What was so clever about this matter?

The cleverness lay in skillfully exploiting the Imperial Guards’ rules of advancement, eliminating witnesses without lifting a finger.

Suppose the deceased old emperor was the mastermind behind the Zheng family massacre, and Yu Shengyan was the executioner specifically responsible for carrying it out.

The twelve black-clothed men were all Yu Shengyan’s trusted subordinates.

They had scouted the location beforehand, drugged the well with sleeping powder, and carried out the slaughter in an orderly fashion. Haitang Courtyard was the last compound, and also the most important objective of their mission.

But in this world, only the dead can keep secrets.

After the bloodbath, the old emperor only needed to give Feng Changxiu a hint—or perhaps not even a hint. He merely had to exploit Feng Changxiu’s desire for advancement to subtly use him as a weapon to kill, without anyone noticing.

And in everyone’s eyes, it was Feng Changxiu who had eliminated Yu Shengyan in order to secure the top position in the Imperial Guards.

And the complete annihilation of Yu Shengyan’s associates was because Feng Changxiu feared they would seek revenge for Yu Shengyan.

The hatred in Yan Sanhe’s eyes could not be hidden.

That person climbed to that position by stepping over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and could justify it with the phrase “the world is for the victor.”

But to slaughter all one hundred and eighty members of the Zheng household for the sake of a former crown prince’s orphaned infant—that was cruelty taken to the extreme.

In the dead of night, did he never have nightmares?

Her hatred reaching its peak, Yan Sanhe smiled faintly at Xie Zhifei. “Xie Chengyu, don’t you know that heavenly justice is cyclical?”

The voice was light and gentle, yet it struck Xie Zhifei’s heart like a heavy hammer.

He didn’t know what to say, only stared fixedly at Yan Sanhe, allowing the wound in his heart to bleed slowly.

After a long while, Xie Zhifei withdrew his gaze, stood up and cupped his hands toward Han Yong. “Come, I’ll see you out.”

Han Yong: “Did you take my earlier words to heart?”

Xie Zhifei glanced at Yan Sanhe from the corner of his eye. “Don’t worry, I have a family and responsibilities. I’m not willing to court death.”

…

After seeing Han Yong off, Xie Zhifei returned to the study to find everyone’s faces looking very heavy. Even Ming Ting sat in a corner with a wooden expression, not making a sound.

Having investigated the case day and night to this point, it had actually become somewhat clear.

Just as Yan Sanhe had said, one hand cannot cover the sky—it must be many hands to cover a corner of the sky.

Both the Imperial Guards and the Ministry of Justice participated in this matter.

The Imperial Guards were responsible for the killing.

The Ministry of Justice was responsible for covering up and cleaning up afterward.

But all of this was still only inference—there was no concrete evidence yet.

The old emperor had too many capable people under him. The Imperial Army and the Shadow Guards were all his men. How could they be certain it was the Imperial Guards who acted?

Perhaps Feng Changxiu killed Yu Shengyan simply to advance his position?

Perhaps he purged Yu Shengyan’s associates simply because he feared being revenged upon?

Perhaps Qian Chengjiang really was poisoned to death by his second wife, for the sake of seizing the family fortune?

As for Chen Pi’s mention that Zheng Huantang’s right palm had no blood on it—those official lords only needed to say lightly “you remembered wrong” to silence Chen Pi.

All inferences without solid evidence were empty talk—they couldn’t withstand scrutiny, nor were they sufficient to convince people.

“Yan Sanhe.”

Xie Zhifei’s voice didn’t hide his exhaustion. “Next, we’ll do as you said—find the half ivory waist token and the person who forged it with cowhide.”

Yan Sanhe said nothing, but Pei Xiao exclaimed in surprise, “So that’s why you wanted to find the Xiang family!”

Li Buyan rarely showed worry. “Such an important person—nine times out of ten they should have been silenced as well.”

Zhu Qing nodded. “Miss Li is right.”

Ding Yi scratched his head. “Then what do we do?”

Huang Qi sighed. “Treat the dead horse as if it were alive—let’s try to find them first.”

“Who said to treat the dead horse as if it were alive?”

Yan Sanhe slowly stood up and walked before Xie Zhifei. “Third Master, do something for me.”

Xie Zhifei: “Speak. What do you want me to do?”

“Find His Highness the Crown Prince and tell him this message.”

Yan Sanhe: “If he wants to solve the case, he must hand over that half ivory waist token and the cowhide to me. Otherwise, tell him to find someone more capable.”

Xie Zhifei’s expression became somewhat indifferent. “Let Ming Ting go. I need to visit the yamen in a while.”

“I’ll go!”

Pei Xiao agreed readily and left readily, completely different from his clingy manner before.

But very quickly he turned back. “Xie Wushi, if Huairen asks about the case, what should I say?”

Xie Zhifei silently glanced at Yan Sanhe. “Don’t say anything. Just say we’ve just started investigating.”

…

Pei Xiao returned to the separate courtyard in the evening.

As it happened, Xie Zhifei had also returned from the yamen.

According to the old rules, they should eat first, then discuss matters. But everyone stared at the paper package on the desk, and no one moved.

Yan Sanhe: “Buyan, go tell Tang Yuan to delay dinner a bit.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Li Buyan left, Pei Xiao, remembering the Crown Prince’s instructions, hastily said, “Huairen said this thing is very important and must not be lost.”

“Don’t worry.”

Yan Sanhe narrowed her eyes, untied the paper package, and carefully extracted the contents, placing them on the desk—

Half an ivory waist token.

A piece of thin cowhide, about the size of a palm.

The waist token had clearly been split in half by a blade and scorched by fire until blackened, making it impossible to see its original appearance. But the patterns on it were very clear.

No wonder the skilled craftsmen of the Ministry of Works could restore the character “Wu.”

The cowhide was stained with blood, very dark in color. At a casual glance, nothing could be seen. Only when held up to the lamplight for careful inspection could one make out that there were patterns and characters on the cowhide.

Li Buyan’s eyes grew sore from looking, and she sighed. “The person who could create these two forgeries must have quite skillful hands.”

“Not just skillful hands.”

Yan Sanhe gave a cold laugh. “They must also be intimately familiar with Qi Kingdom’s script and patterns to achieve such convincing forgeries. This person has some real knowledge in their belly.”

Xie Zhifei’s sword-like brows knitted tightly. “Could the person who made these things be from Qi Kingdom?”

“I think it’s very possible.”

Pei Xiao pointed at the faint characters on the cowhide. “Who among our people could recognize these bird-scratch characters?”

Zhu Qing: “Miss Yan, should we thoroughly investigate all Qi Kingdom people in the capital?”

Ding Yi: “We could narrow the scope a bit more—focus on investigating the skilled craftsmen in the Ministry of Works.”

Huang Qi: “We can narrow it even further—investigate those skilled craftsmen who are already dead.”

A trace of a smile slowly appeared on Yan Sanhe’s face. “Not bad. You’ve all made progress.”

The others: “…”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze turned to Zhu Qing. “Zhu Qing, prepare yourself to make a trip to Qi Kingdom and find someone for me.”

Zhu Qing started in surprise. “Find who?”

Yan Sanhe: “The tomb guardian, Ah Qiang.”

Xie Zhifei: “What do you need him for?”

Yan Sanhe: “The real cannot be false, and the false cannot be real. Have him examine these two items.”

Pei Xiao: “He can tell the difference?”

Yan Sanhe: “In this world, besides him, there is no second person who can.”

Ah Qiang was a shadow guard trained by Wu Guanyue, who later always followed Wu Shunian. He was the person in this world who understood the Wu father and son best.

Xie Zhifei’s heart stirred. “Ding Yi, return to Xie Manor and find the jade thumb ring Wu Shunian left me. Have Zhu Qing carry it—it can serve as a token of trust.”

Pei Xiao made an “aha” sound and pointed at the waist token and cowhide on the desk. “These things can’t be taken out of the capital. If they get lost…”

“They won’t get lost.”

Yan Sanhe: “I’m looking for the Xiang family precisely to ask them to help make an exact replica.”

Pei Xiao: “…”

Damn it, so that’s the real purpose of the Xiang family?

Just then, a voice long unheard came from outside the courtyard—

“Miss Yan, Miss Yan…”