Everyone at the banquet prostrated themselves in kowtow.

The Crown Prince came forward to receive his royal parents.

Lu Zhao’an lay prostrate on the ground, his face as pale as gold paper.

“Rise,” said His Majesty, striding forward to help Master Qingxu to the seat of honor. After sitting down, he asked Lin Chengyou in a gentle voice, “I heard there was some trouble with a thief. What exactly happened?”

Master Qingxu cast a meaningful look at Lu Zhao’an. Lin Chengyou smiled and said, “It’s quite a long story, allow your nephew to explain in detail.”

His Majesty and the Empress exchanged amused glances. “How rare to have such excitement tonight. Who would have thought we’d have a story to hear? Very well, after this tale, we can listen to you young people compete in poetry.”

Lin Chengyou began his narrative: “This story starts from the Dragon Boat Festival. On that day, Scholar Du from the Imperial Academy came to the Court of Judicial Review to report a case, claiming his daughter, Lady Du, had lost something at the academy the night before, and requested a detailed investigation. The one in charge of the case was my superior—Magistrate Yan Wanchun.”

As he spoke, he addressed an inconspicuous corner of the banquet: “Magistrate Yan, please share what happened at the time.”

Someone stood up in response—it was indeed Magistrate Yan.

Today, many young officials had accompanied the imperial procession, and Magistrate Yan was just one among them, blending into the crowd without drawing attention.

“That’s correct,” Magistrate Yan said. “Yesterday, Scholar Du reported that his daughter had lost two poems at the academy, and I was the one who wrote up the case report.”

Lin Chengyou continued, “Did Scholar Du specify which two poems Lady Du had lost?”

Magistrate Yan answered meticulously: “One was ‘The Male Pheasant’ from the Book of Songs’ Bei Feng section, and the other was ‘Ode to the Cicada.'”

A subtle stir ran through the assembly, for everyone could see that among the poems that had fallen from Lu Zhao’an’s possession, the topmost one was indeed “Ode to the Cicada” bearing Lady Du’s name.

To make it even clearer to everyone, Lin Chengyou deliberately had the palace servants hold the poems high up. After everyone had gotten a good look, he then had them presented to the Emperor and Empress.

He smiled and explained, “The thief was very careful. They didn’t steal jewelry or personal items, because they knew Lady Du would use such things daily and notice their absence immediately. Poems were different. According to Scholar Du, Lady Du would copy Buddhist scriptures and poems every day, placing them on her desk after completion. She might not even remember how many she had written in total, and even if she did, she wouldn’t check the count daily. By the time Lady Du noticed the missing poems, the trap would already be set, and even though she would know she had been framed, she would have no way to defend herself.”

“Tonight, the thief felt the time was ripe and deliberately chose a crowded, well-lit occasion to ‘accidentally’ drop the poems in public. Once people saw the two poems, they would assume they were gifts from Lady Du, thus naturally slandering her reputation by implying she had an improper relationship with him.” Lin Chengyou smiled, “Great Scholar Lu, am I correct?”

The students from Xiangxiang Academy, understanding the scheme’s intricacy, glared at Lu Zhao’an. How vicious of him to use such an underhanded method to frame their fellow student.

Lu Zhao’an first appeared surprised, then exclaimed, “The Young Master must be mistaken. I have never seen these two poems before. Ah yes, earlier when I was coming over, someone bumped into me. Could it be that someone set me up during that moment?”

A silence fell, and all eyes turned to Second Lady Peng and her maid. Coincidentally, if the maid hadn’t bumped into Lu Zhao’an, the stack of writings would never have been exposed.

Lu Zhao’an, appearing indignant, knelt before the throne with a pale face: “Your Majesty, I dare to speak in my defense.”

After kowtowing several times with loud thuds, he pressed his hands to the ground and said, “Though I come from humble origins, I was fortunate to live in an era of a benevolent ruler and prosperity. Your Majesty has always ‘sought worthy talents far and wide, never rejecting those of low birth.’ When I took the imperial examinations, I was lucky enough to become Your Majesty’s student. Since achieving the top score, I have been constantly vigilant, fearing to disappoint imperial grace, working diligently and carefully avoiding any missteps. Yet for some unknown reason, lately, there have been people slandering my character behind my back. Tonight’s events further trap me in a position of contempt. I dare say, I have never seen these two poems before. There must be more to this matter, and I beg Your Majesty to examine it thoroughly.”

His words rang with conviction, and those who had been glaring at him began to hesitate after hearing his speech. Lu Zhao’an’s literary talent was unmatched in Chang’an, and as this year’s top scorer in the imperial examinations, he would likely stand out in the upcoming official selections.

If someone envied Lu Zhao’an, or if someone didn’t want the court to select such a talented individual, they might indeed deliberately frame him. And that Peng family maid who had bumped into Lu Zhao’an suddenly seemed very suspicious.

Second Lady Peng, feeling the gazes from all directions, flushed with anger. She raised her hand, pointing furiously at Lu Zhao’an: “You’re lying! These poems fell from your sleeve. Don’t try to blame others!”

Lu Zhao’an spoke clearly and forcefully: “I dare not speak falsely, but before coming over just now, I did not have these two extra poems on my person.”

Second Lady Peng’s blood rushed to her head, but being so young and before the Emperor, Empress, and officials, she couldn’t get a single word out.

First Lady Peng sat at the banquet, already shocked and angry. Seeing her sister instantly caught in Lu Zhao’an’s trap, she was about to stand up to defend her sister when someone else rose first to speak: “Your Highness the Empress, please note that Second Lady Peng was originally seated at the banquet, but suddenly left her seat for some reason. There must be some explanation for this.”

It was Lady Official Bai, one of the academy’s four female officials.

First Lady Peng quickly knelt before the Empress: “Your Majesty, my younger sister only left her seat because someone had suddenly wet the hem of her skirt. Before this happened, she had no idea who she would encounter, and being bumped into was completely unexpected. This is someone shifting the blame. If I remember correctly, someone bumped her elbow, causing her to spill the wine.”

The maid, already collapsed on the ground like mud, trembled as she spoke: “This servant didn’t mean to—”

Suddenly remembering something, she looked sharply at the assembly: “This servant remembers now… there was a lady who accidentally bumped into me, causing me to lose my balance and accidentally bump into Second Lady’s elbow.”

As the maid spoke, her eyes wandered until they fixed on someone.

“It was her,” the maid swallowed in shock. “This servant remembers now, it was Second Lady Wu who bumped into me.”

Wu Qi’s expression was even more shocked than the maid’s. She gaped in astonishment: “Me?”

The maid nodded nervously: “This servant remembers correctly, it was you, Second Lady Wu.”

All the classmates’ eyes turned toward her.

The maid continued trembling: “You were playing with paper balls at the time, and suddenly bumped into me hard.”

The classmates began exchanging knowing glances.

Everyone remembered this incident. After taking their seats, while waiting for the Emperor and Empress who had yet to appear, and while the Academy Director was busy talking with several titled ladies at the head table, some of the more lively students had started playing around quietly below. Wu Qi had been playing the most enthusiastically, coincidentally seated next to Second Lady Peng.

Wu Qi was stunned for a moment, then said with a mix of tears and laughter: “This… this is truly unfair. Yes, I was throwing paper balls back and forth with Lady Deng earlier, but I don’t remember bumping into you.”

Deng Weili froze, wanting to defend herself. While this was true, the more she pondered it, the more something seemed off, and her gaze toward Wu Qi became increasingly complex.

The maid’s eyes reddened with anxiety as she looked up at Second Lady Peng: “My lady, even if others don’t believe your servant, you must believe me. Your servant truly stumbled because Second Lady Wu bumped into me.”

Wu Qi’s eyes widened: “Did this happen? I… I don’t remember it at all. Besides, there was you, the maid, between me and Second Lady Peng. Even if I had bumped you slightly, how could that have caused Second Lady Peng to spill her wine? Perhaps you should think about it more carefully?”

The implication was clear—don’t try to pin the Peng family’s actions on her.

The more everyone listened, the more confused they became.

First and Second Lady Peng glared hatefully at Wu Qi. The more people got dragged into this, the more complicated it would become. In the end, the matter would inevitably turn into an unsolvable mess. Worse still, their maid’s testimony alone couldn’t prove that someone had deliberately caused the wine to spill.

Just as everything was in chaos, someone started applauding: “Excellent, excellent! No wonder they could set up such a seamless trap. Just this ability to tell such blatant lies is enough to fool many people.”

The speaker was Lin Chengyou.

Everyone was bewildered.

Lin Chengyou smiled: “Let’s set aside for now how these two poems ended up in Lu Zhao’an’s possession. Just looking at the scene we witnessed—yes, the banquet was quite noisy, and that’s exactly what they were counting on to dare reverse black and white. Unfortunately, since the Court of Judicial Review had already identified suspects, certain people’s every move was being watched. Magistrate Yan, please tell us what happened then.”

Magistrate Yan stood up again: “After taking my seat, I kept watching the suspect. When it happened, the Peng lady was holding a wine cup, with her maid standing by. Just as Lady Peng raised the cup to drink, someone’s back heavily bumped into the maid, causing her to bump into Lady Peng, which made the wine spill. But because the Prince arrived at that moment, everyone was busy rising to pay their respects. In the ensuing chaos, Lady Peng and her maid didn’t have time to question what had happened. Afterward, Lady Peng hurried to leave and fix her appearance, with her maid supporting her as they left hastily. The timing was perfect—even if questioned later, it would be impossible to sort out. Fortunately, I saw everything. The person who bumped into the Peng family’s maid—”

Magistrate Yan looked solemnly at Wu Qi: “Was indeed Lady Wu.”

Wu Qi’s face showed complete confusion.

Magistrate Yan continued: “Because of your bump, Second Lady Peng and her maid had to leave their seats. As they were leaving, the maid bumped into Lu Zhao’an who was arriving to take his seat. And somehow, coincidentally, that’s when Lu Zhao’an dropped those poems in front of everyone…”

First and Second Lady Peng was completely stunned that someone had witnessed the incident, and that witness was an official from the Court of Judicial Review.

Lin Chengyou smiled at Wu Qi: “Surprising, isn’t it? It was you who bumped into her, not someone else. You can’t blame this on anyone else.”

After a long pause, Wu Qi gave a bitter smile: “I’m sorry. It’s my fault for having such a poor memory. Perhaps I was too caught up in playing and didn’t realize I had bumped into someone. Second Lady, I was also confused earlier and spoke hastily in my panic. I apologize to you.”

Second Lady Peng remained icily silent, but most others believed Wu Qi’s words. After all, Magistrate Yan’s testimony could only prove that Wu Qi had bumped into the Peng family’s maid, not whether it was intentional or accidental.

Besides, who would notice bumping into someone while caught up in play? So they once again turned their angry gazes toward Lu Zhao’an—if he hadn’t deliberately denied everything, how could Peng Jinxiu and Wu Qi have been dragged into this?

Lin Chengyou nodded understandingly: “Lady Wu’s poor memory is understandable. However, with Magistrate Yan’s testimony, we can at least prove that Second Lady Peng didn’t leave her seat intentionally. How could someone with no prior preparation possibly slip those poems into Great Scholar Lu’s possession? Great Scholar Lu, do you still insist that the Peng family’s maid slipped these poems into your arms?”

Lu Zhao’an straightened his back and replied calmly: “I never said it was that maid’s doing, but it’s a fact that I’ve never seen these two poems before. Perhaps someone took advantage of the chaos to slip them into my possession. I request Your Majesty’s clear judgment.”

Lin Chengyou seemed to have anticipated this response: “Very well, you’ve never seen these two poems. But surely you must have seen her.”

With that, he beckoned: “Bring her up.”

The Imperial Guards brought forward an old woman in coarse cloth clothing, bound and gagged.

Behind the old woman followed several commoners in plain clothes.

And behind them were bailiffs from the Court of Judicial Review, carrying several chests and boxes with unknown contents.

Lin Chengyou pointed at the old woman and asked Lu Zhao’an: “Do you know her?”

Lu Zhao’an shook his head indifferently: “No, I don’t.”

Lin Chengyou looked at the commoners on the left: “He says he doesn’t know this old woman. You’re Scholar Lu’s neighbors—would you like to remind him?”

The commoners prostrated themselves, not daring to raise their heads, but spoke: “Scholar Lu, how can you not know her? This is Old Wang who sells sweet rice porridge. She often comes to our alley to sell it, and every time she comes, you always come out to buy a bowl. You even bought some the day before yesterday.”

Lu Zhao’an suddenly seemed to realize: “Oh, it’s Old Wang. Forgive my poor eyesight—seeing her bound like this, I didn’t recognize her at first. Young Master, what happened to her—”

But Lin Chengyou interrupted: “Alright, Scholar Lu has finished his recognition. Now it’s time to identify another person.”

He turned to the commoners on the right, and seeing them trembling, he crouched down and spoke gently: “Don’t be afraid. You’ll need to identify someone in a moment. Raise your heads and speak freely.”

They wiped their cold sweat and slowly raised their heads.

“You live near Yong’an Street in Liquan Ward?”

They nodded nervously.

“Have you seen this old woman?”

“Yes. She comes to our alley every few days to sell sweet rice porridge.”

“Look up carefully—do you recognize anyone over there?”

Following Lin Chengyou’s direction, they looked forward and soon recognized someone: “Yes, that’s Jiao’er.”

“How do you know her?”

“She often comes out to buy things, mostly sweet rice porridge.”

“Whose maid is she?”

“Second… Second Lady Wu’s.”

“Did Jiao’er buy porridge on the Dragon Boat Festival?”

They nodded again: “Yes, she did.”

Lin Chengyou made a sound of acknowledgment: “You remember so clearly?”

“Because this porridge isn’t particularly tasty. Besides, she’s a maid to the Prime Minister’s daughter—on the Dragon Boat Festival, the mansion would have had plenty of delicacies. By rights, she shouldn’t have bothered with a bowl of sweet rice porridge.”

After these questions, Lin Chengyou addressed everyone: “In recent days, Lu Zhao’an rarely left home due to exam preparation, including during the Dragon Boat Festival. That entire day, he only went out when Old Wang came by, buying two bowls of porridge. Soon after Lu Zhao’an bought his porridge, Old Wang pushed her cart away. This old woman didn’t stop anywhere along the way until she reached the vicinity of Second Lady Wu’s home, where she stopped to continue selling porridge. Soon after, Wu’s maid Jiao’er came out to buy porridge, and Old Wang immediately left again. The neighbors from both areas can testify to this.

“Interestingly, according to the bailiffs monitoring Lu Zhao’an, this seemingly poor Old Wang only sold thirty-seven bowls of porridge all day. Between Lu Zhao’an’s residence in Yining Ward and Second Lady Wu’s home on Yong’an Street, there are at least five busy intersections, yet while Old Wang called out her wares, she never stopped. The starting point was Lu Zhao’an’s residence, and the endpoint was Second Lady Wu’s home.”

“Lady Du’s poems disappeared, and soon after they turned up in Lu Zhao’an’s possession. Add to this an old woman who pushed her cart through two entire wards but only sold ‘thirty-seven bowls of porridge,’ I have reason to believe this matter involves Second Lady Wu. She was responsible for stealing the poems, while Old Wang was responsible for delivering them to Lu Zhao’an.”

Lu Zhao’an protested angrily: “Absurd, truly absurd! Though I’ve bought porridge several times, I’ve never spoken with this Old Wang. To claim I’m involved based solely on this—I absolutely cannot accept this.”

Wu Qi also seemed puzzled: “I’ve never heard of this. Jiao’er, did you buy porridge outside?”

The maid hurriedly replied: “Yes, your servant bought it a few times, but your servant never even got a clear look at this old woman’s face. This is completely fabricated—no, I mean, could someone be deliberately framing us?”

“Framing you?” Lin Chengyou said mockingly. “In Yining Ward, Lu Zhao’an himself bought the porridge every time. On Yong’an Street, it was Second Lady Wu’s headmaid who bought it every time. No one forced you to buy porridge—it was all voluntary, and not just once or twice, not just for a day or two. After confirming this couldn’t possibly be a frame-up, I ordered people to watch Old Wang that night, while others were stationed near the Wu residence. This morning, before dawn, Wu’s maid Jiao’er secretly went out to the pagoda tree outside the eastern wall of a nearby temple and stuffed a package into a hole in the trunk. Not long after Jiao’er left, Old Wang came in the dark and, when no one was around, retrieved the package and left.

“Today, both Lu Zhao’an and Second Lady Wu were to accompany the imperial procession out of the city. To avoid alerting them, I didn’t have Jiao’er arrested but ordered Old Wang’s immediate arrest instead. Old Wang didn’t have time to hide the package, which contained a piece of gold.” Lin Chengyou continued, “You say you don’t know Old Wang, yet you had your maid Jiao’er deliver gold to her early this morning. Now that we have both the person and the evidence, I’d like to hear how you can explain this away.”

Wu Qi was dumbfounded: “I know nothing about this.”

She suddenly turned to Jiao’er: “You servant, what is this all about?”

Jiao’er’s face turned ashen, and she knelt silently with her head bowed.

Lin Chengyou ordered the bailiffs to bring Jiao’er forward and said pleasantly: “Now you see what kind of person your master is? Next, she’ll claim that you stole the gold and she knew nothing about it. After making you do all these dirty deeds, she’ll turn around and throw you under the cart. Doesn’t that make your blood run cold? Are you sure you still want to sacrifice yourself for her?”

Jiao’er bit her lip hard.

“According to our dynasty’s laws, accomplices who voluntarily confess the details of the crime can receive a lighter punishment. You know how ruthless she is—once she pushes everything onto you alone, you’ll face certain death. Think about those evil arts she learned, how bizarre they are, how they can leave people’s souls incomplete. Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up like First Lady Wu—”

Jiao’er shuddered: “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! The gold… the gold was given to me by Second Lady to deliver to Old Wang.”

A commotion erupted throughout the assembly.