The princess regretted it.

The man who entered looked slightly pale, his eyes etched with anxiety. He walked hurriedly, his boots scraping against the ground. He quickly approached the Supreme Court Justice, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together, and said respectfully, "Sir, we have new information."

At the time, Dali Temple Minister Wang was engrossed in the files on his desk. Upon hearing this, he immediately stood up from his seat, his eyes flashing with anxiety. He quickly stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Wake up! What's the latest news? Tell me quickly."

The bailiff stood up and approached Lord Wang, lowering his voice deliberately as if afraid of being overheard. He said, "Lord, after extensive investigation, we discovered that before Minister Lin came to the Dali Temple that day, someone saw the Left Commander of the Imperial Guards visit the Lin Mansion. After entering the Lin Mansion, the Left Commander stayed for about half an hour. After he left, Minister Lin immediately came to the Dali Temple."

"The Zhang family?" Lord Wang fell into deep thought upon hearing this. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind racing. Slowly walking back to his seat, Lord Wang's fingers tapped the table, making a rhythmic sound. "When did Lin Song become involved with the Zhang family? According to our previous undercover investigations of the ladies who attended the flower viewing banquet, only Princess Jin'an and Concubine Zhang were implicated. Furthermore, the rumors were suspicious in the first place, clearly targeting Princess Jin'an. Furthermore, when we tracked down the people who spread the rumors, we discovered they had mysteriously vanished. To pull off such a feat is no mean feat. So..."

At this thought, Lord Wang's pupils trembled slightly. He beckoned the yamen runners closer and, lowering his voice, instructed, "Pick a few discreet individuals and investigate the movements of the people at the Minister of War's residence between the time Miss Lin was hit and the time the rumors began. Be extremely cautious and don't let anyone notice."

The bailiff whispered, "Yes!" Then, he hurried away. Lord Wang sat at his desk, slowly closing his eyes as he carefully reviewed the contents of the case file. There were only a few people involved with Princess Jin'an at the banquet, and all of them had been questioned. And yet... something was wrong!

Lord Wang's eyes snapped open. There was one person he hadn't questioned: Cheng Shaoqing's daughter, Cheng Xiao. Cheng Shaoqing had previously claimed to have sent her back to her hometown, so there was no record of her. But had Cheng Xiao truly returned to her hometown, or gone elsewhere? The last time Cheng Shaoqing had spoken of this, he had seemed filled with deep resentment.

Wang Zhengxing could no longer sit still. He hurried outside, called a trusted confidant, and ordered in a low voice, "Take two people and secretly investigate Cheng Shaoqing's hometown to see if Miss Cheng is there. Act quickly! Also, do not alarm Cheng Shaoqing about this matter. Do you understand?"

The confidant immediately obeyed the order and hurried off. He summoned two yamen runners, and they rode off at full speed toward the outskirts of the capital. Their horses' hooves kicked up a cloud of yellow sand as their figures raced further and further away, gradually disappearing from sight.

After Wang Zhengxing finished arranging things, an indescribable anxiety welled up within him. It weighed heavily on his heart like a thick, dark cloud. He slowly turned around, his steps slightly heavy as he walked back inside. Sitting down at his desk again, his gaze wandered, unable to focus on the files. His fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, the soft sound standing out in the silent room.

His thoughts, however, were tangled like a tangled mess, making it impossible for him to sort things out. If this was truly the work of the Zhang family, then the situation would be even more thorny. The Zhang family's influence within the court was complex and their background was deep; a mere Dali Temple official like him couldn't afford to offend them easily. The thought deepened his frown, as if it had been twisted into an inextricable knot.

What should he do then? Should he conduct himself impartially and pursue the case regardless of the consequences, or, under pressure from the Zhang family, compromise and back down? Either option would plunge him into a deep dilemma. He constantly weighed the pros and cons, trying to find the best solution, but he remained utterly clueless. Time slipped by as he grappled with this dilemma, and he remained trapped in this fog, unable to extricate himself.

In that courtyard outside Beijing, it is so quiet that you can almost hear the rustling of the breeze through the leaves, and it is so quiet that it feels like a paradise far away from the world.

Inside a wing, warm sunlight gently streamed through the window, casting a faint halo of light, draping the room in a soft golden sheen. A woman leaned weakly against the headboard, her face pale as paper, devoid of any color, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch. Her hair, tangled and tangled across her shoulders, added to her endearing fragility. Her lifeless eyes stared out the window, unblinking, their gaze filled with a dead silence. Her frail figure, in this quiet room, seemed singularly lonely, as if forgotten in a corner of the world.