The banquet celebrating Prince Xiang and Prince Fu ended without fanfare.

The planned performances and stages were scrapped, and the guests excused themselves as soon as they were finished with their meals. It was obvious that the Emperor and Empresses weren’t pleased; the former looked gloomy while the latter frowned. No matter how one looked at it, this was a bad situation. Despite not knowing what was going on, they were all smart people who were in tune with other people’s expressions.

It wasn’t until the guests left the palace that they asked around and learned that something had happened.

Someone had beat the drum in the hall of the Ministry of Justice and accused Xia Manor and the Lord Protector’s Manor of stealing another person’s marriage and murdering people. The two skeletons found in the Lord Protector’s Manor were the murdered young women, and one of them had been betrothed to Xia Yuhang since they were children.

Madam Ling had substituted the young woman with her daughter, letting her daughter enter the marriage sedan, and then killed her.

Xia Manor was, of course, her accomplice. They couldn’t have not known who their young master was betrothed to.

And in the midst of this was another murder, the murder of the concubine-born son of Xia Manor, Xia Yudong. His death was related to Prince Xiang’s new concubine, Ning Qingshan.

The two princes, having just been promoted to a higher princely rank, were the most popular people in the capital. The interest of everyone was piqued after hearing that the incidents were related to Prince Xiang. Ning Qingshan was the third young lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor and shared quite a history with Prince Xiang. She was first appointed as his princess, then consort before inexplicably being demoted to concubine status. Regardless of what happened, she was a part of Prince Xiang’s Manor now that she had married him.

Ning Qingshan and Prince Xiang had been linked a long time ago, so it was likely that Xia Yudong’s death was related to other incidents. All of a sudden, many who considered Prince Xiang a good person and stood on his side started to doubt him. Discussions were everywhere as people debated the possibilities of the incidents as well as the consequences.

Not only did they steal someone’s marriage, but they even killed her! This reminded many of the skeletons found in the lotus pond in a courtyard in the Lord Protector’s Manor. Many married women were present at the time. It was said that the two deceased were tortured before being drowned in the lotus pond.

Madam Ling had pleaded ignorance at that time; she implied that the drowned young woman had behaved improperly with inappropriate folks, resulting in her state. It was only now that people realized how cruel she was. It was her and her daughter who killed that young woman, but they turned around and accused the young woman of suicide.

The snobby Xia Manor didn’t want to marry an orphaned lady, so they immediately agreed to the proposal from the Lord Protector’s Manor. Their behavior was equally vicious.

This matter and the rest of the events added together raised a furor in the capital. People could be seen discussing this everywhere and the Ministry of Justice was also heavily scrutinized. Many were secretly anxious as many matters were implicated and the impact would be disastrous. No one wanted to become embroiled in it.

Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor, Ling Manor.

Ever since Madam Ling was convicted, the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor had been a lot quieter and also stopped all communication with the Lord Protector’s Manor.

“Sir, what’s the matter? This has nothing to do with us. Your wicked sister is also dead. I told you back then, didn’t I? Your sister was so wicked that she was bound to get into trouble. Look at what she had done! She stole the official wife’s position, killed people, stole someone’s marriage, and drowned her in the lotus pond! I told you not to contact her anymore because I knew she would harm you one day!”

Madam Qian slammed the table and spoke angrily in a sharp voice.

“Shut up!” Ling Huanian rebuked in annoyance. “Why didn’t I hear that from you back then? Whenever you received her gifts, the gifts always came in piles and piles. But now you’re enlightened?”

Madam Qian looked ashamed. She glared at him and retorted, “What do you mean, I received her gifts? She was thanking me for helping her! Did you think I took her gifts for nothing? I ran many of her errands for her. How could she become the Lord Protector’s wife so quickly otherwise?”

“That’s to say, you’re also involved in this!” Ling Huanian glared at Madam Qian, his gaze so fierce that it was like he wanted to devour her.

“I… I wouldn’t be involved… I just… lent your sister a hand on several occasions. I did it because of you! You were the one who told me that she was your sister and wanted me to take care of her. And didn’t you get your position as thanks from your sister back then?” Madam Qian was initially guilty, but soon stared back at Ling Huanian and mocked him.

She had indeed run many errands for Madam Ling, but only because she had Ling Huanian’s tacit agreement. Yet, he was now glaring at her like he was some upright man. He should be reflecting on himself. If she hadn’t done this for Madam Ling, he would have never gotten his position.

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Now that the deal had soured, he wanted to push all the blame onto her. She would never let it happen.

Ling Huanian’s face went from red to white and then to green. He slumped onto the chair, picked up a cup of tea on the table, and downed half of it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He grabbed the teacup and threw it on the floor. The tea splashed everywhere, causing Madam Qian to scream.

“Sir, it’s too late to worry about that now. We should destroy everything your sister left in our manor right away. Who knew if they would search our manor? We can’t let them find any evidence here and implicate us. Geez, Xia Manor is a piece of work! They threw aside their betrothed and insisted on an alliance marriage with the Lord Protector’s Manor. Look at all the harm they have caused!”

Madam Qian was panting but hit the table again after calming down.

She felt quite guilty about all these. It was her who proposed the idea of making up the portrait, humiliating the young woman, and ruining her reputation to Madam Ling. That way, her marriage could be transferred to Ning Ziyan.

Her words reminded Ling Huanian, who nodded and said, “Yes, pack up everything that the Lord Protector’s Manor gave us and send them to our courtyard outside the city.”

“By the way, we still have some of Madam Ming’s account books here. Put them in a box and take them away as well. They’re just a burden here. The housekeeper episode might be over now, but it’s still not a good idea to keep them around. It’s inconvenient to burn such a large box too.”

Madam Qian remembered this all of a sudden and warned Ling Huanian.

“I know. We’ll do as you say for now. Get and sort out the things. Take away everything that the Lord Protector’s Manor sent and everything that couldn’t be revealed to others.”

Over the years, Madam Ling had sent many gifts to Ling Manor and Ling Huanian would accept them matter-of-factly. He had “helped” his sister often in the past but he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Lord Protector’s Manor now. He was glad that the prohibited items from the previous dynasty had been returned to Madam Ling or he might get involved in even more misfortune.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll pack everything right away. Sir, make sure the carriages are ready. Once I’m done, we’ll send everything to the most secluded courtyard outside the city. There aren’t many people there, so nobody will know.”

Madam Qian knew that the matter couldn’t be delayed. She nodded, turned around, and walked to the rear of the yard to look for her trusted servants to help pack the things. With Madam Ling in trouble, they were automatically the next suspects. Ling Huanian, the Vice Minister of Justice, hadn’t been able to hold his head high because of his sister. He had the protection of Ning Zu’an in the past, but Ning Zu’an was in trouble himself now; he wouldn’t have the luxury of mind to protect him again.

In the evening, a carriage exited the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor through the backdoor and left the streets. The moment the city gates were about to be closed, the carriage sped out of the city and headed for the outskirts.

On the heel of the carriage was a man on a horse following it out of the city. The carriage driver was so preoccupied with heading to the courtyard in the outskirts and finishing his task that he didn’t notice the horse behind him, following him at the right distance to the courtyard. Only after the carriage entered the courtyard did the man on the horse disappear.

Pear Flower Garden in Prince Yi’s Manor.

Ning Xueyan didn’t wake up early. There were no elders in the manor, so there wasn’t the need to give anyone morning greetings. She was the one with the highest authority in the backyard so she could wake up any time she wanted. After she had her breakfast, Xinmei came in to give her report.

“Master, Ling Manor sent everything to a secluded courtyard in the outskirts. I went in and took a look yesterday. I found the account books that you have been looking for, the ones that Madam personally recorded in the past. There’s also her signature on them, so they are clearly hers. There are also some other personal belongings. I even saw a large box of eastern pearls; there are about thirty to forty of them.”

Chen Hexiang’s complaints at the Ministry of Justice would inevitably trigger a commotion in Ling Manor. To draw a line from Madam Ling, they would dispose of everything related to Madam Ling as cleanly as possible. There must be quite a large amount of it, which couldn’t be conveniently destroyed now. The best solution was sending them away.

Thus, Ning Xueyan had Xinmei watch the backdoor of Ling Manor. Sure enough, they found the things that Ling Manor wanted to dispose of.

Eastern pearls were an imperial offering. They were precious items. If Ling Manor had one or two, they could explain it as gifts from the Emperor. An entire box of eastern pearls couldn’t have been a reward by the palace. Seeing as Ling Manor had quietly sent them away, those pearls must have been a gift from Madam Ling. And how could Madam Ling have so many eastern pearls?

There weren’t so many pearls in Madam Ming’s dowry nor Ning Ziying’s dowry. These pearls were simply too conspicuous and the only way to receive them was to be rewarded by the palace. It could be said that only the Emperor, Empress, and a few favored consorts had so many pearls in hand, but that was about it.

Madam Ling wasn’t close to anyone in the palace, so who could have bestowed her with so many eastern pearls? There were so many pearls, too! It didn’t seem like someone had rewarded her with the pearls, a few at a time over the years. Most importantly, Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager would have known about it if she had been bestowed with so many pearls. It was unlikely for them to allow Madam Ling to send that many pearls to Ling Manor.

That meant these eastern pearls had a shameful origin. Perhaps Madam Ling had obtained these pearls with despicable methods. That would explain why she hid them in Ling Manor.

Of course, these eastern pearls must have originated from the palace. In the previous dynasty, Madam Ling was just an anonymous woman without any relationship with the imperial family then. That meant that these pearls came from the present dynasty. Out of everyone in the palace, who could have gifted Madam Ling so many pearls? Perhaps, who could have asked Madam Ling to deal with things on their behalf…

It seemed that there was a mastermind behind Madam Ling, and this mastermind was living in the palace…