The more Wei Yi ignored him, the more Shi Ziran wanted to tease him.

So he folded his arms across his chest and nudged him with his elbow.

He said, “Wei Yi, this place will soon be your home.”

Hmm?

Wei Yi looked at him with confusion and asked, “Why?”

“Because once Miss Ji marries my prince, she’ll be Princess Rong. Of course this will be her home then. And Miss Ji has always treated you as a younger brother, so her home is naturally your home. From now on, you can live here properly, and I’ll look after you.”

Like good brothers!

Princess Rong!

Younger brother!

These words stabbed into Wei Yi’s chest like sharp knives. His footsteps halted.

He froze in place.

Shi Ziran secretly curved his lips in an evil smile, feeling he had successfully teased him.

Come on, come on, let’s hurt each other!

Who knew that Wei Yi wasn’t angry at all? His calm gaze watched Ji Yunshu’s slender figure, and he smiled slightly, saying, “As long as she’s happy, everything is fine.”

Shi Ziran deflated like a punctured ball, his hands hanging at his sides as he sighed.

“How boring.”

Afterward, he took a step and leaped up onto the snow-covered rooftop.

The tiles above were covered in white snow. He quickly swept away the snow in a patch around him with his foot before sitting down, his body reclining lazily. In his hand, he somehow had a dried blade of grass, which he held between his lips.

His roguish demeanor was fully displayed!

Wei Yi glanced at him, found it uninteresting, and walked away.

Just as he entered the courtyard, the young maids who used to care for him all came running over.

Because everyone had heard that Wei Yi was no longer foolish—not only that, but he had become extremely intelligent, even possessing the talent of photographic memory. They all wanted to see for themselves.

In no time, the courtyard was packed with people!

The young maids each clutched a piece of paper in their hands, lining up to pass them before him.

“Young Master Wei, my name is Yunxiang.”

“I’m Lianzhu.”

“I came first, I came first…”

“I came first.”

“My name is Xiangcui. My mother said the ‘xiang’ character has three water drops plus the ‘xiang’ that means ‘believe.’ Three water drops is just water, right? I can write the water character, but I don’t know the other half. Young Master Wei, can you teach me?”

He sat at the writing desk, looking at the table full of white paper. It should have been headache-inducing, but his patience was boundless—he fulfilled every request!

He picked up his brush and wrote each person’s name on the papers one by one.

But after finishing writing the character “xiang” in Xiangcui’s name, Xiangcui took a look.

Something wasn’t right!

“Young Master Wei, I’m Xiangcui. Is this ‘xiang’? Shouldn’t there be water in it?”

This…

Child, your mother has led you astray.

Wei Yi didn’t know how to explain and could only say, “Miss Xiangcui, this is your name—there won’t be any mistake. Just remember it.”

Xiangcui was doubtful.

My mother wouldn’t lie to me!

Following this, Wei Yi continued writing their names one by one.

Ji Yunshu stood at the courtyard entrance, watching the lively bustle inside.

A sharp-eyed young maid spotted her.

“Miss Ji, you—?”

She quickly made a “shh” gesture. That maid was quite clever and said no more, diving back into the crowd.

Watching Wei Yi’s refined and gentle manner, the corners of Ji Yunshu’s mouth gradually curved into a smile.

She thought, how wonderful it would be if things could remain this way forever!

She let out a light sigh, not wishing to disturb them, and turned to leave.

Because of the ancestral rites, the palace became busy, and outside the palace also became busy. The mausoleum was built on Ji Mountain beside the capital, standing against the mountain. It had a main hall and a traveling palace to accommodate imperial family members and ministers who came for the annual rites. Two days before the ancestral rites began, the Emperor would lead everyone out of the palace to Ji Mountain, perform Buddhist rites for one day first, then go to the mausoleum to conduct the rites—once every year, never interrupted.

The Emperor leaving the palace—what a major event!

Therefore, Ji Mountain had long been heavily guarded with increased troops. Even the common people who usually hunted in the surrounding areas were intercepted and “driven away,” forbidden to approach.

For the ancestral rites, the Emperor had fully delegated authority to the Directorate of Imperial Clan Court, so Jingrong couldn’t openly interfere at all. He continued secretly consulting with Minister Qin and Commander Xiao, discussing how to dig out Duke Yuguo’s coffin without anyone knowing.

During this time, as a court official, after the Emperor ordered the “Linjing Case” closed, Ji Yunshu naturally had to begin properly serving in the Ministry of War. Ever since the position of Prison Court Inspector was re-established, the authority of the Court of Judicial Review had been relatively reduced, which meant Ji Yunshu’s responsibilities had increased significantly. Whether it was because New Year was approaching or not, the number of cases submitted from local areas was much greater than usual.

Junior Minister of Justice brought another stack to her desk!

“Minister Ji, this is the last batch.”

She shook her head, flipped through them, and sighed, saying, “These local cases were probably submitted by petitioners early on. It’s just that those officials are usually lazy and ignore them. Waiting until near New Year, they send them all up together, thinking that the higher-ups will definitely be too busy at that time. These cases will be suppressed again, and then they’ll be set aside and ignored, becoming cold cases. The local officials save themselves the trouble. Truly worthy of being officials—their mental calculations are sharper than a pawnshop proprietor’s. It’s simply chilling. No wonder there are more and more unjust cases in the world.”

The junior minister had a sudden realization. “So that’s how it is! No wonder there are so many local cases sent up at year’s end every year. If Minister Ji hadn’t explained this today, this humble official probably still wouldn’t understand.”

“You’ll have plenty to learn in the future.”

“Being able to handle cases and study under Minister Ji is this humble official’s honor!” The junior official was as delighted as a blooming flower. If he could study under Ji Yunshu for a few more years, who knows—he might even get promoted in the future.

Ji Yunshu glanced at him and smiled faintly, then handed him a stack of documents she had organized, instructing, “These several cases are quite serious. Go dig out the case files from when they were previously closed and compare them to see if there are any omissions. If there are, come report to me. We may need to reopen the cases.”

“Yes!”

The junior minister diligently went off.

Ji Yunshu busied herself for two days and finally reviewed and categorized all the cases one by one. Those without problems were sent back to their respective prefectures and provinces. Those with problems had officials immediately dispatched to investigate, ensuring everything was thoroughly examined before New Year. If there were further objections, they would return to the capital to report again.

Her efficiency was extremely high. People in the Ministry of Justice secretly discussed her, saying that Dalin’s only female official truly lived up to her reputation.

So when she was reviewing cases in her office, occasionally minor officials would come in for advice, and she was infinitely patient, teaching and explaining everything one by one.

Today, she finally had some free time. She carried the organized cases to the Ministry of Justice’s document archive and filed them all by category on the shelves.

However—

By accident, a shelf wobbled, and documents from an adjacent shelf fell down.

“Crash, crash, crash…”

They all scattered.

A mess on the floor.

She immediately crouched down to clean up.

But inadvertently, she actually saw a treason case from fifteen years ago.

The protagonist of the case was the then-Minister of War, Chen Feng—Minister Chen. Also implicated under the same charge were many officials both great and small. All were publicly beheaded!