Mu Yunjin remained seated in the front hall until the Minister of Justice Chen Pu hurriedly entered, followed by a line of officials and soldiers.

“This official pays respects to Minister Mu.” Chen Pu first bowed to Minister Mu upon entering, then noticed the black-clad man and the cat on the floor, his expression changing.

Today, our mansion has experienced these two bizarre incidents without reason. I could not determine anything conclusive, which is why I called for Minister Chen.” Minister Mu said, rising and walking to Chen Pu’s side.

Chen Pu nodded, bending down to examine the dead man’s condition, then called the coroner who was behind him. “Come and examine this.”

The coroner immediately stepped forward and began to check the dead man’s condition.

Mu Yunjin sat to the side, yawning from tiredness, her gaze flitting toward the back garden. Her eyes turned slightly, wondering what the mother and daughter might be planning after their hasty departure.

“Father, if there’s nothing else for me, I’ll go back to rest,” Mu Yunjin said after a pause, addressing Minister Mu’s back.

Hearing this, Minister Mu turned to look at Mu Yunjin with furrowed brows. “That cat died in your courtyard. Until you clear yourself of suspicion, you cannot go anywhere.”

“That black-clothed man died in my sister’s courtyard, yet why is she allowed to leave?” Mu Yunjin retorted.

“You…” Minister Mu was momentarily stunned, then glanced at Chen Pu beside him, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

After a moment, the coroner examining the corpse concluded, pointing at the wound on the black-clothed man’s neck. “This wound was caused by a dagger, fatal with one strike. I’ve carefully examined the wound—wider at the back, narrower at the front—inflicted by a double-edged dagger.”

“Double-edged daggers typically have two sharp sides, with a thin, pointed tip, making them much more lethal than single-edged daggers.”

Hearing the coroner’s words, Mu Yunjin crossed her arms, securing the dagger hidden in her sleeve, and raised an eyebrow slightly. This coroner knew his craft.

“What about this cat? It was originally snow-white, turning purple-black after being poisoned. I wonder what kind of poison could be so potent,” Minister Mu said, pointing at the cat.

Upon hearing this, the coroner took out a silver needle from the cloth bag he carried, extracted some of the cat’s blood, and then said to Minister Mu, “Testing the blood will take some time.”

“No matter, take your time,” Minister Mu replied.

By now, Mu Yunjin was truly about to fall asleep. She didn’t know how much longer she would have to stay, and she was genuinely concerned about what those two might be plotting behind her back.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Yunjin checked the time and smiled faintly. “Father, I just remembered something. The Sixth Prince invited me to a teahouse today.”

“What?” Minister Mu frowned upon hearing this. In this situation, Mu Yunjin was under heavy suspicion and couldn’t be allowed to leave.

But if the Sixth Prince had truly invited her…

“You should stay in the mansion. I’ll send someone to inform the Sixth Prince about the situation here. I believe the Sixth Prince will understand,” Minister Mu said after some consideration.

This immediately displeased Mu Yunjin. She stood up and spoke with a hint of anger, “Has Father already decided I’m the culprit? Then why bother calling the Minister of Justice to investigate? Just hand me over to the Ministry of Justice directly!”

“Silence!” Minister Mu was once again angered by Mu Yunjin. He took a deep breath. In all his years as a minister, even the Emperor treated him with respect, yet lately this girl Mu Yunjin seemed rebellious, frequently defying him.

“If you want me to be silent, then don’t make me the only one waiting here. The person died in my sister’s courtyard, and the cat belongs to my mother. Why am I the only one being detained here?”

To the side, Minister of Justice Chen Pu’s mouth twitched upon hearing Mu Yunjin’s words. He had heard many rumors about the Third Miss Mu recently, and now he could see she truly was fearless.

Just as Minister Mu felt his authority was being trampled by Mu Yunjin in front of others and was about to order her immediate confinement, Steward Wang rushed in through the doorway.

Steward Wang entered, glanced at Mu Yunjin, then at Minister Mu. “Master, the Sixth Prince’s carriage is waiting outside the mansion gate. He says he’s here to escort the Third Miss to the teahouse.”

“What?” Minister Mu was startled, having thought Mu Yunjin was making things up. He hadn’t expected the Sixth Prince to have invited her.

Mu Yunjin was equally surprised, raising her eyebrows. Chu Li’s timing was impeccable.

“Father, since the Sixth Prince has personally come to pick me up, I’ll be leaving now.” Without waiting for Minister Mu’s response, Mu Yunjin skipped and ran toward the mansion gate.

At the gate, she indeed saw a black xuan-wood carriage parked outside. Ding Xian was sitting on the carriage and jumped down when he saw Mu Yunjin, nodding in greeting.

“Greetings, Third Miss.”

“Is Chu Li inside?” Mu Yunjin pointed at the carriage.

Ding Xian nodded, and Mu Yunjin lightly jumped onto the carriage and entered the compartment.

Inside the carriage, Mu Yunjin glimpsed Chu Li sitting there and recalled their unpleasant parting after the incident with the sparrow-blinding. She felt a bit awkward.

After a pause, Mu Yunjin lowered her eyes and asked, “What did you want with me?”

“Didn’t you ask this prince to personally deliver the thirty thousand taels of gold bank notes to you?” Chu Li lifted his eyelids lazily and took out three banknotes from his sleeve.

Mu Yunjin looked at the bank notes but made no move to take them. Instead, she lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside.

Then, dropping the curtain, Mu Yunjin called out, “Ding Xian, go to the back gate of the Minister’s Mansion.”

Outside, upon hearing Mu Yunjin’s voice, Ding Xian immediately changed direction and headed toward the place she indicated.

Inside the carriage, Chu Li snorted lightly at this. “You’re quite comfortable ordering my men around.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin smiled sheepishly, turned around, and pressed her palms together toward Chu Li. “Your Highness, Sixth Prince, I have an important matter to attend to today, so I’ll need to borrow Ding Xian for a while.”

“Important matter?” Chu Li raised an eyebrow.

Mu Yunjin nodded solemnly. “It concerns my life, so of course I must be cautious.”

“This prince wasn’t aware there were people in this world who could threaten your life,” Chu Li said casually.

The carriage stopped at some distance from the back gate of the mansion. Mu Yunjin got off the carriage and, looking at the tightly closed back gate and the high walls of the mansion, said to Ding Xian, “You know lightness kung fu, right?”

Ding Xian nodded woodenly.

“Take me up there in a moment,” Mu Yunjin said.

Hearing this, Ding Xian was startled and instinctively glanced at Chu Li nearby. Upon meeting Chu Li’s cold gaze, Ding Xian smiled at Mu Yunjin. “His Highness’s lightness kung fu is also excellent. It would be more secure if His Highness carried you.”

Upon hearing Ding Xian’s words, Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together. In truth, she could easily climb the wall herself, but she absolutely could not reveal her skills in front of these two.

After a moment of hesitation, Mu Yunjin stopped dwelling on it and said to Chu Li beside her, “Then you take me up.”

Chu Li remained expressionless, with a hint of laziness in his eyes. Without answering Mu Yunjin, he grabbed her waist with one hand, pushed off with his toes, and flew up from the ground.

The three eventually landed on the roof of Tinghua Pavilion.

After steadying herself, Mu Yunjin silently admired the legendary lightness kung fu, then crouched down. Glancing at the two men standing stiffly beside her, she pulled on Chu Li’s clothes. “Quickly, crouch down.”

Chu Li paused, looking at Mu Yunjin with a strange expression, but then crouched down.

Ding Xian looked at Chu Li as if he’d seen a ghost, feeling an inexplicable urge to laugh, but still followed his master and obediently crouched down.

Crouching on the roof, Mu Yunjin saw that the gift boxes were still in the courtyard. She frowned and removed the tiles beneath her feet…

Below was Mu Yunjin’s bedroom. She furrowed her brow, carefully observing any movement inside. After a while, seeing nothing unusual, Mu Yunjin bit her lip and said to the people beside her—

“Take me down.”

…

In the bedroom, Mu Yunjin was carefully searching through various drawers and corners, making no sound.

Chu Li stood with his hands behind his back, glancing at Mu Yunjin, who was busy searching, and then surveying the bedroom with a slightly furrowed brow.

“This doghouse-like room can’t possibly be where you live, can it?”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin immediately turned and glared at Chu Li, but said nothing, walking toward her bed.

After turning the entire bed upside down, Mu Yunjin finally found a package under the pillow.

Inside was a double-edged dagger and a packet of powder.

Mu Yunjin held the package in her palm, carefully opening it. Inside was white powder with a pungent, irritating smell.

Just then, Mu Yunjin’s ear twitched slightly as she sensed footsteps approaching. She immediately said to Chu Li, “Let’s go quickly.”

When the three returned to the roof, they saw a group of people pushing open the gate of Tinghua Pavilion, led by Minister Mu and Minister of Justice Chen Pu, followed by Su Biqing and Mu Lingzhu.

The coroner, upon entering, saw the courtyard full of gift boxes, bent down, and took out a silver needle.

After a while, the coroner held up the needle, carefully examining its tip, and said to Minister Mu, “Minister, all these gift boxes are coated with deadly poison, the same poison that killed the cat.”

On the roof, Chu Li had heard everything the coroner said, and his inquiring gaze fell on the package in Mu Yunjin’s hand.

Mu Yunjin, noticing Chu Li’s gaze, immediately gave him a sharp look. “Don’t think of me as so despicable.”

Beside them, seeing this, Ding Xian immediately understood that something had happened in the Minister’s Mansion today, and that the Third Miss’s unusual behavior suggested the matter might be targeting her.

Indeed, below, Su Biqing’s voice rose—

“My beloved cat died here without reason, and all these gift boxes are coated with poison. It’s very suspicious. Husband, why not have someone thoroughly search Yunjin’s quarters?”

Hearing Su Biqing’s words, Minister Mu sighed slightly, nodding somewhat helplessly. With a wave of his hand, he ordered, “Come, search!”

With that, a group of people emerged from behind him, dispersing to search Mu Yunjin’s Tinghua Pavilion.

Su Biqing and Mu Lingzhu exchanged glances, then Su Biqing walked directly toward Mu Yunjin’s bedroom. Upon entering, she headed straight for Mu Yunjin’s bed…