Zhu Hanshuang held her breath, making her steps as graceful as possible as she walked toward Wei Han step by step. With shy restraint, she curtsied: “Greetings, Prince.”

The young lady’s flushed cheeks caused Wei Han to involuntarily glance at Luo Sheng.

It seemed his assessment was correct—Miss Luo truly was different from ordinary women.

She had done so many things without ever blushing once.

“Has Miss Zhu looked carefully?” Luo Sheng asked with a hint of a smile.

Zhu Hanshuang’s face grew hot, and her palms broke out in nervous sweat.

She didn’t want to be this flustered. Normally she was someone who dared to rage and scold, otherwise she wouldn’t have publicly formed such enmity with Luo Sheng. Yet standing before him, her heart thundered like drums, as if a mountain had suddenly pressed down upon her heart.

Because she cared too much, she couldn’t remain composed.

“I’ve looked carefully.” Zhu Hanshuang secretly took a breath, trying to calm herself as much as possible.

She had never stood this close to him before, yet with all eyes watching, she couldn’t even steal another glance.

She wasn’t a shameless woman like Luo Sheng, who would shamelessly throw herself at someone she liked without any sense of propriety.

“Then is the dagger in the Prince’s hand mine or not?”

Zhu Hanshuang’s gaze fell upon the hand holding the dagger.

The man’s hand was slender and fair, clean and pristine, set off by that brilliantly gleaming dagger in a way that made it impossible to look away.

His hands were truly beautiful.

Zhu Hanshuang quickly raised her eyes to glance at Wei Han, then hurriedly lowered her lashes. After a moment’s hesitation in her heart, she said: “It belongs to Miss Luo.”

She had wanted to say it wasn’t, after all, the dagger didn’t have Luo Sheng’s name carved on it, and while gem-encrusted daggers were uncommon, they weren’t unheard of.

But Luo Sheng had said the dagger was a gift for Prince Kaiyang, and Prince Kaiyang had acknowledged it. If she denied it, wouldn’t she seem like a lying woman in his eyes?

She was unwilling to leave such an impression on him.

For this reason, no matter how reluctant, she acknowledged it.

Thinking this, Zhu Hanshuang looked at Luo Sheng, meeting a pair of eyes filled with confident amusement.

Zhu Hanshuang couldn’t help feeling furious.

That wretch did it on purpose!

Luo Sheng didn’t care how angry Zhu Hanshuang became. Seeing her personally acknowledge it, she smiled faintly at Minister Zhao: “Minister Zhao, the dagger that killed Miss Chen wasn’t mine, so can I be cleared of suspicion now?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Minister Zhao, who wasn’t skilled at solving cases, nodded repeatedly.

“Minister Zhao!” Elder Chen, usually as steady as a mountain, was so angry his voice became shrill. “At most, this only means Miss Luo’s suspicion is now equal to that of all the other young ladies in the garden. How does this completely clear her of suspicion? It’s true that Miss Luo gave Prince Kaiyang a dagger, but how do we know she didn’t later purchase another gem-encrusted dagger?”

Minister Zhao nodded repeatedly again: “Elder Chen makes a valid point as well.”

Everyone: “…”

“One dagger costs three thousand taels—does one just buy them on a whim?” Shi Yan muttered quietly.

Hmm?

Everyone turned their gazes toward the young guard who had brought the dagger over.

Under his master’s cold stare, Shi Yan lowered his brows and eyes, becoming properly subdued.

Prince Pingnan, as the host, finally found an opportunity to interject: “Ahem, Minister Zhao, these young ladies are all daughters of noble families. You must be cautious in investigating the case.”

To have such an incident occur at the Princess Consort’s birthday banquet was truly cursed luck.

After Prince Pingnan finished speaking, Luo Sheng spoke up: “Minister Zhao is perceptive and discerning. Please be certain not to wrong any innocent person or let the true culprit escape.”

As she spoke, she casually glanced at Wei Wen: “After all, the County Princess is also here.”

Prince Pingnan’s expression froze.

How had he forgotten—his daughter was also among them!

Princess Consort Pingnan, who had rushed to the garden upon receiving the news, couldn’t help snorting coldly: “Miss Luo, you mustn’t speak carelessly.”

Luo Sheng turned to meet Princess Consort Pingnan’s gaze, her presence not diminishing in the slightest: “I said to ask Minister Zhao to be perceptive and discerning so as not to wrong innocent people. May I ask which word the Princess Consort considers careless speech?”

Princess Consort Pingnan was momentarily stumped by the question, silently cursing the sharp-tongued young girl for being too difficult to deal with.

In front of so many people, Princess Consort Pingnan, no matter how angry, couldn’t show it. She could only force a warm smile: “Asking Minister Zhao to be perceptive and discerning is naturally correct. It’s just that Wen’er has always been well-behaved and sensible. Miss Luo shouldn’t drag her into this and frighten her.”

With this smiling explanation, Princess Consort Pingnan had given considerable face to a junior.

Would Luo Sheng appreciate it?

Of course not.

She looked around at the noble ladies and smiled: “All the young ladies present are daughters of prestigious families. I’m sure each and every one is well-behaved and sensible.”

The various ladies, who normally had no fondness for Miss Luo, now felt like nodding their heads.

Exactly—who among them wasn’t a well-behaved and sensible daughter of a noble family?

Miss Chen was dead, and with everyone under suspicion, why should the little County Princess alone be exempt?

The little County Princess’s status might be slightly higher than theirs, and the investigation probably wouldn’t reach her anyway. Everyone understood this—it would have been fine to just keep this understanding unspoken, but to say it out loud made people uncomfortable.

Prince Pingnan, seeing the wind blowing unfavorably, quickly said: “Princess Consort, say no more. Let Minister Zhao investigate thoroughly before discussing anything else.”

Minister Zhao’s head was splitting.

He couldn’t investigate this clearly!

Just as Minister Zhao was troubled, the capable subordinate he’d sent for finally arrived.

The newcomer was a young man with a stern expression.

“Sir—”

Minister Zhao quickly waved his hand: “Investigate the case immediately.”

After hearing the details, the young man walked toward the peony flower bed.

Until now, Chen Ruoning’s body hadn’t been moved, while the maid’s body from the bamboo grove had been carried over.

The young man crouched down to carefully examine both corpses.

Everyone watched in silence. Some noble ladies, seeing the young man reach out to press on the wound area of Chen Ruoning’s abdomen, turned pale.

No matter how noble one was in life, once dead, what happened to one’s body was completely beyond one’s control.

Being alive was truly wonderful—curse the killer!

The garden was utterly quiet, without even low murmurs.

Everything that needed to be said had been said. Now they could only see what Minister Zhao’s subordinate could discover.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the young man stood up and returned to Minister Zhao, cupping his hands: “Both deceased were killed by dagger wounds. However, based on examination of both victims’ wounds, this humble official surmises the killer was not the same person.”

“What?” At these words, everyone was shocked, immediately breaking into agitated discussion.

Two killers? This was completely unexpected!

The ladies looked at each other, their expressions even more unsettled.

A pleasant small gathering had already been terrible enough with one murderer present—but there were actually two!

“How did you surmise there were two killers?” Minister Zhao asked urgently.

The young man replied: “Although both deceased were killed by daggers, the angles at which the daggers entered their bodies were completely opposite. The killer who stabbed the maid should be someone who habitually uses their left hand…”

Left-handed?

At this conclusion, the ladies couldn’t help wracking their brains in thought.

Among them, who was left-handed?

Perhaps from excessive shock, their minds were now in chaos, unable to sort out any leads.

At this moment, Luo Sheng spoke: “Are you certain the killer who stabbed the maid was left-handed?”

“Yes.” The young man nodded.

“I happen to know who is left-handed,” Luo Sheng said coolly.