The room, warmed by auspicious charcoal, felt as comfortable as spring. The case files from the twentieth year of Taichang were slowly spread out, gradually revealing the full picture of the great case that had caused blood to flow like rivers in Chang’an.

In the twentieth year of Taichang, on the sixth day of the tenth month, Princess Yong’an Li Ying drowned. Because the Lotus Pond in the palace was located in a remote area, and the princess had not allowed servants to accompany her, it wasn’t until an hour later that her body was discovered by palace attendants searching for her.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Taichang and Consort Jiang rushed over. The two wept bitterly before the princess’s body, their hearts shattered into pieces. At that moment, they were no longer the emperor and royal consort above ten thousand in the Great Zhou, but merely an ordinary couple who had lost their beloved daughter.

Empress Zheng also hurried over. Empress Zheng was Emperor Taichang’s first wife, born to the Zheng family of Xingyang, of noble status. When she saw Li Ying lying on the ground, pale, silent, and soaking wet, Empress Zheng nearly fainted: “Yong’an! How could this happen!”

Empress Zheng tried to touch Li Ying but was pushed away by the grief-stricken Consort Jiang. Consort Jiang was born a palace maid, her father merely a merchant. She had caught Emperor Taichang’s eye because of her beauty and was taken as a consort. Consort Jiang was normally alert, steady, and always cautious, never before having shown such disrespect toward the Empress.

The palace attendants watched in shock as the Consort violently pushed the Empress away from the princess’s body, then screamed with all her might: “Stop pretending! It must be you! You killed my precious pearl! It’s you! It’s you!”

The Empress was stunned, then flew into a rage: “Consort, what nonsense are you speaking!”

“I’m not talking nonsense, it was you who killed my precious pearl!”

Consort Jiang was overcome with grief. She crawled to Emperor Taichang’s feet, clutching his robe, weeping bitterly: “San Lang, it must be the Empress who killed my precious pearl! She has never liked her. It must be her! You must avenge my precious pearl, you must avenge our precious pearl!”

The Empress was frightened and repeatedly defended herself: “No, San Lang, I didn’t kill my precious pearl! I didn’t!”

Consort Jiang glared at the Empress. Casting aside her usual calm and gentleness, she gnashed her teeth and cried loudly: “You need not quibble! You were jealous that I received San Lang’s favor; you were jealous that my precious pearl reinforced that favor. Since my precious pearl was born, you’ve used so many tactics against us, both openly and in secret. I’ve always endured silently for fear of implicating my precious pearl, but I never imagined you would kill her! You’re heartless!”

Empress Zheng defended herself: “No, I didn’t kill my precious pearl. If I wanted to kill her, why would I arrange a marriage between her and my family’s nephew? I didn’t!”

Consort Jiang cried: “You were merely using my precious pearl’s marriage to regain San Lang’s favor, but San Lang still didn’t like you, so you killed my precious pearl in a fit of anger!”

Empress Zheng also fell to her knees, crawling to Emperor Taichang. She clutched his robe, begging desperately: “San Lang, I admit, I arranged the match between Zheng Yun and my precious pearl to seek your favor, but I truly didn’t kill my precious pearl, I didn’t!”

Consort Jiang had cried until she was exhausted: “You couldn’t bear your children, and now you’ve taken away my precious pearl. Why? Why?”

She no longer wished to argue with Empress Zheng and instead bent down to embrace the lifeless Li Ying. She kissed Li Ying’s cold cheeks, just as she had kissed her tiny face when she was born, murmuring: “My precious pearl, mother is here. No one can hurt you anymore. Come back, come back to see mother. Mother cannot live without you, cannot… cannot…”

That night, Consort Jiang held Li Ying’s body, crying until her voice grew hoarse, refusing to let go no matter who tried to persuade her.

Between Emperor Taichang and Consort Jiang, it had always been Emperor Taichang, the father, who indulged and spoiled Li Ying. Whatever Li Ying asked for, Emperor Taichang would grant. In contrast, Consort Jiang was somewhat strict with Li Ying, always teaching her to conceal her sharp edges, to be kind to others, which cultivated Li Ying’s gentle and kind personality. No one expected that this cautious and self-disciplined Consort Jiang would become so fierce and overbearing due to her daughter’s death, even risking punishment by palace rules by openly confronting the Empress, all to seek justice for her beloved daughter.

Afterward, Emperor Taichang was so grief-stricken that he neither ate nor drank for days. Consort Jiang insisted that Li Ying’s death was not an accident but was caused by Empress Zheng. Empress Zheng vehemently denied this accusation. The imperial harem was thrown into chaos. At Consort Jiang’s insistence, Emperor Taichang secretly ordered the Dali Temple to investigate the cause of Li Ying’s death. The Minister of the Dali Temple at that time, Xu Ran, investigated for over ten days and discovered that Li Ying had gone alone to the Lotus Pond after receiving a letter from her fiancé, Zheng Yun. Moreover, beside the pond, apart from the footprints of the eunuchs who had jumped into the water to retrieve the princess’s body, there were no other footprints. It was presumed that the princess had slipped and fallen while waiting for her fiancé by the pond, thus, unfortunately, drowning.

Therefore, the princess’s death was an accident, having nothing whatsoever to do with Empress Zheng or anyone else.

Emperor Taichang and Consort Jiang did not believe Xu Ran’s report at all. Xu Ran was related to the Zheng clan by marriage, and Emperor Taichang believed that Xu Ran was covering for Empress Zheng. So he had the Vice Minister of the Right, Cui Songqing, personally investigate the case. In the Great Zhou, the position of Vice Minister was ranked as first grade, essentially a prime minister, showing Emperor Taichang’s emphasis on this case.

Cui Songqing was from the Cui clan of Boling, known for his upright and incorruptible character, and famous for his integrity and capability. After taking over Li Ying’s case, he first personally investigated the area around the Lotus Pond and discovered that not a single drop of rain had fallen during the entire month of October, and the soil around the pond was hard and dry, making it impossible for someone to slip and fall. Thus, Cui Songqing determined that Li Ying had not accidentally fallen into the water but had been pushed in and drowned.

Given that Li Ying was of a gentle and refined nature, and the palace maids all liked her, there was no possibility that she had made enemies who would harm her. Therefore, the biggest suspect was indeed Empress Zheng, who had a grudge against Li Ying’s mother, Consort Jiang.

Cui Songqing swiftly arrested Empress Zheng’s maids and questioned them, but they all unanimously proclaimed their mistress’s innocence, saying that Empress Zheng had not killed Princess Yong’an. Cui Songqing interrogated them one by one. One maid, unable to endure the torture, revealed some secrets.

It turned out that Empress Zheng, to regain favor, had strongly recommended Zheng Yun to Emperor Taichang as a consort for his daughter. However, in reality, Empress Zheng’s brother and sister-in-law, who were Zheng Yun’s parents, were unwilling to accept Li Ying as a daughter-in-law because she was Consort Jiang’s daughter, and Consort Jiang came from a merchant family. The Zheng family, on the other hand, belonged to the “Five Surnames and Seven Clans,” a prestigious lineage. Zheng Yun’s parents deeply despised Li Ying. Regarding Emperor Taichang’s selection of Zheng Yun as a son-in-law, although they did not dare to openly defy the imperial decree, in their hearts, they disdained Li Ying greatly.

As for Zheng Yun, he too was unwilling to marry Li Ying. On one hand, it was because the princess’s maternal family was of humble origin; on the other hand, it was because Zheng Yun and his cousin from the Wang family had grown up together as childhood sweethearts and had deep feelings for each other. So this marriage was arranged by Empress Zheng without her brother and sister-in-law’s knowledge. After everything was settled, her brother and sister-in-law came to the palace to complain to Empress Zheng, whom the maid had overheard.

Upon learning this, Emperor Taichang was both sorrowful and furious. Li Ying was his precious pearl held in the palm of his hand, and she was a princess of the Great Zhou. Merely because of her maternal family’s background, she was so disdained. In his rage, he immediately banished Empress Zheng to the Cold Palace and secretly ordered Cui Songqing to dig three feet into the ground if necessary to find the truth about Li Ying’s death.

When Li Ying read this part of the file, she was momentarily stunned. She smiled bitterly: “I never imagined that Zheng Yun’s parents despised me so much.”

Cui Xun said calmly: “People of that time had a saying: ‘Better to marry a girl from the Five Families than to enter the imperial family.’ Even imperial princesses were not as noble as girls from the Five Families. Naturally, they were unwilling to have a daughter-in-law whose maternal family was merchants.”

Li Ying said dejectedly, “I’m even more surprised to learn that Zheng Yun had a childhood sweetheart cousin.”

She recalled the few times she had met Zheng Yun. He had always appeared gentle and refined, courteous and proper in his speech, maintaining appropriate decorum. She had no particular feelings for Zheng Yun but thought that since he was the husband chosen for her by her father and mother, he must be the finest young man in the world. So she had always been happily looking forward to the day she would marry Zheng Yun.

Who could have imagined that Zheng Yun’s entire family so despised her, and that Zheng Yun himself viewed her as the villain who had torn apart his true love?

Li Ying was utterly bewildered. As she had said, she had never done anything wrong in her life, yet merely because of her mother’s background, she was so despised by the Zheng family. Was being born into a noble family inherently superior? Was being born into a merchant family inherently inferior? Why was it that even though her mother had become a consort of the Great Zhou, and she, her daughter, was a bona fide princess of the Great Zhou, a golden branch and jade leaf above ten thousand people, she was still so despised by those officials?

Where did this reasoning come from?

Cui Xun looked at her: “Do you want to continue reading this file?”

Li Ying came back to her senses. She pressed her lips together, then nodded firmly: “Yes.”

No matter how unpleasant the truth might be, she wanted to continue searching.

Under Cui Songqing’s interrogation, there was another maid who couldn’t withstand the torture and secretly reported that a few days earlier, the Empress had summoned Zheng Yun to the palace for a conversation. From the moment Zheng Yun entered the palace, he had seemed distracted, as if burdened with many worries.

Cui Songqing thus turned his suspicions toward Prince Consort Zheng Yun.

Zheng Yun was taken to the Dali Temple. As a son of a noble family, he had been pampered since childhood and could not endure hardship. Even before the torture instruments were used to frighten him, he had confessed everything. He said he hated Li Ying because her maternal family was merchants, which made him the target of ridicule among his friends. Moreover, he and his cousin from the Wang family had been childhood sweethearts, and both families were about to discuss marriage when Emperor Taichang suddenly bestowed the imperial marriage, forcing him to part with his cousin. This made him hate Li Ying even more. As the wedding date approached, he could not bear to marry someone like Li Ying, a merchant’s daughter, so he harbored evil intentions. He wrote a letter inviting Li Ying to the Lotus Pond. When he saw the elegantly dressed Li Ying waiting expectantly by the pond, there was a moment of softening in his heart, but this softness was quickly overshadowed by the humiliation of his friends’ ridicule and the hatred of being forced to separate from his cousin. He took advantage of Li Ying’s unpreparedness and pushed her into the Lotus Pond.

Li Ying had only cried for help a few times before sinking into the water. In his panic, Zheng Yun fled the Lotus Pond.

He had still harbored some hope that people would think Li Ying had died accidentally, but he never expected that Cui Songqing would track him down so quickly.

What happened next was known to all: Empress Zheng was deposed and, a year later, was killed by someone sent by the still-vengeful Consort Jiang. Zheng Yun’s entire clan, down to the ninth degree of kinship, was executed. Blood flowed like rivers in Chang’an.

This case file seemed flawless. Zheng Yun had the motive to commit the crime and also had the opportunity. Moreover, he himself readily confessed. So if Li Ying had been able to reincarnate, she too would have believed that the culprit was Zheng Yun.

After reading the last word, Li Ying slowly closed the file. She asked Cui Xun: “Deputy Minister Cui, do you see any clues in this file?”

Cui Xun instead asked Li Ying: “What kind of person did the Princess think Zheng Yun was?”

Li Ying tried hard to recall her memory of Zheng Yun: “Well-read, a perfect gentleman.”

“Then what kind of person did the Princess think the late Emperor was?”

Li Ying was momentarily taken aback. She said, “My father was a very good father.”

“The late Emperor’s posthumous title was ‘Ming’ (Enlightened). Besides being a good father, he was also a wise emperor,” Cui Xun said. “The late Emperor ascended the throne at a young age. During his reign, he promoted new policies and appointed worthy ministers. Such an enlightened ruler would not likely have been so blind as to select a husband of improper character for his beloved daughter.”

“What is Deputy Minister Cui suggesting?”

“A consort personally selected by the late Emperor would not likely have been so impulsive as to murder a few taunts. Moreover, the person he killed was a princess of the Great Zhou, the late Emperor’s most beloved daughter. No matter how noble his status, he should have considered the consequences of such an act.”

His analysis was quite clear, but Li Ying suddenly realized something: “So Deputy Minister Cui never believed from the beginning that Zheng Yun was the culprit?”

She smiled bitterly: “Yet when I first found Deputy Minister Cui, you asserted with certainty that my case had been settled, that the culprit was Zheng Yun.”

Cui Xun calmly said, “Indeed, I never believed it. I simply didn’t want to help you.”

He spoke straightforwardly. Li Ying could only continue to smile bitterly. Since she needed his help, she couldn’t quibble with him. She could only ask: “Then who does Deputy Minister Cui think the culprit is?”

Cui Xun did not answer directly but tapped his slender fingers one by one on the table. After pondering for a moment, he said, “I think there is a very important person in this file who was overlooked thirty years ago.”

“Who?”

“Zheng Yun’s cousin, the Wang girl.”