Sui Tan didn’t respond. Instead, she lifted the hem of her bloodstained skirt and hurried over to Sun Cheng in quick, small steps, frowning as she scrutinized him closely.

Lin Qi followed, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her. A moment later, she let out a sigh tinged with something unreadable.

“Lin Qi, he’s dead.”

She waved a hand slightly in front of his eyes, but the ever-arrogant Young Master Sun showed no reaction—only staring blankly at some distant point, as though it were his final destination before vanishing into nothingness.

The sight wasn’t unfamiliar. A sliver of unease slid through Lin Qi’s heart. Sui Tan nodded, confirming his grim suspicion.

“That’s right. It’s ‘corpse puppetry.’”

She couldn’t help but sigh.

Young Master Sun probably never imagined that the day would come when he—who had trampled over lives without restraint, treating the fates of lesser people as mere bait—would receive the exact same treatment in return.

The wheel of heaven turns; justice prevails. Perhaps this was the fairest law governing the world.

“Let’s go.”

After a long silence, Sui Tan exhaled, delivering the final verdict. “We’ll take him back to the city.”

Even though the Court of Judicial Review had insisted they would “see the man alive or the body dead,” no one actually expected to see the body.

Sui Tan hadn’t undone the corpse puppetry, so what the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review faced was a prisoner who could walk and move—but had no breath in him.

“So he really is dead.”

After confirming yet again, Zhu Yan finally conceded, wiping his fingers with a handkerchief—the same fingers that had just checked for a pulse.

Sui Tan nodded vigorously, her gaze locked onto the handkerchief in Lord Zhu’s hand.

It was the kind of silk handkerchief noblewomen in the capital often used. Faintly visible on it were a pair of mandarin ducks flying wing-to-wing—likely a love token. But the embroidery didn’t look like Suizheng’s handiwork.

Startled by her own discovery, Sui Tan’s eyes followed Lord Zhu all the way back to his desk, wishing she could glue herself to it for a better look.

But the moment he sat down, he tucked it away. With nothing left to observe, Sui Tan’s almond eyes gleamed mischievously, and she decided to take the offensive.

“Lord Zhu, have you picked a date yet? When exactly are you coming to the Qin residence to propose to my elder sister?”

Zhu Yan, who had just been about to bury himself in paperwork, looked over expressionlessly.

Sui Tan whooshed behind Lin Qi, still shouting defiantly from her hiding spot:

“Now that Sun Cheng is dead, how can you bear to let my sister suffer from gossip?!”

“There’s lipstick on your mouth.”

Zhu Yan suddenly spoke—but to Lin Qi.

“And judging by the color, it’s the same one Miss Qin is wearing. What, have you two kissed?”

Heat flooded Lin Qi’s face at an impossible speed. Zhu Yan’s merciless exposure left him thoroughly red-faced. Instinctively, he rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, as though trying to salvage something.

That reaction was as good as a confession.

Zhu Yan had only been teasing casually, but seeing this, he raised an eyebrow with genuine interest.

“So what if we kissed? It’s no big deal!”

Sui Tan, however, brushed off his teasing entirely, retorting with rosy lips and pearly teeth.

“And don’t change the subject—we’re talking about you and my sister!”

This time, even without Lord Zhu lifting a finger, Lin Qi—his face red enough to boil an egg—acted first.

With lightning speed, he grabbed her wrist, muttering rapidly under his breath, “Miss, Lord Zhu is busy with official matters, let’s go first,” while practically dragging her away, as though terrified she—or Zhu Yan—might unleash more words that would leave him blushing furiously.

“Wait.”

Just as they were about to leave, Zhu Yan—who had been watching them leisurely—suddenly spoke up.

They turned. He tilted his chin toward Sun Cheng.

“Take this with you.”

“Us?” Sui Tan blinked. “Take him where?”

The Jade-Faced Judge of Hell sat behind his desk, shedding the trivialities of domestic life. In his every gesture, he was once again the decisive, iron-willed Minister of the Court of Judicial Review from memory.

“Return him to the residence of Minister Sun.”

Zhu Yan had his considerations as the presiding judge of a homicide case, but for Sun Cheng—whether it was alerting the enemy or following the clues—none of it mattered to a corpse anymore.

On the way back to deliver Sun Cheng, Sui Tan was lost in thought. Lin Qi walked beside her when suddenly, he heard her murmur to herself:

“Maybe I shouldn’t undo it yet?”

Lin Qi blinked. “Miss?”

“I’m thinking… maybe I should leave the corpse puppetry in place for now. Let Sun Cheng and the Minister’s family keep their dignity for a few more days. After all, it was a violent death, and Sun Cheng is still a suspect in the hunting ground murder case.”

Even if she believed Sun Cheng’s fate was well-deserved, death was the end of all things. Sui Tan still wanted to handle it as considerately as possible.

Lin Qi froze for a moment before understanding the thoughtfulness hidden beneath her usually boisterous exterior. Unconsciously, the corners of his lips curled up.

Suppressing the urge to touch her dark hair, he nodded gently. “Alright.”

Unaware of the waves surging in his heart, Sui Tan, having gotten his agreement, immediately began muttering plans to herself.

She intended to return Sun Cheng discreetly, explain things clearly to the Minister’s household, and only undo the spell once they were prepared—before the body began to decay and emit odors. That way, at least, the Sun family’s treasured son could have a dignified and grand funeral.

But plans never survive first contact with reality.

When they arrived to deliver the body, before they could even step through the gates of the Minister’s residence, they were blocked by the clamor of gongs and drums.

The furious Madam Sun led the charge, standing at the entrance with a horde of servants, waiting to ambush them the moment they showed up.

“You little hussy! Move!”

The moment she spotted them, Madam Sun charged forward, roughly shoving Sui Tan aside. Clutching her chest, she wailed theatrically as she rushed toward her precious son.

“Oh, my darling! Let Mother see you—you’ve suffered so much!”

“It’s all that Qin Suizheng’s fault! I told you breaking off the engagement was the right decision! She’s a husband-killer before even stepping through the door—any family she marries into is doomed!”

“You—!”

To spout such nonsense in broad daylight—Sui Tan barely steadied herself before glaring back furiously.

Madam Sun shot her a disdainful look, refusing to engage. Instead, she continued shouting self-righteously:

“My son is blessed by the heavens! Even the Court of Judicial Review couldn’t lay a finger on him! Mark my words—what’s so great about the Duke’s household? My son is destined to marry a princess!”

Sun Cheng’s “unharmed” state had emboldened her, making her claims seem all the more credible.

For a moment, the surrounding onlookers echoed her words, as if the Sun family had truly produced a royal son-in-law.

None of them noticed how eerily silent the “rising star of Liang, whom even the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review wouldn’t dare cross” had been throughout the entire exchange.

At this point, Sui Tan was truly laughing in anger.

She didn’t say another word. When Madam Sun shielded Sun Cheng’s forehead with her hand and haughtily tried to leave, Sui Tan simply stepped aside, letting them return to the residence.

“Miss.”

Lin Qi whispered, his voice full of concern.

Sui Tan shook her head silently, her gaze fixed on the retreating figures of the mother and son.

The crowd continued to shower them with praise. Madam Sun, intoxicated by the flattery about her son’s “dragon-and-phoenix bearing,” let her triumphant laughter carry for miles.

Meanwhile, Sun Cheng—with no command to “stop”—continued walking stiffly forward, dragging his heavy legs step by step across the threshold of the Sun residence, onto the solid ground of the Minister’s estate—

A golden light flickered at Sui Tan’s fingertips.

Then, amid the clamor at the entrance of the Minister’s residence, under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers—

Sun Cheng swayed.

And collapsed to the ground with a thud.