As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed.

“Bring him in,” Yun Guangyao waved his hand, signaling to bring in the captured servant.

Shortly after, two imperial guards escorted a man inside, forced him to his knees in front of Yun Guangyao.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, today, while patrolling the city, this subordinate saw this man furtively exchanging money with someone. After we captured him, he appeared extremely nervous. Upon questioning, he claimed to be a servant from the Minister’s mansion.” One imperial guard finished speaking, then glanced toward Lin Zhiyang and Lin Mengwei.

At this moment, Lin Mengwei, kneeling on the ground, was tightly clenching her fingers, struggling to maintain her composure while frantically thinking of various explanations.

“Shaoliu, how could it be you?” Lin Zhiyang was shocked to see this servant from his household.

Then he turned his head toward Lin Mengwei in disbelief, secretly thinking: this is bad!

This Shaoliu had served Mengwei since childhood and obeyed her completely. Could it be true, as the Mu girl said, that Mengwei had instructed her?

Considering this possibility, Lin Zhiyang’s expression gradually fell.

…

…

“Minister Lin, you know this person?” Yun Guangyao looked toward Lin Zhiyang.

Lin Zhiyang nodded without saying much.

Seeing this, Yun Guangyao gave State Preceptor An a meaningful look, indicating that he should handle the questioning from now on.

State Preceptor An understood, lowering his gaze toward the kneeling Shaoliu. “Exchanging money with someone—what was that about? Tell us.”

Shaoliu hesitated, swallowed hard, and nervously glanced in Yun Guangyao’s direction. His hands were clasped on his knees, and whether from nervousness or something else, the veins on the back of his hands were bulging.

“This lowly one has a gambling habit and owes quite a lot of debt, so, so…”

Shaoliu paused halfway, glanced in Lin Mengwei’s direction, then bowed his head deeply and kowtowed. “So this lowly one took advantage of the Young Miss’s absence and stole some of her jewelry to sell off to pay gambling debts.”

After Shaoliu finished speaking, Lin Mengwei secretly sighed in relief. He truly was her man, and what a beautiful excuse he had made.

“So you stole things to pay gambling debts—no wonder you were acting so suspiciously,” State Preceptor An continued along with Shaoliu’s story.

Shaoliu nodded.

“By the way, was the person he was trading with also arrested?” State Preceptor, An suddenly changed the subject, looking toward the imperial guards.

The imperial guard nodded. “He was also arrested and is waiting outside.”

“Bring him in,” ordered State Preceptor An.

With these words, the imperial guard turned and walked out of the study.

At this moment, Lin Mengwei took the opportunity to look at Shaoliu. Their gazes met in midair, and Shaoliu nodded slightly to Lin Mengwei, indicating that she should not worry.

“By the way, do you know what happens to those who lie before His Majesty?” State Preceptor An lightly patted Shaoliu’s shoulder and pointed to Yun Guangyao sitting in the main seat.

Shaoliu’s body flinched.

“You come from the Minister’s household. If you have committed a crime, then the Minister has failed to discipline properly, deceiving the current Emperor. By law, the entire household could be beheaded,” State Preceptor An said in a casual tone.

This was Shaoliu’s first time facing such a situation. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid, but if he changed his story now, he would certainly not have a good outcome. Better to gamble it all.

Just then, the imperial guards brought in the other man who had been trading with Shaoliu.

Compared to Shaoliu’s composure, that man was much more frightened. As soon as he entered, he knelt and cried out, “Your Majesty, spare my life! This commoner is just an ordinary civilian who knows nothing.”

“What were you trading with this person today?” State Preceptor An motioned for him to be quiet, then pointed to Shaoliu.

Hearing this, the man slowly raised his head and glanced at the people in the room. His entire body trembled more and more. As a common civilian, how could he have experienced such a scene before?

“It was, it was…” The man became nervous and stuttered, trembling as he said, “He found me last night and wanted me to spread certain information. After the job was done, he would give me some money.”

“You’re lying!” Shaoliu quickly denied, thinking bitterly that this damned commoner had been given a large sum of money to keep quiet, but unexpectedly revealed everything.

The man’s face was more miserable than a mourner’s. “How dare I lie? This is a matter of losing one’s head! Even with a hundred times more courage, I wouldn’t dare to lie!”

“How much money did he give you, and what did he ask you to spread?” asked State Preceptor An.

Hearing this, the man pulled out two pawn tickets from his sleeve. “He gave me three pawn shop tickets, telling me to take them to the pawn shop to get silver.”

“He told me to spread the news that the Mu family’s daughter had hired assassins to attack the Crown Prince, and instructed me to make sure it was known throughout the city before the morning court today.”

After saying this, the man wailed again, “This commoner has elderly parents and young children at home, and supporting the family alone is truly difficult. That’s why I was tempted by the money. Please, Your Majesty, spare my life! This lowly one will never dare to do it again…”

State Preceptor An took the tickets, looked at them, and then presented them to Yun Guangyao. “Your Majesty, look, these are pawn tickets for jewelry. This servant from the Minister’s household is quite clever. He knew that handling money directly would leave traces, so he came up with this scheme.”

“With these pawn tickets, the commoner could go directly to the pawn shop for silver. The silver would come from the pawn shop, leaving no trail back to the Minister’s household.”

Yun Guangyao looked at the tickets, then at Lin Zhiyang and Lin Mengwei. “Do you have anything else to say?”

Lin Zhiyang now felt exactly as Minister Mu had this morning. He had served diligently and faithfully in court, yet unexpectedly had raised such a troublemaking daughter.

What could he say now?

When a child is not taught properly, it is the father’s fault. It was all his responsibility.

“Your Majesty, I have failed to teach my child properly. I am willing to accept punishment. But Mengwei is still young and doesn’t understand proper behavior. Please, Your Majesty, spare her life.” After speaking, Lin Zhiyang kowtowed three times to Yun Guangyao.

How could Lin Mengwei accept this? Disregarding her father’s pleas beside her, she pointed at the commoner. “How can you believe the words of a random commoner? Who knows if he’s deliberately slandering me?”

“Then how do you explain these pawn tickets?” asked State Preceptor An.

“Didn’t Shaoliu say he stole my jewelry to pay off gambling debts?” Lin Mengwei insisted.

State Preceptor An sighed and shook his head helplessly. “Young lady, you truly won’t give up until you reach the edge. Since that’s the case, this State Preceptor will let you see a few more people.”

With that, State Preceptor An waved to a small eunuch beside him.

The eunuch quickly left the room.

This time, a group of people entered.

This group of people filled Yun Guangyao’s study, so finally Yun Guangyao ordered everyone to move to the outer hall to discuss matters.

After changing locations, those who were seated remained seated, and those who were kneeling continued to kneel.

“State Preceptor, what are these people here for?” asked Yun Guangyao.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, these people were all dining at Yunlou Restaurant yesterday at noon. According to their testimonies, they all heard Young Lady Lin encouraging Young Lady Mu to hire assassins for a staged incident,” State Preceptor An finished speaking and winked at the leading person.

Seeing this, that person quickly spoke up, “This lowly one was eating at Yunlou Restaurant yesterday, and later heard this young lady suggesting that the other young lady perform a play to help marry into the Crown Prince’s household.”

“Yes, we heard it too. When this young lady was speaking, she even looked around cautiously…”

“Right, yesterday one of them was wearing emerald green clothes, and the other was wearing rose pink…”

“…”

This group of people in the hall began chattering all at once, and everything they said was about hearing Lin Mengwei instigating Mu Ai.

With so many people suddenly appearing, Lin Mengwei found herself unable to defend herself.

State Preceptor An stood to the side, listening to these people’s testimonies, rubbed his nose, and cast an admiring glance at Chu Li.

This tactic of turning white to black was used brilliantly.

Mu Yunjin was a martial artist with keen hearing, which is why she barely managed to hear the conversation between Mu Ai and Lin Mengwei. These poor commoners probably hadn’t heard even half a word.

After they had finished discussing their strategy earlier, Yun Lianqing had cast a wide net, sending out many people to find commoners who had been eating at Yunlou Restaurant at noon yesterday. They were given incentives to collaborate and provide these testimonies.

With the Crown Prince making an appearance, how could these small commoners not listen? Naturally, they all came to the palace to testify against this Young Lady Lin.

Lin Mengwei bit her lip, listening to the continuous “testimonies” around her. All the resentment and grievances within her burst forth at this moment.

“You’re going too far!” Lin Mengwei stood up, pointing at State Preceptor An, then at Yun Lianqing.

“Aren’t you just trying to protect the Mu family? Is it necessary to have so many people give false testimony? When I was talking to Mu Ai, I was whispering in her ear. Are you all capable of hearing with the wind? How could you hear so clearly?”

“I did encourage Mu Ai, but I was just saying it casually. Who knew this fool would go through with it!”

“Now, she who hired assassins to attack the Crown Prince is being simplified as a prankster, while I, who merely made a casual suggestion, am being portrayed as an unforgivable criminal!”

As she spoke, Lin Mengwei walked toward Lin Zhiyang, making a gesture to help him up. “Father, stop kneeling. Look at these people—just because our Minister’s household ranks below the Chancellor’s household, they defend them at every turn. What are you still kneeling for?”

“Slap…” Lin Zhiyang, enraged, delivered a heavy slap to Lin Mengwei’s face. “Shut your mouth!”

Lin Mengwei held her face, and at that moment, two imperial guards rushed forward to restrain her, making her unable to move.

“Eh? Shaoliu, you’re here too?” At this time, a male voice emerged from the crowd, seemingly very surprised to see Shaoliu kneeling nearby.

Hearing this voice, Shaoliu’s body trembled slightly. He turned to look and asked in surprise, “Second Brother?”

“It’s me. How come you’re here too? I’ve been to the Minister’s mansion looking for you several times, but you weren’t there. I wanted to tell you that Mother is gravely ill. She may only have a few days left. If you have time, go back to see her.”

After these words, Shaoliu frowned, his eyes filling with deeper meaning.

Just then, a whispered message entered Shaoliu’s ear: “Young man, State Preceptor now gives you two paths. One path is to honestly reveal how Lin Mengwei instructed you, and this State Preceptor will spare your life. The other is to continue making false testimony for Lin Mengwei. Deceiving the Emperor is a crime that implicates nine generations of your family.”

“At that time, all these relatives and clan members of yours will die because of you…”