The Court of Judicial Review had prepared a new confession and again brought it before Qian Guansuo.

Qian Guansuo looked at this confession, his hands trembling as he picked up the brush again, his nearly dried-out eyes looking pleadingly at Cui Chunzhan.

Cui Chunzhan nodded and said, “If you confess early, perhaps you can still save your family’s lives.”

Despair filled Qian Guansuo’s eyes, and he could only clench his teeth hard, close his eyes, and prepare to lower the brush.

“Wait.”

A deep and slow voice broke the court’s silence.

Cui Chunzhan, who had been praying nothing would complicate matters, understood he finally couldn’t avoid this hurdle and could only look with a bitter expression at his superior.

Everyone in the court turned their gaze toward the source of the voice.

The speaker was, naturally, King Kui Li Shubai.

Seated properly in his chair, he pondered aloud: “Lord Cui, regarding your judgment of this case, this king has several unclear points requiring your explanation.”

Cui Chunzhan was nearly in tears – did King Kui not know this matter concerned the lives of everyone in the Court of Judicial Review? And did he not know he was the highest official of the Court?

“Please… enlighten us, Your Highness.”

“If Wei Ximin was needed to steal the Golden Toad initially, how could he alone successfully steal the Nine-Phoenix Hairpin later? Moreover, I heard that after Tongchang had that dream, she was very worried someone would steal the Nine-Phoenix Hairpin and thus carefully treasured it in her mansion – if so, without Wei Ximin’s inside help, how did the criminal steal the Nine-Phoenix Hairpin?”

The court fell silent, everyone pondering but not daring to speak.

The Emperor looked at Cui Chunzhan: “Lord Cui.”

Cui Chunzhan dared not answer, sweat rapidly soaking through his clothes: “This official… this official still…”

Seeing his state, the Emperor pointed at the half-prostrate Qian Guansuo: “You speak!”

Qian Guansuo trembled like a sieve, prostrate on the ground, unable to speak.

The Emperor said hatefully through clenched teeth: “If you don’t confess quickly, We will execute your entire clan!”

Qian Guansuo spoke in confusion, hastily saying: “This criminal… this criminal once led a group to clean the sewers at the Princess’s mansion… this criminal snuck in through the water channels…”

“The Princess lived in a high tower, all food and water were delivered by maids and eunuchs – what water channels could there be?” the Emperor said angrily. “Lord Cui, explain how the criminal stole the murder weapon, the Nine-Phoenix Hairpin?”

Cui Chunzhan had no answer and quickly stood to admit fault: “This official was negligent! In my haste to bring the murderer to justice to comfort the Princess’s spirit in heaven, I rushed the case, working day and night until exhausted, and overlooked this major clue! I beg Your Majesty to wait while we conduct further questioning.”

The Court Secretary immediately called several officials to confer. Chief Censor Jiang Kui, who had been watching from the sidelines, asked lazily: “Lord Cui, why do you need to discuss what the criminal did?”

Cui Chunzhan wasn’t angry at his attempt to make things worse, only saying: “Only because during the interrogation, the Ministry of Justice sent people to assist the Court’s questioning, so my department fears there may have been errors due to poor communication.”

Wang Lin, who had hoped to stay uninvolved, seeing himself finally dragged in, had no choice but to bow and say: “Indeed so, but being busy with affairs, I only sent my best people to help as much as possible. As for the rest, my department focuses on determining crimes and punishments according to law, so couldn’t help much more.”

Hearing the Three Judicial Offices shifting blame and only muddying the waters, the Emperor could only turn back to look at Noble Consort Guo. Seeing her sitting in a daze, having aged several years after losing her daughter, he felt devastated, feeling only she shared his struggles.

He stood up and shouted: “All of you be silent!”

Everyone immediately fell quiet.

The Emperor’s gaze passed over the entire court, finally falling on Huang Zixia: “Yang Chonggu!”

Huang Zixia quickly responded: “This servant is here.”

“You were appointed by Us to assist the Court of Judicial Review. What are your views on this case?”

Huang Zixia looked at him and said: “This matter has many entanglements that cannot be explained in a few words. The Princess’s death was caused by various linked elements, some coincidental, some deliberate, which cannot be explained in isolation. If Your Majesty permits, this servant requests to begin with Wei Ximin’s death and explain everything that has happened from beginning to end.”

The Emperor barely controlled his anger and said coldly to her: “Very well, since the Three Judicial Offices cannot explain, then you tell Us about this case in detail, explain all causes and consequences clearly!”

“Yes.” Huang Zixia bowed and said, “This servant believes the entire case began with an incident of a woman being humiliated, but what links all the cases together is a painting – the Late Emperor’s brushwork, possibly his final work, treasured in Zhang Xingying’s home.”

Huang Zixia gestured for Zhang Xingying to present the painting, then continued: “We still don’t know why the Late Emperor painted this, or what its true meaning is. But one thing is undeniable – the murderer’s methods, or rather how the three people died, match the scrawls on it exactly.”

The Emperor looked at the painting with a complex expression and asked: “This is truly the Late Emperor’s work?”

“Without doubt,” said Li Shubai.

The Emperor took the painting and examined it carefully for a long while, then let out a long breath and said: “What did the Late Emperor mean by leaving such a painting?”

“That’s still unclear. However, the three victims in this case – Wei Ximin match the first image of heaven-sent lightning striking and death by burning. The second image shows a person trapped in an iron cage, predicting Sun Laizi’s death. The third image, of a phoenix swooping down to peck someone, corresponds to…” she looked at the Emperor and stopped speaking. The Emperor already understood what she meant to say – his daughter who died under the Nine-Phoenix Hairpin.

The Emperor held the painting and looked at it for a long time, his voice slightly hoarse: “How could the Late Emperor’s painting mysteriously match a murder case ten years later?”

“Although the Late Emperor was wise and mighty, in this servant’s opinion, he absolutely could not have known about these murders ten years in advance, much less drawn these scrawls to hint at them to later generations. I think the Late Emperor’s painting must have had other intentions, but in this case, it was used for another purpose – after seeing this painting, the murderer, trying to cover their crimes by attributing them to heaven’s punishment, deliberately planned three murders matching this painting, attempting to use sensationalism to mislead and escape punishment!”

The Emperor slowly nodded and said: “Then, by investigating who knew about this painting and the shapes of the scrawls, we can narrow down the murderer.”

“Exactly, this is one way the murderer outsmarted. On one hand, this method made the three cases seem mysterious and unfathomable; but on the other hand, it also linked the three cases together, letting people know the murderer was the same person. Combining the intersection points of these three victims during their lives, we can deduce that everyone this person killed had great connections to Lü Dicui – and this person had seen this painting treasured by the Zhang family.”

Everyone’s gaze in the court suddenly fell on Zhang Xingying.

Under everyone’s scrutiny, Zhang Xingying became extremely nervous, stepping back uncertainly. Huang Zixia gazed intently at Zhang Xingying and said: “Yes, it appears Zhang Xingying’s suspicion is very great. Among those connected to Lü Dicui’s case, Lü Dicui herself had the opportunity during Wei Ximin and Sun Laizi’s deaths, but when the Princess passed away, she was confined in the Court’s pure room – escaping to kill someone and returning undetected was completely impossible.

“Lü Zhiyuan had the opportunity when the Princess died, but when Wei Ximin died, he was carried home from exhaustion, with a doctor and neighbors watching him – he had no way or time to run from Fengyi Ward to Jianfu Temple to kill someone. When Sun Laizi died, he was also busy making giant candles for Jianfu Temple, with many shop owners and customers in the West Market as witnesses.

“Only… Zhang Xingying has no proof of being elsewhere at any time. Or rather, during all three murders, Zhang Xingying was invariably at the scene.”

Everyone’s gaze concentrated on Zhang Xingying. He stepped back in panic, instinctively defending himself: “No… I, I didn’t kill anyone…”

Zhou Ziqin also became anxious, quickly grabbing Zhang Xingying’s hand and saying urgently: “Chonggu, Brother Zhang has reason to kill, but I believe he wouldn’t kill the Princess! Even if he were to kill someone, he definitely wouldn’t use such methods – someone as straightforward as him couldn’t possibly arrange so many schemes!”

Huang Zixia nodded to him, then faced everyone and said: “In chronological order, the first murder was the mystery of Wei Ximin’s death at Jianfu Temple. The key mystery of his death was that amid the crowds at the temple when lightning struck and the candles exploded, while countless people fled in chaos and others only suffered minor burns, Wei Ximin alone was precisely burned to death. Many said this was heaven’s punishment, but when has heaven ever truly been moved to act for one person? In my view, his death was carefully arranged by the murderer – whether or not lightning struck, Wei Ximin was destined to die by flames that day!”

Li Run opened his clear eyes wide and asked: “But… besides gods and buddhas, could anyone control lightning to burn exactly who they wanted to kill?”

“Yes, a seemingly flawless act of retribution, but unfortunately, the murderer still left traces at the scene, allowing us to follow them and find many suspicious points.” Huang Zixia’s gaze swept across everyone in the court. Even the Emperor and Noble Consort Guo, who had come only to demand justice for Princess Tongchang’s death, listened intently with great curiosity.

Huang Zixia turned back and nodded to Zhou Ziqin.

Zhou Ziqin now worked very well with her and immediately went to retrieve that wire from storage, handed it to her, and asked: “Does this wire we found at Jianfu Temple help with the case?”

“Yes, this is what the murderer used to cover their method, and also their means of killing.” As she spoke, she took the wire and pointed at one end that had been burned blue-black, saying, “This color obviously couldn’t have been caused by the scattered flames at the scene. This color requires prolonged burning – so at that time in Jianfu Temple, where was there a sustained flame that could burn a wire for so long? I think there was only one place – the two giant candles in Jianfu Temple. And who could insert something like this into the candles? Naturally, only-” She held the wire and turned to look at Lü Zhiyuan, who had been standing silently at the back.

“I’d like to ask, Master Lü, what was your purpose in inserting this wire into the candle wick?”