then looked at Pei Yan, "Prince, Jianxuan is your cousin, how could you treat him like this? At worst, we won't pursue the assassin. She has avenged her sister now, so the matter is over!"

Pei Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and looked down at his little princess, "Ati, what do you think?"

Tao Ti shook her head, her pale face full of seriousness, "We are not qualified to speak for the deceased."

Pei Yan pondered these words again in his heart, his black eyes moved slightly, and he uttered a low "hmm".

Looking up again, he said to Prince Mu, "Uncle, you are a smart man. You should know how to make choices."

Prince Mu, "..."

Seeing him lower his head in defeat, Pei Yan sneered in his heart and glanced at Prefect Sun, "Prefect Sun, you handle the next matter. As for Xia Sang, I will take him back to the palace first. If you want to interrogate him, come to the palace to pick him up."

Prefect Sun wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Yes, yes, I obey your command."

Pei Yan curled his lips and said to the King Mu and his wife in a gentle and polite manner, "Uncle, Princess, I and the Crown Princess will go ahead."

Having said that, he turned around with Tao Ti and nodded to Zhan Ping again.

Zhan Ping folded his hands and said loudly, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will do my best to assist Prefect Sun in arresting the suspect! I respectfully send your Highness and the Crown Princess off—"

After they leave.

Zhan Ping held the sword with one hand and stretched out the other hand, and said to Prefect Sun with a fake smile, "Prefect, if the government's soldiers are not of great use, I don't mind lending you the East Palace Guards."

Prefect Sun turned around in dismay and waited eagerly for Prince Mu's instructions.

Prince Mu had a gloomy face. He grabbed the doctor who was shivering in the corner, pulled him aside and asked a few questions.

When he came back, his face was even gloomier, like a summer afternoon with a heavy rain, and he said in a low and hoarse voice, "Sun Zhengguo, send your people to send the prince to the prison and detain him first."

The prince on the bed panicked, "Father, how could you do this to your child! Father!"

Princess Mu was also panicked and tugged at Prince Mu's sleeve, "Prince, you can't do this, you are sending him to death!"

Prince Mu was furious. When he thought of the corpses at the gate, veins popped up on his forehead. He shook off Princess Mu's hand and cursed, "This is your good son. He is good at making trouble but not good at doing anything!"

He didn't even look at the mother and son, turned his head, and strode out of the yard.

Princess Mu looked at Prince Mu's back as he walked away swiftly, and she felt her heart burning inside.

Oh, this is the husband she married, the man she has been with for most of her life.

Ridiculous, really ridiculous!

The more Princess Mu thought about it, the more hateful she became. She turned around and faced her son's pale and frightened face. She felt her chest tightness, shortness of breath, and dizziness.

“Mother——!”

"princess--!"

Everyone in the room was shocked. She rolled her eyes and fell straight to the ground.