Zhu Minda’s eyes turned ice-cold as he looked toward Sister Yuan’er and said, “You go and identify him as well.”

Sister Yuan’er bowed her head in acknowledgment, slowly walked up to Su Jin, examined him carefully, then curtsied gracefully to Zhu Minda: “In response to Your Highness the Crown Prince, this humble woman did indeed see this person in the rear courtyard of the Ma residence.”

Zhu Minda said coldly, “So, the Ma residence set up this trap tonight to lure this person here, is that correct?”

Sister Yuan’er glanced at Su Jin and nodded, “That should be the case.”

Zhu Minda’s gaze swept toward Wu Yusheng, who understood and continued the interrogation: “Earlier at the Ma residence, why did you insist that it was a maidservant who let this person escape?”

Sister Yuan’er said tearfully, “My lord, please understand clearly—that was all an expedient measure. If this humble woman had not insisted that it was the maidservant who let this person go, those people at the Ma residence would have suspected me. They would have beaten me to death.”

Zhu Minda pulled his lips into a smile: “You’re quite clever.” He asked again, “So you’re saying that you took advantage of when that maidservant was delivering medicine to let this person escape?”

Who would have known that upon hearing these words, Sister Yuan’er shook her head. Her eyes fixed on Su Jin, she suddenly asked an apparently irrelevant question: “Why would the young master be here?”

Su Jin had thought Sister Yuan’er had already betrayed her, but upon hearing this question, she finally realized—

Sister Yuan’er didn’t know what had happened and feared that lying would be detected, which would harm everyone involved. That’s why she had told mostly the truth. Only upon hearing the Crown Prince’s last question did she guess that he suspected Su Jin of disguising herself as a maidservant, so she deliberately threw out this question to let Su Jin complete the lie herself.

One truly couldn’t underestimate this woman who had dominated the pleasure quarters for several years.

Su Jin thought briefly and was about to answer when Shen Xi over there said “Ah!” and raised a folding fan acquired from who knows where, pointing it at Su Jin and asking, “Since you two are from Assistant Minister Ma’s residence, have you seen him before?”

The two looked at each other and both shook their heads.

Shen Xi withdrew his fan, tapped it once against his palm with a “tap,” and asked again, “Since you don’t know each other, why did you two have him serve wine in the banquet hall? The residence had an extra stranger, and moreover a young man dressed as a woman—didn’t you find this suspicious? This doesn’t make sense.”

The old matron and the steward servant quickly knelt down: “In response to this lord, today the residence was holding a banquet. Besides our own household staff, we also hired several cooks and maidservants from outside. We only assumed this maidservant—no, this young master—was hired from outside, so we didn’t think much of it.”

Shen Xi smiled and said, “Assistant Minister Ma is the Assistant Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. What does the Court of Imperial Sacrifices handle? It manages matters of sacrifices, court audiences, village banquets, wine, and food. If you tell me that other residences hire people from outside for family banquets, this official believes it. But you tell me Assistant Minister Ma hires people?” He placed his fan behind his back and said coldly with his hands clasped, “Do you really think this official is ignorant?”

Shen Xi actually knew that the Ma residence had hired a group of “outsiders” to help with the banquet.

No, calling it “hired” wasn’t quite accurate—one should say this group of people had been forcibly inserted into the Ma residence by Zeng Youliang.

Otherwise, without these few “outsiders” poisoning the food in the kitchen, how could Zeng Youliang have pinned the crime of attempting to harm the Thirteenth Prince on Assistant Minister Ma while escaping unscathed himself?

Now that everything had been exposed, those few outsiders in the Ma residence had long since disappeared without a trace, and the poisoned wine vessels had also been destroyed.

Shen Xi was troubled by this. Although he had cornered Zeng Youliang at the Ma residence, unfortunately he couldn’t find evidence that he had poisoned Zhu Nanxian, so there was nothing he could do to him.

But Shen Qingyue was born with an exquisitely clever mind—if he wanted to determine someone’s guilt, even without evidence, he would certainly fabricate evidence.

Right now a great drama was unfolding; it remained to be seen whether anyone on stage could hear the string music and understand its elegant meaning.

After hearing Shen Xi’s question, Zhu Minda showed no reaction.

Wu Yusheng turned to ask Sister Yuan’er, “Why would you be curious about Su Jin being here? Weren’t you the one who let him escape?”

Sister Yuan’er didn’t know how to respond for a moment and could only grit her teeth and say randomly, “In response to Your Highness, this humble woman did not let him go. He… he was hiding in the haystack in the woodshed all along.”

Zhu Minda raised an eyebrow: “Oh? Then I would like to know—why would the Su Clerk who was hiding in the haystack all along appear in the southern district?”

Su Jin had not yet answered when Liu Chaoming, standing beside her, said, “In response to Your Highness, it was this humble minister who ordered the Censorate patrol official to bring her to the southern district.”

The blood on his shoulder had mostly stopped, but his complexion and lips were deathly pale.

Zhu Minda’s gaze swept over, glancing at the wound on his shoulder, and said with apparent indifference, “Oh, I had forgotten—Lord Liu has always possessed the ability to predict the future.”

Liu Chaoming said, “Your Highness misunderstands. This humble minister learned early on that Su Jin was privately investigating the disappearance case of a tribute scholar. This case involves complex matters and seems related to the previous scholar disturbance case. The matter is grave, so I dispatched the Censorate patrol official to investigate together, and the trail also led to Assistant Minister Ma’s residence.”

Zhu Minda asked, “Since Lord Liu knew of this matter early on, given your position as head of all officials, why didn’t you directly order the censors to search the Ma residence for evidence, but instead came to the southern district?”

At this moment, Su Jin said, “In response to Your Highness, it was this humble minister who asked Lord Liu to come.”

Zhu Minda snorted coldly and paid her no attention.

Su Jin lowered her eyes. Her mind quickly chewed over Shen Xi’s words, Sister Yuan’er’s words, and Liu Chaoming’s words, then said again, “Because earlier, this humble minister was hiding in the haystack and heard someone say that the Thirteenth Prince had gone to the southern district and they should send people to pursue him. Just then the Censorate patrol official came looking, so this humble minister told the official this news, and came to the southern district together with Lord Liu.”

Zhu Minda suddenly turned his head and said, “Oh?”

A barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of Su Jin’s lips, but when she raised her head, she again showed an expression of trying hard to think and carefully recall: “Oh, this humble minister seems to have heard them say they were acting on the orders of that lord from the Ministry of Personnel—if they didn’t kill the Thirteenth Prince tonight, if they didn’t succeed, they would die trying?”

Upon hearing these words, a trace of relief finally floated up in Zhu Minda’s cold eyes.

Yes, this was his purpose tonight.

He didn’t care about Su Jin’s life or death, but if he could use Su Jin as “bait” to lure out the fisherman behind her and catch evidence of the Seventh Prince harming the Thirteenth Prince, then the Seventh Prince would lose a layer of skin even if he didn’t die this time.

And Su Jin had guessed Zhu Minda’s purpose precisely, which is why she fabricated this nonsense to transform herself from “bait” in the trap into a witness to the scheme.

Being a witness, the Crown Prince would have no choice but to spare her life.

After hearing Su Jin’s words, Zeng Youliang’s eyes widened in fury. He first looked at Shen Xi, then at Liu Chaoming, and finally at Su Jin. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how this series of convoluted questions had suddenly turned to point directly at him.

Even though he had indeed instructed someone to poison Zhu Nanxian, Su Jin’s words were pure fabrication, nothing but false accusations!

Zeng Youliang pointed a trembling finger at Su Jin: “You… you’re slandering me! If I had known the Thirteenth Prince was in danger, it would be too late to save him—how could I harm him?!”

Su Jin looked at Zeng Youliang and said calmly, “Why is my lord so agitated? Did this subordinate official say my lord harmed the Thirteenth Prince? This subordinate official said it was a lord from the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel has people at all levels—surely you, Minister Zeng, aren’t the only one?”

Shen Xi said, “That’s true. Counting Zeng Ping, Minister Zeng wasn’t the only one attending the banquet tonight.” Then, holding his fan and cupping his hands, he turned to Zhu Minda for instruction: “Your Highness the Crown Prince, since there is a witness present, Minister Zeng and the Department Director can hardly clear their suspicion for now. In this humble minister’s opinion, arrest them all?”

Zhu Minda nodded slightly and raised his hand in a wave.

The Feathered Forest Guards split into two groups and pressed Zeng Youliang and Zeng Ping to the ground, one on each side.

Zhu Minda coldly gave an order: “Take them away!” Then, glancing at Shen Xi and Zhu Nanxian, he said, “Thirteenth Prince, Qingyue, you two follow me back to the palace.”

The Feathered Forest Guards quickly brought two horses.

Zhu Nanxian fell silent for a moment, then walked over with lowered eyes.

Dawn was about to break. Through this night of mortal peril, although he had been able to protect her and narrowly escape with their lives from the bloody storm at Zhaohe Bridge, he was unable to secure her peace amid the subsequent treacherous scheming and chaos.

Clearly a fish in this trap, yet like an outsider to the scheme.

Zhu Nanxian mounted his horse in silence without a word, but finally couldn’t help turning his head back to glance at Su Jin.

Su Jin was also raising her eyes to look toward him.

Their eyes met. Zhu Nanxian was slightly startled, averted his gaze, turned his head, and rode away.

Once Zhu Minda left, Zhu Mixiao and the various ministers, having watched this great drama, also scattered in groups, bidding farewell to each other.

Near daybreak, Yingtian City seemed to be soaked in a sheet of dark water mist.

Earlier, when Zhu Minda had been questioning them, the string in her mind had been taut the whole time, and she hadn’t paid attention to the shoulder wound. Only now did the pain from her shoulder suddenly transmit. Liu Chaoming groaned, and having lost too much blood, he nearly couldn’t stand steady.

Su Jin moved to support him, but he stepped back to avoid her.

Liu Chaoming held his shoulder, his eyes somber as he gazed toward the depths of the street, and asked, “The name.”

Su Jin was silent for a moment: “The surname is Xie.”

As expected.

No wonder when the old censor had read Su Jin’s “Clear Silk Notes,” he pointed to one sentence—”The chaos under heaven stems from failure to cultivate proper governance; failure to cultivate proper governance stems from lack of talented people”—and said, “This sentence bears the style of an old friend.”

No wonder that year, after seeing Su Jin only once, the old censor had fought desperately and sacrificed his legs to protect her.

It turned out she didn’t merely possess the style of an old friend—she was the descendant of that old friend.

Only now did Liu Chaoming turn his head to look at her and ask again, “What is it called?”

A trace of confusion flashed through Su Jin’s eyes as she said quietly, “I have no formal name, only the childhood name ‘A’Yu.’ My grandfather said that when I came of age, he would give me a good name, but unfortunately,” she paused, “I didn’t get to wait for that.”

Liu Chaoming’s heart sank.

A minor official from the Imperial Censorate brought a carriage and stood at the end of the long alley waiting for him.

Liu Chaoming was silent for a moment, gave a soft “Mm,” and without further concern for Su Jin, walked toward the carriage.

He felt somewhat at a loss. In this life, he had never owed anyone anything, except for the old censor’s deathbed request five years ago.

But the truth of that request turned out to be so absurd.

The person he had promised to guard for life—he had originally thought it was simply a matter of securing a foothold for them in the treacherous court.

He had never imagined it was a woman.

She was a woman. How was he supposed to guard her?

Liu Chaoming’s heart felt like an island at high tide—with each step he took, one thought arose and another fell.

He had entered the Imperial Censorate at nineteen, wishing only to inherit the old censor’s aspirations, purify official governance, and maintain an unwavering heart.

In his memory, the only woman he had been close to was the old censor’s granddaughter. Before the late Empress passed away, the old censor had arranged an engagement between him and his granddaughter.

She had been a woman with a beautiful face. He had only spoken with her twice and couldn’t even clearly remember what she looked like.

He only remembered that before he could marry her, she had died of a sudden illness.

After Liu Chaoming had helped the old censor arrange the funeral, standing in the residence filled with white mourning banners, he suddenly thought—this was also good. He was originally an indifferent person; in this life, doing well at this one thing of being a censor was enough. Caring too much about other matters would only cause him to neglect it.

He had always felt this was fine, until the old censor passed away.

On his deathbed, he had said that Su Shiyu’s life had been too difficult, too difficult.

He had also said, “You must find her and, with your strength, guard her for life.”

Liu Chaoming’s heart suddenly shook. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head back, only to see Su Jin standing alone at the bridge, gazing at the bridge covered in remnants of blood and severed limbs, lost in thought about something.

He had always felt that her manner grew cunningly eloquent flowers from indifference, but looking now, it seemed more like making the best of suffering while caring for her own warmth and cold.

He felt she was utterly alone.

Liu Chaoming suddenly turned back, grabbed Su Jin’s wrist tightly, and without waiting for her reaction, turned back the way they came: “Come with me.”