Huang Zixia’s words struck like thunder from a clear summer sky, leaving everyone dumbstruck.

As the others stared in astonishment, Wang Yun gazed at her quietly. His face showed only the slightest ripple of emotion, like spring water touched by a gentle breeze, before returning to stillness.

He asked in a low, steady voice, “Master Yang, I don’t understand your meaning.”

Huang Zixia looked directly at him, undaunted by his demeanor: “I mean that the mysterious man who appeared at Xianyou Temple was you in disguise. Moreover, to be cautious, when you bought the magic props in the West Market, you deliberately created a more memorable appearance to mislead investigators. You were extremely careful, but unfortunately, you outsmarted yourself and inadvertently revealed your identity at one crucial point.”

“What crucial point? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Wang Yun smiled instead of showing anger, maintaining his dignified composure. “Master Yang, according to your deduction, if it was someone from Xianyou Temple in disguise, it could have been any guard or servant. How can you be so certain it was me?”

“Only because you outsmarted yourself. You originally intended to direct suspicion toward Pang Jun’s ghost to disrupt this marriage, but who would have thought that the Tang Dynasty Prince Kui’s arrowhead you left on the offering table would ultimately expose your identity!”

Wang Yun’s previously relaxed face finally showed a flicker of disturbance. He stared at Huang Zixia and asked, “How would that arrowhead be connected to me?”

“Prince Kui’s mansion sent Jing Yi to investigate in Xuzhou. The arrowhead belonged to Pang Jun’s remaining forces, stolen through bribing tower guards. Shortly after the arrowhead’s disappearance, a group of Pang Jun’s forces appeared in nearby prefectures, heading north. They eventually vanished near Chang’an’s outskirts. Though rumors circulated in the capital, I believe everyone present knows the real reason.”

Li Shubai calmly said from the side, “Are you referring to this March, when the Capital Defense Bureau learned of bandits near the capital, and Right Commander Wang Yun led troops to meet them, destroying the remaining forces?”

“Yes. However, after the remaining forces were eliminated, the missing arrowhead didn’t appear until several days later at Xianyou Temple. When the future Princess Kui went to pray at Xianyou Temple, it wouldn’t have made sense to mobilize Capital Defense Bureau personnel, so all who accompanied you were Prince Kui’s private forces. In other words, while many Capital Defense troops could have obtained the arrowhead, and many princely guards could have performed the deception at Xianyou Temple, only you, Commander Wang Yun, could have done both!”

Wang Yun slightly furrowed his brow, wanting to say something, but found himself speechless. He could only say, “Master Yang… truly has divine foresight.”

Wang Lin stood frozen, staring blankly at his son.

The Emperor looked toward the Empress but found her staring fixedly at Huang Zixia, her expression rigid. He gently took her hand, finding it ice-cold, and enclosed both her hands in his, saying, “Don’t worry, Wang Yun is your cousin, which makes him my cousin as well. No matter what, I will look after him.”

The Empress turned to look at him, her lips parting slightly as if to speak, but after a long while, the Emperor only heard a faint “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Li Shubai, wearing a grave expression, questioned Wang Yun: “So you did everything? You spread the rumors about Pang Jun’s vengeful ghost, and you arranged Wang Ruo’s disappearance?”

“Yes… it was all me.”

The speaker was Wang Yun.

He glanced at Huang Zixia, then turned and knelt before the Emperor and Empress to beg forgiveness, saying, “This servant requests punishment from Your Majesty. This matter… all began with a momentary thought of mine, leading to mistakes that evolved into the current situation. This servant deserves death ten thousand times over!”

“Oh?” The Emperor frowned slightly and asked, “Why did you want to harm Wang Ruo?”

Wang Yun said, “Because I sensed something amiss with Wang Ruo after she was chosen as Prince Kui’s bride. After questioning her attendants, I learned she already had someone she loved in Langya. Moreover, Xianyun and others discovered she had sworn in private to cause a great disturbance on her wedding day. I… thought of what my former fiancée Huang Zixia had done, felt concerned about the consequences, and decided to disrupt this marriage.”

Huang Zixia’s heart skipped a beat when he mentioned her name.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Wang Yun turning to look at her, but she forced herself to maintain composure, not letting her expression reveal her secret.

Only her hands, hidden in her sleeves, clenched tightly, fingernails digging into her palms, the slight pain helping her maintain her composure.

Li Shubai glanced at her, and seeing no outward change, lowered his head to fiddle with the jade ornament on his fan.

Wang Yun continued: “By then, Wang Ruo had already been personally chosen as Prince Kui’s bride. I knew the engagement couldn’t be canceled, so I had to work in secret. Since Prince Kui’s suppression of Pang Jun’s rebellion had shocked the empire, I thought to use this angle and deliberately created the illusion of Pang Jun’s ghost causing trouble to confuse matters. Because of this, the Empress’s female officials and eunuchs, knowing the difficulties of our Wang family, were willing to help me privately. Chang Ling and others assisted me, but the Empress knew nothing of it. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy and clear understanding.”

After listening, Huang Zixia frowned briefly and asked, “Then, was it you who tampered with Wang Ruo’s birth chart at the beginning?”

“Birth chart?” Wang Yun was momentarily confused.

“The betrothal birth chart stated that Wang Ruo, youngest daughter of the fourth branch of the Langya Wang family, was born at the second quarter of the Mao hour on the thirtieth day of the intercalary tenth month of the fourteenth year of Dazhong. However, that intercalary tenth month only had twenty-nine days, there was no thirtieth day.”

“That was my oversight.” Wang Yun sighed softly and nodded. “When I saw cousin Wang Ruo’s birth chart, I noticed her death day would fall on Prince Kui’s mother’s death anniversary, which should have disqualified her. So I took it upon myself to add the intercalary character in the blank space. Unexpectedly, the Astronomical Bureau, mindful of the Empress, approved it without verification, simply marking it as auspicious. I thought I had succeeded by luck then. Who knew it would cause so much trouble.”

“What about Jin Nu’s death?”

Wang Yun raised his head to look at her. She stood where the light was strongest by the door, the afternoon sun streaming in, making her appear transparent and immaculate.

Her radiance was dazzling, and at that moment, Wang Yun suddenly found he couldn’t look directly at her.

So he closed his eyes and said, “Yes, I planned everything. I first spread rumors, then used my position to remove Wang Ruo while mobilizing Defense Bureau troops in the palace. To eliminate any future problems, I poisoned Jin Nu, the pipa player whose build was similar to Wang Ruo’s, then moved her body to Yongchun Hall…”

Wang Yun’s voice was utterly calm as if describing events that had nothing to do with him. “I just never expected the truth would ultimately be revealed. Master Yang truly has divine foresight; nothing escapes your detection.”

“If that’s the case, then tell me,” Huang Zixia stared at him, enunciating each word, “When did you put poison in Jin Nu’s rosin powder?”

“That day at Zuijin Tower, I secretly added the poison when no one was watching. Then I followed her, and when she collapsed, I took her into the palace and placed her in the eastern chamber of Yongchun Hall.”

“You’re lying!” Huang Zixia coldly exposed his deception. “That day at Zuijin Tower, Jin Nu treasured that box of rosin powder greatly, keeping it close to her body the entire time, saying she had kept it in her bodice since receiving it. You sat across from her the whole time – when did you have the opportunity to poison her!”

Wang Yun furrowed his brows tightly, turned his gaze aside, and fell silent.

Huang Zixia nodded and said, “In this case, Commander Wang, you only modified the birth chart and orchestrated that warning display at Xianyou Temple. Everything that followed, you had no part in, and trying to take responsibility for it is futile. The real mastermind behind it all, I believe, should be—”

At this point, Huang Zixia finally hesitated slightly.

Her gaze slid past the Emperor, Empress, and the Wang father and son, landing on Li Shubai.

Li Shubai saw that her previously fearless eyes had finally shown a trace of trepidation and doubt—she naturally knew that what she was about to say might not just reveal the truth, but could also be her death sentence.

Li Shubai looked at her and slowly nodded.

His expression was calm and composed, just as when he had said, “No matter what, I’ll protect your life”—seemingly casual but concealing an unbreakable promise.

Huang Zixia pressed her hand to her chest, feeling the tide of nervous fear slowly receding from her limbs. Her mind was exceptionally clear, and so, without hesitation, she took a deep breath and said deliberately: “Although you, Commander Wang, would sacrifice everything to protect the real culprit, although all the Wang family’s current glory rests on this person, the truth remains the truth. A hundred, even a thousand scapegoats cannot hide the blood on her hands!”

Huang Zixia’s gaze fell on Empress Wang.

Empress Wang Shao, this stunning beauty who remained radiant even in plain clothes and light makeup, sat quietly in the hall, as still as a peony blooming freely on a windless afternoon.

“Empress Wang, you are the mastermind behind everything.”

Dead silence fell over Yanji Hall.

The Emperor slowly released Empress Wang’s hand, looking at her as if she were a stranger.

Xianyun and Ranyun trembled on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

Wang Lin’s face turned ashen, his beard quivering slightly.

Only Li Shubai’s expression remained unchanged as he played with his jade fan pendant, saying evenly, “Yang Chonggu, do you know the punishment for falsely accusing Her Highness the Empress?”

“Death,” Huang Zixia replied without hesitation.

“Then you still dare to speak such nonsense?”

“My Lord, everything I’ve said is supported by evidence. Not a single word is false or nonsensical.”

“Eunuch Yang.” Empress Wang finally spoke, her voice slightly hoarse but still carrying that distant authority, “You say I’m involved in this case. I’d like to hear the details. First, explain how I, who treated A’Ruo like a sister, would make her disappear before her wedding, leaving her fate unknown?”

“Yes, your affection for Wang Ruo ran deep. Everyone who saw it remarked on that warmth, rare to see in someone of your position. When I witnessed it, I truly thought it remarkable.”

“And so?” She gave a cold laugh, though it was forced, barely moving the corner of her mouth.

“Twelve years ago, you entered the palace as Empress. Wang Ruo would have been only four or five then. I wondered why two cousins with such an age gap—you, apparently a concubine’s daughter from the main branch, and Wang Ruo from the fourth branch—would have anything but a distant relationship. Even if close, it should have been merely clan loyalty. Why did you show such extraordinary care for Wang Ruo?”

“She was an exceptional daughter of our Wang family in this generation. Naturally, I valued her,” the Empress said stiffly.

Huang Zixia made no comment but lowered her head and said, “This led me to consider the fourth question: why did Your Highness want to destroy this marriage and make Wang Ruo disappear?”

Empress Wang laughed coldly, tilting her chin up, seemingly unwilling to spare her a glance.

Undeterred, Huang Zixia continued: “My suspicions about Wang Ruo’s identity arose while teaching her the Wang family rules. I discovered that the music she learned from childhood wasn’t the refined melodies expected of a Wang family lady, but rather popular tunes from the entertainment districts.”

Wang Lin said angrily, “That’s due to our Wang family’s lax discipline with children. What does it have to do with Her Highness?”

“True, but also, when returning from the palace, I was fortunate to share Miss Wang’s carriage for a while. There, I met a woman in her forties who hadn’t accompanied her to the palace but seemed to have been waiting in the carriage.” Huang Zixia turned to Xianyun and Ranyun, saying, “Let me ask you about the older woman who came with Miss Wang from her Langya home. Do you know of her?”

The two looked at each other fearfully, not daring to speak.

“Speak truthfully!” Empress Wang commanded coldly.

Xianyun and Ranyun nodded frantically. Huang Zixia asked, “This woman—what was her surname, her full name, and where is she now?”

Xianyun hesitantly said, “She… I think I heard Miss call her Aunt Feng, but we only spent a few days together before she returned home, so I’m not sure…”

“Is that so? Returned home?” Huang Zixia pulled out a small portrait she had commissioned of Chen Nianniang and Feng Yiniang, asking, “Do you remember Aunt Feng’s appearance?”

Trembling, Xianyun, and Ranyun pointed to Feng Yiniang in the picture.

“This woman in the portrait is named Feng Yiniang. Four or five months ago, she brought someone’s daughter to the capital at that person’s request, and hasn’t been heard from since.”

These few words made everyone present glimpse a hidden truth, their expressions darkening involuntarily—the daughter she escorted could only be one person.

“Because Feng Yiniang didn’t return, her close companion and junior sister Chen Nianniang—this one in the portrait—” Huang Zixia moved her finger to Chen Nianniang’s image, “traveled from Yunshao Garden in Yangzhou to the capital searching for her, and happened to meet Jin Nu. Jin Nu recommended her to the palace, but since Your Majesties and the Imperial Consort didn’t enjoy the guqin, she couldn’t use palace connections to find Feng Yiniang. Later, when she was hired by Prince E, I took this portrait to the Ministry of Revenue to inquire, but found no trace of Aunt Feng—the Wang family never submitted her registration.”

Wang Lin said gravely, “Things were too busy then, and since she left quickly, we didn’t register her with the Ministry.”

“Did she return to Langya?” Huang Zixia, undaunted by his expression, continued, “By chance, at the Ministry, I met a minor official who had just finished processing refugee cases from Youzhou. He recognized Feng Yiniang in the portrait as one of the deceased refugees, remembering the dead woman had a black mole above her left eyebrow.”

Wang Yun’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly. Xianyun and Ranyun let out small cries.