At this point, Emperor Jingming didn’t bother to save face for Wang Hai and directly said, “Let Han Ran question him.”

When it came to interrogation and torture, Han Ran, the Commander of the Jinlin Guard, was naturally more skilled than Wang Hai, the Commander of the Jinwu Guard.

However, Zhen Shicheng spoke up at this moment: “Your Majesty, this humble official would like to ask him a few questions.”

Emperor Jingming’s expression softened considerably towards Zhen Shicheng, and he nodded slightly.

Zhen Shicheng walked out.

By now, the Jinwu Guard was covered in blood. Seeing Zhen Shicheng approach, he merely opened his eyes briefly before closing them again.

Zhen Shicheng stood before him, silent.

This silence, in turn, made the Jinwu Guard open his eyes again, looking at Zhen Shicheng with a puzzled expression.

Seeing his goal achieved, Zhen Shicheng suddenly smiled.

This smile made the guard even more confused.

“I’ve solved hundreds of cases and have concluded a pattern,” Zhen Shicheng began, speaking as if chatting casually.

The man’s eyelids twitched, looking over.

Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard and said slowly, “People kill for only a few reasons: for money, for profit, for lust, for revenge…”

As he spoke, he carefully observed the man’s facial expressions, noticing that when he mentioned “for lust,” the man’s eyelids fluttered twice.

Zhen Shicheng immediately had a direction in mind.

To others, it might seem far-fetched to determine the direction of the case based on such a slight change in expression. But only those who had truly worked in this field for many years could understand the subtleties.

Sometimes, a flash of insight could be the key to solving a case.

Zhen Shicheng continued, “I inquired about your background earlier. You’re the youngest son of Earl Qingchun. After your parents passed away, you moved out and lived separately. You don’t interact much with your elder brother who inherited the title. I’d say you spend most of the year on duty in the Imperial City. Under these circumstances, I can’t imagine how you could have a grudge against Duke An.”

The man lowered his eyelids without reacting.

“You don’t gamble, you’re not fond of drinking, and you have few leisure activities during your time off. It’s unlikely to be for money…” Zhen Shicheng stared at him intently and said with certainty, “It’s for a woman, isn’t it?”

The man suddenly looked up, a flash of panic quickly passing through the depths of his eyes.

This reaction was fully captured by Zhen Shicheng, who became even more confident. Stroking his beard, he smiled assuredly, “Let me deduce the most likely identity of this woman.”

Because Zhen Shicheng was questioning the suspect, Emperor Jingming had already left the inner chamber and was eavesdropping behind a screen. Upon hearing that this young guard had killed for a woman, his curiosity was greatly piqued, and he nearly pressed his ear against the screen.

Pan Hai hurriedly pulled Emperor Jingming back, pointing at the screen.

If the Emperor leaned any closer to the screen, he would topple it over.

Emperor Jingming moved back a bit, raising his chin with dignity.

Outside the screen, Zhen Shicheng’s words had already captured the full attention of the Jinwu Guard.

Under Zhen Shicheng’s confident smile, the Jinwu Guard’s heart was racing, feeling extremely nervous.

Zhen Shicheng was pleased to see the guard’s pressure.

He continued, “As I mentioned earlier, you spend most of the year on duty in the Imperial City. Your home is merely a place for occasional relaxation. I deduce that the woman is more likely to be within the Imperial City. So, what kind of woman are you most likely to encounter in the Imperial City? A palace maid?”

Behind the screen, Emperor Jingming’s mouth twitched.

A guard having an affair with a palace maid was a capital offense.

Although there was a rule that palace maids over 25 could leave the palace, in a sense, all women in the Imperial City, except for the Empress Dowager, princesses, and others related to the Emperor by blood, could be considered the Emperor’s women.

Emperor Jingming didn’t have the habit of sleeping with palace maids, but hearing about such things still made him feel uncomfortable.

If a guard was bold enough to seduce a palace maid, could he also seduce a consort?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard Zhen Shicheng say, “Or perhaps a consort?”

Emperor Jingming swayed, nearly knocking over the screen.

Pan Hai quickly steadied the Emperor, wiping cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

This Zhen Shicheng dared to say anything!

Nearby, Han Ran, the Commander of the Jinlin Guard, and Wang Hai, the Commander of the Jinwu Guard, kept their eyes lowered, pretending to be oblivious.

The Jinwu Guard sneered, “My Lord, aren’t you afraid of being punished by the Emperor for such wild guesses?”

Zhen Shicheng’s sneer was even louder, “All deductions are for solving the case. The Emperor is not a foolish ruler, why would he punish me? If you truly have an affair with a woman in the Imperial City, it’s better to expose it than to let it fester!”

Behind the screen, Emperor Jingming nodded involuntarily.

Although Zhen Shicheng’s words were unsettling to hear, they made sense.

The Jinwu Guard snorted coldly and turned his head away from Zhen Shicheng.

Zhen Shicheng smiled, “Anger is often used to mask fear. It seems my guess isn’t far off.”

“Ridiculous. You, the esteemed Prefect of Shuntian, slandering a mere guard like me, am I not allowed to be angry?”

“Of course, you can be angry out of embarrassment,” Zhen Shicheng calmly replied.

The Jinwu Guard immediately shut his mouth.

The more he spoke, the worse it seemed to get…

Zhen Shicheng paced a few steps, slightly increasing the distance between himself and the Jinwu Guard. He said meaningfully, “Today’s victim, Duke An, was related to a case I investigated previously. I happen to know who he had offended recently.”

Behind the screen, Emperor Jingming’s expression suddenly turned serious, while the Jinwu Guard’s expression changed slightly upon hearing these words.

Zhen Shicheng, ignoring all this, continued, “Last year, when I came to the capital to take office, the first case I handled was the sudden death of ‘Uncle Yang’. ‘Uncle Yang’ died violently at a post station. Later, the case was solved – it was Duke An’s attendant who did it. The cause was that ‘Uncle Yang’ and Duke An had both set their sights on a famous courtesan from the Jinshui River…”

As Zhen Shicheng narrated, everyone couldn’t help but recall that sensational case from last year.

Well, there were quite a few sensational cases in the capital last year. Besides the sudden death of ‘Uncle Yang’, there was also the case of the Marquis of Changxing’s heir torturing and killing ten women…

“Although the case was solved because the killer was Duke An’s attendant, Duke An only had his salary reduced and received no other punishment. Consort Yang must have been dissatisfied…”

At that time, all discerning people knew that Duke An’s attendant was merely a scapegoat, and the real person who wanted ‘Uncle Yang’ dead was naturally Duke An.

Duke An was Emperor Jingming’s cousin. Although Emperor Jingming was angry at Duke An’s audacity, he didn’t punish him severely due to various considerations.

It was also because of this that Consort Yang had been quite resentful towards Emperor Jingming for the past several months.

Zhen Shicheng looked at the Jinwu Guard and said word by word, “The person who instigated you to kill Duke An was Consort Yang!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen collapsed with a thunderous crash.

“Your Majesty—”

Ignoring the calls of others, Emperor Jingming strode to Zhen Shicheng, his tone more serious than ever before: “Lord Zhen, do you mean what you say?”

Zhen Shicheng cupped his hands towards Emperor Jingming, his tone as calm as ever: “These are all this official’s bold deductions. As to whether they are true or not, why doesn’t Your Majesty summon Consort Yang for questioning?”