The new identity Li Zhaoting had created for her was quite convenient for her business. She would come to the Ministry of Justice to search for case files—Lian Yu would know about this sooner or later, but would think she was looking for information about the Xia family case, and wouldn’t connect it to the Feng family for now. They would think she was using other cases to cover the Xia family case. In reality, it was exactly the opposite—she was using the Xia family case to cover her own Feng family case.

Inside the archives, there were thousands upon thousands of case files, but they were clearly categorized and well-organized. Before leaving, Xiao Yue had ordered people to find all the twenty-year records for her.

Case files piled up on two tables, stacked high in ten or twenty volumes, but each file had time and location indices, making them not difficult to find. The Feng family case had been executed in recent months, so it didn’t take long before Suzhen found the case file for the Feng family execution.

The storage room was very large, but because it was filled with case files, the lighting was dim. Suzhen also closed the door to examine secretly.

A lamp was lit, flickering dimly in the darkness. Suzhen’s hands trembled as she stared fixedly at the case file in her hands. For a moment, she could only hear her own heavy breathing. Sweat soaked her inner garments, yet she didn’t dare to open it.

Just one more step and she would know the truth. What was wrong with her? What was she afraid of?

In her mind, the faces of her parents, her brother, and Hong Xiao slowly appeared. In mid-air, there were also a pair of cold, clear eyes looking at her. These eyes then slowly transformed into a smiling, lazy expression—

Was this… Shitou from five years ago, or Lian Yu from five years later?

She was greatly alarmed, bit down hard on her lip until sweet blood flowed out, then suddenly opened the case file.

A passage immediately jumped into her eyes:

“Investigation reveals that former Chief Justice Feng Shaoqing was a remnant of Prince Jin’s party. He and his wife, one son, and one daughter received the death penalty by hanging. After execution, their bodies were displayed at the county tower for three days as a warning to others.”

The executor was… Yan Da.

Former Chief Justice—Father had actually been a court official!

Yan Da… Minister Yan, was it him? Under the double shock, Suzhen’s throat made a muffled sound. She bit her teeth tightly, her gaze slowly moving to where the time was recorded.

It bore… the reign title of Emperor Dejing!

That meant it was a case approved during the previous emperor’s reign.

Not Lian Yu, not Lian Yu!

She stared fixedly at those few characters, her breathing relaxed, and she slumped to the ground.

After a long while, she put the case file back, then pulled out the Xia family case file from over ten years ago, deliberately making several grip marks with some force, then returned it to its original place.

When Suzhen walked out of the Ministry of Justice offices, the sun had already set in the west.

A man slowly emerged from behind the storage room, watching the young figure hesitate and disappear.

This man had a face like carved jade, clear and handsome features, and an entirely elegant and refined bearing—it was none other than Personnel Ministry Vice Minister Li Zhaoting.

The two guard clerks in front of the storage room had personally seen Xiao Yue bring him here twice in recent days, so they immediately smiled ingratiatingly, “Lord Li, you’re here again. Is there urgent business?”

Li Zhaoting said, “Looking for some materials. I’ve already informed your Minister Xiao.”

The clerks naturally didn’t say much more and respectfully let him enter.

Under the dim lamplight, the storage room materials hadn’t yet been sorted. Li Zhaoting extracted a case file from among the many volumes. He opened it and saw it contained exactly what Suzhen had just read. He folded this case file—the Feng family case file—and placed it inside his belt, then took out a neatly folded case file from his sleeve and placed it among the thousands of case files.

After completing all this, he extinguished the lamp and slowly walked out of the storage room.

He had come here several times in recent days.

What he told Quan Feitong was that he was investigating materials from Prince Jin’s case back then. After all, before Feng Shaoqing transferred Prince Jin to the Chief Justice office, Prince Jin had been detained by the Ministry of Justice.

Feng Shaoqing had been greatly favored by Emperor Dejing at that time. Feng Shaoqing was a top scholar during Emperor Dejing’s reign, born to a poor farming family. Emperor Dejing didn’t know that Prince Jin had once taken a liking to Feng Shaoqing when he came to the capital to study and take examinations, and had provided him with financial support. When Feng Shaoqing proposed that he conduct Prince Jin’s trial, Emperor Dejing readily agreed.

Quan Feitong later learned of the connection between Prince Jin and Feng from somewhere, and believed that Prince Jin had once given Feng Shaoqing the true succession decree from Emperor Taizong. With Feng Shaoqing’s ghost-like intelligence, he must have hidden it in a secure place, very likely in the Chief Justice office or residence. This was also why he had originally recommended Li Zhaoting to become Chief Justice.

Several nights ago, Li Zhaoting proposed coming here to investigate Prince Jin’s detailed case files after his house was confiscated, including the recorded conversations with the then Minister of Justice. Quan Feitong agreed.

However, when Li Zhaoting came here, he didn’t examine Prince Jin’s files, but rather reviewed the Feng family case files. Afterward, he had Wei Chenghui create an identical false case file, then came again to place the false file inside and extract the real one.

No one could forge such a perfect false case file, but Wei Chenghui, a veteran minister of three reigns familiar with the capital, could.

Today’s visit was to retrieve the previous false case file and return the real one.

Yes, Feng Suzhen had read the false case file.

He knew she would definitely come to look. He wanted her to give up—the person she sought revenge against was already dead. He wanted her to leave the capital. This was the last thing he would do for her.

From this point on, they would owe each other nothing.

There’s a saying about the mantis stalking the cicada.

Suzhen didn’t know that when she left the Ministry of Justice, there was someone inside, nor did she know that in the small alley across from the offices, there were also two men in brocade robes.

They were precisely Lian Jie and Lian Qin, whom she had seen in morning court.

Lian Qin sneered coldly, “The scouts Zhuque sent to the Lu-Ji area these past two days have news. They report she’s the orphan of the criminal Xia family. Sixth Brother said she might come here to examine the court records of the Xia family case, and indeed she came.”

Lian Jie nodded, “I don’t want to be ruthless, but as I just said, Sixth Brother has Wuyan, has Agu, and now another clever and proud Miaoyin—all kinds of women. She’s not irreplaceable. If she won’t be honest with Sixth Brother, if she poses any threat to him, I won’t let her off.”

“Sixth Brother said there might still be secrets about her. He’ll expose them, and when that time comes, as long as I know that besides wanting to overturn her Xia family’s dead case, she has any other thoughts, I’ll also…”

Lian Qin grunted and nodded fiercely, staring at the thin figure disappearing around the street corner, his eyes full of bloodthirsty color.