Wu Haoran knelt on the ground and immediately confessed everything.
“Your Highness, I saw it with my own eyes. The heir of the Duke of Li secretly followed the scholar and spoke with him, but I do not know what they discussed.”

“Not long after, the scholar flew into a rage. The heir then ordered his men to hold him down and… and committed an atrocious act. Afterward, he killed him.”

“When I discovered this, he tried to kill me to silence me. Fortunately, I was saved by the young master of the Jiang family. Your Highness, please seek justice for me!”

Everyone in the hall turned to look at Sun Enguang with increasingly strange expressions.

Even the Crown Prince had a look of disdain in his eyes.

Sun Enguang hadn’t expected anyone to have seen this!

He immediately stepped forward.

“Your Highness, this is slander! It was he who committed the crime, and when he saw that I, as the Duke’s heir, might report him, he attempted to kill me first to silence me!”

Qian Tong spoke up. “I can testify.”

Ji Tan also chimed in, “Yes, Your Highness. There is both testimony and evidence. The heir of the Duke of Li has been wrongly accused.”

Jiang Yuanxi was so angry that she snorted.

[What a load of nonsense! No investigation has even been conducted, and you don’t even know what the murder weapon is! Corrupt officials!]

[Besides, Qian Tong was an accomplice, and Jiang Hui gave false testimony. What evidence do you even have?]

[Ugh, ridiculous!]

Seeing the little girl in his arms fuming, Jun Yin chuckled.

The young miss of the Jiang family was already this intelligent at such a young age—she would certainly be extraordinary in the future.

“Ji Tan, has the murder weapon been found?”

Ji Tan broke out in a cold sweat.

“N-No, it has not.”

Crown Prince Jun Yin sneered, “So you’re convicting someone without even finding the murder weapon?”

Just then, Jiang Yuancheng rushed in with something in his hands.

“I found it! I found it!”

Sun Enguang turned around, and when he saw what Jiang Yuancheng was holding, his face turned as pale as a sheet.

The item was handed over to the coroner, who examined it and immediately confirmed, “Your Highness, this is indeed the murder weapon.”

It was a silver-gray belt.

Sun Enguang was wearing silver-gray robes today.

He instinctively looked down at his waist. In his haste earlier, he hadn’t found a suitable belt.

Now, he deeply regretted it.

The coroner continued, “Your Highness, I just conducted an examination. The victim was indeed assaulted.”

A collective gasp echoed throughout the hall.

No one had expected Sun Enguang to have such depraved tendencies.

[Now there’s evidence. All that’s left is a confession from Jiang Hui, and this case will be solved.]

The Crown Prince turned his gaze toward Jiang Hui.

“Jiang Hui, you claimed to have seen Wu Haoran commit the crime. I will give you one last chance—think carefully before you speak.”

Jiang Hui trembled and knelt on the ground.

Before, he had sided with Sun Enguang for the sake of his future prospects.

But now, after learning of Sun Enguang’s perverse actions—and seeing that the Crown Prince seemed to be supporting Wu Haoran—

He dared not lie anymore.

“Your Highness, I… I did not see Sun Enguang kill anyone. Nor did I see Wu… Wu Haoran commit murder.”

Ji Tan turned pale. “Y-You lied under oath!”

He collapsed to the floor, his official hat falling off. But he didn’t even have the mind to pick it up.

The Crown Prince was furious. “Ji Tan, I never realized the Ministry of Justice belonged to the Duke of Li!”

“Your Highness, please have mercy!”

“Guards! Take the criminals to the imperial prison!”

“Additionally, arrest Ji Tan, Minister of Justice, and await my father’s judgment.”

It was over.

Everything was over.

Ji Tan sat on the floor in despair.

The guards grabbed his arms and dragged him away.

The Crown Prince carried Jiang Yuanxi to Jiang Yuansheng.

“Father has been missing Yuanxi dearly, unable to eat or sleep. I will take her to him first and return her later.”

The Crown Prince strode away quickly, afraid someone would speak up to take Yuanxi back.

Jiang Yuanwu stared blankly at his departing figure.

“Big Brother, does Father really miss Yuanxi?”

The Crown Prince’s lie wasn’t even convincing.

Jiang Yuansheng couldn’t figure out what the Crown Prince was thinking either.

But since he was part of the royal family, he wouldn’t harm Yuanxi.

“We should be more worried about how to explain this to Mother. Right, Yuancheng?”

Jiang Yuancheng instantly wilted.

…

The Crown Prince relayed the day’s events to the Emperor.

Meanwhile, the Emperor fed pastries to Jiang Yuanxi.

“The Minister of Justice, Ji Tan, is incompetent and curries favor with the powerful. He must never be employed again. Also, during my trip to Jiangnan, I discovered widespread corruption among local officials.”

“The county magistrate of Jiangcheng was the worst offender. I have already ordered his family’s assets confiscated—over a million taels have been returned to the national treasury.”

The Emperor beamed with satisfaction. This trip to Jiangnan had made the Crown Prince even more mature.

Looking at his confident and eloquent son, the Emperor felt a deep sense of pride.

His son had grown up.

Royal children matured faster than others—the Crown Prince especially so.

“Very good. You have learned a lot from this journey.”

The Crown Prince glanced at the little girl in the Emperor’s arms, filled with gratitude.

Who would have thought that a mere county magistrate would dare scheme against the Crown Prince?

If not for Yuanxi, he wouldn’t have returned alive today.

The Crown Prince hesitated, then continued, “Father, the Duke of Li’s heir has committed murder. I have already had him imprisoned, awaiting your judgment.”

Jiang Yuanxi suddenly looked up.

“Bad!”

The Emperor was surprised—Yuanxi could talk now?

[Sun Enguang has a dark aura around him. He must have done many evil deeds. Uncle Emperor, you must investigate thoroughly.]

Dark aura?

This child could see what others could not?

For Jiang Yuanxi, this was no big deal.

Fortune-telling was her specialty.

In heaven, she had read many people’s fortunes.

Though, for some reason, they always ended up chasing her down afterward.

She had no choice but to make a deal with the King of Hell and reincarnate to hide in the mortal realm.

But Meng Po’s soup had only erased part of her memory, leaving many things forgotten.

Ugh, even the soup was defective.

The Emperor frowned.

“The Duke of Li holds great power. If he is removed, I truly have no one to replace him.”

That was why he had turned a blind eye to the Duke’s offenses.

[That’s easy! Summon my maternal grandfather back! He and his family are truly loyal, but they were framed by traitors.]

The Chen family?

The Emperor fell into deep thought.

The Chens had indeed been loyal, but when overwhelming evidence had been presented against them, he had been furious.

A loyal official defying the throne would leave the court leaderless.

To set an example, the punishment had been harsh.

But that was imperial strategy.

Afterward, court officials had become much more obedient.

Was Yuanxi deliberately speaking on behalf of the Chen family?

The Emperor looked at the little girl in his arms.

She had finished all the pastries but was still hungry.

She shook out the crumbs from her clothes, gathered them up, and carefully fed them to herself one by one.

Pinching, puckering her lips, and sucking them in.

The Emperor shook his head.

He had overthought it.

He actually suspected a child?

“Guards! Investigate all of Sun Enguang’s crimes thoroughly—leave nothing unchecked!”

Just then, a eunuch rushed in.

“Your Majesty, the Duke of Li has requested an audience!”