Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

After her sister's earth-shattering scream, Hu Rong seemed to have all her strength drained away. Her shoulders slumped, and her carefully maintained composure and defenses shattered completely. She slowly raised her head, tears streaming down her face, her eyes empty and pained, her voice low and unsteady:

“What the advisor just said… isn’t entirely true.” She took a breath and began to recount the story before that night, the source of the tragedy. “Before that night, Father suddenly sent someone to summon Jiaojiao and me back to the mansion. He said… he knew he was seriously ill and feared he wouldn’t live much longer. Feeling guilty, he wanted to make a will and promised to entrust the family business, especially the coal leaching workshop, to me. He said this was to make up for the years he had wronged my mother and me…”

A bitter, mocking smile played on her lips: "But how could Aunt Liu accept this? She immediately started arguing with Father, her words sharp and veiled on the division of the family property. Father, already suffering from illness, was so enraged that he fainted on the spot and had to be treated by a doctor for acupuncture before he recovered. By evening, Father seemed to have regained some of his spirits and even drank quite a bit of wine alone in the courtyard... The family banquet ended on a sour note, and Aunt Liu continued her fuss. Father, feeling annoyed, told us to go back to our rooms to rest."

Her voice began to tremble: "I... I was filled with conflicting emotions. I hated his years of indifference, yet I felt bewildered and uneasy about his dying 'confession' and the promise of a huge fortune. I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, so I lit a lamp and read in my room. Who would have thought... that in the middle of the night, my father would knock on my door! I got up to ask him what was wrong, and he pushed the door open, reeking of alcohol, his eyes... his eyes were cloudy yet terrifyingly burning. He said... that I looked more and more like my mother when she was young, and that he had neglected us all these years and wanted to 'make it up'... Then came a barrage of vile and obscene words... I was so frightened that I kept backing away, but he... he actually pounced on me..."

Hu Jiao gripped her sister's cold hand tightly, tears streaming down her face. She took over the conversation, her voice still trembling with lingering fear: "I lived right next door to my sister! That night I had a fight with that vixen, and I was so angry I couldn't sleep! Suddenly I heard strange noises and screams from my sister's room, so I rushed over… I pushed open the door and saw… I saw that beast pinning my sister down on the bed! My mind went blank, and without thinking, I grabbed the short wooden stick I used to prop the door shut and hit him! He turned around in pain, and I… I don't know where the strength came from, but I was both scared and angry. I pulled out the jewel-encrusted dagger he always flaunted… and stabbed him wildly… He… he fell down…"

A deathly silence fell over the courtroom, broken only by Hu Jiao's suppressed sobs. Everyone was stunned by this horrific tragedy, their gazes towards Liu Yuan and the deceased Hu Sheng filled with contempt and anger.

Zhang Jingwei frowned, tapping his knuckles lightly on the table, and raised a point of doubt: "This doesn't make sense. As far as I know, Hu Sheng has suffered from tuberculosis for many years, and is already on his last legs, coughing up blood and weak, needing assistance to move around even in daily life. How could he suddenly have such strength and... evil thoughts when he is so ill? Besides, that's his own daughter!"

Yuan Liang, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up, his voice low: "My lord, perhaps... it was not his intention or thought. I have read some miscellaneous books, and there are some potent medicines that can stimulate a person's vital energy in a short time, and even... confuse the mind, causing people to become excited and lose their composure."

Zhang Jingwei's gaze suddenly sharpened, shooting like a sword at Liu Yuan kneeling in the back row: "Liu! Hu Sheng acted strangely that night, was it related to you? Did you tamper with the wine or the medicine?!"

Liu Yuan trembled with fear and hurriedly kowtowed: "Your Honor, please see the truth! I am innocent! Although we argued that night, how could I dare to harm my husband? And... I would never use such despicable means to harm Rongrong and the others! After I returned to my room, I went to bed early because I was angry and never came out again! My husband was in a bad mood and was drinking alone in the courtyard. Many servants in the mansion saw this and can testify to it!"

Hu Rong suddenly turned her head, glaring fiercely at Liu Yuan with deep-seated hatred in her eyes: "You didn't come out? You clearly sneaked out again in the middle of the night to fool around with your lover! Don't think I don't know!"

Liu Yuan's face turned ashen, and he hurriedly retorted, "That...that happened later! I was indeed in the room when Master was drinking and taking medicine! You can ask the servant on night watch!"

Zhang Jingwei caught the key point: "Medicine? Hu Sheng took medicine that night? What kind of medicine?"

A servant kneeling among the servants hesitated for a moment, then timidly raised his hand: "Sir... I... I have something to say."

"speak!"

The servant swallowed hard and recalled, "That night, after Master drank the medicine for tuberculosis prescribed by Physician Sun... he really... he really seemed like a different person. He usually coughs so badly he can't straighten up, but that night he seemed very energetic, his voice was strong, and he even did a few uncoordinated boxing routines in the courtyard, which stunned us all. We even whispered among ourselves, 'Could this be... a final burst of energy before death?'"

“Yes, yes, yes,” another servant chimed in, “The master was indeed acting strangely that night. His eyes were bright and his face was flushed, completely unlike his usual sickly appearance.”

"It's just a final burst of energy before death. The person is almost gone, so they need to perk up a bit," some servants whispered among themselves.

"Silence!" Zhang Jingwei slammed his gavel, silencing the murmurs, his eyes gleaming. A final burst of energy before death? No, more like the effects of drugs! "Qian Ming!"

"exist!"

"You immediately take men and, together with Miss Jiu'er, search the Hu family's house! In particular, thoroughly inspect the place where medicine is decocted, the dregs, and the bottles and jars that Hu Sheng uses for his daily medicines. Don't miss a single thing!"

"Yes!" Qian Ming accepted the order and quickly left.

Zhang Jingwei looked at the Hu sisters again, his tone slightly softer, but still carrying an oppressive pressure: "Continue. Tell me what happened next. How was the body disposed of? Who is this 'ally' you speak of, or rather, the person who helped you? I want to hear the complete account of the crime."

Hu Rong and Hu Jiao exchanged a glance. Hu Rong bit her lower lip, a dreamlike look on her face, and slowly said, "You might not believe it, sir. That night we killed someone, and we were terrified, not knowing what to do. Just when we were at our wits' end... in the room, the fairy in the painting 'The Fairy in the Rainbow Skirt Dancing at Night' on my wall... she... she seemed to come alive..."

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom. Yuan Liang frowned slightly, but Zhang Jingwei remained expressionless, simply humming in acknowledgment to signal her to continue.

Hu Rong's eyes darted around, as if she had returned to that eerie and terrifying night: "She... seemed to have stepped out of a painting, shrouded in a hazy light. She said she could help us. She told us to wrap Father's body in an old felt blanket, and then... she used some method, and with a wave of her hand, Father's body disappeared. She said she had taken it to the storeroom in the backyard of the coal leaching workshop. Then, she took out some strange paste and tools and smeared and kneaded it on my and Jiao Jiao's faces... When we looked in the bronze mirror again, my face... had become Hu Xi's, and Jiao Jiao's... had become Hu Jiang's! She also made us change into old men's clothes that had been prepared in advance and didn't fit."

Zhang Jingwei's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table. Disguise? A human skin mask? A high-level application of a leather mask?

"As instructed, we secretly slipped out of the mansion under the cover of night and went to the coal drying room, wanting to check if Father's body was really there, and also to find out what the fairy wanted us to do. When we got to the storeroom, we indeed saw the wrapped corpse. Just as we were at a loss, the fairy quietly appeared again, guiding us to move the corpse to the coal drying room, seemingly wanting to stage it as a different scene. But just then... Aunt Liu suddenly appeared! We were terrified and jumped out of the window to escape in a panic... When we calmed down a bit and secretly returned to check, we found that there was... another corpse in the coal drying room! It was wearing Father's usual clothes, and its face... seemed to be disguised, with a knife stuck in its back! And the fairy and Father's corpse were gone!"

Hu Rong's voice trembled with lingering fear: "We were completely stunned at the time, both scared and suspicious. We dared not stay any longer, nor did we dare go home. We had no choice but to flee back to our old house in the mountain valley to hide. It wasn't until later, when we heard from the villagers that our eldest brother, Hu Hai, had confessed and said that he had killed the man, that we... dared to quietly return to the mansion and pretend that we knew nothing."

Zhang Jingwei listened quietly, his gaze shifting between Hu Rong's dazed expression and Hu Jiao's astonished look of "How do you know everything?" When Hu Rong mentioned "the Fairy of the Rainbow Robe," "walking out of the painting," and "helping them disguise themselves and burn their corpses," the vague guess in his mind gradually became crystal clear.

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp as he stared at Hu Rong and slowly asked, "A fairy? Stepped out of the painting? Helped you disguise yourself, move the corpses, and may even have 'disposed of' Hu Sheng's real body..."

He paused, then revealed, word by word, with crystal clarity:

"This 'Fairy in Rainbow Robes'... is she your master, Plum Blossom Taoist, who is said to have long since 'wandered the world, with no end in sight'?"

Hu Rong was struck as if by lightning. She jerked her head up, her face drained of color, her eyes filled with utter shock and fear. Her lips trembled, but she could no longer utter a word of denial. Hu Jiao, standing beside her, collapsed to the ground, her face etched with the despair of "It's over, they know everything."

Silence reigned in the courtroom. All eyes were fixed on the two girls who had murdered their father and the seemingly all-knowing young magistrate. A dark chain woven from drugs, disguise, morality, and conspiracy had finally been ripped from its unfathomable depths. The true identity and purpose of the "Plum Blossom Taoist," at the crucial point of this chain, became the final, and most obscure, layer of mystery shrouding the truth.