“This is impossible!”
Xie Lanqing was the first to react. He quickly stood up: “How could I possibly have my son become an assassin?! Your Majesty, investigate clearly!”
“Oh,” seeing Xie Lanqing stand up, Pei Wenxuan immediately smiled. “Minister Xie’s body seems quite well—you can stand up just like that?”
“The Prince Consort jests,” Li Rong turned back to glance at Pei Wenxuan. “Minister Xie was injured in the stomach, not the legs. How could he not stand? Minister Xie, don’t be anxious. Just listen to me explain slowly.”
As Li Rong spoke, she used her fan to lift Lin Feibai’s face and said to everyone: “Everyone, look carefully. Don’t this gentleman’s features resemble Minister Xie’s somewhat?”
No one dared to speak. Li Ming looked carefully around the room and discovered that Lin Feibai’s eyes were indeed identical to Xie Lanqing’s.
In his youth, Xie Lanqing had been a famous beauty in Hua Jing. Now that he was old, his appearance wasn’t obvious, but with Li Rong’s reminder, people recalled Xie Lanqing’s youthful appearance. Looking carefully at Lin Feibai again, they suddenly didn’t dare respond.
“Is Your Highness saying this assassin and Minister Xie are father and son just because of this?”
Su Rongqing suddenly spoke. Li Rong was somewhat surprised—she hadn’t expected Su Rongqing would interject at such a moment. She turned around to meet Su Rongqing’s gaze.
Su Rongqing’s eyes were very cold. He seemed to be struggling to restrain something. Those icy eyes were like whirlpools, seemingly hiding various emotions. Li Rong couldn’t help but pause on those eyes for a moment, until Pei Wenxuan cleared his throat lightly. Only then did she react, smiling as she said: “Naturally it couldn’t be just because of this. This matter begins from the assassination of the Prince Consort over half a month ago.”
“The day the Prince Consort was assassinated, Deputy Director Su Ronghua of my bureau had some conflicts with me. He questioned whether Deputy Director Shangguan had extracted a confession from Chen Guang through torture. So that day, under Deputy Director Su’s supervision, I personally interrogated Chen Guang. After Chen Guang confessed, I received a threatening kite with the character ‘Stop’ written in cinnabar. That afternoon, someone assassinated the Prince Consort. They injured the Prince Consort, but there was no poison on the blade—clearly they only meant to intimidate this daughter. Feeling deeply uneasy, I had people thoroughly investigate.”
As Li Rong spoke, with a wave of her hand, Shangguan Ya came forward carrying the kite they had originally received, respectfully continuing: “This humble minister, on Her Highness’s orders, thoroughly investigated this object. I discovered the cinnabar used on it specifically came from Huiming Pavilion, a calligraphy and ink shop in the capital that sells to nobility. This humble minister examined Huiming Pavilion’s account books for the past six months and found a total of twenty households that purchased this and still had some remaining. Among them was the Xie Manor.”
“But Minister Xie had no connection to this case,” Li Rong took over the narrative. “So I didn’t think toward Minister Xie. These people clearly wanted this daughter to stop investigating what she had in hand, especially Chen Guang. But conscience and justice made this daughter set life and death aside—I could only grit my teeth and persist. Only as the days passed, I grew increasingly uneasy, so I decided to lure the snake from its hole. I deliberately traveled outside with the Prince Consort, released the information, then set an ambush at Butterfly Gorge, using myself as bait. I captured a group of assassins alive, including this young gentleman, Lin Feibai.”
Li Rong stopped beside Lin Feibai. Everyone’s gaze turned toward him. Li Rong said calmly: “Upon investigation, it was learned that Lin Feibai is the Deputy Hall Master of the jianghu’s foremost assassin organization, Seven Star Hall. In the jianghu, Seven Star Hall has never failed in any commission, but for self-preservation and long-term development, they never take commissions against the powerful and noble. To have invited Hall Master Lin, the Chen family’s capabilities would be insufficient. So this daughter began to suspect that behind the Chen family, there was someone else. At this time, I interrogated Hall Master Lin and discovered something on him.”
With that, Li Rong crouched down and used her fan to press against Lin Feibai’s collar. Lin Feibai quickly grabbed Li Rong’s fan and said angrily: “What are you doing?!”
“Master Lin, don’t be hasty. Don’t you want to know the truth?”
Lin Feibai hesitated for a moment, then watched as Li Rong slipped her fan inside his clothing and hooked out a pendant chain from around his neck: “Do any of you recognize what this necklace is?”
When this necklace was revealed, people’s expressions varied. Each family had its own distinctive objects for identifying clan members, used to recognize identities when accidents occurred. These objects were mostly things worn close to the body and easy to carry. Some northern families used tattoos, while southern families commonly used jade pendants, necklaces, and similar items.
These objects mostly featured family crests along with names. Ordinary people were mostly unaware of these things, but the nobility specifically studied the relationships between clans and were extremely familiar with family crests.
At this moment, this hollow magnolia carved from Kunshan white jade fell into everyone’s view, causing them to show strange expressions.
“Where did you steal this from?!” Xie Lanqing seemed somewhat panicked. “How could you have such a thing?”
Lin Feibai said nothing, his face pale. Li Rong smiled as she reached out to flip over the jade pendant, revealing the character ‘Qing’ inside.
“By coincidence, I once saw such a pendant chain on a younger sister from the Xie family, so my attention was drawn to this object. Lin Feibai resembles Minister Xie somewhat, and with this jade pendant as evidence, plus the cinnabar’s connection to Minister Xie, this daughter couldn’t help but think more deeply. So I directly had people investigate Xie Lanqing’s life history and discovered that in his youth, Minister Xie also had a romantic affair that caused quite a stir throughout the city. It was said that Minister Xie fell in love with a woman from the jianghu, but his family didn’t approve and arranged for him to marry his current wife. On the wedding day, this jianghu woman held a sharp sword, cut off Minister Xie’s ceremonial headdress, and left in a grand manner.”
“Then I investigated when Seven Star Hall was established—it was two years after this romantic affair, coincidentally one year after Master Lin was born. So I pretended to know Seven Star Hall’s location and told Lin Feibai that Seven Star Hall was within Xie family territory. Master Lin was greatly shocked, and I knew I had guessed correctly.”
Li Rong put down the chain and stood up, smiling at Xie Lanqing: “Thus, there’s a reason why Seven Star Hall, which never involves itself in matters of the powerful and noble, took action. Because the Hall Master of Seven Star Hall is precisely the jianghu woman who loved Minister Xie all those years ago. I surmise that the events back then went something like this.”
“In his youth, Minister Xie loved that jianghu woman, but due to family obstruction they couldn’t be together. The woman became pregnant and left, giving birth to Lin Feibai. After marriage, Minister Xie found this woman again and provided her with protection, helping her establish Seven Star Hall. This Hall Master, for various reasons, was unwilling to become Minister Xie’s concubine and didn’t want her child to return to the Xie family. So she kept Lin Feibai, raising him in Seven Star Hall as a successor. And Minister Xie, for unknown reasons, agreed to this arrangement.”
“You’re spouting nonsense!” Xie Lanqing shouted angrily, then quickly covered his wound. Li Rong tapped her fan against her palm, smiling: “Whether I’m spouting nonsense or not, one test will reveal the truth. Someone, bring clear water!”
Li Rong called out loudly. Xie Lanqing’s expression immediately became extremely unpleasant.
Lin Feibai stood dazed. Before long, a servant walked in carrying clear water. Li Rong turned to look at Xie Lanqing: “Minister Xie, you are the Minister of Justice. Blood recognition—let’s try it.”
Xie Lanqing didn’t dare speak, staring at that bowl of clear water. Li Rong then looked toward Lin Feibai: “Master Lin?”
Lin Feibai seemed somewhat dazed. He raised his eyes to look at Li Rong. Shangguan Ya sighed and said from the side: “Traveling a thousand miles to rush to Hua Jing, pregnant before marriage, yet cruelly abandoned. On the wedding day, angrily cutting off the groom’s ceremonial headdress, then nearly twenty years alone—this is truly pitiful, truly tragic. As a son, don’t you feel any sorrow for your mother at all?”
“Minister Xie,” Li Rong urged Xie Lanqing. “Your hesitation—is it inconvenient to come over, or do you not dare?”
Xie Lanqing’s face remained stiff and unmoving. Lin Feibai suddenly stood up, walked before Li Rong, raised his hand and used a blade to cut his finger. Fresh blood dripped into the bowl. He raised his eyes to look at Xie Lanqing and said coldly: “You come here.”
Xie Lanqing didn’t move. Lin Feibai looked at him coldly: “Minister Xie, you come here.”
When Lin Feibai called him thus, Xie Lanqing heard the warning in Lin Feibai’s tone. With a stiff face, he finally stood up. He walked stiffly to the table, hesitating as he extended his hand. Seeing Xie Lanqing’s hesitation, Lin Feibai simply grabbed him. The blade flashed down, and amid Xie Lanqing’s cry of alarm, he directly cut Xie Lanqing’s finger, pinched it, and dripped the blood into the cup!
Two drops of blood spread through the water, met, then slowly merged.
Watching the blood drops fuse together bit by bit, Xie Lanqing showed urgent panic: “Impossible—someone is framing me. Your Majesty, this humble minister requests another test, another…”
“What else is there to test?”
Pei Wenxuan smiled: “Does Minister Xie think this jade pendant is fake, that Master Lin’s eyes are fake, or that these two drops of blood in the bowl are fake? Minister Xie, you first assassinated the Princess, then colluded with your son to falsely accuse the Princess. Now, instead of submitting to the law and begging His Majesty’s and Her Highness’s forgiveness, you’re still quibbling and resisting here. I’d really like to know—just who gave Minister Xie such audacity to disregard His Majesty, disregard the law, disregard the sovereign-subject relationship, and disregard heaven and earth’s morality!”
“Pei Wenxuan, you slanderous child!” Xie Lanqing roared in fury, raising his hand to point at Pei Wenxuan. “It’s you who instigated Her Highness to do all these chaotic things. Now you even collude with assassins and bribe palace attendants to frame this old minister. This old minister has served as an official for thirty years, working tirelessly for country and sovereign. Today I must suffer false accusations from these two children—I implore Your Majesty to investigate clearly!”
“Father Emperor,” hearing Xie Lanqing’s words, Li Rong also knelt down. She bent her spine and respectfully kowtowed. “This daughter requests punishment from Father Emperor.”
“What punishment do you request?”
“This daughter knows that during all these recent days, this daughter has been causing trouble and adding difficulties for Father Emperor.”
“This daughter currently leads the investigation of these two cases, implicating many aristocratic families. Among them, the Xie family has two condemned prisoners involved. That Father Emperor permitted this daughter to take on this case means he must have endured tremendous pressure. For this daughter to investigate this case, she must also be prepared to set life and death aside. This daughter has countless times thought that perhaps not investigating this matter would be better for her. After all, this daughter is merely a woman—to stay home properly, be a good wife and mother, receive Father Emperor’s and her husband’s love, and live this stable, wealthy life would be better for both this daughter and Father Emperor.”
“Only this daughter couldn’t bear it—couldn’t bear to watch the Qin family suffer injustice, couldn’t bear to watch military provisions, such a national foundation, be eroded by parasites. So this daughter still stepped forward. As a princess, supported by all under heaven, this daughter cannot only wear brocade clothes without caring for those who raise silkworms. This path has been arduous. Fearing Father Emperor bore too much pressure, this daughter never reported the various difficulties encountered.”
As Li Rong spoke, her voice carried a hoarse quality: “Minister Xie is a pillar minister who has done many good things for the court. That he made things difficult for this daughter once or twice—this daughter shouldn’t have remained so opposed to him to the end. But this daughter…”
As Li Rong spoke, she choked up: “This daughter truly had no other choice. This daughter can disregard her own life, but the Prince Consort is innocent. Today this daughter doesn’t seek to punish Minister Xie for assassination and false accusation—she only hopes the ministers can stand up for the Prince Consort. The assassination of the Prince Consort should have some explanation… Bullying this daughter is one thing—after all, it was this daughter who provoked Minister Xie. But what about the Prince Consort?”
By the end, Li Rong was in tears, as if truly driven to a dead end with nowhere to turn.
“Your Highness,” hearing these words, Xie Lanqing panicked and said urgently: “You are a princess. Your investigation of the Qin family case and military provisions case serves the nation and people—naturally right and proper. How would this old minister dare make things difficult, much less assassinate and falsely accuse for this reason?”
“Then is she falsely accusing you?!”
Li Ming suddenly shouted loudly. Looking at Li Rong kneeling on the ground requesting punishment with a hoarse voice, the powerlessness of being suppressed by these old ministers for over a decade suddenly surged up. He felt angry inside. Recalling how Xie Lanqing had just said Li Rong colluded with palace attendants, remembering the white magnolia hairpin on Huale’s head, he suddenly felt that Li Rong being bullied wasn’t about bullying Li Rong—it was Xie Lanqing pressing him to the ground and stepping on him.
“She is a princess,” Li Ming raised his hand and pointed at Li Rong. “She is my eldest daughter, the Empress’s legitimate daughter! Again and again you say she falsely accused you, say she schemed against you. She’s a child not even nineteen years old, yet she schemed against you, an old hand who’s mixed in court for over thirty years?!”
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger.” Xie Lanqing knelt on the ground and said urgently: “Your Majesty, there are too many misunderstandings in this matter.”
“Misunderstandings? What misunderstandings? You all are just bullying me because you think I don’t dare do anything to you! Today if there was no evidence, so be it—I’d swallow this grievance. But now with ironclad evidence, you can explain your misunderstandings in prison! Someone,” Li Ming shouted loudly, “drag him down and send him to the Censorate for Pei Wenxuan to handle!”
“Your Majesty…” Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Jiang Zheng spoke urgently. “Pei Wenxuan is the Princess’s Prince Consort…”
“What—when you do things, you don’t need to consider whose relative someone is, but when I do things I must consider avoiding conflict? Let Pei Wenxuan handle it!”
Li Ming said angrily: “Today whoever dares say one more word will be dragged down together for interrogation!”
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. Pei Wenxuan stepped forward and said respectfully: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Having this humble minister lead the investigation is naturally improper. It should be returned to the Ministry of Justice.”
“Return it to the Ministry of Justice?” Li Ming laughed coldly. “Who in the Ministry of Justice dares investigate him?”
“This humble minister wishes to recommend someone.” Pei Wenxuan spoke mildly. Hearing Pei Wenxuan speak, Li Ming said slowly: “Speak.”
“Ministry of Justice Right Vice Minister, Pei Liming. This person is my uncle—upright and impartial in character, incorruptible and unbending. He has handled cases in the Ministry of Justice for many years and is thoroughly familiar with criminal law. This humble minister, recommending the worthy regardless of kinship, wishes to recommend Vice Minister Pei to investigate this case.”
Li Ming remained silent. He instinctively glanced at Su Rongqing.
Logically speaking, as Ministry of Justice Left Vice Minister, Su Rongqing would be far more suitable than Pei Liming to investigate this case. But if the case was sent back to the Ministry of Justice now without having Pei Wenxuan’s relative handle it, he feared Xie Lanqing’s case would be left unresolved again.
Yet directly having Pei Liming handle the case seemed inappropriate and might offend the Su family. As Li Ming hesitated, he saw Su Rongqing step forward and say respectfully: “This minister seconds the motion. This humble minister also believes Vice Minister Pei is now the most suitable choice.”