After hearing Lin Hao’s concerns, Qi Shuo couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s no need to think too highly of them. Since Wuning Marquis Manor entered our field of vision during the investigation, finding a reason to search it thoroughly isn’t difficult.”

The weather was rather hot. Just the effort of walking out from Tianyuan Temple left one drenched in sweat. Qi Shuo urged Lin Hao to return to the manor first, while he himself went to find Jinlin Guard Commander Cheng Maoming.

When Cheng Maoming heard Qi Shuo explain his purpose, he agreed immediately.

He frequently handled matters for the Emperor and understood all too clearly—His Majesty held no favorable opinion of Wuning Marquis Manor. Helping with this favor posed no difficulty whatsoever.

Very quickly, the coachman who drove Tang Wei’s carriage was quietly taken away by the Jinlin Guard. With the slightest application of interrogation methods, they pried open his mouth.

According to the coachman’s testimony, yesterday when Second Miss had taken the carriage home, she spotted a young woman walking hurriedly and ordered him to stop, then had that young woman forced into the carriage and brought back to the marquis manor.

It turned out that after Tang Wei’s incident at Qinglu Temple, her family had arranged for a maid skilled in martial arts to attend her. For that maid to subdue a delicate young woman like Wen Qing was utterly effortless. It just so happened that stretch of road had no other pedestrians, and everything occurred so quickly that no one witnessed it.

Knowing that Wen Qing was still in Wuning Marquis Manor made things much easier. Cheng Maoming arranged for capable subordinates to lead a team. Under the pretext of searching for spies, they knocked on the gates of Wuning Marquis Manor and turned the entire estate upside down.

Wen Qing was discovered in a storage room in Tang Wei’s courtyard. When they found her, she was huddled in a corner blocked by an old screen. Upon hearing footsteps she trembled violently, but because her mouth was gagged, she couldn’t make a sound.

Lin Hao stood outside Wuning Marquis Manor and watched Tang Wei being led out by the Jinlin Guard. She also saw Wen Qing.

That young woman who had rushed up to her with calculated intentions to demand money had actually been quite bold and daring, but now she resembled a startled bird. And her face—

Lin Hao gazed at the scars on Wen Qing’s face, her hands hanging at her sides clenching tightly for a moment.

Seeing someone she disliked encounter such circumstances brought no sense of satisfaction.

She shifted her gaze to look at Tang Wei.

The formerly arrogant and domineering young woman in her memory had become thin as paper. As she was escorted forward, she merely hung her head, neither struggling nor resisting.

“Wei’er, Wei’er—” Wuning Marquis’s wife rushed out, pushing and shoving at the Jinlin Guards restraining Tang Wei. “Where are you taking my daughter? She couldn’t possibly be a spy!”

A string of people chased out behind her, with Wuning Marquis running at the front.

As for Wuning Marquis’s heir Tang Hua, he had gone out early for entertainment and was just now returning home. Seeing this scene, his face drained of color. “Mother, what’s happening?”

After his Crown Prince brother-in-law was assassinated at the marquis manor and officials came to confiscate their property, that scene had appeared in his dreams countless times. No wonder the sight of this situation nearly frightened him out of his wits.

Wuning Marquis’s wife pointed at the leading Jinlin Guard. “They insist your sister is a spy and want to take her away!”

The sun was about to set. Cooking smoke rose from various households at the dinner hour, yet more and more people came running out to watch the commotion after hearing the disturbance.

Wuning Marquis gripped his wife’s arm and said in a low voice, “Stop making a scene. We’ll discuss everything after the matter is investigated clearly.”

By this point he had figured it out—the Jinlin Guard’s search for spies was merely a pretext. Finding the young woman his daughter had hidden was the real objective.

If this young woman were just a commoner, there would originally have been many ways to cover things up. But with the Jinlin Guard involved, his daughter couldn’t escape the crime of hiding and abusing a woman.

“But how can they take Wei’er away when she’s an unmarried young lady—”

Wuning Marquis’s expression darkened. “Enough! If you keep making a scene, the entire marquis manor might be implicated!”

Only then did Wuning Marquis’s wife fall silent.

At that moment a team of bailiffs walked over with a woman mixed among them. She first paused in her steps, then rushed over like a madwoman. “Qing’er, Qing’er, how did you end up here? You wretched girl, where did you run off to? Ah, your face—”

Chang Shi saw clearly the scars on Wen Qing’s face and shrieked, “Qing’er, what happened to your face?”

Constable Liu, who had brought the bailiffs, explained to the leading Jinlin Guard, “This sister-in-law’s daughter went missing yesterday. She reported it to Shuntian Prefecture, and today she’s been accompanying us everywhere searching for her.”

The leading Jinlin Guard, having received Cheng Maoming’s instructions, cooperated by saying a few words, then handed Wen Qing and Tang Wei’s master and servants over to Constable Liu.

“Back to the yamen!” Constable Liu waved his hand.

“Officer, please wait a moment.” Wuning Marquis strode over quickly, proposing to go to Shuntian Prefecture together.

No matter how deplorable Tang Wei might be, she was still an unmarried young lady after all. Constable Liu didn’t refuse the request put forth by Wuning Marquis.

Quite a crowd had gathered to watch the excitement. Lin Hao stood quietly among them, temporarily unnoticed by anyone.

Qi Shuo approached from somewhere, grasping her hand. “Do you want to go to the yamen together to observe?”

Lin Hao shook her head. “Never mind. A’Shuo, you go. Just tell me about it after you understand the truth.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess—Tang Wei had become psychologically twisted due to her disfigurement, ultimately developing into murder.

The sky had darkened. Inside Shuntian Prefecture, lamplight blazed brilliantly. The one responsible for interrogation was Judicial Review Officer Liu.

The interrogation process went unexpectedly smoothly.

“Why did you bring her home?” Tang Wei, who had been hanging her head all along, stared fixedly at Wen Qing and actually smiled. “There’s no particular reason. I just saw her face and found it detestable.”

Wen Qing, entangled by that serpent-like gaze, couldn’t control herself and cried out, shrinking into Chang Shi’s embrace.

Seeing her like this, Judicial Review Officer Liu instructed his subordinates to first take Chang Shi and her daughter away.

“In other words, you abducted Wen Qing for no reason and hid her at home to abuse her?”

Tang Wei suddenly glanced at Qi Shuo, who was observing from the side, a casual smile hanging on her face. “Originally I hadn’t thought carefully about the reason, but seeing Prince Jing’s heir, I figured it out. I wondered why I found Wen Qing so detestable—turns out she resembles Lin Hao a bit.”

Judicial Review Officer Liu couldn’t help but glance at Qi Shuo before immediately asking, “Do you have a grudge against the Heir’s wife?”

“A grudge? Not really. I just find her displeasing to the eye.”

“Wei’er, what nonsense are you spouting?” Wuning Marquis’s face turned iron-blue. He felt his daughter had gone mad.

“Marquis, please don’t interfere with the investigation.” Judicial Review Officer Liu warned once, then asked about the Tianyuan Temple matter. “Those two headless female corpses—did you kill them too?”

Under Wuning Marquis’s shocked and horrified gaze, Tang Wei nodded. “That’s right.”

“Tang Wei, have you lost your mind!” Wuning Marquis raised his hand to strike but was restrained by bailiffs on both sides.

Tang Wei tilted her head, her expression inexplicably chilling. “What’s wrong with killing them? Who told them to humiliate me!”

The hall fell silent, with only the young woman’s heavy voice echoing. “Last year I accompanied my mother to offer incense at Tianyuan Temple. The wind blew up my veil, and that wretch shrieked as if she’d seen a ghost. So I used my hairpin to slash her face, then had my maid cut off her head. Finally she stopped screaming…”

“What about Yan’er?”

“Heh.” Tang Wei curled the corner of her mouth. “She deserved death even more! She bragged to her friend about how beautiful she was. I’d like to see if she’ll still be beautiful after her face is slashed to pieces! Hahaha—”

Tang Wei began to laugh, her laughter growing louder and louder.

Even though Judicial Review Officer Liu had seen many criminals, listening to this laughter gave him goosebumps.

This Second Miss Tang had truly gone insane.