Faced with Ji Yunshu’s questioning and “accusations,” Zhao Huai’s heart was in turmoil.

His pupils suddenly dilated, and his instinctive reaction was not to refute, but to evade.

Zhao Qing’s gaze wandered between Ji Yunshu and Zhao Huai.

He asked bewilderedly, “What’s really going on?”

Ji Yunshu lowered her eyes, still looking at Zhao Huai, her voice calm: “From the very beginning, you knew the true cause of Jiu’er’s death. But to shield the murderer, you chose to conceal it, taking all the blame upon yourself. When you learned that the skeleton in the urn was very likely Jiu’er, you sent someone to check Jiu’er’s grave. Finding nothing in the coffin, you became absolutely certain that the skeleton was Jiu’er. So you secretly destroyed that skeleton—the purpose was also to shield the murderer.”

The entire hall erupted in uproar!

Zhao Huai’s eyes trembled slightly as he made a final struggle.

“Everything you’re saying is just your imagination.”

“Fine, then I’ll present the evidence.” Ji Yunshu pointed at his hand and said slowly, “On your palm, there should be a light black mark, shouldn’t there?”

Zhao Huai frowned and opened his palm.

In the center of his palm, there was indeed a mark.

“What does this prove?”

Ji Yunshu explained: “The roof of the room where the skeleton was kept is in a position shaded by a large tree and happens to face the wind year-round, so it developed a layer of moss. But it’s not an ordinary type of moss—it’s a kind of bisexual moss that carries toxicity. If it sticks to human skin, it forms a black spot, though it won’t be fatal. It basically disappears within half a month. You went up on the roof, lifted the tiles, then used a thin steel pipe to sprinkle bone powder on the skeleton. You thought no one would know, but the moss on the roof betrayed you. What you can’t figure out is why I could determine it was you based solely on the moss. Actually, there’s another thing that betrayed you as well.”

“That is the inner sides of both your shoes!”

Many pairs of eyes unconsciously looked toward Zhao Huai’s shoes.

Ji Yunshu: “Someone who could leap onto the roof without a sound must have excellent martial arts skills, but surely they wouldn’t leave no footprints at all on the tiles. Later, I noticed the large tree hanging down from above the roof, and everything became clear. Because you hooked your feet on the tree branches and hung your body upside down, that’s why the inner sides of both your shoes got wet. When I saw it last night, I wasn’t entirely certain, but just now when I saw that black mark on your palm, I dared to be absolutely sure—it was you who destroyed that skeleton.”

The evidence was irrefutable!

Ji Yunshu laid everything out in detail, explaining it all clearly.

Zhao Huai lost his righteous confidence to refute.

After hearing all this, Zhao Qing was extremely agitated. He turned to Zhao Huai and demanded: “Why did you do this? Why? Since you knew that was Jiu’er’s skeleton, why did you still do this? Who exactly killed Jiu’er? Tell me!”

“…”

“To shield the murderer, you even destroyed Jiu’er’s skeleton. Why?”

“Stop asking.” Zhao Huai roared. The next moment, he glared at Ji Yunshu and said angrily: “Don’t you want to live? Fine, I’ll let you go. Leave now. Everything that happened before will be forgiven. Get out, all of you. Someone, escort them all out.”

The bandits exchanged glances. What secret was the chief hiding?

Now he didn’t even want the gold and silver, and he wasn’t even avenging their brothers.

But they couldn’t disobey orders, so they could only step forward to drive them out.

However—

“No one leaves.” Zhao Qing shouted to stop them, blocking the bandits who came forward to drive people out. He looked at Ji Yunshu: “I must know about Jiu’er’s matter. Tell me everything you know.”

Zhao Huai shouted loudly: “Move aside.”

“I want to know the truth.”

The two were at an impasse.

Zhao Qing even grabbed Ji Yunshu’s hand, his eyes pleading: “Who killed Jiu’er? Tell me.”

Seeing this, Shi Ziran stepped forward, twisted Zhao Qing’s hand, and protected the restrained Ji Yunshu behind him.

She was the future Princess Rong. Technically speaking, she was half his master, so of course he had to protect her.

Unexpectedly, Ji Yunshu pushed him aside, looking at Zhao Qing with resolute eyes.

“I’ll tell you.”

“The beginning of this story doesn’t start from a year ago, but must be told from when the old stronghold chief was still alive. About ten years ago, the old stronghold chief’s son contracted a strange illness. In medical terms, this illness is called split personality disorder, also known as dual personality. When the illness strikes, one’s disposition becomes abnormal and transforms into another personality. Often, that personality forms an extreme contrast with their original personality. Any emotion is also amplified during that personality state, and they might even kill someone or do other things after being triggered by a certain point. But once they regain consciousness, the person with the normal personality won’t remember anything they said or did.”

Zhao Qing broke out in cold sweat, somewhat dazed!

“So the old stronghold chief spent years searching for famous doctors. Heaven rewards the diligent—he finally found a renowned physician surnamed Mo and obtained a medicinal powder called Anxin San. The old stronghold chief’s son took it regularly for years, and the illness was brought under control. And that son… is you.”

Those last three words, Ji Yunshu’s voice lowered somewhat.

Zhao Qing was shocked and shook his head in disbelief: “Me? Impossible. I’ve never taken any Anxin San.”

Ridiculous!

I’m sick?

Your whole family is sick!

At this moment, the silent Zhao Huai took over his words.

“You have taken it, and you’ve been taking it all along!”

Uh!

Zhao Qing was incredulous.

Zhao Huai: “Since you were young, you were often plagued by nightmares. To prevent you from being affected, Father said it was just for calming the mind. But that medicine was Anxin San, used to treat your illness.”

Having spoken these words, the burden in Zhao Huai’s heart was lifted.

Hidden in his heart for so long, it was now released, and he felt much more at ease!

“No, it can’t be.”

Zhao Qing couldn’t accept it!

This is all nonsense!

So he took several small packets wrapped in yellow paper from his waist and, with trembling hands, opened one of them.

Inside was some blue powder.

The thing he’d been taking for so many years to calm his mind was actually medicine for treating “mental illness.”

The next moment, he scattered all the medicine in his hand.

“No, this is just medicine for calming the mind. It’s not medicine for treating some strange illness like you said.”

At this time, Bahu, who had been following Zhao Qing, suddenly emerged from the crowd.

He stammered: “Second Chief, the Chief isn’t lying.”

Zhao Qing’s fierce temper flared. He rushed over and grabbed Bahu’s collar.

“You’re lying.”

“Second Chief, I’m not lying. It’s all true. This is the medicine to treat you. When you left the stronghold a year ago, the Chief came to find me. He insisted that I watch over you carefully and gave me the prescription, instructing me to make sure you took every dose without missing any.”

Zhao Qing’s body was like an arrow on a drawn bowstring. Pulled back, he retreated several steps, his eyes vacant.