“Investigate to the bottom?” Ye Lingbo smiled faintly. Plain as her features were, no one dared overlook her expression in this moment. She turned to Official Su. “Each side tells a different story — how would you investigate? We have only the two of us, mistress and maidservant. Miss Chen and Madam Xue have an entire retinue. I suggest that everyone let this go. If we all pretend today never happened, that would be preserving the Grand Princess’s dignity.”

“You see — she’s the one who’s guilty!” Chen Mengliu immediately jumped out, pointing at Lingbo. “She’s the one who framed me! The fox is showing its tail now!”

Not only did the assembled ladies wear the expression one reserves for a fool — even Lu Wenyin could not hold herself back. She shot Chen Mengliu a furious look, grabbed her, and shoved her to one side.

“Whether the truth can be determined by two contradictory testimonies alone — of course not. In a marquis’s estate of this size, there cannot be no witnesses or evidence…” Official Su glanced at Lu Wenyin as she said it.

“This is Marquis Cui’s estate, and the banquet is Madam Wei’s doing. As for witnesses and evidence…” Lingbo smiled dismissively.

Madam Wei finally could hold back no longer. She glanced at Madam Huang beside her.

“At the time of the early afternoon, my lord’s wife brought Madam Chen, Miss Chen, and Madam Xue to review the kitchen menu, and we did indeed see the second young miss Ye with her maidservant searching for a lost ring near the peony garden. At the time, she mentioned she would have to search up by the northern courtyard as well…” Madam Huang hesitated and glanced at Madam Wei.

And Madam Wei pressed her lips together, stepped forward herself.

“When we were at the kitchen, Miss Chen did pull Wenyin aside for a few words, after which Miss Chen and Madam Xue both disappeared.” She calmly laid out words that could serve as testimony for Lingbo. “The estate is staffed with servants everywhere. To find out whether Miss Chen and Madam Xue went to the northern courtyard, one need only call the servants in and ask.”

Not only Chen Mengliu — even Lu Wenyin stared at Madam Wei in outright shock.

Impartial testimony — that was something you said to fool children. Every lady in the capital, like every official at court, had her faction. Everyone spoke for those in her own camp. Even if there was evidence, it would be quietly buried — let alone something as insubstantial as this. Yet she had gone ahead and volunteered it herself.

The ladies had always thought Madam Wei foolish. They had not expected her to be this forthright.

Only Ye Lingbo was not surprised.

She had even glanced in the direction of the young ladies’ gathering.

And He Qingyi stepped forward at that very moment.

“This morning, Chen Mengliu did quarrel with Sister Lingbo and openly threatened to retaliate. I wasn’t the only one who heard it — other young ladies heard it too.” As she spoke, she looked around at the assembled young ladies. Sure enough, several stepped forward to corroborate: “That’s right.” “I heard it too.” “Miss Chen said to just wait, Ye second young miss — and then she left.”

Chen Mengliu’s face flushed scarlet. She pushed forward. “You’re all making things up — that was just an argument…”

She was only making things worse for herself. Lu Wenyin glanced left and right, and her capable maidservants and matrons were already moving, pulling Chen Mengliu back. Lu Wenyin also knew that there was no escape for Chen Mengliu today. Chen Mengliu had openly threatened to retaliate against Ye Lingbo in full view of everyone; that she had then led Yang Qiaozhen and a whole procession of maidservants and matrons to corner Ye Lingbo was almost certainly fact. As for whether anyone had struck her, and who had put the lock on the door — that was where the real dispute lay, the part that truly could not be resolved. Even if Ye Lingbo had locked herself in, she hadn’t been struck. But all the witnesses were servants of the Chen household and Yang Qiaozhen — who wouldn’t suspect them of covering for their own people?

The fault lay entirely with Yang Qiaozhen and Chen Mengliu for being as stupid as pigs. Knowing Ye Lingbo’s sharp methods, they’d still gone looking for trouble, still thought they could teach her a lesson — and had stumbled straight into Ye Lingbo’s trap and dragged her into it as well.

In an instant, Lu Wenyin made up her mind. Her decision was to sacrifice the pawn to protect the king. She exchanged a glance with Lu Wanyang, then stepped forward with a smile toward Official Su. “So this is what happened. Mengliu is young and hotheaded — it’s understandable for her to slip up now and then. Everyone here is a sister at the Flower Selection Banquet. A quarrel among sisters is to be expected. The fault lies with Mengliu for her impulsive temper, and as for Madam Xue — how could you let her charge off to argue with Lingbo without stopping her?…”

Yang Qiaozhen was no fool either — years of following Lu Wenyin had polished her well enough. She stepped forward at once with a conciliatory smile. “My fault, I was confused too. When I heard that Mengliu had been wronged, I went along to help her clear things up with the second young miss Ye. Who could have known it would end in a scuffle? Let me offer my apologies to the second young miss Ye…”

In their view, this was already a significant concession. They were no longer contesting the matter of locking the door or striking anyone — they were swallowing it, holding their noses and accepting it. One scheme from Ye Lingbo had cost Lu Wenyin two trusted lieutenants. She ought to be satisfied.

“How capable of you, Madam Chen — releasing water with one hand and setting fire with the other, performing two acts on stage at once all by yourself.” Shen Biwei’s voice came from the back of the crowd, coolly derisive. “I hear you directed Chen Mengliu and Yang Qiaozhen to bully Lingbo, and now that it’s all fallen apart, you come here to play the benefactress? You have the nerve to speak up for Chen Mengliu? By the time you’ve finished saying everything yourself, what’s left for the rest of us to say?”

Events like these were usually for the ladies to comment on, with perhaps a word or two. For He Qingyi, as a young lady, to step forward and give testimony had already been bold — unmarried girls were expected to be quiet, demure, gentle, and well-mannered. But there was always an exception like Shen Biwei — from an exceptional family, used to going her own way. The words she spoke were sharper than any blade. No one knew when she had arrived. The moment she opened her mouth, she cut straight to Lu Wenyin.

Ye Lingbo sighed helplessly. She saw Shen Biwei, as she spoke, walk to the front and position herself between Lingbo and the crowd. She said helplessly, “Didn’t you go to see Sister Han home? Why are you back?”

“Good thing I wanted to come back and see what the Mulan Guard of the northern frontier army looks like — I circled back around. If I hadn’t, wouldn’t you have been bullied to death? You really are slow-witted.” Shen Biwei kept her voice low in open disdain. “Truly foolish — you got bullied and didn’t even know to call for me. Why were you standing here arguing with them?”

In truth, Lingbo had not failed to think of calling her — she had deliberately sent her away. But human plans cannot always outmaneuver the unexpected. Shen Biwei was a true daughter of the high nobility, and her family name and status alone could crush most of the capital’s prominent families. Lu Wenyin would never have dared touch her even if given double the nerve. So she had grown accustomed to charging straight ahead. She had no idea of Lingbo’s methods.

Once she inserted herself, the whole dynamic shifted — attacker and defender changed places. Lingbo’s original strategy was no longer viable. But fortunately, Lu Wenyin was no match for Shen Biwei either. All those inner household machinations, plot within plot — in the face of true power, they were nothing. Shen Biwei charged in and called it exactly as it was, and all Lu Wenyin could do was flush with humiliation.

“Shen Miss is being quite unreasonable. I am a married woman; Ye Lingbo is an unmarried girl. Frankly speaking, Lingbo is no match for my Mengliu. What possible reason would I have to send Mengliu to bully her? Can I be condemned on Ye Lingbo’s word alone?” Under the influence of Shen Biwei’s manner, Lu Wenyin had, without quite noticing, begun invoking her own family standing.

“Has Madam Chen not made a habit of targeting the Ye sisters? And done so quite thoroughly?” Shen Biwei said with consummate ease — exactly the kind of thing that none of the young ladies at the Flower Selection Banquet would dare speak aloud. It was as though she had stripped away the veil and laid every secret bare in the sunlight. “Aren’t you jealous that four years ago, at the Flower Selection Banquet, Sister Qinglan outshone you? Now that you’re a married woman and Sister Qinglan is still unmarried, a tiger fallen to the plains gets baited by dogs — so you target the Ye sisters at every turn, don’t you?”

She stood tall and slender in a purple sable fur worth a fortune, its deep color setting off her beauty like snow and ice. Standing there in the night, she was impossible to look away from. She let her gaze sweep the assembled ladies and young misses, her manner glacially cool. “The ladies know it. The young misses know it. Everyone has simply been pretending not to. Official Su might as well relay this to the Grand Princess: if there is to be any real reform of the Flower Selection Banquet, the first thing to do is dig out the bitter root of certain people’s jealousy and venom. What was once a perfectly respectable gathering has been stirred by you, Lu Wenyin, into nothing but a festering swamp of factionalism!”

“You—” Lu Wenyin was left with nothing to say. On instinct, she looked to Madam Wei for help. Ye Lingbo let out a cold laugh. Madam Wei flinched as though stung, and stepped back.

She and Lu Wenyin had spent so much time together that she was well aware of Lu Wenyin’s hostility toward the Ye sisters. Even if she was not well-versed in the intricacies of inner household politics, little by little over time she had been able to perceive certain things.

“Biwei’s words are perhaps a bit strong,” the Princess Consort of Pingjun said with a smile, moving to smooth things over. “Wenyin is a little lively in temperament, but she means well at heart.”

“Is that so? Then would the Princess Consort vouch for her?” Shen Biwei asked calmly. Seeing that the Princess Consort had walked into a soft rebuff and gone quiet, she turned to Madam Wei. “Or would Madam Wei vouch for her?”

Madam Wei only shook her head gently.

It was a blow like a fist landing directly on Lu Wenyin. She was used to smooth sailing and to making enemies — that she could accept. After all, the wind was at her back, and others could not easily challenge her. But she had not expected Shen Biwei to be this ruthless, determined to give her a hard lesson today.

While she floundered, a voice spoke at an unhurried pace: “If Shen Miss truly needs someone to vouch for my sister, then I will vouch for her. But can Shen Miss vouch for the second young miss Ye in return?”

The speaker was Lu Wanyang. Even as she spoke, she was watching Shen Biwei — and the Ye Lingbo behind her.

“Nonsense — of course I dare.” Shen Biwei answered without waiting for Ye Lingbo’s reaction, chin raised.

Lu Wanyang’s sharp eyes caught the flicker that crossed Ye Lingbo’s face.

“Very well.” With a faint smile, she turned to Cui Jingyu, who had been watching everything in silence. “Official Su, capable as she is, is still young, and the Grand Princess is not present. Marquis Cui is the master of this house — I ask the Marquis to act as judge, and apply military methods to investigate the matter thoroughly: who locked the door, who struck whom, whether it was my sister who gave the order. Let it be investigated to the very bottom, and let the standards of the Flower Selection Banquet be properly upheld!”

Lingbo kept her composure. Xiao Liu’er, however, felt her heart clench. Instinctively, she glanced at her young miss.

Lu Wanyang simply looked into Ye Lingbo’s eyes, a smile on her lips.

All this time, Lu Wenyin had been the one charging forward, doing all the dirty and exhausting work. Lu Wanyang had remained in the background — the quiet, gracious “second young miss Lu” who was well-read, courteous, measured, and as pleasant as a spring breeze, never making enemies, never showing so much as the edge of a blade.

But when her claws and fangs were cut away, the puppeteer lurking behind would have no choice but to show herself.

Ye Lingbo looked back into her eyes and offered a small smile.

“Young miss…” Xiao Liu’er could not help but call to her softly. Shen Biwei immediately sensed something, her brow furrowing as she looked at Ye Lingbo.

But Lingbo’s gaze was on Cui Jingyu.

Marquis Cui, who had won such brilliant military honors — his victory at the Battle of Mingsha River, where the campaign reports spoke casually of tens of thousands of lives — if military methods were truly brought to bear in an investigation, that was genuinely rather frightening.

Cui Jingyu looked back at her too.

Everyone had seen only Yanyan’s open affection for Cui Jingyu. They had forgotten that four years ago, she, Ye Lingbo, had also been fifteen, had also called him “Brother Jingyu.” To Cui Jingyu, she was the same — like a younger sister of the family. Her temperament, her methods — even then, they had already begun to show.

That was why he said only this: “Do you truly want it investigated?”

“Of course I do,” Ye Lingbo said calmly.

She saw the amusement enter Lu Wanyang’s eyes. Clearly Lu Wanyang also had some knowledge of military methods. The small squad Lingbo had encountered in Ping’an Ward had been nothing more than a diversion of Pei Zhao’s — and it had already run Liu Ji ragged, and Liu Ji was a trained adult. True military scouts were another matter entirely.

She was a clever woman. Lu Wenyin had been short-sighted, still thinking about how to disassociate herself. But Lu Wanyang had already seen through Lingbo’s hand and had decided to call her bluff — betting on the possibility that Lingbo was bluffing, and that even if the capital’s reputation was lost, and even if Madam Wei had to be abandoned, she still had to hold this last position: Cui Jingyu.

A fine move. Genuinely formidable. But what a pity it was a last-minute improvisation. How could it hold against a plan that Ye Lingbo had laid in advance?

If it had been three days in the making, perhaps it could have been matched.

But what Lu Wanyang would never know was that Ye Lingbo’s plan carried the weight of four years.

And so she could never have guessed that Ye Lingbo still had one final killing blow.

“Pingyao, go and call Mingsha over…” Cui Jingyu had barely spoken when a maidservant hurried over and said something in the ear of the young attendant Pingyao. Pingyao looked at him, hesitated, and said: “My lord Marquis.”

“What is it?” He frowned in impatience.

Pingyao stepped closer and said it quietly.

“The Ye family’s eldest young miss is at the door. She has sent in her calling card. She has come to take the second young miss Ye home.”