“Who?” Several voices asked in unison.

Luo Sheng’s gaze fell upon that patch of incomparably magnificent peonies as she spoke word by word: “Miss Chen.”

At these words, everyone erupted in shock, involuntarily looking toward Elder Chen.

As her grandfather, Elder Chen naturally knew his granddaughter was left-handed, but he also knew she had received strict instruction and habitually used her right hand for everything in daily life, whether eating or writing. By all accounts, outsiders shouldn’t have known she was left-handed.

He still remembered when his eldest granddaughter was small and would grab her chopsticks with her left hand—each time she did so, her palm would be struck, and after enough strikes, she had been corrected.

How did the daughter of Grand Marshal Luo know his granddaughter was left-handed?

Elder Chen looked at Luo Sheng in astonishment.

Minister Zhao quickly asked: “How did Miss Luo come to know this?”

Luo Sheng promptly provided an explanation: “Earlier in the pavilion, my fourth sister had some unpleasantness with Miss Chen, and Miss Chen slapped my fourth sister. All you ladies still remember this, yes?”

The ladies couldn’t help nodding.

They absolutely remembered this.

The others secretly shook their heads.

This granddaughter from Elder Chen’s family truly had a rather domineering temperament.

What’s that? The daughter of Grand Marshal Luo was even more domineering?

How could these be the same? Miss Chen had died in confusion, while Miss Luo remained safe and sound, identifying the killer.

Without the diamond drill, don’t take on porcelain work. Without the capability to be domineering, one should just be well-behaved and sensible instead.

Seeing the ladies cooperatively nodding, Luo Sheng continued: “Miss Chen struck quite heavily. At the time, she left a clear handprint on my fourth sister’s face that still hadn’t faded when I returned. And I noticed that handprint was on my fourth sister’s right cheek.”

The right cheek?

Those slower to react still hadn’t understood.

Luo Sheng asked the young man: “Doesn’t this prove Miss Chen was left-handed?”

The young man cupped his hands: “The young lady’s analysis is excellent. If one slaps someone with their right hand, it will strike the other person’s left cheek. Using the left hand is exactly the opposite. We all use the right hand as our dominant hand. Those born using their left hand are generally corrected, and over time can use both hands. However, innate nature is difficult to change—such people, once agitated, will often use the hand they truly favor.”

“Very logical.” Luo Sheng nodded, sincerely praising him.

The stern-faced young man’s ears immediately turned red.

Being so directly praised by a noble lady in front of everyone—this was a first.

Wei Han observed coldly from the sidelines, unconsciously frowning.

He had never seen Miss Luo praise anyone with such genuine sincerity before.

“Does this mean the Prince’s manor maid was killed by Miss Chen?” Minister Zhao found it somewhat hard to believe.

The development of events was rather unexpected—how had the victim become the killer?

The young man cupped his hands: “If Miss Chen was the only left-handed person in the garden at that time, then we can reach this conclusion.”

The ladies all spoke up: “I use my right hand!”

Princess Consort Pingnan interjected: “The steward has a list of all the maids serving in the garden today. We can check the list and verify which hand they habitually use.”

Upon hearing that the killer of the maid was left-handed, Princess Consort Pingnan felt half-relieved.

Never mind that her daughter wasn’t left-handed—even the manor’s maids were strictly selected, and those who habitually used their left hand from childhood would never have been chosen.

Of course, the manor simply stating this wouldn’t inspire trust in others. Better to let the Ministry of Justice personnel examine everyone thoroughly and completely clear the manor of suspicion.

The young man said: “Although left-handed people can deliberately train themselves to eat and write with their right hand, some particularly delicate movements remain somewhat difficult. It’s not hard to verify which hand someone habitually uses.”

Minister Zhao thought for a moment and made the decision: “Then let’s check everyone first.”

Only by eliminating suspects could the investigation meaningfully continue.

The young man acknowledged and made a request: “Please prepare some pearls with fine holes drilled through them and thin thread.”

The Prince’s manor naturally had plenty of such items. Soon the pearls and fine thread were ready.

“Please have each young lady try in turn—first thread the fine thread through a pearl with your right hand, then with your left.”

“I’ll go first.” Wei Wen walked straight over and picked up a pearl.

Threading fine thread through a pearl’s small hole wasn’t easy. Even using her right hand, Wei Wen had to try several times before succeeding. As for switching to her left hand—that went without saying.

After all the ladies tried this, not one was left-handed.

“In that case, the person who used a dagger to kill the Prince’s manor maid was indeed Miss Chen—” Minister Zhao’s hand stroking his beard paused. “But then who harmed Miss Chen?”

Someone said quietly: “Could it have been suicide—”

Someone quickly scoffed: “Even if she killed a maid, there’d be no need for suicide.”

“This question should probably be asked of Second Miss Chen.” The young man who had reviewed the case details spoke up.

At these words, everyone’s attention immediately shifted to Second Miss Chen, who stood not far from Elder Chen.

Second Miss Chen’s eyes were somewhat swollen from crying. She seemed not to have expected the focus to suddenly shift to her and timidly stepped back.

Elder Chen stared intently at the young man: “What is the meaning of this?”

Surely it couldn’t be that his second granddaughter had killed his eldest granddaughter?

“Elder need not be anxious. Generally when a murder occurs, we must question those who were close to the victim and present at the scene.” The young man replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, looking directly at Second Miss Chen. “May I ask why Second Miss Chen was not together with First Miss Chen at the time?”

Under countless gazes, Second Miss Chen unconsciously lowered her eyes, her voice somewhat trembling: “At the time, eldest sister had that unpleasantness with Miss Luo and was in a terrible mood. She wouldn’t let me follow her and came to the peony flower bed alone…”

“Is Second Miss Chen certain that after First Miss Chen separated from you, she came directly here without going anywhere else?” the young man immediately followed up.

Second Miss Chen hesitantly nodded.

“If she only came here, then who killed the maid in the bamboo grove?”

Second Miss Chen was stumped by the question. Biting her lip, she said: “Eldest sister perhaps went to the bamboo grove again, only I didn’t see it…”

“Then did Second Miss Chen go to the bamboo grove?”

This time Second Miss Chen showed no hesitation at all, quickly shaking her head: “I never went there!”

“You didn’t go?” The young man’s tone was full of doubt.

Second Miss Chen’s eyes reddened: “After separating from eldest sister, I went to admire the peony flowers. I never went to the bamboo grove!”

The young man raised his eyebrows: “If that’s the case, why does Second Miss Chen have a bamboo leaf in her hair?”

Second Miss Chen was greatly alarmed and hurriedly reached to touch her hair ornaments, but without being able to look in a mirror, how could she find it?

This made her movements increasingly frantic.

The young man asked: “Second Miss Chen clearly went to the bamboo grove yet adamantly denies it. Is this a guilty conscience?”

Meeting countless strange looks, Second Miss Chen’s legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground, covering her face and sobbing.

Under enormous pressure and fear, once the thread called reason snapped, collapse followed.

Second Miss Chen covered her face, continuously murmuring: “I had no choice… Eldest sister was too terrifying. Just because she was in a bad mood, she killed the Prince’s manor maid without hesitation… Sooner or later she would have killed me too, sooner or later…”