“It’s an Xijiang person!” one constable exclaimed.

“That’s right. When the two princes previously held a banquet to entertain the Xijiang delegation, I caught a glimpse from afar. This person was following right behind Prince Gong of Xijiang at the time.”

With the dead person being from Xijiang, this matter became difficult to handle.

The constables quickly reported the situation up the chain.

For years, the Prefect of Shuntian had been concurrently held by Yang Yunzhi, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Upon receiving the news, the gray-haired Yang Yunzhi nearly fainted.

He was someone about to retire – why did he have to encounter such a thorny matter? Couldn’t he just be a quiet Vice Minister of Justice?

Yang Yunzhi didn’t hesitate and sent word to the Minister of Justice’s residence in the dark.

Minister of Justice Kou Xingze climbed out of bed with a pair of dark circles under his eyes, nearly tripping over his own feet in the dim light.

“Master, slow down. How big a matter could it be? The sky isn’t falling.” Old Madam Xue scolded.

Kou Xingze stamped his feet: “The sky may not be falling, but this matter is vexing. Alright, I won’t talk to you anymore. Sleep well – I need to rush to the office.”

Kou Xingze entered the Ministry of Justice office with a chill about him. The ministry office was brightly lit, and Vice Minister Yang Yunzhi and others had been waiting for a long time.

“Sir—”

Kou Xingze entered the room with a somber expression: “What exactly happened?”

“The Xijiang warrior died on the street. He was discovered by the night watchman in the middle of the night, which alarmed all the neighbors, so the news has already spread.”

“How did he die?”

“Initial examination shows death by throat-cutting. The coroner is conducting further examination now.”

Kou Xingze sat down in the grand chair and closed his eyes.

“Sir?”

Kou Xingze waved his hand: “Those who need to be busy should go be busy. We’ll talk more at dawn.”

He had rushed to the office in the middle of the night – he’d already shown sufficient attitude. As for the rest, there was nothing he could do about it. They’d investigate however they needed to investigate.

As dawn broke, Kou Xingze opened his eyes and instructed his subordinates: “Go invite the heads of the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review.”

The only benefit of the Emperor not holding court was that they didn’t need to attend court either. As long as nothing happened, no one would care if they slept until the sun was high.

Before long, Minister Zhang and the Left Censor-in-Chief arrived. Upon seeing Kou Xingze’s face, they sighed repeatedly.

“Stop sighing, let’s discuss this.” Kou Xingze, having slept well, appeared quite energetic.

“What’s there to discuss? This matter can’t be concealed. Better to tell the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial early and have him inform the Xijiang delegation first. Killing someone in the dead of night – how easy is it to find the murderer?”

Kou Xingze’s eyes flashed: “Minister Liu is right. This murderer is hard to investigate. Perhaps the Xijiang delegation has some clues.”

That damned Xijiang person – instead of staying properly in his room in the middle of the night, he had to put on night clothes and run out. To say Prince Gong of Xijiang knew nothing about it would be ridiculous.

Upon receiving the news, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial nearly cried and reluctantly went to notify Prince Gong of Xijiang.

“You’re saying Huasheng is dead?” Prince Gong of Xijiang’s face turned ashen upon hearing the news.

These past few days, he had been sending Huasheng to watch the Li residence, but had been waiting in vain for that little girl to come out. With no other choice, he had ordered Huasheng to infiltrate the Li residence at night to investigate the situation.

When Huasheng went and didn’t return for a long time, he had already developed an ominous premonition. He never expected Huasheng to be dead!

“Where is his body? This prince wants to see.”

“Your Highness, please come with me.”

As the two walked to the door, Princess of Xijiang approached from the opposite direction: “Brother, what’s wrong?”

“Something happened to Huasheng. I’m going to see.”

Seeing Prince Gong of Xijiang brush past her, Princess of Xijiang called out: “Brother, I’ll come too.”

Prince Gong of Xijiang paused in his steps and nodded.

Huasheng’s body was placed in the morgue of the Ministry of Justice office.

At this time of year, the morgue was cold and gloomy. As soon as one walked in, goosebumps rose on their arms, and a stale odor burrowed straight into their nostrils.

Even though a group of people had crowded into the morgue, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial still felt uncomfortable. Taking advantage of when no one was paying attention, he quietly stepped back several paces, unexpectedly discovering that Princess of Xijiang’s expression remained completely calm.

The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial found this quite strange.

This seemingly delicate Princess of Xijiang was so bold – how rare.

He suppressed his surprise and began listening to Prince Gong of Xijiang’s barrage of questioning: “Who discovered Huasheng’s body? Minister Zhang, we came to Great Liang to pay tribute, respecting that Great Liang is a nation of propriety and ritual, but is this how you treat us envoys? Huasheng was killed by throat-cutting. With Huasheng’s martial skills, this wasn’t done by an ordinary person. Minister Zhang, you must give this prince an explanation today!”

The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial cursed silently in his heart.

He was just someone who entertained foreign guests, not someone who investigated cases. What explanation could he give?

“Your Highness, don’t be anxious. The officials of our Three Judicial Offices have been working through the night since the case occurred last night, working hard to track down the murderer.”

“Three Judicial Offices?” Prince Gong of Xijiang’s gaze fell on Kou Xingze and the other two.

The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial quickly made introductions: “This is Minister Kou of the Ministry of Justice, this is Left Censor-in-Chief Liu, this is Minister Zhang of the Court of Judicial Review…”

Prince Gong of Xijiang looked at Kou Xingze: “Minister Kou, has your ministry found the murderer?”

Kou Xingze said indifferently: “If Your Highness has finished examining, could we go outside to talk?”

With his old bones, he couldn’t stand staying in this kind of place for long.

Everyone returned to the office’s reception hall.

“Since the heads of the Three Judicial Offices are here, you must give this prince an explanation today!”

“Your Highness, rest assured, we will investigate thoroughly. However, there’s one question I hope Your Highness can clarify for me – why did your country’s warrior die on the street dressed like that?”

Prince Gong of Xijiang stiffened and exchanged glances with the Princess of Xijiang.

This question was truly difficult to answer. He couldn’t very well say he had sent someone to spy on Marquis Guanjun’s fiancée at night.

“I had ordered him to handle something for me.” Princess of Xijiang bit her lip.

As soon as Princess of Xijiang spoke, she drew everyone’s attention.

“Sister—” Prince Gong of Xijiang suppressed his surprise and called out.

“If I’m not mistaken, Huasheng was discovered on West Street, correct?”

“That’s right.” Kou Xingze looked at the Princess of Xijiang with confusion.

It wouldn’t be strange if that Xijiang warrior had been sent out by Prince Gong of Xijiang, but why had this princess stepped forward?

“I inquired earlier that there’s an Xingzi Alley on West Street, and Marquis Guanjun’s fiancée’s family lives there, isn’t that right?”

Upon receiving confirmation, Princess of Xijiang suddenly bowed to Prince Gong of Xijiang: “Brother, I’m sorry. I caused this trouble.”

“Sister, why do you say that?”

Princess of Xijiang looked embarrassed: “At the banquet a few days ago, Miss Li defeated me. I was unconvinced and also curious, wondering why Miss Li, who is even younger than I, could be so capable. So I sent Huasheng to investigate, but who knew—”

Hearing Princess of Xijiang’s words, Kou Xingze and the others immediately felt their heads swelling.

How had this gotten connected to Marquis Guanjun again?

“Does the princess mean that your country’s warriors’ death is related to the Li family?”