She was stunned for quite a while, and Li Zhaoting also stared at her for quite some time, his gaze indescribably profound, making her extremely uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and said, “Magistrate Li, greetings. I wonder what brings you here?”

“I came to see you.” As he spoke, he stepped aside and entered with natural ease.

Suzhen rolled her eyes. You’re really making yourself at home – I never intended to invite you in.

She glanced outside. Indeed, as Xiao Zhou had said, large numbers of imperial guards were stationed there. Wasn’t he concerned about appearances?

Li Zhaoting seemed able to read minds. With his back to her, he said calmly, “Lian Yu has me staying in the palace as well. Otherwise, if I were killed outside, there’d be no one to serve as a scapegoat for you in the Gu Shuangcheng case. Besides, didn’t you already tell him that I covet Gu Xiluo, and his greatest love isn’t you either? What impropriety do we need to avoid?”

Suzhen was immediately “convinced” by this reasoning. She closed the door and returned to find he had already sat down at the table, staring at the teapot. Deflated, she poured him a cup of tea.

“Thank you.” Li Zhaoting accepted it, his gaze falling on her wrist. “How is your hand?”

Suzhen was startled. “You know?”

“I was still conscious at the time.”

His voice was extremely soft.

Suzhen finally had a triumphant smile. “Did you come to thank me?”

“Yes.”

Suzhen thought to herself, if you really want to thank me, then please leave.

Completely contrary to before, aside from investigating cases, she really didn’t want to spend time with him. Tomorrow she still had to see Lian Yu, and constantly being around men who had Gu Xiluo in their hearts would drive her to premature menopause sooner or later! Moreover, while Lian Yu was devious on the inside, Li Zhaoting never forgot to strike her down even verbally.

But she couldn’t say this directly – if they became too antagonistic, how could they cooperate on the case?

She thought for a moment, then reached out to grasp his hand. “Zhaoting, you understand my feelings now, don’t you?”

She found it amusing inside, waiting to see his face change color and flee in panic as before.

But his reaction was somewhat unexpected.

He only frowned slightly, looking at her hand, and didn’t even pull away.

He had always been someone who disliked owing others. Yet he endured this. While Suzhen found it increasingly amusing, she also felt increasingly cold inside. If it were A’luo instead, how overjoyed he would be! Rather than this kind of endurance.

She decided to go all out!

“Give me a chance. I want…”

Li Zhaoting’s gaze turned slightly cold. “If you knew it would come to this, why did you act differently before?”

“Why didn’t you return? Why did you insist on staying!”

He finally shook off her hand and got up to leave.

Suzhen smiled inwardly – it worked as expected. Playing with renewed enthusiasm, she hurried after him and grasped his arm.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river – she never expected to finally have a day when she truly let go. In the past, she truly felt she could die for him. Now, even though she could still risk herself for him, she would never again make him her center.

“Zhaoting, after all these years, do you really have the heart?” She gently shook his arm – a familiar gesture she had made hundreds of times before.

“Let go.” Li Zhaoting turned around and said in a deep voice. Suzhen breathed a sigh of relief – this time he would surely leave. She was about to let go and return to examine the case when he suddenly reached out and pinched the flesh on her cheek, saying softly, “Let me think about it.”

He finally left.

Suzhen stretched her back and returned to the desk to examine the case. She picked up the case files but suddenly froze. Let him think about it – what did that mean?!

Was he planning to give her a chance?

She quickly dismissed it. This was just a polite excuse. After all, they had suffered together just a few days ago, sharing life and death – he couldn’t be too decisive.

In the evening, she knocked on the doors of other rooms in the courtyard and called Wu Qing and the others all into her room.

“No need for your trouble – I’ll also come stay with you tonight. His Majesty’s orders, saying he’d triple my salary.” Xiao Zhou stuffed the porcelain pillow in her arms onto Suzhen’s bed.

Suzhen slapped her on the forehead. “Who said anything about sleeping? We’re discussing the case. I don’t object if you want to stay here forever, but I don’t want to keep you company.”

“Right, right,” Zhui Ming scratched his head and face. “This place is nice, but too restrictive. I still miss my doghouse at the Criminal Investigation Bureau.”

“You’re the one with a doghouse!” Suzhen glared at him.

“Tomorrow, that old hag Xiao’an is also coming. If you don’t want to lose face in front of Lian Yu and that old woman, if you don’t want Li Zhaoting to suppress us, we’d better do our homework tonight.”

“Otherwise, the five of us won’t be worth one of them.”

With her scolding, everyone immediately found their positions and sat properly.

“Wu Qing, tell us about the situation with the eunuch who took you away in my name that day. What happened to him afterward?” Suzhen asked.

Wu Qing nodded. “He was a very young eunuch who looked quite clever. He led us to a palace building, saying it was the old site of the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau, and told us to see if there was anything suspicious. He said Consort Yu had worked there during the day before her death, told us to look for anything suspicious, and said you were busy with something and would meet up with us later.”

He curled his fingers slightly, tapping lightly on the table. “You know what happened after that. We searched but found nothing suspicious, so we returned to the Criminal Investigation Bureau that evening to wait for you. When we still didn’t see you after two days, we realized something was wrong. Then people from the Li residence came looking, so we immediately entered the palace to see His Majesty.”

“Did you look for that eunuch afterward?” Suzhen frowned and asked.

“Of course,” Xiao Zhou interjected, then walked to the desk, pulled something from the pile of documents, and brought it back to her. “Due to time constraints, we even prepared a portrait for you.”

“But as expected, we couldn’t find him. His Majesty ordered the Imperial Household Department to search and discovered he was a eunuch under the Imperial Supply Bureau, which manages the emperor’s personal items. He occasionally ran errands before the emperor, had been in the palace for five years, had no family, was smooth-talking and diligent. But after the incident, he was never seen again. Presumably he secretly left the imperial city that very day, though of course, it’s also possible he was killed and buried somewhere in the palace.”

Suzhen studied the portrait carefully, then slowly set it down. “We’ll investigate this later. Since the palace can’t find where he went either, our searching would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. We’ve all seen the case files before and learned about Consort Yu’s sudden death. Now, Xiao Zhou, you recount the situation at that time, then everyone supplement it and discuss the method and timing of the murder. Also, regarding the circumstances back then, say who you think the murderer is. Each person can nominate two people – the more the merrier, don’t be polite.”

Everyone was startled. Zhui Ming called out softly with excitement, “Then the person who gets the most nominations is the murderer?”

“Say another word and I’ll hit you with Xiao Zhou’s pillow, believe it or not?”

Suzhen smiled slightly. Zhui Ming immediately fell silent, glaring fiercely at the gloating Xiao Zhou and Tie Shou. Xiao Zhou gave him a rap on the knuckles and stood up to begin the account.

That evening, for the palace maid who had borne a dragon heir yet retained her lowly status, was an ordinary night.

Like those nights before, she dragged her weary body back from the needlework room. Her seven or eight-year-old son was still at the Imperial Stables feeding horses and hadn’t returned to the room.

The eight women in their room had already gotten their meal.

Though she had borne an imperial son, her situation was more miserable than ordinary palace maids. So in the eight-person room, while several were jealous that she had received the emperor’s favor and watched Consort Ai’s expression, treating her unkindly, four palace maids deeply sympathized with her plight.

Consort Ai had decreed that mother and son could only receive one portion of food. Because the child was young and couldn’t do much work, the imperial palace didn’t support idle people – providing lodging was already merciful.

As usual, she ate only a small portion of the food, leaving the rest for her son. The palace maids who were on good terms with the mother and son quietly shared some of their portions with her, letting her eat a bit more.

“Pay attention – this is the first thing Consort Yu consumed that evening according to the Criminal Investigation records,” Xiao Zhou said, when Suzhen suddenly spoke up. Everyone exchanged glances, and Suzhen gestured for Xiao Zhou to continue.

Soon after, her son returned and ate the food, then left some for his mother, saying it was already enough. The palace maid couldn’t refuse her son’s kindness and ate it.

“Though that pitiful amount of food wasn’t much, if we calculate by time, this can be considered the second meal of the evening.”

Since Suzhen had mentioned it before, Xiao Zhou, being clever, paused here.

Seeing everyone nod, Xiao Zhou continued: “That night, a banquet was being held in the palace – it was the birthday of the current Empress Dowager, who was then the Empress. The emperor celebrated the empress’s birthday with a grand feast for all officials, imperial relatives, and palace staff. After the evening meal, the child was still hungry and thought that with the birthday celebration, there must be good food everywhere. He snuck out without telling his mother, hoping to try his luck. The rough-work palace maids who didn’t need to serve before the emperor stayed in the palace maids’ quarters, envying others and chatting. Consort Yu was then talking with palace maids from the three rooms in the courtyard. Before long, an uninvited guest arrived in the courtyard.”

“Do you know who it was?” she paused to ask.

Suzhen and Wu Qing didn’t speak, but Tie Shou and Zhui Ming answered quickly: “Consort Ai!”

Zhui Ming added, then slammed the table angrily: “That old witch bullied people too much! The current Empress Dowager Xiao’an is already detestable, but compared to her, she seems gentle!”

“You’re courting death,” Tie Shou glared at him. “Speaking so loudly – if the people outside hear, the Empress Dowager will make trouble for you tomorrow.”

Zhui Ming snorted coldly, his expression still indignant.

Xiao Zhou rarely showed compassion and sighed as well. “Consort Ai was dissatisfied with the Late Emperor’s devoted care for the Empress Dowager at the birthday banquet, so she brought palace maids to find a place to vent her anger. Consort Yu became her first choice. She ordered palace maids to bring dishes and fruits from the banquet and throw them on the ground, saying in front of all the palace maids that in honor of the Empress’s birthday, this was a gift for Consort Yu and her son.”

“Huaisu, what’s wrong with you? Are you even listening? Hey, Li Huaisu!” She suddenly stopped and glared at Suzhen.

Suzhen saw everyone staring at her and realized she had been distracted. She thought of Lian Yu – the young Lian Yu. She knew she shouldn’t, but still felt sorry for him.