Suzhen felt no great joy, thinking about going to the office tomorrow after court to examine case files, and also thinking about Lengxue and the others who were about to take examinations at the Six Doors Office. She heard this time the chief examiner was Chao Huang.

At this moment, she heard a shrill cry: “Sir, Master Li, please, help me seek justice…”

“Please, let me through. I’m truly at my wit’s end. Please…”

Suzhen was awakened by these cries, seeing a disheveled woman in ragged, blood-stained clothes rush out from the crowd, only to be blocked by soldiers from the War Department’s protective escort.

“Audacious madwoman, how dare you disturb the officials’ procession!”

Si Lanfeng’s gaze shifted slightly. A deputy general in front immediately understood his meaning, shouting loudly for soldiers to drive her away.

Who knew this woman refused to leave no matter what? When soldiers struck her head with sword hilts, she continued screaming and crying as she tried to approach them.

Suzhen’s heart sank. She signaled to several men following beside her horse. Zhuiming was only waiting for her command. At this moment, he and Tieshou whistled lowly, ready to dart forward like arrows.

At this time, Li Zhaoting in front of her suddenly pulled his reins and turned to glance at her.

This glance was cold but contained a warning.

Why?

Suzhen was startled, bit her teeth slightly, and raised her hand to stop Zhuiming and Tieshou. In this instant, the woman was beaten to the ground, her head broken and bleeding, filthy and half-covered in dirt, yet she still refused to let go, only desperately clinging to one soldier’s legs, trying to crawl toward them.

“Asu, are we going to stand by and watch someone die? What’s wrong with you?”

Zhuiming was greatly anxious, his eyes half-red as he looked at her.

Seeing another soldier raise his sword sheath to strike at her head and body, all four young men looked at her.

She suddenly remembered that day when she gave silver to Wuqing, she had told them that if they succeeded someday, they mustn’t forget to treat the common people kindly.

Suzhen hesitated no longer. With a look at Tieshou, he whooshed through the air, leaping over and raising his sword to block all the descending hilts, deflecting them all. He grabbed the woman from the ground and in a flash had returned to Suzhen’s horse.

The crowd immediately erupted with cheers of “Well done!” Someone else exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t this woman the one from a few days ago…”

Suzhen didn’t hear this, only frowning as she watched the woman on the ground struggle to pull out that torn paper she had protected close to her body in her undergarment, “Sir, not a single official in the entire capital will accept my petition. I beg you, sir, to accept this complaint. For three days, I’ve been to every government office, always beaten half to death. I have nowhere left to turn, but I refuse to accept this injustice. In broad daylight, I cannot let innocent souls die with grievances. Even if they beat me to death, I will still file this complaint, as long as I still have breath…”

She slowly raised her head, her blood-stained face written with complete grief and ruin. “Commoner Ye Mochou… accuses… accuses Great Wei’s Prince Zhennan’s heir of rape… and murdering my mother and two other lives.”

This voice, this blackened, wrinkled, suffering face, this stench of blood—Suzhen’s whole body shook, frozen on horseback, unable to speak for a long while.

After a long time, she finally asked in a bitter voice, “Mochou, look at who I am.”

The woman on the ground, hearing this, also shook, her almond eyes wide with shock and disbelief as she stared at the mounted man before her.

“Where is Master Xie?”

Suzhen asked softly.

“Him? Him…” Mochou murmured, suddenly laughing long and bitterly, her gaze falling to stare fixedly at the golden bracelet on her wrist…

One hour after Suzhen brought Ye Mochou from the street back to the mansion, she received an imperial edict from Lian Yu, summoning her to the palace immediately.

Qinglong and Baihu came to fetch her.

When Qinglong announced that Chief Justice Li had arrived and pushed open the door to the imperial study for her, she was shocked.

The imperial study at this moment was comparable to the court hall, filled with a room full of people sitting in darkness.

Wei Chenghui, Yan Da, Quan Feitong, Li Zhaoting, Si Lanfeng, Huo Chang’an, Chao Huang, Xiao Yue, Gao Chaoyi, Lian Jie, Lian Qin, and many other middle-aged men she didn’t recognize—presumably important capital ministers and department heads. In short, most of the officials who stood in the front rows of the court hall had come.

This was essentially a small court session.

Everyone’s faces were grave.

Seeing her enter, the previously intense discussion immediately quieted down, all looking at her with various expressions.

But clearly, none were in good spirits.

Under such oppressive atmosphere, Suzhen’s heart also sank to the bottom, hardly daring to raise her eyes to look at the black-robed man behind the desk in the center of the room.

She took a deep breath and quickly knelt down, “Your subject Li Huaisu pays respects to His Majesty.”

She only heard a cold laugh and a crisp sound as a teacup shattered beside her knees, scalding tea flowing onto her robe, causing such pain she nearly jumped up.

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”

Following a slightly anxious voice, someone walked over to pick up the ceramic shards.

This voice—Suzhen was slightly shocked. Stealing a glance, she saw it was Agu dressed as a male attendant.

How was she here too?

“Who told you to pick up those things?”

Lian Yu’s voice rang frost-like by her ear. Suzhen saw the clean white fingers picking up ceramic shake slightly, getting cut by the porcelain. The person glanced at her, quickly stood up, and silently retreated to Lian Yu’s side.

When Suzhen looked up, she saw Lian Yu’s eyes sweep coldly over Agu’s hand, then slowly look toward her.

She smiled bitterly inwardly—now her offense was even greater.

After a while, Lian Yu didn’t tell her to rise.

Naturally, she didn’t dare rise either.

The hot water on her knees gradually became cold water through her pants.

No one spoke.

Shortly after, a second teacup shattered at her knees. She hissed softly in pain but continued kneeling properly. At this moment, she unexpectedly remembered Lian Yu’s words that day: “Top Scholar, would you be willing to clear the way and escort me from now on?”