Everyone fell silent.

Minister Li’s expression was gloomy. He stood up and walked before Li Shiyan, who was kneeling on the ground, and looked at him sternly.

He asked, “Shiyan, let me ask you one question—did you kill someone?”

Li Shiyan raised his head and said earnestly, “Uncle, you know what kind of person Shiyan is. No matter how wild or confused I might be, I would never kill anyone!”

“If you didn’t kill anyone, why would someone see you coming out from behind the artificial mountain? And covered in blood! If you didn’t kill anyone, why did you run?”

“I…”

“If you want to clear your name, then explain everything in full detail, clearly and thoroughly. But if you lie, even I can’t protect you. You must also understand one thing—once a person lies, the truth will always slip out eventually. So you absolutely must not lie!” Though Minister Li’s heart held some bias, his tone also carried a hint of warning.

Li Shiyan furrowed his brow tightly, glanced at the Marquis, then turned to look at Su Ziluo.

Su Ziluo subtly nodded at him, signaling for him to tell everything.

Nothing should be hidden!

So—

Li Shiyan took a deep breath and said to Minister Li, “Yes, this nephew understands. I will absolutely not hide anything or lie—I will certainly tell everything truthfully.” After a brief pause, he continued, “At the evening banquet, I was publicly humiliated by Wang Huai. At the time, I was truly angry, so late at night I avoided the people outside to go find Wang Huai, planning to confront him and vent my anger. But halfway there, I ran into him instead. I saw him sneaking furtively behind the artificial mountain, so I followed him in. He appeared from behind me and mocked me with his words again, so we got into a conflict. In a fit of anger, I pushed him once. At that time, his head hit a rock and bled, but he wasn’t seriously hurt—he even argued with me for a few more exchanges. Having vented my anger, I left. But I lost the jade pendant I was carrying with me, so I went back to look for it, and then I saw…”

His voice gradually grew softer, and his words stopped there!

Because he was very clear that if he spoke the words that followed, everyone present—perhaps including his own father—would believe he had truly killed someone.

Having waited a long time without hearing him continue, Minister Wang grew anxious and stepped forward. “Saw what? Speak!”

Li Shiyan’s heart clenched. Mustering his courage, he said, “I saw Wang Huai lying on the ground. He… was already dead. I panicked for a moment and immediately ran out from behind the artificial mountain. I thought I had killed someone, so I… went into hiding.”

Uh!

Hearing these words, Minister Wang became extremely agitated, his face full of fury with nowhere to hide it. “What do you mean you ‘thought’ you killed someone? Now even you yourself have personally admitted you pushed Wang Huai. Everything is already clear. How can you still claim you’re wronged?”

His voice boomed like thunder!

Everyone was shocked, and even the Marquis’s expression changed dramatically. His body trembled violently, unable to believe it. “Shiyan, did you… truly… kill someone?”

Li Shiyan immediately said, “Father, your son didn’t!”

“You…” The Marquis was so angry his chest hurt.

Minister Wang then said to Minister Li, “Minister Li, I originally wanted to hold back this anger out of respect for you, but now you’ve heard it with your own ears—the heir has personally admitted to killing someone. This point is beyond doubt. Wang Huai was my nephew, and the heir is your nephew, so I hope you can also handle this impartially.”

Inside Minister Li’s robes, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

He was also trembling all over with anger!

How could he have such a nephew?

Minister Wang was single-mindedly determined to seek justice for his nephew. Seeing the Marquis and Minister Li remaining unmoved, he said to Minister Huang, “Minister Huang, it’s already come to this point—won’t you give the order to arrest him?”

Minister Huang was in a difficult position and was about to speak—

Su Ziluo, who had been silently standing by, spoke up. “Minister Wang, you needn’t rush to have the Court of Judicial Review arrest anyone. Some matters should be understood more clearly first.”

Only then did Minister Wang look toward Su Ziluo. General Su of Qujiang—though young in years, everyone held him in awe. Normally, Minister Wang also respected him somewhat, but this wasn’t in the imperial court now, nor was it official business, so he couldn’t care about all that. He said, “General Su, what do you mean by that?”

Su Ziluo pushed his wheelchair beside Li Shiyan and said, “I know everyone will think the heir killed someone, but you’ve all heard what the heir said. He just stated clearly that when he left the artificial mountain, Wang Huai was still alive. When he went back again, Wang Huai was dead. No one knows what exactly happened in between! Moreover, if the heir killed someone inside the artificial mountain, why would he move the body to the abandoned courtyard? Even if it was to hide the corpse, why didn’t he clean up the bloodstains on the ground? Why did he leave behind the jade pendant? Why would he even hang Wang Huai’s heart in the room? None of these actions help clear him of guilt—instead, they increase his suspicion. If that’s the case, what would be the point of doing these things? Furthermore, that night Wang Huai left his courtyard in the middle of the night and went alone into the artificial mountain—why was that?”

Everyone listened without speaking.

So Su Ziluo continued, “Why don’t we make an assumption—that night Wang Huai might have been going to meet someone. He didn’t expect the heir would suddenly appear, so the person Wang Huai was going to meet quickly hid. After the heir pushed Wang Huai and left, the person hiding in the artificial mountain came out and killed Wang Huai, then moved his body to the back courtyard.”

Minister Wang laughed coldly. “These are all just your one-sided words! It was simply the heir who, after killing someone, moved the body to the abandoned courtyard to hide it! At that time he accidentally lost the jade pendant on his person without realizing it at all.”

Li Shiyan said, “I didn’t!”

He denied it!

Su Ziluo spoke unhurriedly again. “If the heir truly wanted to destroy the body and eliminate evidence, he could have pushed all responsibility away completely clean. But not only did he not push it away cleanly, he even hung Wang Huai’s heart in Wang Huai’s own room, corroborating what he had said earlier about killing Wang Huai! Drawing all of this to himself—aren’t all these things self-contradictory? But if we could know why Wang Huai went behind the artificial mountain and whom he went to meet, perhaps the case would take on an entirely different aspect.”

“So General Su’s meaning is that this matter has nothing to do with the heir?”

“That’s not what I mean—I only mean everything should be clarified first.”

“…”

Minister Wang was filled with rage, his eyes bloodshot.

After hearing Su Ziluo’s words, Minister Li asked Li Shiyan sternly, “I’ll ask you one more time—did you kill him or not? Did you move Wang Huai’s body? Did you dig out that heart?”

Li Shiyan answered seriously, “Uncle, this nephew would absolutely never do such utterly conscienceless things!”

“Good!” Minister Li believed his words and said to Minister Huang, “Minister Huang, investigate this matter anew—consider it doing me a favor.”

Of course this favor had to be granted!

Minister Huang said, “Yes! I will certainly investigate it carefully again.”

But Minister Wang grew anxious. “Minister Huang, you…”

Before he finished speaking, Minister Li took over. “Minister Wang, General Su is right—human life is at stake. It’s best to investigate clearly!”

Minister Wang gritted his teeth!

He had no choice but to suppress the anger in his heart and finally make a concession. “Fine, then I’ll give the Court of Judicial Review two days to investigate. But if no evidence can be found, I’ll personally go before the Emperor and request His Majesty to make the decision.”

Having said this, he left with a flick of his sleeves!

Two days’ time!

This would probably be quite difficult!

But at least having these two days meant everything could still be reversed!

Minister Huang said to Li Shiyan, “Heir, until the matter is clarified, I can only order people to confine you within the manor.”

Li Shiyan said nothing more!

This matter quickly spread throughout the manor, with everyone discussing it privately among themselves.

After learning of it, Zhu Yao disregarded her own physical condition and immediately ran to find Minister Zhu.

Minister Zhu was also very troubled now, and his heart was extremely vexed!

If something really happened to Li Shiyan, the Zhu family would also be affected to some degree.

After all, the two families were united through marriage—they shared glory and disgrace together!

“Father, Shiyan didn’t kill anyone. You must believe him,” Zhu Yao said.

Minister Zhu sighed and after drinking a sip of tea said, “At this time it’s not appropriate for me to interfere. Everything depends on the Court of Judicial Review’s investigation. You shouldn’t get involved in this matter either—just rest well in your room. Look at you, your complexion is so poor. Your mother is worried you’re too anxious, so she asked me to remind you to take care of your health.”

“At a time like this, how can your daughter still care about herself?”

“Yao’er, I know your feelings for the heir, but some things are not within our control. At any time, one must learn to protect oneself wisely.”

Uh!

Zhu Yao looked at her father in shock. “Father’s meaning is…”

“Regardless of whether this matter is related to the heir or not, your marriage… must be called off.”