At this time, Quan Feitong glanced at Suzhen and slowly said, “Your Highness and the Princess may rest assured. This case is about evidence and reason. This Prime Minister and the two ministers, entrusted by His Majesty, will certainly return justice to the innocent. Whoever committed crimes will definitely be severely punished, absolutely without… favoritism.”

His final words came slowly and softly, but this man was still the one with power over the realm. Once he spoke, no one in the court was not intimidated, all feeling secretly anxious.

That phrase “entrusted by His Majesty” also inevitably made the many scholars and literati present think various thoughts.

This demon! Suzhen smiled, but her heart sank. This Prince Zhennan was probably extremely difficult to deal with, plus Quan Feitong… A silent tiger was the most formidable.

She secretly glanced at Li Zhaoting, only to see him also looking at her indifferently, with something between a smile and not a smile at his lips. Startled, she looked toward the crowd, only to see Lian Yu’s gaze was deep, impossible to read.

She suppressed the slight agitation in her heart, bowed to both Quan Feitong and Prince Zhennan, then looked at Mochou with a warning glance, telling her she must stay calm.

She indicated the interrogation should continue, saying to He Sai, “Minister He speaks well! It’s just that this official has one question I don’t understand and would like to ask the minister for guidance.”

This Capital Magistrate He Sai, being Quan Feitong’s student, was hardly a simple character. Even after being scolded by Mochou, he showed no anger and smiled, “Please speak, Minister Li.”

Suzhen got up directly, walked down to Mochou’s side, raised her right hand for all to see, and declared loudly, “On the night of the incident, Xie Sheng had a dispute with the courtesan at the door of Guixiang Tower over this family heirloom bracelet. The minister must be familiar with this bracelet—during the court proceedings that day, the minister should have seen it, and the minister’s yamen runners must certainly have an impression of it. Huaisu wants to ask the minister: if Xie Sheng and Mochou were covering up their crimes as you say, why has Mochou been wearing this fatal gold bracelet all along? Isn’t this too strange?”

To this seemingly contradictory question, He Sai was completely unruffled. With a slight smile he said, “Minister Li, doesn’t this exactly prove the treachery and cunning of Xie Sheng and Mochou? Crying thief while being the thief, brazenly showing this bracelet to make people think things were truly as she and Xie Sheng claimed. Unfortunately, ‘people are watching even when heaven seems not to be’—after investigation, this official actually discovered a witness.”

Suzhen had read the court records and knew this was a night watchman.

He happened to be passing by the courtesan’s residence gate making his rounds when the incident occurred, claiming to have seen Xie Sheng flee from the courtyard in panic, covered in blood. At the time, thinking it better to mind his own business, he naturally didn’t intervene or ask questions, but hurried away as if avoiding disaster.

The watchman came forward and gave exactly this testimony.

Suzhen didn’t interrogate him much, because this was precisely the most damaging point in the case against Xie Sheng.

Why, you ask?

Setting aside whether this watchman’s words were true or false.

The time he described was exactly when Xie Sheng had been frightened out of his wits by Pei Fengji’s shallow sword thrust to the chest that night, abandoning Mochou and fleeing in panic from the courtesan’s residence.

Who could tell whether you were killing someone or being wounded?

By coincidence, the sword wound on Xie Sheng’s chest was also crucial evidence.

Though only seven or eight days had passed since the incident and the wound showed signs of healing, it wasn’t completely healed. But if doctors and coroners examined it, it couldn’t help him at all—rather it would put him in danger.

Why?

Because Fengji’s sword thrust was light, meant as intimidation, not to kill him.

Here lay the problem!

Xie Sheng and Mochou could say it was Fengji’s wound, but He Sai could say it was inflicted by any of the three people in the courtesan’s house fighting back.

Women are weak, and none of the several people were martial artists. When fighting back, creating a shallow wound would be exactly appropriate.

But it was a sword wound!

Some might ask, why would an old madam’s house have swords? Wouldn’t that be somewhat unreasonable?

If it were an ordinary village household, that would indeed be true.

But in the brothel business, fan dances and sword dances to please customers were not unusual.

Having swords in her house was explainable.

And the courtesan’s house had now been completely burned, with household items and remains “accidentally” cleared away by government people. This non-existent sword that He Sai deduced was instead confirmed as real.

Most crucially, that night it was Bai He who came to find Mochou, and only then did Mochou and Xie Sheng go find the courtesan. After the neighbors finished watching the excitement, they had long since dispersed. On the road, Xie Sheng, afraid of gossip, specifically chose small paths. With Bai He dead, there was now no one who could testify.

Otherwise, Suzhen could still find arguments regarding Xie Sheng’s motive for going to the courtesan’s residence, and might possibly completely overturn the murder accusation.

Suzhen briefly questioned the watchman, looking for any new clues, but finding none, quickly gave up and didn’t call for anyone to examine Xie Sheng’s chest wound.

He Sai naturally understood her thoughts, and a cold predatory smile flashed in his eyes. These points had already been thoroughly researched by them—how could they let a wet-behind-the-ears youngster like Li Huaisu find any flaws?

He confidently stated this was caused by the courtesan and others fighting back before death, while Suzhen also eloquently argued this was Fengji’s intimidation wound. For a moment both sides had reason, and neither could gain the upper hand.

As the two engaged in verbal sparring, the people outside cheered, but now gradually fell into puzzled silence, growing tense.

At this time, Wei Chenghui and Yan Da exchanged glances. The Grand Tutor slowly stood and smiled, “Both ministers should present new evidence rather than engaging in unnecessary disputes that harm collegial harmony.”

He Sai bowed in acknowledgment and ordered new witnesses to be summoned.

Seeing this, the people focused intently to watch.

Suzhen also felt her heart tighten. She had studied every single word in He Sai’s court records thoroughly and had carefully observed all the places mentioned. She understood this new evidence was one of the key points.

Soon, the new witnesses were brought forward.

These were the manager and two waiters from Hongtu Restaurant, along with several of Pei Fengji’s attendants and some merchants from the trade exhibition that day.

The number of witnesses was surprising.

He Sai stared at Suzhen, his eyes flashing, and said, “Minister Li, everything said before can actually be ignored. If we’re saying Prince Fengji killed someone, he would at least have to be at the scene. According to the watchman, when he saw Xie Sheng fleeing frantically from the courtesan’s courtyard, it was exactly midnight—meaning the incident occurred at midnight. Prince Fengji finished hosting the trade exhibition and led his subordinates to that restaurant to eat and drink. All these people can testify—how could he go kill someone? Could this prince know the art of being in two places at once?”