Suddenly, hearing footsteps stop in front of his cell, Qin Dezhao’s hand tightened. He opened his eyes and looked toward the door, only to see a person wearing a cloak standing behind the jailer.

Qin Dezhao’s heart tightened. He pretended to be calm as he stood up, straightened his cross-collared robe that had gotten straw on it, and asked: “May I ask who you are, sir?”

“Sir, take your time talking!” The jailer bowed respectfully to that person before turning to leave.

That person removed the cloak’s hood. When Qin Dezhao looked, it was Gao Sheng from Prince Liang’s side. Sensing the coldest killing intent from the depths of Gao Sheng’s eyes, his heartbeat couldn’t help but quicken several beats.

Qin Dezhao composed himself, stood with hands behind his back, maintaining his dignity: “Lord Gao, please trouble yourself to tell Prince Liang that Bai Qingyan already knows the list of those who tampered with the military provisions. She’s probably going to use this opportunity to cause trouble and make accusations. Please ask His Highness to prepare early.”

Gao Sheng’s gaze swept over the untouched water and food at the door: “Does the Marquis know that Young Master Qin has already taken the list you gave him, along with the Qin family’s loyal servants, to beat the drum in front of the Court of Judicial Review? Such quick action… could it be he didn’t receive the Marquis’s guidance?”

Qin Dezhao’s face turned pale, already guessing that Qin Lang had been deceived by Bai Qingyan.

“Lord Gao, don’t speak recklessly. That list was not given by this Marquis to Miss Bai. When Miss Bai came today, she just sat here and copied a list, said nothing, and asked nothing before leaving. The Bai family probably already had this list long ago. With Miss Bai’s intelligence… His Highness needs to be careful!” Qin Dezhao declared his loyalty. “As for that rebellious son, even if this Marquis is brought for interrogation, I definitely won’t say a word! This matter has nothing to do with this Marquis. When this Marquis handed over the military provisions, they were perfectly fine!”

“So the Marquis is very loyal to His Highness?” Gao Sheng’s voice was ice-cold without any fluctuation.

“Not only loyal to His Highness, but also to preserve my life! To admit it… There’s nothing but death! To not admit it, even if it’s just barely surviving, it’s still being alive.” Qin Dezhao stared steadily at Gao Sheng. At this time, blindly declaring loyalty would instead seem hypocritical; seeking to preserve life appeared more sincere.

Gao Sheng drew the short blade from his waist. Qin Dezhao was startled and retreated two steps, his body hitting the wall: “Lord Gao!”

“His Highness once told the Marquis that only dead people in this world can keep secrets!”

After saying this, Gao Sheng moved to Qin Dezhao’s front almost instantaneously. The sharp, short blade that could cut hair plunged into Qin Dezhao’s abdomen. Qin Dezhao opened his mouth wide but couldn’t make a sound, seeing only the flickering candlelight on the prison wall before his eyes.

Gao Sheng embraced Qin Dezhao’s neck, his movements extremely slow as he helped Qin Dezhao crouch down. His calm eyes showed no emotion whatsoever.

Only when Qin Dezhao’s hand, which had been tightly gripping his sleeve, loosened did Gao Sheng release Qin Dezhao and hide the gem-embedded sheath of his waist blade in Qin Dezhao’s deerskin boots.

The blade was good, easily penetrating Qin Dezhao’s flesh. The hilt blocked the wound, preventing even a drop of blood from flowing out.

Gao Sheng put on his cloak and turned to leave. The jailer came to lock the door, leaving as if he had seen nothing at all.

·

Since the New Year’s Eve when news of the Nan Jiang battle situation came back, the capital had one incident after another, not giving people any chance to catch their breath.

Qin Lang, who had only requested to give up his heir position before the New Year, was now kneeling in front of the Court of Judicial Review under the escort of soldiers guarding Marquis Zhongyong, accompanied by the Qin family’s loyal servants. He held a silk registry in his hands, loudly proclaiming that he was righteously eliminating his kin to present evidence for the Nan Jiang military provisions case.

The Emperor paid special attention to this case. Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Lu Jin ordered people to invite Qin Lang and the Qin family loyal servants he brought into the Court of Judicial Review for detailed questioning.

After seeing that list, the Qin family’s loyal servants already believed Qin Dezhao’s story about sacrificing one person to let Qin Lang, the eldest son, preserve the honor of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion. Now they regarded Qin Lang as the new master of the Qin family, naturally coordinating their testimony according to what Qin Lang had just discussed with them in the study.

Qin Dezhao’s advisors claimed that Qin Dezhao had developed greedy intentions because he saw that others transporting military provisions all profited from it.

But because he felt guilty inside and it was his first time doing such corrupt things, he revealed many flaws that were seized upon by his subordinates. Originally thinking that satisfying one group would keep everyone at peace, unexpectedly, wherever the provisions went, that place would take advantage of Qin Dezhao’s weakness to embezzle. The further down the line, the bolder the officials became, gradually replacing the good military provisions with wheat bran.

Finally, these people became so audacious that they even exchanged all the wheat bran for silver before it reached Feng City. Seeing the matter getting out of hand, Marquis Zhongyong, fearing implication, developed murderous intentions.

The advisors detailed what advice they had given Qin Dezhao, how the guards of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion had silenced these people, spilling everything completely clean.

Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Lu Jin took the confessions from Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion’s loyal servants, imprisoned them, and prepared to enter the palace to meet the Emperor.

Qin Lang’s discord with Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion was already known to everyone when Qin Lang moved out of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion. Moreover, Qin Lang was a model among noble family children, praised by both the Emperor and Empress. With the Bai family asking to protect Qin Lang, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review naturally couldn’t neglect Qin Lang. He arranged for Qin Lang to stay in a side hall, having him wait temporarily at the Court of Judicial Review.

Qin Lang complied, kneeling and claiming he was ashamed of the imperial grace, asking the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to inform His Majesty that he was willing to surrender all of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion’s family property to the national treasury to atone for his father’s sins.

Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Lu Jin looked at Qin Lang’s ashamed expression and thought of what the steward from Duke Zhenguo’s mansion had said to him. He nodded: “Young Master Qin, rest assured!”

This case had originally seemed like it would be a particularly thorny case for the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Unexpectedly, before the trial even began, Marquis Zhongyong’s son had delivered the evidence right to them.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review also felt somewhat grateful to Qin Lang, so when reporting to the Emperor, he subtly spoke well of Qin Lang.

The Emperor didn’t look at the testimony the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review submitted. He closed his eyes and listened to the Minister explain the whole sequence of events, immediately burning with rage.

“Marquis Zhongyong truly has great audacity!” The Emperor gritted his teeth, burning with anger. Just as he was about to curse Qin Dezhao, he suddenly seemed to understand something and stood up abruptly.

“Liu Huanzhang used military provisions to deceive Prince Xin, but Liu Huanzhang was at the front lines… how did he know these provisions wouldn’t reach Feng City?!” The Emperor’s brows furrowed tightly.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review bowed respectfully: “According to the confession of Marquis Zhongyong’s household servants, this list records all the officials who have been killed to look like accidents! There’s still one who hasn’t died… that’s Liu Huanzhang’s brother-in-law, Sun Yiming. On the first day of the twelfth month last year, the people Qin Dezhao sent out failed to kill Sun Yiming and instead exposed themselves, losing two guards! Coincidentally, this case was mentioned to me by Magistrate Jingzhao An Jingguo, who said that despite investigating all the people Sun Yiming had feuded with, he couldn’t find any leads! Now it seems… the case in the Magistrate’s hands can finally be closed.”

Liu Huanzhang’s brother-in-law?!