Afternoon.

Duanmu Palace.

Shen Chong entered the study. “Your Highness, Third Master, Young Master Pei, and Miss Yan have arrived.”

Zhao Yishi set down his memorial: “Bring them in quickly.”

The three entered, bowed, and sat. Attendants served tea and refreshments, then withdrew and closed the door.

“For you three to come see me at this time, the case must have made progress.”

Thinking of the past few days, Zhao Yishi said, “I won’t hide it from Miss Yan—I’ve been waiting quite a while. Speak quickly.”

Yan Sanhe said nothing. Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao stood up instead.

The two walked before Zhao Yishi, pulled up their robes, and knelt on both knees.

Zhao Yishi’s brows furrowed sharply: “What are you doing?”

Xie Zhifei: “Your Highness, we concealed something from you. At the time it wasn’t intentional—it was truly unavoidable, so we…”

“Your Highness.”

Pei Xiao took over smoothly: “Let me explain the cause, process, and result in detail…”

Starting from Old Lady Ji’s inner demons, he spoke of North Warehouse River, Wu Guanyue, Wu Shunian, and finally that thumb ring…

When the hot tea had turned cold, Pei Xiao finished his last word, and Xie Zhifei handed the jade thumb ring to Zhao Yishi.

Zhao Yishi looked at the jade thumb ring, then at the two people kneeling before him, unable to say anything.

So Old Lady Ji’s inner demons weren’t at all what they’d described.

So they’d known long ago that in the Zheng family case, Wu Guanyue and his son weren’t the culprits.

They’d concealed it from him alone?

“Xie Chengyu, Pei Mingting.”

Zhao Yishi’s dark eyes suddenly contracted. “Am I so untrustworthy in your hearts?”

Xie Zhifei couldn’t answer.

Pei Xiao was covered in cold sweat.

Just then, Yan Sanhe spoke.

“Your Highness, if they had chosen to tell you everything truthfully then, what would you have done?”

Zhao Yishi was caught off guard by the question.

“Would you have chosen to believe us or believe the court?”

Yan Sanhe said leisurely: “If you believed us, how would you explain to the court, to the Emperor? If you believed the court, what would be the point of telling you?”

Zhao Yishi looked at her silently. “Are Miss Yan’s words always so piercing?”

Yan Sanhe shook her head: “I’m just thinking of how these two must have wavered between telling and not telling you, unable to eat or sleep.”

Zhao Yishi’s expression changed slightly.

This small change fell into Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao’s eyes. Both breathed a long sigh of relief while looking gratefully at Yan Sanhe.

“Does Miss Yan know…”

As expected, Zhao Yishi’s tone softened: “The three of us are close enough to share a pair of pants?”

“That’s exactly why they didn’t want to put you in a difficult position between two sides.”

Yan Sanhe: “Having one less thing to worry about is better than one more.”

She hadn’t wanted to speak—it wasn’t her place. But she’d seen everything Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao had done for the Crown Prince.

Zhao Yishi said the three of them were close enough to share pants, but ultimately one was sovereign and the others subjects.

Though she had no favorable impression of Zhao Yishi and didn’t trust him, she couldn’t bear to see Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao suspected.

She was protective of her own.

“Stand up!”

Zhao Yishi’s expression was somewhat strained. “I’m just feeling a bit hurt. Clearly the three of us…”

He didn’t continue, but the disappointment in his words was thick and wouldn’t dissipate.

Xie Zhifei quickly said: “Actually, Mingting and I have also felt terrible.”

“Always feeling we’ve wronged you—our hearts have been empty!” After his thousands of tangled thoughts, Pei Xiao showed an ingratiating smile.

Zhao Yishi’s two hands resting on his knees tightened, then relaxed. With one hand he helped up one person.

Finding it didn’t relieve his feelings, he poked this one, then that one, saying resentfully: “All of you, actually learning to kneel now.”

Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao gave him dry laughs. For a moment Zhao Yishi didn’t know whether to be angry or not. There were many people around him, coming and going, but only these two had stayed by his side all along.

Zhao Yishi could only smile helplessly.

“Having finished your private matters, we should discuss business.”

Yan Sanhe walked before Zhao Yishi: “Your Highness, are you mentally prepared?”

Zhao Yishi felt his heart chill at her gaze. “Just speak.”

Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao, seeing the situation, quickly returned to their original seats.

“Wu Guanyue changed the national flower from lotus to kapok. The thumb ring, waist token, and private seal were all carved with kapok flowers. This proves the waist token left at the Zheng family crime scene was fake, intended to frame Wu Guanyue and his son.”

Yan Sanhe raised her eyebrows: “Your Highness, is there any dispute about this matter?”

What the Ji family’s old lady had discovered ten years ago—how could Zhao Yishi dispute it?

“None.”

“Then first give the realm an explanation.”

Zhao Yishi’s eye corner twitched sharply. “What does Miss Yan mean by this?”

Yan Sanhe: “Issue an edict to the realm stating the court investigated wrongly, that the Zheng family’s culprit was someone else, and Wu Guanyue and his son were wrongly accused.”

“Why do this?”

“Why not do this?”

“Miss Yan, this matter…”

“What?”

Yan Sanhe lifted her head, looking straight into his eyes, and laughed coldly. “The court made an error—can it not correct itself and restore order?”

If anyone else had said this, Zhao Yishi’s expression would have darkened.

But with Yan Sanhe saying it, he could only patiently explain: “We can correct errors and restore order, but only in a small scope, absolutely not with an edict to the realm.”

Yan Sanhe: “Is it for the court’s dignity, or for your Zhao family’s dignity?”

“Miss Yan!”

Zhao Yishi’s face finally darkened.

“It’s for both the court and the Hua Kingdom. After all, the Qi Kingdom is a vassal state of the Hua Kingdom, and both Wu Guanyue and his son have already passed away…”

“How wonderful that they’ve passed away.”

Sarcasm showed in Yan Sanhe’s eyes.

“Don’t forget—the Zheng family members have also all passed away, yet walls still collapse and horses are half-dead. Clearly the spirits above are watching. If you want your Zhao family’s dynasty to last for generations, you’d better weigh this carefully.”

Zhao Yishi was driven to a dead end by these words. Rage surged to his throat.

“Yan Sanhe, you’re being outrageous!”

“Huairen.”

“Huairen.”

Two voices called out almost simultaneously.

Zhao Yishi looked at the two anxious faces beside him, as if a basin of cold water had been thrown over him.

Yan Sanhe didn’t understand court matters—surely these two did as well?

Issuing an edict to the realm meant admitting the court’s incompetence, the Emperor’s incompetence. Where would the great Hua Kingdom’s dignity be? Where would its authority be?

“Yan Sanhe.”

Seeing the Crown Prince’s ugly expression, Pei Xiao quickly stepped forward to mediate. “An edict to the realm is too much of a production. I also think it’s unnecessary. Could we perhaps change the method?”

“Is that so, Young Master Pei?”

Yan Sanhe’s words were both sharp and cutting. “I suppose it’s because the dead aren’t Pei family members?”

Pei Xiao: “You…”

“I actually think we could try it.”

Xie Zhifei stepped forward and silently stood behind Yan Sanhe.

“The Zheng family’s wall collapsed with earth-shattering force. We must give the people an explanation—this matter can’t be glossed over.”